Did You Fly The Vulcan?? (Merged)
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Although I have been an avid reader of the threads on this Forum for a good 12 months or more I have never really had the desire to post. But this thread is just too good not to comment on!
I am not and never have been in the military, but I do have a great interest in all military aviation subjects and nothing but admiration for all those who have served in the forces in whatever role. This thread has brought to life just what it must have been like to be serving in the RAF in particular during the cold war.
The first airshow I ever attended was an At Home day at Finningley, 1981 I think. Part of the display involved a Vulcan 4 ship stream take off which was truly amazing, nothing in the next 20 odd years has ever come close to matching that.
Keep the stories coming.
I am not and never have been in the military, but I do have a great interest in all military aviation subjects and nothing but admiration for all those who have served in the forces in whatever role. This thread has brought to life just what it must have been like to be serving in the RAF in particular during the cold war.
The first airshow I ever attended was an At Home day at Finningley, 1981 I think. Part of the display involved a Vulcan 4 ship stream take off which was truly amazing, nothing in the next 20 odd years has ever come close to matching that.
Keep the stories coming.
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Well I’ll be……! I thought I’d lost this and there it was hiding in a drawer. Air Clues of December 1968 with a write up on a Moonflower Exercise. This’ll be the one that used bl==dy C-130’s to take us 6,000 miles! I thought we’d returned on VC10’s, Brits apparently. There are some reasonable photos which I can e-mail to anyone smart enough to post them.
I’ve just found out that the article is too long for one post, so I’ll post it in two parts.
EXERCISE MOONFLOWER
by Flight Lieutenant J. R. LEGH-SMITH
“In the context of a discussion on the ability of the United Kingdom Government to deploy forces in the area (Far East) after 1 971, the Conference agreed that there should be a major exercise in 1970 in which all five countries (Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore and the United Kingdom) would participate. They noted that British participation would include a major reinforcement exercise from the United Kingdom. It was further noted that the United Kingdom Government also intended to continue training and exercising British forces in the area after 1971.”
(From Annex A to Cmnd 3701, Supplementary Statement on Defence Policy 1968.)
Eleven crews and eight Vulcan B Mk 2 aircraft of No 101 Squadron, commanded by Wing Commander D. J. Mountford, AFC, RAF Waddington, were detached to RAAF stations at Butterworth, Malaysia, and Darwin, Australia for the period 11th June to 10th July 1968 on a reinforcement exercise.
The Vulcans flew out to Butterworth in two flights of four aircraft following the conventional “east-about” route with overnight stops at Akrotiri, Muharraq and Gan. The support party and freight were flown out in three Air Support Command Hercules. The Hercules is no slouch; the scheduled time from emplanement at Waddington to arrival at Butterworth was less than 26 hours. Although speedy, passenger comfort was of the London Transport rush-hour variety.
By the evening of Friday 14th June the detachment was complete at Butterworth and work had begun turning round the Vulcans. The aircrews, however, were able to spend the weekend absorbing that rare commodity in the UK - sun-shine, and getting to grips with, or the gripes from, Tiger beer. It was also the weekend of the Butterworth Officers’ Mess Ball, to which we were all invited. Thus we were given two days of area acclimatisation.
The Darwin detachment began on Monday 17th June, when a FEAF Hercules flew the ground support personnel out from Butterworth. The four Vulcans arrived at Darwin the following afternoon. The purpose of the detachment was to participate in the RAAF Exercise High Jupiter, an air defence/strike reconnaissance exercise with an associated Ground Defence element.
The background to High Jupiter was realistic and ingeniously conceived: there was apparently bad feeling between the defensive forces (Darwinians) and the reactionary forces (Tindalians). RAAF Tindal is a newly constructed airfield about 160 miles SSE from Darwin. The MB F Detachment formed the strategic strike force of the “Tindalians” but were obliged to operate from Darwin; this unfortunately deprived us of the important element of surprise. Friction had been created between the two “States” because of the “aggressive economic policies pursued by the immoral imperialistic Darwinian leadership” and the understandable desire of the Tindalians “inspired by the thoughts of Wow” to liberate the “sup-pressed Darwinian proletariat”.
Despite the quantity of humorous propaganda produced by both sides, the exercise was taken extremely seriously, and was reported realistically by press and radio; normal news bulletins were followed by the latest reports on the state of the war. At Darwin, blackouts were observed at night, air raid sirens blared, blast walls were erected (these consisted of pieces of string tied between posts and appropriately labelled), officers were seen walking to breakfast wearing tin hats and side-arms. Armed patrols dispersed imaginary mobs of revolting peasantry howling at the camp gates and dealt with infiltrators and saboteurs. The saboteurs had their successes - the Darwin TACAN was found one morning with a notice attached signifying that it had been blown up during the night; however, a replacement was promptly flown in.
The Tindalian Air Force effort consisted of Vulcan strikes and Mirage Ill and Canberra strike/recce attacks designed to exercise the air defence system. Darwin was defended by two squadrons of Mirage III interceptors armed with missiles and cannon, also ground-based missiles and anti-aircraft artillery. Impartial judges statistically assessed the results of strikes and “kills” by the traditional Australian practice of coin tossing.
