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A few places to begin, from the aircraft’s story to the people who fly it.
Meet the aircraft
The Vulcan grew out of the RAF's B.35/46 bomber requirement. Avro used smaller 707 research aircraft to investigate the delta-wing configuration before committing it to the full-size bomber. RAF service extended from 1956 to 1984. The bomber, tanker and reconnaissance versions in simulator packages represent different stages of its working life.
Aircraft background
Wikipedia contributors · Read more ↗Returning to the Vulcan after thirty-three years
Ramsey had left Vulcan flying in 1978, hoping to move into fast jets. More than three decades later, an opportunity to join XH558’s crew brought him back to the aircraft. Before the flight he watched the crowd while eating an ice cream, then discovered that Kevin Rumens intended him to make both the takeoff and landing.
First-person report · June 2011. XH558 flight on 29 May 2011 with Kevin Rumens, from Bruntingthorpe to Doncaster.
Global Aviation Resource · Read more ↗Use the simulator’s spoiler controls for the airbrakes
The manual maps the airbrakes to default MSFS spoiler assignments and also provides a three-position switch behind the throttle quadrant. Its high-drag extension changes automatically when the undercarriage is lowered.
Avro Vulcan · Just Flight · MSFS 2020 · MSFS 2024
Just Flight · Read more ↗Into the cockpit
YouTube Military Aviation History · 25 min ·
Inside The Cockpit - Avro Vulcan B.2
A museum cockpit visit explores the Vulcan B.2 and its history.
Real aircraft · Avro Vulcan
Watch on YouTube ↗Preview images are served by AirframeDB. Videos open on YouTube only when you choose to watch.
Meet Avro Vulcan
The Vulcan grew out of the RAF's B.35/46 bomber requirement. Avro used smaller 707 research aircraft to investigate the delta-wing configuration before committing it to the full-size bomber. RAF service extended from 1956 to 1984. The bomber, tanker and reconnaissance versions in simulator packages represent different stages of its working life.
Avro Vulcan
Aircraft type designators
A model-specific ICAO or FAA designator has not been confirmed in the references reviewed for this aircraft.
History & design
Flight testing also meant hours at a desk
Flight-test observer Alan Ainsworth recalled roughly five hours of desk work for each hour airborne. Staff examined instrument recordings frame by frame, while cameras and changing film in flight formed part of the observer’s workload.
Vulcan to the Sky Trust · Early Vulcan flying: another view ↗Observer’s recollection; not counted as a pilot account
Development milestones
First flight: 30 August 1952
Wikipedia contributors · Avro Vulcan ↗Avro Vulcan · family/variant named by the source · Wikipedia revision 1373880108
Pilot accounts
Returning to the Vulcan after thirty-three years
Ramsey had left Vulcan flying in 1978, hoping to move into fast jets. More than three decades later, an opportunity to join XH558’s crew brought him back to the aircraft. Before the flight he watched the crowd while eating an ice cream, then discovered that Kevin Rumens intended him to make both the takeoff and landing.
The restored aircraft was lighter than the Vulcans he remembered operating, and its acceleration initially ran ahead of his thinking. Practice approaches helped him settle back in. The cockpit’s height also demanded a change from the little Tutor he had been flying: Rumens’s landing prompt came sooner than Ramsey expected. A smooth arrival at Doncaster left him delighted and keen to do it again.
First-person report · June 2011. XH558 flight on 29 May 2011 with Kevin Rumens, from Bruntingthorpe to Doncaster.
Read the full account · Global Aviation Resource ↗Finding familiar controls in an unfamiliar delta
Wood remembered XA893 as an aircraft whose control forces differed from the later Vulcans he flew. Its early wing configuration brought heavier effort in both pitch and roll, whereas the later arrangement combined a heavier elevator feel with lighter ailerons.
Landing it produced much happier memories. Wood joked that he seemed unable to make a bad landing in XA893 and credited the cushioning effect he felt near the ground. He also recalled taking senior officers flying.
Retrospective account of Boscombe Down trials flying. Selected recollections concern early Vulcan XA893; the memoir also discusses other aircraft and later variants.
Read the full account · Bill Wood ↗Teaching crews and finding a community in Cyprus
Briggs’s move to the Vulcan interrupted work he had enjoyed as a Jet Provost instructor. He completed conversion at Finningley and later spent a year instructing in the simulator before teaching in the aircraft itself. His pupils included young copilots moving into the left seat and experienced commanders learning a different type.
A posting to Cyprus brought a more domestic side to his Vulcan years. He remembered the crew community, life with his wife Edith, and time at the beach after morning work. One family’s piano even became part of the story of moving people and possessions overseas. In the interview, the aircraft’s place in his career is inseparable from teaching other aircrew and the friendships surrounding a squadron posting.
IBCC oral-history transcript · March 2017. Former wartime flight engineer who subsequently trained as a pilot; Vulcan B.2 instruction and No. 9 Squadron service.
Read the full account · International Bomber Command Centre Digital Archive ↗In your simulator
Systems, equipment and documentation for each developer’s aircraft.
