Vulcan aircrew?
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Vulcan aircrew?
Hi there,
I am looking to contact any ex-Vulcan aircrew/engineers who may have archive film of their time on Vulcans in the RAF. It's for a fund raising film to help the restoration to flight of Vulcan XH558 at Bruntingthorpe.
Thank you!
Joanna White.
I am looking to contact any ex-Vulcan aircrew/engineers who may have archive film of their time on Vulcans in the RAF. It's for a fund raising film to help the restoration to flight of Vulcan XH558 at Bruntingthorpe.
Thank you!
Joanna White.
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They're certainly making a proper job of that! Back at Waddington in nineteen canteen our 'B' shift duty handling team only managed to take one wing off with a mechanical digger.
But then they weren't really trying.
Took more than two years to fix it, only to fly off to St Athan three months later to be turned into pots, pans and electric kettles.
As to film - You gotta be joking! An 8mm movie camera cost two month's pay for a mere corporal electrician in the sixties. You can always see me marshalling a Vulcan in the 007 movie "Thunderball" though...
But then they weren't really trying.
Took more than two years to fix it, only to fly off to St Athan three months later to be turned into pots, pans and electric kettles.
As to film - You gotta be joking! An 8mm movie camera cost two month's pay for a mere corporal electrician in the sixties. You can always see me marshalling a Vulcan in the 007 movie "Thunderball" though...
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There is a great training video for groundcrew which has some vulcan footage. Its not very long, but if you source a copy it would give you a couple of minutes worth. I think its called 'Basic marshalling signals'
Regrettably the home video camera hadn't been invented when most of us were in the V-force. Any that did exist used VHS tapes in a separate recorder and were very heavy and cumbersome.
8mm or Super8 cine cameras of that era would have needed powerful spotlights inside the a/c and the films were only about 3 min in length.
The only source would probably be 'official' SSVC (or SKC as it was then) films; regrettably they have probably all been thrown out now by people with no eye for history. In any case MoD corporate greed would probably demand an unrealistic copyright fee...
8mm or Super8 cine cameras of that era would have needed powerful spotlights inside the a/c and the films were only about 3 min in length.
The only source would probably be 'official' SSVC (or SKC as it was then) films; regrettably they have probably all been thrown out now by people with no eye for history. In any case MoD corporate greed would probably demand an unrealistic copyright fee...
How about the RAF Museum at Hendon?
HOBIE: That's a truly sad picture. I remember the last flying B1 being delivered to my airfield to suffer the same fate (it was the one used for RB199 tests). There seem to be some people that actually enjoy doing that sort of thing; I also remember the effect when they did it with a Lightning at my airfield without inhibiting the fuel tanks. The guy lived, but was badly burned.
HOBIE: That's a truly sad picture. I remember the last flying B1 being delivered to my airfield to suffer the same fate (it was the one used for RB199 tests). There seem to be some people that actually enjoy doing that sort of thing; I also remember the effect when they did it with a Lightning at my airfield without inhibiting the fuel tanks. The guy lived, but was badly burned.
Last edited by chevvron; 24th Mar 2006 at 09:29.
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That photo made me cringe! Seeing the one at Bruntingthorpe being so lovingly restored it's painful to realise all the others were just scrapped. If any aircraft could have blood in her vains it's the Vulcan.
Thank you for the suggestions. I will follow them up and let you know if I have any success. There should also be more update info on the vulcantothesky.com website about this project shortly!
Very best wishes,
Joanna White.
Thank you for the suggestions. I will follow them up and let you know if I have any success. There should also be more update info on the vulcantothesky.com website about this project shortly!
Very best wishes,
Joanna White.
Good to hear that, Primetime Joanna!
When are the next Sponsors' Days? I've got 3 of the blue cards now and keep meaning to come to see the old bird being re-assembled. I taxied '655 last year at Wellesbourne - this year '655 is looking better than ever and will be an excellent training system for the '558 crew.
Looking forward to the roll-out of '558 this summer!
When are the next Sponsors' Days? I've got 3 of the blue cards now and keep meaning to come to see the old bird being re-assembled. I taxied '655 last year at Wellesbourne - this year '655 is looking better than ever and will be an excellent training system for the '558 crew.
Looking forward to the roll-out of '558 this summer!
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... in a slightly photo-modified climb however (it might have climbed steeply but not that steeply!).
I've mentioned this before, but I'm writing a new Vulcan book at the moment which will be a very big volume, and probably the last "proper" book on the subject, so if anyone has photos, anecdotes, links to ex-crews, or anything else that might be of use, do please let me know.
I've mentioned this before, but I'm writing a new Vulcan book at the moment which will be a very big volume, and probably the last "proper" book on the subject, so if anyone has photos, anecdotes, links to ex-crews, or anything else that might be of use, do please let me know.
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probably the last "proper" book on the subject
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... in a slightly photo-modified climb however (it might have climbed steeply but not that steeply!).
if the photo has indeed been modified I will be greatly dissapointed .....
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Hobie, The doctored photograph of XH558 'in a steep climb' should be destroyed. A Vulcan in that attitude is not long for this world. Anyone who knows anything about aircraft can see it's not real. The problem is, those who know a 'little bit about aircraft' start to believe these things.
Well, it looks pretty accurate to me.
I suspect one of Mary's last displays in the old bird?
Fortunately the displays planned for '558 when she flies again will be a lot more gentle on the airframe as befits the old lady's advancing years.
