I was there working on them on the ramp at Waddington, prepping for these scrambles and right there at the aircraft during these scramble operations. I was also at RAF Goose Bay. Spent some years working on Victors too. All still as fresh in my mind today as back then (in the early 70's). A privilege indeed to have had all that training and then those experiences every day at work.
I was station at HQ 1 Group at RAF Bawtry. We used to get Scrambles about once a month. You never knew of course. High Wycombe would come on the line "This is the Bomber Controller all One Group Aircraft Scramble". Attention getting! We would then control them via UHF up to release point or recall them with coded messages. Anyhoo, One day I was in the town shopping when the launched from Finningley, just down the road, the racket was something and the sight of them stood on their tails got me doing likewise. Running into work that is! I often think of those days at Bawtry. We had superb comms on HF and could communicate by voice or morse with them all the way to Singapore and back. For a 17 year old LAC Telegraphist it was a dream job.
Experienced this at the end of the runway at RAF Finningley in 1969, while on an ATC summer camp at RAF Lindholme. As someone said, sticks in your mind 50 years later.
I still hear the Vulcan at Finningley when they pull it out of the hanger and run those engines. It's that loud I can hear it with my house windows shut a good few miles away.
I was in the RAF as an aircraft fitter. We happened to be at Waddington one day when the QRA was called. We were waiting to cross the runway in a RAF coach so we had to hold whilst they scrambled...... WHAT A SOUND i will never forget it and truly sad that Rolls Royce pulled the plug on XH558 😪. She still had years of life left.
i have seen one of these. A scramble take-off by 4 Vulcans at an air display at RAF Waddington. My stomach felt like it was being pummeled, my eyeballs were shaking so my vision blurred, my feet were tickling from the ground shaking. The noise was incredible! Never to be forgotten.
I spent some of my early years in Lincolnshire (as well as a number of other RAF locations inc Germany. One summer day whilst out on the (North Hykeham) school playing fields, 5 (five) Vulcan's took off from RAF Waddington. I understand now why some events stick in your mind like video tapes that you can replay at any time. 53 years later and I can still see and hear that day.
Yeah, right on... I lived along the Hykeham rd, on Grange cresc in the early 70's...North Hykeham is under the anticlockwise flightpath. I live near Gatwick now and laugh when people complain about the noise here...
I lived in Waddington....went to school at Robert Patterson....Remember the Vulcan very well....spent many nights being lulled to sleep by them warming up a few hundred yards away during 'alerts'.
I lived on Slessor St, went to St Clement's, and then NKS. 75-79. It was an amazing time, with pilots pushing the rules and the edge all the time. Taceval's when they would clear every Vulcan in the middle of the night, everyone shaken out of bed, windows rattling from one side of the camp to the other. Great days long past.
This film brings back memories. As a child I lived outside Rotherham and saw the Finningley Vulcans flying over our house very frequently. Our family used to go to the Battle of Britain Day air display every year and the finale to the event was the scramble take-off of four Vulcans which made the ground and your whole body vibrate with the noise. That was some compensation for the thought that we would be taken out in a first strike on the V-Bomber base!
Yes indeed anywhere in East or South Yorkshire or north Lincs would be toast. At Bridlington we had targets at Bempton radar, Driffield and Carnaby both Thor, all within ten miles so we'd be toast if it had kicked off. Mind you with the CEP of the early missiles you would not be safe anywhere in the UK. I think the Lightnings and Bloodhound could just have held Russian bombers but we only had just enough. NATO would have had a pop first. Halcyon days, terrified of "the bomb" but the Shadows had a few number ones and girls wore pretty dresses!
Back in 76 we had 5 squadrons at R.A.F Waddington, at the end of one of the Tac Evals we did, 4 of the squadrons were scrambled, 16 Vulcans in all .... What a sight and what a sound!! Talk about goosebumps and patriotism flowing through your veins .... I near pee'd myself!
+kawasakigpz750 I wish I was born in that era. 16 Vulcs taking to the sky AT ONCE?? I don't think I can even imagine the sound. Hope they weren't doing an 0400 scramble (hahahaha- THAT would be RAF hooliganism at its best...)
+Ryan Black R.A.F Hooliganism at it's best was a Sqdn Ldr Joe L'Estrange doing a loop de loop in one and popping a hell of a lot of rivets! Another time he did a sideways pass between ATC and a hangar .... maybe a 500 ft gap between the 2 ... both occasions he got grounded for a short spell.
+kawasakigpz750 by God.... Well, I'm certainly worried about what my best mate will do if and when he qualifies as a pilot officer. Still in school but his target's Cranwell. Better hope they don't make him a transport pilot, else a could be in for trouble!
Both Vulcans and Victors were planned to be used for low level strikes for a while, and some practiced half loops and roll outs to get bombs further away before detonation (the Americans called it LABS, Low Altitude Bombing System). Never saw it with a Valiant, they would never have taken the stress, the wing spars cracked up pretty quickly.
My dad was in the RAF and worked on the Vulcan during the Falkland war and other secret missions and he says that this plane was an amazing piece of kit!
+Michael UK It's a shame the Victor has been downgraded in History because of the Role Change to "Tanker". The Victor is a Beautiful Aircraft but for Pure menace the Victor gets my vote every time.
