Vulcan Memories

[Fonsini]

So having already grown tired of Chicago after a recent move, I decided to head back to blighty for Christmas and was treated to an excellent TV show about flying the Vulcan. The show featured some chap with mutton chop sideburns helping out with the maintenance (and flying in) the last flying Vulcan. By the way, why are the inboard throttles square and the outboard throttles round on the quadrant, do the inboards have some extra functionality or is it just a “tell by touch” affair ?

I’m a sucker for the old stories, and a few stood out from memory:

1. During the Cuban Missile Crisis the crews were all put on alert with live weapons loaded and one crew member told his wife that if she heard them taking off she was to put the children in the car and drive up to the island of Skye.

2. One old chap recalled that he signed for his first nuclear weapon at the age of 23.

3. When he asked what the E&E procedure was after weapons release, one pilot was told to “keep flying East and settle down with a nice warm Mongolian girl”.

4. Another recalled how in later life he met a Russian lady who lived in his primary target, he said he was so overcome that he had to walk away.

5. One rear seater said that they always told their pilots that if things were looking dire then there were to be no heroics and they were to use their ejection seats immediately, no point in 5 dying when only 3 were required.

Very difficult not to admire what an amazing piece of equipment that aircraft was, although the negative comments about flying characteristics from one of the test pilots were interesting and looked to have been somewhat trimmed off (forgive the pun). Maybe it was an early problem he was referring to.

All in all it was one of the highlights of the trip for me.

[Pontius Navigator]

Re para 2, I was 21.

Re throttle shape, virtually everything had select by touch features. You will see this on WW2 kit such as the 1153/1154 radio. As well as shape was switch operation, up, down, left, right, gated, guarded, pull to move etc.

In contrast, modern multi function, identical switches, soft or real, are rather less intuitive.

[Out Of Trim]

That would be Guy Martin; Truck mechanic and TT Motorbike Racer who owns a running Merlin engine.

[ian16th]

Re para 2, I was 21.

You will see this on WW2 kit such as the 1153/1154 radio. As well as shape was switch operation, up, down, left, right, gated, guarded, pull to move etc.


Not to mention colour!

The prettiest wireless set ever :ok:

[NRU74]

PN and Ian16th

I think it was actually the T1154 and R1155 (still pretty though)

[Tankertrashnav]

Another recalled how in later life he met a Russian lady who lived in his primary target, he said he was so overcome that he had to walk away.


When I was learning Russian I spent some time in Russia. Where I lived foreigners were rare and friendly Russians used to approach you in the street just to chat (or maybe scrounge a Marlborough!). One day I met a chap who had been in the Soviet Air Force. He told me he had spent several years on a base up North servicing Bears. When I told him I had been on tankers and involved with intercepting said Bears many times he was greatly amused, and we parted with a friendly handshake.

I was greatly impressed how friendly your average Russian is, and it made all that Cold War nonsense seem such a waste of time and effort. Now it is all coming back, it seems :(

[ian16th]

PN and Ian16th

I think it was actually the T1154 and R1155 (still pretty though)
Yep, it was usually called the TX 1154/55 in my time.

Government surplus ones were very popular with the 'Hams'.

We had a set in the 'Radio Bay' at Istres, it was the only wireless on the base that could reliably recieve the BBC from Droitwich.

[Cornish Jack]

NRU74 - correct ... but you missed the 'awful' (pretty awful!!). 1154, 4 valve MOPA Tx which was 'back-tuned' to the 1155 Rx. The coloured dials impressed but the performance (bouncing down the Med, at night, relaying to Gib via Singapore!!!) was much less exotic:yuk: Went to Alconbury with an Anson and impressed the 'septics' no end, until we explained the workings - "What, no xtals???" The STR 18 was an enormous jump in performance.

[Pontius Navigator]

Ty, only ever had to listen to Consol on it 56 years ago.

[Fareastdriver]

I used to use Stavanger Consul for groundspeed checks in the 1980s.

[TheChitterneFlyer]

When I was learning Russian I spent some time in Russia. Where I lived foreigners were rare and friendly Russians used to approach you in the street just to chat (or maybe scrounge a Marlborough!). One day I met a chap who had been in the Soviet Air Force. He told me he had spent several years on a base up North servicing Bears. When I told him I had been on tankers and involved with intercepting said Bears many times he was greatly amused, and we parted with a friendly handshake.

