Thursday, December 22

Nuclear Bombers Invade California!

Avro Vulcan Turns Over Edwards Air Force Base

Last summer, I spent some time digitizing old slides. Amongst them, were some in which RAF Vulcan bombers came and were part of the 1979 Edwards Air Force Base Air Show. For those that don't remember the Vulcan, it was Britain's last nuclear bomber. It starred as such in the James Bond thriller; Thunderball.

While I didn't think to ask at the time, I suspect that this Vulcan had no nukes on board for the air show demonstrations. Still, who says the last time the British invaded the US was during the War of 1812? PERHAPS, they were demonstrating that we should not take the movie "Canadian Bacon" to heart and mess with their Canadian colony, er, Commonwealth Partner. Is "Commonwealth Partner" the right term? We've shown the Queen's Canadian Flag on this blog before. Actually, I believe the Commonwealth has "members." Some of the members, such as Canada, are "Realms." Realms have kings or queens, with Elizabeth being the Queen of Canada. There was a minor brouhaha when Charles married Camilla, but the Canadians were ultimately OK with it since they were both too old to have more kids. And the Canadians think OUR system is odd!

Sadly, the last Vulcan flight was in October 2015. The only time the type was used in real anger was during the Falklands war, where they were used to attack ground targets as the longest range bombing missions in history at that time. That was later surpassed in Desert Storm by B-52 aircraft.

4 comments:

Coline said...

Not that many years ago we finally found the cash to replace some rotten windows. On the day the work was done I was taking advantage of a clear view out from upstairs when I heard a roar and there was a Vulcan making lazy sleep banked turns over the estuary whilst performing at one of the last airshows before the base was closed down. A magical few minutes by a unique killing machine...

Steve A said...

The Vulcan certainly was a unique flying machine. I shall never forget seeing it turn and bank above the California desert.

John Romeo Alpha said...

The true Vulcan fans take part in the "Design you own Vulcan XH558 Christmas Card Competition". Merry (nuclear) Christmas! http://www.vulcantothesky.org/news/847/82/Design-a-Christmas-Card.html

Steve A said...

XH558 was the last flying Vulcan. Obviously, NOT the one that sunk in Thunderball!

Post a Comment

No Need for Non-Robot proof here!