+John O'Connell I agree the Victors lines are unique and it was capable of breaking the sound barrier in a slight dive and did so. Now I'm showing my age as a Kid I saw Thunderbird 1 as a little like the Lightning all power speed and aggression while Thunderbird 2 was the Victor. 😀 The Vulcan well that was just unique
@@HippyJohnWales The Victor was also a better 'bomber', carrying a single 22,000 lb Grand Slam, two 12,000 lb Tallboys or up to forty-eight 1,000 lb bombs, but suffered from fatigue at low altitudes.
My father RIP worked on Vulcans in the 60’s and was also Cheif Tech for the Red Arrows. Just had his name added to the bottom of the Vulcan delta wing in memory
Those of who know, will know that a vulcan makes the ground rumble. However, my grandad used to work on the airfields in Lincolnshire in the 50/60s.He described the squadron scramble and how the ground would shake as they were all taking off . You can only imagine.
Oh it was amazing..twice my old man took me out in his lorry back in the late 60's early 70's leaving Lincoln very early morning on our way to Leicester we would get to RAF Swinderby and see them lining up and take off My dad would stop and ground rumbled massively as I think 5 of them took off one after the other Amazing sight especially when yer only 5 or 6 #
I have the happy situation of possessing duel citizenship with England and America. I am also an "Air Force Brat" (what we call ourselves fortunate enough to have been the dependent child of a Father who served in the USAF). I say fortunate because we were able to live all over the world on bases and gaining a perspective of the world few ever know. I also had an Uncle on my Mother's side who served in the RAF flying Lancasters during the War, and transitioning eventually into Vulcans. The BUFF and the Vulcan have always been my favorite stratigic bombers. I have also wondered that with all the new material's available, what a modern Vulcan would be like.
We have already seen what the US & UK can do with the F35. Can you imagine a bomber between Lockheed and BAE systems. I do understand that the UK only has a small but significant input into the F35 programme but ill take that lol.
They have one of these at the Newark air museum. When it first came they used to fire the engines up once a week, it was awesome. However they slowly cannibalised the engines parts so that all stopped. Still an awesome plane to look at though.
Awesome, i'd been looking for this footage ever since i saw it in that exact same spot. Such an amazing aircraft, i even had the privelege to see XH558 in flight at RIAT this year (uploaded a video of that last week).
With some money spent and some serious upgrading, we could have had a handful left in service today and before anyone calls me a pillock, the B-52 is the same age and is still alive and kicking!
+ToonandBBfan The point about the B52 is that it is still an operational aircraft and has full US government technical and financial funding. The RAF abandoned all the Vulcans and XH558. Now BAe Systems, Rolls Royce and Marshalls of Cambridge have abandoned XH558 too so the CAA will not let her fly. Where there is no will there is no way.
The B52 is a totally diffent beast. As much as I'd love for my kids to see Vulcans still flying in RAF service as I was lucky to do, the B52 lives on because of its modular design & construction making it easy to upgrade & replace bits on it. A case in point was changing engines, on the B52 they went from turbojets to high bypass engines easily because they were in pods, not buried in the wing. And replacing the wings on B52s is posible, while the Vulcan IS the wing, replacing structural sections would be a nightmare. IMO the Victor was probably far more suited to a life extension program than the Vulcan.
Both operate under different conditions. Response time was critical for Brits whilst the US kept a force airborne 24-7 on long patrols. The range requirements are not the same and the designs followed. The B52 is still there because it was more flexible and range requirements remained a hard constraint. Nowadays fighter bombers can perform strategic strikes, and they can fill the niche left by the Vulcan.
Yep a leisurely kitting up before a flight, but the actual QRA scramble shots are real enough, unfortunately without the Vulcan howl. To think that in a real world of hostility those crews who successfully bombed their targets or turned back through failure were actually given routes back to their bases or dispersal airfields or what if anything was left of them! The V force certainly did contribute to keeping the peace and XH558 should be remembered and saved by the Nation as the Lancaster, Hurricanes and Spitfires as recent examples of "never ..in the field...so few", etc.
@@mitchie2267 Well it maybe jingoistic but it's not "nonsense". It must be weird going through life feeling constant guilt rather than a modicum of pride now and then...............
Visited the Museum early this month. A day before the RIAT at Fairford. This Vulcan exhibit was the star attraction for me. A wonderful plane, and still is.
Stationed at RAF akrotiri, saw them scramble,bloody awesome, soft spot for them,lightning, victor.we had a wheels up on a Vulcan at akrotiri. Big operation to lay a foam carpet on the runway!! Akrotirir had a big runway. I served 5 years as a fireman/driver. Enjoyed it!!!!
I also say them at a Finningly show, mid-80's. The thing the film missed was that once launched, the first plane went ahead, the next two left and right, the last reversed direction, before heading for their targets. This meant they cleared the vicinity of the airfield as far from each other quickly, so a nuclear blast on the airfield wouldn't get all four planes.
I used to live in the village of Hatfield about 10 miles north of Finningley. Vulcans would fly over our house at low level every day and occasionally we would be woken by a full squadron scramble in the early hours. Very noisy even at 10 miles distance. I remember wondering if this was the start of world war 3.
Video every bit as impressive to me as a scramble take off of B-52's. Never can see too much of the Vulcan. Wish the UK still had at least a squadron of both Vulcan and Victor B.2's on standby, nuclear armed with Blue Steel or free fall weapons.
