This page gives a run down on some of the content of typical training sorties and overseas trips.

Flight planning Basic Training Requirements (BTR)

A Vulcan sortie was usually around 4.5 to 6 hours in length depending on its nature; an exercise, a training sortie or a Lone Ranger. Lone Ranger sorties were normally a single crew taking an aircraft somewhere else in the world for a week or so to do training flights.  During my service these Lone Rangers were most frequently to Cyprus, Malta, Goose Bay in Canada or Offutt in Nebraska (home of Strategic Air Command), sometimes these Rangers could be a 'West about' going through Canada, the States, Hawaii, Australia etc. I never did get on one of those.

Training flights whether in the UK or on a Lone Ranger would take in High Level and Low Level stages with simulated bombing on both high and low level legs. All crews had a set number of Basic Training Requirements (BTRs) that they had to complete in a six month period. Each member of the crew had their own set of BTRs which they needed to complete and the crew would plan their training sorties in such a way that elements of their own BTRs were included in any trips so that the whole lot were completed by the end of the half year period; pilots would have a number of night landings or simulated engine failures, Nav Radars would have a number of low level and high level simulated bombing runs, Nav Plotters would have to do a number of night astro navigation stages etc. Simulated bombing runs and navigation accuracy were measured against set standards and at the end of the six month period crews were then graded as being 'Operational', 'Senior' or 'Command' level. This constant operational assessment was not unique to the 'V' Force, all RAF squadron crews would have similar assessments, and all would be checked periodically by the 'Group Standardization' teams as well as Squadrons and Stations being checked on their total operational readiness by 'Taceval' exercises.

Planning and briefing.

When a crew is scheduled to fly the sortie could be either an exercise, in which case the crew is told the route and the targets or it will be a normal BTR (Basic Training Requirements) sortie in which case the choice of route, targets and BTRs to be completed would be chosen by the crew.

BTR’s.  Once on the squadron the crews fell into an ongoing six monthly program of competence training where each crew and crew member had a requirement to complete a program of Basic Training Requirements (BTRs) every six months. Pilots would need to complete night landings, practice diversions, simulated emergencies etc, a Nav Radar would need a number of low level and high level attacks, a number of practice bombs etc.   As well as completing the required number of each activity, many of them had a quality level attached, so simulated and practice bombing would be scored, and you would be expected to achieve certain accuracy levels. Crews would then be graded on their achievement levels.  As I remember it crews would be deemed to be ‘Operational’, ‘Command’ or ‘Star’, but I may be wrong.

The sortie would normally consist of a number of elements, such as;

High and/or Low Level nav stages including radar bombing attacks from high or low level. The bombing could be simulated using Radar Bomb Plotting stations to determine bombing accuracy, or simulated bombing using the on board camera systems to measure accuracy, or real bomb runs on a bombing range using 'practice' bombs (weighing about 25 lb.) or actual bombing on bombing ranges using full 1,000 lb bombs. Other elements might also be; Astro navigation stage, Radar bomb attacks with the radar equipment in degraded mode, Fighter affiliation where the Vulcan exercises with fighters, trying to spot the incoming aircraft and then using escape maneuvers.

Normally the crew would assemble in the Operations Block Flight Planning Room some 3 hours before planned take-off.  About an hour would be taken up with individual crew member planning, followed by a crew brief where each member runs through their aspects of the sortie. Following the briefing the crew goes to the aircrew buffet for a pre-flight meal. These were always excellent! Following the meal, collect in-flight ration pack, change into flying suits and collect safety kit then out to the crew coach for transport to the aircraft dispersal point.  The crew would normally arrive at the aircraft between 45 - 60 minutes before take-off to get a briefing from the ground-crew on the state of the aircraft before climbing in. The main document for the Captain to familiarize himself with was the 'Form 700', this was in fact a substantial binder with a large number of sheets detailing work carried out on the aircraft after each flight.  This allowed the crew to be aware of previous problems and the work done to correct them, it would also outline other items that might still be a problem, but where the engineers deemed that the problem did not affect the aircraft's ability to fly. The Captain would sign the 700 to show that he and the crew were aware of all the issues, the crew would then board the aircraft.

