Airfix A12011 Avro Vulcan B2 Aircraft

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The Avro 732 was a 1956 proposal for a supersonic development of the Vulcan and would have been powered by 8 de Havilland Gyron Junior engines. Unlike the proposed Avro 721 low-level bomber of 1952 or the Avro 730 supersonic stainless steel canard bomber dating from 1954 (cancelled in 1957 before completion of the prototype), the Type 732 showed its Vulcan heritage. James Harrison: "That wing alone about two wing that itself put 2000 feet on the cruise climb ceiling even without the bigger more powerful Olympus engines were fitted to the mark II so that you know with four times 20,000 pounds of thrust and for demonstration purposes you could get the weight down to about a hundred, hundred and ten thousand pounds. The thrust weight ratio was absolutely astronomical. The highest I ever had a Vulcan was sixty two and a half thousand feet. Not much fuel left I must admit. Critical Mach number, well of course in those days one was never absolutely certain of position errors, but I dare say the fastest we ever went was a in the region of nine six or nine seven." The origin of the Vulcan and the other V bombers is linked with early British atomic weapon programme and nuclear deterrent policies. Britain’s atom bomb programme began with Air Staff Operational Requirement OR.1001 issued in August 1946. This anticipated a government decision in January 1947 to authorise research and development work on atomic weapons, the U.S. Atomic Energy Act of 1946 (McMahon Act) having prohibited exporting atomic knowledge, even to countries that had collaborated on the Manhattan Project. OR.1001 envisaged a weapon not to exceed 24 ft 2 in (7.37 m) in length, 5 ft (1.5 m) in diameter and 10,000 lb (4,500 kg) in weight. The weapon had to be suitable for release from 20,000 ft (6,100 m) to 50,000 ft (15,000 m). Vulcan B.1 XA902 was withdrawn from RAF service after a landing accident in 1958. After rebuilding, it replaced VX770 as the Conway test bed, fitted with four RCo.11s. The two inner Conways were replaced with Rolls-Royce Speys, flying for the first time in this configuration on 12th October 1961. On 11th May 1964, Vulcan B.2 XH535 crashed during a demonstration. The aircraft entered a spin while a very low speed and high rate of descent was being demonstrated. The landing parachute was deployed, stopping the spin briefly before it began to spin again. At around 2,500 ft (760 m) the aircraft commander instructed the crew to abandon the aircraft. The commander and co-pilot ejected successfully, but none of the rear compartment crew did so, presumably due to the g forces in the spin.

In January 1947, the Ministry of Supply distributed Specification B.35/46 to UK aviation companies to satisfy Air Staff Operational Requirement OR.229 for "a medium range bomber landplane capable of carrying one 10,000lb (4,500kg) bomb to a target 1,500 nautical miles (1,700mi; 2,800km) from a base which may be anywhere in the world." A cruising speed of 500 knots (580mph; 930km/h) at altitudes between 35,000 and 50,000ft (11,000 and 15,000m) was specified. The maximum weight when fully loaded should not exceed 100,000lb (45,000kg). Alternatively, the aircraft was to be capable of carrying a conventional bomb load of 20,000lb (9,100kg). The similar OR.230 required a "long-range bomber" with a 2,000 nautical miles (2,300mi; 3,700km) radius of action with a maximum weight of 200,000lb (91,000kg) when fully loaded; this requirement was considered too exacting. [5] Six companies submitted technical brochures to this specification, including Avro. [6] The Avro 732 was a 1956 proposal for a supersonic development of the Vulcan and would have been powered by 8 de Havilland Gyron Junior engines. Unlike the proposed Avro 721 low-level bomber of 1952 or the Avro 730 supersonic stainless steel canard bomber dating from 1954 (cancelled in 1957 before completion of the prototype), the Type 732 showed its Vulcan heritage. [60] Vulcan Phase 6 (Vulcan B.3) Silhouette of the original study for the Vulcan B.3 patrol missile carrier We have a number of vac-form projects in SMN, so that isn’t new – I’m keen that we should show many aspects of (mainly) plastic scale modelling and one on this scale just has to be done – hope you enjoy it! Earlier the aircraft had appeared in the 1961 Central Office of Information (COI) film No Claim Bonus which was also later used as a Trade test colour film on BBC 2. It was estimated that 3.8 million [31] people saw XH558 in the summer of 2008, 1.5 million at displays. [32] In 2009, she made her first and only appearance abroad, when she attended the RNLAF Open Days at Volkel Air Base in the Netherlands. A popular feature of XH558 as flypasts and air shows is the so-called "Vulcan Howl", a distinctive sound made by some Vulcan airframes when the engines are at approximately 90 percent power, due to the arrangement of the air intakes. [33] [34] [35]Farmer, Ben (10 October 2010). "Where to see the Vulcan bomber farewell tour". The Daily Telegraph . Retrieved 10 October 2015. Will 'howl' of the Vulcan bomber be heard over Bournemouth again?" The Daily Echo, 30 December 2009.

