The A.V. Roe & Company (Avro) 698 Vulcan was a jet-powered delta wing strategic bomber, which first flew on 30th August 1952 at Woodford. The design was considered the most technically advanced of the submissions in response to Air Ministry Specification B.35/46, although it was thought by some as the riskiest option.
A number of scale aircraft such as the Avro Type 707 and Type 710 were designed and produced to test and refine the delta wing design principles and handling characteristics although the latter aircraft failed to come to fruition due to numerous delays.
Avro Test Pilot Wing Commander Roland 'Roly' John Falk, dressed in his distinct pin-striped suit, finally took the gloss white Avro 698 Vulcan prototype (VX770) into the air on 30th August 1952, albeit single crewed for safety reasons. Powered by four Rolls-Royce RA.3 Avon engines, with a temporary fuel tank fitted into the bomb bay, Falk took the aircraft through a number of unconventional manoeuvres before opening the throttle to such a point that it shattered a number of factory windows.
A matter of weeks later, the as yet unnamed aircraft appeared at the SBAC Farnborough Air Show. A number of names were under consideration by Avro, including ‘Ottawa’ (in honour of the contribution made by Avro Canada to the project). The UK press was also full of suggestions for a name, including ‘Albion’, ‘Avenger’, ‘Apollo’ or ‘Assegai’. Eventually, under pressure from the Chief of the Air Staff to reflect the V-Bomber classification, the Air Council announced the aircraft as the Avro Vulcan.
The second prototype (VX777) flew in September 1953. It was more representative of the production aircraft, having been lengthened to accommodate a longer nose undercarriage leg. It featured a visual bomb-aiming blister under the cabin and was fitted with Bristol Olympus 100 engines. At Falk’s suggestion, a fighter-style control stick replaced the control wheel. During trials in July 1954, the aircraft was substantially damaged in a heavy landing at Farnborough. Once repaired, it was then fitted with Olympus 101 engines before resuming trials in October 1955.
Handling problems as the aircraft approached the speed of sound at high altitude resulted in a tendency to enter an uncontrollable dive, which proved unacceptable to the Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment (A&AEE) at Boscombe Down. The solution included the ‘Phase 2 wing’, featuring a kinked and drooped leading edge and vortex generators on the upper surface, all of which had been first tested on the Avro 707A.
The Avro 698 Vulcan B.1 was first delivered into service with the RAF in 1956, whilst deliveries of the improved Avro 698 Vulcan B.2 started in 1960. A number of foreign governments had expressed an interest in the aircraft although none ever came to fruition. The later Avro 698 Vulcan B.2 featured more powerful engines, a larger wing, and an improved electrical system, plus Electronic Counter-Measures (ECM), many of which were modified to accept the Blue Steel missile.
Carrying no defensive weaponry, the Avro 698 Vulcan relied upon its high-speed and high-altitude flight to evade interception. Despite the addition of electronic countermeasures, the aircraft was always considered vulnerable to air attack.
As a part of the RAF's V-Force, the Vulcan was the key part of the UK’s airborne nuclear deterrent during much of the Cold War. Although typically armed with nuclear weapons, the Vulcan’s ability to also carry conventional weapons was used to full effect during the Falklands War between the United Kingdom and Argentina in 1982, when seven extremely long-range airstrikes were carried out of the Port Stanley airport and by Vulcans as part of Operation Black Buck. This was to be the only mission ‘flown in anger’ by the Vulcan.
A change to low-level tactics was made in the mid-1960s, and by the mid-1970s, nine Avro 698 Vulcan aircraft were adapted for Maritime Radar-Reconnaissance operations and re-designated as Avro 698 Vulcan B.2 (MRR).
In its final years of service, six aircraft were designated Avro 698 Vulcan K.2 and converted to tanker configuration for aerial refuelling, before reaching final retirement in 1984. At one point an Avro 698 Vulcan B.3 was proposed as a long-endurance missile carrier with up to 12 hours duration, but it was never built.
In all, a total of 134 production aircraft (45 B.1 design / 89 B.2 design) were built between 1948 and 1965, all of them at the Avro Woodford Factory in Cheshire. This figure includes one aircraft which remained on the ground as a static test frame.