Take Off

My last sortie in a Vulcan was nearly 30 years ago, so I suspect I have either forgotten some things, or remembered them incorrectly, time plays tricks.  After the crew had been to the Flight Line for a brief from the ground-crew, it was time to climb aboard.  If it was a normal training trip then the boarding was not a hurried affair, however, if the flight was part of an exercise it could be a bit of a rush.  Facilities for bodily functions were pretty basic in the Vulcan, no in-flight toilet, so many took a last pee on the grass before climbing in, usually the pilots and AEO went in, followed by the two Navs.  While the two pilots had ejector seats, the rear crew did not, something we all got to live with, but also hoped we would never be in the position to wish we had had one.  The seats had a survival pack in the bottom that you sat on and strapped to yourself for take-off and landing, the pack had a number of elements, the most important of which was an individual survival dinghy in case of escape over water. In the back of the seat was the parachute which again was strapped on for take-off and landing.  It was also supposed to be worn when at low level, but most of us did not because it restricted movement.  We hoped we would have time to clip the straps on in the event that we would have to get out. As well as our normal green flying suits, there was also a nylon garment worn under the suit, this had a labyrinth of plastic/nylon tubes with holes in them, it could be connected to a hose at each individual crew station, and the individual could select warm or cold air to be circulated.  The aircraft heating system was fine at high level, but at low level there was no real crew cooling, and certainly no 'air-conditioning', so they were the best we could get for some sort of cooling. I remember flying low-level in Malaya and Australia and even with the cool air suits it was absolutely dreadful, it was so hot.

A great shot by Chris Knox of 558 doing a steep take off.

As one would expect for a military aircraft, crew members wore helmets (bone domes) and oxygen masks, so there was also an oxygen connector at each crew station. Oxygen was not usually used on routine trips except during periods of activity; pilots would normally have them clipped on when flying at low-level or in the circuit, I used to have mine clipped on during bomb runs.  The main advantage was that it left both hands free and you only needed to flick a switch on and off to use your crew intercom.  In the circuit the pilots often flew 'open mike' with their intercom switched on so that they could speak without having to move their hands from the controls.  If they were having a hard approach in strong crosswinds, or trying an asymmetric landing with two engines out it could be disconcerting for the guys at the back, there could be a lot of heavy breathing over the intercom as the pilot sweated his way down the approach!

Having got into their positions the crew members would then go through their pre-flight equipment checks, some of them done independently, quite a few coming as part of the checklist read out by the AEO, this was because many things needed another action to have happened first, i.e. the AEO needed to get the electrics up before the radar could start its power up. Most times everything would come up, sometimes there would be faults and a discussion over how critical this was to the sortie, could it be ignored, could an engineer get in and fix it quickly, or did the crew need to vacate the aircraft and allow some hours for the engineers to work on it.  These were the worst, once a crew and aircraft were tasked to fly, it was not 'good form' to scrub the flight completely, so if the problem happened late afternoon, and it was a 3 hour delay, that might put you into dusk/night with a complete re-plan of the trip and the activities to be completed. Always a bugger.

Assuming all equipment checks were fine the crew chief would disconnect his intercom and wave off the crew from the dispersal, they would then taxi to the runway for take-off and all being well they would climb away to carry out the planned sortie.  Some 4 hours or so later the crew would return, very often to spend 30 - 45 minutes in the circuit for the pilots to practice various approach, landings or emergencies. All aspects of the sortie completed there would be a final landing and back to the dispersal for a debrief with the ground-crew, post-flight meal, change back to uniform and then very often, off to the Mess Bar for a few beers (didn't have the breathalyzer then).

Quite often the trip being planned was a “Ranger”, as we called them, short for Lone Ranger, or an overseas trip with a single crew, not a Squadron detachment.  These trips had a lot of useful training in them, as they involved operating away from home, on your own, often in another country. They were good for making a crew work together, as well as operating in an unfamiliar environment.   From the UK the majority of Rangers were to Goose Bay (Canada), Offutt (Nebraska, USA) and Cyprus, and normally involved being away about a week.  Having arrived at the destination, there would be a training trip most days, and almost invariably they would involve low level navigation and simulated attacks.  Planning for a Ranger took up a good few days prior to departure.  The pilots would work with the groundcrew to determine what spares etc they might need to take with them, especially if the trip involved landings at places which did not normally operate Vulcans.  Large paniers could be carried in the bomb-bay, and these could hold a lot of equipment and spares.  The navigators would have a pretty full time preparing themselves with routes and bombing targets, and the targets would need a lot of preparation to ensure that offsets and overlays for the radar had been prepared before leaving the UK.  The idea was to do as much preparation as possible before leaving, rather than trying to do it at the dispersal base. On these trips the Crew Chief who flew with us would be an essentail part of the team, the crew relied heavily on him to keep the aircraft serviceable throughout the period of the detachment.

After a trip round the Canadian Low Level routes, a crew taxis in at Goose Bay.  Photo J Dillon

The shot below (courtesy Andy Leitch) shows 386 refuelling at Goose Bay, snow everywhere.  You can just seen that the snow bank under the nose has been sprayed with a mauve (?) paint.  This was done to allow the pilots to see where snow banks were. On days with no sun, when it was grey and low contrast lighting it was hard to pick out dtails in the snow.