The RAF Hawker Siddeley Avro Vulcan Delta Wing strategic bomber GAV 4017-382
The Avro Vulcan was a British delta wing subsonic bomber, operated by the Royal Air Force from 1953 until 1984. The Vulcan was part of the RAF's V bomber force, which fulfilled the role of nuclear deterrence against the Soviet Union during the Cold War. It was used in the conventional bombing role during the Falklands conflict with Argentina. Although the Vulcan had a normal crew of five (two pilots, two navigators and an Air Electronics Operator (AEO), only the pilot and co-pilot were provided with ejection seats. This feature of the Vulcan has been the basis of significant criticism; there were several instances of the pilot and co-pilot ejecting in an emergency and the "rear crew" being killed because there was not time for them to bail out. The navigator plotter, navigator radar and AEO bailed out through the crew entrance door in the cockpit floor immediately ahead of the nosewheel, their parachutes opening automatically by static line. As the crew door was immediately forward of the front undercarriage, it was very important that the pilots retracted the gear before bail-out. The method of escape was practised regularly in ground rigs, and successfully used on more than one occasion, with all crew members surviving. In September 1956, the RAF received its first Vulcan B 1, XA897, which immediately went on a fly-the-flag mission to New Zealand. On 1 October, while approaching Heathrow to complete the tour, XA897 crashed short of the runway in bad weather conditions, the two pilots ejecting successfully and the rear crew being killed. The aircraft Captain was Squadron Leader "Podge" Howard and the co-pilot was Air Marshal Sir Harry Broadhurst. It appears that due to time delays in the rather primitive Ground-Controlled Approach (GCA) system of the time, the aircraft became too low on the approach without being warned by the GCA system and damaged its undercarriage in an inadvertent touchdown short of the runway threshold. Control was then lost during the subsequ
Size: 5459px × 3521px
Location: RAF Leuchars, Royal Kingdom of Fife. Scotland. United Kingdom.
Photo credit: © David Gowans / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: -force, .2, 1952-08-31, 201, 202, 203, 1984, 4x, accept, aeroplane, air, aircraft, armed, aviation, avro, blue, bomber, bristol, chadwick, cold, countermeasures, delta, designed, electronic, engines, falklands, flight, force, hawker, introduction, jet, large, maiden, march, military, missile., modified, nuclear, olympus, retired, roy, royal, siddeley, steel, vulcan, war, , weapons, wing, xh558
