Where Is the REAL Avro Vulcan Bomber Used by 617 Squadron at Scampton Now

Video from the channel WW2 Convoy Vault about Avro Vulcan, linked on its Above Ten Thousand entry. Duration: 14:55. Language: English. Video type: Documentary.

Documentary about the Vulcan B.2 XL318, the first of this version delivered to 617 Squadron, in 1961. It tells the story of its last flight from RAF Scampton in December 1981, with which the Dambusters squadron retired the Vulcan, and its subsequent fate.

617 Squadron was formed at Scampton in March 1943 for Operation Chastise against the Ruhr dams. It was disbanded in 1955 and reformed there on 1 May 1958 with the Vulcan. In 1961 it moved to the B.2, and in 1963 it was the first to bring the Blue Steel missile into service, within the V-force alongside the Valiant and the Victor. After retiring the Vulcan, it was reformed on 1 January 1983 at RAF Marham with the Tornado GR1, and today flies the F-35B.

The last flight was flown by the squadron commander, Wing Commander John N. Herbertson. Fog delayed it by about two hours; it lasted a little over an hour and flew over the Derwent, in Derbyshire, where the squadron had trained in 1943. On 17 December 1981 the aircraft was withdrawn from use with the training serial 8733M, and on 4 January 1982 it was allocated to the RAF Museum. It was dismantled at Scampton and travelled by road to Hendon: it is the only preserved Vulcan to have been moved this way. According to the museum's records, it served as a source of spares for the Vulcans of the Falklands campaign. It is displayed at the RAF Museum London, in Colindale, alongside a Blue Steel missile. Two other Vulcans from the squadron, XL319 and XL360, are preserved in Sunderland and Coventry.