I remember when we did QRA duty in the 60s at RAF Scampton - there was no leisurely strolling about at 4am when Bomber Command HQ decided to wake up the Lincolnshire countryside! The deterrent objective was very much top of mind but at the same time it was so well practised by everyone that it was almost an ordinary job. My ageing Standard Flying 14, by contrast, created excitement daily...
...what is that supposed to mean ?......if they were on a Nuclear run .... they would have no airfield to come back to .... the [ Soviets ] would have Vaporized your silly island .... -but at least you made the Vulcan ... good on you ....... You went to great lengths to impress [scare] the Argies with it ...... :}
Worked on a few scrambles at Waddington, while on the Line as a young 17 year old….something you never forget…although you never wanted to be on the fourth ground crew….blown all over the place
adicossie If it was RAF Cottesmore, I was there, I was about 8 yrs old then, now coming up to 60 but still remember it like it was yesterday. It was an amazing experience. cazzlt@gmail.com
BEAUTIFUL AIRCRAFT,went to an air show once and saw them,magnificent, being an engineer and mechanic, anything spewing out smoke is not,,not burning fuel correctly,
I don't know why they couldn't keep these flying. The Americans are still flying the B-52's and C-130 Hercules. Both are about the same age as the Avro Vulcan yet someone in the UK decided to discontinue using them.
El Toro M.C.A.S. 1986. The Blue Angels ended the show. But these guys showed up with one airplane. Like everyone here says … it was just like yesterday. The most of respect to the Royal Air Force and the United Kingdom.
The V bombers were impressive and potent, and were it not for the neglect and incompetence of British politicians, they could still be, with upgrades, a formidable bomber force today in partnership with our long-serving B-52s !
christian4tbly Dog handlers didn't wear 'whites' on patrol, mainly combat gear due to only working evenings and nights. They made the same mistake with the Vulcan that's on display at East Fortune Museum of Flight.
The Argies loved the Vulcan i went to Argentina with 101sqd (1960) at the invitation of the Arg Airforce, great guys they were stunned with the Vulcan performance, after which we carried on around the rest of S America ending up in Bermuda. Happy days cheers 101sqd
@@lightning1975 That's a shame! Hope the plane itself is still there. I used to live one tube stop away and would sometimes hang around at the museum after school
The Vulcan looked like it came from OUTER SPACE. The Russians must have been TERRIFIED knowing that the British had the advantage of alien technology on their side.
that's why when the Vulcans appeared in the sky's the UFO Phenomenon sightings, went through the roof, caused such controversy my bro,actually though he'd witnessed a UFO, and if you "saw" one of those visible/ invisible, shape-shifting Vulcans in the sky,you'd understand why, they truly were space aged..
@Arthur Humphreys I am aware of this. We can see how geography and proximity influence strategies and systems. Loitering B52s was logical and a necessity imposed by response time vs distance. Brits had other contingencies. Where the US had to count flight time in hours Brits had to do the same in minutes. The planes themselves tell a lot. One is a long distance runner while the other is a sprinter. Both races are for keeps. :-) tc
If you watch American or Soviet aircrews scrambling in old videos like this they are literally sprinting to waiting vehicles and then from that to the aircraft. The British are almost "One moment chaps, let's finish our tea" and then they meander to the Vulcan while having a chat.
Aquila Rossa forget the old WW2 'scramble' of running to the aircraft, leaping in, and heading off into the sky. Don't forget these are not fighter jets they are bombers. The crews are on standby with varying levels of readiness and are with the aircraft long before the scramble is called. At a five minute standby they are usually already in the aircraft ready to go. They are able to fire up the engines at a moments notice.
If you had a touch of chest infection the vibration through your body standing nearby at the start of launch would clear the most congested chest. The airforce could hardly afford the fuel for even one to scramble nowadays. What a mess we are in.
Quite a leisurely 'scramble'. Must still have been deciding which 5* hotel they were going to stay in when they inevitably 'diverted' for technical reasons to the Mediterranean for the weekend...
Simon Hayward sorry about my typos! I Meant sixties - not 69s! And bone domes! However it may be around that time. I think the RN took over the strategic nuclear deterrent in 1970, however Vulcans were still equipped with WE177 if necessary. The white underside, high visibility roundel and black radome also indicate sixties, however I think that this was on Vulcans until the mid 70s in some cases.
Simon Hayward sorry about my typos! I Meant sixties - not 69s! And bone domes! However it may be around that time. I think the RN took over the strategic nuclear deterrent in 1970, however Vulcans were still equipped with WE177 if necessary. The white underside, high visibility roundel and black radome also indicate sixties, however I think that this was on Vulcans until the mid 70s in some cases.
Simon Hayward sorry about my typos! I Meant sixties - not 69s! And bone domes! However it may be around that time. I think the RN took over the strategic nuclear deterrent in 1970, however Vulcans were still equipped with WE177 if necessary. The white underside, high visibility roundel and black radome also indicate sixties, however I think that this was on Vulcans until the mid 70s in some cases.
I truly hope this wasn’t a QRA, with the bomber pilots dawdling to their aircraft clutching their brief cases. They look more like bankers than highly trained aircrew!
It was because we could take out Moscow that the Cold War was a success for both sides. Neither of us wanted to be wiped out for a cause. Both the East and West won in a way, we both survived.
