The original ECM fit as fitted to the B.1A and B.2 was: one Green Palm voice communications’ jammer; two Blue Diver metric jammers; three Red Shrimp S-band jammers; a Blue Saga passive warning receiver with four aerials (PWR); a Red Steer tail warning radar; and window (chaff) dispensers. The bulk of the equipment was carried in a large extended tail cone, and a flat ECM aerial counterpoise plate mounted between the starboard tailpipes. Later equipment on the B.2 included: an L band jammer (replacing a Red Shrimp); the ARI 18146 X-band jammer; replacing the Green Palm; the improved Red Steer Mk.2; infra-red decoys (flares); and the ARI 18228 PWR with its aerials that gave a squared top to the fin. Controls Various options to continue flights beyond 2015 were considered and ultimately rejected for engineering, cost, practicality or other reasons outside of the Trust's control – limiting the hours flown in 2015, building new Olympus engines and sourcing parts from other Vulcans, training new staff, using other technical authorities, and even relocating XH558 to another country. [26] As a result, following completion of the 2015 Farewell to Flight display season, XH558's final ever flight occurred on 28 October 2015, a small display at its Doncaster Sheffield base. [1] Future plans [ edit ] The Avro Vulcan, consider the most recognizable and technically advanced of Britain’s V bombers, served the Royal Air Force from 1960 through 1984. The B.2 variant featured a larger wing than its predecessor, more powerful engines, upgraded electronics, and could deliver both conventional and nuclear weapons.

Vulcan B.2s were eventually fitted with the twin-gyro free-running gyroscopic heading reference system (HRS) Mk.2, based upon the inertial platform of the Blue Steel missile, which had been integrated into the system when the missile had been carried. With the HRS a navigator’s heading unit (NHU) was provided which enabled the navigator plotter to adjust the aircraft heading, through the autopilot, by as little as 0.1 degrees. The B.2 (MRR) was additionally fitted with the LORAN C navigation system. The restoration removed the redundant offensive and defensive systems, including the navigation and HS2 radar, reducing the maximum all up weight to 146,000 lb. [50] This includes dead weight which had to be re-added in certain places, to re-balance the aircraft. [24] As part of Britain’s independent nuclear deterrent, the Vulcan initially carried Britain’s first nuclear weapon, the Blue Danube gravity bomb. Blue Danube was a low-kiloton yield fission bomb designed before the United States detonated the first hydrogen bomb. These were supplemented by U.S.-owned Mk 5 bombs (made available under the Project E programme) and later by the British Red Beard tactical nuclear weapon. The UK had previously embarked on its own hydrogen bomb programme, and to bridge the gap until these were ready the V-bombers were equipped with an Interim Megaton Weapon based on the Blue Danube casing containing Green Grass, a large pure-fission warhead of 400 kt (1.7 PJ) yield. This bomb was known as Violet Club. Only five were deployed before the Green Grass warhead was incorporated into a developed weapon as Yellow Sun Mk.1. On 15 May 2015 it was announced that 2015 would be XH558's last flying season, due to the fact the three companies assisting the project with technical expertise ( BAE Systems, Marshall Aerospace and Defence Group and Rolls-Royce) were unwilling to support the aircraft beyond that, meaning it would no longer have the necessary CAA approval to fly. According to the Trust, the companies arrived at the decision for two reasons – they were now entering uncertain territory regarding predicting future safety risks to continued flight due to the fact XH558 had already performed ten percent more flying hours than any other Vulcan, and secondly, the increasing difficulty in obtaining the necessary expertise, particularly with regard to the engines. [3] [25]

Vulcan XH558 flew a final national tour on 10 and 11 October 2015. [47] [48] The tour was split into two halves with the northern route being flown on 10 October and the southern route being flown on 11 October. The tour incorporated waypoints which including several locations significant to both the life of XH558 and the V-Force as a whole. Waypoints included:

The Avro Type 722 Atlantic was a 1952 proposal (announced in June 1953) for a 120-passenger delta-winged airliner based on the Type 698. [60] Avro Type 732

The Avro Vulcan (later Hawker Siddeley Vulcan [1] from July 1963) [2] is a jet-powered, tailless, delta-wing, high-altitude, strategic bomber, which was operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF) from 1956 until 1984. Aircraft manufacturer A.V. Roe and Company ( Avro) designed the Vulcan in response to Specification B.35/46. Of the three V bombers produced, the Vulcan was considered the most technically advanced, hence the riskiest option. Several reduced-scale aircraft, designated Avro 707s, were produced to test and refine the delta-wing design principles. The engine intakes took a long time to complete. After gluing the parts, I filled and smoothed the seams before painting the insides white, and fits were generally good. The problem arose when I had to add camouflage fairly deep into each intake because I wasn’t confident I could mask and paint them. The instructions provided a template of the demarcation line, so I ended up painting some decal paper with the appropriate colors and used the template to make a decal to go into the intake.