Vulcan Test Pilot

Book excerpt: In this memoir, the author of Nimrod: Rise and Fall details his experience testing the UK’s strategic bomber while flying for Avro during the Cold War. In 2007, a restored Avro Vulcan Mark 2—XH558—took to the skies to help commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Falklands conflict. To coincide with this, the memoirs of one of its test pilots, Tony Blackman, was published to great acclaim. Tony flew no less than 105 of the 136 built, logging 850 flights at over 1,327 hours. His book describes in layman’s terms what it was like to tame the first prototypes of the monumental delta-wing aircraft and to master the unusual characteristics necessitated by the Vulcan’s shape. Although Tony puts the developments, demonstrations, incidents, and accidents in their political and historical context, his story is a highly personal one. He explains how this awesome aircraft became a national treasure and captured the imagination of the whole country. His words, descriptions, and photographs will make people feel as he did the excitement of handling such an incredibly powerful monster always in the knowledge that he had to be always in complete control of the monster as it could, and did, bite back. Praise for Vulcan Test Pilot “Highly readable, keeping both the technical reader interested without perplexing the layman. A fine book for both.” —Logbook “Fascinating, gracefully written, and superbly knowledgeable.” —Air and Space Magazine