A proposito del nome ... (ancora da "Vulcan Units of the Cold War") ...
Cita:
VX770 went on to appear at the Farnborough airshow just days later, giving rise in the mind of The Aeroplane correspondent at least 'to eerie sensations, and a feeling that it was extra-terrestrial, manned by species hitherto unknown to man'!
Flight magazine subsequently came up with all sorts of alliterative names such as 'Avenger', 'Apollo' and 'Assegai' (after Gloster Javelin), before finally recommending Avro 'Albion'.
However, the Chief of Air Staff stated that his preference was for a V-class of bombers based on their wing shapes.
By October the Air Council had decided to christen the Avro 698 'Vulcan' after the Roman god of fire and destruction.
Vulcan was not a new name in aeronautics, as it had been used for a Vickers transport in the 1920s, and it did not meet with universal approval.
'I never liked the name', said Avro's technical director.
'After it was announced I went to look it up in a mythology book, and the definition of Vulcan was "misshapen god of war thrown out of heaven" '.
Da "Flight" del 19 Settembre 1952 ...
Cita:
Like others who recognize that the naming of a new
aircraft may be of far-reaching importance, we have been
considering at odd moments a suitable appellation for the
698. Names being a matter of individual taste, we (by which
is implied the present writer) advance our proposals with
diffidence. Reactions will be both varied and violent.
In the first place, we are of the opinion that, other things
being equal, alliterative names such as Vickers Valiant are
most desirable, and one that leaps to mind for the 698 is
Avenger. That this was conferred upon an Avro fighter of
long ago need not prejudice its acceptance today, for the
fighter was a little-known "one-off"; it is, however, firmly
ruled out by the continuing employment of similarly entitled
carrier-borne Grummans. For a similar reason Apollo must
be discounted, and in any case, the names of mythology are
not ideally suited to this unique British achievement.
Following the Javelin, of course, Assegai calls for serious
consideration. But, having duly pondered these and several
other names, alliterative and otherwise, we offer Albion—the
ancient name of England, easy on the tongue, resonant and
noble on the ear (and in this choice we were in no wise influenced
by the parrot-croak "perfidious"). For a commercial
development we consider Aurora to be beyond reproach.
Vi è, come potete vedere, un gustoso riferimento alla "perfida Albione" che non è, come comunemente si crede, una definizione di origine mussoliniana ...
http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albione#L....dei_secoliCommenti e suggerimenti da parte dei lettori della rivista ...
http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/...02928.htmlhttp://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/...03060.htmlLa scelta ... da "Flight" del 24 Ottobre 1952 ...
http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/...03118.html 
Il meteo su Washington
