Last flight of the Vulcan | FerrariChat

Last flight of the Vulcan

Discussion in 'Aviation Chat' started by Juan-Manuel Fantango, Jun 20, 2019.

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  1. Juan-Manuel Fantango

    Juan-Manuel Fantango F1 World Champ
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    Seeing the thread on gear swings reminded me of this Netflix video I just watched. There is an amazing section here in which this is on the jacks. And what an awesome sound the Vulcan made at full song. Anyone ever witness this in person?


     
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  2. gt4me

    gt4me F1 Veteran

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    Yes a number of times, it was like a howl. Hard to describe but an awesome machine to witness.
     
  3. Bob Parks

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    I saw several Vulcan displays at the Abottsford Air Show when were performing there. I was able to squirm my way into the cockpit that was the most claustrophobic and unnerving space. I don't know how a crew could stand a long mission. As I remember, the only way out was down through the nose wheel well. As I was climbing into the airplane I was warned that I WAS NOT TO LOOK AFT OR I WOULD BE PROMPTLY REMOVED FROM THE AIRPLANE. There was no way to exit the airplane quickly. Yes, the duct howl was weird. Impressive airplane!
     
  4. F1tommy

    F1tommy F1 World Champ
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    I saw one at the Chicago Air Show back in the 1980's, in fact one crashed at Glenview NAS back in the late 1970's nearby on takeoff killing the crew. They were strange in that as they banked the loud shriek of the engines would get partly blocked by the huge wing so that you could hardly hear them off in the distance. Very cool aircraft.
     
  5. Nurburgringer

    Nurburgringer F1 World Champ

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    Image Unavailable, Please Login In 2015 I caught a flyover of the last Vulcan in Newark, UK. Made a fast turn about a mile away and I could feel the engines in my chest. Awesome.
     
  6. Tcar

    Tcar F1 Rookie

    Bob, was the pilot alone in the sort of 'bubble' cockpit or was the co-pilot in there also?
    It's probably OK to look aft now...
     
  7. Bob Parks

    Bob Parks F1 Veteran
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    The copilot's position was jammed in to the right and slightly aft of the pilot. I believe that I was told that the Vulcan originally was to have a single pilot, like the Lancaster.
     
  8. David_S

    David_S F1 World Champ
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    Beautiful aircraft!

    Build a pretty big scale model of it, back in the day & was one of my favorite displays.

    Haven't watched the whole video clip yet, but I know there is another that details a pair (or more) Vulcans on a mission during the Falklands conflict, and it is pretty amazing.
     
  9. tazandjan

    tazandjan Three Time F1 World Champ
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    You can imagine how uncomfortable that must have been for the aircrews flying all the way to the Falklands and back from Ascension for missions in the early 80s. I was stationed at RAF Lakenheath when that war took place, so watched it all on TV. We cleaned out USAFE's inventory of AIM-9Ls for their Harriers to use, plus provided a few other useful bits, like ALQ-131s (or ALQ-119s, it all runs together).

    The Vulcan could turn really well, too, as F-4s used to discover when practice attacking one of them. All that wing area gave pretty good wing loading, especially at low fuel weights.
     
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  10. Bob Parks

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    Yes, the Vulcan could turn. The Vulcan display at Abottsford Air Show was performed within the confines of the airport and when they they made their turn coming around at the crowd, the bomb bay was open . Lots of noise. Flying at the crowd is not permitted in the U.S, but the Vulcan was in a tight turn the whole time. Another great performance was made by the Lancaster, beautiful airplane, beautiful sound. Probably the most exciting performances were the CF-104's. The Canadians really know how to fly those things and everything else in the show.
     
  11. gt4me

    gt4me F1 Veteran

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    My favourite displays were the Lightnings, take off and straight up like a rocket! Awesome to witness and they used to do some stunning low level high speed fly pasts at Leuchars Air show in the 80's.
     
  12. tazandjan

    tazandjan Three Time F1 World Champ
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    The Lightnings were one aircraft you never had trouble recognizing in the air, just like the WW-II Lightning.
     
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  13. Bob Parks

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    WW2 Lightning P-38. Saw them many times back then but the best flight demo that I ever saw was, again, at the Abottsford Air Show. Chuck Lyford was flying a P-38 and then did something unannounced or declared at the pilot's briefing. After performing some typical air show stuff, he flew north while climbing to something like 10,000, made a turn back to the show and started a high speed dive and shut down both engines on the way down. Then in a low engine out pass in front of the crowd, he performed some loops, some rolls, and then made one more diving pass in front of the crowd, climbed out to the southwest while he restarted the engines. He returned and made a beautiful landing in front of the crowd. He convinced Hoover to do the same thing in the Aero Commander. It was very interesting to hear how much noise a P-38 airframe makes at 350+ without any engine or propellor noise...not much but some.
    Chuck passed away 2 years ago. Lyford and Hoover are probably tearing up the place up there.
     
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  14. greyboxer

    greyboxer F1 World Champ

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    One of the great UK Vulcan displays was at the Grand Prix at Brands Hatch in the eighties (?) - it did its vertical ascent thing at full reheat over the crowds at South Bank - the ground shook to an extent I doubt anyone outside an earthquake zone will ever experience

    Meanwhile in the States....

    "Royal Air Force Vulcans inbound to Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada arrive in style for the 1982 'RED FLAG' exercises. Pilot, Flt. Lt. Martin Withers flies down the Grand Canyon providing a spectacular sight and sound for tourists while the second aircraft, flown by Sqn Ldr Alistair 'Monty' Montgomery stays above the rim of the canyon. On arrival to Nellis, both pilots are surprised to find a "Not Below 20,000ft" flight rule for the area."
     
  15. tazandjan

    tazandjan Three Time F1 World Champ
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    They were just getting even for all the low levels we flew all over the UK in our F-111s. In the early 80s you could fly low level over most of the UK and its coastal waters. Much more restrictive now. In the States, you could only fly low level on ranges or designated low level routes.
     
  16. Ferrari27

    Ferrari27 Formula Junior

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    There are still places where the USAF have fun in the UK:

     
  17. tritone

    tritone F1 Veteran
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    Great video!!
    Remind me again; what causes the expression of water? vapor from the wings as the turn intensifies?
     
  18. Bob Parks

    Bob Parks F1 Veteran
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    What the ol' guy thinks he knows: The increase in velocity over the wing causes a decrease in pressure that lowers the temperature that condenses the moisture in the air. Visible lift and the same thing that happens in the throat of a carburetor that causes carb ice. The entire airframe can do the same thing when it nears sonic speed.
     

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