The AvroAvro (A.V. Roe and Company): A legendary British aircraft manufacturer founded in 1910 by Alliott Verdon Roe, recognized for its monumental contributi... More 707 testbeds, pioneered in 1949 as scale models for delta-wing research, revolutionized Britain’s aviation by testing low-speed handling and aerodynamics for atomic bombers. Informing the AvroAvro (A.V. Roe and Company): A legendary British aircraft manufacturer founded in 1910 by Alliott Verdon Roe, recognized for its monumental contributi... More Vulcan’s 1952 debut, they led to innovations like wing kinks and fly-by-wire, enabling the Vulcan’s Cold War role as RAF’s high-altitude nuclear deterrent with Olympus engines until 1984 retirement.
The 707 Test Beds
In the late 1940s Britain, the delta wing and crescent wing were under serious scrutiny for the next generation of bombers. For the British, this was part of the atomic weapon programme, looking for a new generation of long-range bombers that would carry large atomic weapons. These new designs would be tested by using scaled down models of the proposed prototypes, the crescent winged Handley Page Victor concept would be tested by the scaled down HP.88 research aircraft and similarly the now-famous AvroAvro (A.V. Roe and Company): A legendary British aircraft manufacturer founded in 1910 by Alliott Verdon Roe, recognized for its monumental contributi... More Vulcan concept would be tested by a series of AvroAvro (A.V. Roe and Company): A legendary British aircraft manufacturer founded in 1910 by Alliott Verdon Roe, recognized for its monumental contributi... More 707 delta-winged testbeds. These scaled down versions were a good way to test flying characteristics, not unlike the current XB-1 is testing the characteristics of the future Overture airliner.
Two AvroAvro (A.V. Roe and Company): A legendary British aircraft manufacturer founded in 1910 by Alliott Verdon Roe, recognized for its monumental contributi... More 698 bomber prototypes were ordered in June 1948 and at the same time scale models were also ordered to test the delta wing concept. There would be two AvroAvro (A.V. Roe and Company): A legendary British aircraft manufacturer founded in 1910 by Alliott Verdon Roe, recognized for its monumental contributi... More 707 one-third-scale aircraft to test low speed, low altitude flight and two 710 half-scale aircraft to test high-speed, high-altitude flight. However, AvroAvro (A.V. Roe and Company): A legendary British aircraft manufacturer founded in 1910 by Alliott Verdon Roe, recognized for its monumental contributi... More didn’t have the initial capacity for such expansive testing models and in February 1949 the 710s were cancelled and focus was on the more important low-speed, low-altitude characteristics of the delta wing. Between 1949 and 1953 there would be five 707s built.
The 707 aircraft were powered by a Rolls-Royce Derwent jet engine, the cockpit and nose wheel were from a GlosterGloster Aircraft Company: A pioneering British aerospace manufacturer, most famous for designing and producing the Allied forces' first operational je... More Meteor F3, and undercarriage from AvroAvro (A.V. Roe and Company): A legendary British aircraft manufacturer founded in 1910 by Alliott Verdon Roe, recognized for its monumental contributi... More Athena trainers. The first 707 (serial VX784) made its first short hop on September 3, 1949, at Boscombe Down and then flew the following day. Test pilot Eric ‘Red’ Esler assessed the handling characteristic over about 3 hours of flight time before taking it to the Farnborough AirshowFarnborough International Airshow (FIA): One of the world's largest and most significant trade exhibitions for the aerospace and defense industries. H... More. Tragically, on the 30th of September the aircraft crashed, likely due to an airbrake control failure and Pilot Esler was killed. Later 707 airframes were fitted with retractable and mechanically interconnected airbrakes on the wing surfaces.
The next two 707s to be produced would be VX790 and WD280. The VX790, designated 707B, incorporated a Martin-Baker ejection seat, balanced elevators, newly designed airbrakes, and a redesigned cockpit. The nose was longer to improve aerodynamics and move the centre of gravity, as well as a longer fin and longer nose-wheel leg (from a HawkerHawker (Hawker Aircraft Limited): A legendary British aerospace manufacturer that emerged from the remains of the Sopwith Aviation Company in 1920. Fo... More Sea hawk) for a higher angle during take-off. This modification became important for the Vulcan for optimal angle of wing incidence to speed relationship for take-off.
