Why the Vulcan?

maybe it might be something to do with the fact that a civilian would be flying an aircraft that could outperform the RAF? :D:D:D jokes would be good to see a lightning fly in the uk but as you say, they can be dangerous. (RAF would get jealous:P)

The CAA are not as bad as people make out, the rules are there for every ones safety and if the criteria can be met then flying a jet in private hands is possible, sadly the CAA are not yet ready to let a private individual fly an ex millitary mach 2+ jet with afterburners in the UK, also the accident record for the Lightning in service is considered quite poor, to the CAA the risk is just not worth it.

Regards,

John.

Indeed, in the short time I worked on them (10 months) there were two landing accidents at Binbrook and one had returned to RAF Dogger bank a short while before my posting.

Mosschops,

There are great long debates about this very subject on this forum and it is a debate that can rage on for a very long time, In short the Lightnings were fatgue expired as much as possible towards the end of their sevice carrer and the few that did have some fatigue life left on them are now in Cape Town flying again.

The Vulcan is such a massive aircraft it grabs everybodys attention but there are lovers and haters in equal proportions, just check out some of the 558 threads and you will see why, the Vulcan when flown into Brunty still has plenty of fatigue life left in the airfram and spares for her are in ready supply in this country, also OEM’s for this airframe are still in buisness and able to provide support for spares, all in all there was enough public interest and spares to make a return to flight possible.

There are of course other jets that are flying in the UK, Hunters, Canberra, Jet-Provost and also the HHA have the approval to get a Buccaneer back into the sky, as for the Lightning’s they are massivly complicated airframes and there are very little if any spares in the UK that would support anything but fast taxi runs.

The CAA are not as bad as people make out, the rules are there for every ones safety and if the criteria can be met then flying a jet in private hands is possible, sadly the CAA are not yet ready to let a private individual fly an ex millitary mach 2+ jet with afterburners in the UK, also the accident record for the Lightning in service is considered quite poor, to the CAA the risk is just not worth it.

Regards,

John.

Its unique shape-I doubt she would have remembered it as clearly as she did had it been a Victor, pretty conventional looking for an aeroplane in comparison-I cannot imagine a victor having the same impact.
Jay

Conventional isn’t a word I’d use for the Victor 😀 Admittedly, I’ve never seen either fly (though I have seen both fast taxi) but there’s something about the Victor which seems so .. ‘extravagant’ (for want of a better word). Starting with that crazy high-V tail, blended to a sweeping crescent wing, and finished with a bublous nose adorned with rocket ship windows, it looks like the design jumped straight out of a sci-fi comic strip.

Perhaps the Vulcan (which I suppose at a push is my personal favourite) is more imposing, more ‘UFO’ like, and can perform some awe-inspiring manouveres thanks to that large delta wing.. However, when you consider that both flew within 7 years of the end of WWII, I think they are both incredible designs.

The Vulcan looks more unusual perhaps-

To the man in the street, the Vulcan is a damn strange looking thing. I remember a freind’s mother telling me she saw one during her schooldays, and the sight of it haunted her-she didnt know what it was but still thought it might be bringing in the end of the world.

Its unique shape-I doubt she would have remembered it as clearly as she did had it been a Victor, pretty conventional looking for an aeroplane in comparison-I cannot imagine a victor having the same impact.

I cannot say from personal experience, alas I have never seen either type in flight….Yet.

Jay

The Vulcan is the ultimate combination of beatuy and power – just look at the way it climbs – and that sound…

The Victor was just another odd-looking British design.

I guess it’s one of those ‘if you have to ask, you’ll never really understand’ questions.

All IMO of course

Thanks for your points people, there may well soon be a victor supporters club, so watch this space!

Please keep points coming

Ollie

Oooops:o 😮 , post corrected.

Too much fizzy pop last night:p .

John.

…those screaming Avons…

I don’t think a Vulcan B.2 would be very impressive with Avons.
Try Olympii.

I think the prototype may have had Avons for a while. It seemed to have virtually every type of engine that worked at one time or another.

A toughy for me, I have allways been split between the two and never really considered an either or scenario.

The Vulcan to me is a beautifull lady that gracefully dances around the sky with such agility and power and those screaming Olympus engines, this is the thing though, she just doesn’t look brute enough.

The Victor on the other hand to me is a mighty sledgehammer, a powerfull looking animal of an aircraft that could deliver a very bad day, bomb loads would have not been important if the types had stayed in service a little longer as free fall bombing has given way to prescision munitions, IIRC the Vulcan was fitted with LGB’s for trials but never implimented.

Beauty, agility and power….

Hard looking, fast flying sledgehammer……

Regards,

John.

Just as an example of Vulcans in preservation (excluding 558), Two of them have a supporters club, would one work for a Victor?

Well I would join and I know loads of others who would, so yes I think a supporters club would work.

Putting technical considerations to one side, I still have a soft spot for the unsung Valiant. My nostalgia is triggered by having seen them at Gaydon over the years then later having witnessed them ignominiously trucked in chunks to a “scrappie” in my home city. But I digress …

In addition to the points made by Moggy, IMHO the Vulcan’s popularity may be a result of its imposing presence. The planform of a large delta at low level literally dominates the sky and when coupled with agility the Vulcan astounded those who expected only a lumbering performance. When displayed at USAF bases it was common to hear whoops of astonishment from Americans who had never seen large jet hardware take the display stage with such panache. Having seen demos of stream take-off by Victors and Vulcans I can confirm they were both memorable but the Vulcan was truly awesome.

Two reasons

1) The Vulcan’s use as a display aircraft in its latter days

2) Black Buck, where the Victors did a lot of the hard work but a guy in the Vulcan got to press the tit.

Moggy

Better bomb load as well.

almost 50 % better and the Victor was the only V-bomber to break Mach 1 (Mk1 over Radlett in 1958 (I think)).

Absolutely adore the Vulcan, my absolute favourite, but, the Victor is absolutely awesome!! Fully deserves its place alongside the Vulcan, without doubt. Not many left either, we need to look after them…

Better bomb load as well.