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Avro Vulcan discussion.

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Strathclyder

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There are three machines I wish I'd ridden/seen when I had the chance:
Concorde
The Vulcan
APT

Split from here.

Likely not quite what you have in mind here and not to make you jealous (and apart from anything else, this is OT; my apologies to the mods!), but I saw XH558 two years in a row (2014/2015) at the Scottish Airshow, the latter being her final display in Scotland before her grounding later that year. The sight & sound of her soaring in over Ayr Promenade from the south-west to start her display in 2014 will stay with me forever.

The attached image from the '15 show remains one of the crowning highlights of my photographic collection, and even then it doesn't capture the whirlwind of bittersweet emotions I was feeling that day...

IMG_6867 - Copy.JPG
 
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Wyrleybart

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Likely not quite what you have in mind here and not to make you jealous (and apart from anything else, this is OT; my apologies to the mods!), but I saw XH558 two years in a row (2014/2015) at the Scottish Airshow, the latter being her final display in Scotland before her grounding later that year. The sight & sound of her soaring in over Ayr Promenade from the south-west to start her display in 2014 will stay with me forever.

The attached image from the '15 show remains one of the crowning highlights of my photographic collection, and even then it doesn't capture the whirlwind of bittersweet emotions I was feeling that day...

View attachment 118702
Although I have only seen Vulcans a handful of times, twice I was utterly gobsmacked. Crich transport extravaganza in the very early 1980s and one lazily appeared from over the back of the quarry, then applied full "display power" and shot up above us. The other time I had taken a few spotters over in a minibus and we were at Southend looking around the Viscount airframes stored there when a Vulcan did an overshoot, again applying "display power". Truly awesome aeroplanes.

My top cherishes though were trips on two VC10s from Brize refuelling over the north sea. 25 feet away from a Jaguar or a Tornado at 20,000 flying racetracks over the north sea will never grow old in my memory.

Back to the APT, but linked in a way. The reason XH558 was taken out the skies was the lack of tech support for it. There simply wasn't the ability to have the plane technically supported any longer, similarly most other jet engined aircraft like the Lightning and the Phantom etc etc. I suppose you could argue that if enough money could be pumped into the ACLG and enough professionals could be sourced there might be a slim chance but it is many many millions involved - even if the structure of each vehicle is actually sound enough, let along considering the undergear. Then you have the huge problem of 1970s computerised electronics, which are a few tiers more professional than your Commodore 64 from that era.
 

Alanko

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Likely not quite what you have in mind here and not to make you jealous (and apart from anything else, this is OT; my apologies to the mods!), but I saw XH558 two years in a row (2014/2015) at the Scottish Airshow, the latter being her final display in Scotland before her grounding later that year. The sight & sound of her soaring in over Ayr Promenade from the south-west to start her display in 2014 will stay with me forever.

The attached image from the '15 show remains one of the crowning highlights of my photographic collection, and even then it doesn't capture the whirlwind of bittersweet emotions I was feeling that day...

View attachment 118702


I'm only slightly troubled by the fact that this was 2014-15! I was at both. I didn't really know about 558, so was surprised to see a working Vulcan! My memory was looking left down the beach and seeing what looked like a hovering triangle with two lazily drifting columns of smoke underneath. Then the pilot opened the taps and we got one long howl. From memory the howl wasn't as potent in 2015? It also had undercarriage problems with the nose wheel refusing to fully extend.

I went to the statics day in 2015 and stood under 558. I saw her take off, which I think was the last time it departed a runway other than at Doncaster? They crept home with the gear down. We got one slow pass with a wing waggle then that was it! All a memory now.


I do wonder how all these museums with static outdoor Vulcan B2s are going to keep them in good condition over the next decade or so. The outcry will happen when the next is chopped and the cockpit saved I reckon.
 

trebor79

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I really wish I'd made time to see the Vulcan fly when I had the chance. I bitterly regret it.
If you search YouTube for "B52 Vs Vulcan" there's an awesome take off complete with the sound of the engines spooling up and howl, and zoom climb. Camera misses the actual take off as it was being planned for BTW performance :lol:.
A colleague at a place I used to work was there that day. Said when the Vulcan took off an American airman stood nearby dropped his burger in astonishment and exclaimed "Gee whizz, what in god's name is THAT?!"
 

