Avro Vulcan

guesser

Today XH558 returned to Lincolnshire for the first time in 15 years.
My dad and I drove over to Tattershall Bridge after collecting my brother from school, and we got a great view as she did a flypast and landed at RAF Coningsby

photos here

did anyone else in this part of the world see her?

Lord Muck

Thanks for the photos, its great to see her flying again. :smile:

I'm from Lincolnshire, brings back memories of seeing them fly back in the 70's and 80's

Winston

Look up the first flights on YouTube. There's a good one shot right from the side of the runway - the HOWL the engines make as they spool up sends shivers up my spine. There's also some video of an engine test from inside the cockpit, and the flight crew get to hear that superb howl too.

Not many jets make a distinct sound like that.

guesser

Winston wrote: »

Look up the first flights on YouTube. There's a good one shot right from the side of the runway - the HOWL the engines make as they spool up sends shivers up my spine. There's also some video of an engine test from inside the cockpit, and the flight crew get to hear that superb howl too.

Not many jets make a distinct sound like that.

indeed, can't wait for the airshow season :D
hope it gets a sponsor of course!

Coningsby's just down the road really, so hopefully we can get ourselves to the front of the crowd and have a butchers next time she takes off

mile

aren't they only rare cos they are shit to fly and they kept crashing? thats what i heard anyway.

rich_chandler

mile wrote: »

aren't they only rare cos they are shit to fly and they kept crashing? thats what i heard anyway.

Perhaps we could have a whip-round and charter one for you...

Winston

mile wrote: »

aren't they only rare cos they are shit to fly and they kept crashing? thats what i heard anyway.

The Vulcan has an exemplary record. I think you're thinking of the Valiant, which when it was repurposed into a low level bomber, suffered from fatal metal fatigue from low level turbulence (the Vulcan and Victor never suffered these problems. The Victor was eventually repurposed as an air-to-air refueller, but the Vulcan remained a bomber).

The Vulcan was used only once in anger, the Black Buck missions against the Argentine occupation of the Falklands. At the time, it was the world's longest range bombing missions on record. Militarily, they didn't do an awful lot of damage - the damage they did was entirely to Argentinian strategy - it caused them to not base many aircraft in the Falklands, meaning the Harrier pilots had a huge advantage (the Argentine jets, having to operate from Argentina had very limited time they could engage British forces). Sometimes a military victory isn't about what you blow up, but what strategy changes you force your enemy to make.

mile

Winston wrote: »

The Vulcan has an exemplary record. I think you're thinking of the Valiant, which when it was repurposed into a low level bomber, suffered from fatal metal fatigue from low level turbulence (the Vulcan and Victor never suffered these problems. The Victor was eventually repurposed as an air-to-air refueller, but the Vulcan remained a bomber).

The Vulcan was used only once in anger, the Black Buck missions against the Argentine occupation of the Falklands. At the time, it was the world's longest range bombing missions on record. Militarily, they didn't do an awful lot of damage - the damage they did was entirely to Argentinian strategy - it caused them to not base many aircraft in the Falklands, meaning the Harrier pilots had a huge advantage (the Argentine jets, having to operate from Argentina had very limited time they could engage British forces). Sometimes a military victory isn't about what you blow up, but what strategy changes you force your enemy to make.

yeah thats it, i looked the vulcan up and it didn't look like the one i saw on tv.

edit, its not that either, i'll ask the RAF guy i know, it'd prolly be easier if i describe it for him.

guesser

hmm, don't know what you could be thinking about.
the Nimrod? that's a redesigned DH Comet airliner, the comets had a metal fatigue problem which caused crashes, and the RAF plane, the nimrod is getting old and knackered* and one crashed recently...

the RAF have had a few rubbish planes so it's hard to guess which one you mean :)

*as is happening to all the RAF's planes unfortunately, hence the way we are shedding types all the time. (you could easily list the types we have in operation, and it's not a long list)

guesser

in fact :)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_active_United_Kingdom_military_aircraft

look how many are transports and trainers :)

RND

We have one here at the air museum, I remember it coming into land after having made a few passes. It was very noisy.

Matt_B

I remember seeing a Vulcan at an air show in the early 80s; a very impressive sight and for such a big plane the pilot was really throwing it around.

On the whole though, I'm more of a Victor fan. I wonder if we'll ever see one of them flying again?

Winston

I'd like to see the Victor fly again, too. It has the most amazing Flash Gordon look to it.

guesser

Winston wrote: »

I'd like to see the Victor fly again, too. It has the most amazing Flash Gordon look to it.

heh, that it does, with that huge round front and all those windows :-)