Did You Fly The Vulcan?? (Merged)
Thread Starter
More photos and information here:
w w w . thunder - and - lightnings . co . uk/vulcan/gallery3.html
(You'll need to cut and paste the link, then delete the spaces - some net-nanny won't allow the URL to be displayed correctly....)
w w w . thunder - and - lightnings . co . uk/vulcan/gallery3.html
(You'll need to cut and paste the link, then delete the spaces - some net-nanny won't allow the URL to be displayed correctly....)
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: England
Posts: 106
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Vulcan tanker
Haynes are doing a Vulcan manual like they did for the Spitfire and the Lancaster. Anybody got good aerial pictures of Vulcan as a tanker or even better, Vulcan to Vulcan refuelling?
Join Date: May 2006
Location: 2 m South of Radstock VRP
Posts: 2,042
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Mr B, Sir; on page 163 of your excellent book (Vulcan Test Pilot) you have a good picture of Vulcan tankers mating. It's credited to Fred Martin RZF Digital, although it does look very like Mr Cullerne's fine work.
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: England
Posts: 106
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
vulcan Tanker
Thanks for input. The picture you refer to is rather distant. I was hoping to get something new and perhaps a closer shot. I only wish someone had taken a picture from the inside but then everyone was so busy. I don't think Paul Cullerne took the picture otherwise Harry Holmes would have it at Woodford.
Join Date: Jul 1999
Location: 58-33N. 00-18W. Peterborough UK
Posts: 3,040
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
..... or even better, Vulcan to Vulcan refuelling?
Vulcans in Camera - vp Frameset
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Spain
Age: 76
Posts: 87
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Vulcan To Vulcan Refuelling
I have a video (remember them!) of a Vulcan tanker refuelling several different aircraft including another Vulcan. I am in the process of trying to get it onto a DVD. Hopefully I'll manage soon!
By the by, I have somewhere a still of a Vulcan dropping an LGB. I'll try and find it in the next week or so.
By the by, I have somewhere a still of a Vulcan dropping an LGB. I'll try and find it in the next week or so.
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: North Herts
Age: 81
Posts: 27
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
As a newbie, I've just had a fascinating afternoon ploughing through this thread - so many memories stirred!
Me, Coningsby in 61 on 12 (Canberras) - 12 disbands then reforms (with 9 Sqdn) to re-equip with Vulc B2. First V worked on - XL385 on acceptance check from Avro's. I was actually on 12 Squadron (CO W/Cdr Largeson) - but every body wanted to have a go at these beasts and I blagged a job with the ECM bay corporal (we were both on the darts team at the Mucky Duck) and we fitted 385 up with her very first Shrimp/Diver/Palm/Saga kit.
Our first on 12 was XH560 - a retread (I think from Scampton), but she'd just had a major so was freshly painted and clean (unlike the other ex-Scampton dogs that followed her).
Went through the Cuban Missile crisis week, pulled QRA for Xmas and then in the New Year posted Scampton.
I was ARF (BD) - NBS for those not au-fait - and at Scampton moved on to System Fitter (Sys Fitt) - we looked after the marriage Blue Steel - Vulcan electronic systems.
Watched poor old 385 burn on the end of the runway and 576 career across the grass and clip the Tower. Happily nobody hurt in either episode.
Lots of dets, Mickey Finns/Micks etc. 7 Rangers 1 Giant Voice and a spell at BCDU as a draughtsman doing system diagrams for APs.
Left the V force in 71 for a new life with Buccaneers. - and guess what - back to Shiny 12!
Me, Coningsby in 61 on 12 (Canberras) - 12 disbands then reforms (with 9 Sqdn) to re-equip with Vulc B2. First V worked on - XL385 on acceptance check from Avro's. I was actually on 12 Squadron (CO W/Cdr Largeson) - but every body wanted to have a go at these beasts and I blagged a job with the ECM bay corporal (we were both on the darts team at the Mucky Duck) and we fitted 385 up with her very first Shrimp/Diver/Palm/Saga kit.
Our first on 12 was XH560 - a retread (I think from Scampton), but she'd just had a major so was freshly painted and clean (unlike the other ex-Scampton dogs that followed her).
