Vulcan

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boing
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Re: Vulcan

#21 Post by boing » Sat Apr 20, 2019 9:37 pm

The last time I flew alongside him I think he had slowed down just a little bit but by that time we had both been through some battles. Must tell you about our Stornaway expedition some time, a typical Woodsian venture. Entered into with enthusiasm, designed with mischief in mind, planned well, screwed by the fickle finger of fate, recovered by ingenuity and skill and returned to base with the joint agreement not to tell anyone what happened.

.
the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act on their dreams with open eyes, to make them possible.

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Re: Vulcan

#22 Post by Sisemen » Sun Jul 21, 2019 8:17 am

Some pics from the early/mid 70s. Sure that some of these faces will be all too familiar to old Vulcan hands.
1 GSU.jpg
GSU 74.jpg
GSU73.jpg

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Re: Vulcan

#23 Post by Slasher » Sun Jul 21, 2019 11:47 am

Sise who's the honey in the first pic before she put on weight in the second?

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Re: Vulcan

#24 Post by Pontius Navigator » Sun Jul 21, 2019 11:51 am

Too picture, top left, Super Duck. Centre Graham Smeaton, to his left, Ed Coleman?. To the left again I can't remember yet but I know my boss didn't like him.

Bottom picture, left, Frank Lee? Second right Bob Tomkins.

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Re: Vulcan

#25 Post by Boac » Sun Jul 21, 2019 11:53 am

Slasher - she was the crew chief. Having dined at a V-force canteen a few times I know how it happened.

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Re: Vulcan

#26 Post by boing » Mon Jul 22, 2019 8:27 pm

Third photo. I recognise the extreme left and extreme right fellows but no names I'm afraid.

The interesting point is the uniforms. At some time the Russians declared that flight suits were not uniforms so that any captured aircrew member so dressed was not subject to the Geneva Convention and would be shot as a spy. The response from the Air Mistery was to design a flight suit that could be worn as a uniform hence the dress of the two fellows on the right with the short jackets and zip pockets. It is not noticeable in the photos but the trouser also had a little flap below the pockets to allow access for pressure suit tubing. These flight suits/uniforms were ONLY issued to front line squadrons whose crew members could come into direct contact with the enemy, they therefore gained a certain cachet.

Despite the fact that these uniforms were technically considered to be flight suits and hence should only be worn on duty if the possibility existed for a blow-up it became normal for possessors of these items to wear them on all occasions - even when they had subsequently been posted to a non-combat role such as instructing. The message was clearly a very macho "been there, done that" message which was quietly accepted by the powers that be - in fact you saw quite a few squadron commanders garbed in what were colloquially called "jet suits". And so the boys had their badge of honour.

Fast forward a few years and the "jet suits" were no longer issued and the surplus items were apparently sold off to military surplus stores at which time you saw a few young poseurs hanging around the squadrons in zippered jackets - at least until they received the derision of the genuinely worthy.

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Re: Vulcan

#27 Post by Sisemen » Tue Jul 23, 2019 2:38 am

Answers (sorry about the delay but had some stuff to deal with).

Top pic 1971 (the Victor and Vulcan Group Standardisation Units had been combined) -
Back row L to R .... Moira Flint (typist), Bryan Drake (AEO), Bruce Prescott (Nav Plotter), D Fletcher (Victor Nav Plotter), R Jones (Victor Nav), John McRae (Nav Radar), Me (clerk)
Front row L to R ... Pete Tutton (Victor AEO), George Pendleton (Nav Radar), Jim Adams (Plt), Graham Smeaton (OC), M Pringle (Victor Plt), Alan Watkins (AEO), Jim Hainsworth (Plt)

Middle pic
Back row L to R .... Bob Tompkins (Nav Plotter), Bryan Drake (AEO), Vic Bussereau (Nav Plotter), John McRae (Nav Radar), Me (clerk)
Front row L to R .... Jim Hainsworth (Plt), Alan Watkins (AEO), ? Morgan (OC), Glen Whitlam (Plt), Hazel Little (typist)

Bottom pic
L to R ... ??, me, Al Watkins, Bob Tompkins, ? Sinclair

And a somewhat later version of moi at Benson
Benson.jpg

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Re: Vulcan

#28 Post by 4mastacker » Tue Jul 23, 2019 11:49 am

I was a late entrant to the world of the Vulcan being posted to Scampton a couple of years before the start of the run-down of the force. For my sins, OC Supply voluntold me for the spares recovery task before the airframes were scrapped on-site.

The spares recovery was interrupted by a bit of excitement in the South Atlantic - read all about it in 'Vulcan 607'. Disposing of the aircraft hulks allowed some wise twerp person to think it would be a good idea to collapse the undercarriage to make it easy for the scrappies to cut up the aircraft. This method would entail some jiggery-pokery with the hydraulics, putting chocks behind the mainwheels, attaching a BFO rope between the brake parachute attachment and a Douglas Tugmaster. The 'plan' was that the tug would pull the aircraft against the chocks which would cause the main undercarriage to cycle 'up' and the aircraft would settle gently on its belly. That was the 'plan'.

Come the day, the first selected airframe, 443, was towed from over from t'other side of the airfield and the procedure started in front of a large audience. The wheels were chocked, the tow rope was attached, the jiggery-pokery carried out and everyone stood clear as the tug took the strain. Very slowly the nose of the aircraft lifted and with a bit more effort from the tug, the pulling continued until 443's nose was high in the air and her tail touching the ground and there she remained as if trying to return to the sky by way of one of those awe-inspiring take-offs. Suddenly there was a very loud 'crack' as the rope snapped - the tug jumped forward a "few" yards, 443's nose leg returned to Mother Earth, bounced and stopped whilst the rest of the cockpit section carried on. All this time the main legs remained in the 'down' position so 443 ended up with her nose on the ground and her @rse now pointing at the sky.

