As a kid the RAF Vulcan was my favorite bomber. Probably because of its huge batlike structure, but also because I got to check out the cockpit on quite a few occasions because my dad’s wing would deploy to RAF Waddington regularly and they’d send a Vulcan across to our annual airshow so he knew many of their maintainers.
Fans of the Vulcan know that the type made its last flight just over a year ago with airframe XH558. Artist Nick Harrison commemorates the event with this Kickstarter campaign. It’s a great looking print.
I was in Bournemouth to see XH558 fly on her final tour last year – one of the most amazing moments of my life. Seeing it fly out over the sea, bank and come back in low over the pier, and hearing the engines rumble off the cliffs, was all truly epic.
As far as my research can tell, after the Vulcan was retired they used the Handley Page Victor to fill the role of the Strategic Bomber, that but that too was retired in 1993 about 8 years later than the Vulcan. I imagine there is some kind of dry storage they must have to reactivate bombers given the need for them, or at least I HOPE the UK has that to fill the need of bombers whenever needed. The plane was mostly a tanker that refueled the Vulcans but had a larger Bomb Bay to accommodate the array of weapons the Vulcans had. Anyone know for sure? I’m not an expert, I just know the British got rid of their Strategic Bombers way too early..
There is no dry strorage facility to recativate bombers the U.K. Has no strategic bomber to call on which is why during the falklands war parts where raided and machined in such an urgent manor
I well remember 10 Mar 82 when I was an aide to the 15th Air Force commander at March AFB, CA. 15th owned the museum at Castle AFB, CA, which had a Vulcan on permanent display.
That day a call came in from the RAF attache in Washington requesting permission to remove the refueling boom from our display Vulcan so it could be fitted to one of the few remaining operational Vulcans in the UK.
Although at that point we had no idea why they wanted it, my boss obviously said yes, and four hours later the Brit attache landed at Castle, removed the boom in about an hour, and five hours after that it was on a RAF transport direct back to the UK.
Made the Falklands war a little more interesting for us since we had an infinitesimal role.
From what I can remember, a Vulcan on its way to Red Flag in the 60’s made a run over New York. No one knew it was there until it pulled up overhead. Maybe an urban myth, but it was a hell of a bomber.
When I was a kid, I watched them at airshows, stunting like single seaters.
Further to my last.
It was called Operation Skyshield. not a Red Flag run.
Love it. It’s the plane Largo had hijacked in Thunderball.