Vulcan 607
Page 39
128 Twin nosewheels
129 Avionics equipment bay
130 Rearward-facing crew members’ stations, Tactical Navigator, Radar Navigator and Air Electronics Officer
131 Cabin side windows
132 Chart table
133 Assisted exit swivelling crew seats
134 Jettisonable cockpit canopy, dinghy stowage beneath
135 First Pilot’s Martin-Baker Mk 4 ejection seat
136 Windscreen panels
137 Instrument panel shroud
138 Windscreen wipers
139 Co-pilot’s ejection seat
140 Flight deck floor level
141 Entry hatch
142 Extending boarding ladder
143 Pitot head
144 Ventral bomb aiming fairing, unused on B Mk 2 aircraft
145 Aircraft destructor
146 Air refuelling supply pipe
147 Forward pressure dome
148 Radar mounting structure
149 H2S radar equipment pack
150 Rotating radar scanner
151 Radome
152 Terrain Following Radar antenna
153 Flight refuelling probe
154 Bomb bay doors
155 Bomb door hydraulic actuators and hinge links
156 1,000lb (454kg) HE bombs
157 Seven-round bomb carrier, maximum load, three (21,000lb)
Appendix 2
Victor Cutaway
Handley Page Victor K2
1 Nose probe
2 Control feel system pressure intake
3 Nose compartment windows
4 Nose construction
5 In-flight refuelling probe
6 Windscreen
7 Refuelling searchlights
8 Jettisonable roof hatch
9 Co-pilot’s Martin-Baker ejection seat
10 Pilot’s roof hatch windows
11 Pilot’s Martin-Baker ejection seat
12 Control column
13 Instrument panel
14 Rudder panels
15 Air intake to air-conditioning system
16 Radome
17 Throttles
18 Pilot’s side console
19 Cockpit floor
20 External door handle
21 H2S radar scanner
22 Radar mounting and equipment
23 Rearward-facing crew members’ seats – AEO port, Nav Plotter centre, Nav Radar starboard
24 Cockpit door
25 Entry steps
26 Front fuselage construction
27 Rear-view periscope
28 Rearward-facing crew members’ work table
29 Cabin side window
30 Air-conditioning system
31 Nose freight compartment
32 Instrument panels
33 Radio and electronics racks
34 Pressure bulkhead
35 Air-conditioning intake
36 Starboard emergency life raft hatch
37 Port life raft pack
38 Forward fuselage connecting construction
39 Wing spar bulkhead
40 Wing centre-section fuel tank
41 Overwing fuel tank
42 Starboard engine intake
43 Intake ducts
44 De-icing air system
45 Underwing fuel tank
46 Starboard wing fuel tanks
47 Fuel flow proportioner
48 De-icing connector to outer wing
49 Vortex generators
50 Starboard Flight Refuelling FR20B refuelling pod
51 Power turbine propeller
52 Pylon mounting
53 Pitot head
54 Starboard wingtip
55 Starboard aileron
56 Trim tab
57 Refuelling hose
58 Trailing-edge fairing
59 Starboard flap
60 Flap track fairing
61 Flap mechanism
62 Starboard main undercarriage bay
63 Starboard engine bays
64 Exhaust pipe fairing
65 Bomb bay roof forward fuel tank
66 Forward refuelling bomb bay tank
67 Tank mountings68 Fuel flow proportioner
69 Fuselage double frames
70 Fuselage stringer construction
71 Bomb bay roof aft fuel tanks
72 Air refuelling bomb bay tank
73 Bomb bay roof structure
74 Flight Refuelling FR17B hose reel unit
75 Hose reel jack
76 Reel drive motor
77 Air system piping
78 Bomb bay aft bulkhead
79 Retractable Ram Air Turbine intakes
80 Rear fuselage fuel tank
81 Air system intake
82 Heat exchanger
83 Fin root fairing
84 Ram Air Turbine
85 Air exhaust louvres
86 Turbine intake jack
87 Tailplane de-icing air system
88 Fin root fixing
89 Fin leading edge
90 Corrugated inner skin
91 Fin construction
92 Rudder control unit
93 Tailplane fairing
94 Starboard refuelling drogue
95 Starboard tailplane construction
96 Elevator power control unit
97 Elevator construction
98 Tailplane de-icing air system
99 Corrugated tailplane inner skin
