mrandmrspoves
Middle aged bald git.
- Location
- Narfuk
And a brilliant spectacle it was too! It was flying very low and it seemed as if it was going so slow that it would just drop out of the sky.....but glad to say it didn't!
Vulcan !!!!!!
- Thread starter gbb
- Start date
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And a brilliant spectacle it was too! It was flying very low and it seemed as if it was going so slow that it would just drop out of the sky.....but glad to say it didn't!
black'n'yellow
Guest
'the bomb' would have been pretty useless (and therefore not much of a deterrent) without a means of delivery...
Arch
Married to Night Train
- Location
- Salford, UK
Um. Missiles?
Or maybe City Link, that would have been a fairly effective preventative measure. They'd just stack the bombs up in the depot and stick a card through the door of the Kremlin saying "We tried to deliver but you were out..."
black'n'yellow
Guest
The Vulcan was originally designed to drop a free-fall nuclear bomb at a time when that was pretty much the only option for getting one where you wanted it to go - the UK did not have an independent ICBM capability until Polaris went into RN subs in the 1960s.
Mad Doug Biker
Banned from every bar in the Galaxy
- Location
- Craggy Island
Fairynuff, although it would still only be a deterrent until someone decided 'sod it, we are gonna drop a bomb and nothing is going to stop us.
Luckily (and miraculously) common sense seemed to (just about) prevail and nothing ever happened, and the Vulcan was a so called 'deterrent' for something that could never happen in the first place.
Drago
Legendary Member
- Location
- Suburban Poshshire
And it was also a strategic platform capable of dropping conventional munitions. Even without the Cold War it was still useful in its day to have a bomber with the range and payload to drop a worthwhile load of conventional munitions while flying high enough to avoid the bulk of AA weaponry of the time (though that last bit was found to beca miscalculation).
And indeed, the only time it was used in combat was to drop conventional munitions, so in an era before cruise missiles it was a tasty bit of kit.
And indeed, the only time it was used in combat was to drop conventional munitions, so in an era before cruise missiles it was a tasty bit of kit.
guitarpete247
Just about surviving
- Location
- Leicestershire
I used to see them fly from RAF Finningley in the 60's where they had a "Vulcan Scramble" of 3 thundering down the runway. I used to see them when I was at school flying over.
XH558 was originally stationed there and is back home.
GF just did First Aid training with some of the project staff. They're based somewhere in Hinckley.
XH558 was originally stationed there and is back home.
GF just did First Aid training with some of the project staff. They're based somewhere in Hinckley.
black'n'yellow
Guest
Actually, to be fair - although it was a magnificent aircraft, it was only ever designed to be a high altitude delivery platform for a single, free-fall bomb intended for somewhere within the USSR.
It sucked as a long range conventional strategic bomber, it sucked as a stand-off weapons platform and it sucked as a low level intruder. It was good at air shows though...
It sucked as a long range conventional strategic bomber, it sucked as a stand-off weapons platform and it sucked as a low level intruder. It was good at air shows though...
OP
OP
gbb
Squire
- Location
- Peterborough
Hmmm...partly true maybe. It was the stand-off weapon itself that sucked, not the plane. The Blue Steel missile had a very short range, less than 100 miles IIRC. There were to be better variants but cost and politics got in the way. I remember my dad saying years ago (probably when he was still working on Vulcans). ...Blue Steel was a waste of time.
Low level intruder...it evaded the best the Argentines had at the time, inc.luding the then advanced Roland AA system...and the RAF didn't even know they had it deployed when they sent the Vulcan in. It evaded all they had with relatively antiquated anti radar jamming systems....the Argentines only ever managed to fire standard AA indiscriminately after the bombs were dropped. Basically the Vulcan got a free run, despite several AA systems wainting for them, some the most sophisticated of their time.
guitarpete247
Just about surviving
- Location
- Leicestershire
Operation Skyshield says different, but not about the airshow bit.
black'n'yellow
Guest
Skyshield simulated pretty much the type of operation it was originally designed for - high altitude, medium range bombing. If it wasn't up to that task, there would have been something seriously wrong...
black'n'yellow
Guest
in it's original mission requirement? No. But nobody said it did.