The Vulcans flew high and low level sorties against targets in Darwin area, varying tactics as the exercise progressed. This was valuable to both sides, as RAAF pilots and ground radar operators welcome the opportunity to operate against other air forces, and Vulcan crews are always keen to discuss the results of their tactics immediately after fighter/bomber affiliation exercises. A very pleasant relationship was developed with the Mirage pilots, which will, in due course, be appreciated by the Swan and Victoria breweries. Several Vulcan pilots were given the opportunity to fly in the two-seat Mirage trainer, and the subsequent applications for exchange postings were duly torn up!
The delta-winged Mirage is used by the RAAF in the interceptor and ground attack roles. It is a pilot’s aircraft in the best fighter tradition in which he feels part of the aircraft. The only time that the pilot loses contact with the aircraft is on take-off when 13,000lb static thrust with re-heat and an excellent power/weight ratio leave vital organs on the end of the runway to catch up in their own good time. Control is extremely sensitive and the aircraft is highly manoeuvrable, the rate of roll is so rapid that an unsuspecting passenger will bang his bone-dome on the side of the canopy. It is an exhilarating aircraft to fly with a remarkable performance.
During the exercise period the Mirages maintained a CAP for considerable periods, with other aircraft standing by on the ground at immediate readiness. No attempt was made by the Vulcans to evade the opposing forces as the main purpose of the exercise was to provide the RAAF with experience against V-type aircraft. Nevertheless the defending forces did not have matters all their own way, and considerable tactical success was achieved.
MOONFLOWER.
PART 2.
The “war” culminated on the fourth day with a final co-ordinated attack on Darwin involving simultaneous strikes by Vulcans, Canberras and Mirages. Onlookers on the ground watched the approaching contrails of Vulcans attacking above 50,000 ft, and the trails of the interceptors streaking towards them. Suddenly a Vulcan appeared at low level, followed seconds later by four Canberras in low level battle formation. Then the sky was full of strike Mirages screaming around hotly pursued by interceptors. During the short time it lasted, the strike was most exciting and effective. Because the Vulcan force was based at the “enemy” airfield, it was possible to make an accurate assessment of the defensive potential of the opposing forces; thus enabling specific tactics to be devised for use against the enemy defences.
After the strikes on Darwin on Day 4 of the war the “Tindalian” news agency published the following bulletin: “Today the vile, war-mongering Darwinian Supreme Commander, standing in a knee-high paste of human viscera, made preliminary moves for a cessation of hostilities
When the exercise was over the Vulcans flew further sorties out of Darwin. These entailed motoring up and down a tow-line for five hours at a time to provide fighter pilots with more experience of medium bomber targets. They certainly made the most of the opportunity; over 80 attacks were made, and the Vulcan crews completed their fighter affiliation commitment for several years!
The strength of RAAF Darwin had been considerably increased for the exercise, so it is not surprising that accommodation was rather cramped. The Darwin area, which is in every sense a desert is, not surprisingly, reputed to have the highest beer consumption per capita in the world - matter of considerable satisfaction to the locals. The average “Pommie” fancies himself as a beer-drinker, and it may come as a shock to learn that we are not so high in the big league. However, this detachment did the local average nothing but good, and did much to cement Anglo/Australian relationships. Before the return to Butterworth, the standard souvenirs were bought: stuffed Koala Bears, boomerangs that would not come back, and didgery-do’s that didn’t.
After much hard work and play the detachment began its withdrawal on 25th June, when two crews left for RAAF Richmond, Sydney. On the 26th June the other two Vulcans departed the arid desert of Darwin for the rain forests of Butterworth, where on the 29th June the inevitable Hercules deposited the support personnel.
During the Darwin detachment, a fifth Vulcan had flown down to RAAF Base Pearce, Perth. This aircraft was escorting Air Chief Marshal Sir Wallace Kyle, GCB, CBE, DSO, DFC, then AOC-in-C Strike Command, who visited the area. The crew spent six days at Pearce, during which time they put the Vulcan on static display and attended a Passing Out Parade at the RAAF College. They also took the opportunity to inspect the gold mines at Kalgoorlie. They returned to Butterworth on 28th June to make the detachment complete for the first time since the initial deployment.
Meanwhile, at Butterworth, the rest of the Squadron, consisting of five crews with three aircraft, commanded by Squadron Leader A. L. Sebright, had been carrying out routine high and low level training flights around Malaya and Borneo. On some of these flights an Aviation Medicine Team, led by Dr. Richard Allen from RAE Farnborough, was conducting a trial which investigated the physiological effects of flying Vulcan B2s in the tropics. That is to say, they were finding how hot we got, and looking for ways of making us cooler. To do the former, one of the aircraft had thermometers fixed up around the cabin with more in the ears of the captain and AEO (no danger of errors through the dissipation of mental energy!). Thus it was established that it gets very hot in Vulcans in the tropics. Temperatures of 80~C were recorded in air leaving the cabin. A simple device was tried out to see if it improved cabin conditions; two open tubes were protruded into the airflow through the two sextant mountings and, with one facing forwards and the other aft, a near jet-stream gale was made to howl across the cabin. This was appreciated by all except the plotter, whose attempts at tidy draughtsmanship were rendered chaotic. However, Dr. Allen has outlined some refinements he proposes to incorporate with this excellent device and which will do much to improve the comfort of crews operating at low level in hot climates.
