At the end of WW2, when the United States refused to share in the nuclear secrets that had enabled the USA to bomb Hiroshima and Nagasaki to such effect, Britain saw the need to develop its own nuclear bomb – and a fleet of bombers to deliver it. One of those was one of the most distinctive shapes in the sky – the Avro Vulcan, with its amazing delta shape and incredible performance and agility. As the last airworthy Vulcan approaches retirement this summer, let’s review this remarkable aircraft.
The Vulcan originated as one of three responses to a Royal Air Force (RAF) specification in 1947 for a bomber capable of carrying a single 10,000lb bomb at 580mph to a target up to 1,700 miles from base, and releasing it from a height of up to 50,000ft. Development was, until his death in a test flight of the Avro Tudor, led by Sir Roy Chadwick, architect of the war winning Avro Lancaster just 5 years earlier
The inspiration for the delta wing came from captured German rocket research, in the knowledge that existing technology was incapable of meeting the RAF’s needs.
The first Vulcan prototype, known then as Type 698 and serial VX770, flew in 1952 – already one year behind the original service date called for in 1947.
The wing shape was still work in progress, however, and VX770 had straight wing leading edges.
The distinctive Vulcan curved leading edge appeared on the production Vulcan B1 in 1955, along with 4 Bristol Olympus engines in place of the prototype’s Rolls-Royce Avons.
The Olympus was a mighty jet engine – it originated in 1946, as a product of the Bristol Aero Engines company; the Vulcan was its first and most prolific installation. The secret to the Olympus’ success was an innovative ‘two-spool’ design, which accelerated the process of compression and thus of the plane’s acceleration. Early versions were tested in an English Electric Canberra, which reached world record heights for a jet, at over 65,000ft, in 1955. An Olympus was first fitted to a Vulcan in 1953, producing 9,250lb/ft of thrust from each of four engines. The production Vulcan B1 used a further development with 11,000 lb/ft; the Olympus 202 fitted to the Vulcan B2 of 1959 gave 17,000 lb/ft.
Subsequently it was chosen for the proposed multi-purpose BAC TSR2 jet and ultimately powered Concorde to Mach 2, after Bristol was acquired by Rolls-Royce in 1966, who continued to develop the Olympus. For Concorde, Rolls-Royce and French partner SNECMA produced the Olympus 593 with 37,000 lb/ft and the only afterburners in commercial aviation. A Vulcan was used for test and development work of the Concorde installation.
Production of the Vulcan ran from 1952 to 1958; squadron service began in 1957. 134 Vulcans were built – all at the Avro factory in Woodford, Manchester, the home of the Lancaster. The 45 production Vulcan B1 were 97ft long, with a wingspan of 99ft, and a range of over 2,500 miles at up to 600mph. From 1959, Woodford produced 89 Vulcan B2, with larger, thinner wings, a still more powerful version of the Olympus and improved electronics; wingspan grew to 111ft, and length to 106ft.
A Victor refuels a Vulcan
The B2 also had the capability to receive fuel in flight, from a tanker trailing a drogue that engaged with a probe on the nose of the Vulcan after some delicate manoeuvring – not for the faint-hearted!
By May 1957, the first Vulcan squadron, no 83, was formed and in service at RAF Waddington, one of the many RAF WW2 bomber bases in Lincolnshire.
Alongside Avro, two of Britain’s many other plane builders submitted designs, which emerged as the Handley Page Victor and the Vickers Valiant – the RAF was not confident enough in the new technology to put all its eggs in one basket. The Victor was a huge and graceful crescent winged jet, with a great glassy nose, looking just as futuristic in 1955 as the Vulcan, and powered by 4 Armstrong Siddeley Sapphire jets. The Valiant was a more conventional bomber in appearance, with high wings concealing 4 Rolls-Royce Avon engines buried in the wing root. By 1964, 134 Vulcans, 107 Valiants and 86 Victors had been built, carrying a succession of British atomic bombs with names such as Blue Danube, Red Beard and Yellow Sun, and known across the country as the ‘V Force’.
