AVRO VULCAN - REFERENCES

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AVRO VULCAN

REFERENCES

AVRO VULCAN
REFERENCES

[History] [Vulcan to the Sky] [Survivors & Leading Particulars] [Pictures] [References & Credits]
This page last updated on 28th September 2008

WEB SITES

First stop of course is The Vulcan to the Sky Trust who operate XH558 and always welcome your help with funding!
XM655 is looked after by the 655 Maintenance and Preservation Society at Wellesbourne. Never likely to fly, and with no efforts towards that goal, XM655 is however kept in running condition and makes fast taxi runs.
The Vulcan Restoration Trust also look after a Vulcan - theirs is XL426, XH558's predecessor as the Vulcan display aircraft.
Vulcan nutter Paul Hartley owns two Vulcan nose sections and has this site on them - Famous Vulcans.
Jeremy McDonald who used to work on Vulcans in the RAF found out there was a Vulcan not too far from his home in the US and helped out with maintaining it for a while; the result is the XM605 web site with details of the aircraft and his experiences with the people who look after it.
Andy Leitch flew on 617 and 44(R) Squadrons in the 1970s and took a load of pictures, some of which are shown off on his site, Vulcans in Camera. Some superb and rare shots - a real change from the usual Vulcan fare to be found on the net - go - now!
Some more on the Vulcan, and its first test pilot, Roly Falk, from his son John Falk. Well worth a look.
Garry Lakin has a nice collection of pictures of XH558 displaying, in his Aviation Picture Hangar.
Trevor Mooney's Tribute To A Lady site is back! Piles of pictures to be found.
The North East Aircraft Museum has this interesting page on their Vulcan B.2 XL319 on the main NEAM site, complete with a story about the loss of a Vulcan in the local area.
NEAM member James Carruthers obviously didn't think much of XL319 being merely part of the NEAM web site and has dedicated an entire site to the aircraft with news on its condition, what's being worked on and some pictures. Nicely done but sadly he's ceased work on it due to moving away.
Guy Bartlett is a VRT member with a Vulcan site with pictures, map of locations of surviving Vulcans, leading particulars and other info.
The Delta Lady from Robin Goodcliffe; not much there you won't find on the other Vulcan web sites (history, survivors, links etc.) but there is a video clip and a small number of pictures not seen elsewhere.
Barry Turner's Avro Vulcan Bomber page has a brief history, a single picture and a side view of XH558.
Allen Conquest has a single picture of XH558 in his gallery.
The ALLSTAR network includes an aerospace hall of fame in which Sir A. Verdon-Roe, the founder of Avro, gets a well-deserved mention.
Emmanuel Gustin's British military aircraft database includes an entry for the Vulcan.
W.E. Design do cross stitch kits of aircraft including this Vulcan kit.
The UFO nutters are fond of their mysterious triangles, but this page has interesting details of a supposed advanced Vulcan variant being tested in the skies over Britain. Worth a look if you need a laugh, and there's a Vulcan animation to be had too, but at 4Mb I didn't fancy the download.
Ian Bennett's site includes material on his hobby of gas turbine engines, including some information on the Vulcan's Rover airborne auxiliary power plant.

BOOKS

Vulcan 607 by Rowland White, published by Bantam Press, 2006; ISBN 0593053915. An excellent and riveting account of the first Black Buck mission to bomb the runway at Port Stanley during the Falklands War in 1982. The author has clearly put a great deal of effort into his research, but has not produced the sort of dry technical account that so many would in his place - instead, it reads almost like a novel at times. The mission is covered right from the Argentine invasion through all the preparations to the flight itself, with all sorts of fascinating detail thrown in along the way. Thoroughly recommended.
[Buy from Amazon UK]

The Vulcan Story 1952-2002 by Tim Laming. Recent revelations mean we can no longer advise purchase of this volume.