Other countries expressed interest in purchasing Vulcans but, as with the other V-bombers, no foreign sales materialised. Despite its radical and unusual shape, the airframe was built along traditional lines. Except for the most highly stressed parts, the whole structure was manufactured from standard grades of light alloy. The airframe was broken down into a number of major assemblies: the centre section, a rectangular box containing the bomb-bay and engine bays bounded by the front and rear spars and the wing transport joints; the intakes and centre fuselage; the front fuselage, incorporating the pressure cabin; the nose; the outer wings; the leading edges; the wing trailing edge and tail end of the fuselage; the wings were not sealed and used directly as fuel tankage, but carried bladders for fuel in the void spaces of the wings; and there was a single swept tail fin with a single rudder on the trailing edge.

The original Vulcan B.1 radio fit was: two 10-channel VHF transmitter/receivers (TR-1985/TR-1986) and a 24-channel HF transmitter-receiver (STR-18). The Vulcan B.1A also featured a UHF transmitter-receiver (ARC-52). The initial B.2 radio fit was similar to the B.1A though it was ultimately fitted with the ARC-52, a V/UHF transmitter/receiver (PTR-175), and a single-sideband modulation HF transmitter-receiver (Collins 618T). In January 1947, the Ministry of Supply distributed Specification B.35/46 to UK aviation companies to satisfy Air Staff Operational Requirement OR.229 for “a medium range bomber landplane capable of carrying one 10,000 lb (4,500 kg) bomb to a target 1,500 nautical miles (1,700 mi; 2,800 km) from a base which may be anywhere in the world.” A cruising speed of 500 knots (580 mph; 930 km/h) at heights between 35,000 ft (11,000 m) and 50,000 ft (15,000 m) was specified. The maximum weight when fully loaded ought not to exceed 100,000 lb (45,000 kg). In addition to a “special” (i.e., atomic) bomb, the aircraft was to be capable of alternatively carrying a conventional bomb load of 20,000 lb (9,100 kg). The similar OR.230 required a “long range bomber” with a 2,000 nautical miles (2,300 mi; 3,700 km) radius of action with a maximum weight of 200,000 lb (91,000 kg) when fully loaded; this requirement was considered too exacting.[6] A total of six companies submitted technical brochures to this specification, including Avro. Other countries expressed interest in purchasing Vulcans, but as with the other V-bombers, no foreign sales materialised. [64] Australia In January 1953, VX770 was grounded for the installation of wing fuel tanks, Armstrong Siddeley ASSa.6 Sapphire engines of 7,500lbf (33kN) thrust and other systems; it flew again in July 1953. [27] Occupying a significant position in the history of post war British aviation, the Avro Vulcan was without doubt one of the most distinctive aircraft ever to take to the skies, with its huge delta wing profile becoming almost as iconic as the elliptical wing of the Supermarine Spitfire. Built to satisfy an extremely demanding Air Ministry requirement for a fast, high altitude strategic bomber, capable of carrying a special payload of 10,000 imperial pounds in weight (a nuclear device), the new aircraft was intended to serve as an airborne deterrent to any future military threat against the UK, with the required specifications representing a 100% increase in the capabilities of any previous British bomber aircraft. When the Vulcan made its maiden flight in August 1952, the Avro team were well on the way to presenting the Royal Air Force with not only the worlds first delta bomber, but also one of the worlds most effective strike bombers.