The 707B first flew on September 6, 1950, and like its predecessor, went to the Farnborough AirshowFarnborough International Airshow (FIA): One of the world's largest and most significant trade exhibitions for the aerospace and defense industries. H... More before extended research flying in Surrey. During the research it was found that the cockpit, at high speeds, disturbed airflow into the dorsal intake on the fuselage. The intake was modified in 1951 in an attempt to mitigate this problem but at high angle-of-attack and high-speed flight. The 707B’s flight data also helped inform the Vulcan design on issues of stability and trim, jet nozzle angles, and optimal tail size. After a landing accident on the 25th of September 1956, VX790’s flying career came to an end.
The WD280 prototype took its maiden flight from Boscombe Down on June 14, 1951. Although built after 707B it was confusingly designated 707A it took part in the 1952 Farnborough AirshowFarnborough International Airshow (FIA): One of the world's largest and most significant trade exhibitions for the aerospace and defense industries. H... More. This aircraft influenced the Vulcan programme in that it identified high-frequency vibrations in the wing at high-speed, high-altitude flight. To mitigate this issue a kink was introduced to the outer part of the wing’s leading edge which eliminated the vibration. Additionally, the inner section of the wing sweep angle was reduced and the outermost leading edge was swept more. This modification in wing design was transferred to the Vulcan in 1955.
In 1956 WD280 was shipped to Australia for further research duties with the Commonwealth Aeronautical Advisory Research Council at RAAF base Williams at Laverton in Victoria. It is now preserved at RAAF Museum at Point Cook in Victoria.
A second 707A was built (serial WZ736) for general research work between 1953 and 1962, when it was Struck Off Charge so that it could provide spare parts for a two-seater variant, the 707C (serial WZ744). This variant featured side-by-side seating with dual-controls to provide pilots with training experience in a delta-winged aircraft, taking its maiden flight on July 1st, 1953. Apart from pilot familiarisation tasks it was also used for gun-aiming trials and some of the earliest fly-by-wire electric servo control system trials.
Although an AvroAvro (A.V. Roe and Company): A legendary British aircraft manufacturer founded in 1910 by Alliott Verdon Roe, recognized for its monumental contributi... More 707 fighter/interceptor development program had started, this was cancelled in 1955 before the first prototype had been completed. What the 707s experimentation had given the Vulcan designers included compound-swept wings, tilting of jet exhaust, extended nose leg, air intake and airbrake refinements. However, these scale models did not support the Vulcan programme as much as AvroAvro (A.V. Roe and Company): A legendary British aircraft manufacturer founded in 1910 by Alliott Verdon Roe, recognized for its monumental contributi... More had hoped, but they did prove themselves as good platforms for gathering data quickly and added greatly to aeronautical research in general.
The AvroAvro (A.V. Roe and Company): A legendary British aircraft manufacturer founded in 1910 by Alliott Verdon Roe, recognized for its monumental contributi... More 698 Vulcan
Avro’s design team responded to the government’s tender for a new bomber with the AvroAvro (A.V. Roe and Company): A legendary British aircraft manufacturer founded in 1910 by Alliott Verdon Roe, recognized for its monumental contributi... More 698 by the end of April 1947 with a delta wing design. Although Alexander Lippisch was credited with pioneering the delta wing, the AvroAvro (A.V. Roe and Company): A legendary British aircraft manufacturer founded in 1910 by Alliott Verdon Roe, recognized for its monumental contributi... More team, led by director Roy Chadwick and chief designer Stuart Davies, are said to have come up with the delta wing design as an outcome of logical design choices to meet the required specifications.