100 Port elevator
101 Port tailplane
102 Tailplane fixings
103 Rudder construction
104 Tailplane fairing
105 Fuel jettison pipe
106 Port airbrake, open
107 Airbrake hinges
108 Airbrake jack
109 Tailplane support construction
110 Rear fuselage freight compartment
111 Freight compartment door
112 Centre refuelling hose
113 Centre drogue
114 Retractable drogue fairing
115 Signal lights to receiver
116 Port engine exhausts
117 Port inner engine bay
118 Port outer engine bay
119 Engine mounting beams
120 Rolls-Royce Conway 201 (RCo17) engine
121 Main undercarriage bay
122 Retraction link
123 Port flap
124 Flap track rails
125 Trailing-edge construction
126 Outer wing panel joint
127 Trailing-edge fairing construction
128 Corrugated trailing-edge skins
129 Port aileron construction
130 Trim tab
131 Aileron power controunit
132 Aileron hinge mechanism
133 Port refuelling hose
134 De-icing air outlet
135 Wingtip aerial
136 Wingtip construction
137 Navigation light
138 Pitot head
139 Power control unit deicing air intake
140 Outer wing construction
141 Cambered leading edge
142 Port wing refuelling pod
143 Refuelling pod pylon fixing
144 Power turbine propeller
145 Leading-edge construction
146 Outer wing fuel tanks
147 Underwing fuel jettision pipes
148 Underwing fuel tank construction
149 Pressurizing air intake
150 Inner wing fuel tanks
151 Corrugated skin sandwich panels
152 Main undercarriage leg
153 Undercarriage strut
154 Eight wheel bogie
155 Leading-edge de-icing air duct
156 De-icing air system
157 De-icing air intake
158 Rear spar spectacle frame
159 Intake duct construction
160 Wing attachment joint
161 Front spar spectacle frame
162 Intake l
ip construction
163 Intake duct divider
164 Port engine air intake
165 Intake guide vane
166 Nosewheel bay door
167 Twin nosewheels
168 Battery bay
Picture
Acknowledgements
Although every effort has been made to trace copyright holders and clear permission for the photographs in the book, the provenance of a number of them is uncertain. The author and publisher would welcome the opportunity to correct any mistakes.
First section
Cover of The Aeroplane: © Aeroplane Monthly; Victor prototype: © T R H Pictures; upside down Victor: © The Handley Page Association; Vulcan prototype: © The Flight Collection
Withers and crew: © BAE Systems; Nellis AFP: © Crown; Vulcan at Nellis: © Alastair Montgomery; Port Stanley: © Imperial War Museum FKD 2070; Argentine Air Force C-130 Hercules: © Imperial War Museum FKD 2181; armoured troop carriers: © Imperial War Museum FKD 2173
Air Chief Marshal Sir Michael Beetham: © Crown; RAF Waddington: © Alastair Montgomery; Wing Commander Simon Baldwin: © Simon Baldwin; work on the Victors: © Crown; RAF Marham: © Crown
Bombing Garvie Island sequence: © Crown; over Spadeadam: © John Huggon; in-flight refuelling: © Crown; no room for error: © Crown
Victor arrives at Ascension: © Barry Neal; Ascension from the air: © Crown; flight-crew tents: © Bob Tuxford
Second section
Fuel flows: © John Reeve; Victor with drag chute: © Crown; damaged fuselage: © Bob Tuxford
HMS Endurance: © Imperial War Museum FKD 1178; crashed Wessex: © Imperial War Museum FKD 53; Wessex over South Georgia: © Imperial War Museum FKD 4896; Argentine air defences x 2: © Imperial War Museum FKD 2916, FKD 2917
29 April 1982; arrival at Wideawake: © Mel James; backtracking down runway: © Mel James; BLACK BUCK planning: © Bob Tuxford; Reeve crew on Ascension: © John Reeve
Dash-10 pod: © Mel James; Vulcan’s bomb bay: © Mel James; dusk at Wideawake; flight planning: © John Reeve; map of alternative attack plans: © Alastair Montgomery; BLACK BUCK briefing: © John Reeve
