Vulcan to the sky

Hi guys

 

I thought i would post this up (my dad asked if i would ). The vulcan to the sky project still needs more money to achieve its goal. I know in this climate of political correctness and embarrasement at our past people don't want to give to this sort of thing but it would be fantastic to get the old girl flying regularly.

If you have a few quid spare then please go here and donate

 

http://www.tvoc.co.uk/

 

The sound of a vulcan at full chat flying low is something to behold

will do

what our the chances of the old girl making RIAT next year ?

I don't know. i expect that will be one of their priorities though.

worthy cause, would be great to see one flying again.

Grandad used to work on them.

The film of the Vulcan doing a barrel roll at the 1955 Farnborough Air Show is back up on YouTube.

These aircraft are simply amazing. There's a book out which tells the tale of their raid on Falklands which was nothing short of a miracle that they succeeded.

There used to be a delta wing at Woodford near to me where they still make the nimrod, not sure if it is still there though

Indeed they are a sight to behold.

 

http://www.mkivsupra.net/vbb/showthread.php?t=128160

These aircraft are simply amazing. There's a book out which tells the tale of their raid on Falklands which was nothing short of a miracle that they succeeded.

According to Sharkey Ward's book "Sea Harrier over the Falklands" the Vulcan raids were an amazing achievement.... and a complete waste of time and effort. IIRC it took about a dozen Victor tankers to get two Vulcans from Ascension to Port Stanley, and they scored one hit on the runway which was repaired within hours.

According to Sharkey Ward's book "Sea Harrier over the Falklands" the Vulcan raids were an amazing achievement.... and a complete waste of time and effort. IIRC it took about a dozen Victor tankers to get two Vulcans from Ascension to Port Stanley, and they scored one hit on the runway which was repaired within hours.

 

it was only one vulcan that went all the way. They did repair the runway, but it was not a great repair and the runway was incabaple of supporting the heavy jets which thus had to fly out of argentina and by the time they were on station they didn't have enough fuel to loiter ... soo not really a waste of time then.

beautiful bit of engineering, I saw a vulcan at Middle Wallop air show AGES ago....Amazing. You'll have to post up the confirmed venues too - love to see it again.

It was only one Vulcan that went all the way. They did repair the runway, but it was not a great repair and the runway was incapable of supporting the heavy jets which thus had to fly out of Argentina and by the time they were on station they didn't have enough fuel to loiter ... so not really a waste of time then.

Two Vulcans set out, one had to turn back because a window wasn't closed properly.

 

There was a second raid which had even less effect because the RAF forgot to arm the WW2 vintage 1,000 pound bombs.

 

IIRC, the runway was too short for the Argentinian jets. That's been rectified now, though... we've built them a nice new longer runway which they can use the next time

 

A Harrier could have dropped one bomb on the runway for a fraction of the cost and effort. I believe the Vulcan raids were RAF willy-waving because the Fleet Air Arm were getting all the glory. Remember the RAF had said that aircraft carriers were no longer needed because land-based aircraft could provide air cover for the fleet (what a joke). The result was that Ark Royal had been scrapped, the Hermes was next, and Invincible was to be sold to Australia. The Navy had no real fleet carrier force, and the Falklands campaign was nearly a disaster as a result. It would have been a much easier job if the Harriers had been accompanied by carrier-borne Phantoms and Buccaneers.

 

 

(Still a fantastic aircraft, though.)

"A plan was hatched to launch an air raid from Britain to bomb the only runway on the Falkland Islands, 8,000 miles away, to deny the runway to Argentinian fighter planes. The only aircraft that could possibly do the job was the aged Avro Vulcan, which was scheduled for obsolescence in only three months time. The majority of Vulcans had already been scrapped, there were just two squadrons left, and these were already in the process of decomissioning. The trouble was, to fly that far, the plane would need to be refueled in flight, something at which Vulcans had never been successful, and nobody currently flying in the RAF had ever tried it before. Every attempt at in-light refuelling was a failure. Each time, the probe leaked and spewed fuel over the windscreen, blinding the crew.

 

Then there was the problem of bombs: Although Vulcans could drop conventional `iron' bombs, they had been designed as Britain's Nuclear deterrent, so the racks that would support the iron bombs had been sold for scrap years before. Amazingly, the scrap dealer still had them, and they were hastily bolted back into the Vulcan's bomb bay. Of the 1,000 pound bombs required, there were only 168 in the whole country, all of them Second World War vintage. The bomb load was 21 bombs. Would there be enough for training, and more importantly, after all this time, would they still go off?

 

The Vulcan's radar jamming system had been designed to overcome Soviet technology, by now considered second-rate, but the Argentine forces were equipped with modern American and European radar and anti-aircraft weaponry. The Argentinian gunners would have no problem locating the Vulcan and shooting it down before the bomb run even started. The best radar jammer in the RAF was fitted to Buccaneers, so one was quickly borrowed and hastily welded to the Vulcan's belly, and the crews given on the spot training.