The V bomber force took on the role of delivering NATO’s nuclear response to a ground invasion of West Germany, through precision bombing of Warsaw Pact air defences, command and control systems and reserve forces in East Germany and Poland – flying from the UK, they could be over these targets several hours before the USAF B52s.
This role meant the V bombers had to develop the precision navigation and bombing skills that had characterised RAF Bomber Command by the end of WW2. The Vulcan excelled in this role. It had phenomenal rates of climbing and acceleration, even by contemporary fighter standards, given the power in the four Olympus engines. Anyone who has ever seen a Vulcan take-off will attest to the steep , banking climb and ear splitting howl, caused by the complex curves needed for the jet’s plumbing.
You can’t do this in a B52!
The plane was also incredibly agile for a big bomber – on its first appearance at the Farnborough Air Show (Britain’s premier showcase for the aerospace industry), the Avro test pilot completed a full 360 degree barrel roll in front of amazed crowds. He then repeated the trick over the factory – and flew so low, all the factory windows were shattered! Avro had fitted a fighter plane joystick rather than a traditional bomber –style control yoke, to allow pilots to exploit this agility.
The Vulcan had a crew of 5 – a pilot and co-pilot, who were lucky enough to have ejector seats; a Navigator Plotter, responsible for long distance navigation; a Navigator Radar who managed the plane over the target and dropped the bombload; and an Air Electronics Officer (AEO), who oversaw the electronic systems used to block and confuse enemy radar and air defences – the Vulcan flew too high for conventional defensive weapons to be of any value. The 2 pilots worked in the cramped cockpit that gives the Vulcan its distinctive profile; the other 3 crewmen were behind and below, and dependent on jumping through the crew door in the underside of the fuselage and a parachutes if they needed to escape. The whole crew cabin was pressurised.
By the early 1960s, Britain had a fleet of 200 nuclear capable bombers on permanent alert for Warsaw Pact attack. Throughout its nuclear career, the Vulcan was the key component of Britain’s Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) force – bombers ready to react to any Soviet threat by taking off with nuclear weapons within two minutes of an alert. The huge jets stood at dispersal points on Lincolnshire and East Anglian airfields, with crews waiting in huts alongside, fully suited. The Vulcans were specifically designed for this role, and needed minimum ground crew support to start the engines. Within two minutes of an order to ‘scramble’, jets would be in the air. This needed training and practice, of course, and demonstrating the capability was a favourite RAF treat for visiting air forces and governments – including the Russians. Deterrence has to be real to be credible!
From 1963, the development of better Soviet air defences forced the RAF to switch from high level strikes, relying on speed and height for safety, to the other extreme – bombers would have to fly at below 200ft across Europe to deliver their nuclear bombloads. Increasingly, the bombs became stand-off missiles – the Vulcans would streak across Europe at low level, shoot up to 20,000 feet, fire the missile that would then head for a target up to 100miles away, while the bomber turned and dived for home. This was too much for the Valiants – their airframes could not cope with the stresses of low level flight, and they were withdrawn, and the less agile Victors were turned into air-to-air refuelling tankers (but, crucially as we shall see, tankers that could receive as well as provide fuel) – only the Vulcan had the strength, power and agility to adapt. This brought a change in paint scheme for the Vulcan, from anti-flash white (intended to protect the plane from the flash of a nuclear bomb) to green and brown camouflage.
From 1968, the V force was replaced by the Royal Navy’s 4 Resolution class nuclear submarines equipped with Polaris ICBM missiles purchased from the USA. Technology had moved on, and the submarine approach offered significant cost savings – in the early 1960s, Britain was spending an unsustainable 10% of GDP on defence; today we struggle to get to 2%. The RAF’s Vulcans were reassigned to a conventional bombing role, still at low level.
Of course, not everyone in Britain loved the Vulcan and its ilk. Right from the mid-1950s, Britain has had a vocal anti-nuclear lobby, focused on the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. The level of opposition peaked in the mid-1950s, with famous protest marches from the Aldermaston nuclear research base to London, 50 miles away, drawing large crowds (including my parents) and in the 1980s, when the Thatcher government was commissioning the Trident submarines to replace the life expired Polaris boats.
