KEEPING UP A VULCAN AIRCRAFT, 20th November 2009 The Vulcan Mk.2 has a wingspan of 111 ft, is 96 ft long & 27 ft high; it has 4 Bristol Siddeley (later Rolls Royce) Olympus engines; its bomb bay is over 30 ft long & 15 ft high. A crew of five comprise: pilot and co-pilot, two navigators and an air electronics officer. The pilots sit in ejector seats facing forward – the other three crew, who face backwards, do not have ejector seats and in an emergency would have to abandon the aircraft via the entrance hatch. Origins In 1947 the Air Ministry issued a specification for a four engine jet bomber to replace the RAF’s ageing Lancasters and Lincolns. It had to be able to carry a nuclear weapon, fly at 50,000 ft and have a range of 3,000 miles. The bomber was to reach targets in the Soviet Union and evade jet fighter and surface-to-air missile defences. A V Roe & Co built the Type 698 – soon to be called the Vulcan – to meet the specification and it first flew in August 1952. Handley Page built the Victor, and both were ordered into production. As both were very advanced designs there were fears that they could fail. So Vickers was given a contract to built a more conventional aircraft, the Valiant. Collectively the three bombers were known as the V-Bombers, forming what the RAF called the V-Force. At the time, the Vulcan was the largest delta wing aircraft ever built; only the later American XB- 70 Valkyrie supersonic bomber and the Concorde and the Tupolev TU-144 supersonic airliners have been larger. Avro Vulcan and the Cold War In 1956 the Vulcan entered service, with 230 Operational Conversion Unit at RAF Waddington, Lincs. At first the aircraft were painted silver but this was soon changed to an all-over white scheme, designed to reflect the intense heat and light from a nuclear explosion. The V-Force provided Britain’s independent strategic nuclear deterrent to 1969 (when the Royal Navy’s Polaris submarines took over). There was an estimated ‘4 minute warning’ of a Soviet missile or bomber attack. The V-Force had to get off the ground within that time to avoid being wiped out. Operational Readiness Platforms were built at the end of V-Bomber runways so they could take off as quickly as possible. Crews were held at varying stages of readiness according to the political situation: 15 min would see the crews on the airfield, ready to be transported to their aircraft; 5 min would see the crews adjacent to the aircraft; 1 minute would see the crews strapped-in to the aircraft and ready to go at a moment’s notice. All four engines could be started at the push of one button and most V-Bomber airfields could get four aircraft into the air in just over a minute. The Vulcan originally carried the Blue Danube atomic bomb and later carried American thermonuclear weapons and the British Yellow Sun bomb - all free-fall weapons. In 1963, the Blue Steel stand-off missile entered service with some V-Force squadrons. This was a ‘cruise missile’ with a one megaton warhead and could be launched 125 miles from its target. This meant the V- Bombers didn’t have to fly over the defences surrounding Soviet cities and military targets. The Vulcan was designed to be flown entirely on instruments; the view from the cockpit was very poor; blinds were fitted to prevent light from a nuclear explosion blinding the pilots - who were issued with an eye patch to wear if they lifted the blinds, and so only risk losing the sight of one eye and still be able to continue. The V-Force was designed to fly high and fast to evade Soviet jet fighters and anti-aircraft missiles. By the mid-1960s this ceased to be credible, and the V-Force switched to low level attack, below Soviet radar, only ‘popping up’ to height to release their weapons. So the Vulcans lost their white paint scheme, it being replaced by green and grey camouflage on the upper surfaces. 1970s and the Falklands Conflict The Vulcans, although reduced in numbers, still had a vital role, being equipped with the WE-177B tactical nuclear weapon for use against Soviet forces in the European theatre; they could also carry 21 conventional 1000 lb HE bombs. The Vulcan was to be retired from service in 1981 and replaced by the Panavia Tornado ‘fighter-bomber’. However, this slipped, and in 1982 the Argentineans invaded the Falkland Islands. An RN task force was sent to re-take the islands by force if needs be. To prevent the Argentineans from basing war planes at Port Stanley the Vulcans made long-range ‘Operation Black Buck’ bombing missions to deny use of the runway. The nearest available airfield was on Ascension Island, 4000 miles away. The first mission was flown on 30 April/1 May 1982 with the support of 14 Victor air-to-air refuelling tankers to get a single Vulcan to the Falklands. It succeeded, a single 1,000 bomb hitting the runway. Further ‘Black Buck’ missions were flown, some with anti-radar missiles. The success of the missions has been questioned but the Argentineans never based jet aircraft at Port Stanley. Final Duty A single Vulcan squadron remained in service until 1984, hastily converted to air-to-air refuelling tankers. Vulcan XL426 and the Vulcan Restoration Trust XL426 first flew in 1962 with 83 Squadron at RAF Scampton, Lincs. It was equipped with the Blue Steel missile and made regular trips to the Australian Woomera range for missile tests. It later flew with Squadrons 27, 617, then 50 at RAF Waddington. XL426 remained with the RAF’s Vulcan Display Flight until in 1986 its fatigue life expired; XH558 was kept for air display duties and XL426 put up for sale. A Surrey businessman bought it and had it flown to Southend Airport from Scampton on 19 Dec 1986. He intended to overhaul XL426 and use it for civilian display, but he did not have the resources and parking fees rose to over £60,000. He was unable to pay in 1993, when the airport’s management changed, and scrapping was threatened. The aircraft’s Supporters Club stepped in and paid £8,000 for which the debt was cleared and ownership transferred to them. The Club was reconstituted as the VRT, a registered charity aiming to preserve XL426 as part of the UK’s aviation heritage and educating the public about the Vulcan’s role in the RAF. Since taking over ownership of XL426, the VRT has: - Restored XL426 as one of only three Vulcans in ‘live’ condition, able to running its engines and perform taxi-runs; - Repainted XL426 twice - Built a hard standing for XL426 at Southend Airport - Refurbished a WW2 building at the airport for a workshop - Acquired the ground equipment necessary to maintain and run XL426. Return to Power XL426 did a taxi run at the VRT Open Day in August 2005. However, to ensure XL426’s long-term future, the VRT is carrying out a range of engineering work, including skin repairs, overhaul of the wheels and flying control surfaces, renovation of the cockpit and wheel bays, and much more. Many of the materials needed for this are no longer available – modern ones often being better and lighter ! With no intention of flying again some parts need not be kept in a functional state. Once this work is complete, XL426 will return to 100 knot taxying..