A crew’s first trip from Butterworth was a familiarisation sortie which incorporated approaches at Tengah, Changi and Alor Star. Training flights usually followed the high-low profile and included simulated and live practice bombing at Song Song Range, and fighter affiliation. Two crews took aircraft to Tengah for weekends; this was much appreciated by both the crews and by the station staff at Tengah.
Any detachment’s leisure and social activities are probably predictable. This was no exception, apart perhaps from the playing of two rugby matches at Butterworth. Being winter in Australia, it was rugby season in Malaya and, being unable to defy such logic, the detachment side was beaten twice. Otherwise our leisure activities conformed to type. Spare time was usually spent at the swimming pool, on the station golf course or shopping in Penang. Many detachment personnel of all ranks were flown into the jungle to Fort Kemar by the Twin Pioneers of No 209 Squadron, where they were always received with outstanding hospitality by Inspector Zabri, the Fort Commander, shown the Sakai arts and crafts, including a demonstration of blow-pipe hunting, and were invariably given a curry lunch to sustain them on their return journey. On the Saturday before the end of the detachment, the Squadron officers invited the officers of Butterworth, Inspector Zabri, and their ladies to a party in the Mess, to repay the hospitality and many kindnesses received.
Sadly, the detachment ended on 5th July, on the morning of which the first four Vulcans set off for home, following the outbound route back. The second four Vulcans left Butterworth on 6th July and arrived in UK on July 9th. The remainder of the detachment flew back in three Britannias.
So our detachment to FEAF was over. It was most enjoyable, but no “swan”. Much productive work was done, and much valuable experience acquired. If the success of a detachment is measured by the fact that all commitments and tasks were completed, then Exercise Moonflower 1968 was successful. The main credit for this must inevitably go to the ground-crews who, as usual, were obliged to work long hours in the unaccustomed heat of the tropics; this they did with much enthusiasm and skill. The fact that many new friendships were sealed made the detachment doubly successful, in this context the RAAF personnel at Butterworth and Darwin and the RAF Support Unit at Butterworth are due a full share of the credit and our gratitude for their unrestrained co-operation and hospitality.
I’ve just found out that the article is too long for one post, so I’ll post it in two parts.
EXERCISE MOONFLOWER
by Flight Lieutenant J. R. LEGH-SMITH
“In the context of a discussion on the ability of the United Kingdom Government to deploy forces in the area (Far East) after 1 971, the Conference agreed that there should be a major exercise in 1970 in which all five countries (Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore and the United Kingdom) would participate. They noted that British participation would include a major reinforcement exercise from the United Kingdom. It was further noted that the United Kingdom Government also intended to continue training and exercising British forces in the area after 1971.”
(From Annex A to Cmnd 3701, Supplementary Statement on Defence Policy 1968.)
Eleven crews and eight Vulcan B Mk 2 aircraft of No 101 Squadron, commanded by Wing Commander D. J. Mountford, AFC, RAF Waddington, were detached to RAAF stations at Butterworth, Malaysia, and Darwin, Australia for the period 11th June to 10th July 1968 on a reinforcement exercise.
The Vulcans flew out to Butterworth in two flights of four aircraft following the conventional “east-about” route with overnight stops at Akrotiri, Muharraq and Gan. The support party and freight were flown out in three Air Support Command Hercules. The Hercules is no slouch; the scheduled time from emplanement at Waddington to arrival at Butterworth was less than 26 hours. Although speedy, passenger comfort was of the London Transport rush-hour variety.
By the evening of Friday 14th June the detachment was complete at Butterworth and work had begun turning round the Vulcans. The aircrews, however, were able to spend the weekend absorbing that rare commodity in the UK - sun-shine, and getting to grips with, or the gripes from, Tiger beer. It was also the weekend of the Butterworth Officers’ Mess Ball, to which we were all invited. Thus we were given two days of area acclimatisation.
The Darwin detachment began on Monday 17th June, when a FEAF Hercules flew the ground support personnel out from Butterworth. The four Vulcans arrived at Darwin the following afternoon. The purpose of the detachment was to participate in the RAAF Exercise High Jupiter, an air defence/strike reconnaissance exercise with an associated Ground Defence element.
The background to High Jupiter was realistic and ingeniously conceived: there was apparently bad feeling between the defensive forces (Darwinians) and the reactionary forces (Tindalians). RAAF Tindal is a newly constructed airfield about 160 miles SSE from Darwin. The MB F Detachment formed the strategic strike force of the “Tindalians” but were obliged to operate from Darwin; this unfortunately deprived us of the important element of surprise. Friction had been created between the two “States” because of the “aggressive economic policies pursued by the immoral imperialistic Darwinian leadership” and the understandable desire of the Tindalians “inspired by the thoughts of Wow” to liberate the “sup-pressed Darwinian proletariat”.
Despite the quantity of humorous propaganda produced by both sides, the exercise was taken extremely seriously, and was reported realistically by press and radio; normal news bulletins were followed by the latest reports on the state of the war. At Darwin, blackouts were observed at night, air raid sirens blared, blast walls were erected (these consisted of pieces of string tied between posts and appropriately labelled), officers were seen walking to breakfast wearing tin hats and side-arms. Armed patrols dispersed imaginary mobs of revolting peasantry howling at the camp gates and dealt with infiltrators and saboteurs. The saboteurs had their successes - the Darwin TACAN was found one morning with a notice attached signifying that it had been blown up during the night; however, a replacement was promptly flown in.