Vulcan, pre-flighted at Wideawake: © John Reeve; minutes to go: © John Reeve
Third section
40 Degrees South: © Ronald Wong; Vulcan cockpit Rheinmetall shells: © Spiegel TV; Oerlikon; Roland surface-to-air missile; radar-guided Roland; Splash One: © Royal Australian Air Force
Radar screen: © John Reeve; reconnaissance picture of Port Stanley: © Ministry of Agriculture; bomb release: © Crown; Battle Damage Assessment: © Crown; cratered runway: © Imperial War Museum FKD 872; close-up view of crater: © Imperial War Museum FKD 297
Victor tanker: © John Reeve; rare refuelling shot: © Crown; final approach to Wideawake: © John Reeve; Tuxford crew: © Bob Tuxford; seconds from touchdown: © Alastair Montgomery; Vulcan 607 touches down: © Mel James; Martin Withers: © Mel James
‘Vulcan Victory’: © Sunday Mirror; the Avro Vulcan B2: © Dick Clements
Pictures
This contemporary magazine cover gives a sense of how futuristic the Vulcan must have seemed when it first appeared in the skies above post-war Britain.
Sir Frederick Handley Page personally designed the striking black and silver livery for the prototype Victor, his equally groundbreaking rival to the Vulcan.
Upside down. An extremely rare shot of a Victor rolling out at the top of a loop. Although surprisingly agile, Victors stood up less well than Vulcans to the stress of flying at low level and were eventually converted into aerial tankers – a role in which they enjoyed great success.
‘If it looks right, it is right’ went the old engineering adage. The white-painted Vulcan prototype looked right from any angle.
Port Stanley, Falkland Islands – the world’s most southerly capital city. The Argentine Navy’s plans to invade ’Las Malvinas’ were passed to Galtieri’s ruling junta in February 1982.
2 April 1982. The invasion forces arrived by sea and air, over the beaches and aboard a stream of transport aircraft like this Argentine Air Force C-130 Hercules.
The islands’ tiny defence force was quickly overrun as Argentine AMTRAC armoured troop carriers rumbled into town.
Air Chief Marshal Sir Michael Beetham. When Argentina invaded, Sir Michael, a decorated Second World War Lancaster pilot and air-refuelling pioneer, was quickly able to see the potential of his ageing fleet of V-bombers so far from home.
With just six months before the Vulcan was due to be retired, Martin Withers and his crew were beginning to look beyond the old bomber towards new postings. L to r: Flying Officer Pete Taylor, Flight Lieutenant Bob Wright, Flight Lieutenant Martin Withers, Flight Lieutenant Hugh Prior and Flight Lieutenant Gordon Graham.
Wing Commander Simon Baldwin. When RAF Waddington was ordered to prepare for war, Station Commander Group Captain John Laycock went straight to Baldwin, CO of 44 (Rhodesia) Squadron. An experienced Navigator and veteran of successful bombing competition campaigns against the Americans, Baldwin had all the necessary experience.
Vulcans trained to drop conventional 1,000lb iron bombs for the first time in many years. In this sequence, a stick of seven slams into Garvie Island off the north-west coast of Scotland.
At low level over Spadeadam ranges, the crews tested the effectiveness of their bombers’ Electronic Countermeasures kit.
Much time and effort went into reinstating and practising with the Vulcan’s in-flight refuelling capability, unused since the early 1970s, but essential to success over the distances posed by the invasion of the Falklands.
No room for error. As the Vulcan crews got to grips with an unfamiliar role, the distances between them and the tankers could become heart-stoppingly small.