I was greatly impressed how friendly your average Russian is, and it made all that Cold War nonsense seem such a waste of time and effort. Now it is all coming back, it seems :(


On several occasions, I flew the 'UK Open Skies' Andover in and out of Kubinka, Levashevo and Olenyagorsk. Everyone we met, including the military folk, were extremely pleasant. Especially so in Olenyagorsk, where the older folk toasted the British for breaking the blockade of Murmansk during WW II. It's the politicians to be wary of... not the indigenous population.

[Geezers of Nazareth]

It's the politicians to be wary of... not the indigenous population.

... not just the Russians, it would seem.

[ElectroVlasic]

Not to mention colour!

The prettiest wireless set ever :ok:

Fair enough:

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4d/R1155_Receiver_and_T1154_Transmitter_at_RAF_Digby.jpg/330px-R1155_Receiver_and_T1154_Transmitter_at_RAF_Digby.jpg

Ref: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R1155

[ian16th]

Ah! Memories.

[Rossian]

.....used to talk about it and grow misty eyed remembering it sounding like a "box of birds". I only used one once and each symbol was very "musical" with the pitch varying sightly with each character. Very difficult to describe in print, but I can whistle it very closely. Yeah I know, and I've got a good face for radio too!!

The Ancient Mariner

[ValMORNA]

Saw an R1155 for sale in a shop in Norwich many years ago. Would have liked to have bought it but apparently women's dress shops and their contents are more attractive to my wife. :ugh:

[Tankertrashnav]

Ty, only ever had to listen to Consol on it 56 years ago.

Most of my Morse has gone but I think I will remember "dit dit dah dit, dit dah dit, dah dah dit dah" (FRQ) till my last gasp.

(Ident for Ploneis Consol for those who didn't know).

Also Bush Mills (MWN) was known as Mike Willy Nan long after Mike Whisky November had replaced said words in the phonetic alphabet.

[Pontius Navigator]

TTN, bit of deviation but less so than the 1154/55, and a Vulcan memory, was the US ATC propensity for converting a phonetic callsign in to a word.

We had the unfortunate callsign Mike Tango Uniform Romeo Delta on one Western Ranger.

[Fareastdriver]

My recollection of Consol was the callsign; MR was Stavanger, IIRC. There then followed a series of dots that eventually merged with hash with the dashes emerging from the other side.

You counted the dots or the dashes, looked at the tables and you had your true bearing from the beacon.

[Pontius Navigator]

You counted the dots or the dashes, looked at the tables and you had your true bearing from the beacon.

Rather plotted you DR position on the consol chart and then looked for the corresponding line, dots or dashes. Then transfer that line segment to you plotting chart. If you could get a second bearing from another station then you could create a two position line MPP.

ideally you would take an along track count thus avoiding the need for position line transfer.

The theoretical count was 60 and you needed a total of 56 dots and dashes for a reliable line.

[Fareastdriver]

We didn't have consol charts. We had digitalised it. There was a list in our Aerad books.

[Rossian]

Nah matey, the consol for Stavanger was LEC. All three stations are indelibly imprinted in the sludge of grey cells somewhere in my skull.

The Ancient Mariner

[Herod]

Always fun to watch the nav tapping his pencil. Give him a few moments, then ask him the time.

[Pontius Navigator]

Herod, as a stude nav we soon learnt to ask the siggie for a count

[Fonsini]

Did any of you back seaters have the “ejection chat” with the pilots, or was it simply an unspoken understanding ?

[Pontius Navigator]

Unspoken, though one crew said last man out would reconnect canopy jettison cable :)

We once practiced a low level emergency. All engines to flight idle and established a climb converting speed to height. Made an impressive 2,000 ft height gain.

The kill was the low speed wheels down scenario. The one at Cottesmore was loss of control and in Malta after a heavy landing and attempted go round. I think a Victor suffered a similar rear crew loss in the circuit.

Without checking my books very few rear crew were lost when the pilots survived. The pilots didn't eject in the Coningsby crash.