I kind of think we were lucky to survive the Cold War. I am in NZ now, but I remember growing up in Milton Keynes, UK in the 1980s and hearing far more than the usual jets at night and wondering if it was all kicking off. If we were indeed lucky to survive the Cold War, then I am puzzled as to why some seem so determined to have another one. It's like they presume it would play out the same way. As kids we were well aware that the UK was on the front lines and would be saturated with nukes due to being one of the most important forward bases for the Yanks. It still is. Living in NZ in 1987 felt a hell of a lot safer than the UK did in 1986. p.s. I am not sure the Cold War ever ended to be honest. Thousands of nuclear warheads remained targeted at each other and still are. I think the role of ideology in it is overplayed too. Russia and China are considered threats to the USA due to their potential far more than for any other reasons (threats to the US doctrine of global Full Spectrum Dominance and self professed exceptionalism).
And now they will all be dead from radiation poisoning off the luminous dials. You are not allowed anywhere near a vulcan cockpit these days. Seriously why is that the USAF B52 remains to this day a viable bomber with goodness knows how many hours of service, yet there is no Vulcan flying today?
I was there working on them on the ramp at Waddington, prepping for these scrambles and right there at the aircraft during these scramble operations. I was also at RAF Goose Bay. Spent some years working on Victors too. All still as fresh in my mind today as back then (in the early 70's). A privilege indeed to have had all that training and then those experiences every day at work.
Lucky indeed! Thanks for the post!
I was station at HQ 1 Group at RAF Bawtry. We used to get Scrambles about once a month. You never knew of course. High Wycombe would come on the line "This is the Bomber Controller all One Group Aircraft Scramble". Attention getting! We would then control them via UHF up to release point or recall them with coded messages.
Anyhoo, One day I was in the town shopping when the launched from Finningley, just down the road, the racket was something and the sight of them stood on their tails got me doing likewise. Running into work that is!
I often think of those days at Bawtry. We had superb comms on HF and could communicate by voice or morse with them all the way to Singapore and back.
For a 17 year old LAC Telegraphist it was a dream job.
Experienced this at the end of the runway at RAF Finningley in 1969, while on an ATC summer camp at RAF Lindholme. As someone said, sticks in your mind 50 years later.
Snap, 1967.Also, Lightnings from Leuchars, 1971 - 1972. The colour of the afterburners stays with me to this day.
I still hear the Vulcan at Finningley when they pull it out of the hanger and run those engines. It's that loud I can hear it with my house windows shut a good few miles away.
@@mickl8212 Joy. Like a hot shower for the soul. 👍
I was in the RAF as an aircraft fitter. We happened to be at Waddington one day when the QRA was called. We were waiting to cross the runway in a RAF coach so we had to hold whilst they scrambled......
WHAT A SOUND i will never forget it and truly sad that Rolls Royce pulled the plug on XH558 😪. She still had years of life left.
Keyboard Krazy Thanks for your reply. It wasn’t just RR - it’s was also a number of other OEM’s, including Martin Baker for the seats.
i have seen one of these. A scramble take-off by 4 Vulcans at an air display at RAF Waddington. My stomach felt like it was being pummeled, my eyeballs were shaking so my vision blurred, my feet were tickling from the ground shaking. The noise was incredible! Never to be forgotten.
molecules mover
i am lucky. I was based at RAF vaddington when i was in the RAF and saw these fly every day. I've even been onboard!
I spent some of my early years in Lincolnshire (as well as a number of other RAF locations inc Germany. One summer day whilst out on the (North Hykeham) school playing fields, 5 (five) Vulcan's took off from RAF Waddington. I understand now why some events stick in your mind like video tapes that you can replay at any time. 53 years later and I can still see and hear that day.
Yeah, right on... I lived along the Hykeham rd, on Grange cresc in the early 70's...North Hykeham is under the anticlockwise flightpath. I live near Gatwick now and laugh when people complain about the noise here...
N Hykeham was a great place to go to school…they used to use my school as base leg in the circuit…certainly a good distraction from double Maths!
I lived in Waddington....went to school at Robert Patterson....Remember the Vulcan very well....spent many nights being lulled to sleep by them warming up a few hundred yards away during 'alerts'.
What a time to be alive, and what an amazing experience! Thanks for sharing
I lived on Slessor St, went to St Clement's, and then NKS. 75-79. It was an amazing time, with pilots pushing the rules and the edge all the time. Taceval's when they would clear every Vulcan in the middle of the night, everyone shaken out of bed, windows rattling from one side of the camp to the other. Great days long past.
This film brings back memories. As a child I lived outside Rotherham and saw the Finningley Vulcans flying over our house very frequently. Our family used to go to the Battle of Britain Day air display every year and the finale to the event was the scramble take-off of four Vulcans which made the ground and your whole body vibrate with the noise. That was some compensation for the thought that we would be taken out in a first strike on the V-Bomber base!
Yes indeed anywhere in East or South Yorkshire or north Lincs would be toast. At Bridlington we had targets at Bempton radar, Driffield and Carnaby both Thor, all within ten miles so we'd be toast if it had kicked off. Mind you with the CEP of the early missiles you would not be safe anywhere in the UK. I think the Lightnings and Bloodhound could just have held Russian bombers but we only had just enough. NATO would have had a pop first. Halcyon days, terrified of "the bomb" but the Shadows had a few number ones and girls wore pretty dresses!
just the pure noise of those Vulcans and the smoke trail from those monsters that will sadly never grace our beautiful skies again!