But the Yanks loved them! Vulcans were regular visitors to USAF airbases (such as this one at Bergstrom, near Austin, Texas), for exchange visits, NATO exercises and inter-force bombing competitions – in which they regularly beat the USAF. There are even anecdotes of Vulcans being flown along the Grand Canyon – below the rim!
Happily, Vulcans never saw conflict in Europe. And, by the early 1980s, they were obsolete and slated for withdrawal and replacement by the Panavia Tornado. But circumstances gave them a final chance to write history. In April 1982, Argentina seized control of the Falkland (or Malvinas) Islands in the south Atlantic from its nominal British garrison, and claimed sovereignty over the islands. We won’t take sides in the argument here on CC, but we will recount how a 30 year bomber designed to fly nuclear bombs to Leningrad ended up dropping conventional bombs on a simple airstrip at the other end of the world.
Before despatching the planes south, however, the RAF had to make good years of gentle neglect. Inflight refuelling equipment had to be sourced and refitted, and crews trained in its use, and engines overhauled and conventional bombing equipment installed. Navigation equipment and electronic counter measure pods were cannibalised from other aircraft such as Vickers VC10’s and Blackburn Buccaneers to enable the Vulcans to cross sea rather than land. Finally, on 28 April, 5 Vulcans were deployed to Ascension – a friend still recalls driving, by chance, past RAF Scampton near Lincoln one spring morning, and stopping to watch in awe as 5 Vulcans departed in turn for war in the South Atlantic – each 2.5 tons over its stated take-off weight with additional fuel and equipment, and a refuelling instructor added to the crew
Ascension Island, May 1982
On 30 April, Vulcans XM598 and XM607 took off from Ascension, supported by 11 Victors with 2 more in reserve, to support a complex refuelling plan that would take one Victor far enough south to give one Vulcan enough fuel to reach the Falklands and return northwards for more refuelling on the way home. XM598 returned immediately, with pressurisation problems, leaving XM607, nominally the reserve bomber, to lead the formation south. After 9 hours in the air, XM607 made a successful surprise attack on Part Stanley airfield, dropping to 300 ft over the South Atlantic to get under Argentine radar, then roaring up to 10,000 ft for the bombing run, and began a perilous return to Ascension, with fuel consumption running ahead of expectations and the challenge of finding a Victor tanker over the Atlantic. Overall, the mission took 15 hours. However despite hitting the target, the raid was of limited military value – Argentine Hercules C130’s could still use the airfield – and subsequent repeat raids failed to fully deny it to the Argentinians. It did however have great propaganda and morale value, both in Britain and in Argentina.
Today, only one Vulcan is still flying – the privately preserved and restored B2 XM558 – and she will retire to ground display only in September 2015. XH558 was completed in July 1960, and was the first B2 to enter RAF service, and the last Vulcan to leave. From 1986 to 1993, she led the RAF Vulcan Display Team, and then passed into private ownership in an unairworthy state. A period of fundraising from 1998 by the non-profit Vulcan to the Sky Trust, plus funds from the UK’s National Lottery, enabled restoration to flying condition to start in 2005, and in 2007, after 14 years on the ground and £7m, XH558 flew again.
Since then, she has been a regular on the British airshow circuit, and a hugely popular performer. Knowing her days were limited, the Trust made sterling efforts to ensure the Vulcan was seen all around the UK. And, on one memorable day last summer, she flew alongside the only 2 flying Lancasters in the world, over the city of Lincoln, spiritual home of the RAF bomber.
Finally, in 2014 it was confirmed that the airframe’s hours and the scarcity of key parts and expertise meant that summer 2015 would be the last time an Avro Vulcan would fly. She’s going out with a flourish, though, with a full schedule of displays right through the summer. Then, she will form the centrepiece of a new educational centre, focusing on technical and engineering skills that saw their finest flourish in the Vulcan, and which Britain has carelessly allowed to decay over the last 50 years.
