Grub Street Publishing

Vulcan Test Pilot

by  Tony Blackman

Reviewed By  Paul Bradley, IPMS# 35554

MSRP: $26.96 ISBN: 978-1-904943-88-4 Distributed by Casemate Publishing: www.casematepublishing.com The Avro Vulcan was one of the most capable of strategic jet bombers; faster, more maneuverable and with a greater ceiling than contemporary machines, the Vulcan was Britain's ultimate airborne nuclear deterrent. Tony Blackman was one of Avro's program test pilots for the Vulcan and as such, has a wealth of experience with the aircraft; indeed, he flew over half of the individual airframes, accumulating more than 1,300 hours on type. His story is not just a history of the Vulcan, though this is part of the whole. Blackman concentrates on the flight testing of the type and to that end he goes into great detail about the various trials and tribulations of the revolutionary delta-winged craft. He also tells to great effect some fascinating personal stories surrounding the Vulcan, including the irrepressible Roly Falk, Avro's Chief Test Pilot and infamous for rolling the Vulcan at the Farnborough Air Show, much to the dismay of the company and the RAF! Some of Blackman's narrative is, necessarily, rather technical and heavy-going, though he does his best to explain everything as simply as can be possible. The result is a rather variable read, rather like a hike in the woods - on the whole enjoyable, but some boggy patches. In addition to the narrative, Blackman includes a chapter on Vulcan accidents, and various appendices covering production history, operators, specifications and development aircraft. The book includes a reasonable selection of photos throughout, as well as a number of technical diagrams illustrating performance data gleaned from the test flying described in the text. Taken together, this is a useful supplement to other Vulcan references, such as the Aerofax book I reviewed previously, and was an interesting read. Incidentally, this book is a paperback reprint of a 2007 release. My thanks to Tara Lichtermann at Casemate Books for the review sample; this book can be purchased from the Casemate Publishing website.