Low level was the most challenging part of Vulcan operations, it required a high work load from all crew members, especially if it was flown in an unfamiliar area away from home.

Let down to low level Pilot’s view at low level, Canada

The photo is a copilot view at low level through a valley in Italy.  This is one of Andy Leitch’s photos.  I did the Italian low level routes in October ‘72 on Tony Burton’s crew.

With the change from large slower moving aircraft of the Vulcan era, to modern small fast-jets, the availability of airspace for low-level flying may have changed from my day. In the 1970's there were areas of the country that were designated as low-flying areas, and there were also low-flying routes. ‘Areas’ would allow aircraft to manoeuver pretty much at will within the area, while still working with a ground air traffic controller; ‘routes’ were narrow corridors which could be flown at low-level, but the aircraft was required to stick as closely as possible to the centre line of the route and to turn at the designated route turning points. There was no facility for the crew to do other than follow the route at required height and in the designated direction (the routes were one-way for obvious reasons!).  En-route there were designated low-level targets for simulated attack which could be scored either by Radar Bomb Plots (Lindholme was one that sticks in the mind) or by on-board F95 camera. The main training exercise on the low-level route was accuracy of timing at entry, turning points and exit, as well as track keeping. The Plotter would certainly want to be within 30 seconds at these points.  Don't forget, there were no PC's, hand-held calculators, digital watches or GPS in those days!

Let down to Low Level.

Most of the targeting for the Vulcan involved a high level transit phase, let down to low level for the run to target and then at some point en-route home there was likely to be a high level return transit.  The route home was unlikely to be the same as the route to target, for obvious reasons. Let down to low level would begin at some point expected to be outside of enemy radar cover, descent would be pretty steep and the Nav Plotter would have a very tight timing window to be over the low level entry point, certainly within half a minute of planned time.  Wherever possible the low level entry point would be one that could be visibly identified by the pilots and also something which could be accurately surveyed and give a good radar return so allowing the Nav team to get a good and accurate fix at the start of the low level leg. While the Vulcan at low level did not have the speed of a modern day fighter bomber, and did not fly quite as low, the aircraft did not have the accurate GPS navigation system of today’s aircraft, or the HUD pilot display.  The aircraft was large and because of its rigid structure, every bit of turbulence transmitted itself through the aircraft structure to the crew, making it both hot and somewhat uncomfortable.

Low level training was normally done at around 300 knots at a height between 300 and 500 feet, but in a war situation it was expected that this would be around 360 knots and probably below 300 feet, but taking into account the size and inertia of the aircraft and its slower reaction than modern aircraft to rapid direction changes in hilly terrain.  Low level flying required a great deal of concentration from all crew members, and navigation required teamwork from the two Navs and the pilots. For the en-route navigation at low level there would be a good deal of communication between the Plotter and the pilots, from his map detail he would be making the pilots aware of expected visual fix points as they were coming up, as well as potential hazards like power lines or sudden terrain changes, roads, railways etc.  The pilots would look for the visual check points and possibly change direction towards them if agreed with the Plotter, or give estimated distances from them if they were off-track features.  The communication between them was to ensure that the aircraft was on the intended track.  At the same time the Nav Radar would be taking en-route fixes from fix points selected by himself on training runs or by the route planning teams if it were a war sortie. The low level leg would be unlikely to be a straight path from low level entry point to target, it was likely to have various turning points en-route which needed to be made on time.  In a war situation this would be important for reasons of ‘deconfliction’, ie most aircraft would be working on their own and unaware of the tracks and targets of other attacking aircraft.  They would need to be routed and given timing targets that ensured that they would not be affected by nuclear explosions from other attacking aircraft.  The final navigation point before the target was the Initial Point, or IP, usually between 20 - 40 miles from the target, it was important to hit this point as accurately as possible to ensure that the aircraft would now approach the target on the correct approach heading. From the IP to the target the

This photo and the one below show the view through the copilot’s window at low level over Canada.  Photo courtesy of Andy Leitch.

Navigation of the aircraft at low-level is the responsibility of the Nav Plotter, assisted by the other members of the crew. Because of the inherent dangers of flying at low-level, flight safety issues go up a few notches, accuracy of flying, navigation and general lookout and awareness become even greater priorities.  The Captain has the responsibility for safety of the crew, aircraft and people on the ground in the event of a problem, as such he needs to be aware of the situation at all times and if necessary take the decision to climb out of the low level phase, making air traffic aware of his intention, should he feel that the aircraft is in a dangerous or flight safety situation

Photo Andy Leitch

While the Plotter maintained the nav plot, he took input from other crew members.  The pilots had an obvious role to play as they had the advantage of being able to 'see out', they could relate aircraft position to the map they carried and give indications to the Plotter as to how they were tracking. They could also give important information to the plotter on features coming up, that were on the map (church, road junction, power cables etc) as well as items that could be important track or timing checks.  During flight planning the Plotter may well have made a note that they would cross a railway 3.5 minutes (or whatever) before a particular turning point.  Getting a call from the pilot when 'on top' the railway would be a very useful timing check for the Plotter. The Nav Radar would have selected points or features during the flight planning stage, that he would expect to see on his radar, and from which he expected to be able to get an accurate radar fix.  En route he would use these fixes to update the Plotter's GPI6.  On night low-level exercises the crew would fly higher, but the pilots would obviously be able to see much less of the ground features. The nav Radar would be able to interpret the ground returns that he was getting and give the pilots a running commentary on the high ground around them and coming up on track, so helping with essential 'ground avoidance'!