Cowley

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I did manage to see it at the Dawlish Airshow a few years ago and it was incredibly impressive (and loud).
Just found a video of it that day.

 

Strathclyder

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If you search YouTube for "B52 Vs Vulcan" there's an awesome take off complete with the sound of the engines spooling up and howl, and zoom climb. Camera misses the actual take off as it was being planned for BTW performance :lol:.
A colleague at a place I used to work was there that day. Said when the Vulcan took off an American airman stood nearby dropped his burger in astonishment and exclaimed "Gee whizz, what in god's name is THAT?!"
This is the video in question; I recognized that comment about the American airman immediately. ;)


I really wish I'd made time to see the Vulcan fly when I had the chance. I bitterly regret it.
Tbh, the sole reason I made the 80+ mile round trip to/from the Scottish Airshow in 2014 & 2015 was to see the Vulcan. And by oath was the trip worth it both years, especially the latter as I knew I'd never see the like again. I haven't been back since, as it just isn't the same without her.

Then there's this spectacular takeoff - starting at 1:38, just before she spools up - dating from 22nd June 1991 at the Woodford Airshow, the year before the RAF retired XH558 and disbanded the Vulcan Display Flight unit. The way she just leaps into the air here never fails to take my breath away.

 
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Cowley

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This is the video in question; I recognized that comment about the American airman immediately. ;)



Tbh, the sole reason I made the 80+ mile round trip to/from the Scottish Airshow in 2014/15 was to see the Vulcan. And by oath was the trip worth it both years, especially the latter as I knew I'd never see the like again. I haven't been back since, as it just isn't the same without her.

Then there's this spectacular takeoff - starting at 1:38, just before she spools up - dating from 22nd June 1991 at the Woodford Airshow, the year before the RAF retired XH558 and disbanded the Vulcan Display Flight unit. The way she just leaps into the air never fails to take my breath away.


Phwoar. That’s amazing.
 

Ediswan

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I was lucky here. On noting the final flying season, I thought I would see if there was anywhere convenient for Stevenage. Shuttleworth was very convenient. Especially given that it was practical to arrive by bicycle (train to Biggleswade), which allowed access via the gate on Hill Lane.
 

gordonthemoron

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I was staying at RAF Finningley, sometime in the mid 70s, when I was in the air cadets, one evening I was walking past the end of the runway just as a Vulcan landed, awesome
 

Ken H

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I saw a vulcan make a low level pass at Church Fenton air show in the late 60 when I went with Dad. Awesome. There was one at Wellesbourne when we went to the caff at the airfield there - but we have moved from the midlands now so dont know if its still there.
No idea what it was but I was doing the 3 peaks and was between pen-y-Ghent and Ribblehead when a jet came over low, then sat on its tail with re-heat on. Loud or what!. Stank of kerosene. wow! It was about where an RAF jet came down around 1980.
Dad was special duties wireless op in Lancasters in and did his 30 ops in 1944. He got a ride in one for a taxi round (The Lancaster was only certified for taxiing at that time) about 2005, I think. I would love to fly in one to see what Dad experienced. When he was 19.
 

trebor79

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This is the video in question; I recognized that comment about the American airman immediately. ;)
Haha. Either my colleague was the commenter or he was pinching someone else's anecdote! It is an amazing video though. Sends shivers through my spine.
The videos are amazing, no question about that, but I can confirm from personal experience that actually seeing her in the metal was something else entirely.
Indeed. I've seen the F35 a few times, and the Tornado at Lowestoft airshow about a decade ago. Videos are good, but they don't capture the way the noise engulfs you, and in the case of the tornado display you could feel reverberations through the ground and in your body. Talk about "shock and awe"!
 

Strathclyder

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Haha. Either my colleague was the commenter or he was pinching someone else's anecdote! It is an amazing video though. Sends shivers through my spine.
Yeah, it's one of my fave Vulcan vids on YT out of countless examples on there for that exact reason; that howl really does make my spine shiver.

