(All images by J.E.T. 603, reproduced with permission)
This series of photographs documents the fiery fate of an Avro Vulcan bomber used for crash rescue training until the mid 1990s. Vulcan B2 XL427 had been delivered to the RAF in September 1962. Equipped with Olympus 201 engines and later modified to carry the Blue Steel nuclear stand-off missile, the aircraft was flown to RAF Machrihanish in August 1982 at the end of its service life. Following a relentless programme of fire training duties, the battered remains of the once mighty airframe were removed from the dump and scrapped in June 1995.
These images depict XL427 after 13 years in the fire pits on the Mull of Kintyre peninsula, Scotland. What’s left is unmistakably a Vulcan, albeit a twisted hulk baring the scars of years of battle damage repair training before being set alight. Graffiti ‘artists’ tagged the jet on 30/5/94 and a broken nose wheel assembly lying nearby (below) echoes the violent methods employed to remove the Vulcan from its undercarriage – by literally blowing its legs off. Such was the fate of many Avro Vulcans and other retired RAF aircraft, such as the F-4 Phantom.
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