In early 2013 a feasibility study by Cranfield Aerospace concluded the wing repair was possible, involving the reverse engineering of the parts required to perform Avro's original Modification 2221. This would then extend their flying life by two years. Consequently, at the start of the 2013 season the Trust reversed the decision to ground XH558 at the end of it, and announced the Operation 2015 pledge drive with the intention of performing full seasons in 2014 and 2015. The drive would fund three key activities – the wing repair itself in the off-season, plus the funding of the ordinary 2013/4 winter maintenance, and the replenishment of critical spares to the end of the 2015 season. It was not anticipated that flying beyond 2015 would be possible, as by then the engine life will have been exhausted, and several other components would be required that would be prohibitively expensive to refurbish or reproduce. [70] [71] The wing modification was completed by March 2014. [72] Operating bases [ edit ] While exploring VX777's high-speed and high-altitude flight envelope at the A&AEE, mild buffeting and other undesirable flight characteristics were experienced while approaching the limiting Mach number, including an alarming tendency to enter an uncontrollable dive. This was judged unacceptable for an unarmed bomber. Fitting the phase 2 wing removed the buffeting and an auto-mach trimmer countered the high-speed dive. The latter applied up-elevator as the speed critically increased. This up-elevator force was greater than the force required to counter the dive. Consequently, as speed increased, the control column had to be pushed rather than pulled to maintain level flight. This artificial pitch-up made the Vulcan handle more like other aircraft as its speed increased. [30] Developed version of the B.1. Larger, thinner wing than the B.1 (Phase 2C wing) and fitted with Olympus 201-202 engines of 17,000 lbf (76 kN) each, or Olympus 301 engines of 20,000 lbf (89 kN) each. Uprated electrics with Auxiliary Airborne Power Plant (AAPP) (Auxiliary power unit) and Ram Air Turbine (RAT). ECM similar to B.1A. Terrain-Following Radar (TFR) in nose thimble radome fitted to most aircraft in mid-60s. New Radar warning receiver aerials on tail fin giving it a square top from the mid-1970s. The Vulcan however wasn't designed for that particular role. It was designed in the early stages of the Cold War as a nuclear high level bomber.

A process to give two perimeters to the top 1 mm of some parts may assist with gluing; I’ve left that to your judgment. Until the Shoreham crash, the last flying season of the Vulcan was attributed as one of the reasons for sell-out crowds at air shows across the country, although in the week after it was not expected to affect spectator numbers at other shows, most of which were due to go ahead on the August Bank Holiday weekend with only minor alterations. [45] On 12th August 1978, Vulcan B.2 XL390 of No. 617 Squadron crashed during an air display at Naval Air Station Glenview, Illinois in the United States. The crew had been authorized to carry out a display at Chicago’s Meigs Field airport; the captain had elected to carry out an unauthorized display at Glenview beforehand. After a low-level run, probably below 100 ft (30 m), the aircraft pulled up for an improperly executed wingover, resulting in a low-level stall and crash, killing all on board. The B.1 with an Electronic Countermeasures (ECM) system in a new larger tail cone (as in B.2). Unlike the B.2, the B.1As did not undergo extensive wing strengthening for low-level flying and were withdrawn from service 1966–67. The navigation and bombing system comprised an H2S Mk9 radar and a navigation bombing computer Mk1. [91] Other navigation aids included a Marconi radio compass ( ADF), GEE Mk3, Green Satin Doppler radar to determine the groundspeed and drift angle, radio and radar altimeters, and an instrument landing system. [91] TACAN replaced GEE in the B.1A [94] and B.2 in 1964. Decca Doppler 72 replaced Green Satin in the B.2 around 1969 [95] A continuous display of the aircraft's position was maintained by a ground position indicator. [95]