4 Avro Vulcans scramble in 86 seconds!

[@richardsweet5068]

As an apprentice in Bristol I watched them do this from Filton runway. Nothing can describe the wall of noise they created, it literally shook your ribcage.

[@shanebailey9128]

“Put his Vodka down to have a good look”😯

[@Stanlazy]

MAGNIFICENT!

[@philchadwick8942]

What a fantastic sight!!!!! What an amazing aircraft the Vulcan was. Great that we still have XH558, XL426 and XM655 still in taxiing condition!!!

[@nattyn199]

Was that Farnbrough 1963. Was there, and the noise rattled yr rib cage. Later a solo Vulcan did a roll just after lift off. Eight EE Lightning went in a strea take off and in a near vertical climb went like a string of beads pulled up to heaven, out of sight. Awesome

[@davidparker9467]

Well, checking the Farnborough spotters web site, there wasn’t a show in ‘63, but the V bomber mass takeoff demonstrations were in 1960. I assume this is BBC TV coverage ? These look like B1 Vulcans

[@newportshapwick]

Beautiful aircraft!

[@clovislyme6195]

On a Battle of Britain open day at RAF Finningley in (I think 1962, give or take a year), to which my Dad took my brother and me, they performed a Vulcan Squadron scramble - taking off like this. It was one of the loudest sounds and most impressive sights of my life.

[@derekwatson5429]

Remember the days of the Waddington airshows and the 4 Vulcan scramble. Rattled ribcages and car alarms

[@andrewfisher733]

I had the pleasure of a 4 Vulcan scramble at Waddington late 60s early 70s I would guess. 3 things I will always remember as a young kid, 1is above, 2 would be the Gnats of the Reds, 3 the Lightning and it's vertical climb. Great days out.

[@haroldmclean3755]

Well executed 👍

[@fredericksaxton3991]

A 4 V-Bomber take off is something I always wanted to witness live but never did. Living on the south coast it was just something to see a Vulcan taking off from Thorney Island. Did not have the wherewithall to get to Gaydon for BoB day. A mate in the Jaguar Drivers' club related his many visits down from Brum.

[@andrewtadd4373]

I remember them flying low over East and West Wittering. I can only assume on the approach to Thorney.

[@matthewcuratolo3719]

BRILLIANT!

[@tonysteele9570]

I remember as a kid playing in the back garden of our house in Hazel grove , when a Vulcan would take off from nearby Woodford and it seemed to block out the sky.

[@well-blazeredman6187]

Cripes, I couldn't do that in a Chipmunk.

[@MichaelWilliams-tv1bm]

I used to go to the Battle of Britain display at RAF Finningley in the late 1960's, and this scramble take-off was the finale of the show. The ground shook and you could feel your chest cavity vibrate. Something I've never forgot!

[@whitecap162]

They still did the 4 ship scramble at Finningley in the early eighties. Sadly, never to be repeated.

[@davedixon2068]

Saw this at RAF Finningly in the late 60's, as you say never to be forgotten. I joined the RAF in 69 as ground crew and was involved in a number of airshows at the various bases I served on over the next 25 years.

[@bassetdad437]

@@davedixon2068 I remember a Finningley scramble where one overdid it at take off and had to go off with part of the undercarriage not retracted. Perhaps had to slow down out of sight and recycle the undercarriage.

[@soppdrake]

What a teriffic racket!

[@Radio478]

Brilliant 👏

[@YourFriendlyOfficeAssistant]

This is the tech level I imagine they'd have in Nineteen Eighty-Four.

[@zogzoogler]

Jet Wash? Plane 5 “just a tad old boy”.

[@mrb.5610]

Bet the planet shook.

[@Fredfrothin]

Hahaha put his vodka down to have a good look 😂😂😂

[@tectorama]

When the UK still had an Air Force

[@javiergilvidal1558]

When there was a UK!

[@Charles-jf3mx]

This stunning V bomber first flew in my my birthday. The Vulcan was stunning but the Victor and Valiant were so superb

[@seangage9088]

Frightening...........if this had been for real........

[@spinynorman887]

Very Impressive! However, I question the realism and doability of sitting alert with the crews on the hot tarmac directly under the plane. Because alerts can last hours.

[@glynnwright1699]

That is exactly what they did during the Cuban crisis. In fact they were in the aircraft with the engines running, loaded with thermonuclear weapons.

[@DataWaveTaGo]

@@glynnwright1699 You are 100% correct sir! My father served in the RCAF from 1939 to 1966 - Cuban Crisis was top-level sinister.

[@petersmith7126]

​@@glynnwright1699....they'd not have engines running.... You can start all 4 engines simultaneously in an emergency which enabled the rapid scramble

[@petersmith7126]

Possibly not under the plane but often just like in WW2 right next to the aircraft in a hut or caravan and only seconds away .... In a serious situation then yes they'd sit strapped into the aircraft

[@davedixon2068]

Yes it was done, but crews and ground crews were in buildings adjacent to the QRA dispersals and on higher levels of alert the crews would be in the aircraft. The aircraft were set up so that all 4 engines started together and all systems came on when one switch was made. If I remember correctly there was only 6 minutes total warning so Quick Reaction was literally that! Your scepticism and reasoning indicates you have never been in the services, the impossible we do immediately miracles take a little longer (but not much longer).

[@fredericksaxton3991]

Did these early Vulcans have the "Vulcan howl" in those days?

[@robinhooduk8255]

yes, the howl noise are from the air being sucked into the intakes, so seeing that the intakes look exactly the same as later versions id guess they still made same howl.

[@petersmith7126]

​@@robinhooduk8255....it was only models with a certain engine that howled ... I think it was the Olympus 301 version which was a later version

[@jongulliver984]

B2 howled, these didn’t.

[@petersmith7126]

@@fredericksaxton3991 ... Only certain models of the B2 Vulcan had a howl as it depends on the engine fitted to them

[@fredericksaxton3991]

@@petersmith7126 Thank you.

[@filtonkingswood]

These days it would take half an hour just to check everyone pronouns.

[@pixelnazgul]

Why even have runaways?

[@DataWaveTaGo]

Landings matter...

[@geoffreywealthall9348]

Minimum fuel load and no bomb load or the take off run would have been much much longer

[@tonyfranklin8306]

How long is 'much much', 10 seconds for a maximum load take off? Going through the training runs to get them to V1 so you can perfect that aspect is what this was about, with Nuclear strike the take off weight wouldn't be near the max take off weight of 100,000lbs.

[@franksizzllemann5628]

Were the three V bombers essentially long-range B-47's? All four had their distinctions, their strengths, and when it comes to engine development the V-types really shined bright, but basically they all did the same job as far as I can tell.

[@davedixon2068]

@@franksizzllemann5628 Well they did bomb America twice in the 60's (only pretend of course) but the US was a bit miffed so kept it secret for 50 years or so.

[@davidparker9467]

⁠@@franksizzllemann5628 The B47 was earlier and a brilliant leap forward. The Vulcan and Victor aimed to fly higher, faster and further. The less ambitious Valiant was closer to the B47 whose J47 engines meant had a service ceiling around 35000ft (where stall speed was close to limiting Mach number - “coffin corner”) compared to 55000 feet for early Vulcans and 60000ft for Mark 2s. But by the time they arrived in service, Soviet SAMs could reach higher altitudes, hence the switch to low level operations. The Short Sperrin “insurance” bomber looked very primitive compared to the B47 - something like the Martin B48.