we want avro vulcan!!!!

[Replicant]

Vickers Valiant was the first of the V-bombers.  Again it's a strategic nuclear bomber but when it swapped to the low-level roll the airframe couldn't cope with the added stress and cracks began developing in the spars and was withdrawn from service.
http://www.thunder-and-lightnings.co.uk/valiant/history.html




The V-bombers below

[SELECTOR]

vulcan best heavy ever....and most beautiful.. seen it many times at airshows.. nothing sounds as good..

[rogerdee]

I also believe one was used in  a james bond film in the 60's and a very good mock up was used in under water shots.

 if ou wath the film it will give you more an idea of the size.Another thing mentioned was in a mock dog fight in the 80's it could out manourver a f16   head to head but would loose out if missels were deployed?

[Replicant]

Originally posted by rogerdee
I also believe one was used in  a james bond film in the 60's and a very good mock up was used in under water shots.

 if ou wath the film it will give you more an idea of the size.Another thing mentioned was in a mock dog fight in the 80's it could out manourver a f16   head to head but would loose out if missels were deployed?

Vulcan was withdrawn from service in 1982/83 (tanker role) and the they only kept one Vulcan flying for airshows until 1992 I think.

Head to head vs F16, well it must have been at very high altitude where it could out turn/out perform any interceptor jet.  Its big wing sure helped!

[frank3]

Then why can't I out manouevre a spit with my lanc?

[Angus]

A lightly loaded Lanc could turn very very tight. They would sometimes "play" with spit pilots, and to the great surprize of the Spitty drivers, the Lanc would force them close to stalling in a tight turn!
Anyway, the Vulcan is sooo cooool. There is one inside at Hendon air museum, that wing is just huge.

[Replicant]

Originally posted by frank3
Then why can't I out manouevre a spit with my lanc?

I'm sure you could at 40,000-60,000ft

[Coolridr]

Vulcans may have made longest bombing mission to the Falklands...it was done so they could be involved...however it was really expensive in fuel cost and was ineffective in that campain...nice looking plane though

[Replicant]

Originally posted by Coolridr
Vulcans may have made longest bombing mission to the Falklands...it was done so they could be involved...however it was really expensive in fuel cost and was ineffective in that campain...nice looking plane though

It was purely a political exercise, a show of force, to demonstrate that Argentina could be bombed from the Ascension Islands.  It also served a purpose disabling Port Stanley for use of jets (although turbo props could still be used on the 'now' shorter runway).  The main intention was to seperate the garrison at Port Stanley from the rest of the island - Port Stanley was on a sperate to the rest of the island.

I spoke to a Vulcan pilot back in January and he said that Port Stanley was very difficult to bomb since the Vulcan's were set up for radar bombing and why they had to bomb the runway side ways to ensure hitting it!  He confirmed that it was a show of force to Argentina.

Besides the fact that nearing the end of the war Britain had a nuclear sub just off the coast of Argentina, so it was irrelevent that the Vulcan could bomb Argentina.

[Rasker]

speaking of bomber vs. fighter maneuverability, I've read that a B36 could out turn an F86 at operational altitudes, again, with the biggest wing of all.

[hogenbor]

Vulcans are dead impressive but I like the Victor even more.

I once heard in a Discovery Channel documentary that the Victor is the largest aircraft to have exceeded Mach one (just). Can anyone confirm?

[Telstar]

Originally posted by SELECTOR
vulcan best heavy ever....and most beautiful.. seen it many times at airshows.. nothing sounds as good..

Yeah, They are impressive A/C

However i only managed to see one once in real life, And it crashed shortly afterwards!


When i was a youngster i was walking to school and heard a huge racket, I looked up to see a Vulcan passing overhead....... with smoke pouring out of it!

 When i got home later that day i was shocked to see the news report that it had gone down!

Fortunately the crew had bailed safely.

Needless to say i'm very careful, NOT to look at A/C passing overhead now!

[M.C.202]

Back in '73 or '74 I saw one fly at Travis AFB near Sacramento CA. the rate of climb and roll rate and turning radius were eye popping. They put on a fighter type show before heading off.
Well done Chaps!

[Replicant]

I've been lucky to see several fly.  Their air display was very impressive and the picture below shows how they start the display pulling up to about 50-55 deg from take-off!

Still pulling up.... it gets steeper!

[Furball]

OMFG! check this out...

 http://www.planestv.com/vidclips/vulcan.wmv

That takeoff is unbelieveable.. for a plane that size.

Its *almost* like a B52 taking off vert and rolling off the side!