In June 2007 a very special event will happen in the aviation world. A restored Avro Vulcan Mark 2 - XH558 - will take to the air again to help commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Falklands conflict. To coincide with this the memoirs of one of its test pilots, Tony Blackman, will be published - the first ever book about test flying this monumental delta-wing aircraft which dominated the history of the late 20th century. Tony is the ideal man to write such a tale as he flew no less than 105 of the 136 built, logging 850 flights at over 1,327 hours. His book will describe in layman's terms what it was like to tame the first prototypes 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 His words, descriptions and hitherto largely unpublished photographs will make people feel as he did the excitement of handling such an incredibly powerful monster always in the knowledge that he had to be in complete charge all the time as the monster could and did bite back.returncharacterreturncharacter returncharacterreturncharacter REVIEWS returncharacterreturncharacter"This is the word from the man with 105 of the 136 Vulcans built gracing his logbook... a fabulous combination of facts, data, technical details coupled with engaging prose. A great insight in Vulcan's enduring allure."October 2007, Flypast magazine "a fascinating, gracefully written, and superbly knowledgeable flight test manual describing in detail what it took to turn a futuristic late 1940's bomber design into a squadron ready nuclear weapon." April/ May 2008, Air and Space Magazine "...The first book that concerns the test flying of this wonderful British icon. Blackman is well suited to tell the story. As Avro's chief test pilot, he flew 105 of the total 136 actually built. ...a great story about a wonderful airplane."August 2008, Flight Journal"goes into great detail about the various trials and tribulations of the revolutionary delta winged craft..tells to great effect some fascinating personal stories surrounding the Vulcan..." IPMS, 9/2009"Highly readable, keeping both the technical reader interested without perplexing the layman. A fine book for both." Logbook, 12/2008
All Tony Blackman's books are about aviation --- non-fiction and fiction. His fiction books are a series featuring aviation insurance investigator Peter Talbert; they are all mystery/thrilers and Talbert is representing insurance companies, pilots or airlines. The books are all up to date and techhnically accurate drawing on his great experience of aviation as regulated and regulator.
His non-fiction books are almost unique being written so that the non-technical reader can read them and enjoy them. There are many Vulcan books but Tony's is the only one written by by someone whom actually tested them, 105 of the 135 built.
Tony was educated at Oundle School and Trinity College Cambridge, where he obtained an honours degree in Physics. After joining the Royal Air Force as a Maths and Physics Instructor, he learnt to fly, flew Vampires and Venoms in Germany, trained as a test pilot and then joined A.V.Roe and Co. Ltd. where he became Chief Test Pilot.
Tony was an expert in aviation electronics and was invited by Smiths Industries to join their Aerospace Board, initially as Technical Operations Director. He helped develop the then new large electronic displays and Flight Management Systems.
After leaving Smiths Industries, he was invited to join the Board of the UK Civil Aviation Authority as Technical Member.
Tony was awarded an OBE for his test flying and is a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society, Fellow of the American Society of Experimental Test Pilots, a Fellow of the Royal Institute of Navigation and a Liveryman of the Guild of Air Pilots and Air Navigators.
By a strange coincidence he now lives in Hamble where A.V.Roe did his development flying, see Tony's web site www.blackmanbooks.co.uk
