The Vulcan bomber only had ejector seats for the two pilots… the rear crew made do with an escape slide, a level if inequality that killed many and resulted in questions being asked in Parliament. This is the story of the Vulcan and a look at the USN Skyknight which had a similar escape system.

The rear crew compartment of the Avro Vulcan

 

Malta

 

Malta

 

The Vulcan

 

The Vulcan air brakes

 

The crash site

 

Avro Vulcan XV770

 

The Vulcan rear crew escape hatch

 

The F3 Skynight

 

Skynight bailout trials

 

Images under Creative Commons licence with thanks to Isaac Bee, Anton Zelenov, NASA, DFST, RuthAS, the RAF, Roland Turner, US Navy, Ultra7 and the USAF.