History of the Vulcan
The Avro Vulcan was part of the ‘V’ bomber force that along with the Vickers Valiant
and the Handley Page Victor was designed to deliver the British nuclear bomb
during the Cold War period in the late
1950’s and 1960’s.
Few aircraft have ever turned heads like
the prototype Vulcan, known initially as the
Avro Type 698. On its maiden flight from
Woodford, it literally stopped the traffic in the
towns and villages on the Cheshire plain.
In 1952 Avro’s chief test pilot, Roly Falk,
amazingly performed a perfect barrell roll
with the giant delta wing bomber over Avro’s
production factory at Woodford!
In the late 1950’s the aircraft underwent a
complete wing redesign resulting in the final
development of the Vulcan – the B.MK2.
Painted in a dramatic anti flash white paint
the ‘V bombers’ were on a four minute
warning with crews stationed very near the
aircraft, many of which were in the Midlands.
From the mid sixties the Vulcan excelled in
several new roles including low level flying,
nuclear strike and maritime reconnaissance
resulting in a move to the camouflage paint
scheme. In 1969 responsibility for Britain’s
nuclear deterrent was handed over to the
Royal Navy’s Polaris Submarines.
During the Falklands campaign in 1982 a specially adapted Vulcan, with in-flight refuelling
capability, flew the famous ‘Black Buck’ mission, bombing Argentinian held Port Stanley
airfield. This became the longest ever non-stop bombing mission from the RAF base on
Ascension Island.