Went through the Cuban Missile crisis week, pulled QRA for Xmas and then in the New Year posted Scampton.
I was ARF (BD) - NBS for those not au-fait - and at Scampton moved on to System Fitter (Sys Fitt) - we looked after the marriage Blue Steel - Vulcan electronic systems.
Watched poor old 385 burn on the end of the runway and 576 career across the grass and clip the Tower. Happily nobody hurt in either episode.
Lots of dets, Mickey Finns/Micks etc. 7 Rangers 1 Giant Voice and a spell at BCDU as a draughtsman doing system diagrams for APs.
Left the V force in 71 for a new life with Buccaneers. - and guess what - back to Shiny 12!
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Why oh why would I wanna be anywhere else?
Posts: 1,305
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like
on
1 Post
Haynes are doing a Vulcan manual like they did for the Spitfire and the Lancaster
(RAF Wittering EOD team blowing it off it's legs at Macrihanish ready for fire practice)
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: North Herts
Age: 81
Posts: 27
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Dug out old tech training notes today to answer a question on the Nigger thread and came up with some stuff that dots the odd i and crosses a t here and there from last year on this thread.
Red Steer (Mk1) began life as AI 20 - code name Green Willow- and it was seriously proposed to fit as main radar in the Lightning! Built by Ekco.
Ferranti won the Lightning job, of course, and from the Lightning AI 23 grew Blue Parrot (Buccaneers). From Blue Parrot Ferranti developed the proposed fire control radar for TSR2. They had perfected the terrain avoidance (note - not terrain following) aspect and were flying it in the Boscombe Down Buccaneer when TSR2 was murdered.
Ferranti had pretty much bet the farm on the TSR2 project and its cancellation played a significant part in the demise of the Edinburgh company.
Red Steer (Mk1) began life as AI 20 - code name Green Willow- and it was seriously proposed to fit as main radar in the Lightning! Built by Ekco.
Ferranti won the Lightning job, of course, and from the Lightning AI 23 grew Blue Parrot (Buccaneers). From Blue Parrot Ferranti developed the proposed fire control radar for TSR2. They had perfected the terrain avoidance (note - not terrain following) aspect and were flying it in the Boscombe Down Buccaneer when TSR2 was murdered.
Ferranti had pretty much bet the farm on the TSR2 project and its cancellation played a significant part in the demise of the Edinburgh company.
Thread Starter
Ask anyone who a member the 'Zimbabwe Air Legion' at the end of the '70s!
I understand that he later gave a VSO a good listening to, following a certain Vulcan transit to ASI during Op Corporate. But I might be wrong....
I understand that he later gave a VSO a good listening to, following a certain Vulcan transit to ASI during Op Corporate. But I might be wrong....
Cunning Artificer
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: The spiritual home of DeHavilland
Age: 76
Posts: 3,127
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Ferranti had pretty much bet the farm on the TSR2 project and its cancellation played a significant part in the demise of the Edinburgh company.
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: North Herts
Age: 81
Posts: 27
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
B/Sheep - True, but "Soldering on" is all they did. They survived on mod programmes for the RN mainly. But never delivered another system. They tried an Airmobile ground defence system, but lost to Plessey. Not sure who did the Radar for the Navy harriers - could have been Ferranti - but even that couldn't fill the hole.
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: london
Posts: 379
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Ferranti's odyssey
The business history of Ferranti is complex. They were 10% of estimated TSR.2 R&D expense at the chop, for Inertial Navigator, Nav/Attack Radar, and early-scheme Laser Rangefinder and Marked Target Receiver, all derived in collaboration with Westinghouse. If BAC had accepted Wilson's fixed price offer to continue with TSR.2, 50 ship sets were on offer - rather less than Ferranti's workload on guidance for Bloodhound and Thunderbird 2 SAMs. Schemes then abounded for AFVG/UKVG, while fitting Blue Parrot to Buccaneer S.2, and Sister Firm/licencee on AWG11/12 in F-4K/M. On (to be) Tornado IDS/GR.1, they won Inertial Navigator and LR/MTR, and for the TI mapping/TFR, UK Sister Firm/licencee: an unprecedented production programme. Then Blue Fox for Sea Harrier FRS.1, and Blue Vixen SHAR F/A.2; then the antenna sub-contract from Marconi for AI.24 Foxhunter in Tornado F.3. The LR/MTR went into some Jaguars and Harriers.