[Cazalet33]

I'm surprised how archaic the nav gear was.

Consol was a post-war mod of a German wartime system. Rudolf Hess almost certainly used the Stavanger one to track his flight up and across the North Sea.

H2S, used as recently as Blackbuck, was used in Lancasters in 1943/44.

The absence of self-contained systems such as INS to attack the Russian homeland in the 1970s is surprising.

[Fareastdriver]

Wasn't Green Satin and Blue Silk Doppler systems.

[Timelord]

I'm surprised how archaic the nav gear was.

Consol was a post-war mod of a German wartime system. Rudolf Hess almost certainly used the Stavanger one to track his flight up and across the North Sea.

H2S, used as recently as Blackbuck, was used in Lancasters in 1943/44.

The absence of self-contained systems such as INS to attack the Russian homeland in the 1970s is surprising.
Caz,

I have lost track of this thread a bit since I have no recollection of ever using Consol on the Vulcan.

As to your question ; No INS in 70s but an entirely self contained nav system based around H2S ( somewhat different to the Lancaster fit) and a very sophisticated doppler fed electro mechanical analogue Ground Position Indicator. Astro was also practiced a lot.

Unfixed the GPI accuracy was a mile or so per hour. Radar fix accuracy was measured in yards - well mine were anyway!

[Tankertrashnav]

Cazalet - we did have a self contained system - it was called astro!

Unfixed the GPI accuracy was a mile or so per hour. Radar fix accuracy was measured in yards - well mine were anyway!

So were mine - just rather a lot of them ;) On the NBS course at Lindholme I once "bombed" the wrong reservoir dam in Yorkshire (in fact the one I attacked was over the county boundary in Durham). The resulting error of 9 miles counted towards my course average and pretty well guaranteed my posting onto tankers, for which I was eternally grateful. Certainly no chance of getting on 617!

Wasn't Green Satin and Blue Silk Doppler systems

Yes, used pulse radar with a thing called a Janus array aerial which clonked left right left - amazingly archaic to look at. Was replaced by a CW radar system whose name escapes me, which was smaller, lighter and more reliable

[Fonsini]

Thanks Pontius - the TV show I mentioned in the original post also had a rear crewmember who spoke about the difficulty of bailing out when the gear was down, he even illustrated the challenges with XH558 sitting quietly on the pan.

[The Oberon]

Cazalet - we did have a self contained system - it was called astro!



So were mine - just rather a lot of them ;) On the NBS course at Lindholme I once "bombed" the wrong reservoir dam in Yorkshire (in fact the one I attacked was over the county boundary in Durham). The resulting error of 9 miles counted towards my course average and pretty well guaranteed my posting onto tankers, for which I was eternally grateful. Certainly no chance of getting on 617!



Yes, used pulse radar with a thing called a Janus array aerial which clonked left right left - amazingly archaic to look at. Was replaced by a CW radar system whose name escapes me, which was smaller, lighter and more reliable

Green Satin pulse doppler on the V-force, which fed Drift Angle and G/S to the Nav Kit, eventually replaced by Decca 72 which was a vast improvement.

Blue Steel aircraft would use the missile INS slaved into the aircraft system for better results.

[ZH875]

....Yes, used pulse radar with a thing called a Janus array aerial which clonked left right left - amazingly archaic to look at. Was replaced by a CW radar system whose name escapes me, which was smaller, lighter and more reliable
Replaced by Decca Doppler 72M

[Pontius Navigator]

Unfixed the GPI accuracy was a mile or so per hour.
With GPI 4 it was 6.

With GPI 6 and HRS I thought nearer 3.

Radar fix accuracy was measured in yards - well mine were anyway!

How old fashioned. By the 70s we used feet and it did improve accuracy.

In one bombing competition a tracking and timing exercise was introduced. Aircraft were tracked by radar along a 50 mile corridor and penalised if the deviated from track by more than 200 yards at high level, and had to pass a gate at the mid point with points deducted for every second out. Most, if not all, got the full score of 100+50 points. That exercise was dropped the following year.

[ACW418]

PN
If you are referring to the OC IX Sqn crash at Coningsby both pilots did eject but unsuccessfully due to the aircraft attitude and low height.