I suspect one of Mary's last displays in the old bird?
Fortunately the displays planned for '558 when she flies again will be a lot more gentle on the airframe as befits the old lady's advancing years.
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Airborne-artist, sarcasm aside, I think you'll find that my prophecy is correct, as I wrote "The Vulcan Story" years ago, and it's still recognised as the best (and certainly biggest) book on the subject, even though it's showing its age now (and the reprinted edition was ghastly!). The new book will be more than twice the size of that book, so I think the odds on anyone else producing anything better, are virtually zero, and this is why I want the new book to be as good as possible.
Okay, some small publishers will undoubtedly turn-out "monographs" or similar books, but large publishing companies just don't touch this kind of subject any more (wish they did!), so I think it's fair to say that the new book will be as good as it gets.
As for that Vulcan photo, it's simply been rotated slightly to make the climb look steeper than it actually is. I think if you ask a former Vulcan driver, you'd find that the maximum climb angle was never more than 45 degrees, even for an initial "leap" off the runway, lightly loaded. That photo looks more like 60-70 degrees or so!
Okay, some small publishers will undoubtedly turn-out "monographs" or similar books, but large publishing companies just don't touch this kind of subject any more (wish they did!), so I think it's fair to say that the new book will be as good as it gets.
As for that Vulcan photo, it's simply been rotated slightly to make the climb look steeper than it actually is. I think if you ask a former Vulcan driver, you'd find that the maximum climb angle was never more than 45 degrees, even for an initial "leap" off the runway, lightly loaded. That photo looks more like 60-70 degrees or so!
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sorry guys .... the two photo links had to be deleted due to bandwidth problems at the host site .... 
that's the pressure/pleasure of PPRuNe ..... too many people use it !!!!
For the record I'm assured the 2nd photo (steep climb) was genuine, by the web master of the site in question .....
Anyone interested in XH558 photo's could do a Google search using .....
Vulcan XH558 photos
.....and you will find a mountain of them! ..... there are some very special photos available ....
that's the pressure/pleasure of PPRuNe ..... too many people use it !!!!
For the record I'm assured the 2nd photo (steep climb) was genuine, by the web master of the site in question .....
Anyone interested in XH558 photo's could do a Google search using .....
Vulcan XH558 photos
.....and you will find a mountain of them! ..... there are some very special photos available ....
Last edited by hobie; 24th Mar 2006 at 15:00.
I don't own this space under my name. I should have leased it while I still could
Tim, I cannot comment on the accuracy of the 45 deg claim simply because the pitch bar did not go that high. What I can attest to is that I could see the runway of the departure airfield about 20000 feet below through the upper periscope.
Do the geometry.
Do the geometry.
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Ahh, such technology!
I've only seen a few direct side-on views of 558 taking-off on display, and it looks to be somewhere around 40-45 degrees at initial rotation, which is pretty impressive by any standards.
Of course, steep departures are fairly recent when it comes to Vulcan routines, as back in the good old days, the standard air show departure was a (very) sharp right turn (at least when Joe L'Estrange was driving!), although I seem to recall that the OCU display also started with a fairly sprightly leap into a climb.
As for that photo, it wasn't "manipulated" as such, but it had been rotated and cropped slightly (possibly by the original photographer) to give the impression that the angle was greater than it actually was, that's all.
I've only seen a few direct side-on views of 558 taking-off on display, and it looks to be somewhere around 40-45 degrees at initial rotation, which is pretty impressive by any standards.
Of course, steep departures are fairly recent when it comes to Vulcan routines, as back in the good old days, the standard air show departure was a (very) sharp right turn (at least when Joe L'Estrange was driving!), although I seem to recall that the OCU display also started with a fairly sprightly leap into a climb.
As for that photo, it wasn't "manipulated" as such, but it had been rotated and cropped slightly (possibly by the original photographer) to give the impression that the angle was greater than it actually was, that's all.
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I've just been in the loft at great personal risk to retrieve an old suitcase with some (possibly) intersting photos - please enlighten this dinosaur as to how I can post them.
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In the late 70's I was co-plt to TVR - he was a top rate display pilot. He developed a steep, slow-speed tight spiral climb inside the airfield boundary as the end of display departure. It was well received and spectacular - v. noisy, lots of bank, high rate of climb. It made a change from the wings level high speed steep climb-out.
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Although the flying will be gentle, due to airframe stresses etc., I hope that she will still do some fairly exciting lurches in to the air! The airframe will be quite considerably lighter than her previous day. A lot of deleted systems are being removed at present so I look forward to seeing those 40-45 degree (or whatever they prove to be) launches once more!!
Whatever happens, it will be an AWESOME sight, and long overdue!
Joanna.
Whatever happens, it will be an AWESOME sight, and long overdue!
Joanna.
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http://www.alexisparkinn.com/aviatio...s.htm#MILITARY
At the bottom of the Military section there is a short video clip of a B1 in anti-flash white flying past... only 18 seconds worth unfortunatly, and no sound... but its a start!
http://www.nodarkroom.co.uk/videos.htm
And theres two clips of your own Vulcan...
Don't know of anymore sorry...
At the bottom of the Military section there is a short video clip of a B1 in anti-flash white flying past... only 18 seconds worth unfortunatly, and no sound... but its a start!
http://www.nodarkroom.co.uk/videos.htm
And theres two clips of your own Vulcan...
Don't know of anymore sorry...