Victors arrive at Ascension. For a while the veteran tankers based there were the only aircraft in the RAF capable of even reaching the Falklands.
Ascension from the air. Thousands of miles from South America to the west and Africa to the east, this tiny island was crucial to any chance of British success. The airfield is clearly visible in the picture.
Victor flight crews and engineers all mucked in to put up the tents that would serve as their operations centre for the duration of the war.
BLACK BUCK planning. Captain of the Vulcan Ops crew, Squadron Leader Alastair Montgomery, seated on the left with a hat hanging off the back of the chair, joins the Victor planning cell on Ascension.
Nine hours after leaving their base at RAF Waddington, two Vulcans arrived at Ascension Island's airfield.
The Reeve crew on Ascension. Nominated as the Primary Crew by Waddington Station Commander John Laycock, they should have been the ones flying BLACK BUCK 1. L to r: Navigator Radar Mick Cooper, John Reeve, Air Electronics Officer Barry Masefield, Co-pilot Don Dibbens, Navigator Plotter Jim Vinales and Air-to-Air Refuelling Instructor Pete Standing.
Fine-tuning the DASH-10. This jamming pod, borrowed from the RAF’s Buccaneer force, was all that stood between the Vulcans and the modern, radar-laid anti-aircraft cannons of the Argentine air defences.
The business end. Looking up into the Vulcan’s bomb bay. The yellow bands around the bombs’ noses indicate that they are live weapons.
Dusk at Wideawake airfield, Ascension Island.
Flight planning. Martin Withers, standing in the foreground, and Gordon Graham, his Navigator Plotter, seated at the table, plan the mission in detail.
A map showing alternative attack plans. The first, coming in from the west, would have been the low-level route, flying overland, down the runway centreline, then escaping out to sea. The second, coming in from the north-east, shows the route flown: cutting the runway at 35 degrees from medium level.
Under canvas. After the BLACK BUCK briefing, the Victor crews made notes on the refuelling plan, radio frequencies, weather and other details of the mission. Bob Tuxford’s Air Electronics Officer, Mick Beer, is rear right.
After dark. A rare night-time shot of a bombed-up Vulcan
being pre-flighted at Wideawake shortly before taxiing out to fly BLACK BUCK.
Minutes to go. John Reeve’s Air Electronics Officer, Barry Masefield, was always first on board. The familiar environment and the distraction of running through his checks calmed his nerves.
40 Degrees South. An artist’s impression of the turbulent electrical storm that made refuelling nearly impossible and threatened the success of the mission, the safety of the aircraft and the lives of the crews.
The cramped, comfortless Vulcan cockpit was no place to spend sixteen hours.
The radar-guided Franco-German Roland was, perhaps, the most lethal anti-aircraft weapon in the Argentine arsenal.
Deployed in greater numbers than the Roland and devastatingly effective at lower altitudes were the radar-laid, twin-barrelled 35mm Oerlikon anti-aircraft cannons.
Splash One. A Vulcan caught in the gunsights of a Mirage fighter. The threat of interception by the Argentine Air Force was one further possibility the BLACK BUCK planners and Vulcan crews needed to consider.
Green porridge. The picture on the scope of the Vulcan’s vintage H2S radar at the point of bomb release. The Navigator Radar aimed the bombs using ground features picked out by the radar.
A reconnaissance picture of the area around Stanley which corresponds to the area highlighted in the radar picture. It was taken after the war from 15,000 feet. The airfield is at the right of the picture.
Bomb release. An archive shot of a Vulcan B2 disgorging a full load of twenty-one 1,000lb bombs.
Battle Damage Assessment. This shot, taken by a Fleet Air Arm Sea Harrier, was the first visual confirmation that Vulcan 607 had cratered the runway. The damage caused by her stick of bombs can be seen cutting across the airfield.
A picture taken from the western end of the runway, looking east, which clearly shows 607’s 1,000lb bomb crater just beyond the halfway point. Martin Withers’s crew had effectively cut the strip in half and ended any lingering hope the Argentinians had that they might operate fast jets out of Stanley.