Vulcan !!!!!!

[gbb]

I heard a fact once. The US buries enough drinks cans in landfill every XXX to make the entire domestic aviation fleet.

Sadly, I can't remember if XXX is a month, a week or a year, so it takes a bit of the info out of it! But even if its a year, that's a lot of cans.

(we fill a large skipsworth of space with aluminium cans in a few weeks, just from a couple of thousand households...)

I can easily believe that....just based on what i saw on holiday in Turkey last time i was there...every night, guys appeared on bikes with racks on the back, they'd go through the bins in the streets and collect coke cans. You'd see them pushing a bike along with a HUGE bag of cans on the back.
Thats one small town (compared to the States), one days worth of cans,
The high price iof scrap probably gave them a good living...

 

[gbb]

Just ressurected this one to suggest a book to anyone who's into Vulcans...
Vulcan 607 by Rowland White.
One of the best reads i've had in ages, had me rivetted on holiday. It recalls of course the bombing raid on Stanley airfield in the Falklands.
It gives a mix of historical info on the Vulcan itself, political and military considerations at the time, the Argentine defence preparations, the difficulties of placing one bomber 4000 miles away from its base (Ascenscion island) with no landmass to use as a reference, its relatively antiquated naigation systems, US input through the Falklands war, and then the mission itself which covered something like 17 in flight refuels, the Vulcans navigation systems, the Handley Page Victors, the crews, so so much it was bloomin fantastic.
It made me realise, although at the time of the mission, the Vulcan was already doomed to the end of its operational life, it was overdue. They were, despite appearances, obsolete.

 

[geo]

I really do not like this thread. The Vulcan might be an impressive aircraft but it is a bomber, whose only use is to kill. Sooner it's made into Coke cans the better.

Have a word with yourself mate !!! and remind me the last time this wonderful piece of engineering dropped a bomb !!!

 

[Arch]

I can easily believe that....just based on what i saw on holiday in Turkey last time i was there...every night, guys appeared on bikes with racks on the back, they'd go through the bins in the streets and collect coke cans. You'd see them pushing a bike along with a HUGE bag of cans on the back.
Thats one small town (compared to the States), one days worth of cans,
The high price iof scrap probably gave them a good living...

There are people in the States and Canada known as 'binners' who make their meagre living from recycling rubbish like cans. Often homeless and using homemade bike trailers to carry their hauls.The great thing about ali cans is that they are very light, and if you take the time to stamp on them, take up little space.

 

[classic33]

Have a word with yourself mate !!! and remind me the last time this wonderful piece of engineering dropped a bomb !!!

http://www.vulcantothesky.org/history/the-falklands.html
Once and once only.

 

[HLaB]

I think there was a wee piece on the BBC yesterday , the vulcan's going to be grounded

 

[ianrauk]

This from the Telegraph

Vulcan to retire.
Check out the 2nd pic... awesome

 

[geo]

http://www.vulcantothesky.org/history/the-falklands.html
Once and once only.

Exactly mate, 30 years ago !! so for anyone to call it a bomber who's only use is to kill is a laughable statement. It is a truly wonderful aircraft with a history to equal its awesome flying quality.

Thankfully we now have the Typhoon. Every bit as impressive in a new and modern way,

 

[classic33]

Exactly mate, 30 years ago !! so for anyone to call it a bomber who's only use is to kill is a laughable statement. It is a truly wonderful aircraft with a history to equal its awesome flying quality.

