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  3. XH558 display this year - her last season of flight

XH558 display this year - her last season of flight

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  • N Nagy Vilmos

    She is the last airworthy Vulcan, but sadly her flying days end this year. I have been able to see her both static and flying and the Vulcan is the bog's dollocks of all Cold War aircraft. No-one, with the exception of the garrison at Port Stanley in May 1982, has witnessed her majesty and not found it a life-lifting experience. If you get the chance this summer, go and see her. Here[^] is her current schedule; it will be regularly updated.

    veni bibi saltavi

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    glennPattonPub
    wrote on last edited by
    #3

    Also If you haven't read Vulcan 607 makes you think. I have seen her twice in the air also I have seen most but not all Vulcans that are preserved, while the Victor was the most Sci-Fi looking the Vulcan did the job the best!

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    • N Nagy Vilmos

      She is the last airworthy Vulcan, but sadly her flying days end this year. I have been able to see her both static and flying and the Vulcan is the bog's dollocks of all Cold War aircraft. No-one, with the exception of the garrison at Port Stanley in May 1982, has witnessed her majesty and not found it a life-lifting experience. If you get the chance this summer, go and see her. Here[^] is her current schedule; it will be regularly updated.

      veni bibi saltavi

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      Jorgen Andersson
      wrote on last edited by
      #4

      And if you can't make it to the UK in the summer you can take a look here[^] <Nomex suit on>The Victor looked a lot cooler</Nomex suit on>

      Wrong is evil and must be defeated. - Jeff Ello

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      • G glennPattonPub

        Also If you haven't read Vulcan 607 makes you think. I have seen her twice in the air also I have seen most but not all Vulcans that are preserved, while the Victor was the most Sci-Fi looking the Vulcan did the job the best!

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        Nagy Vilmos
        wrote on last edited by
        #5

        I was never enamoured by the bloody tankers! :laugh: I have read Vulcan 607 and it was a truly remarkable achievement. One thing that stands out for me is the "Aaah..." moment when the first wave of Vics return to Wideawake and they realise that they've slightly, marginally underestimated the fuel needed by a tad...

        veni bibi saltavi

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        • N Nagy Vilmos

          I was never enamoured by the bloody tankers! :laugh: I have read Vulcan 607 and it was a truly remarkable achievement. One thing that stands out for me is the "Aaah..." moment when the first wave of Vics return to Wideawake and they realise that they've slightly, marginally underestimated the fuel needed by a tad...

          veni bibi saltavi

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          glennPattonPub
          wrote on last edited by
          #6

          Yeah, well that's what you get by using a calculator from a market stall! :)

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          • J Jorgen Andersson

            And if you can't make it to the UK in the summer you can take a look here[^] <Nomex suit on>The Victor looked a lot cooler</Nomex suit on>

            Wrong is evil and must be defeated. - Jeff Ello

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            glennPattonPub
            wrote on last edited by
            #7

            To quote a member of the USAF it looks like it's going Mach 1 on the hard standing ;)

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            • J Jorgen Andersson

              And if you can't make it to the UK in the summer you can take a look here[^] <Nomex suit on>The Victor looked a lot cooler</Nomex suit on>

              Wrong is evil and must be defeated. - Jeff Ello

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              Nagy Vilmos
              wrote on last edited by
              #8

              Jörgen Andersson wrote:

              Nomex suit on

              You'll bally well need more than *THAT*!:mad:

              veni bibi saltavi

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              • N Nagy Vilmos

                Jörgen Andersson wrote:

                Nomex suit on

                You'll bally well need more than *THAT*!:mad:

                veni bibi saltavi

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                glennPattonPub
                wrote on last edited by
                #9

                Well it did look 'cool' and served longer than any other V Bomber (alright as Petrol Station but...)