I was lucky enough to see it at the air tattoo. I will never forget the howl as it climbed. It looked too big to fly.
Back in 76 we had 5 squadrons at R.A.F Waddington, at the end of one of the Tac Evals we did, 4 of the squadrons were scrambled, 16 Vulcans in all .... What a sight and what a sound!! Talk about goosebumps and patriotism flowing through your veins .... I near pee'd myself!
+kawasakigpz750 I wish I was born in that era. 16 Vulcs taking to the sky AT ONCE??
I don't think I can even imagine the sound. Hope they weren't doing an 0400 scramble (hahahaha- THAT would be RAF hooliganism at its best...)
+Ryan Black R.A.F Hooliganism at it's best was a Sqdn Ldr Joe L'Estrange doing a loop de loop in one and popping a hell of a lot of rivets! Another time he did a sideways pass between ATC and a hangar .... maybe a 500 ft gap between the 2 ... both occasions he got grounded for a short spell.
+kawasakigpz750 by God....
Well, I'm certainly worried about what my best mate will do if and when he qualifies as a pilot officer. Still in school but his target's Cranwell. Better hope they don't make him a transport pilot, else a could be in for trouble!
Both Vulcans and Victors were planned to be used for low level strikes for a while, and some practiced half loops and roll outs to get bombs further away before detonation (the Americans called it LABS, Low Altitude Bombing System). Never saw it with a Valiant, they would never have taken the stress, the wing spars cracked up pretty quickly.
+kawasakigpz750
Hope MOD sent footage of the 4 squadrons QRA to Moscow.
My dad was in the RAF and worked on the Vulcan during the Falkland war and other secret missions and he says that this plane was an amazing piece of kit!
+Michael UK I worked on the Vulcans at RAF St.Athans . great days !!
+Michael UK It's a shame the Victor has been downgraded in History because of the Role Change to "Tanker". The Victor is a Beautiful Aircraft but for Pure menace the Victor gets my vote every time.
+John O'Connell I agree the Victors lines are unique and it was capable of breaking the sound barrier in a slight dive and did so.
Now I'm showing my age as a Kid I saw Thunderbird 1 as a little like the Lightning all power speed and aggression while Thunderbird 2 was the Victor. 😀 The Vulcan well that was just unique
@@HippyJohnWales The Victor was also a better 'bomber', carrying a single 22,000 lb Grand Slam, two 12,000 lb Tallboys or up to forty-eight 1,000 lb bombs, but suffered from fatigue at low altitudes.
My father RIP worked on Vulcans in the 60’s and was also Cheif Tech for the Red Arrows. Just had his name added to the bottom of the Vulcan delta wing in memory
Those of who know, will know that a vulcan makes the ground rumble. However, my grandad used to work on the airfields in Lincolnshire in the 50/60s.He described the squadron scramble and how the ground would shake as they were all taking off . You can only imagine.
Certain parts of the USSR would have also shaken quite consideradably too when their payloads were released
Went to the Waddington open day when my dad was stationed there, watched the full Scramble display - was deaf for weeks
Oh it was amazing..twice my old man took me out in his lorry back in the late 60's early 70's leaving Lincoln very early morning on our way to Leicester we would get to RAF Swinderby and see them lining up and take off My dad would stop and ground rumbled massively as I think 5 of them took off one after the other Amazing sight especially when yer only 5 or 6
#
gaztop222 that would have been Scampton or Waddington as Swinderby never had the V Force.
I grew up in Newark upon Trent 👍
I have the happy situation of possessing duel citizenship with England and America. I am also an "Air Force Brat" (what we call ourselves fortunate enough to have been the dependent child of a Father who served in the USAF). I say fortunate because we were able to live all over the world on bases and gaining a perspective of the world few ever know.
I also had an Uncle on my Mother's side who served in the RAF flying Lancasters during the War, and transitioning eventually into Vulcans. The BUFF and the Vulcan have always been my favorite stratigic bombers. I have also wondered that with all the new material's available, what a modern Vulcan would be like.
We have already seen what the US & UK can do with the F35.
Can you imagine a bomber between Lockheed and BAE systems.
I do understand that the UK only has a small but significant input into the F35 programme but ill take that lol.
@@ianhigson719 35% input isn’t small considering the US economy is about 7 or 8 times the size of the UK’s
They have one of these at the Newark air museum. When it first came they used to fire the engines up once a week, it was awesome. However they slowly cannibalised the engines parts so that all stopped. Still an awesome plane to look at though.
I'm from Newark..
Wow! I can only imagine what the noise would be like stood watching this happen at the side of the runway!! Immensely defining!!
I saw a V bomber scramble at Farnborough in the early 60's. Yes, it was noisy. And yes, I wish I could go back in time to see it all again.
If you had have heard that at first hand, you would never forget than unique sound.
Wow! Saw this several times at Waddington. Love the Vulcan
Awesome, i'd been looking for this footage ever since i saw it in that exact same spot. Such an amazing aircraft, i even had the privelege to see XH558 in flight at RIAT this year (uploaded a video of that last week).
With some money spent and some serious upgrading, we could have had a handful left in service today and before anyone calls me a pillock, the B-52 is the same age and is still alive and kicking!
+ToonandBBfan The point about the B52 is that it is still an operational aircraft and has full US government technical and financial funding. The RAF abandoned all the Vulcans and XH558. Now BAe Systems, Rolls Royce and Marshalls of Cambridge have abandoned XH558 too so the CAA will not let her fly. Where there is no will there is no way.
