Vulcan XH558 "Scare" at Prestwick
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Vulcan XH558 "Scare" at Prestwick
XH558 had a problem extending the front u/c, when landing at Prestwick after the Scottish show. Vulcan bomber makes emergency landing at Scottish Airshow after landing wheels become stuck during fly-past - Mirror Online. Less dramatically, there's a very interesting youtube clip where someone has recorded the comms and video as a BBMF Spitfire flies in formation to have a look for damage/obstructions. All very professional, the Vulcan crew blow the gear down and land. I noticed that the gear did not appear to fully extend when cycled during the display. I hope they get her fixed for the remaining appearances before she's consigned to the ground.
From their Facebook page:
Good afternoon everyone. Welcome to the flight day info-line for a direct return to Robin Hood. To confirm: - there are no display appearances today.
Take-off from Prestwick will be 1530 (local) with arrival at Doncaster for approx 1630. Undercarriage will remain locked down all flight.
We will have route guide for you soon, but please be aware it is subject to variable routing by the crew once airborne. Thank you.
Good afternoon everyone. Welcome to the flight day info-line for a direct return to Robin Hood. To confirm: - there are no display appearances today.
Take-off from Prestwick will be 1530 (local) with arrival at Doncaster for approx 1630. Undercarriage will remain locked down all flight.
We will have route guide for you soon, but please be aware it is subject to variable routing by the crew once airborne. Thank you.
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What does "blow the gear down" mean?
A tip of the hat to everyone who was involved, and how superb was that landing!!
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Had it on the King Air. Modified gear system from the original.
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Later info on the VTS website forum suggests that the crew didn't blow the gear down in the end, but the system finally played ball after numerous attempts as in the procedure. The comment was, "lots of engineering head scratching" when she returned to the hangar.
There's a few that couldn't do that ... mind you I bet there's also a few on here who wouldn't mind the chance to try ...
I do not want to be overly dramatic about this recent technical glitch, but it did get me wondering for discussions sake what was/is Vulcan proceedure for a stuck nose gear if all means/blow down failed?
Bail out or retract the mains and try a belly landing? I can't imagine a mains only attempt with such a close coupled wheel base. Any Vulcan ever make a belly landing? I do recall seeing pictures of the high profile arrival in NZ with one of the mains damaged, and the crew scrambling down the wing to the ground.
I do recall the C-5 and B-1 landings at Edwards AFB, and a more recent Typhoon in the UK with stuck nose gear. IIRC the B-52 proceedure for stuck front gears was bail out.
Again no agenda, no criticism, no sensationalism and glad things worked well- just curious.
Bail out or retract the mains and try a belly landing? I can't imagine a mains only attempt with such a close coupled wheel base. Any Vulcan ever make a belly landing? I do recall seeing pictures of the high profile arrival in NZ with one of the mains damaged, and the crew scrambling down the wing to the ground.
I do recall the C-5 and B-1 landings at Edwards AFB, and a more recent Typhoon in the UK with stuck nose gear. IIRC the B-52 proceedure for stuck front gears was bail out.
Again no agenda, no criticism, no sensationalism and glad things worked well- just curious.
The crew door on the Vulcan was just ahead of the nose gear and after a belly landing, if the rear crew had not bailed out, they would have to scramble up into the cockpit and out through the jettisoned canopy aperture. The pilots would have already got out of the way and made the seats safe for the rest of the crew to step over. Bailing out with the nose gear down was tricky as the leg was in the way and you would have to push yourself round it after using the crew door as a chute. That's the way I remember it anyway, 39 years down the road. 
I hope this link works..........
http://www.bapc.org.uk/Al_MCd_final.pdf
Its written by Al McDicken and includes amongst other things the story of a Vulcan landing with hydraulic failure. If you read to the end you'll get a sense of the man.
http://www.bapc.org.uk/Al_MCd_final.pdf
Its written by Al McDicken and includes amongst other things the story of a Vulcan landing with hydraulic failure. If you read to the end you'll get a sense of the man.
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Graham, I can't tell from your profile if you have working/flying connections (other than as SLF) so I apologise in advance if I'm stating the obvious to you. The reason for keeping the gear down on the short return flight to Finningley was because it was known to be down and locked. Had the gear been retracted it might have refused to lock into position again with a possible partial gear up landing - not a good idea anywhere and certainly not at what is now a single runway civil airport likely to be full of holidaymakers who would probably be incensed at any resulting delay. Better to use a bit more fuel keeping it down and land safely.