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                • G glennPattonPub

                  Yeah, well that's what you get by using a calculator from a market stall! :)

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                  Nagy Vilmos
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #10

                  It makes you realise how much traffic the RAF had down there when you think that Wideawake, with her single runway, was the busiest airport in the world during May 1982. The only limiting factor was not the speed at which they could taxi the planes on and off, but the rate they could pump the av-gas ashore from the tankers in the harbour. :laugh:

                  veni bibi saltavi

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                  • G glennPattonPub

                    Well it did look 'cool' and served longer than any other V Bomber (alright as Petrol Station but...)

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                    Nagy Vilmos
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #11

                    Even as a tanker it was useless. It was too slow for the Vulcans and the later fast jets, and they had little to no rear visibility to know what the refuelling plane was doing or where it was.

                    veni bibi saltavi

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                    • N Nagy Vilmos

                      Even as a tanker it was useless. It was too slow for the Vulcans and the later fast jets, and they had little to no rear visibility to know what the refuelling plane was doing or where it was.

                      veni bibi saltavi

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                      glennPattonPub
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #12

                      Point, they did however serve up 'til Gulf 1 as tankers I have seen a photo of two F18's tanking off one so it was doing some thing useful. I think there was a news story about one that was set up for fast taxi runs at Brunitng Thorpe getting air borne by 'accident' :rolleyes:

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                      • N Nagy Vilmos

                        She is the last airworthy Vulcan, but sadly her flying days end this year. I have been able to see her both static and flying and the Vulcan is the bog's dollocks of all Cold War aircraft. No-one, with the exception of the garrison at Port Stanley in May 1982, has witnessed her majesty and not found it a life-lifting experience. If you get the chance this summer, go and see her. Here[^] is her current schedule; it will be regularly updated.

                        veni bibi saltavi

                        G Offline
                        G Offline
                        GuyThiebaut
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #13

                        There's a great video somewhere on youtube, from the BBC in the 1980's, about the attack on the runway by the Vulcans. It's amazing how many tankers they had to fly and then use flying tankers to refuel other flying tankers which would go on to refuel the Vulcans - all for one pass over the runway then heading back home.

                        “That which can be asserted without evidence, can be dismissed without evidence.”

                        ― Christopher Hitchens

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                        • N Nagy Vilmos

                          Even as a tanker it was useless. It was too slow for the Vulcans and the later fast jets, and they had little to no rear visibility to know what the refuelling plane was doing or where it was.

                          veni bibi saltavi

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                          Jorgen Andersson
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #14

                          Nagy Vilmos wrote:

                          It was too slow for the Vulcans

                          The top speed of the Vulcan was only 29 km/h higher than the Victor, I feel you are a bit picky here, Shirley they can let of the accelerator a tiniest bit while refuelling. The Victor was better than the Vulcan in most areas until the RAF changed tactics and decided to do low level bombing instead of flying at max height. Something the airframe of the Victor wasn't good enough for.

                          Wrong is evil and must be defeated. - Jeff Ello

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                          • G glennPattonPub

                            Point, they did however serve up 'til Gulf 1 as tankers I have seen a photo of two F18's tanking off one so it was doing some thing useful. I think there was a news story about one that was set up for fast taxi runs at Brunitng Thorpe getting air borne by 'accident' :rolleyes:

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                            Nagy Vilmos
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #15

                            They had problems with the Tornado, the Victor's maximum airspeed was below the Tornado's stall speed. They fixed it by... ... flying the Victor in a downward parabola, reminiscent of the Vommit Commit, with the Tornado in tow. :laugh:

                            veni bibi saltavi

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                            • G GuyThiebaut

                              There's a great video somewhere on youtube, from the BBC in the 1980's, about the attack on the runway by the Vulcans. It's amazing how many tankers they had to fly and then use flying tankers to refuel other flying tankers which would go on to refuel the Vulcans - all for one pass over the runway then heading back home.

                              “That which can be asserted without evidence, can be dismissed without evidence.”

                              ― Christopher Hitchens

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                              Nagy Vilmos
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #16

                              This is the 607 mission called Black Buck. Read the book it's fecking great. The pilot from BB1, Martin Whithers, is also one of the few pilots left who is allowed to fly XH558. He will most probably fly at least once this summer and I would bet good money he gets the last go before she retires.

