Early Vulcan Flying… Another view

18th December 2020 - in Articles

Mr. Alan Ainsworth, was on the Flight Test and development Team of AV Roe – read on for an interesting account of the early days, with yet another mention of “that roll” I first met the Vulcan early in 1956 when I Joined Avro as a Flight Test Observer. The…

Avro Apprentice

16th December 2020 - in Articles

Whilst Mr Ewans was hard at work in the design office, a certain David Thirlby was equally hard at it on the factory floor! The Following is an account of the ‘other end’ of the ladder in Avro’s Woodford complex, birthplace of the mighty delta. Many thanks to David Thirlby,…

Flying the Vulcan During the Cold War

16th December 2020 - in Articles

Reproduced from The Vulcan(Club Magazine) 23 Apr 08 Martin Withers Recently, during one of her campaign speeches, I heard Hilary Clinton state quite simply about her defence policy, that if Iran were to launch a nuclear attack on Israel or any other country, “we would obliterate them”. This is the…

Black Buck Memories

27th November 2020 - in Articles

Barry Masefield, former XH558 Air Electronics Officer, relives his experiences back in 1982.  This article first appeared in a special 20th Anniversary edition of ‘The Vulcan’ Magazine in May 2002.  The Build-up It was 04.30 hours on 2nd April 1982, when 150 men of the Argentine Special Forces landed by helicopter at Mullet…

Falklands War 1982 – Operation Black Buck

4th November 2020 - in Articles

Operation Black Buck was a series of seven ambitious long-distance bombing missions conducted by the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the Falklands War in 1982. It was the RAF’s most daring attack since Operation Chastise – the Dambusters raid in WWII. The Vulcans and supporting Victor tankers were based at…

Cold War Stories: Red Steer – The Firebar Affair

Part of the Cold War Stories series

30th October 2020 - in Articles

An espionage story from 1966 – by Jim Debenham, VTST Volunteer If this were a fictional story it would have been written by none other than Ian Fleming, with James Bond as the lead character. During the heady days of the Cold War one of the most important buildings in…