Someone may get in trouble for this...... Footage of Vulcan performing barrel roll investigated - BBC News What a great aeroplane. Cheers. Mark.
In the olden days, Century Series fighters learned quickly not to play with Vulcans because they could turn very well, especially at lower airspeeds. Having a wing area about the size of Rhode Island helped, no doubt. They did pretty well in the Falklands, too, considering they were dropping dumb bombs using radar. Saw several inflight while at RAF Lakenheath.
The RAF used to perform at my local airports yearly show (Abbotsford). They stopped in the early 80's, but when they did display they brought a Vulcan. Its on my favorite plane I've seen perform and is now retired list. Its a short list. The others are the CF101, the SR-71 and F14.
Supposedly the Vulcan's airworthy certificate prohibited aerobatics due to it's size and age, and the Civil Aviation Authority is understandably concerned after the fatal Hawker Hunter crash last month. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Didnt the dude who rolled the 707 in the 50s say that a proper roll puts less stress n the plane than regular manuvering. Sad in the UK they will probably fry the vulcan pilot for exuberance.
Tex Johnston maintained 1G positive during the entire maneuver. The flight engineer said that if his eyes had been closed he would never have known that they did a roll. I witnessed both rolls, first to the north, second to the south and they came at the end of a 45 deg climb. Very smooth and gentle
And then there is Bob Hoover pouring a glass of tea while performing the same maneuver. https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=9ZBcapxGHjE&t=127
There is a wonderful account in Arthur Herman's "Freedom's Forge" of Packard's role in manufacturing the Merlin engine. In 1940, Bill Knudsen got a handshake deal from Edsel Ford to mfr the engine, but no sooner was he back in his DC office than he got a call from Edsel saying that his dad Henry (who kinda liked Hitler) had vetoed the deal. In desperation Knudsen went to Alvan Macauley at Packard. The plans for the engine were so secret that Britain sent them over on a battleship. Packard's courier arrived at the dock with a briefcase to transport the blueprints. The captain laughed and pointed to a boxcar-sized crate, "There are your plans, Mr. Wilson." Packard had to completely rewrite the blueprints to conform to US standards of mass production, but by August 1941 had a prototype. Packard would go on to build 55,000 engines. I wonder what role Packard had in the ongoing development that yielded those horsepower gains!