Compare simulator versions →MSFS 2020 · MSFS 2024Avro Vulcan
Just Flight · Released
Avro Vulcan
Just Flight · Released
X-Plane 11Avro Vulcan
Just Flight · Released
Avro Vulcan
Just Flight · Released
Aircraft specifications
Published figures for the named real-aircraft variant. Simulator equipment and performance can differ.
| Specification | Published value |
|---|---|
| Length | 97 ft 1 in (29.59 m) |
| Wingspan | 99 ft 5 in (30.30 m) |
| Height | 26 ft 6 in (8.08 m) |
| Wing area | 3,554 sq ft (330.2 m² ) |
| Empty weight | 83,573 lb (37,908 kg) equipped and crewed |
| Max takeoff weight | 170,000 lb (77,111 kg) |
| Powerplant | 4 × Bristol Olympus Mk.101 / Mk.102 / Mk.104 twin-spool turbojet engines, 11,000 lbf (49 kN) thrust each |
| Maximum speed | 561 kn (646 mph, 1,039 km/h) at altitude |
| Maximum speed | Mach 0.96 |
| Cruise speed | 493 kn (567 mph, 913 km/h) / M0.86 at 45,000 feet (14,000 m) |
| Range | 2,265 nmi (2,607 mi, 4,195 km) |
| Service ceiling | 56,000 ft (17,000 m) |
Manuals & resources
Find your next read
Choose a topic for a short introduction and a link to the original source. Simulator references identify the developer and edition they cover.
Simulator documentation
Use the simulator’s spoiler controls for the airbrakesAvro Vulcan · Just Flight · MSFS 2020 · MSFS 2024
The manual maps the airbrakes to default MSFS spoiler assignments and also provides a three-position switch behind the throttle quadrant. Its high-drag extension changes automatically when the undercarriage is lowered.
Just Flight MSFS operations manual · PDF pp.39–40; p.40 visually checked
Just Flight · Read the source ↗One group of surfaces combines pitch and rollAvro Vulcan · Just Flight · MSFS 2020 · MSFS 2024
The guide describes eight elevons, with individual powered control units, combining pitch and roll commands. Controls for powered flying controls, artificial feel and stabilisation are grouped on the left console.
MSFS operations manual · PDF pp.31–32; documented cockpit and system arrangement
Just Flight · Read the source ↗The X-Plane edition uses its own assistance panelsAvro Vulcan · Just Flight · X-Plane 11
The X-Plane 11 product provides a 2D payload panel and an interactive engine-start checklist, with checklists for other phases. The MSFS edition uses its own tablet interface.
Just Flight Vulcan for X-Plane 11 · gathered September 2026
Just Flight · Read the source ↗Restore a saved cockpit or begin ready for takeoffAvro Vulcan · Just Flight · X-Plane 11
The listing describes panel states saved with a flight and selectable cold-and-dark or ready-for-takeoff configurations. A pop-up flashlight and reflection controls provide additional ways to adjust the cockpit view.
X-Plane 11 product description; no X-Plane 12 compatibility inferred
Just Flight · Read the source ↗Choose a starting state and manage the load in the tabletAvro Vulcan · Just Flight · MSFS 2020 · MSFS 2024
Just Flight lists cold, taxi and takeoff states in the EFB, plus payload management and flight-planning integrations. Panel state is preserved with a saved flight, so the documented persistence is tied to saving that flight.
MSFS Vulcan product description · gathered September 2026
Just Flight · Read the source ↗Pilot account
Returning to the Vulcan after thirty-three yearsFirst-person report · June 2011. XH558 flight on 29 May 2011 with Kevin Rumens, from Bruntingthorpe to Doncaster.
Ramsey had left Vulcan flying in 1978, hoping to move into fast jets. More than three decades later, an opportunity to join XH558’s crew brought him back to the aircraft. Before the flight he watched the crowd while eating an ice cream, then discovered that Kevin Rumens intended him to make both the takeoff and landing. The restored aircraft was lighter than the Vulcans he remembered operating, and its acceleration initially ran ahead of his thinking.
Bill Ramsey
Global Aviation Resource · Read the source ↗Finding familiar controls in an unfamiliar deltaRetrospective account of Boscombe Down trials flying. Selected recollections concern early Vulcan XA893; the memoir also discusses other aircraft and later variants.
Wood remembered XA893 as an aircraft whose control forces differed from the later Vulcans he flew. Its early wing configuration brought heavier effort in both pitch and roll, whereas the later arrangement combined a heavier elevator feel with lighter ailerons. Landing it produced much happier memories.
Bill Wood
Bill Wood · Read the source ↗Read the original documentation from the people who created it. Manuals open on their publisher’s website.
Aircraft background
Avro VulcanWikipedia contributors · Research background · retrieved 2026-09-12 Early Vulcan flying: another viewVulcan to the Sky Trust · Alan Ainsworth · flight-test observer’s recollectionProduct
Avro Vulcan B Mk. 2, K.2 & MRR (MSFS)Just Flight · Official developer / designated store catalogue · checked 2026-09-12 Avro Vulcan B Mk. 2, K.2 & MRR (X-Plane 11)Just Flight · Official developer / designated store catalogue · checked 2026-09-12Developer documentation
Avro Vulcan B Mk.2, K.2 and MRR operations manualJust Flight · MSFS edition · retrieved September 2026Built-in force-feedback profiles
Read the documentary basis, editable starting settings and remaining questions for the aircraft you fly. Each explanation refers to the exact profile revision shown.
Catalogue programme-20261022-v1 · 2 profile choices
Just Flight Avro Vulcan
Just Flight · Free and Pro · Revision 5 · Inherited starting point
MSFS 2020 · MSFS 2024
Just Flight Avro Vulcan: Separate artificial feel motivates the powered-control spring response; direct elevon airloads are not mechanically returned to the pilot.
Avro Vulcan
Free and Pro · Revision 1 · Partial review
MSFS 2024 · MSFS 2020 · X-Plane 11
Avro Vulcan: Separate artificial feel motivates the powered-control spring response; direct elevon airloads are not mechanically returned to the pilot.
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