Thankfully we now have the Typhoon. Every bit as impressive in a new and modern way,*

Also the longest bombing mission at the time.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Black_Buck

*Not in the same class for me, sorry

 

[geo]

Also the longest bombing mission at the time.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Black_Buck

*Not in the same class for me, sorry

Different aircraft, different era, not fair to compare and I know what you mean but both very impressive A/C

 

[Herr-B]

Just ressurected this one to suggest a book to anyone who's into Vulcans...
Vulcan 607 by Rowland White.
One of the best reads i've had in ages, had me rivetted on holiday. It recalls of course the bombing raid on Stanley airfield in the Falklands.
It gives a mix of historical info on the Vulcan itself, political and military considerations at the time, the Argentine defence preparations, the difficulties of placing one bomber 4000 miles away from its base (Ascenscion island) with no landmass to use as a reference, its relatively antiquated naigation systems, US input through the Falklands war, and then the mission itself which covered something like 17 in flight refuels, the Vulcans navigation systems, the Handley Page Victors, the crews, so so much it was bloomin fantastic.
It made me realise, although at the time of the mission, the Vulcan was already doomed to the end of its operational life, it was overdue. They were, despite appearances, obsolete.

And when you've finished reading that I'd wholeheartedly recommend his other two books, Phoenix Squadron and Storm Front. I've read a couple of books on the SAS action in Oman and Storm Front stands head and shoulders above the others on the subject, and Phoenix Squadron is an excellent delve into little mentioned action on Ark Royal and in Belize.

I can't wait for his next book.

And finally, subaqua mentioned a couple of weeks ago about the Vulcan's fate after 2013. Terribly sad.

 

[classic33]

Different aircraft, different era, not fair to compare and I know what you mean but both very impressive A/C

So were the Lancaster & Hurricane. But designed in the main, by actual people putting pencil/pen to paper.

 

[classic33]

I heard a fact once. The US buries enough drinks cans in landfill every XXX to make the entire domestic aviation fleet.

Sadly, I can't remember if XXX is a month, a week or a year, so it takes a bit of the info out of it! But even if its a year, that's a lot of cans.

(we fill a large skipsworth of space with aluminium cans in a few weeks, just from a couple of thousand households...)

Americans discard enough aluminum to rebuild our entire commercial air fleet every 3 months.
It's estimated that since 1972 some 13 million tons of aluminum cans have been recycled in the U.S. These 534.7 billion aluminum cans placed end-to end could stretch to the moon some 170 times.
http://pages.uoregon.edu/recycle/TRIVIA.htm

I really do not like this thread. The Vulcan might be an impressive aircraft but it is a bomber, whose only use is to kill. Sooner it's made into Coke cans the better.

There was me thinking it was built to try and deter any attempt at attacking this country

 

[black'n'yellow]

Thankfully we now have the Typhoon. Every bit as impressive obsolete in a new and modern way,

fixed that for you...

 

[Mad Doug Biker]

Thank god you weren't prime minister during WW2 otherwise we'd all be speaking German by now.

I didn't know Vulcans were flying then? (For the record, WW2 is one of the few wars where I *probably* would have fought, but as for other wars? One word - Farce).

There was me thinking it was built to try and deter any attempt at attacking this country

Exactly mate, 30 years ago !! So for anyone to call it a bomber who's only use is to kill is a laughable statement.

Erm, so we shouldn't call other planes bombers either because they haven't (THANKFULLY) dropped anything recently? Oh and despite how you look at it, they were designed to kill, not make your tea or do the washing up - A Bomber is what it was designed to be and and the last time I checked, that's what it still was!

That said, it was only built to keep up with the Ruskies and the Yanks in the whole pointless political d*ckfest that was the Cold War. And as for a deterent? Only a complete madman or some total error would have ever actually caused it to drop its 'bomb' and anyway, in that situation, how would it REALLY have been a deterent? The situation would have gone waaaaaay past that by then!

Actually, I doubt the plane would have been a deterrent at ANY point in the process anyway, it would have been the bomb, the whole bomb and nothing but the bomb.

Thing is, I would have cared about it at one point (and actually donated money when it originally was to be restored ), but these days I just increasingly feel nauseous over the seeming deification of things and people intended to kill.

Oh aye, its a wonderful piece of kit and all the rest, put it this way, if your oh so wonderful flying machine had actually dropped the bomb and realised its purpose, then I doubt any of us would still be here now!
Go on, dribble over it though....