OT The Vulcan Bomber

Today I was working at Finningley the home of this

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Just after 3pm it it went into the sky.

The first thing you notice is the noise. It makes more noise just taxiing down the runway than a commercial jet makes on lift off!

It then flew towards the house (the floor vibrated) and blew the fumes from it's exhaust into the house as it made it's turn. It smelt like a an old petrol engine with a manual choke that was too far out.

Awesome - but totally OT.

Reply to
ARW
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When I was a lad I used to stay at my Uncles farm during the summer holidays near Retford, one day whilst combining in the field a Vulcan flew very low overhead, apart from seeing every detail of it's undercarrage I think I have been somewhat deaf eversince.

Barry

Reply to
Corporal Jones

Fantastic effort by those attempting to keep it flying - I use to chip in - but I fear it's just too expensive to keep it going for much longer. As you say though, an awesome plane.

Andy C

Reply to
Andy Cap

Indeed. Stealth bombers seem to have come on a lot since those days.

michael adams

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Reply to
michael adams

many years ago I worked in Pontefract and the Vulcan's used to come in low over the town using the bus staion as a marker. Then they puled the stick back and pushed the throttle hard forward for a near vertical climb.

I still get the shivers down my spine just thinking about them - fabulous planes.

Wasn't their last active flying to the Falklands or have I misremembered that?

Reply to
David P

It was one of their missions - and they totally failed in that one other than for moral purposes:-(

Reply to
ARW

It's been at Welshpool airshow today.

Reply to
Adrian

I know, and it landed back in Doncaster at around 16:57.

Reply to
ARW

For each operation flying direct from the UK, three 22 yr old Vulcans had to be refuelled

8 times in flight by a fleet of Victor tankers based on Ascension Island some of which themselves had to be refuelled in flight. "At almost 6,800 nautical miles (12,600 km) and 16 hours for the return journey, these were the longest-ranged bombing raids in history at that time."

It has been suggested that the Black Buck raids were pressed home by the Royal Air Force[7] because the British armed forces had been cut in the late seventies and the RAF may have desired a greater role in the conflict to prevent further cuts.[8]

[...]

The military effectiveness of Black Buck remains controversial to this day with some independent sources describing it as minimal,[35] the damage to the airfield and radars being quickly repaired.[36] The runway continued to be used by Argentine C-130s until the end of the war and was also available for Aermacchi MB-339 jets[37] and FMA Pucar?s.[38] As a result of the controversy a number of common misconceptions exist about the raid.

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michael adams

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Reply to
michael adams

wiki is as reliable as harry

Reply to
ARW

not quite true. Read the wiki page on "Operation Black Buck"

Reply to
charles

"ARW" wrote in news:ln2bqf$ph0$1@dont- email.me:

An awesome project. To restore a complex 4 engined military aircraft that uses obsolete electrics, etc and to get it approved by the CIVIL Aviation Authorities is hell of an achievement. The fund raising has been done imaginatively and professionally.

Reply to
DerbyBorn

ARW expressed precisely :

Whilst working there, I witnessed the entire fleet take off, now thats a noise you would never forget.

Reply to
Harry Bloomfield

No, from Ascension Island

Reply to
charles

I remember a cartoon in a book of Falklands military humour (still have it somewhere):

Argentine soldiers watching a Vulcan drop a bomb on (well, near) the Port Stanley runway:

"Caramba, Pedro [or some such]: If that's the size of their planes, how big are their aircraft carriers??"

Reply to
Bob Eager

We had a CCF camp at RAF Waddington in the 1960s when it was home to the nuclear deterrent Vulcans. One was loud but a flight taking off on one of the quick-response exercises was awesome. But not as awesome as sitting in the rear gunner's turret of the last flying Lancaster.

Reply to
Robin

In article ,

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Possibly, I'd rather trust the book -- Vulcan 607 by Rowland White

-- chronicling the Falklands mission. I found it a very interesting read.

Don't forget the Vulcan fleet was being wound down and was within a few months of being scrapped at the time of the Falklands raid. So it was certainly something of an achievement to bring the fleet back to operational status and mount the raid.

Reply to
Dennis Davis

Yup, that being the black line on the map with the 6,300 km on it.

Reply to
michael adams

Yup there is another parked at Southend airport near us. Its no longer airworthy, but they are allowed to taxi it from time to time.

(last time they did that they got the front wheel off the ground!)

Reply to
John Rumm

This summer the Canadians are bringing theirs over - so there will be TWO Lancs flying together for the first time since the 60s.

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Andy

Reply to
Vir Campestris

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