Vulcan Mishaps At Wellington
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What a day!
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Re the Malta crash, any cause noted, turbulence etc?
I thought the downwards Vampire bomb burst a butt clenching moment.
Just before hitting the runway, the Vulcan's port wing sank dangerously, making contact with the ground. As a result the mainwheel undercarriage on that side was torn off, and fell onto the runway. During landing the port (left) undercarriage collapsed forcing the crew to overshoot to do another circuit for an emergency landing on foamed runway.
I think there was a problem with turbulence from the hangars at Luqa when the wind was in a certain direction.This caused the late sink that took the co pilot by surprise and the lip on the end of the runway did the rest.
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Wellington Airport opening
Many thanks Farrell for your #1, I was at Wellington that day and watched closely all three of the Vulcan's approaches. To me it remains an abiding mystery why the pilot did not full-stop after his second shot, the touch down point was well judged and with drag chute he could have stopped easily. On the other hand the third approach looked wrong from the word go, very 'draggy' and plainly well below the ideal slope, so much so that I subconsciously urged him to take corrective action. Given the close proximity of the crowd to the runway's left side, a frightful accident was only narrowly averted by a combination of quick pilot reaction, the Vulcan's tremendous thrust, and maybe an input from Providence in preventing ignition of all that fuel streaming back from the ruptured tank.
For me it was a real thrill to see the rest of the action in that video, although as captain of the Britannia I wish we had featured more. OK so an airliner type cannot match combat aircraft for spectacle, but then not many aircraft are able to taxy backwards immediately after landing!
For me it was a real thrill to see the rest of the action in that video, although as captain of the Britannia I wish we had featured more. OK so an airliner type cannot match combat aircraft for spectacle, but then not many aircraft are able to taxy backwards immediately after landing!
Good video about the Vulcan mishap at the opening of Wellington airport. Some great footage in it.
https://youtu.be/BTN-x21W2kQ
https://youtu.be/BTN-x21W2kQ
Crikey - great video.
The Vampire star-burst story is great too - wasn't aware of that.
Lived in Wellington for 7 years - many, many crosswind approaches in all kind of aircraft, looking sideways at the runway!
The Vampire star-burst story is great too - wasn't aware of that.
Lived in Wellington for 7 years - many, many crosswind approaches in all kind of aircraft, looking sideways at the runway!
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Watching aircraft at Wellington airport viewing area (Northern end towards the cutting to Miramar) as a nipper started my lifelong interest in aviation. DC-3's, Bristol Freighters, Fokker Friendships etc 
