Airfix Avro Vulcan B.2 1:72 Scale Plastic Model Airplane Kit A12011 Note: Painting & gluing is required. Paint and glue are not included.
Occupying a significant position in the
history of post war British aviation, the Avro Vulcan was without doubt
one of the most distinctive aircraft ever to take to the skies, with its
huge delta wing profile becoming almost as iconic as the elliptical
wing of the Supermarine Spitfire. Built to satisfy an extremely
demanding Air Ministry requirement for a fast, high altitude strategic
bomber, capable of carrying a special payload of 10,000 imperial pounds
in weight (a nuclear device), the new aircraft was intended to serve as
an airborne deterrent to any future military threat against the UK, with
the required specifications representing a 100% increase in the
capabilities of any previous British bomber aircraft. When the Vulcan
made its maiden flight in August 1952, the Avro team were well on the
way to presenting the Royal Air Force with not only the worlds first
delta bomber, but also one of the worlds most effective strike bombers.
Interestingly,
all this was achieved just nine years since the Avro Lancasters of RAF
No.617 Squadron had launched their famous raid against the great dams of
the Ruhr Valley. As the Avro Vulcan entered squadron service with No.83
Squadron at RAF Waddington in July 1957, Britain now possessed the
fastest nuclear capable bomber in the world. It seems strange to
describe an aircraft which possessed such potential for untold
destruction as Britains most effective peace keeping asset, however,
that is exactly what the Vulcan turned out to be. Throughout the
aggressive posturing of the Cold War, the Warsaw Pact nations were in no
doubt that if they dared to launch an attack against a NATO member
country, the consequences of the inevitable retaliatory strike would be
catastrophic. Without Doubt, during the early years of its service
career, nothing represented this doomsday scenario more effectively than
the mighty Avro Vulcan.
As the Royal Air Force
exhaustively trained their new Vulcan crews to provide Britain with an
effective Quick Reaction Alert strike force, Avro engineers were already
working to improve the capabilities of their original, iconic design.
In order to ensure the aircraft continued to maintain its effective
deterrent threat and stayed one step ahead of advances in Easter Bloc
fighter and surface-to-air missile technology, designers incorporated
developments which endowed the aircraft with greater range, speed and
altitude performance. The installation of more powerful versions of the
Vulcans Bristol Olympus engines would result in a number of unforeseen
stability issues with these first bombers, which concerned designers
enough to necessitate a re-design of the original wing shape.
By
the time the definitive B.2 variant of the Vulcan entered service, the
aircrafts wing area had increased significantly and although still
classed as a delta, would look quite different from the first bombers
which entered service. To cope with the increased power availability
from subsequent engine upgrades and to cure the instability issues of
the original straight wing design, the B.2 wing had two defined kinks in
its leading edge, well forward of the profile of the original wing
design. Rather than detract from the pleasing aesthetics of the early
Vulcans delta wing, the B.2 actually enhanced the profile of the
aircraft and even though these changes were obviously made for reasons
of operational effectiveness, as opposed to appearance, the B.2 would go
on to be considered the most famous (and most numerous) of all the RAFs
Vulcans. The service introduction of the Vulcan B.2 in July 1960
coincided with the availability of more capable nuclear weapons for the
V-bomber force, both in number and destructive potential. It would also
bring about a change in thinking regarding the delivery of such weapons,
as significant advances in Soviet anti-aircraft technology now
threatened the success of a free-fall gravity bomb mission. A
significant new weapon would have to be developed in order to maintain
the deterrent threat of the Vulcan and its V-bomber partners.
Developed
to maintain the validity of Britain's nuclear deterrent threat,
designers at Avro produced the powerful Blue Steel air-launched, nuclear
stand-off missile, which would allow V-bomber crews to launch their
attacks 100 miles away from their intended target and out of the range
of Soviet surface-to-air missile batteries, allowing crews valuable
additional time to avoid the resultant blast. Further boosting the
effectiveness of the V-bomber force, the arrival of Blue Steel raised
the nuclear stakes in Britains favour once more and would have caused
much consternation amongst the Warsaw Pact nations.
The
responsibility of providing Britain's strategic nuclear deterrent passed
to the submarines of the Royal Navy in July 1969 and saw the RAF
performing its final V-bomber Blue Steel mission late the following
year. Although taking on a more conventional strike role, RAF Vulcans
would retain a nuclear capability and maintain their position as one of
the worlds most effective bombers for the next fourteen years, before
finally being withdrawn from service. Due to the affection in which this
aircraft was held by the British public, the Vulcan Display Flight was
almost immediately formed to operate one aircraft on the UK Airshow
circuit for a further nine years, before itself being disbanded.
To
the amazement of the historic aviation world, the last flying Avro
Vulcan, XH558, the aircraft which had previously served as the Vulcan
Display Flight aircraft, triumphantly returned to the air once more,
this time in the hands of a civilian organisation in October 2007. Over
the course of the next eight years, the Vulcan thrilled millions of
people around the country, becoming something of an aviation national
treasure a relic of the Cold War which was held in great public
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