We can be sure, however, that the Vulcan will not be allowed to decay in the same way.
And she certainly isn’t going quietly – but then the Vulcan doesn’t do quietly!
Didn’t one of these planes play a prominent role in one of the Bond films? I can’t remember whether it was “Never Say Never” or “Thunderball”. 🙂
In “Thunderball” one was stolen and then gently ditched somewhere in the Carribean. SPECTRE was going to use the two nukes on board to blackmail the West. “Never Say Never Again” was a remake of the same general plot. A collaboration between Ian Fleming and Kevin McClory and three others resulted in a lawsuit and McClory getting the rights to the screenplay. A recent purchase of those rights from McClory’s estate is why SPECTRE is making a long-overdue return in the movie by the same name.
Driving past the O’Hare airport on a routine basis always gives me a nice fix of inspiration to keep running and maintaining classic cars. The massive amount of maintenance that goes into keeping the sky machines reliable and the life and death stakes dwarf any issues that we have here on the ground or at sea. And it all comes down to not cutting corners, performing routine maintenance, and preemptively replacing aged parts in accordance with some sort of a carefully designed service log. That being said, it is nice that classic planes get retired. The stakes are just incomparable compared to cars or even boats.
Yes, the Vulcan is the star of the show in “Thunderball”, long my favorite 007 movie, to supplanted by “OHMSS” in 1969 along with “For Your Eyes Only” in 1981 and “Casino Royale” in 2006.
The scenes of the great underwater battle remain firmly fixed in my mind, along with the beautiful Avro Vulcan!
Thank you for a very informative and fun article – only on Curbside Classic!
They recently showed “Thunderball”on the sci-fi cable channel . Besides killing it with commercials, three quarters of the underwater fight finale was cut out. At least the Vulcan scenes were intact. I`ll never watch another movie on this cable station again.
I don’t even _bother_ with TV anymore. Netflix and Hulu+ entertain me enough.
You`re right. Now if I want to see a movie, I`ll watch Turner Classics or Encore-especially Encore Westerns. No commercials.
Ya’ll beat me to it – one of the first things that came to mind when I saw the delta-winged Vulcan aircraft was “isn’t that the bomber that was stolen in Thunderball?”
Yep!
Fine article, fantastic plane.Makes me want to get my Lindberg 1-96 scale model out of my stash and build it in the grey and green camo markings.You made my day, thanks.
That’s a strange scale for models though the Vulcan would be a whopper in 1/72 which is what I made model planes in. I had a lot more patience as a kid than today!
The Lindberg model is a “box scale” kit meaning that it was scaled to fit its box, and since it dates from the early `60s ,its from a time when scale did not matter to the average builder. That being said, it is a nice model even if it isn`t as detailed as some of the newer offerings. At least its easier to display! It also comes with a cool clear plastic display stand-something that is missing from virtually every newer release.And yes, plenty of us car nuts are also interested in aviation, so its good to see these articles in CC from time to time.
thanks for explaining the scale. Piston engined planes from WW2 are my aviation interest, one of my favourite long weekends is in August in Blackpool where the air show is on during the punk rock festival.
CC Effect! I was standing on the Ayrshire coast today, looking out to the Isle of Arran, when a plane flew low overhead and circled. I wasn’t sure what it was, but something in the back of my mind said “Vulcan”.
I come home and see this photo and think, “Yep, Vulcan!”.
The Scottish Air Show was on today at nearby Prestwick Airport, I checked their website and, Vulcan right enough.
I left my phone charging in the van, otherwise I would have a pic of it flying low over a ruined castle. Dammit! It’s only now I know the significance of it being its last season.
Caught it in Blackpool last month at the air show. I met one of the restoration team a few years ago
Amazing how many were built when it was only one of three large bombers in service. Our B52’s and the Russian Bears having lasted to this day, It seems ashamed that the UK could not maintain at least one squadron of them to continue their job of deterrence and showing the flag. Thanks for the writeup, what an impressive airplane. I never knew of the Concord connections.