ACW

[Pontius Navigator]

ACW, I was, I didn't consider an unsuy ejection as supporting the argument for rear crew seats. Actually rear crew seats could have affected the success of pilot ejection.

[Cazalet33]

Blue Steel aircraft would use the missile INS slaved into the aircraft system

Ah! That explains something that I'd wondered about. I remember reading that commercial airline INS units were fitted as a temporary lashup for Blackbuck and I'd wondered why it wasn't a standard fit. Using the data from the missile makes a lot of sense as you don't need quite so much accuracy for the run home (or wherever you are going after weapon release).

Astro certainly qualifies as a self-contained system, but has a rather obvious limitation for a 24/7 capability. A lunar distance shot using the sun in the right conditions would give you a daytime fix. Did they issue tables for doing that? It's a pig of a calculation in pre-PC computer days to do the calc from scratch and would be hopeless at flying speeds.

[Fareastdriver]

They trialled a rear crew ejection seat in a Valiant at one time. It worked OK but the problems were in the aircraft.

For all three rear crew to eject would require a hatch or hatches across the width of the cabin. None of the V aircraft could accept this without a total redesign of the cockpit section. Even if it was possible then there would have to be sequencing to avoid the front and rear crew colliding.

They looked at the rear crew going through a central exit but this would mean the outer seats tipping and leaving at an angle or the outer members shuffling their seats to the centre, in turn, after the central one had left. Then what do you do with the used seat chassis?

It went into the 'too difficult' tray.

[Timelord]

PN

Both “a mile or so “ and “measured in yards” were figures of speech- in fact I suspect that it may have been you doing the measuring!

TL

[Pontius Navigator]

Cazelet, the Free-Fall aircraft were retro fitted with a pair of coupled free running gyros similar to that in the Lightning but with a different purpose. This Heading Reference System was accurate to 0.25 deg per hour or 2 miles across track.

For sight reduction we had 3 volumes AP3270, these were also used by the USAF with a different reference. The Red Band volume had pre computed data for the main navigation stars (57 of them IIRC), Yellow Band and Green Band had sight reduction tables for any body but essente sun and moon.

A practiced navigator could calculate z 3-star fix, take the shots, then plot the fix, calculate a wind, and make a course correction in a 40 minute cycle.

On the Vulcan it was usual to precalculate the shots and in the air for the radar operator to take the shots. Because of the cockpit canopy the Vulcan had two sextant mounts. With proper selection both would be used.

The technique was to use a box or sandwich fix of two stars. Typically 5 shots were taken A A B B B A A with the fix time the middle B. Each shot was one minute with one minute interval. The total time was 11 minutes.

There were competition techniques with the AEO shooting one side and interval reduced to 30 seconds. An AB AB fix could take just 2.5 minutes.

On one SAC bombing competition over 1200 miles and two sorties, Bob Tomkin's got errors in the order of 0.4 nm on first night and 1.2 on the second which placed then comfortably ahead of the B58s with there astro trackers.

[Pontius Navigator]

PN

Both “a mile or so “ and “measured in yards” were figures of speech- in fact I suspect that it may have been you doing the measuring!

TL
TL, on the first I was stating the figures, on the latter, banter with an element if truth as there was indeed an improvement in bombing results. A good score of 400 yards didn't look as good when it was passed as 1200 feet.

[rolling20]

H2S, used as recently as Blackbuck, was used in Lancasters in 1943/44.



H2S, the worlds first microwave oven, although the RAF WW2 navigator operater would have been unaware.I believe it was first used in Stirling's and Halibags and fell into German hands pretty soon after!

[Timelord]

TL, on the first I was stating the figures, on the latter, banter with an element if truth as there was indeed an improvement in bombing results. A good score of 400 yards didn't look as good when it was passed as 1200 feet.

All true, although for truly huge scores I seem to recall the RBSU reverting to yards.
“ Standby for score in yards....times ten” Oh dear!

[scorpion63]

Tomorrow is the 50th anniversary of the loss of Vulcan B2 XM604 and four crew members at Cottesmore 30th January 1968. RIP guys

[Pontius Navigator]

TL, I spent some time at Tumby. The operator would pore over the code card to create 'scores' and wait for someone to drop one in the appropriate bucket. They then delighted in "Delta Hotel, delta hotel, Delta hotel times 5"

Before that we had the non-carrying daily additive.