Indeed. I've seen the F35 a few times, and the Tornado at Lowestoft airshow about a decade ago. Videos are good, but they don't capture the way the noise engulfs you, and in the case of the tornado display you could feel reverberations through the ground and in your body. Talk about "shock and awe"!
I haven't seen either the F35 or Tornado at airshows, but I have had the latter (along with the odd Typhoon) fly right over my head during holidays in Northumberland. The most memerable occurence being on a beach near Beadnell (about 5 miles out from Bamburgh) in 2010 and seeing at least 2 Tornados skirting along the edge of the beach headed inland, then catching sight of another one shooting in from the sea headed inland (had to have been less than 100 feet off the ground) and fly right over - and I do mean right over - our heads at that height. The noise was indescribable and it actually felt as if my internal organs have been rearranged. Shock and awe indeed!
 

LOL The Irony

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I've seen Vulcan XH558 3 times. Once at Woodford, once at the Rhyl Air show and once over my house on its farewell tour. It's howl would've put the fear of good into the Russians, was it ever used for its intended purpose.
 

jfollows

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I lived in Poynton until 1976 and would see Vulcans landing at Woodford over the houses opposite if they were landing from the east. I went to the Woodford Air Show more than once in the early 1970s but if we stayed at home we got a good free show anyway.
The Vulcan always looked impressive to a ten year old for sure!
EDIT Most of the time I had to content myself with the Macclesfield-Cheadle Hulme line which went quite close to our house. Over time I've played "spot my bedroom window" from the train (we moved out in 1976) but it's now totally impossible given the growth of trees and bushes since then.
 

Ted633

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Due to the closure of Doncaster - Sheffield airport, the VTTS trust are intending to move the Vulcan to a new location, with the possibility of a one off ferry flight (extremely unlikely in my opinion).

 

Dave W

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There was one at Wellesbourne when we went to the caff at the airfield there - but we have moved from the midlands now so dont know if its still there.
Presuming the same one, I - quite by chance - stumbled across XM655 whilst staying in Charlecote about a month ago. I had never seen one up close until then. Even on the ground, powered down... What a machine to simply look at. There I was stood gawping at it like a 4 year old. Magic.
 

AndrewE

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My memory of a vulcan is when one was landed on the grass airfield at RAF Halton, an apprentice training place near Wendover, when I was a kid. It was well publicised in advance and we cycled out as a family to somewhere suitable to watch its final approach.
I believe it was decided that it could land safely because it would be decelerated as it sank into the grass, but that for the same reason it would never leave (in one piece anyway.)
 

StKeverne1497

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Presuming the same one, I - quite by chance - stumbled across XM655 whilst staying in Charlecote about a month ago. I had never seen one up close until then. Even on the ground, powered down... What a machine to simply look at. There I was stood gawping at it like a 4 year old. Magic.
There is a Vulcan (also a Victor and a Valliant) at the RAF Cosford museum, quite impressive close-up. There is also a Vulcan outdoors at the Midland Air Museum, and the aircraft is often open for cockpit tours - or at least it was when we visited a few years ago. Impressively small crew area considering how large the aircraft is! Of course there is also one at IWM Duxford, alongside a Shorts Sunderland which my dad worked on in the 1950s.
 

trebor79

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Presuming the same one, I - quite by chance - stumbled across XM655 whilst staying in Charlecote about a month ago. I had never seen one up close until then. Even on the ground, powered down... What a machine to simply look at. There I was stood gawping at it like a 4 year old. Magic.
Yes, I remember standing underneath the Vulcan at Newark Air Museum and being absolutely astonished by the size of the thing. That big flat triangular wing doesn't even look like it should be able to fly!
 

blackfive460

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And another one at RAF Museum, Hendon and there's XL426 at Southend airport which I think is able to do taxy runs.
 

trebor79

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I think the Wellesbourne one can still do taxy runs too - it's the one Guy Martin did a run in during the "Last Flight of the Vulcan" programme.

I've be absolutely astonished in the CAA gave permission for XH558 to do a ferry flight. I'd be equally astonished if someone volunteered to fly it. Although allegedly maintained to full airworthiness standards, 7 years sat largely static isn't going to have done any good for hoses, bearings, seals etc etc.
 
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