                              veni bibi saltavi

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                              • J Jorgen Andersson

                                Nagy Vilmos wrote:

                                It was too slow for the Vulcans

                                The top speed of the Vulcan was only 29 km/h higher than the Victor, I feel you are a bit picky here, Shirley they can let of the accelerator a tiniest bit while refuelling. The Victor was better than the Vulcan in most areas until the RAF changed tactics and decided to do low level bombing instead of flying at max height. Something the airframe of the Victor wasn't good enough for.

                                Wrong is evil and must be defeated. - Jeff Ello

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                                Nagy Vilmos
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #17

                                I \*may\* be being unfair, though I doubt it, but I just think the Vulcan is a great plane. Unlike the Victor, she also fired in anger.

                                veni bibi saltavi

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                                • N Nagy Vilmos

                                  They had problems with the Tornado, the Victor's maximum airspeed was below the Tornado's stall speed. They fixed it by... ... flying the Victor in a downward parabola, reminiscent of the Vommit Commit, with the Tornado in tow. :laugh:

                                  veni bibi saltavi

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                                  glennPattonPub
                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #18

                                  If memory serves when they flew Maggie & Dennis to the Falklands in a Herc they had all sorts of problems and had to do a similar thing. Today the VC10 has a similar problem with the Typhoon (one reason they are changing to Airbus tankers??)

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                                  • N Nagy Vilmos

                                    I \*may\* be being unfair, though I doubt it, but I just think the Vulcan is a great plane. Unlike the Victor, she also fired in anger.

                                    veni bibi saltavi

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                                    Jorgen Andersson
                                    wrote on last edited by
                                    #19

                                    The bombing of the Falkland islands in '82 must be one of the looniest missions ever. :) Need Brits to come up with something like that. The tactical effect was small at the best, but strategically it was one of the most important missions ever. When the Argentinians realized they could get bombed, they kept the majority of their air force at home.

                                    Wrong is evil and must be defeated. - Jeff Ello

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                                    • J Jorgen Andersson

                                      The bombing of the Falkland islands in '82 must be one of the looniest missions ever. :) Need Brits to come up with something like that. The tactical effect was small at the best, but strategically it was one of the most important missions ever. When the Argentinians realized they could get bombed, they kept the majority of their air force at home.

                                      Wrong is evil and must be defeated. - Jeff Ello

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                                      Nagy Vilmos
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #20

                                      Get a copy of *Vulcan 607*, it is fascinating what they had to do. Apart from anything, the Vulcans were all but ready to be disbanded, they had no one who knew how to fly refuelling in one, the release mechanism wasn't suitable for multiple bombs and there was no real air-to-air on them.

                                      veni bibi saltavi

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                                      • N Nagy Vilmos

                                        Get a copy of *Vulcan 607*, it is fascinating what they had to do. Apart from anything, the Vulcans were all but ready to be disbanded, they had no one who knew how to fly refuelling in one, the release mechanism wasn't suitable for multiple bombs and there was no real air-to-air on them.

                                        veni bibi saltavi

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                                        Jorgen Andersson
                                        wrote on last edited by
                                        #21

                                        I did read a book about those missions many years ago, but I'm pretty sure it was another book.

                                        Wrong is evil and must be defeated. - Jeff Ello

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                                        • J Jorgen Andersson

                                          I did read a book about those missions many years ago, but I'm pretty sure it was another book.

                                          Wrong is evil and must be defeated. - Jeff Ello

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                                          glennPattonPub
                                          wrote on last edited by
                                          #22

                                          I'm with Nagy read Vulcan 607, only then the sheer lunacy of Black Buck is revealed (attempts to seal pressure seal on a window with sandwich wrappers). Roland White wrote it after the 25 year limit on secrets was lifted. It was a typical lash up op that the we Brits are famous for!

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