Long before a fictional Vulcan was beaming aboard the Starship Enterprise, the Royal Air Force Avro Vulcan bomber was making history in real life.
The delta-winged aircraft used by the UK during the Cold War was introduced in the 1950s.
Britain’s Avro Vulcan was designed by A.V. Roe and Company; it first flew on August 30, 1952, and entered service with the RAF in September 1956.
The Vulcan was the third of the “V bombers” for the RAF-included Vickers Valiant and Handley Page Victor’s first operational jet-powered, tailless, delta-wing bombers.
These aircraft served as the heart of the UK’s nuclear deterrent until Polaris-class submarines relieved them in 1969. The Vulcan was the most technologically advanced design that existed at its conception.
According to the Air Ministry, “At its operational height, the Vulcan can outfly and outmaneuver any fighter in squadron service.”
Nevertheless, by 1966, what the Soviets were achieving in missile defenses meant that the Vulcan had to shift from its high-level penetration missions over to low-level penetration missions.
By 1970, it was reduced to a role as a conventional bomber for support of NATO forces in Europe. One of the significant contributions made by the Vulcan came during the Falklands War in 1982.
During Operation Black Buck, the Vulcan made a record bombing raid on Port Stanley Airport for 6,600 miles.
For that operation, only one of the bombs hit the runway but will still affected the Argentine operation.
Its air intake arrangement produced the Vulcan’s characteristic howl, which became the stuff of legend.
That sound, made by the Bristol Olympus engines, gripped the imagination of any aviation enthusiast and added an aura to the aircraft. Their power was such that the engines were later used in the iconic Concorde.
The Vulcan made its way into popular culture in the James Bond film “Thunderball,” in which a Vulcan is hijacked for the nuclear payload locked underneath.
19 Vulcans are preserved and can be viewed in museums in the US, Canada, and the UK as retirement pieces from 1984 onward.
XH558, called “Vulcan to the Sky,” was restored and flew aerobatically from 2011 to 2015; meanwhile, a determined effort continues in search of a permanent home for the legendary aircraft.