The Tindalian Air Force effort consisted of Vulcan strikes and Mirage Ill and Canberra strike/recce attacks designed to exercise the air defence system. Darwin was defended by two squadrons of Mirage III interceptors armed with missiles and cannon, also ground-based missiles and anti-aircraft artillery. Impartial judges statistically assessed the results of strikes and “kills” by the traditional Australian practice of coin tossing.
The Vulcans flew high and low level sorties against targets in Darwin area, varying tactics as the exercise progressed. This was valuable to both sides, as RAAF pilots and ground radar operators welcome the opportunity to operate against other air forces, and Vulcan crews are always keen to discuss the results of their tactics immediately after fighter/bomber affiliation exercises. A very pleasant relationship was developed with the Mirage pilots, which will, in due course, be appreciated by the Swan and Victoria breweries. Several Vulcan pilots were given the opportunity to fly in the two-seat Mirage trainer, and the subsequent applications for exchange postings were duly torn up!
The delta-winged Mirage is used by the RAAF in the interceptor and ground attack roles. It is a pilot’s aircraft in the best fighter tradition in which he feels part of the aircraft. The only time that the pilot loses contact with the aircraft is on take-off when 13,000lb static thrust with re-heat and an excellent power/weight ratio leave vital organs on the end of the runway to catch up in their own good time. Control is extremely sensitive and the aircraft is highly manoeuvrable, the rate of roll is so rapid that an unsuspecting passenger will bang his bone-dome on the side of the canopy. It is an exhilarating aircraft to fly with a remarkable performance.
During the exercise period the Mirages maintained a CAP for considerable periods, with other aircraft standing by on the ground at immediate readiness. No attempt was made by the Vulcans to evade the opposing forces as the main purpose of the exercise was to provide the RAAF with experience against V-type aircraft. Nevertheless the defending forces did not have matters all their own way, and considerable tactical success was achieved.
MOONFLOWER.
PART 2.
The “war” culminated on the fourth day with a final co-ordinated attack on Darwin involving simultaneous strikes by Vulcans, Canberras and Mirages. Onlookers on the ground watched the approaching contrails of Vulcans attacking above 50,000 ft, and the trails of the interceptors streaking towards them. Suddenly a Vulcan appeared at low level, followed seconds later by four Canberras in low level battle formation. Then the sky was full of strike Mirages screaming around hotly pursued by interceptors. During the short time it lasted, the strike was most exciting and effective. Because the Vulcan force was based at the “enemy” airfield, it was possible to make an accurate assessment of the defensive potential of the opposing forces; thus enabling specific tactics to be devised for use against the enemy defences.
After the strikes on Darwin on Day 4 of the war the “Tindalian” news agency published the following bulletin: “Today the vile, war-mongering Darwinian Supreme Commander, standing in a knee-high paste of human viscera, made preliminary moves for a cessation of hostilities
When the exercise was over the Vulcans flew further sorties out of Darwin. These entailed motoring up and down a tow-line for five hours at a time to provide fighter pilots with more experience of medium bomber targets. They certainly made the most of the opportunity; over 80 attacks were made, and the Vulcan crews completed their fighter affiliation commitment for several years!
The strength of RAAF Darwin had been considerably increased for the exercise, so it is not surprising that accommodation was rather cramped. The Darwin area, which is in every sense a desert is, not surprisingly, reputed to have the highest beer consumption per capita in the world - matter of considerable satisfaction to the locals. The average “Pommie” fancies himself as a beer-drinker, and it may come as a shock to learn that we are not so high in the big league. However, this detachment did the local average nothing but good, and did much to cement Anglo/Australian relationships. Before the return to Butterworth, the standard souvenirs were bought: stuffed Koala Bears, boomerangs that would not come back, and didgery-do’s that didn’t.
After much hard work and play the detachment began its withdrawal on 25th June, when two crews left for RAAF Richmond, Sydney. On the 26th June the other two Vulcans departed the arid desert of Darwin for the rain forests of Butterworth, where on the 29th June the inevitable Hercules deposited the support personnel.
During the Darwin detachment, a fifth Vulcan had flown down to RAAF Base Pearce, Perth. This aircraft was escorting Air Chief Marshal Sir Wallace Kyle, GCB, CBE, DSO, DFC, then AOC-in-C Strike Command, who visited the area. The crew spent six days at Pearce, during which time they put the Vulcan on static display and attended a Passing Out Parade at the RAAF College. They also took the opportunity to inspect the gold mines at Kalgoorlie. They returned to Butterworth on 28th June to make the detachment complete for the first time since the initial deployment.
Meanwhile, at Butterworth, the rest of the Squadron, consisting of five crews with three aircraft, commanded by Squadron Leader A. L. Sebright, had been carrying out routine high and low level training flights around Malaya and Borneo. On some of these flights an Aviation Medicine Team, led by Dr. Richard Allen from RAE Farnborough, was conducting a trial which investigated the physiological effects of flying Vulcan B2s in the tropics. That is to say, they were finding how hot we got, and looking for ways of making us cooler. To do the former, one of the aircraft had thermometers fixed up around the cabin with more in the ears of the captain and AEO (no danger of errors through the dissipation of mental energy!). Thus it was established that it gets very hot in Vulcans in the tropics. Temperatures of 80~C were recorded in air leaving the cabin. A simple device was tried out to see if it improved cabin conditions; two open tubes were protruded into the airflow through the two sextant mountings and, with one facing forwards and the other aft, a near jet-stream gale was made to howl across the cabin. This was appreciated by all except the plotter, whose attempts at tidy draughtsmanship were rendered chaotic. However, Dr. Allen has outlined some refinements he proposes to incorporate with this excellent device and which will do much to improve the comfort of crews operating at low level in hot climates.