 

The in-flight refuelling plan required a fleet of 11 Victor tankers, just to get one Vulcan bomber over the target. The planners hoped they had a wide margin of safety, but the trouble was, nobody knew how much fuel a fully laden, fully fuelled Vulcan would burn. They estimated for 20,000lb per hour, but a trial flight showed that the Vulcan consumed 36,000lb, an 80% error. The plan was revised, but there were no more tankers available. The plan was revised and revised, but it would be touch and go.

 

On the eve of the flight to Ascension Island, the mid-way stop that would be the launch pad for the raid, the refuelling leak problem was finally solved by RAF technicians, and two Vulcans and 11 Victors took off on their epic flight.

 

After a short rest at Ascension, the attack was launched and the 4,000 mile flight began. Two Vulcans began the flight, with the idea that if the primary bomber developed a fault, the second Vulcan could take over. In the event, the primary bomber experienced technical difficulties immediately following take off and had to turn back, so the second bomber, whose crew had anticipated an early round of drinks in the bar, were now the main focus of their following fleet of Victor tankers.

 

The Vulcan drank even more fuel than anticipated, so the first Victors to refuel the bomber got back to Ascension with only fumes left in their tanks. As the last Victor to refuel the thirsty Vulcan turned back for Ascension, it's crew practiced bail-out procedures, knowing that unless the Victor coming to meet them from Ascension found them first time, they would be swimming home.

 

When aircraft fly over land, the navigator compares plots from the radar with maps to determine the plane's position, but when flying over the featureless ocean, this system is useless. On approaching the Falklands, the Vulcan's crew could not be sure if they were anywhere near the target, but after sending a radar pulse towards where they hoped the Islands would be, to check their position, they found that after flying 4,000 miles over the ocean, their navigator had brought them to a position less than one mile from where they had planned.

 

As the Vulcan began its final run, it was detected by the Argentine anti-aircraft defences. But the borrowed radar jammer did its job; the defenders were confused, and the Vulcan roared over the runway, delivering its bombs, bang on target. Only after the bomber had turned and was on its way home, did the anti-aircraft gunners open fire, but by then, the Vulcan was miles away.

 

The drama did not end there; the Vulcan still had to meet up with a Victor to refuel in order to get home. The Vulcan was so short of fuel that there would be only one chance to find the Victor, but with only minutes of fuel to spare the two aircraft linked and the Vulcan refueled.

 

In the end, the tremendous skill of the aircrews and planners ensured that all the aircraft returned safely, and the raid was a success. A crater 60 feet wide and 40 feet deep was blown in the runway, and although partially repaired, the runway was never again suitable for Argentine fighter planes. It is arguable whether or not the raid contributed to the outcome of the Falklands War, but it cannot be doubted that to carry out the longest range bombing raid in history, and bring back all the aircraft safely is a remarkable achievement. "

 

Quoted from Amazon - book Vulcan 607 for those interested.

 

I saw the Vulcan flying at a show at St Athans years ago, was awesome. One flew over me blacking out the sky when I was young in West Wales, unforgettable.

The alternative view (from Sharkey Ward's book):

..to get twenty-one bombs to Port Stanley is going to take about one million, one hundred thousand pounds of fuel - about 137,000 gallons. That was enough fuel to fly 260 Sea Harrier bombing missions over Port Stanley. Which in turn meant just over 1300 bombs.

 

That's 1300 bombs delivered by modern technology (for the time) rather than 21 bombs delivered by the same method used in a WW2 Lancaster.

 

Those Vulcan raids were a great achievement, but a pointless one.

I havn't studied this but didn't they want to out the runway out of action before the naval task force arrived, so as to give their approach a better chance of not being attacked from the air?

 

Therefore they needed a way of delivering a long-range airstrike rather than a short range carrier based assault.

 

Don't forget that our "carriers" only carry a handful of planes, so those bombs delievered by any other means would have taken several sorties, not just a couple.

 

Also, don't underestimate the value of a successfu raid on morale. I bet the Argentinian invasion force thought they wouldn't be touched until the naval task force got within range. It would also have been a major boost to our guys.

 

Many successful high-risk, high profile military endeavours are dismissed in hindsight as not being worth the effort (the dams raid being one of the most famous). I think these things are easier to assess in the cold light of day well after the event.

 

IIRC the Black Buck raids on the falklands were the longest non-stop bombing raid in history at the time. A hell of an achievement IMHO, and a demostration that little old Britain could still project power a long way from its shores at the time.

I think what is amazing about the Vulcan is that it was designed and built at a time when the Lancaster bomber was still in service. It's seriously THAT old. Men with pipes and a sliderule sat down and designed every detail. Each plane was hand built and only to the same rough plan so each plane handled differently, had different gear installed, different wiring, all sorts of stuff.

 

One hell of a plane.