Did You Fly The Vulcan?? (Merged)

[682al]

Surely these people will be able to help with photographs of Mk I Vulcan instrument panels?

http://www.avroheritage.com/

[sedburgh]

Originally Posted by TheVulcan

This is really a new thread but I don't know how to start one! Has any one got some good close pictures of Mk1 and Mk2 instrument panels. Particularly interested in Control Surface Indicator, fuel panel, flying control controls on left side etc. Need them in a hurry, preferably high res but would be very happy to scan pictures and return.

I have a few shots taken in the cockpit of XH537 at Bournemouth, I have uploaded them to http://www.photobox.co.uk/album/4584560.

Philip Morten

[TheVulcan]

Thanks

Thanks very much for pics.

[Pontius Navigator]

Originally Posted by sedburgh

I have a few shots taken in the cockpit of XH537 at Bournemouth, I have uploaded them to http://www.photobox.co.uk/album/4584560.

Philip Morten

Interesting,

According to Jackson, 537 was flown from Scampton to Abingdon in 1982 for fire practice.

[hobie]

A piece of 537 is certainly on the list of exhibits ....

to use that famous old aviation term? ......... it's "Nose"

http://www.aeroflight.co.uk/mus/uk/1-b/bmouthmus.htm

[Flatiron]

Accident Investigations

XH536. I understand your need to know your father. Mine sired me in May 1944 and then went off to invade Europe, never to come back. But having spend a good deal of my RAF career with flight safety, I know that BoIs can never tell the whole story, especially when all the crew died and there was no clear tech defect. XH536 crashed in Wales because the crew pressed on in deteriorating weather conditions. Shades of the Mull of Kintyre, we will never know why for certain. As for Glenview, there are a few of us with a piece of the jigsaw. I have one because I spoke to the captain before he went, another Prune stalwart has another because he met the crew in the Goose enroute to Chicago, and so on. But even though we can surmise what happened, none of us can know the whole true picture because we were not in the cockpit at impact. I can only say that Board members can only do their best with the facts they have. If you really want to know your father, don't pin your hopes on green-foldered BoI reports - talk to his mates.
All the best.

[TheVulcan]

more queries

Does anyone have any details ?
XA904 damaged landing Waddington 1961
XH 556 u/c collapse April 1966

[Exrigger]

I know the thread is 'did you fly the Vulcan' but the following is from my fathers Flying Log Book (Vulcan Crew Chief) so some may know the pilots listed. I did get one flight in 1971, low level a 230 OCU A/C never could remember the number:

10/05/65 - XM571 - W/C Gingell - Scampton to Goose Bay (Western Vortex)
11/05/65 - XM571 - W/C Gingell - Goose Bay to Offut AFB
13/05/65 - XM571 - W/C Gingell - Offut AFB to Webb AFB
17/05/65 - XM571 - W/C Gingell - Webb AFB to Offut AFB
18/05/65 - XM571 - W/C Gingell - Offut AFB to Goose Bay
19/05/65 - XM571 - W/C Gingell - Goose Bay to Scampton to Goose Bay
05/07/65 - XL389 - Fl/Lt Tootell - Scampton to Kinloss (ex Mickey Finn)
26/10/65 - XM594 - W/C Heywood - Scampton to El Adam
29/10/65 - XM594 - W/C Heywood - El Adam to Scampton
28/01/66 - XL317 - Fl/Lt Box - Scampton to Akrotiri
31/01/66 - XL317 - Fl/Lt Box - Akrotiri to Scampton
26/04/66 - XL388 - FL/Lt Odling - Scampton to Luqa
28/04/66 - XL388 - FL/Lt Odling - Luqa to Scampton
09/05/66 - XL319 - Fl/Lt Jobling - Scampton to Lossiemouth
01/08/66 - XL317 - Fl/Lt Hill - Scampton to El Adam
05/08/66 - XL317 - Fl/Lt Hill - El Adam to Scampton
17/04/67 - XL359 - Fl/Lt Ward - Scampton to Luqa
18/04/67 - XL359 - Fl/Lt Ward - Luqa to El Adam to Luqa (low level)
21/04/67 - XL359 - Fl/Lt Ward - Luqa to El Adam (low level)
21/04/67 - XL359 - Fl/Lt Ward - El Adam to Luqa
22/04/67 - XL359 - Fl/Lt Ward - Luqa to Scampton
12/08/67 - XL389 - F/O Caskie - Scampton to Goose Bay
21/08/67 - XL389 - F/O Caskie - Goose Bay to Scampton
09/11/67 - XL444 - Fl/Lt Caskie - Scampton to Gardermoen
10/11/67 - XL444 - Fl/Lt Caskie - Gardermoen to Scampton

