Vulcan does a barrel roll!

[Hot Shoes]

According to a spotter and this BBC link the Vulcan recently carried out 2 rolls, not on a display and despite being not cleared by authorities.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lincolnshire-34712346

Its hardly surprising as its stopping flying, its not as if they can ground her.

My only wish is I were watching

 

[Rocket_Ronster]

Looked very gentle to me.

 

[Gonterseed]

Why did it do two barrel rolls? - Because it can is a good enough reason for me. Like RR says, I'm only sorry I didn't see it live.

 

[metimmee]

I'll be in a minority of one here but if true in my view this was irresponsible, reckless and dangerous and I hope they prosecute the pilots.

How stupid to perform an aerobatic manouver like that. Yes, they may have done it back in the day whilst clocking up 100s of hours on type with standards pilots etc. along with flying within the full scope of the RTS opertionally but these guys perform limited manouvering in a narrow scope of the operational Vulcan RTS. Why? Because those that take the risk of that jet along with negotiations with the CAA have deemed that the flying envelope that has been issued is safe in the context of that aicraft and all of its supporting systems...of course I am assuming the limitations apply to non-display flying.

Before I am castigated for being narrow minded, think back to all of those occasions where "jolly japes" like this have ended badly. It is no exaggertation to say that the regulations binding exploits like this have been paid for in blood due to past needless misadventures.

 

[foxOneFive]

Hats off to all involved (has anyone got any clearer images? with sound?)
And..yep. 99% of people reading this will think you are a bit of a w££nker "no offence"
It done it 60 odd years ago as we know. So no big deal. I'd feel safer strapped in the undercarriage of 558
than sitting in a dodgy airliner flying over the middle east at the moment

 

[Ex-Bay]

I'll be in a minority of one here but if true in my view this was irresponsible, reckless and dangerous and I hope they prosecute the pilots.

How stupid to perform an aerobatic manoeuvrer like that. Yes, they may have done it back in the day whilst clocking up 100s of hours on type with standards pilots etc. along with flying within the full scope of the RTS operationally but these guys perform limited manoeuvring in a narrow scope of the operational Vulcan RTS. Why? Because those that take the risk of that jet along with negotiations with the CAA have deemed that the flying envelope that has been issued is safe in the context of that aircraft and all of its supporting systems...of course I am assuming the limitations apply to non-display flying.

Before I am castigated for being narrow minded, think back to all of those occasions where "jolly japes" like this have ended badly. It is no exaggeration to say that the regulations binding exploits like this have been paid for in blood due to past needless misadventures.

Whilst I admire your sticking up for the Regs, etc., I cannot totally agree.
1. We don't know the area over which is was done, so we cannot say much about the risks to anyone on the ground. Given that it's been well stripped out, it's light enough, I suspect.
2. As far as I know, the prototype was rolled at it Farnborough debut. It seems reasonable to allow it to do a roll on it's last flight/s.
3. The 'jolly japes' to which you refer were a Very Long Time Ago.
4. Like the others, I wish I'd seen it.

DT_Xtremez_14:

 

[Rocket_Ronster]

How stupid to perform an aerobatic manouver like that.

You can do a 1g roll, a 707 famously did it with the press on board. So if all you`re pulling is 1g, then there`s no difference to straight and level flight stress wise.

 

[metimmee]

Hats off to all involved (has anyone got any clearer images? with sound?)
And..yep. 99% of people reading this will think you are a bit of a w££nker "no offence"
It done it 60 odd years ago as we know. So no big deal. I'd feel safer strapped in the undercarriage of 558
than sitting in a dodgy airliner flying over the middle east at the moment

Wow, that escalated quickly...I'm a "w££nker" because I like all aircraft flown safely, including old display jets like the Vulcan.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the spectacle of display flying. The old Nimrod MR2 display was very impressive....made up of manoeuvres that were all practised in normal operations...strung together in a coherent display. What was behind that? A training regime, standards pilots, display pilot training and flying hours to practice manoeuvres....what's the thread here...control and safety.

When the Vulcan was still in service, the same applies. I don't recall if the old display had a barrel roll...maybe it did. Remember though that manoeuvring like that would have had to have been in the RTS (MAR?) for normal operational flying...fighter affiliation, low level bombing..probably (I'm guessing here) allowed for manoeuvring like that. So it would have been a practised manoeuvre...the display showing off to the tax payer the capability of the aircraft....fair enough. What appears to have happened here is the pilots going off piste performing something that must be assumed does not take place often or is well practiced. I also assume that it was performed at reasonably low level for it to have been videoed....so it's not as if he was at high level with plenty of time to recover if something went awry.

XB - I stand by the "jolly japes" characterisation because it appears that it was an unauthorised manoeuvre...plain and simple...professional aviators should pull stunts like that, end of story. Why take the risk? Who owns the risk...who pays if they get it wrong?

The 707 you mentioned RR, a famous example from a different time. Even then, the executives had the test pilot in for a talking to and enquire what the hell he was playing at for him to famously reply "selling aeroplanes, what are you doing?"

