I found this video on YouTube, taken in a viewing area along the A15 road under the approach to runway 20 at RAF Waddington. This was during their 2014 airshow, and there is a very interesting mix of aircraft here! [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hFe3dE4HZg[/ame]
Interesting to see the control movement differences between the F-16 at ~45 seconds and the one at ~2:10 which seems to be a much smoother approach.
Plenty of Boeings in that sequence; when I saw the B-17, I knew this wasn't just a normal day at the air base! The KC-767 at the beginning was a reminder that "our" 767, Bob, is still going to be on the Everett production line for some years to come. And it was nice to see 707 and C-135 variants as well.
Here's about 10 minutes of great Vulcan. From an airshow in England. Fantastic. The Last Avro Vulcan Bomber Flying Just Pulled Off An Amazing Stunt
That video is absolutely one of the best! The Vulcan put on the same show when it was at Abbotsford in the late 60's or early 70's. I talked my way into taking a look at the " flight deck" which was nothing but a cramped up tightly confined coffin. It is so narrow that the copilot's position is staggered aft. It was originally designed for one pilot.
I remember when the Vulcans did their pass in a hard bank with the weapons bay doors open, revealing an enormous bay!
That was one of the cardinal features of the Lancaster, too. The bomb bay went from just aft of the pilot to well aft of the wing. Great airplane. Correction; the bomb bay started just FORWARD of the pilot and went way aft of the wing trailing edge.
Draken and hawker Hunter too. What was the relative performance of the Vulcan compared top say a B47 and B52.
Short answer: Fastest: Vulcan, B-47, B52 (No contest, Vulcan much faster in cruise and max - almost 100 mph faster) MTOW: B-52, B-47, Vulcan (B-52 is over double the Vulcan, B-47 is about 10% more than Vulcan Size: Vulcan smallest (slightly smaller than the B-47, only about 2/3 the size of the B-52) *I did a search, but it just verified what I presumed. Vulcan numbers are the later versions.
The Vulcan is an amazing aircraft... if you've never seen one fly, hurry to England this summer as it is the last year this example will be flying. I believe there is an issue with both the engines and parts of the wings that have reached there fatigue life.. I remember going to Lincolnshire as a kid, watch the F4 Phantoms out of Coningsby and then over to Scampton to watch the Vulcans..... you think one is loud, try a squadron....
I just saw a video of the B-52 landing at Oshkosh and realized that 65 years ago I hired on with Boeing and almost fell over when I walked into the B-52 mock up building and saw that monster for the first time. "That will never fly!" but two years later I was present at the first takeoff, having gone from flight line modification mechanic to Production Illustrator. Next was the 707 and all that followed. Now, here I am turned out to pasture and that darn thing is still in use!
A great video, but bittersweet, as it took me back to that terrible day in 1978 when a Vulcan crashed here while preparing for the Chicago air and water show. A very impressive plane.