We never seem to get anything cool like flying over my house…mainly WWII era prop planes for local shows at Lunken Airport, and commercial traffic in and out of CVG. I lived in St Louis, and used to get a kick out of the Missouri Air National Guard flying F4 Phantoms out of Lambert Field…the F15s are fine, but just don’t have the same visceral appeal, or the same smoky takeoff. They also rerouted Lindbergh Blvd and removed the parking area where the public used to be able to basically sit at the end of the runway and watch the planes take off.
What was the plane that crashed at a British airshow recently?
An even better spot was directly across Lindbergh and on the other side of the noise abatement mounds from the “official” viewing area. There was an extra wide shoulder on Bridgeton Station Rd right near the threshold of 12R which was a helluva place to be when the Phantoms took off (usually in pairs). On hot summer days it was a great spot even when the traffic pattern was from the east as fully loaded ragged out TWA 727s departing on 30L would struggle to clear the fence. It would be packed during the July 4th weekend as many of the aircraft (B-1, B-52 etc) taking part in the VP Fair airshow downtown flew out of the MoANG base.
Another great spot was the patio of the old 94th Aero Squadron restaurant on McDonnell Blvd. It was at the approach end of 30R and overlooked the Midcoast Aviation (now Signature Flight Support) ramp. Bizjets from Midcoast and newly-built Eagles, Hornets and Harriers from MDC/Boeing would taxi directly in front on their way to 30R. The 94th was also directly in front of the scene of this accident in 1994…..
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TWA_Flight_427
The 94th was torn down shortly after 9/11 as STL went from one being of the most photographer-friendly airports in the country to one of the absolute worst. In the years since 9/11 other airports have either added public viewing areas (Charlotte and Houston Hobby come to mind) or developed protocols that balance the need for security with the rights of photographers (Houston Bush Intercontinental). At STL they’ll not so nicely ask you to leave and have been known to (illegally) force photographers to delete their memory cards.
Wait a minute, CincyDavid – I’m also from the St. Louis area and have lived in the Cincinnati area since 1992!
I grew up in Jennings, which was right on the flight path to and from Lambert Field, and back then (late 50s-ate 70s), I used to love the Connies, DC-3s and the Phantoms scream their hearts out all the time! Oh, yes – the 707s as well.
Zackman, somehow I missed your reply…I went to SLU, lived in Florissant, then moved to St Charles County…Lake St Louis mostly. Now I have returned to my westside Cincinnati roots…
The jet that recently crashed was a Hawker Hunter.
Saw this Vulcan last September as I drove up the A1 just north of Peterborough, and as Gt Fencote is 2 miles from my house, I’ll no doubt see it again in a few weeks time as it’s due to display there. Shame it’s being retired.
These great planes remind me of my childhood in Suffolk. Bentwaters, Woodbridge and Lakenheath US bases weren’t far away, and the peace and quiet of our village was often shattered by low-flying jets. My favourite being the F4 Phantom. When you’re 7, they are awesome. In fact, they are when you’re 50.
A Vulcan was brought out to NZ in the mid-50’s on a demonstration flight. When it landed at Ohakea military airbase the landing gear was damaged and replacement parts were brought from the UK. In the meantime this top-secret aircraft was parked in full view of passing road traffic including the then USSR diplomatic staff as the hanger was not big enough to house it.
A Vulcan came to the Abbotsford airshow back in the late 1970’s. A friend of mine lived near the airport and his parents used to provide a place to stay for the Blue Angels team. He and I got passes to get behind the roped off area and get inside the Vulcan. No room inside for the crew, but lots of room for fuel and bombs. I still think it is the best looking airplane.
I remember seeing a Vulcan flying at Abbotsford, probably in the early 1970s – the announcer referred to it as “the overcast creator”.
I love the looks of these. The Victor is interesting, but the Vulcan, especially in anti-flash white, is perhaps the most ’50s-looking aircraft of all ’50s aircraft. It’s the jet aircraft equivalent of a ’59 Cadillac: The second you see it, even if you know nothing about the V Force or British aviation or anything like that, you know in exactly what era it was designed.
