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This did meet the requirements for what it would be used for.

Intended to be based in Germany in the 60s facing the Russians it wouldn't be powered up for 600 hours, because in 60 hours you would have been overrun.

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There's an old Tom Lehrer song, "So Long, Mom," about just that: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pklr0UD9eSo

The British vulcan bombers of the same era had the range to reach Moscow - but not the range to return to the UK.

I don't think that's true - Vulcans hold the record for the longest bombing mission even today (during the Falklands war). The secret is air-to-air refuelling...

might be hard to do that somewhere over poland if ww3 just started

USAF wargames discovered against F22s the most effective strategy to use would be tanker denial. Tho' with 4th generation fighters you would still need to outnumber them 6:1 (!)

The astronomer Freeman Dyson was part of the operational analysis team in WWII that worked out it made most sense to only search for and attack refuelling and resupply U-Boats (milkcows)

The Vulcan flight gear famously included hiking boots so the crews could walk to Turkey after completing their mission

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