Gordon Clifton
Sadly I have to agree with you.
(Unless someone designs a Vulcan like Drone for the future???)
I also agree ..;)
The B52 is a totally diffent beast. As much as I'd love for my kids to see Vulcans still flying in RAF service as I was lucky to do, the B52 lives on because of its modular design & construction making it easy to upgrade & replace bits on it. A case in point was changing engines, on the B52 they went from turbojets to high bypass engines easily because they were in pods, not buried in the wing. And replacing the wings on B52s is posible, while the Vulcan IS the wing, replacing structural sections would be a nightmare.
IMO the Victor was probably far more suited to a life extension program than the Vulcan.
Both operate under different conditions. Response time was critical for Brits whilst the US kept a force airborne 24-7 on long patrols. The range requirements are not the same and the designs followed. The B52 is still there because it was more flexible and range requirements remained a hard constraint. Nowadays fighter bombers can perform strategic strikes, and they can fill the niche left by the Vulcan.
Yep a leisurely kitting up before a flight, but the actual QRA scramble shots are real enough, unfortunately without the Vulcan howl. To think that in a real world of hostility those crews who successfully bombed their targets or turned back through failure were actually given routes back to their bases or dispersal airfields or what if anything was left of them! The V force certainly did contribute to keeping the peace and XH558 should be remembered and saved by the Nation as the Lancaster, Hurricanes and Spitfires as recent examples of "never ..in the field...so few", etc.
Born and raised at RAF Scampton these beautiful aircraft were daddies' "other car".
These Men May Have Come Back To Home, But A Home Without Loved Ones,All Destroyed...... Real Men Thank You...Proud of all our Forces.
Every nut and bolt designed and built in the UK by British Engineers - This country has lost its own identity over recent years.
Fuck off with your jingoist nonsense.
It became obsolete shortly after it came into operation. Epic design though.
Due to treacherous government
@@mitchie2267 Well it maybe jingoistic but it's not "nonsense". It must be weird going through life feeling constant guilt rather than a modicum of pride now and then...............
@@mitchie2267
Hi Mitch,
You see how many likes Ian has?
You see how many likes you have?
That is what is known as "democracy".
Visited the Museum early this month. A day before the RIAT at Fairford. This Vulcan exhibit was the star attraction for me. A wonderful plane, and still is.
Totally agree attended many air shows as a child then … the Vulcan was the star of the day that howl !!
Stationed at RAF akrotiri, saw them scramble,bloody awesome, soft spot for them,lightning, victor.we had a wheels up on a Vulcan at akrotiri. Big operation to lay a foam carpet on the runway!! Akrotirir had a big runway. I served 5 years as a fireman/driver. Enjoyed it!!!!
I remember seeing them do that once with 4 Vulcans at RAF Finningly at one of the air displays there back in the late 80's
I also say them at a Finningly show, mid-80's. The thing the film missed was that once launched, the first plane went ahead, the next two left and right, the last reversed direction, before heading for their targets. This meant they cleared the vicinity of the airfield as far from each other quickly, so a nuclear blast on the airfield wouldn't get all four planes.
I used to live in the village of Hatfield about 10 miles north of Finningley. Vulcans would fly over our house at low level every day and occasionally we would be woken by a full squadron scramble in the early hours. Very noisy even at 10 miles distance. I remember wondering if this was the start of world war 3.
Video every bit as impressive to me as a scramble take off of B-52's. Never can see too much of the Vulcan. Wish the UK still had at least a squadron of both Vulcan and Victor B.2's on standby, nuclear armed with Blue Steel or free fall weapons.
blimey wake turbulence must have been incredible
Reminds me of the 1977 silver jubilee display at finningley and the QRA flights 2x4 scrambling up the runway can never forget that sound
I remember when we did QRA duty in the 60s at RAF Scampton - there was no leisurely strolling about at 4am when Bomber Command HQ decided to wake up the Lincolnshire countryside! The deterrent objective was very much top of mind but at the same time it was so well practised by everyone that it was almost an ordinary job. My ageing Standard Flying 14, by contrast, created excitement daily...
An iconic British feat of engineering sadly missed 😢🇬🇧🇬🇧
Seen a 5 Vulcan scramble at Finingley airshow in the 70s...unbelievable.
yeah i saw the same at Gaydon in the 70's fantastic show
A truly awesome sight! Thank god they were never deployed in anger though!
Alistair Foden um they sort of were in the falklands war I believe it was operation blackbird or something like that
Close, Operation Black Buck
...what is that supposed to mean ?......if they were on a Nuclear run .... they would have no airfield to come
back to .... the [ Soviets ] would have Vaporized your silly island ....
-but at least you made the Vulcan ... good on you .......
You went to great lengths to impress [scare] the Argies with it ...... :}
@Alistair Foden Thank God indeed. A QRA of Vulcans in white livery would have meant only one thing.
But they were . Remember the Falklands conflict ?
Worked on a few scrambles at Waddington, while on the Line as a young 17 year old….something you never forget…although you never wanted to be on the fourth ground crew….blown all over the place
It's amazing, even in the cramped space of the Vulcan they found the room for the 3-man union camera crew and the hatstand.
