On 24 July 1959 Vulcan XA 891 crashed following a total electrical failure shortly after take-off. The following details are taken from the file in the National Archives at Kew;
This accident came some months after the Detroit crash.
The signal sent to notify people of the crash stated that it was a routine test flight, crewed by AV Roe and Bristol Siddley personnel;
J.G. Harrison; Chief Test Pilot (AV Roe)
R.G. Proudlove; Second Pilot (AV Roe)
R.S. Pogson; AEO (AV Roe)
E. Hartley; Flight Test Observer (AV Roe)
P. Christie; Bristol Siddley Flight Testing
All the crew were uninjured.
There is a hand-written note on file, probably taken when the initial information was coming in. This note says the crash happened about 11:40, and the aircraft crashed near High Hunsley, about 6 n.m. north of Brough airfield. The initial information from the crew said that they had lost two generators, and this was then followed by electrical failure. It also states that this aircraft was ‘unmodified’, and so did not have corrections for known electrical problems. Much of what follows might mean more to AEOs than the rest of us.
Initial handwritten note says that “The aircraft was non standard as regards engine and generator installation and was on engine development test flight. Two port engines were development engines without generators. One generator rigged up in the bomb bay. Two starboard engines carried normal generators.
30 seconds after take-off at about 3000 ft., 180 kts No. 3 gen warning light came on and No. 4 engine rpm dropped off. Later No. 4 engine was relit and it worked OK. A/c was becoming difficult to control and in spite of full stick forward A/c continued to climb. Pilot baled out crew after about 15/17 minutes airborne. A/c hit ground in flat spin to starboard. Wreckage burnt. All gens recovered but no immediate evidence of flash over. Contactors being searched for some of which reveal arcing.”
The diagram below shows the electrical system that had been rigged up in XA891.