Rival company Handley Page were developing their crescent-winged bomber which was considered a good option and the contract to produce Avro’s design was momentarily delayed until they could improve on some technical issues. However, by January 1948 AvroAvro (A.V. Roe and Company): A legendary British aircraft manufacturer founded in 1910 by Alliott Verdon Roe, recognized for its monumental contributi... More were given the go-ahead to build two prototypes which they did in tandem with the 707 scaled down research aircraft.
On the 30th of August 1952, AvroAvro (A.V. Roe and Company): A legendary British aircraft manufacturer founded in 1910 by Alliott Verdon Roe, recognized for its monumental contributi... More Test Pilot Roland ‘Roly’ John Falk, flew Vulcan prototype (serial VX770) for the first time. Falk took the aircraft through a number of unconventional manoeuvres and shattered a number of factory windows after opening the throttle. Powered by four Rolls-Royce RA.3 Avon engines it carried additional fuel in the bomb bay, as the prototype had no wing tanks, and the first-pilot’s seat was an ejection seat.
A matter of weeks later, VX770 appeared at the Farnborough Air Show. The aircraft had wing fuel tanks fitted in 1953 and Armstrong Siddeley ASSa.6 Sapphire engines. From 1957 it was a testbed for the Rolls-Royce Conway by-pass engine and finished its career in 1958 due to a crash at a flying display.
The second prototype (serial VX777) flew in September 1953. Looking much more like the production aircraft, it was longer, accommodating a longer nose undercarriage leg, sporting a visual bomb-aiming blister under the cabin, a fighter-style control stick, and powered by BristolBristol (Bristol Aeroplane Company): A premier British aerospace manufacturer founded in 1910, renowned for producing some of the most structurally ad... More Olympus 100 engines. These engines would be replaced in 1955, after the aircraft had been damaged in a heavy landing the year before, with Olympus 101 engines.
In high-speed, high-altitude flight the aircraft would buffet, and when approaching the speed of sound display the unnerving and rather unacceptable tendency to enter an uncontrollable dive! The solution, which had been tested on the AvroAvro (A.V. Roe and Company): A legendary British aircraft manufacturer founded in 1910 by Alliott Verdon Roe, recognized for its monumental contributi... More 707A, included the ‘Phase 2 wing’, featuring a modified leading edge and vortex generators on the upper surface.
The production AvroAvro (A.V. Roe and Company): A legendary British aircraft manufacturer founded in 1910 by Alliott Verdon Roe, recognized for its monumental contributi... More 698 Vulcan B.1, powered by the Olympus 101, was first delivered into service with the RAF in 1956, whilst deliveries of the improved AvroAvro (A.V. Roe and Company): A legendary British aircraft manufacturer founded in 1910 by Alliott Verdon Roe, recognized for its monumental contributi... More 698 Vulcan B.2 started in 1960. The B.2 variant had more powerful engines, larger wing, was capable of higher altitudes over targets, in-flight refuelling, and electronic countermeasure equipment. The AvroAvro (A.V. Roe and Company): A legendary British aircraft manufacturer founded in 1910 by Alliott Verdon Roe, recognized for its monumental contributi... More Blue Steel stand-off missile was also in development and the Vulcan was modified to carry this weapon.
When the RAAF was considering a replacement for the English ElectricEnglish Electric (English Electric Aviation Ltd): A major British industrial conglomerate that, despite its primary background in heavy electrical eng... More Canberra, the Vulcan was an option. However, by 1962 the Australian government had chosen the General Dynamics F-111. Had they chosen the BACBritish Aircraft Corporation (BAC): A major British aerospace manufacturer formed in 1960 through the government-mandated merger of English Electric A... More TSR-2, other V-bombers, including the Vulcans, would have been made available to the RAAF. Nevertheless, the UK government themselves cancelled the TSR-2 program and was going to get the F-111K, but that too was cancelled and the RAF ended up with the Blackburn Buccaneer as strike aircraft. Britain eventually joined the project with West Germany and Italy for a Multi-Role Combat Aircraft that produced the Panavia Tornado which assumed the same role as the F-111.