In November,1987 they became Ferranti International Signal plc. The US end proved fraudulent and took Ferranti down. In December,1993 the detritus was taken over by GEC-Marconi; they won, in EuroRadar, ECR-90 Captor for Typhoon; merged into new BAE SYSTEMS, 1999 and were sold 2007 into SELEX, Finmeccanica. The Crewe Toll, Edinburgh site survives all this name changing.
In November,1987 they became Ferranti International Signal plc. The US end proved fraudulent and took Ferranti down. In December,1993 the detritus was taken over by GEC-Marconi; they won, in EuroRadar, ECR-90 Captor for Typhoon; merged into new BAE SYSTEMS, 1999 and were sold 2007 into SELEX, Finmeccanica. The Crewe Toll, Edinburgh site survives all this name changing.
Did You Fly The Vulcan?
There are a few here who did.
Thanks to Philrigger for this one.
http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t...uadron1966.jpg
Thanks to Philrigger for this one.
http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t...uadron1966.jpg
Last edited by AARON O'DICKYDIDO; 4th May 2009 at 16:23. Reason: Stupidity.
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Edinburgh
Posts: 43
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Originally Posted by Once_an_Erk
True, but "Soldering on" is all they did. They survived on mod programmes for the RN mainly. But never delivered another system. They tried an Airmobile ground defence system, but lost to Plessey. Not sure who did the Radar for the Navy harriers - could have been Ferranti - but even that couldn't fill the hole.
Yes, they delivered systems. Seaspray for Naval Lynx (and occasional other platforms, including one fast patrol boat), Blue Vixen for SHAR FA.2, Blue Kestrel for Naval Merlin, ECR.90 (now CAPTOR) for Typhoon, AMSAR (now CAESAR) for Typhoon Tranche 3. All of these products were led from Crewe Toll except the last.
Strictly speaking, Blue Vixen was a shared project with Ericsson, so the PS/05a in the early Gripen is very similar (but not identical) in hardware terms; the software is totally different between the two.
You could argue that being able to design and manufacture an LTM for ground forces, the PGM that it guided, the LRMTS and LTM pod on the launch aircraft, the radar and nav system to get it there and the DASS to protect it, the system to plan the mission and record its success or failure, and all of the associated test equipment to make sure that these stay working - is a systems capability.
On the Nav front, they won the nav system for early Ariane rockets, Jaguar, and Tornado (and nearly Challenger 2 until they decided GPS was the way forward.) In fact, several of the avionic subsystems in Tornado GR.1 was Ferranti design or responsibility - radar, INS, moving map display, LRMTS, LTM pod, not sure about the HUD.
There was a succession of ATE equipments for use in RAF kit - if you've ever seen something with the power of a ZX-81 in a full-height 19" rack called FIST, then that was the Ferranti Inertial Systems Tester. I spent my summer vacations from University working with the mostly-Bellshill-based team that designed those and the AST-1000 and AST-1200 (a rugged test kit for Harrier GR.5).
That was Silverknowes - who also went on to design DIRCM aka Nemesis, and the DASS for the WAH-64 before they moved along the road to Crewe Toll.
At Robertson Avenue and then South Gyle, the Product Support, Electro-Optics, and Display Systems Divisions designed Mission Data Recorders and Mission Planning systems, not to mention Head-Up displays, NVGs, and high-brightness screens. They also designed and delivered TIALD, and were working on the Al Hakim PGMs for UAE. Somewhere in the mix was a artillery-sound-locating system.
Before merger with International Signal, Ferranti Defence Systems employed over 6,000 people in Edinburgh, over half of whom were engineering graduates. They didn't just design the kit, they manufactured it too - the central machine shop at Crewe Toll was an impressive sight to behold. Five years later, it was down to 3,000 people. Strangely, there are a few technology firms based in Edinburgh because of the availability of engineering experience...
I don't own this space under my name. I should have leased it while I still could
Gravelbelly, thanks, maybe start a thread "Did you ever work for, use or service Ferranti kit?" 