There was another pilot who thought he knew better while performing unauthorised manoeuvres in a B52..he could make that baby pull stunts no other could...so spectacular...amazing sights...what a brave and skilled crew...until the day he stalled a wing and piled it into the airfield killing him and the crew. His story is quite an interesting one from a HF perspective...warning signs of this blokes arrogance had been present long before the crash..but I digress.

So stand back from the wonderment of a spectacular old bird daringly pulling aerobatic manoeuvres. Then decide if those that are entrusted to fly lumps of metal over our heads should do so within the regulations or not. If you're happy for them to break the reg's based on egos and fun then fair enough, that's your view but it is not one I share.

 

[Gord]

I believe under op's condition, in order to lob the Blue Steel, the routine was to dive down then pull back on the stick into a half loop where at some point Blue Steel was released then the loop continued to the top where a half roll was performed so that the Vulcan could get it's arse out of Dodge before the mushroom appeared so at least half of that barrel roll was normal operational procedures, meaning that the beast was built to take whatever stress was placed upon her, stress that would have been far greater than that applied during this barrel roll. It was however unauthorised so someone is gonna find his balls in the wringer.

 

[Barch]

I thought the Vulcan was banned from doing any kind of roll after the infamous 'Chicago Roll' back in 1978.

 

[Ex-Bay]

I believe under op's condition, in order to lob the Blue Steel, the routine was to dive down then pull back on the stick into a half loop where at some point Blue Steel was released then the loop continued to the top where a half roll was performed so that the Vulcan could get it's arse out of Dodge before the mushroom appeared so at least half of that barrel roll was normal operational procedures, meaning that the beast was built to take whatever stress was placed upon her, stress that would have been far greater than that applied during this barrel roll.
It was however unauthorised so someone is gonna find his balls in the wringer.

Blue Steel weighed in at about 17,000 lbs (according to Wiki).
I forget what they actually called the 'lob' manoeuvre you describe but the sudden liberation of 17,000 lbs would probably not cause too much stress, perhaps, so a roll under minimum weight might not have too many repercussions.

Smacked pandies at Dawn, then!

 

[metimmee]

You are obviously a troll! Nobody is that wound up, sanctimonious or anally retentive! Nice one, you got a nibble.

Now, get yourself out of your hot barrack room this weekend, COD can wait.......and engage with potential targets to mate with. Use your sensors, fwd looking scanners/ hands/ oral device. Honestly, chum, you could experience delight and pleasure from something other than yourself.

Not trolling at all. If my language appears sterile it's in the effort to put forward an argument...it's the academic in me that can't help but write like this!

Ok, 'chum' I get it that you dont agree...now justify the pilot's actions. If they're based on the outcome that nothing happened and no harm was done...change the outcome to something fatal and then apply the same logic...is it still justified and reasonable?

 

[Gord]

Not trolling at all. If my language appears sterile it's in the effort to put forward an argument...it's the academic in me that can't help but write like this!

Ok, 'chum' I get it that you dont agree...now justify the pilot's actions. If they're based on the outcome that nothing happened and no harm was done...change the outcome to something fatal and then apply the same logic...is it still justified and reasonable?

I think we understand that it was an unauthorised roll but now apply the same logic you mentioned here the next time you choose to cross the road at a place other than a set of traffic lights or a pedestrian crossing, something I suggest you probably do having taken into account the pros and cons of such action and deciding that it is safe to do so. Is the action taken by the crew of the Vulcan really all that different, they had confidence in the ability of the beast to perform the roll without running into any problems, just as you do when you look right, left and right again before stepping off the pavement.

It is an educated calculation and a belief in the integrity of the others involved in the maintenance of the a/c just as you, seeing a car you believe is sufficiently far enough away from you for you to cross the road safely believe that should you slip and fall in the middle of the road that the driver of the car will apply the brakes and that those brakes will in fact work although in truth you probably don't even consider the possibility that you may fall.

 

[Martin Blank]

All this fuss, I swear I saw it do a Roll at the either the 13 or 14 Waddo airshow, it looked like it was going to do a tight high turn initially which is what the commentator started to say then it rolled out instead.....
this was just after take off his commentary sort of tailed off then started again when it moved on to the next manouver.

 

[propersplitbrainme]

Yeah, what could possibly go wrong.....

 

[applecruncher]

Know your facts

Know your facts

Do you know anything about the B52 crash? obviously not!!

 

[propersplitbrainme]

Do you know anything about the B62 crash? obviously not!!

Yes. Its a B52 to start with.

But besides that, yes.-

 

[stacker1195]

Does anybody else not wonder why that in this day and age there isn't clearer footage out there? The posted video looks like an amateur editing job to me.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[iainrm]

A "great" tradition

A "great" tradition

Do winged gods have to follow the rules?
Remember Douglas Barder the most notable breaker of aerobatic rules

 

[Rocket_Ronster]

Do winged gods have to follow the rules?
Remember Douglas Barder the most notable breaker of aerobatic rules

Aye, made him a better pilot too, not losing all the blood to his feet in high `g` manoeuvres in pre-`g`suit days.