How high could an Avro Vulcan fly
Indrek Aavisto
50,000 ft+ in Gloster Javelins being quite easy to accomplish.
Does anyone know the maximum altitude at which the Vulcan could operate
successfully?
Cheers,
Indrek Aavisto,
Sudbury, Ontario
Fred
Indonesia, we flew Vulcans from RAF Butterwirth to Darwin at 68 000 feet.
I also remember out turning Lightnings quite easily at 62 000 during
practice fighter intercepts.
"Indrek Aavisto" <aav...@cyberbeach.net> wrote in message
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Fred
pressure breathing helmet and suit were only considered safe to 65K in the
event of an explosive decompression.
"Fred" <fjb...@iinet.net.au> wrote in message
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Fred
For 68 read 58 and 65 read 55.
Had a late night last night.....sorry.
"Fred" <fjb...@iinet.net.au> wrote in message
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Guy alcala
> When Britain was at war with Indonesia....sorry, had a "confrontation" with
> Indonesia, we flew Vulcans from RAF Butterwirth to Darwin at 68 000 feet.
>
> I also remember out turning Lightnings quite easily at 62 000 during
> practice fighter intercepts.
What on earth were you doing up that high against Indonesia? It seems
unlikely that such heights would give you significantly better range.
Did they have anything that might require you to go above 50kft or so,
requiring the p-suits, or was this some masochistic, British stiff
upper lip thing?;-) Oh, and weren't the engines just a wee bit touchy
at that height?
Guy
Fred
The engines were Okay. But we were close to stalling speed on full throttle.
But the aircraft did not wallow around.
It was kinda illegal.
Far away from home, we tested out the Vulcan just for the hell of it.
"Guy alcala" <g_al...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
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Peter Stickney
Indrek Aavisto <aav...@cyberbeach.net> writes:
> I was recently reading about practice intercepts of Avro Vulcans at
> 50,000 ft+ in Gloster Javelins being quite easy to accomplish.
>
> Does anyone know the maximum altitude at which the Vulcan could operate
> successfully?
Vulcans normally operated at heights above 55,000 ft. On October 14,
1961, a joint SAC/Bomber Command vs. NORAD excercize was held. 8
Vulcans participated, 4 from 27 Sqn, and 4 from 83 Sqn. The 83 Sqn
aircraft flew from Lossiemouth, and the 27 Sqn fligh staged out of
Kindley AFB, in Bermuda. The Northerly wage consisted of 3 parts:
B-47s penetrating at 500', jamming as they went, B-52s at
36-42,000'. with their own jamming, and support from EB-57s (NORAD
DSES aircraft) adn the 83 Sqn Vulcans at 56,000'. Most of the
interceptors concentrated on the B-52s, and only one interceptor was
able to get to a Vulcan. The Southern wave went in jamming and
chaffing, and as the fighters were detected, the southernmost Vulcan
went silent and turned North behind the 3 others. The 3 Jammers were
successfully intercepted, but the "sneaker" reached its target, and
landed at Plattsburgh AFB, NY, unmolested.
Now as for Javelins easily intercepting Vulcans, I'd need to see some
proof for that one. The Jav wasn't exacly a high performer, and had a
difficult time with Canberras.
--
Pete Stickney
A strong conviction that something must be done is the parent of many
bad measures. -- Daniel Webster
Andy L
Memory fades now, but in the mid-70s, the B2s had a regulator (a Mk 18??)
that did not support a pressure jerkin and the B2 MRR aircraft of 27
Squadron had a regulator that did (a Mk 21??). Never heard of a
pressure-helmet in my time (74-79) - I can't see there being much room for
one as most pilots preferred cloth G-helmets with the external Mk1 bone-dome
hanging on the back of the seat because of the lack of headroom.
In any event, I think the bombers were officially restricted to 50K and the
recce (with pressure jerkin) to 55K on crew safety reasons though out East
they were climbed higher to avoid tropical weather on occasion.
Even so, getting to those heights with a heavy aircraft was impossible and
levelling-off at 390 for a while was in order before struggling up to 430
when heading west with full fuel.
Andy Leitch
www.avrovulcan.org.uk
"Fred" <fjb...@iinet.net.au> wrote in message
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Fred
You are quite correct.
By pressure helmet, I meant pressure breathing via a clamped down mask,
pressure jerkin and anti G suit.
It was easier to describe it the way I did.
BTW. I was on 9 Sqdn for three years and 35 Sqdn for six years. Mostly at
RAF Cottesmore.
We successfully raided American cities, operating out of Goose Bay. Usually
by "cheating" in one way or another.
Fred
"Andy L" <an...@NOSPAMalamo.f9.co.uk> wrote in message
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Guy alcala
> We were officially staying out of range of their fighters.
> The engines were Okay. But we were close to stalling speed on full throttle.
> But the aircraft did not wallow around.
> It was kinda illegal.
> Far away from home, we tested out the Vulcan just for the hell of it.
Ah, now that I can understand. You guys must have been awfully light, too.
Guy
Peter Stickney
"Fred" <fjb...@iinet.net.au> writes:
> We were officially staying out of range of their fighters.
> The engines were Okay. But we were close to stalling speed on full throttle.
> But the aircraft did not wallow around.
I can believe it. Back in the early '80s I saw a Vulcan perform at an
airshow at Pease AFB. Absolutely amazing! Watching something that
big entering a wingover from 200'/Something under 150 kts was
heart-stopping! (You could tell who the pilots in the audience were -
all the right hands were pushing forward to unload the thing & put
some speed on) Never a bobble or wallow. With all that wing, it must
have done real well up high. Must have been a bear when they started
practicing low level penetrations, though.