Warpaint Series No.30 "Avro Vulcan" by Kev Darling, published by Hall Park Books, 2001; ISSN 1361-0369. Another good addition to the thoroughly excellent Warpaint series, this volume concentrates on the aircraft from a modeller's point of view with colour profiles, plan drawings and development and service history. I do have to declare an interest though - some of my pictures are in this book.

Warbird Tech volume 26 - Avro Vulcan by Kev Darling, published by Airlife Publishing; ISBN 1-58007-023-X. In common with the other Warbird Tech books, this one concentrates on the development and service history but also technical aspects of the aircraft, with lots of pictures and diagrams illustrating the various systems onboard a Vulcan. Very little colour, but well worth getting; particularly useful if you're super-detailing a model Vulcan. I do have to declare an interest again though - some of my pictures are in this book too.
[Buy from Amazon UK]

Postwar Military Aircraft: 4 - Avro Vulcan by Andrew Brookes, published by Ian Allan Ltd.; ISBN 0-7110-1548-1. Very full history, lots of pictures, diagrams, plans and so on, Vulcan squadrons and production breakdown. Thoroughly recommended; recently reprinted too, so readily available.
Historical Series No.15: Olympus - The First Forty Years by Alan Baxter, published by the Rolls-Royce Heritage Trust; ISBN 1-9511710-9-7. Includes around 40 pages on the development of the various marks of Olympus used in Vulcans with several black and white pictures; well worth getting hold of.
Legends of The Air 5 - Vulcan, Boeing B-47 & B-52 by Stewart Wilson, published by Aerospace Publications Pty Ltd.; ISBN 1-875671-27-7. While only a third of this book is devoted to the Vulcan, it's still worth getting for that alone - a great account of both development and service history, description of the variants with plan views and colour side views, and a great selection of photos of Vulcans in their prime in the 1960s and 1970s. And I suppose if you're partial to big Boeing bombers the other two sections of the book may be of interest! Possibly not worth getting if you already have the Wings of Fame volume (see below) but it does have a number of rare pictures of Vulcans visiting Australia and New Zealand so true addicts should still go for it.
[Buy from Amazon UK]
Vulcan - last of the V-bombers by Duncan Cubitt and Ken Ellis, published by Chancellor Press; ISBN 1-85152-968-3 - good history and lots of great colour photos covering Vulcan survivors in 1992. Recommended, and often to be found at a cut-down price!
Vulcan Super Profile by Christopher Chant, published by Haynes, 1984; ISBN 0-85429-436-8. A largely pictorial look at the Vulcan's history and covering the usual ground with nothing to distinguish it from weightier publications apart from larger than normal reproduction of some of the pictures (which tend to be familiar ones).
Modern Combat Aircraft: 11 - V-Bombers by Robert Jackson, published by Ian Allan Ltd./Book Law Publications; ISBN 1 901945 03 0. A book on the entire V-Force, but good Vulcan coverage and even a full section on the Blue Steel ASM. Recently reprinted, though no updates have been made to the book (originally published in 1981) so it's rather out of date.
V-Bombers by Tim Laming. Recent revelations mean we can no longer advise purchase of this volume.
V-Force - The History of Britain's Airborne Deterrent by Andrew Brookes. A good book on the entire V-force with good Vulcan coverage as you'd expect.
Wings of Fame volume 3 published by Aerospace Publishing Ltd.; ISBN 1 874023 70 0. The ever-excellent series of volumes includes this one which is worth buying for the Vulcan article alone! Lavishly illustrated with photos, a colour gate-fold, 3-views, 3D cutaway, detail pictures (of XH558!), has an excellent development and service history plus individual aircraft histories. This particular volume has been available from the Vulcan Restoration Trust at the special price of £10 which is a saving of 4 or 5 quid off the normal price - so look out for the VRT stand at airshows or contact them direct to see if they still have any left! Very highly recommended.
[Buy from Amazon UK]