An eery silence followed and the assembled masses looked around for the next move. A small huddle of people were obviously discussing 'WTF do we do now?' and wishing the earth would open up. No-one dared approach 443. A few minutes passed before a hissing sound was heard and with a 'thump', 443's main legs retracted and she finally settled on her belly.

No more similar attempts were made and all further scrappings involved Bird's running Husqvarna saws over the tops of the wings and a JCB chopping off sections with its bucket and pulling off the u/c legs on the end of a big chain.
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Re: Vulcan

#29 Post by Sisemen » Tue Jul 23, 2019 12:00 pm

No more similar attempts were made

Other than the one at Macrihanish (see my avatar) courtesy of the Wittering EOD mob.

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Re: Vulcan

#30 Post by 4mastacker » Tue Jul 23, 2019 1:13 pm

Sisemen wrote:
Tue Jul 23, 2019 12:00 pm
No more similar attempts were made

Other than the one at Macrihanish (see my avatar) courtesy of the Wittering EOD mob.
Any idea about involving the EOD guys at Scampton was very quickly suppressed. I think it was down to some myth that a similar attempt had 'gone wrong' with spectacular results.
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Re: Vulcan

#31 Post by Pontius Navigator » Tue Jul 23, 2019 2:36 pm

4mstacker, not quite right. It was true the instruction was to collapse the undercarriage of the Mk1a so that it could be used for crash/fire practice.

However this was the aircraft that Boots Griffiths had flown on some record breaking flight and as station cdr he tried to have the order rescinded but Command refused.

The instruction was amended and orders issued that the dirty deed be done when he was not on the been unit.

It was determined that sufficient explosive be used to ensure the undercarriage truely collapsed. A good reserve was used. It was also decided that the first 'crash' would be truely realistic, so it had about 25k Avtur on board. A quantity of oil was added for effect.

The ensuing explosion and 500 foot mushroom cloud had the locals fearing the worst. The crash crew recovered dummies in good condition but the conflagration was so intense it melted the instrument glass. The nose survived as did the engines jet pipes.

Mission accomplished.

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Re: Vulcan

#32 Post by Pontius Navigator » Tue Jul 23, 2019 2:37 pm

I knew a John McRae quite well but didn't recognise him.

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Re: Vulcan

#33 Post by Pontius Navigator » Tue Jul 23, 2019 2:39 pm

Jim Adams indeed, not Ed Coleman, and I think it was Bob Sinclair.

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Re: Vulcan

#34 Post by Pontius Navigator » Tue Jul 23, 2019 3:16 pm

boing wrote:
Mon Jul 22, 2019 8:27 pm
The interesting point is the uniforms. At some time the Russians declared that flight suits were not uniforms so that any captured aircrew member so dressed was not subject to the Geneva Convention and would be shot as a spy. The response from the Air Mistery was to design a flight suit that could be worn as a uniform hence the dress of the two fellows on the right with the short jackets and zip pockets. It is not noticeable in the photos but the trouser also had a little flap below the pockets to allow access for pressure suit tubing. These flight suits/uniforms were ONLY issued to front line squadrons whose crew members could come into direct contact with the enemy, they therefore gained a certain cachet.

.
The criteria for issue did not seem to be prone to capture but was linked to the issue of pressure clothing. It was issued to Mk 2 V-bomber crews, Lightning crews and PR9 crews.

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Re: Vulcan

#35 Post by 4mastacker » Tue Jul 23, 2019 3:51 pm

PN, was that "impressive" demonstration at Waddo? Several folks at Scampton told me about it, but I wasn't sure if some licence was being taken when they described the residents of Waddo village and Bracebridge Heath fearing WWIII had started.
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Re: Vulcan

#36 Post by Pontius Navigator » Tue Jul 23, 2019 4:18 pm

Sorry, yes, Waddo. Stn Cdr very happy, Command Fire Officer less so. Aircrew very pleased with our Fire Section response and success.

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Re: Vulcan

#37 Post by 4mastacker » Tue Jul 23, 2019 5:51 pm

PN,

Thanks for that. It now makes sense of Scampton's reluctance to follow the same technique.
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Re: Vulcan

#38 Post by boing » Tue Jul 23, 2019 11:31 pm

Jim Adams, first photo, third from left lower row, was my flight instructor at Oakington on the Varsity in 1967. He came across as a serious person but he was very pleasant to fly with. Since he had already been a Vulcan pilot he possibly became a Vulcan instructor and thence Standards. He actually helped me to gain a Vulcan posting when many others were being sent to the "new" C130 fleet which was expanding at that time.

PN, I can't find any history on the "jet suit". Stores number was 22C/1930 so it was clearly an issue item instead of a personal purchase. I remember trading mine in at stores at least once. It was certainly only issued to select crews and I doubt the pressure suit connection was the reason for issue because the large combination services connector on the Vulcan ejection seat was far to large to fit through the small slit in the trousers.

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Re: Vulcan

#39 Post by Boac » Wed Jul 24, 2019 7:23 am

"Jim Adams" finished up in DanAir. Not sure where he went after that since he was not 'taken on' by BA since he was 1-11 qualified, not 737.

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Re: Vulcan

#40 Post by Sisemen » Wed Jul 24, 2019 8:13 am

The bottom pic was the official "unveiling" of the unit signboard. I did it in my spare time and it was all hand done, none of this transfer rubbish! The motif was done in polished aluminimum and represented the chopping axe which we had unofficially adopted as the unit sign. Took me bloody ages. Wonder whatever happened to that sign?

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