MAM's Vulcan, XL360 – a few images

If anyone has other pics of 360 feel free to post also any comments or personal experiences of their visit!

Another area that has been considerd from the outset is the load bearing elements of the undercarriage itself, which support the fully unladen weight of the Vulcan and having not been moved since towing to it’s current position have “setlled” in one position. I think the RAF were concerned that once positioned on external display that such areas might have suffered more than a moveable example, and would have restricted the life expectency somewhat for safe public display. The implications were that any failure of these areas would have made access by public to the cockpit areas unsafe (the thought of a Vulcan sized aircraft collapsing on it’s belly whilst open to the public was scary enough). Thankfully their predictions of life expectancy have been exceeded already and the large amounts of TLC given to XL360 over the years at the Museum have certainly helped there, along with careful examination and monitoring. Probably helped no end by the fine ‘over engineered’ nature of what is a good example of proper British engineering in the first place…

RP – Realistically I would envisage a life of something like 25 years for a Vulcan outside.
No matter how hard you try moisture is going to get into the wing. The undercarriage in itself can be reinforced but the problems of exfoliation exist over which there is little control.

I should perhaps start by saying that I am by no means any kind of ‘structural expert’!!

However, as an Airframe/Propulsion engineer currently rebuilding XH558 at Bruntingthorpe, I am more than familiar with a corroded Vulcan :p

As Peter correctly states, the underside of the wing is a natural trap for moisture, particularly around the panel gaps, and any uncovered rivet heads. Therefore, there tends to be much more corrosion found in these areas. We also had problems where ferrous frames were mated to aluminium skins, in areas such as the NACA ducts in the wing root, and lower fuselage areas. Thankfully on 558, non of this was structural, and the beauty of aluminium corrosion (surely an oxymoron :p ) is that it is easily treatable, and easy to repair. By far and away, the worst area on 558 was the bomb aimers blister. This is the lowest point in the pressure cabin, and also where 40 years worth of spilt drinks, water, moisture and indeed, p1ss!! have been allowed to accumulate. When we removed the UHF aerial, the corrosion under the baseplate had eaten through the skin, and intercostals supporting it. This has required a large repair and the remanufacture of several new intercostals. We also discovered an amount of corrosion around the fwd bomb bay bulkhead. This again was on the lower surfaces of protrusions, and again was fairly simple to rectify.

Undercarriage bays are probably the worst affected, with the majority of Hydraulic and Pneumatic pipes contained requiring replacement due to the union fittings suffering very badly from intergranular corrosion. Wiring has also been badly affected, with pretty much all of it being replaced. The bays in XL360 look very good after their paint job, and I suspect any problem areas have been dealt with.

In all, the corrosion that tends to affect these aircraft can be very easily nipped in the bud by removing it and repainting the affected areas to prevent further damage. Obviously once it has taken hold, it becomes far more difficult, but should still be manageable, and within the grasp of enthusiastic volunteer. Things like undercarriage legs are a different matter, as with the best will in the world, seals will degrade and perish, and eventually the aircraft will bottom out on the oleos, however, basic maintenence should keep degradation at bay for a good while.

As I have said, I am no structural expert, however, with a little TLC and retouching every now and then, there is no reason these aircraft should not last for future generations to enjoy.

Flipflopman

Peter,
I haven’t been involved with XL360 for quite a while and didn’t mean to imply these sort of things haven’t/aren’t being done to her.

However, my questions for a structural expert still stand.

Roger Smith.

Roger from past experience on here it seems that the worst areas are the landing gear wheels and tires and undersurfaces of all the wing area and control surfaces. Best bet would be to gain access to as much as possible and reapply any anti corrosion treatment to these areas. Also keep an eye on the drains and make sure they dont get plugged up allowing water to sit. Seems like you guys are doing the right thing by regularly airing her out with open cockpit and engine panels etc.