A truly amazing plane I knew little about until now. Thank you!
Fantastic read.
There is a Vulcan on display in California at the Castle Air Museum in Atwater.
Twice a year they have “Open Cockpit Day” I was able to get inside the Vulcan once on that day. It was a very cramped set up in there.
http://www.castleairmuseum.org/
I thought AVRO was a Canadian company. No?
Avro (the A.V Roe Company Ltd) was as British as could be. Avro Canada was a subsidiary that over time became larger than its parent.
AVRO Canada was a very competent firm in the ’50s, fully competitive with the Americans. They developed the excellent but little-remembered C102, the world’s 2nd jet airliner, killed by a Canadian gov’t minister (despite interest from the Pentagon & Howard Hughes) because of insistence on CF-100 production.
AVRO Canada staff were later hired by NASA after the CF-105 cancellation & played a prominent (if unacknowledged) role in the Space Race. Nowadays, Bombardier carries the banner of Canadian aerospace & is a major player in the 50-seat airliner market.
Fantastic writing and pics.
I believe the Cold war years were the most amazing era in the aviation history. In the WWII the allies were flying the “Farm tractor” shaped Liberator and Lancasters to just a few years letter the brits came up with those “Sci Fi” designs of the “V” bombers.
Even when compared with the american B-52 and russian “Bear”, the “V”s look like space ships.
CC effect – it flew over the house today around 1530, going south, probably back to Doncaster airport after a display. Mesmerising.
Not to be outdone, the French also developed nuclear weapons and a bomber to deliver them, the Mirage IV. It seems to have been a more modest project than the Vulcan, being basically a Mirage III fighter stretched up and out, but it still looked pretty cool:
A great piece!
One interesting thing to note on the development of the V-Bomber force was the creation of 1/3 scale ‘proof of concept’ development aircraft for the Vulcan and Victor. The Avro 707 was the result in the case of the Vulcan, and as it happens, one of the three surviving prototypes is located around 100m from where I am typing this comment, in far-off Australia of all places! And interestingly, we discovered that the aircraft was built with the straight leading edge design, as per the Type 698 protoypes, and then the ‘cranked’ leading edge was developed, with the new panels simply riveted over the old ones!
An amazing aircraft. I wish I could see one flying in person. Alas, it isn’t to be.
+1 on seeing on of these in flight.
It is too bad that at least one can’t be kept in flying condition but I understand why it can’t happen. One can’t just pop down to Napa Aircraft Parts and get what you need to keep a 60 year old airplane flight worthy. Glad these never had to used for their original purpose.
Great plane, and well summarised here. And ironically, the one bomb dropped in anger was from 300ft, bit 40000ft as originally intended.
In some ways, you can consider this to be a subsonic Concorde, with the delta wing and Olympus engines, albeit without the ingenious intakes used on Concorde. All the more remarkable when you consider that this flew less than 10 years after the Lancaster was the state of the art. That is a demonstration of how war speeds technical development.
As a spectacle, they are like nothing else, and to have one go over your house at 1000ft is quite something. Brilliant is one word.
And interesting to consider that in the 1950s, Britain built 3 class leading heavy bombers but couldn’t make the a commercially successful heavy airliner. The British problem is not ideas but executing them.
For more details on the Vulcan in the Falkland Islands and an excellent background to the aircraft, try reading Vulcan 607 by Rowland White. It on Kindle
You voiced two thoughts of mine too: the Vulcan as proto-Concorde. And the Brits’ challenges in executing ideas.
I was flabbergasted to read here about the other two V Force bomber designs. I vaguely remember reading about one or the other, but didn’t realize all three were designed and built at about the same time for the same purpose. I don’t think even in the US there is a direct comparable example.
Of course, designing and building a plane back then is not the same as it is now, as the systems are so profoundly more complex. Still….
I remember seeing one of these flying low over the Yorkshire moors on a cycle tour back in the ’70s and so I couldn’t miss one XH558’s last appearances at the Rhyl air show just over a week ago (Sat. 29th Aug). Not just a stunning shape but amazingly agile and very, very noisy! At times the air literally crackled.
