Martin-Baker Valente FR.II - No.680 Squadron, RAF Mediterranean and Middle East Command, 1947The first flight of the Martin-Baker MB.5 prototype took place on May 23rd 1944 with Bryan Greensted (chief test pilot for the propeller manufacturer Rotol) at the controls. Greensted would fly the first prototype on several occasions and his view that it was a superb aircraft was echoed by the test pilots of the Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment (A&AEE) at RAF Boscombe Down who enthused over its overall performance as it was both a highly maneuverable fighter for dogfighting but also an extremely stable gun platform. With a top speed of over 460 mph at 20,000 feet, an initial climb rate of 3,800 feet per minute, a service ceiling in excess of 40,000 feet and a range of over 1,000 miles the MB.5 was simply too good to ignore and in December 1944, even though victory in Europe was assured, a production order for 300 MB.5's was given to Martin-Baker Aircraft with the intention that the MB.5 would be deployed to the Far East as the RAF's standard fighter-bomber for 'Tiger Force'.
In memory of company co-founder Valentine 'Val' Baker (who had been killed whilst flying the MB.3 prototype in 1942) James Martin of Martin-Baker asked air ministry officials to consider naming the MB.5 'Valentino' but this was not accepted. However, compromise was reached when air ministry officials announced that it was to be called 'Valente'. Development moved smoothly during 1945 but the sudden end of the Pacific War in August 1945 led to the cancellation of many production contracts and the Valente F.Mk.I order was reduced down to just 60 aircraft. With the Meteor and Vampire programmes both proceding well the RAF decided that it no longer needed a fighter or a fighter-bomber and instructed Martin-Baker to reconfigure the Valente for the photo-reconnaissance role specifying the carriage of two K-24 cameras with an oblique camera in the rear fuselage and a vertical camera placed in the mid-fuselage and just in front of the radiator.
Entering RAF service in early 1946 as the Valente PR.II, the aircraft re-equipped No.208 squadron and No.680 squadron in the Middle East both initially flying surveying missions. No.680 Squadron moved to Ein Shemer in September 1946 and was immediately tasked with searching for ships bringing illegal Jewish immigrants from Europe. No.208 squadron moved to Petah Tiqva in December 1946 to also search for illegal shipping but both squadrons carried out anti-terrorist patrols and armed reconniassance missions in support of the 3rd Infantry Brigade from March 1947 onwards. By the end of the year, the UK Government had announced their intention to withdraw from Palestine as soon as possible with the United Nations susequently deciding to partition the country. From that point onwards both squadrons remained in Palestine to cover the final withdrawal of the remaining British forces until the Union Flag was finally lowered in Palestine on May 14th 1948. A few days later the RAF left Palestine forever.
RAF MB5 VALENTE.01 by
Spinners1961, on Flickr
RAF MB5 VALENTE.02 by
Spinners1961, on Flickr
RAF MB5 VALENTE.03 by
Spinners1961, on Flickr
RAF MB5 VALENTE.04 by
Spinners1961, on Flickr
RAF MB5 VALENTE.05 by
Spinners1961, on Flickr
RAF MB5 VALENTE.06 by
Spinners1961, on Flickr
Always one of my favourites, for this PR MB.5 I made this skin using white with 15% red as the base colour but probably spent more time piddling about with the camera 'porthole' which looked OK (see profile below) but in game looks wrong. The MB.5 is totally awesome and cruises along at 40,000ft. To me, it always seemed too big for a Griffon engine that only just scrapes over 2,000hp and how sad that R2496 couldn't have been preserved.
RAF MB5 VALENTE.07 by
Spinners1961, on Flickr
Profile view to show the colour before game changes (i.e. different terrains have different light, time of day, altitude, etc.) and post-image processing.