Looks like it was filmed at RAF Cottesmore, amazing wish I could go back in time to experience this. love the Vulcan.
adicossie If it was RAF Cottesmore, I was there, I was about 8 yrs old then, now coming up to 60 but still remember it like it was yesterday. It was an amazing experience. cazzlt@gmail.com
BEAUTIFUL AIRCRAFT,went to an air show once and saw them,magnificent, being an engineer and mechanic, anything spewing out smoke is not,,not burning fuel correctly,
Just love the pollution, no one complained, you just got on with life!
I don't know why they couldn't keep these flying. The Americans are still flying the B-52's and C-130 Hercules. Both are about the same age as the Avro Vulcan yet someone in the UK decided to discontinue using them.
I count my blessings I saw the last Vulcan fly. XH558 flew over my hometown of Shrewsbury in 2014. Glad I got a picture while I could!
I’ve got my name plaque on the underside of the starboard wing on 558 😊
El Toro M.C.A.S. 1986. The Blue Angels ended the show. But these guys showed up with one airplane. Like everyone here says … it was just like yesterday. The most of respect to the Royal Air Force and the United Kingdom.
The V bombers were impressive and potent, and were it not for the neglect and incompetence of British politicians, they could still be, with upgrades, a formidable bomber force today in partnership with our long-serving B-52s !
That guy and the dog is still there !!! he must be knackered by now.
christian4tbly Dog handlers didn't wear 'whites' on patrol, mainly combat gear due to only working evenings and nights. They made the same mistake with the Vulcan that's on display at East Fortune Museum of Flight.
That is one heck of an aircraft!
Amazing, but eerie thinking it'd be a one way trip for the real thing.
I was on RAF Scampton when European Tacival was called, 12 of these scrambled in threes!! Amazing! Then had to spend two days in black rubber suits!
Wow! I’d have loved to see that! …dunno about the rubber suit bit though!
@@lightning1975 it was basically simulation of nuclear attack!
My god absolutely brilliant.
'Bomber Harris' would be proud.Gotta love the RAF
Just one Vulcan must have made the Argies tremble in their boots. Imagine how a whole squadron would have made them feel.
The Argies loved the Vulcan i went to Argentina with 101sqd (1960) at the invitation of the Arg Airforce, great guys they were stunned with the Vulcan performance, after which we carried on around the rest of S America ending up in Bermuda. Happy days cheers 101sqd
I was going to say, looking at the thumbnail, I'm sure they had a TV set up in the bomb bay of the Vulcan at Colindale...
YIIMM They did! However it doesn’t seem to be there anymore.
@@lightning1975 That's a shame! Hope the plane itself is still there. I used to live one tube stop away and would sometimes hang around at the museum after school
YIIMM yes, the jet is still there, however it’s still very difficult to photograph!
The Vulcan looked like it came from OUTER SPACE. The Russians must have been TERRIFIED knowing that the British had the advantage of alien technology on their side.
that's why when the Vulcans appeared in the sky's
the UFO Phenomenon sightings, went through the roof,
caused such controversy
my bro,actually though he'd witnessed a UFO,
and if you "saw" one of those visible/ invisible, shape-shifting Vulcans in the sky,you'd understand why,
they truly were space aged..
I was there only this weekend. No show in the bomb bay. And the dog has lost his guard and been moved elsewhere.
You Smell that Jet Fuel son? I Love the Smell of Vulcan Bombers Jet Fuel on Take Off in the Morning! That's the Smell of Cold War Battle Victory!
Lol, you actually aimed your camcorder at the screen in the Vulcan's bomb-bay at RAF Hendon? Cooolll!! thanks.
Yeah, there was mo way to get the video otherwise!
It's great though mate, I just remember the video 'in the bomb-bay'!
@@lightning1975 You are a naughty boy.
They were on standby alert. I doubt any bomber crew anywhere else could get airborne as quickly.
@Arthur Humphreys I am aware of this. We can see how geography and proximity influence strategies and systems. Loitering B52s was logical and a necessity imposed by response time vs distance. Brits had other contingencies. Where the US had to count flight time in hours Brits had to do the same in minutes. The planes themselves tell a lot. One is a long distance runner while the other is a sprinter. Both races are for keeps. :-) tc
even the way you enter the Vulcan is cool...
Nanny State 'Emissions' lot would have a field day looking at this, wouldn't they? Amazing sight. .
Sadly today, we have nothing like this
If you watch American or Soviet aircrews scrambling in old videos like this they are literally sprinting to waiting vehicles and then from that to the aircraft. The British are almost "One moment chaps, let's finish our tea" and then they meander to the Vulcan while having a chat.
Aquila Rossa forget the old WW2 'scramble' of running to the aircraft, leaping in, and heading off into the sky. Don't forget these are not fighter jets they are bombers. The crews are on standby with varying levels of readiness and are with the aircraft long before the scramble is called. At a five minute standby they are usually already in the aircraft ready to go. They are able to fire up the engines at a moments notice.
Argentina : Haha we invaded the falklands I bet the British won’t do anythi-
Britain 0:56
I think this video is also shown in the bomb bay of XM598 at RAF Cosford. If not the video shown there appears to be very similar to this one :o)
I love the smell of pollution in the morning
Nigel doesn’t surf!
You need to know psa at 2 am you right 3 smells. At 3 am there will 46 different smells to taste, you ready for that toast ? Big small
Amazing footage
Awesome stuff!..
If you had a touch of chest infection the vibration through your body standing nearby at the start of launch would clear the most congested chest. The airforce could hardly afford the fuel for even one to scramble nowadays. What a mess we are in.