The Vulcan proved itself as a long-range mission capable platform, frequently visiting the United States and in June 1961 few 18,507 km from RAF Scampton to Sydney in just over 20 hours. As a part of the RAF’s V-Force, the Vulcan was central to the UK’s airborne nuclear deterrent program during the Cold War. From 1962, under RAF bomber Command, V-bombers armed with nuclear weapons were on permanent standby to strike Soviet targets. Vulcans on quick Reaction Alert status could be airborne within four minutes of receiving an alert. Once airborne, and depending on the target, Vulcan pilots were trained to fly low when within Soviet warning radar coverage. Such low-level flying is manageable in good daylight, but in bad weather or at night it was very dangerous, so terrain following radar was introduced from 1966. This was the same technology employed by the F-111 and gave the British bombers an advantage over Soviet air defences that could not cope with a massed low-level penetration. The curvature of the earth and other terrain gave good cover for V-bombers.
Under the Single Integrated Operational Plan, both the US and RAF air forces covered all important Soviet targets, including airfields and air defence. Bomber Command covered 106 targets with 92 aircraft by October 1958, increasing to 108 by June 1959.
The nearest the Vulcan force came to executing a nuclear strike was during the Cuban missile crisis in October 1962. On the 27th, RAF Bomber Command was moved to Alert Condition 3 (the precautionary pre-dispersal state of preparedness). However, they were stood down on the 5th of November, and thankfully the crisis did not end in a nuclear exchange.
Although typically armed with nuclear weapons, the Vulcan’s ability to also carry conventional weapons was used, famously and to full effect, in what was called Black Buck raids, during the Falklands War between the United Kingdom and Argentina. As the Vulcan was being retired during 1982 to make way for the Tornado, the Argentineans invaded the Falkland Islands on the 2nd of April. The only remaining operational Vulcan base was Waddington, and they were told to prepare for operations on the 9th of April. A plan was quickly put together for a Vulcans to be operational from a staging post at Ascension Island. The aircraft needed their refuelling capabilities fixed and configuration changed from nuclear operations to conventional bombing as quickly as possible.
The aircraft would fly from Ascension Island to reach Stanley on the Falklands, a distance of some 6,259 km or 3,889 miles – these were the world’s longest-distance raids at the time. Vulcan pilot Martin Withers, who was awarded the Distinguished Flying cross for his leadership, determination and presence of mind during the conflict, said: “For all us V-bomber types, Operation “Black Buck” was something totally unexpected. We were prepared only for a nuclear exchange with Russia, which meant that we had led a very sheltered existence within an air force which wasn’t used to going to war. We therefore had to adapt very quickly. It was a considerable culture shock, and we all had to learn fast, but we did, and I think we did it very effectively.”
By the mid-1970s, the AvroAvro (A.V. Roe and Company): A legendary British aircraft manufacturer founded in 1910 by Alliott Verdon Roe, recognized for its monumental contributi... More 698 Vulcan found itself adapted for Maritime Radar-Reconnaissance operations with No. 27 Squadron and re-designated as AvroAvro (A.V. Roe and Company): A legendary British aircraft manufacturer founded in 1910 by Alliott Verdon Roe, recognized for its monumental contributi... More 698 Vulcan B.2 (MRR). The Vulcan also performed air sampling roles, collecting air samples after nuclear testing to be analysed at the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment at Aldermaston.
In its final years of service, six aircraft were designated AvroAvro (A.V. Roe and Company): A legendary British aircraft manufacturer founded in 1910 by Alliott Verdon Roe, recognized for its monumental contributi... More 698 Vulcan K.2 and converted to tanker configuration for aerial refuelling, before reaching final retirement in 1984.
In its time, the mighty delta-winged Vulcan had been a high and low-level bomber, a tanker, a stand-off and anti-radar missile carrier, a maritime radar reconnaissance platform and it was also considered as an air defender with a variety of air-to-air missiles. It was certainly an impressive looking, even graceful, aircraft. And most importantly, could project power, as a nuclear deterrent, throughout the Cold War years.
