For the rear crew, at least we could stand up. One problem all Vulcan crew members shared was atrocious visibility. An Avro Vulcan B. When the aircraft was first envisioned, its 50,foot-plus ceiling was thought to be the perfect defense against Soviet interceptors. We expected to be at about 54,, and the MiG stopped well before that. We could fry target radars. RAF tacticians brought the Vulcan down from the stratosphere to the deck after that, and crew training changed accordingly.
Lots of basic things were now wrong, and there was never enough money to put them right. The Martin-Baker Company developed a system that could have been retrofitted to the Vulcan, but the RAF decided against installing it, anticipating that the delta-wing bomber would be in service only a few more years.
New bomber designs on the drawing board would correct the problem, so why bother? They never imagined that all those new projects would be canceled, leaving the Vulcan to soldier on alone. They had just got rid of the Blue Steel standoff nuclear missile and reverted to the free-fall role with both nuclear and conventional weapons.
We had a problem because we had to do about 25 hours a month to meet the NATO target for operational proficiency, but the aircraft suffered terribly from metal fatigue at low level—hardly surprising, as it had not been designed for this. As a result, we could only do about 30 minutes over land at low level, and low level for us was feet.
Even worse, being designed for high level, where the IAS [indicated airspeed] is low, the Vulcan had a low IAS limit, and we flew low level at knots. Basic training aircraft with low-hours solo students would overtake us.
This was totally valueless for the pilots, and the navigators could have gotten better practice in the simulator. Add in some 30 minutes circuit pounding and 15 minutes taxi time, and you had a typical Vulcan sortie.
But we met the NATO standard. Although the SAC crews spent a week at a time on alert, waiting for the klaxon to sound, RAF bomber crews did it a bit differently. Roy Brocklebank recalled that most of the RAF bomber squadrons had one crew on alert for each hour period.
His unit, No. Or we might just be at the squadron waiting. We played hours upon hours of uckers, Risk or cards. Instead, we had constant exercise EDOM alerts [scrambling the crew to the jet without actually launching] about every 36 hours. An underside view shows the cavernous bomb bay with doors open. MoD Crown Copyright. We maintained a minute state, which meant we were to be airborne within that time should the launch order be given. We could then be called to 05 [cockpit readiness], 02 [taxi to the runway] or start engines.
The tower would fire a flare, which told us what the alert state was. Usually the pilot drove as we hurtled down the taxiway. One crew I was on opened the inside rear door, and the right-hand and center occupants leaned out, held by the left-hand occupant.
The open door and displaced weight acted as an airbrake as the driver whirled the car through a turn to head toward the aircraft at about 85 miles an hour. The RAF police security guard simply let the crew through, no time for the SAC-style indoctrination identification protocol. The policeman then parked the car. One time the crew drove to its assigned parking bay, but the spot was already filled by a large fire extinguisher. Both car and extinguisher were write-offs, but we made the alert time.
It was not that uncommon to see a naked copilot racing down the corridor, holding a flying suit and covered in soapsuds. Most of the V-Force planned to enter via Norway or Sweden, where the Soviet air defense system was considered weaker.
Three Avro Vulcan B1's in-line formation. Avro Vulcan B2 XH landing and with parachute deployed Avro Vulcan 'Buddy' refuelling. First few with straight leading edge, later retrofitted with Phase 2 kinked wing. Early examples were finished in silver, although later changed to 'anti-flash' white. Last few unmodified B. The last flight by any B. Powerplant 4 x Bristol-Siddeley Olympus or Span feet 0 inches The initial production aircraft. Many converted to B. The B. Unlike the B. Developed version of the B.
Larger, thinner wing than the B. ECM similar to B. Nine B. Five aircraft further modified for Air Sampling Role. As a result of this, in , the V bomber force was switched from high-altitude to a low-level attack profile. As a result, in the event of war, the V bombers would fly towards their target at low-level, below radar cover.
For these missions, the Vulcans and Victors were equipped to carry the Blue Steel stand-off missile which was fitted with the 1. Blue Steel had a limited range of miles km and once within this range, the V bombers would have to climb to release the missile. At this point they would be vulnerable to anti-aircraft missile defences. Although the V bombers never had to participate in a nuclear war, Vickers Valiants did drop nuclear bombs during tests in the s.
In April Argentinian forces invaded the Falkland Islands. Following this, the RAF was tasked with launching attacks on the only runway in the islands, at Port Stanley, and its surrounding air defences. These raids were known as Operation Black Buck and were flown by Vulcans, with a large number of Victor tankers providing air-to-air refuelling support, from the airfield on Ascension Island to the Falkland Islands and back again.
Black Buck 1 saw the runway bombed, thereby deterring the Argentinians from deploying fast jets to Port Stanley, from where they could have attacked by British naval Task Force.
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