MAGAZINES

The Aeroplane, 6th December 1957: includes an article on Vulcan production.
Aircraft Illustrated, April 1983: Where have all the Vulcans gone? Rundown of the fates of all Vulcans at the time with black and white pictures of Cosford's late lamented B.1 XA900 and another Vulcan now lost - B.2 XM569 - landing at Cardiff Airport (where it was scrapped in 1995, only the nose section surviving).
Aircraft Illustrated, June 1984: Vulcan farewell - article on the last Vulcan scramble with a few black and white pictures (only one of the scramble though!) plus A Vulcan Venture - article on XM655's arrival at Wellesbourne Mountford and the original plans to get her flying in Roy Jacobsen's care. Several black and white pictures plus one full page, full colour shot of XM655 on her last flight.
Aircraft Illustrated, November 1996: Flying The Vulcan - an extract from Andrew Brooke's book (see above). A good article with some monochrome pictures, memories from pilots who flew the Vulcan. Gives you a good idea of the quality of the full book.
AIR Pictorial May 1974: Avro Vulcan by Elfan ap Rees - part 1 of an excellent two part article, covering design and development including the Avro 707s and the Vulcan B.1.
AIR Pictorial June 1974: Avro Vulcan by Elfan ap Rees - part 2 of an excellent two part article, covering further development, the B.2 and squadron service.
AIR Pictorial July 1983: Operation "Black Buck" - good article on the Falklands raids with some rare monochrome pictures.
Airfix Magazine, May 1984: review of Airfix kit on p 787.
Airfix Magazine, June 1984L picture on front cover, article on building Airfix kit with four pictures on pp 843 to 848.
Airfix Magazine, October 1984: two pictures on pp 82 and 83 (showing access ladder).
AIR Pictorial, March 1982: Vulcan Sortie with the "Dambusters" - Malcolm English's article on a flight in 617 squadron's B.2 XL318 (now in the RAF Museum) with several black and white pictures and a full page (inner cover) full colour picture of B.2 XM574 taking off.
ExAir, November 1992: three pictures of XH558 on p 34.
FlyPast, October 1992: included a pull-out Classic Aircraft supplement dedicated to the Vulcan, with some good pictures, a short history, list of survivors and a couple of pages on the ultimately unsuccessful efforts to keep XH558 flying in RAF hands.
FlyPast, March 1993: Olympian Delta - Ken Ellis' small article on the aftermath of the decision to sell XH558, printed before she was bought by Dave Walton. Two colour pictures of XH558, plus two colour pictures of XM575 at East Midlands Aeropark and XM605 at Castle Air Museum, plus a small note on Delta Engineering's acquisition of XM655 at the time.
FlyPast, November 2000: The Perfect Delta - Jack Talliss recalls a period of his RAF service spent testing Vulcan prototype VX770 with Rolls-Royce. Interesting article with several monochrome pictures.
Jets Winter 1999: Vulcan special issue including history of XH558, an article on flying the Vulcan, survivor listing, etc.
Military In Scale, December 1992: article on the Vulcan and a review of the Airfix kit with many detail pictures of XL360 on pp 42 to 46.
Take Off numbers 15, 16 and 17: The V-Bomber story - a three-part article on the V-bombers, including much coverage of Vulcan operations and some good pictures.
Scale Modelling International, November 1992: picture of XH558 on p 35.
Scale Modelling International, February 1993: picture of XH558 on front cover, short article on XH558 with six pictures on pp 20 and 21.

CREDITS

This section would have been greatly the poorer without contributions from the following - so many thanks to (in alphabetical order):

Gary Barker, David Barrott, Craig Blundred, Les Bywaters, Dave Castle, Dick Clements (RIP), Ray Deacon, Mark Ellis, Nicolas Godfurnon, Paul Hartley, Rick Kent, Gareth Helliwell, Garry Lakin, Bob Lawson, Jarmo Lindberg, Tom McGhee, Colin Mears, Bob Mitchell, John Nickolls, Graham Tiller, Charles Toop and Frank Wielbo.

Thanks also to the following organisations:

655 Maintenance & Preservation Society, British Aviation Heritage, Midland Air Museum and the North East Aircraft Museum.

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