Avro Vulcan

what is it?

The Avro Vulcan (later Hawker Siddeley Vulcan from July 1963) is a jet-powered, delta-wing, high-altitude strategic bomber, which was operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF) from 1956 until 1984. Aircraft manufacturer A.V. Roe and Company (Avro) designed the Vulcan in response to Specification B.35/46. Of the three V bombers produced, the Vulcan was considered the most technically advanced, and therefore the riskiest option.

🔎How to recognise it: 4 jet engines · 30.3 m wingspan

base stats

• speed 1,039 km/htop speed
• range 4,195 kmwithout refuelling
• size 77.1 tmax take-off weight
• built 136made in total

Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).

fun facts

• 🎂First flew 74 years ago, in 1952.
• 🏎️Top speed is 8.0× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
• 🚗Wingspan of 30.3 m: about 7 cars parked nose to tail.
• 🐘Fully loaded it can weigh as much as 13 African elephants (~6 t each).
• 🌍Range of 4,195 km: 23× Amsterdam to Brussels.
• 🏔️Can fly 1.9× higher than Mount Everest (8,849 m).

jet: Gas turbine pushing air out the back (turbofan or turbojet): fast and high-flying.

spec sheet

first flight

1952-08-30

introduced

1956

retired

1984

status

retired

number built

136

role

strategic bomber

origin

🇬🇧 United Kingdom

makers

Avro, Hawker Siddeley

engines

4× Bristol Olympus Mk.101 / Mk.102 / Mk.104

crew

5

length

29.6 m

wingspan

30.3 m

height

8.1 m

max take-off weight

77.1 t

top speed

1,039 km/h

cruise speed

913 km/h

range

4,195 km

ceiling

17,069 m

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.