Great thread ! As an old, long-time Voodoo pilot (12 years, 2,000+ hours), I am thoroughly enjoying this discussion. I read the book 'The Penetrators' a long time ago and have no doubt that RAF Vulcans could have pulled that off.
As Gums so accurately described, while the AIR-2A Genie could be launched manually, that would be a last ditch measure. The normal procedure was to obtain a radar lock-on to the target; the pilot would then 'steer the dot' with trigger two depressed; and the MG-13 radar/fire control system (FCS) would automatically launch the weapon with a predetermined time-of-flight depending on altitude and overtake on the target. That was followed with a hard break to get the heck out of the area as quickly as possible. The actual steering solution that the FCS provided was 'modified lead collision' which meant that in addition to 'F-Pole' (lead), a 'G-Pole' and 'Drop' were added so the the detonation point would occur slightly ahead of, and slightly below the target, thus increasing the PoK.
Performance of the aircraft was as Gums has described: high altitude, subsonic and heavy on fuel there was a lot of shaking and shuddering going on. But supersonic, things became very smooth and cool. Unfortunate, one could not go long in burner (they still can't). The PsubS numbers were not that of more manoeuvrable fighters; if memory serves, 'corner velocity' was in the 420 KIAS range.
I also recall intercepting a B-58 one night over Northern Quebec, maybe in about 1970. We tried to 'shoot him in the face' with a front attack but that 'gate stealer' did very effective work and we couldn't maintain a radar lock-on. So, at minimum range I selected full burner and went into the 're-attack' manoeuvre. When I rolled out behind him, all I saw was four J-79s light up in burner and it was all over.
Mixing it up close-in with a Vulcan was something we all learned - the hard way - not to do. I recall numerous intercepts against Vulcans out of Goose Bay or Bagotville where, if you got sucked into a turning fight, the most common conversation between the front and back seat was: "How the F#$K" did he get back there !
Good times ...
Last edited by TLB; 26th Mar 2021 at 20:36.