A crew’s first trip from Butterworth was a familiarisation sortie which incorporated approaches at Tengah, Changi and Alor Star. Training flights usually followed the high-low profile and included simulated and live practice bombing at Song Song Range, and fighter affiliation. Two crews took aircraft to Tengah for weekends; this was much appreciated by both the crews and by the station staff at Tengah.
Any detachment’s leisure and social activities are probably predictable. This was no exception, apart perhaps from the playing of two rugby matches at Butterworth. Being winter in Australia, it was rugby season in Malaya and, being unable to defy such logic, the detachment side was beaten twice. Otherwise our leisure activities conformed to type. Spare time was usually spent at the swimming pool, on the station golf course or shopping in Penang. Many detachment personnel of all ranks were flown into the jungle to Fort Kemar by the Twin Pioneers of No 209 Squadron, where they were always received with outstanding hospitality by Inspector Zabri, the Fort Commander, shown the Sakai arts and crafts, including a demonstration of blow-pipe hunting, and were invariably given a curry lunch to sustain them on their return journey. On the Saturday before the end of the detachment, the Squadron officers invited the officers of Butterworth, Inspector Zabri, and their ladies to a party in the Mess, to repay the hospitality and many kindnesses received.
Sadly, the detachment ended on 5th July, on the morning of which the first four Vulcans set off for home, following the outbound route back. The second four Vulcans left Butterworth on 6th July and arrived in UK on July 9th. The remainder of the detachment flew back in three Britannias.
So our detachment to FEAF was over. It was most enjoyable, but no “swan”. Much productive work was done, and much valuable experience acquired. If the success of a detachment is measured by the fact that all commitments and tasks were completed, then Exercise Moonflower 1968 was successful. The main credit for this must inevitably go to the ground-crews who, as usual, were obliged to work long hours in the unaccustomed heat of the tropics; this they did with much enthusiasm and skill. The fact that many new friendships were sealed made the detachment doubly successful, in this context the RAAF personnel at Butterworth and Darwin and the RAF Support Unit at Butterworth are due a full share of the credit and our gratitude for their unrestrained co-operation and hospitality.
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I hope I’m not over staying my welcome but The Air Clues article has reminded me of a funny during that particular Darwin detachment. Well, I thought it was funny. Friday night was dance night at a Royal Australian Navy Sigs base, about twenty miles ‘down the track’. Lots of Aussie Wrens. Name of RAN Coonawarra I think. Time came to leave and we were heading for the Main Gate to pick up a taxi. Strolling past the swimming pool (did he fall or was he pushed) I ended up in the water. Not much of an issue, warm water, cheap watch, and dressed in Darwin Rig of shirt, shorts and long socks. I hauled myself out and we continued towards the gate. The floodlit Guard Room, or Naval Bridge I suppose, was ahead of us, three stories high, and narrow. As I took a short cut across the grass a naval voice yelled from the top story - ‘Man overboard’. The navy do this on shore establishments when people walk on the grass - don’t ask. Terrific I thought, he can’t possibly know I’m dripping wet - this is a gift!
I climbed up the outside stairs and into the top floor where the Duty Officer, the shouter, stood on the far side of a very highly polished floor. I walked slowly across the floor the better to cover it with the dripping water that clearly caused him some pain, looked him in the eye and said - ‘Bloody magic. How’d you do that?’
One RAN Duty Officer in serious stitches!
I climbed up the outside stairs and into the top floor where the Duty Officer, the shouter, stood on the far side of a very highly polished floor. I walked slowly across the floor the better to cover it with the dripping water that clearly caused him some pain, looked him in the eye and said - ‘Bloody magic. How’d you do that?’
One RAN Duty Officer in serious stitches!
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Great thread!
What is astounding is that all these learned gentlemen contributing from the age of Astro Nav, GPIs , APIs etc have the abilty and technology to work a computer and contribute!!
Blue touch paper lit!
What is astounding is that all these learned gentlemen contributing from the age of Astro Nav, GPIs , APIs etc have the abilty and technology to work a computer and contribute!!
Blue touch paper lit!
Piccie hosting
I don't own this space under my name. I should have leased it while I still could
Watch it unmissable, watch it. We had the ultimate PC, as in portable computer, all 1,400lbs of it made by EMI with radar by British Thompson Houston.
Forget,
Your recollection of 601 at Coningsby was spot on. Although I was at Butterworth at the time we were fully briefed. One of my nav course was the radar on the aircraft. The engines, as I recall, took rather longer to deliver full power from flight idle than 9 seconds.
The other cause of the crash was the automatic assumption that being a senior officer was synomymous with being at expert. The Captain was the new CO of IX Sqn. Ron Dick, a very experience Captain, se below <g>, said that it hd happened to him once when he was the non-flying pilot. He had never seen the horizon swing across the cockpit so fast. The only solution was to throttle back on all 4 and then bring the power back on slowly. The problem in 1964 was exacerbated by the use of unrestricted take-off power giving about 20k per donk.
