3D model
Turn it over
A procedural model built in Blender from published dimensions, drawings and photographs, painted as XH558 in its 2008–15 display scheme. Drag to orbit, scroll or pinch to zoom · download .glb (1.5 MB)
History
The Vulcan
Avro’s Vulcan was one of the three V-bombers built to carry Britain’s nuclear deterrent, and the boldest: a vast delta wing with four Olympus engines buried in its roots. The prototype first flew in August 1952, and the B.2 of 1958 added a bigger, thinner wing and far more power.
For two decades Vulcans stood on quick-reaction alert. Their only combat came at the very end of their service, in 1982, when the Black Buck raids flew from Ascension Island to bomb the runway at Port Stanley, each sortie supported by a relay of Victor tankers.
Only 136 Vulcans were built, prototypes included, yet eleven of the gazetteer’s collections hold one, a remarkable survival rate for so large an aircraft.
This airframe
B.2 XH558
XH558 was delivered to the RAF in 1960 and was the last Vulcan in service, flying as the RAF’s display aircraft until 1992. The Vulcan to the Sky Trust returned it to flight in 2007, and it made its last flight in October 2015. It now lives at The Vulcan Experience at Doncaster.
Where to see one
In the gazetteer
The gazetteer records the Vulcan in 11 UK collections. The airframe modelled here is marked.