Vulcan Main Undercarriage Doors

The second photo looks rather painful if something goes wrong…

Vulcan Undercarrage Doors

If you put the Hyd rig on to the aircraft you can close the main undercarriage doors with the selector valve up in the Undercarriage…

Just found my old photo’s out… You can see from the photo’s below how it’s done This is Vulcan XM575…

Thanks for the replies and the photos you have all been very helpful

Trenchard Brat

If you put the Hyd rig on to the aircraft you can close the main undercarriage doors with the selector valve up in the Undercarriage…

Just found my old photo’s out… You can see from the photo’s below how it’s done This is Vulcan XM575…

I spent a considerable amount of time under the Hendon example twenty-odd years ago while building a prize-winning model based on the (then new) Airfix kit. The Museum staff told me then that the doors were shut to stop people walking in to them. There was also a suggestion that the retraction jacks (and other parts) had been ‘harvested’ for one of the Black Buck Vulcans – so if left open the doors would flap about if touched – but I was never sure if that was true.

In the case of the Cosford example, maybe they kept them closed to repel nesting birds, and as Paul says simply forgot to lower them?

I always assumed that they were wired shut so that nobody would walk into them, especially in the case of the Hendon example. Maybe they forgot to undo the ones at Cosford when they put it on it’s plinth?