Avro Vulcan

The Avro Vulcan was a British delta-wing subsonic bomber, operated by the Royal Air Force from 1953 until 1984. The Vulcan was part of the RAF's V bomber force, which fulfilled the role of nuclear deterrence against the Soviet Union during the Cold War.

Design and prototypes

Design work began at A. V. Roe in 1947 under Roy Chadwick. The Ministry of Defence specification required a bomber with a top speed of 500 knots (930 km/h), an operating ceiling of 50,000 ft (15,000 m), a range of 3,000 nautical miles (5500 km) and a bomb load of 10,000 lb (4500 kg). Design work also began at Vickers and Handley Page, all three designs were approved — the Valiant, the Victor, and the Vulcan.

Avro began scale prototype testing in 1948 with the single-seater Type 707, and despite the crash of the first prototype on 30 September 1949 work continued. The first full-scale prototype aircraft, the Type 698, made its maiden flight (after its designer had died) on 31 August 1952. The Vulcan name was not chosen until 1953.

Operational aircraft

In September 1956 the RAF received its first Vulcan B.1, XA897, which immediately went on a fly-the-flag mission to New Zealand. On 1 October, while approaching London Airport to complete the tour, XA897 crashed short of the runway in bad weather conditions. The second Vulcan was not delivered until 1957, and the delivery rate picked up from then. The B.2 variant was first tested in 1957 and entered service in 1960. It had a larger wing and better performance than the B.1 and had a distinctive kink in its delta wing to reduce turbulence. In all 134 Vulcans were produced (45 B.1 and 89 B.2), the last being delivered to the RAF in January 1965. The last military-operational Vulcan squadron was disbanded in March 1984.

Nuclear deterrent

As part of Britain's independent nuclear deterrent the Vulcan initially carried Britain's first nuclear weapon, the Blue Danube gravity bomb. Blue Danube was a low-kiloton yield fission bomb designed before the United States detonated the first hydrogen bomb. The British then embarked on their own hydrogen bomb programme, and to bridge the gap until these were ready the V-bombers were equipped with an Interim Megaton Weapon based on the Blue Danube casing and Green Grass, a large pure-fission warhead of 400kT yield. This bomb was known as Violet Club. Only five were deployed before a better weapon was introduced as Yellow Sun Mk.1. A later model, Yellow Sun Mk.2 was fitted with Red Snow, a British-built variant of the U.S. Mk-28 warhead, and Yellow Sun Mk.2 was the first British thermonuclear weapon to be deployed, on both the Vulcan and Victor. All three V-bombers also carried U.S. thermonuclear bombs assigned to NATO under the dual-key arrangements. Red Beard (a smaller, lighter low-kiloton yield) bomb was pre-positioned in Cyprus and Singapore for use by Vulcan and Victor bombers, and from 1962 26 Vulcan B.2As and the Victor bombers were armed with the Blue Steel missile a rocket-powered stand-off bomb, which was also armed with the 1.1 megaton yield Red Snow warhead. When the Skybolt ALBM was cancelled and Blue Steel retired, the Vulcan bombers adopted a high-low-high mission profile using a rapidly introduced parachute-retarded laydown bomb, WE.177B. This weapon WE.177 extended the life of the Vulcan in a strategic role until the British Polaris submarines were operational. WE.177B continued in use on the Vulcan in a low-level tactical strike role in support of European Nato ground forces, and outlived the Vulcan bombers, being used also on Tornado and other low-level strike aircraft until retirement in 1998.

Conventional role

Although the primary weapon for the Vulcan was nuclear, Vulcans could carry up to 21 x 1000 lb (454 kg) bombs in a secondary role. The only combat missions involving the Vulcan took place in the 1982 Falklands War with Argentina, when a number of Vulcans flew the 3,380 nautical miles (6300 km) from Ascension Island to Stanley to bomb the occupied airfield there with conventional bombs in Operation Black Buck. By this date the number of Victors available for air-to-air refueling was extremely limited, so some Vulcan aircraft were adapted in just 50 days to fulfil that role. Five Vulcans were chosen for the operation: their bomb bays were modified, the fuel systems replaced and the electronics updated. The first bombing mission was on April 30–May 1 and there were five further bombing missions. At the time these missions held the record for the world's longest distance raids. While only one 1000 lb bomb hit Stanley's runway, the raid demonstrated the British willingness and ability to attack the Argentine defenses.

Aerial refuelling role

After the end of the Falklands War, the Vulcan was due to be withdrawn from RAF service. However, the disbandment of 57 Squadron and delays in the operational availability of the Tristar left a gap in the RAF's air to air refuelling capability. As an interim measure six Vulcan B.2s were converted into AAR tankers and commissioned into service with 50 Squadron from 1982 to 1984.

Restoration to flight

A team of volunteers and specialists are working to return Vulcan XH558 to the skies they are hoping to have the plane ready for a test flight in August 2006.

Miscellaneous

The Vulcan was the first jet-powered bomber to use delta wings.
The Vulcan was the first aircraft to use (analog) Fly by wire.
Wing Commander Roly Falk demonstrated the aircrafts high performance in the second production Vulcan, XA890, by performing a barrel-roll immediatly after takeoff at the 1955 Farnborough Air Show.
Because of its enoumous wing area and very high level of power, a Vulcan could actually out-turn an F-15 Eagle at very high altitudes (40,000ft+).
A Vulcan was used as a test-bed for the Concorde engine, the Rolls-Royce/Snecma Olympus and the Rolls-Royce Conway turbofan.
Although the Vulcan had a crew of up to seven, only the pilot and co-pilot were provided with ejector seats. This feature of the Vulcan has been the basis of significant criticism; there have been instances of the pilot and co-pilot ejecting in an emergency leaving their colleagues to face certain death.
On 14 October 1975 Vulcan B.2 XM645 of No.9 Squadron RAF Waddington lost its right undercarriage when it attempted to land at Luqa airport in Malta. The pilot decided to do a circuit to crash land on runway 24 after it was covered with fire prevention foam. As the aircraft was turning inbound for the landing, it exploded in mid-air over Zabbar village, killing 5 of its 7 crew members. Large pieces of the aircraft fell on the village, but with very low casualties—one woman (Vincenza Zammit, 48), who was shopping in a street was hit by an electric cable and was killed instantly, and some 20 others were injured slightly. Only the pilot and co-pilot escaped death by using their ejector seats (provided only for them).

Specifications (Vulcan B.2)

References

External links

Avro Vulcan Information
Vulcan to the Skyand ^* Company heading restoration to flight of Vulcan XH558 at Bruntingthorpe UK.
Vulcans in Camera
Vulcan on display at Castle Air Museum, California
Vulcan history
Vulcan Restoration Trust
Aircraft.co.za - Avro Vulcan
Aerospaceweb.org - Information reguarding the Avro Vulcan

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