A_P_2015_04

60 African Pilot April 2015

cockpit instruments were fi lmed by cine cameras and the fi lms were then
read by a team of fi lm-readers and transcribed to tabular form. These tables
were then plotted on graph paper by any handy apprentices. During a series
of tests of emergency braking systems, which involved large rubber brake
pads carried between the main bogie wheels and extended to contact the
runway, the company photographer Paul Culerne was actually strapped to
the front undercarriage leg to photograph the operation of the pads (no
videos in those days). This was whilst the aircraft was moving at landing
speed - not when stationary!

VULCAN PRODUCTION

Piloted by Wing Commander Roly Falk, VX770 fi rst fl ew on 30 August 1952
and watched only by Avro employees and a small band of press, Falk showed
just why he had fought for a fi ghter-style joystick instead of the traditional
yoke. The fi rst fl ight did not go entirely to plan, because two objects were
seen to detach from the aircraft and fl oat to the ground. These turned out to
be the triangular undercarriage doors attached to the rear of the main gear
legs and the aircraft fl ew without them for a short time afterwards. In 1953
the Type 698 was offi cially named the Vulcan and surely there cannot have
been a more fi tting appellation given to any aircraft? Several spectacular
Farnborough appearances followed, including a full roll at the 1955 airshow.
Falk had actually rolled the Vulcan on returning to Avro’s Woodford base
after a previous Farnborough appearance. On that occasion Falk ‘rolled’ the
Vulcan so low and so noisily that all the skylight windows in the assembly
building were smashed!

The prototype had fi rst fl own with Avon engines, as the Rolls-Royce BE.10s,
later named Olympus, being developed were not yet ready. The Vulcan was

soon fi tted with Armstrong-Siddeley Sapphires instead, but only with the

fi tment of the Olympus was the aircraft’s true potential realised. By August

1953, the second prototype, also fi tted with the Olympus engines took to the

air. Unfortunately, at higher speeds, the wing was suffering from buffeting

during manoeuvres and the problem was serious enough to require a partial

re-design. The production B.1 gained a kinked and dropped leading edge

and a lengthened nose to accommodate extra fuel and simplify the nose

gear leg retraction system. Delivery of production B.1s began in 1956 and

the fi rst squadron (83 Squadron) was formed in May 1957. However, by this

time the RAF already had a wary eye on the ever-increasing sophistication

of the Soviet Union’s defences.

VULCAN B.2S

The 1957 Defence White Paper spelled an end for many defence

projects in the UK, reorganising the UK’s defences to support the

nuclear deterrent force. With the Vulcan as the tip of the nuclear

spear, improving the B.1 was high on the agenda. More powerful

engines, an electronic warfare (ECM) suite in a new larger tail-cone,

in-flight refuelling capability, an improved electrical system and further

improved and larger wings formed the basis of a new variant; the B.2

(some B.1s had some B.2 improvements made to them, then being

called B.1As).

With a longer range, the ability to carry a heavier payload and much

improved self-defence measures in a vastly more powerful ECM suite,

the B.2 made sure that missions into the Soviet Union would not be

the suicide mission they would have been with the B.1, particularly

when the switch was made to low level penetration of enemy airspace.

Image copyright of Eric Coeckelberghs and courtesy

of Vulcan to the Sky Trust - http://www.vulcantothesky.org