Peter I agree, but is it worth the effort required? I’ll explain what I mean – although perhaps I should write this on your thread about the health of surviving Vulcans but here goes.

At the time we acquired XL360 I put a ‘pessimistic hat’ on and said if we didn’t get a roof over her in 10 years she would end up cut up. I was wrong thankfully (by a factor of 2.5 so far) but how wrong?

Using XL360 as a typical example of most of the UK ‘fleet’ of Vulcans that stand outside she has had one repaint and varying amounts of TLC since arriving in February, 1984. Eventually corrosion could bring her to a state whereby bits might start falling off which, depending on the size of the bits, could obviously represent a danger to Museum members/visitors.

Is there anyone out there with sufficient knowledge of aircraft structures to be able to voice an opinion of how long a Vulcan can sit out in the British climate and perhaps which are the ‘weakest’ or ‘suspect’ areas on the aircraft?

So, in a nutshell, I am still pessimistic about the long-term future of many of the Vulcans preserved and although turning the engines over would be nice will it do anything to extend the life of the airframe?

Roger Smith.

even turning them over on the starters would help

So is there anything missing that would prevent the engines from being cranked or even started?

Don’t know about anything “missing” but the close proximity of the Education Centre (portakabin), The Sir Frank Whittle building, DH.125 and AW Argosy would, I think, rule out starting any of the engines.

Roger Smith.

So is there anything missing that would prevent the engines from being cranked or even started?

Not meaning to be pedantic Jagx204, but the green blanking plates you see are actually for the Sundstrand constant speed drive unit, which is still fitted, and is blanked off because the Alternator has been removed. The starters are actually behind the front engine bulkheads you see in the picture, and appear very much present and correct to me.

The forked pipes you see in the picture feed cool air to the CSDU from a NACA duct located under the intakes, through the forward engine bulkhead, into the CSDU. These have nothing to do with inhibiting the engine, and will have simply been removed for access.

Cheers

Flipflopman

I stand corrected and bow to flipflopmans obvious superior intellect in things Vulcan.
Memory can be a funny thing, since the spares recovery was 23 years ago 😮 I obviously have been deluding myself for a long time.

excellent shots! that certainly looks to be a small ‘office’ to clamber into.

Any off-chance that anyone has some detail photos of that Blue Steel? I’m still working on a rebuild of my Airfix Vulcan and would love to get that monster out of the spares box.

James
(wow! – just noticed – 400 posts, I feel ‘special’ :rolleyes: )

Not meaning to be pedantic Jagx204, but the green blanking plates you see are actually for the Sundstrand constant speed drive unit, which is still fitted, and is blanked off because the Alternator has been removed. The starters are actually behind the front engine bulkheads you see in the picture, and appear very much present and correct to me.

The forked pipes you see in the picture feed cool air to the CSDU from a NACA duct located under the intakes, through the forward engine bulkhead, into the CSDU. These have nothing to do with inhibiting the engine, and will have simply been removed for access.

Cheers

Flipflopman

Wouldnt it be great if a couple of spare starters were found and her engines were once again dry spooled?

Looking at the one of the engins, there appears to be some pipes missing, were then removed by the RAF to inhibit the engines or something?
p_j

The starters were removed from all 4 engines ( the green blanking plates can be seen on a couple of the pics) these had cooling ducts connected to them which were also disconnected.
There were also some other bits and bobs from the airframe spares recovered and quite a lot from the cockpit. The NAV Plotter and AEO areas had most of the visible kit removed – those fitted in the photo’s were replacements found later, I recall some came via Nigel Spurr (now owner of two shiny Canberra PR9’s)

Been inside to or three Vulcans an cannot get over the conditions in side the cockpit when i was In Duxford’s Somebody said to me ‘Feels that the cockpit was a bit of an after thought.’

great pictures les. Looking at the one of the engins, there appears to be some pipes missing, were then removed by the RAF to inhibit the engines or something?

p_j

Now that is one nice set of pictures.

All i can say is Wow!!!