Avro Vulcan over our garden

click photo to enlarge
It's not unusual to have military aircraft flying over our garden. After all, we live in Lincolnshire, the home of a number of RAF bases including some of the larger ones. Not too far away is Coningsby, a Typhoon base, so these fast jets are very familiar in the sky above us. Sometimes they are passing quickly over on their way to one of the firing ranges in The Wash. At other times they are simulating dog-fighting above us, one Typhoon following another, each seemingly trying to lock weapons on the other. Coningsby is also the home of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight so we frequently see their Spitfires and Hurricanes, the Lancaster and the Dakota, as they make their way to air displays or commemorative events. The training aircraft of Cranwell (the RAF's College) and Barkston Heath are regularly criss-crossing the sky above us. Less frequent, but reasonably regular are the AWACS and Sentinels of RAF Waddington and the Red Arrows' Hawk aircraft from RAF Scampton. Assorted helicopters - Merlins, Lynx, Apaches and Chinooks sometimes rattle over too on missions to who knows where.

If all this makes it sound like there is a continuous cacophony of aircraft noise over chez Boughen let me assure you that's not the case: there is plenty of quiet when all that can be heard is the wind in the trees and bird song. A couple of days ago, however, everything was drowned out by the load roar of jet engines low over the roof tops. I shot out of the back door in time to see an Avro Vulcan - clearly the only flying example, number XH558 - at very low altitude, perhaps less than a thousand feet, disappearing behind the tree tops then banking steeply to the left. Was it turning on to a south easterly route or coming round again? In the hope it was the latter I dashed in, grabbed my compact camera and returned outside in time to fire off a few hasty shots as it made its second pass over the garden. The main photograph was the second shot I took as it passed in front of a watery sun that was shining through a veil of cloud. The smaller image was taken as it was heading towards the sun. Both photographs are cropped. Looking at the Vulcan's website I learned that it was probably heading for Hastings on the south coast for an air display. What I can't understand is why it flew over my garden not once, but twice. Had the pilot heard that I'm an occasional photographer of aircraft? I doubt it!

The flying hours of the engines of the Vulcan have almost expired and some airframe work is required. As things stand the plane is unlikely to fly after this year. I count myself fortunate to have seen it airborne in its last year and to have photographed it.

photographs and text © Tony Boughen

Photo 1
Camera: Sony RX100
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 37.1mm (100mm - 35mm equiv.)
F No: f5.6
Shutter Speed: 1/2000
ISO: 125
Exposure Compensation:  -0.3 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

Avro Vulcan

click photo to enlarge
It shouldn't seem odd to me that some military aircraft achieve the affection of the public, and yet it does. After all, other manufactured objects, from cars and calculators to chairs and chessmen, win particular admiration. Moreover, military aircraft are an outstandingly good example of form resulting from function, and many objects that receive the public's acclamation display this very feature. But, what is inescapable about all of the beautiful design, engineering and construction necessary to make a military aircraft is that it serves to enable the efficient delivery of death and destruction.

In the UK the Supermarine Spitfire is undoubtedly the most admired military aircraft. Even if its important role in the Battle of Britain and WW2 generally were not so widely known and so frequently eulogised, it would still be esteemed for the elegant curves and lines of its shape. Examples of other British military aircraft that provoke a high level of affection in these islands are the Avro Lancaster bomber, the de Havilland Mosquito and the BAe Harrier. Why these three? The Lancaster was Britain's main heavy bomber of the second world war, an unusual design for the time, and an important contributor to victory. The  Mosquito has something of the grace of the Spitfire in a twin-engined design, and the Harrier was the first, successful V/STOL aircraft and consequently unique. And then there's the Avro Vulcan.

The brief for the Vulcan's designers was an aircraft to to drop bombs on Britain's enemies. More specifically, a heavy load of conventional, free-fall, high explosive bombs, free-fall nuclear bombs, or later, the "Blue Steel", multi-megaton, stand-off nuclear missile. In pursuit of that end they came up with a large, delta winged bomber with four powerful jet engines, a simple and elegant design that has had lasting aesthetic appeal for many. The aircraft was in RAF service from 1956 to 1984. It was flown as a high level strategic bomber initially, later had a low level role and in its final years some were converted for maritime reconnaissance, and others as in-flight refuelling tankers. Its swan-song came in 1982 when it was the offensive spear-head of Operation Black Buck, the extreme range missions to attack the occupying forces on the Falkland Islands during the conflict between the UK and Argentina, an undertaking that only served to increase the fascination with the aircraft.

In some respects the Avro Vulcan is like a penguin or a vulture: on the ground it doesn't show itself off to best advantage, but in its element it looks entirely different. I remember seeing Vulcans high overhead as a child, vapour trails streaming out behind a small white triangle as they patrolled the skies. When it came to photographing this example - No. XM594 at Newark Air Museum - it proved quite tricky since none of the qualities for which it is highly regarded can be seen. A video, such as this one of the last flying example, shows it to much better effect.

photographs and text © Tony Boughen

Photo 1
Camera: Canon
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 24mm
F No: f7.1
Shutter Speed: 1/250
ISO: 100
Exposure Compensation:  -0.33 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

The V bombers

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Anyone who grew up in the UK in the 1950s and 1960s will remember the "V" bombers. Until the arrival of the nuclear submarine fleet with their multiple-warhead ballistic missiles, these aircraft formed the sharp end of the country's nuclear deterrent. Other aircraft were tasked with carrying free-fall nuclear bombs, and artillery could fire low-yield nuclear shells, but projecting the country's main nuclear weapons rested with the three long-range strategic bombers, each of whose names began with the letter "V".

The Vickers Valiant was the first and least successful of the trio, though 107 aircraft were built between 1951 and 1957. Its fuselage suffered premature airframe fatigue when low-level flying became the RAF's strategy, and it was phased out in 1964. The other two bombers performed rather better. The Avro Vulcan, an elegant delta winged aircraft went into service in 1953. A total of 134 served with the RAF performing high and low level flying as required. The last operational flight was in 1984. Two years earlier, during the Falklands War, a Vulcan, receiving multiple re-fuelling, had flown a non-stop round trip from Britain to Port Stanley and back, in order to bomb the Argentine-held runway. In the past couple of years a Vulcan (XH558) has been restored to flying condition and has toured air shows, its original terrifying purpose forgotten, its unique shape and impressive presence widely admired.

The third of the "V" bombers was the Handley Page Victor (shown above) of which 86 were built. It first flew in 1956 and on its test flight accidentally broke the speed of sound. Like the Vulcan it was an elegant aircraft that had a long life, ending its service in 1993 after being an in-flight refuelling tanker for a number of years. The Victor shown above is undergoing restoration at the Imperial War Museum (IWM), at Duxford, Cambridgeshire. Alongside it are one of the the early Typhoons and a Spitfire. The large hangar they are in is part of a new building called "Airspace" that houses a fine display of ex-RAF aircraft. It's good to see that this big venerable aircraft is to take its place alongside the Vulcan there. I took this photograph on a recent visit, impressed by the size of the repair bay that dwarfed the big aircraft, the pattern of the lights, and the sense of scale that the two visitors gave to the scene.

photograph & text (c) T. Boughen

Camera: Olympus E510
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 14mm (28mm/44mm equiv.)
F No: f7.1
Shutter Speed: 1/20 seconds
ISO: 100
Exposure Compensation: -0.7 EV
Image Stabilisation: On