At a later date Ron Dick was the display pilot for Farnborough. The Vulcan was kept out on a hold about 10-12 miles from the field awaiting its slot. Its slot came and went and the crew kept pressing for the time. Then the tower came on and gave them about 2 minutes. Sod's law, they were pointing the wrong way. They rolled in and Ron opened up the power and took the aircraft well over 350 kts which was the peacetime Vne. The ASI settled about 380 kts or just 5 kts over wartime low level cruise. The co, apparently concerned about exceeding the release to service, kept calling check air speed. Very experienced Captain, knowing that he knew the release to service, told the co it was OK. No CRM in those days.
As they sped down the approach they shot passed the Dakota that was on the approach ahead of them and swept onto the airfield. Then Ron re-checked the ASI. He had misread it by 100 Kts and they were doing 485 kts. My fastest at low level had been 415 kts but that was over France and another story; we had a Vatour chasing us.
The second incident was John MacDonald on another IX Sqn aircraft. They did not have TFR at that time. TFR was only introduced in 1967 and I had to ask the GSU for some operational questions for the aircrew mission quiz. No, John and his crew were doing map based terrain following. It should only have been done in daylight and VMC. The technique called for the radar to get accurate fixes and for the plotter to 'track' the aircraft using a chinagraph pencil and a half-mill chart. He would call the terrain height and height to fly while the radar would call 'cut-off' ie the black hole that marked the next ridge. As the black hole got smaller and returns appeared behind it the assumption was made that the aircraft was above the ridge. The fallacy was the 'hill behind a hill' when the second hill was much higher than the first. In this case there was 'no hill behind a hill' on their track. Unfortunately they were not on track but about 2 miles off.
In the absolute certainty that the nav team were in control the pilots followed the height calls in VMC. The height demanded meant that the aircraft just kissed the tops of the clouds. Unfortunately it was not cloud but ground mist. Once pilot was recovered dead but otherwise uninjured. I think the other lost a foot. Of the rear crew there were hardly any remains. A similar incident had happened 'at Scampton a year or so earlier called the 'Hills of St Clone' where the aircraft hit a saddle in ground mist.
Boing
Why be coy? 'twas Lord Louis himself. The VIP flight was for the 'Eagle River Conference' where senior members of the US military, Canadian, and UK could meet (4 star and above) for confidence building measures and discussing detailed military topics in a secure environment free from prying eyes. That Eagle River happened to be a first class fly-fishing river was purely coincidental. The second year one cheesed off liney spoke to his wife and wife, not being a signatory of the official secrets act spoke to the Sun. The Sun naturally led with the story which Lord Louis had to prove was false by appearing in London when he was suppoed to be in Goose. Story was killed and so was the stn cdr's career (he has already been mentioned earlier).
Forget,
Legh-Smith, otherwise known a Leg H.
Forget,
Your recollection of 601 at Coningsby was spot on. Although I was at Butterworth at the time we were fully briefed. One of my nav course was the radar on the aircraft. The engines, as I recall, took rather longer to deliver full power from flight idle than 9 seconds.
The other cause of the crash was the automatic assumption that being a senior officer was synomymous with being at expert. The Captain was the new CO of IX Sqn. Ron Dick, a very experience Captain, se below <g>, said that it hd happened to him once when he was the non-flying pilot. He had never seen the horizon swing across the cockpit so fast. The only solution was to throttle back on all 4 and then bring the power back on slowly. The problem in 1964 was exacerbated by the use of unrestricted take-off power giving about 20k per donk.
At a later date Ron Dick was the display pilot for Farnborough. The Vulcan was kept out on a hold about 10-12 miles from the field awaiting its slot. Its slot came and went and the crew kept pressing for the time. Then the tower came on and gave them about 2 minutes. Sod's law, they were pointing the wrong way. They rolled in and Ron opened up the power and took the aircraft well over 350 kts which was the peacetime Vne. The ASI settled about 380 kts or just 5 kts over wartime low level cruise. The co, apparently concerned about exceeding the release to service, kept calling check air speed. Very experienced Captain, knowing that he knew the release to service, told the co it was OK. No CRM in those days.
As they sped down the approach they shot passed the Dakota that was on the approach ahead of them and swept onto the airfield. Then Ron re-checked the ASI. He had misread it by 100 Kts and they were doing 485 kts. My fastest at low level had been 415 kts but that was over France and another story; we had a Vatour chasing us.
The second incident was John MacDonald on another IX Sqn aircraft. They did not have TFR at that time. TFR was only introduced in 1967 and I had to ask the GSU for some operational questions for the aircrew mission quiz. No, John and his crew were doing map based terrain following. It should only have been done in daylight and VMC. The technique called for the radar to get accurate fixes and for the plotter to 'track' the aircraft using a chinagraph pencil and a half-mill chart. He would call the terrain height and height to fly while the radar would call 'cut-off' ie the black hole that marked the next ridge. As the black hole got smaller and returns appeared behind it the assumption was made that the aircraft was above the ridge. The fallacy was the 'hill behind a hill' when the second hill was much higher than the first. In this case there was 'no hill behind a hill' on their track. Unfortunately they were not on track but about 2 miles off.
