Avro Vulcan | The British Strategic Bomber | A Tailless Delta Wing Marvel Of Engineering

Video from the channel DroneScapes about Avro Vulcan, linked on its Above Ten Thousand entry. Duration: 25:51. Language: English. Video type: Documentary.

Documentary about the Avro Vulcan, the British tailless delta-wing strategic bomber, from its design to its last combat mission. It combines narration with testimony from former crew members, a BAE Systems designer, aviation journalist Peter March, and writer and former RAF pilot Frederick Forsyth.

After the Second World War, the RAF requested a bomber capable of operating from any base, reaching targets at around 1,700 miles, and delivering a heavy load at high speed and altitude. Avro's studies led to the delta wing as the best compromise between relative thickness, wing loading and sweep. The Vulcan first flew on 3 August 1952, and in September of that year, piloted by Roly Falk, it was displayed at Farnborough, where it even performed a barrel roll. The first production B.1 flew in early 1955; the B.2 added greater wingspan and a kink in the leading edge, and the Avro stand-off missile extended its strike capability.

During the Cold War the Vulcan was part of Britain's nuclear deterrent; the documentary recalls the Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962 and the Quick Reaction Alert, in which four Vulcans had to take off within around one minute and forty seconds. The shooting down of Gary Powers' U-2 in 1960 led crews to switch to very low-level flying, below 250 feet.

In the 1970s and early 1980s, 27 Squadron Vulcans carried out maritime radar reconnaissance in support of the Royal Navy. Retirement began with the disbandment of 230 OCU at Scampton on 31 August 1981, and the remaining squadrons were due to close by the end of June 1982. Argentina's invasion of the Falklands on 2 April 1982 suspended those plans: in-flight refuelling was revived, with dried-out probes leaking fuel, and the Black Buck missions were launched from Ascension against the runway at Port Stanley, with successive refuellings from Victor tankers. The 1 May attack drew wide attention; the seventh and final mission was flown on 11 and 12 June. Although the damage was minor, no Argentine fighter ever managed to operate from Stanley.