[Pontius Navigator]

Scorpiuon, thank you for the reminder. I am 10 miles away right now.

[dragartist]

Caz, re your #37
I believe BA May have provided Carousel IN units for B.B.

Omega was also installed on Nimrod R not sure if it got onto the Vulcan.

[The Oberon]

Caz, re your #37
I believe BA May have provided Carousel IN units for B.B.

Omega was also installed on Nimrod R not sure if it got onto the Vulcan.

I thought that the Carousel units were robbed from some ex civvy VC10s that had been bought for tanker conversion and stored at Abingdon. The Vulcan was given twin Carousel fit, no Omega. The Victor fleet were given a single Carousel and Omega.

[Tankertrashnav]

H2S, used as recently as Blackbuck, was used in Lancasters in 1943/44.

As far as I'm aware it was still being used on the Victor K2s in GW1 in 1992, The last seven Victors were withdrawn in October 1993, which I assume was the end of H2S/NBC. As far as Vulcan 558 was concerned I understand the H2S was inoperative and they found their way around using a car sat nav!

[Fonsini]

Re astro navigation - the unit in the SR-71 would typically self-align within 30 seconds of the aircraft being rolled out of the hangar assuming there were no clouds, the largest track deviation one pilot ever noted on an operational mission was 300 feet with no requirement for fixes or updates from the GIB who simply plugged in waypoints via his keyboard. For the era I always found that immensely impressive for a completely autonomous unit.

[Old Speckled Aircrew]

I thought that the Carousel units were robbed from some ex civvy VC10s that had been bought for tanker conversion and stored at Abingdon. The Vulcan was given twin Carousel fit, no Omega. The Victor fleet were given a single Carousel and Omega.

If I remember correctly the Victors either had Carousel or Omega or neither and it was pot luck which one you flew on the long Ascension slots. The Carousel was removed after the conflict and for the Gulf the Victor fleet all had Omega.

[TomU]

Tomorrow is the 50th anniversary of the loss of Vulcan B2 XM604 and four crew members at Cottesmore 30th January 1968. RIP guys

I arrived at Cottesmore, my first posting after Halton graduation (airframe fitter), just a few weeks before this event. I heard the bang. It is burned into my pshyche.

[morton]

Re post #44. I remember the Vulcan at Cottesmore (XM 604) crashing on 30th January 1968. I was working in the ‘Gin Palace’ at the time. The Gin Palace (Electronics Centre) was situated where the large concrete parking area is now, in front of the Hangars.

Walking between Hangars 2 and 3, I was returning to work early one lunch-time (about 12:50) when I saw this Vulcan flying the length of the Runway with Undercarriage down and Bomb Doors open. I was told later that it had returned early from a sortie because of a Bomb Bay Overheat warning (possibly why the bomb bay doors were open?). As it continued towards Oakham it started a gentle level or slightly climbing Left Hand turn. Instead of rolling level when it got downwind, it continued turning and rolling. Just before it disappeared out of view behind a Hangar I believe I saw the Cockpit Canopy or a parachute. Then there was a pall of smoke but no sound of an explosion (to me anyway, but there was a Hangar and a couple of miles between me and the Aircraft).

I also heard later that the Co-Pilot had ejected when the Aircraft had rolled 90 degrees and he sustained a broken arm. The Captain had ejected when the aircraft was almost inverted. His parachute became entangled with Electricity cables and, after a couple of loops round the cables, he unbuckled and dropped a few feet to the ground unharmed. The four in the back were not so lucky. Exiting from a rolling inverted Aircraft in the time available was not possible.

I, and many others, arrived at the scene within 15 minutes and the only recognisable part I saw was the Nose Undercarriage leg. Not being able to do anything there I was volunteered to help control and turn away the number of local people coming to see what had happened. I was surprised that one person was a reporter from the local paper. In pre-internet days and only land lines he did very well to get to this remote location so quickly.

For someone who had only been out of training six months it was a pretty sobering experience. I am glad to say that was the only crash I witnessed during my time in the RAF.

