Today In History:  09 July  [1959]   --  RAF Vickers Valiant makes the first non-stop flight to South Africa

A Royal Air Force Vickers Valiant makes the first non-stop flight from England to Cape Town. The Valiant was a British high-altitude jet bomber designed to carry nuclear weapons, and in the 1950s and 1960s was part of the Royal Air Force's "V bomber" strategic deterrent force. The Valiant was the first of the V bombers to become operational, and was followed by the Handley Page Victor and the Avro Vulcan. The Valiant is the only V bomber to have dropped live nuclear weapons (for test purposes).

PHOTO: Vickers Valiant XD873 in 1962

Photo Attribution:  CC BY-SA 3.0  via Wikimedia. Umeyou