News Lancasters and Vulcan unite for Lincoln flypast

[Notebook]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lincolnshire-28873614

The world's only two flying Lancasters have been united with a Vulcan bomber in a formation flight described as a "never to be repeated" event.

N.

 

[Urwumpe]

Really a special flight ... did the Vulcans always smoke that much or did they reduce the engine turbine temperatures, like they did on the German Phantoms and MiG-29?

 

[Notebook]

The few times I've seen a Vulcan, they did smoke like that.

N.

 

[Fabri91]

It's interesting how the first flights of the Lancaster and the Vulcan are only about 11 and a half years apart.

 

[boogabooga]

Gas turbines changed everything.

I bet the maximum speed of the Lancaster isn't too much above the stall speed of the Vulcan.

 

[Codz]

Awesome. Definitely a special event.

 

[Andy44]

That Vulcan is one of the coolest looking airplanes.

It always scares me when they fly such scarce airplanes like those Lancasters, especially ferrying one all the way from Canada and back.

 

[boogabooga]

I was on the Canadian Lancaster at an airshow in 2007.

I'll have to look for the pictures.

 

[MaverickSawyer]

Gas turbines changed everything.

I bet the maximum speed of the Lancaster isn't too much above the stall speed of the Vulcan.

You'd be surprised how slowly you can fly the ol' Tin Triangle, especially without a war load of fuel, systems, and weapons. She's got a lot of wing area to keep her up, so she's got a decent stall speed well below the Lancaster's max. But yeah, the Vulcan's going to be pretty nose-up during the flight.

 

[Evil_Onyx]

Gas turbines changed everything.

I bet the maximum speed of the Lancaster isn't too much above the stall speed of the Vulcan.

Because the Vulcan is a Massive Delta, it is capable of flying much slower than would be expected.

The Lancaster's Max listed speed is 246 knots. The Vulcan approach speed is between 100-120 knots with a Blue Steel missile loaded (from a Performance chart in a hand book I have). I would say there is about 100 knots overlap in their flight envelopes so it should be simple to fly formation.

 

[Notebook]

Blue Steel, now there was a missile.

http://www.spaceuk.org/bsteel/bsteel.htm

http://www.spaceuk.org/videos/bsteel.mpg

N.

 

[boogabooga]

Because the Vulcan is a Massive Delta, it is capable of flying much slower than would be expected.

The Lancaster's Max listed speed is 246 knots. The Vulcan approach speed is between 100-120 knots with a Blue Steel missile loaded (from a Performance chart in a hand book I have). I would say there is about 100 knots overlap in their flight envelopes so it should be simple to fly formation.

Good point. My comment was because I understand this was an issue with the KC-97 during the jet age.

 

[MaverickSawyer]

Good point. My comment was because I understand this was an issue with the KC-97 during the jet age.

Well that's a different story altogether. The B-47 at full load was a handful, especially on the boom. Like most Boeing jets, the Stratojet had high wingloading when fully fueled and at altitude. when low on fuel and with the flaps down, it wasn't quite as bad... but it still needed a long runway.

 

[ex-orbinaut]

Nice.

I saw one of the Vulcan's previous "last" airshow displays around 1987-88, at RAF Honington open day. It was doing chandelles at no more than 500 ft agl, and looked like it was going to simply fall out of the sky half the time, it was maneuvering at such a low airspeed.

It was quite a day, also featuring an A-10 showing off a very tight turn radius, and an F-16 that flew the length of the runway fifteen feet up, at around 40 knots, hanging on its power with the nose up about 50º. And the books on sale at the stands...

I do now miss the odd visit to those airshows.

EDIT:

Some more Blue Steel stuff that I read a while back, some personal stories of those involved, which I always find fascinating; thought it might have been taken down it was taking so long to find again, but here it is!

PDF 1

PDF 2

 

[Notebook]

Thanks for those links Keith fascinating stuff. You probably of this book, has second edition out now:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Vertical-Em...408806513&sr=8-1&keywords=the+vertical+empire

N.

 

[Andy44]

Thanks for those links Keith fascinating stuff. You probably of this book, has second edition out now:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Vertical-Em...408806513&sr=8-1&keywords=the+vertical+empire

N.

I don't know about the book itself, but "The Vertical Empire" has got to be one of the coolest names for anything, ever.

 

[Notebook]

Along with "Olympic Weapons"...?
Good book if you are interested in post-war UK rocketry, bit short as you would expect:dry:

N.

 

[ex-orbinaut]

No, never heard of it. Thanks for the reference! \o/

 

[Notebook]

Good to see the Canadian Lanc is safe home:

[http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/canada...eturns-home-after-historic-u-k-tour-1.2028602

Some bits of the tour:

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4_lxdYj0-k"]The two Lancasters at Duxford, 2014 - YouTube[/ame]

N.