[The Oberon]

If I remember correctly the Victors either had Carousel or Omega or neither and it was pot luck which one you flew on the long Ascension slots. The Carousel was removed after the conflict and for the Gulf the Victor fleet all had Omega.

OSA, Apologies, it's an age thing. I remembered doing the initial fit at Marham before disappearing to ASI. I also remembered later aircraft having Omega and wrongly assumed that it was a dual fit.

[Old Speckled Aircrew]

OSA, Apologies, it's an age thing. I remembered doing the initial fit at Marham before disappearing to ASI. I also remembered later aircraft having Omega and wrongly assumed that it was a dual fit.

I think it was in the ratio of a third Carousel, a third Omega, and a third standard nav fit. Turn back on a long slot with a dodgy doppler meant great reliance on the powerful ASI NDB that could be strongly influenced if there were thunderstorms about.

[Tankertrashnav]

I posted above that I believed the H2S/NBC was still in use on the Victors in GW1. In view of remarks about Carousel and Omega was this actually the case, or had it been deactivated/removed by then?

[The Oberon]

I posted above that I believed the H2S/NBC was still in use on the Victors in GW1. In view of remarks about Carousel and Omega was this actually the case, or had it been deactivated/removed by then?

I have wondered about this as well. I was demobbed a couple of years before GW1 and have heard stories about the Victors operating with a 4 man crew. Is this true? If so, which Nav was dropped and what kit did they have?

OSA How on earth did you find yourself on a long slot with only the standard kit? Surely not planned, attrition maybe?

[Pontius Navigator]

TO, I had a flight in a K2 in '85 when it was still 5-man. Some of the NBC, such as the ballistics computer had been removed. The R88 Camera was also gone. The H2S appeared to be degraded compared to the bombers, and the nav rad used much higher brilliance and gain settings. The Blue Steel GPI 6, which had been retained in the FF Vulcan had been replaced with GPI 4. This was older and less accurate but actually simpler to use.

On the air bridge the norm was the short Victor and long Herc. The long Victor was an option where a crew would be on standby should the long Herd go u/s. It never did during my time in ASI.

For Air to Air RV the Tacan could give A-A ranges. I don't know if they had any RT bearing capability but that was clearly not used in hot situations.

[Old Speckled Aircrew]

I have wondered about this as well. I was demobbed a couple of years before GW1 and have heard stories about the Victors operating with a 4 man crew. Is this true? If so, which Nav was dropped and what kit did they have?

OSA How on earth did you find yourself on a long slot with only the standard kit? Surely not planned, attrition maybe?

When we went from 5 to 4 man crew on the Victor the nav plotters central position became the primary nav station, facilitated by a single sideways sliding seat to allow access to the starboard panels. The refuelling panel was repositioned on the opposite port side and operated by the AEO. A very short crossover course was given to the remaining navs, mainly nav plotters. The nav radars at the time were generally 1st tourists and more than ready for something new.

The H2S remained operational till the Victors demise in 1993. During GW1 it was used sparingly in the first few weeks when close to or over the Iraqi border and then in sector mode for maybe a few sweeps at a time to avoid detection. The nav kit was primarily a doppler fed GPI 4 , a Tacan, ADF, Omega and the H2s system supplemented with the good ole Mk1 eyeball.

[Tankertrashnav]

The Calc 3 (the bombing part of the NBC for those unfamiliar) was removed from the K1s around 1973, and also from the B2s on conversion to K2s a year or two later. At the same time the R88 camera was removed much to my regret, as the foam head rest was ideal for the nav radar to lean on when having a snooze in quiet periods ;) A-A Tacan did have bearing as well as range. We used it regularly when RVs were not being assisted by ground radar.

Thanks for the info on single nav OSA. My old plotter and I were wondering about that when chatting on the phone the other day. I remember seeing a photo in the RAF News of a nav taking the very last Gee fix before the system was shut down. I wonder who took the last fix off the H2S.

[scorpion63]

R88 in the Vulcan, R110 in the Victor

[Geriaviator]

Also Bush Mills (MWN) was known as Mike Willy Nan long after Mike Whisky November had replaced said words in the phonetic alphabet.
I was told long ago that the Bushmills equipment was taken from the German installation at Bordeaux. The mast (near the Giant's Causeway) stood until the 1970s. Now all that remains are a few concrete foundation pads slowly being covered by grass.