In the absolute certainty that the nav team were in control the pilots followed the height calls in VMC. The height demanded meant that the aircraft just kissed the tops of the clouds. Unfortunately it was not cloud but ground mist. Once pilot was recovered dead but otherwise uninjured. I think the other lost a foot. Of the rear crew there were hardly any remains. A similar incident had happened 'at Scampton a year or so earlier called the 'Hills of St Clone' where the aircraft hit a saddle in ground mist.
Boing
Why be coy? 'twas Lord Louis himself. The VIP flight was for the 'Eagle River Conference' where senior members of the US military, Canadian, and UK could meet (4 star and above) for confidence building measures and discussing detailed military topics in a secure environment free from prying eyes. That Eagle River happened to be a first class fly-fishing river was purely coincidental. The second year one cheesed off liney spoke to his wife and wife, not being a signatory of the official secrets act spoke to the Sun. The Sun naturally led with the story which Lord Louis had to prove was false by appearing in London when he was suppoed to be in Goose. Story was killed and so was the stn cdr's career (he has already been mentioned earlier).
Forget,
Legh-Smith, otherwise known a Leg H.
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I’m pleased to be wrong on the TFR/Welsh Hills accident but I’m pretty sure that TFR was on-board, at least some aircraft, before ’67. It may have been that one or two aircraft were modded early on for proving trials. Only mention I can find is at
www.jet-flight.com/vvisits.html
Good read!
www.jet-flight.com/vvisits.html
Good read!
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Pontius Nav
The Hill of St Colm accident was B1A XH477 of the Waddington Wing - 44R Sqn crew. Jun 63.
Presume pilot who lost foot in XH536 was also deceased. This is stated on checking ITN Archive.
Forget
General Dynamics TFR ARI 5959 first tested on Victor B1. First Vulcan B2 fitted TFR was XM606 of Cot Wg loaned to MoA June 65 to May 67. Returned to service April 68 after mod programme.
Having read that XH536 crashed Feb 66 in TFR trials had assumed TFR fitted before delivery to Cot Wg in Nov 65. It had been retained for trials since new and this was its first service use. Being the fourth production B2 and with the Cot Wg being equipped with the last production batches, an unlikely candidate for the Wing. Assumed if it had TFR, it was used for TFR training. Apparently not.
Will have to get the TFR files out on my next visit to Kew.
Alamo
Vulcans in Camera
The Hill of St Colm accident was B1A XH477 of the Waddington Wing - 44R Sqn crew. Jun 63.
Presume pilot who lost foot in XH536 was also deceased. This is stated on checking ITN Archive.
Forget
General Dynamics TFR ARI 5959 first tested on Victor B1. First Vulcan B2 fitted TFR was XM606 of Cot Wg loaned to MoA June 65 to May 67. Returned to service April 68 after mod programme.
Having read that XH536 crashed Feb 66 in TFR trials had assumed TFR fitted before delivery to Cot Wg in Nov 65. It had been retained for trials since new and this was its first service use. Being the fourth production B2 and with the Cot Wg being equipped with the last production batches, an unlikely candidate for the Wing. Assumed if it had TFR, it was used for TFR training. Apparently not.
Will have to get the TFR files out on my next visit to Kew.
Alamo
Vulcans in Camera
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Pontius Nav, Alamo; I’ve still got more than a suspicion that TFR figured in the loss of XM536. In fact the Lincolnshire Echo’s Tribute to the Vulcan (which seems to be correct in most other things) says, under losses, XM536 - Crashed During TFR Trial.
The earliest Vulcan photograph I can find with a TFR pod is XL445, Waddington, some time in 1967, 44 and 50 Squadron’s Standard Presentation. Jeez……I’m turning into an anorak!
PS. You've got to see this.............
http://www.arcair4.com/Fea1/401-500/...ara/fea492.htm
The earliest Vulcan photograph I can find with a TFR pod is XL445, Waddington, some time in 1967, 44 and 50 Squadron’s Standard Presentation. Jeez……I’m turning into an anorak!
PS. You've got to see this.............
http://www.arcair4.com/Fea1/401-500/...ara/fea492.htm
Last edited by forget; 15th Jan 2004 at 01:29.
Jesus! IMC terrain following by map and pencil - you must all have had balls like footballs...
(Random)
How long did the far-eastern dets go on? Govt. decided to withdraw from east of Suez by 1971 in '68, but didn't Heath extend that to the mid-70s, at least for some of the facilities, and some of the Maltese Vulcan photos are 77-78 (I know it's not in the far east).
(Random)
How long did the far-eastern dets go on? Govt. decided to withdraw from east of Suez by 1971 in '68, but didn't Heath extend that to the mid-70s, at least for some of the facilities, and some of the Maltese Vulcan photos are 77-78 (I know it's not in the far east).
Cunning Artificer
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Dunno how long the Moonflowers lasted but the last time I saw a Vulcan was over here on the beautiful island of Borneo around 1990-ish. It was parked by our hangar but when I tried to approach the crew chief for a chat, I was chased away by a Gurkha dog handler. Apparently the old beast was much too secret for an old cold war warrior to approach too closely, though I doubt if any of the b*ggers looking after it would have ever seen 'old Yeller' never mind used a live one for an access stand while changing anti-collision light bulbs on QRA.