[Pontius Navigator]

Originally Posted by TheVulcan

Does anyone have any details ?
XA904 damaged landing Waddington 1961
XH 556 u/c collapse April 1966

There was a spectacular undercarriage collapse at Finningley about that time too. As the aircraft powered up the undercarriage retracted and the aircraft settled down rupturing the main fuselage fuel tank.

Fuel was welling around the entrance door so the canopy was blown and Kim Bunting, an OCU staff navigator, was first out standing on the copilot's hand as the co tried to shut down the fuel system. He followed with a boot on his head and a graceful exit down the side of the cockpit.

Allegedly he watched the rest of the proceedings from the safety of the crewroom as the student crew followed.

[allan907]

At the time of that one I was a lowly SAC working in ECMSDF (Electronic Countermeasures Servicing and Development Flight) which was part of BCDU (Bomber Command Development Unit).

ECMSDF was situated on the top floor of the electronics block while the HQ of BCDU was in a wooden shed at the back of 1 Hangar. Part of my duties was to walk down the Finningley 8 twice a day doing a mail run.

On the day in question I was about 200 yards away when the incident happened. As No 3 was cranked up (supplies all electrical power) the mains started folding up. The crew chief, attached to the mictel lead and underneath the engine (looking for leaks on start up ?) started to run towards the tail of the aircraft. When he realised that the aircraft was coming down on top of him he changed direction and headed for the front. By this time the pressure cabin and radome had broken apart as the nose leg remained in the 'down' position and the main part of the aircraft was rapidly descending to the ground. The crew chief then made a dart sideways and escaped by inches.

Meanwhile the canopy blew and, it seemed to me, the crew had exited by the time the canopy hit the ground. They all leapt over the windscreen and slid down the nose, off the refuelling probe and legged it for the armoury, which was directly in front of the aircraft, with nary a backward glance!

There was a lot of dust, a bit of silence, then a lot of shouting and action. I just stood there gobsmacked not knowing what to do so I carried on with my mail run!

The fault turned out to be a dodgy 28v microswitch which had stuck in the 'open' position so that as the engine ran up and power was applied the whole pack of cards came literally crashing down.

The aircraft ended up in 3 pieces: the radome, the pressure cabin, and the rest. When the pressure cabin came away it took a spar running down the spine of the aircraft and left it sticking up in the air.

[GOLF_BRAVO_ZULU]

Would the crew upstairs have pushed the canopy clear? The way my dad explained to me (aged about 10!) how the canopy jettisoned was that the jettison jacks were only to lift the forward edge into the slipstream. The slipstream then lifted it upwards and rearwards until it detached and fell away. That seems to fit the diagram in the AP as well.

[forget]

The canopy did rely on air flow to get it clear but two guys in a hurry could easily find enough energy to push it over the side. Here's 569 at Butterworth with the canopy having been jettisond at a standstill. Left side brakes were seized on. Oops - got it wrong - it seems the canopy was jettised with air speed and then carried to where it's lying.