Not quite CC effect, but still somewhat timely,as I will be taking a flock of Boy Scouts to the March Air Field Museum, outside of Riverside, CA this weekend. No Vulcan, but they do have a B17, B29, B47 and B52 – a somewhat analogous sequence to the Lancaster ->Vulcan.
Long ago I saw an RAF VC-10 & Handley Page Victor tanker at the March AFB show. The latter looks like a Flash Gordon prop. The crews were on hand & very courteous.
You can still see a B-47 here at the Pima Air Museum, along with many other vintage types. That was a revolutionary plane that set the stage for both the B-52 & 707.
Excellent article on a legendary aircraft! It’s a shame it can’t be kept airworthy, but at least it’s had an eventful “second life” on the show circuit and that it will be properly displayed for the future.
The R.A.F. Victor+Vulcan duo is pretty cool I think… Victor rules 🙂
I was stationed at Davis Monthan AFB in 1970, for the air show that year a Vulcan was brought it. It was a fantastic looking aircraft and its maneuverability at low altitude can only be described as fantastic.
Ah the big tin budgie- spent 11 years of my time in the RAF working on Vulcan from 1st line to majors. They could be real pains to work on and at o’bugger’ clock in the morning when it was cold wet and dark I could quite cheerfully burnt the lot.
There were compensations however, trips overseas, a few 7th seat flights to various places including Goose Bay and of course scrambles. I always tried to get the aircraft nearest the ground crew hut- bloody knackering legging it down to aircraft No.4.
So what was a scramble like -‘This is the Bomber Controller Readiness State 15’ followed by a confusion of coffee , cups , playing cards and fag ends as four crew chiefs and 8 linies fought to get out of the hut.
Arrival at the aircraft hopefully concided with the crew turning up [ also know as Rupert and Rodney and three little pigs!] The ground crew removed any covers such as those on the pitot or ADD’s and kicking the rear chocks away from the main undercarriages which is why linies always wore big boots. If you were unlucky you had to plug in the palouste for engine starting although each squadron was supposed to send a bomber with one set of working rapids.
With the crew strapped in and the seats made live the crew got the mighty beast started electrically and if time was available the pilots ran through the flight control range with the crew chief on the long lead confirming the position of each surface as compared to the cockpit gauge.
By this time the AAPP was running , the crew chief was down by the nose leg and a linie was alongside the power leads. ‘This is the Bomber Controller Readiness State zero five’ Up went the entrance door. This is Bomber Controller Readiness State Zero Two. And then all hell broke use- four aircraft using rapid start to get the engines running up to speed- a deep threnody as the Oly’s ran up to 40 %. Even more noisy would be the bomber with one set of rapids which required a crossfeed to start the others at 80%. Once electrics from the alternators was available the power leads were removed from the aircraft and the front chocks and fire ex moved clear.
This is the Bomber Controller Scramble Scramble Scramble’ the crew chief disconnects his long lead from the nose leg, waves at the pilot and joins us behind the
power plinth. We just make at the donks are wound up to 80% and the bombers start to roll. Onto the runway throttles to 100% and off they go one after another- and then the airfield is quiet.
And the best sight I ever saw- twenty Vulcans stretching from Delta Pan to the Waddo ORP where another four were sitting waiting to go. After a simulated mass take off the aircraft then had to return to their dispersals- imagine 24 bombers- four squadrons and three tugs- absolute bloody chaos- ah great days when health and safety was a comedy double act.
Cheers
Mad Jock ex Waddo Line 101 Squadron 19/32 MU majors.
Working at Waddington and living for 3years in Wellington to square I loved watching them do the 4 ship display and had a perfect shot of them coming straight at me then over the top of me, I nearly broke my back leaning over backwards but the end result was brilliant it was super 8mm and I’m afraid got mislaid when moving along with the projector. But 40 years later it’s still remembered. Worked in the small arm bay, And helped prep the bomb loads for the Falklands trip, Ahhh the real good old days.