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Through difficulties to the cinema
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Through difficulties to the cinema
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If Moonflowers included Vulcans down to Darwin then the list is below;
DARWIN AIR DEFENCE EXERCISES (ADEX)
High Rigel December, 1965
Short Spica March, 1966
High Castor August, 1966
High Mars November,1967
High Jupiter June, 1968
Rum Keg December, 1968
Town House June,1969
Castor Oil February, 1970
Opal Digger November, 1970
Whisky Sour February, 1972
Top Limit May, 1972
Dry Martini July, 1972
http://www.jet-flight.com/vvisits.html
© Denis W.O’Brien
The last Vulcan I saw east of the Channel was something of a shock. May 24th1973 I was flying from Tehran to the ‘Gulf’ via Shiraz, Iran Air 737.
We’d landed and were taxing in when - there it was, wheels up and on the grass next to the runway, sat XJ781. Couldn’t get the gear down apparently. I later hear the biggest problem was the bomb aimer’s window shattering on ‘landing’. This produced a very effective high speed scoop which poured huge amounts of very fine dust and sand into crew compartment and reducing viz to nil. Anyone expand?
DARWIN AIR DEFENCE EXERCISES (ADEX)
High Rigel December, 1965
Short Spica March, 1966
High Castor August, 1966
High Mars November,1967
High Jupiter June, 1968
Rum Keg December, 1968
Town House June,1969
Castor Oil February, 1970
Opal Digger November, 1970
Whisky Sour February, 1972
Top Limit May, 1972
Dry Martini July, 1972
http://www.jet-flight.com/vvisits.html
© Denis W.O’Brien
The last Vulcan I saw east of the Channel was something of a shock. May 24th1973 I was flying from Tehran to the ‘Gulf’ via Shiraz, Iran Air 737.
We’d landed and were taxing in when - there it was, wheels up and on the grass next to the runway, sat XJ781. Couldn’t get the gear down apparently. I later hear the biggest problem was the bomb aimer’s window shattering on ‘landing’. This produced a very effective high speed scoop which poured huge amounts of very fine dust and sand into crew compartment and reducing viz to nil. Anyone expand?
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Fascinating thread. When I were a lad, I lived for a couple of years about 3 miles south of Finningley, right on the approach. I'll never forget the sight and sounds. I think there was a Group HQ in Bawtry, the AOC's car was some lovely old Armstrong Siddeley or such.
I picked up a book on the Vulcan which I found very interesting- The Vulcan Story 1952-2002, by Tim Laming, Silverdale Books, ISBN 1-85605-701-1. It covers the history of the delta design, flight testing, display including display pilots' notes, aircrew manual, and is, as they say, lavishly illustrated.
I picked up a book on the Vulcan which I found very interesting- The Vulcan Story 1952-2002, by Tim Laming, Silverdale Books, ISBN 1-85605-701-1. It covers the history of the delta design, flight testing, display including display pilots' notes, aircrew manual, and is, as they say, lavishly illustrated.
I don't own this space under my name. I should have leased it while I still could
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?
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?
B(I)8 & Gainsey
Ref the 543 Victor,
543 were being presented with their Colours, by, I believe, Princess Anne. Anyway they had a parade on the lazy, where also were lined up their Victors. The culmination of this was to be a rapid start and scramble of one of the said a/c. followed by a flypast. Sod's law came into play and the prime went tits up, the crew, minus I think the Nav Rad, who was to get some pics for the Captain, ran to the standby, started and taxied . He did a wonderful take off(min fuel) airborne well before the intersection and pulled into a tight r.h climbing turn, intending to line up on 27 for a max rate climb, but he was unable to pull onto the centreline due to speed & not letting out far enough so he called going around for another try. He came over us going like the proverbial bat out of hell, and in at least 50 to 60 deg bank, got to the far side of the airfield and the tailplane departed, the rest is history, apart from the fact that I got hauled in to do the first night's guard at the crash site.
Incidently,The Daily Mirror was the only paper to get a photo of the take off and initial climbing turn, and it headlined it's next day's edition "Death of a Giant" with said pic on the front page
regards Den.
Ref the 543 Victor,
543 were being presented with their Colours, by, I believe, Princess Anne. Anyway they had a parade on the lazy, where also were lined up their Victors. The culmination of this was to be a rapid start and scramble of one of the said a/c. followed by a flypast. Sod's law came into play and the prime went tits up, the crew, minus I think the Nav Rad, who was to get some pics for the Captain, ran to the standby, started and taxied . He did a wonderful take off(min fuel) airborne well before the intersection and pulled into a tight r.h climbing turn, intending to line up on 27 for a max rate climb, but he was unable to pull onto the centreline due to speed & not letting out far enough so he called going around for another try. He came over us going like the proverbial bat out of hell, and in at least 50 to 60 deg bank, got to the far side of the airfield and the tailplane departed, the rest is history, apart from the fact that I got hauled in to do the first night's guard at the crash site.
Incidently,The Daily Mirror was the only paper to get a photo of the take off and initial climbing turn, and it headlined it's next day's edition "Death of a Giant" with said pic on the front page
regards Den.
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Thanks for that Den, brings my memory of the thing into sharper focus. Along with a few others we were watching the day from the corner of 3 Hangar (51's house). The "rumour" I mentioned previously may well have be accurate then if there was a kerfuffle in changing aircraft in front of a VIP.
I take it you were on 543. But date is vauge in my mind, refresh me if you will.
I take it you were on 543. But date is vauge in my mind, refresh me if you will.
