Profiles and Logos
The Vulcan was one of the UK’s three V bombers together with the Handley Page Victor and the Vickers Valiant. The design of the aircraft was in response to Specification B.35/46 of January 1947 for a medium range bomber capable of carrying on 10,000lb bomb to a target 1,500 nautical miles away from any base in the world. Work began at AVRO led by Roy Chadwick, the designer of the Lancaster bomber together with Stuart Davies. Avro built a number of sub scale experimental aircraft, designated Avro 707 to test the delta wing layout.
The gloss white prototype VX770 flew for the first time on 30th August 1952. The prototypes had a pure delta wing which had a number of handling issues. The wing was redesigned to have a kinked and drooped leading edge as well as vortex generators. The first production aircraft was delivered in March 1956, the first aircraft being designated B.1. In 1956 the decision to produce the B.2 was made, these aircraft had a larger wing and more powerful Rolls Royce Olympus 102 engines.
The first B.2 was delivered in March 1959. Numbers built: 2 x prototypes, 45 x B.1 & 89 x B.2.