[Fareastdriver]

The mast (near the Giant's Causeway) stood until the 1970s

Apparently the IRA blew it up.

[Pontius Navigator]

Scorpion, the R110 had the larger film magazine for recce purposes. I thought the R110 was limited to 543 Valiants and Victors.

[NRU74]

When we went from 5 to 4 man crew on the Victor the nav plotters central position became the primary nav station, facilitated by a single sideways sliding seat to allow access to the starboard panels. The refuelling panel was repositioned on the opposite port side and operated by the AEO.

I seem to recall the Victor K2 exhibited at Cosford has that ‘sliding seat’ fit.

[The Oberon]

Victor B2 and B2(R) also had a side scan mapping facility. The H2s scanner was locked at 90 deg. to Track. The resulting "flickering line" time base on the Ind 301 was also fed to a second CRT contained in the RPU (Rapid Processing Unit). A roll of photographic paper was motored over this second CRT at a speed proportional to G/S before being fed through developer and fixer tanks. This resulted in a roll of B&W photo map info. Possibly the worst job for NBS fitters was to drain and replenish the RPU chemicals in a crowded cabin.

[ian16th]

I take it that this was an 'improvement' on the heat sensitive 'bog roll display' that was used on Blue Shadow in Canberra's.

At Akrotiri we had a Blue Shadow bench, if the contrast was turned up too far, the paper burnt.

From what I see on Supermarket tills these days, the technology has advanced since the 60's.

[Bob Wyer]

These paper rolls were highly impregnated with a wide variety of chemicals. If used as emergency bog rolls they had very painful effect on nether regions. Personal experience on 249 (GoldCoast) Canberra B16s.
Also had to be kept in sealed plastic tubes til needed for use because if dried out were even more useless than normal.
If injudicious use of dividers to measure distance of returns (to Stbd only), then the 1600v sitting on the writing bar certainly removed the euphoria of operating cutting edge equipment.

[Barksdale Boy]

Bob

Good to see you're still alive and kicking!

[scorpion63]

Victor B2 and B2(R) also had a side scan mapping facility. The H2s scanner was locked at 90 deg. to Track. The resulting "flickering line" time base on the Ind 301 was also fed to a second CRT contained in the RPU (Rapid Processing Unit). A roll of photographic paper was motored over this second CRT at a speed proportional to G/S before being fed through developer and fixer tanks. This resulted in a roll of B&W photo map info. Possibly the worst job for NBS fitters was to drain and replenish the RPU chemicals in a crowded cabin.

This was a photo trade job in the 60's through to the 70's carried out by the Recce Crate bay guys, never saw a fairy getting his hands dirty!!!

[scorpion63]

Scorpion, the R110 had the larger film magazine for recce purposes. I thought the R110 was limited to 543 Valiants and Victors.

Could be right there, only have Vulcan B2 and Victor SR2 experience, but the 543 Sqdn Victors had the Radar Processing Unit directly behind the Nav Radar. Long time ago!!

[The Oberon]

This was a photo trade job in the 60's through to the 70's carried out by the Recce Crate bay guys, never saw a fairy getting his hands dirty!!!

At Wittering we did, but always moisturised afterwards!!

[Blacksheep]

...never saw a fairy getting his hands dirty!!!On first posting to Waddington from Halton Brats I was put in the "Gin Palace, working in the generator servicing shop. The Vulcan B1A had 112Vdc Starter/Generators and the brush gear covered the whole of the insides in fine graphite dust. It was impossible to clean your hands after a day's work as the graphite went deep into the pores. The lanolin protection didn't work and it was long before the Safety Elf insisted on latex surgical gloves. We were known as the "Black Hand Gang". After moving out onto Line Servicing it took weeks before the last effects of the graphite wore off.

[MightyGem]

Thought this photo might be of interest to some.

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/470x585/img_2851_671f26e76a6e27ae0b745cca3a1be97e0aca6c1c.jpg

[Tankertrashnav]

That would be from when the Vulcan was still using Volkswagen engines before they were replaced by the Olympus :p