Off to have a chat with those nice Soviets...
I remember watching these take place at our nearby RAF base when I was a nipper.
I want to join that Air Force
Congrats, I think, i must visit the RAF Museum, Hendon, London.
Mehr ansehen
so proud.
When we spent money on defence instead of paying the idle not to work
Finingley airshow speciality !
3:08
what an image
I can still smell the paraffin
The Vulcan Scramble, The best QRA Ever seen,.
Nice one subscribed
Quite a leisurely 'scramble'. Must still have been deciding which 5* hotel they were going to stay in when they inevitably 'diverted' for technical reasons to the Mediterranean for the weekend...
And now we couldn’t muster a strong argument.
RAF scramble "put a brew old boy we won't be long"
Filmed from inside the Vulcan bomb bay in the Cold War exhibit at RAF Cosford??
Yep i was there
When Britain ruled the skies ! Anything similar with Victors ?
One of my uncles, a Vulcan pilot, was on QRA. It was mostly very boring apparently.
And in 1982 Falklands war
Anyone know roughly what year (1960's I guess?) and where?
XM646 was with 101 Squadron at Waddington. As it is on QRA I would suggest pre 1970. The silver bone dimes indicate 69s also.
👍
Simon Hayward sorry about my typos! I
Meant sixties - not 69s! And bone domes! However it may be around that time. I think the RN took over the strategic nuclear deterrent in 1970, however Vulcans were still equipped with WE177 if necessary.
The white underside, high visibility roundel and black radome also indicate sixties, however I think that this was on Vulcans until the mid 70s in some cases.
Simon Hayward sorry about my typos! I
Meant sixties - not 69s! And bone domes! However it may be around that time. I think the RN took over the strategic nuclear deterrent in 1970, however Vulcans were still equipped with WE177 if necessary.
The white underside, high visibility roundel and black radome also indicate sixties, however I think that this was on Vulcans until the mid 70s in some cases.
Simon Hayward sorry about my typos! I
Meant sixties - not 69s! And bone domes! However it may be around that time. I think the RN took over the strategic nuclear deterrent in 1970, however Vulcans were still equipped with WE177 if necessary.
The white underside, high visibility roundel and black radome also indicate sixties, however I think that this was on Vulcans until the mid 70s in some cases.
Was just stating that the nuclear deterrent was placed with the navy
Thing of beauty, Greta would not approve of those black smoke trails
calm down she's young person trying to save your world mate. why are you soooooo angry? scared:)
where`s the howl?
Had this been for real, they might all have have just got away before a 1 megaton airbust turned the base into dust...........
...... and then dropped buckets of sunshine all over the USSR.
@@originalkk882 there were always Some Vulcans Airborne 24 hours a day,
How do they start the engines? cartridge starters?
Air start, or via the Rover APU. The Vulcan could also start all four engines at once via the rapid start system.
@@lightning1975 I see.They will need several of these Airstart carts during scramble?.Or bleed can be used?
*Keanu Reeves voice*
Whoa...I was the bomber...
Sorry "dmlscmdcto4" for nicking your "Quite a leisurely Scramble". Sums it up perfectly
RAF museum!!!
I truly hope this wasn’t a QRA, with the bomber pilots dawdling to their aircraft clutching their brief cases. They look more like bankers than highly trained aircrew!
My God that could have been it - Goodnight Moscow.
Just what I was thinking. If things between the West and the USSR had gone tits up, those Vulcans would've left their base for the last time.
Fair puts a chill down your spine.
It was because we could take out Moscow that the Cold War was a success for both sides. Neither of us wanted to be wiped out for a cause. Both the East and West won in a way, we both survived.
I kind of think we were lucky to survive the Cold War. I am in NZ now, but I remember growing up in Milton Keynes, UK in the 1980s and hearing far more than the usual jets at night and wondering if it was all kicking off. If we were indeed lucky to survive the Cold War, then I am puzzled as to why some seem so determined to have another one. It's like they presume it would play out the same way. As kids we were well aware that the UK was on the front lines and would be saturated with nukes due to being one of the most important forward bases for the Yanks. It still is. Living in NZ in 1987 felt a hell of a lot safer than the UK did in 1986.
p.s. I am not sure the Cold War ever ended to be honest. Thousands of nuclear warheads remained targeted at each other and still are. I think the role of ideology in it is overplayed too. Russia and China are considered threats to the USA due to their potential far more than for any other reasons (threats to the US doctrine of global Full Spectrum Dominance and self professed exceptionalism).
Off to flatten Moscow, waving at the Russians en route to flatten London. Good times.
No, that was all made up in your pathetic snowflake head....show me a vid of it happening clown shoes....
@@markholroyde9412 that IS the video. It really happened.
Scramble ? At the beginning it seems like amble!
And now they will all be dead from radiation poisoning off the luminous dials. You are not allowed anywhere near a vulcan cockpit these days. Seriously why is that the USAF B52 remains to this day a viable bomber with goodness knows how many hours of service, yet there is no Vulcan flying today?
Insturments only glowed under ultraviolet light. No radiation there.
You'll be in trouble if Hendon see this
TheGalwayFarmer really? I think you'll find that the Crown copyright might have expired.
When we had an effective Royal Air Force. No beards or transgender awareness weeks back then.
some smoking hot birds they are :P