[threeputt]

All this talk of jettisoning canopies and stuff brought to mind Waddo in the mid 70's. Sat in the 50 Sqn crewroom probably "syphing on somebodies donk" when loud explosion type noise was heard from the direction of the threshold of RW 21. Flt Cdr Air's (Sqn Ldr John P******x) No 1 and 2 engines had just suffered catastrophic failure on run up to brakes off. Sh*t and flames every where. This has clearly got everyones attention, not to mention Fg Off Geoff D****n, the screen Nav Rad, who decided that this was definatley not for him and so he blew open the crew door and climbed out with the intention of "f*****g off in fine pitch" up wind of the pretty impressive conflagration which was rapidly getting more intense by the second. Only one small problem however, which was that he had forgotten to disconnect his umbilical cord (imbicile cord in his case) and so there is this hillarious picture of Geoff running into wind, pulling the largest parachute you have ever seen. His legs seemed to be doing 90kts IAS, body 1kt groundspeed ! Funniest thing I have ever seen! Anyone know where the little wart is these days?

And 3 Putts again!

[ANW]

Photos here of Vulcan XM603 at BAe Woodford taken July 1999. Includes cockpit views and panel close-ups.
State-of-the-art back in the Sixties!

[allan907]

IIRC the cockpit canopy jacks were fairly powerful beasts which extended to about 18 inches. In a static jettison they would undoubtedly blow the canopy a fair way up. I certainly remember the canopy whizzing into the air before it started its descent to mother earth.

I also remember a safety lecture where we were shown a graphic pic of a jettison jack neatly inserted into some riggers elbow and exiting out of the wrist. Apparently the canopy was off, he was resting his arm on the cockpit edge when the system (presumably there were no seats in) went orf and bang went his arm! Gruesome stuff. It was a fairly standard lecture - anybody else remember it?

[mrseagull]

Anyone here recall an incident around 1964 (?) at Church Fenton?

What I recall as a Vulcan overshot and ended up in our potatoes - we owned a fair amount of the land at one end of the station.

I was a youngster, out shooting partridges with the landlord of the Ulleskelf Arms, and remember the white nose of what looked like a Vulcan (very misty, certainly a large white aircraft) with a cordon of blokes round it. We were not encouraged to approach any closer, so went home. Maybe my .410 and my friend Bob's 12 bore didn't help.

Aircraft were not frequent visitors on our farm, but a Jet Provost around the time did make a most impressive hole amongst the sheep..

[forget]

Originally Posted by allan907

IIRC the cockpit canopy jacks were fairly powerful beasts which extended to about 18 inches. In a static jettison they would undoubtedly blow the canopy a fair way up. I certainly remember the canopy whizzing into the air before it started its descent to mother earth.
I also remember a safety lecture where we were shown a graphic pic of a jettison jack neatly inserted into some riggers elbow and exiting out of the wrist. Apparently the canopy was off, he was resting his arm on the cockpit edge when the system (presumably there were no seats in) went orf and bang went his arm! Gruesome stuff. It was a fairly standard lecture - anybody else remember it?

I remember the photograph and I have an idea you're thinking of the ejection seat drogue parachute bolt, rather than the canopy jacks. During aircraft servicing it was possible to accidentally snag the drogue cartridge lanyard and fire the drogue bolt without the main seat charge being affected. The bolt was just that - a steel cylinder half inch by ten used to pull the stabilising drogue chute out after the seat had fired. I'm pretty sure the canopy jettison jacks were pneumatic, probably from the same source as the door closing air system. Could be wrong.

[forget]

Becoming clearer! But what was the 'jettison gun'. I don't recall any explosives connected with the canopy. Not that it was any of my business

[hobie]

What's the max number of hours you might spend in a Vulcan ....

[flipflopman RB199]

Mike is correct forget

The system operates just as Mike has described, with the pneumatic ram physically operating the same layshaft as connected to the main canopy jettison handle. The ram also withdrew the sear from the canopy jettison gun firing pin, which fired and 'blew' off the canopy. The jettison gun was actually affixed to the canopy itself, and located in a cupped socket on the canopy rail of the airframe.

The pneumatic ram was indeed connected to the door system, but on the opening side of the system, at 1200psi. The closing system ran at a further reduced pressure of 400psi.

Hope this helps.


Flipflopman