Quote :
"Dan Winterland, in Tony Blackman's book on testing the Vulcan, he casts doubt on this official report conclusion. He states that the crash Vulcan VX770 had been previously flown by Rolls Royce test pilots, who had carried out rolls, rolls off the top, and even a loop. After each aerobatic flight by Avro pilots, the insides of the wing leading edges were inspected for possible damage by a small-statured ground crew member, but Rolls Royce did not know of this, nor did Avro know of the R-R pilots' aerobatic activities at that time. Sometimes the nose ribs were found to be buckled and had to be repaired, but Rolls Royce were probably unaware of this and may not have been looking at the leading edges internally between flights.
He is of the opinion that the aircraft may have been severely damaged before take off for the Syerston display, and that that was probably the reason for the crash".
Fair enough. My intention wasn't to cast aspertions on the crew or apportion blame - my aim was to point out that both prototypes had suffered during the evaluation phase and the fact both crashed as a result of structural failure is more than a co-incidence.
However, from the limitations section of the Vulcan B1A pilot's notes, the max speed from sea level to 20,000ft is listed as being 250 knots and 300 knots above this. VX770 was originally estimated to be doing 400 knots when it broke up, later revised to 350.
Like many accidents, there was a combination of factors - an already stressed airframe being one.
I used to do a lot of gliding at Syerston. One day, the winches were parked at the spot the wreckage of VX770 ended up. I found a support bracket embedded in the ground which had what I later found to be an Avro reference stamped on it.
Avro Vulcan Crash 20th September 1958 - Keith Sturt - YouTube