Here's one from the memory banks. Back in 1965 we did the delivery air test on, I think, XM655. The air test schedule required a combat power take-off and climb to maximum altitude. We had to take engine Ts and Ps every minute. Later the Vulcan was restricted to cruise power but we had about 104% on two engines and 102% on the other two. For some reason the maximum power was never uniform across all 4 engines.
Brakes off we accelerated down the runway. We had about 50% fuel so our AUW was about 137,000lbs. That was when the Mark 2 weighed in at about 97 or 98k. One minute later, passing 2,000 feet we read out all the figures to the AEO. After 2 minutes, passing 7k we started again. He had no sooner finished one set when we started on the next. We continued like a love-sick angel at 5,000 fpm. Passing 50,000 we were still climbing like a rocket just over 9 minutes after take-off.
Our ROC started to reduce but still over 2,000 fpm. Passing 55,000 we wondered just how high it would go. We had the full pressure gear on, g-pants and pressure jerkins, P or Q masks, but it was really into unknown territory. At 55,500 our ROC was approaching 500 fpm and we were passing Glasgow. We decided to call it a day and turned for home.
Steamchicken,
We were flighted to go to Tengah in 1972 as the 'final' withdrawal but the base loading was too high and we stopped the weekend in Gan instead. In 1973 we flew through to Ohakea. Creative team effort. One crew did a ferry from Akrotiri, via Bombay, to Tengah. We took it out and back, and a final crew took it via Madras back to Cyprus. On our return to Singapore we landed seconds behind the VC10 that was due to leave for UK about 90 minutes later. Unfortunately we missed our return flight and were stuck in downtown Singapore for a week. Awful <g>.
We didn't actually fly IMC on a map and a pencil, we practised doing it with a non-flying pilot doing the safety pilot. It usually worked though. Operationally it would have been easy compared with Scotland or Wales. Highest ground between High Wycombe and Moscow was Harrow Hill.
Forget,
The Shiraz was a IX Sqn with Eddie Baker as the Captain and an Iranian observer on board too. Yes, it was a failed undercarriage. Unfortunately ATC did not warn the crew about the trench down the side of the runway. Had they done so the aircraft could have landed on the opposite runway and been recovered. As you said, the bomb aimer's window acted as a dust scoop which turned the back end into its own sand-storm. Anyway the pilots and observer got out OK as did the AEO. The two navigators did not appear and the AEO, Stef Episcopo went back in to find that the nav table, which was a structural component, had dropped and trapped them in their seats. he pumped iron and that day he lifted the table off them. They all got out.
I must check my log book about TFR.
The Cottesmore and Waddington wings swopped aircraft about 1968. The Coningsby/Cottesmore wing had the newer 301 series Mk 2 which were also assigned to the Far East. The Waddington wing converted to Mk 2 after the Cottesmore wing was complete but using oldest 201 series aircraft as the Scampton wing now had the newer 201 series Blue Steel.
Then, before the Cottesmore wing moved to Cyprus, the Waddington wing gained their 301 series aircraft and the Far East comittment to boot.
Just a thought, Taff Scouse?