An account of the final moments of XM610 forms the prologue of the book Vulcan 607 which (quite apart from briefly featuring my Dad) is a fantastic read. As I’m sure some here will already be aware, it details the RAF's attack on the landing strip at Port Stanley during the Falklands war.
Fascinating stuff Alex, I will duly get hold of that book as I've been reading up on the Falklands of late and in particular want to learn more about the Black Buck raids. Accounts seem to vary on the success of the raids in terms of physical damage to the runways, and I'd like to learn more about that. While I know repairs were made over the following days, I'd still like to know more about bombing altitudes and so on to appreciate the complexity of this mammoth op. Cracking stuff on your Dad bailing out of XM610 - looking forward to more on that from the book.
Glad you liked the pics As I told Garry, I have a few more to follow up with on here so stay tuned. Thanks also to Garry for providing the Victor pics.
Hobby, I've been meaning to ask you this, what a/c have you served on in the past?
Thought you all might be interested in how the escape procedure from a Vulcan was carried out. The ladders were removed by the rear crew before taxying and stored securely inside the cabin.
Click on escape facilities on the right of the menu if it does not automatically scroll to the paragraph.
This is one very good and interesting site to read concerning the training role of the crews, operations, exercises etc. Hosted by a former Vulcan crew member.
Fascinating link there, Nigel, cheers for that. If you haven't already navigated to this page from within the site, I highly recommend reading this to all interested:
You can see by those shots what a dog's dinner the flightdeck is and much as you may think Frasers panel looks a bit odd, it does actually look better than the real thing!!
Agree Garry.. feathered props do look very wrong. I can't remember them being feathered on my last visit but I wouldn't imagine for one minute the crew have actually done any work in that area so I guess they must have been :think: Will dig my old shots out and have a look
Sorry to chime in late, but I must try and recite my learnt knowledge from the world of Lindy!
With the Victor, in an escape situation, the rear door is blown open (not off) using Nitrogen iirc. This creates an airflow block, so that (I presume, in theory- I wouldn't like to test) when you bail out, you don't go into the engine. Instead, you go straight down.
I think though (and agree with what has been posted) in an emergency situation, things don't always happen nice and slowly, so theory is great- but actually getting out of a crippled aeroplane is another thing..
Great photos too! I remember going inside that Vulc a few years ago.. I think it was that one, anyhow. Do they still have some sort of power on the Hunter that is outside there?
Not sure if the Hunter is powered or not, will look into it. I know the PR.3 Canberra is very well powered up, and there are other projects od this nature in development. The Hunter is in nice condition though, as was the Sea Hawk.
I agree on the Victor bail out scenario - theory is easy to write from an office, but wouldn't want to the one to test it!
Glad the Argosy pics were of use even with props feathered! A majestic old thing even in her dilapidated state. I don't think I made matters better by opening part of the cockpit window and letting a dose of rain in. Oops!
