Stunning Vulcan’s diamond anniversary

LOOKS aren’t an important criterion for bombers, but by general consent the Avro Vulcan is beautiful.

The bomber, designed and built at the former Avro factories at Chadderton and Woodford, marks the 60th anniversary of its maiden flight tomorrow

Avro chief designer Roy Chadwick first sketched the plans in 1946, five years after the first flight of his famous Lancaster bomber.

Chadwick died in a plane crash a year later and never saw his masterpiece make its maiden flight.

In its Cold War heyday, the Vulcan was on 24-hour standby to drop nuclear bombs on the Soviet Union.

No British bomber ever flew with live nuclear bombs, and the Vulcan’s main claim to fame was its sorties over the Falklands in 1982.

Avro historian Harry Holmes said: “The Vulcan was a major deterrent during the Cold War for the UK. Its delta wing shape was futuristic for its time.”

Most of the Vulcans were retired by the mid-1980s, but the XH558, built at Chadderton in 1960, was a familar sight at air shows until 1992. Grounded by budget cuts, it took off again in 2007 after a multi-million-pound restoration.

The plane took part in the flypast to mark the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in June and plans are underway for it to fly over the Avro Heritage Centre at Woodford on September 9 to mark its own Diamond Jubilee.

The Avro Heritage Centre, Chester Road, Stockport, is open on Tuesdays and Thursdays. For more information contact 0161 440 0487 or www.avroheritage.com  


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