Porrohman
14th Oct 2011, 21:53
I've tried searching the internet including PPRuNe but can't find any reference to ACN data for the Avro Vulcan. Perhaps the RAF used a different methodology to determine whether any particular pavement was suitable? Is anyone able to provide details of the ACN (or equivalent) for the Vulcan B2?
I'm also interested in Vulcan dispersal sites. There were many "official" dispersal sites and these are listed in various publications e.g. List of V Bomber dispersal bases - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_V_Bomber_dispersal_bases) and these looked like this; Aircraft XM573 (1963 Avro Vulcan B.2 C/N Set 54) Photo by Peter Nicholson (Photo ID: AC301198) (http://www.airport-data.com/aircraft/photo/301198L.html) and this; Vulcans in Camera - Avro Vulcan B2s on the RAF Finningley ORP. (http://www.avrovulcan.org.uk/1_group_presentation/83orp.htm) . These must have been very easy to identify using satellite imagery so I imagine the Soviets knew where all of these “official” dispersal sites were and they would all presumably be potential targets. Perhaps they were all decoys and the real dispersal bases in the event of conflict would have been elsewhere?
During the 1990s, I was told by a former RAF officer (sadly now deceased) who was based at RAF Turnhouse that there were many more “unofficial” dispersal sites for V-bombers. RAF Turnhouse was, he said, one of these. He told me that the necessary ground support equipment for Vulcan operations had been stored there during the 1960s and 70s. Although RAF Turnhouse didn't have the specially constructed dispersal pans, called Operational Readiness Platforms (ORP), like the ones in the above photos it did have unusually large turning / holding areas added at each end of runway 13/31 (as was – it is now reclassified 12/30). Nowadays, one of these is sometimes used as a parking area for several aircraft up to B747 size and is known as “Block 33”. See the “Aerodrome chart” at NATS | AIS - Home (http://www.nats-uk.ead-it.com/public/index.php%3Foption=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=62&Itemid=111.html) .
If you compare the size of Block 33 (SE corner of the airfield) with the turning areas at each end of runway 06/24 (which are large enough to turn a B747) it’s hard to see what purpose Block 33 was created for if not as a Vulcan ORP. As far as I have been able to establish by examining historical plans for RAF Turnhouse, these areas were added at the time that the runway was resurfaced in the early 60s which coincided with the height of the cold war and the introduction of the Vulcan B2s. Prior to that they were much smaller and were presumably sized as QRAs for the resident Vampires.
The runway improvements were said at the time to be for civilian purposes but it’s difficult to see what the civilian purpose would be for Block 33 given that the largest civil aircraft that regularly used EDI at the time was a Vickers Vanguard and there were taxiways to each end of the runway. It appears to me that this was just a cover story and that the real reason why the runway was upgraded and Block 33 (and an equivalent area at the other end of the runway) added was to allow V-Bomber operations. Is anyone able to confirm or deny the story I was told by the former RAF officer? It certainly sounds very plausible.
I'm also interested in Vulcan dispersal sites. There were many "official" dispersal sites and these are listed in various publications e.g. List of V Bomber dispersal bases - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_V_Bomber_dispersal_bases) and these looked like this; Aircraft XM573 (1963 Avro Vulcan B.2 C/N Set 54) Photo by Peter Nicholson (Photo ID: AC301198) (http://www.airport-data.com/aircraft/photo/301198L.html) and this; Vulcans in Camera - Avro Vulcan B2s on the RAF Finningley ORP. (http://www.avrovulcan.org.uk/1_group_presentation/83orp.htm) . These must have been very easy to identify using satellite imagery so I imagine the Soviets knew where all of these “official” dispersal sites were and they would all presumably be potential targets. Perhaps they were all decoys and the real dispersal bases in the event of conflict would have been elsewhere?
During the 1990s, I was told by a former RAF officer (sadly now deceased) who was based at RAF Turnhouse that there were many more “unofficial” dispersal sites for V-bombers. RAF Turnhouse was, he said, one of these. He told me that the necessary ground support equipment for Vulcan operations had been stored there during the 1960s and 70s. Although RAF Turnhouse didn't have the specially constructed dispersal pans, called Operational Readiness Platforms (ORP), like the ones in the above photos it did have unusually large turning / holding areas added at each end of runway 13/31 (as was – it is now reclassified 12/30). Nowadays, one of these is sometimes used as a parking area for several aircraft up to B747 size and is known as “Block 33”. See the “Aerodrome chart” at NATS | AIS - Home (http://www.nats-uk.ead-it.com/public/index.php%3Foption=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=62&Itemid=111.html) .
If you compare the size of Block 33 (SE corner of the airfield) with the turning areas at each end of runway 06/24 (which are large enough to turn a B747) it’s hard to see what purpose Block 33 was created for if not as a Vulcan ORP. As far as I have been able to establish by examining historical plans for RAF Turnhouse, these areas were added at the time that the runway was resurfaced in the early 60s which coincided with the height of the cold war and the introduction of the Vulcan B2s. Prior to that they were much smaller and were presumably sized as QRAs for the resident Vampires.
The runway improvements were said at the time to be for civilian purposes but it’s difficult to see what the civilian purpose would be for Block 33 given that the largest civil aircraft that regularly used EDI at the time was a Vickers Vanguard and there were taxiways to each end of the runway. It appears to me that this was just a cover story and that the real reason why the runway was upgraded and Block 33 (and an equivalent area at the other end of the runway) added was to allow V-Bomber operations. Is anyone able to confirm or deny the story I was told by the former RAF officer? It certainly sounds very plausible.