XH558

[miketemplar]

Apologies if I've put this up in the wrong place, but today was such a memorable day I felt it had to be marked in some way.
It's over!
Today I witnessed the last ever flight of Vulcan XH558 before she retires to become an exhibit at Robin Hood Airport (formerly RAF Finningley). A true icon of the skies, it's a travesty that she's no longer allowed to grace the skies but without a C of A it's just not possible and the powers that be will no longer support her technically.
The was barely a dry eye to be seen this afternoon, but as they proudly say "Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened!"

[Fred Dukes]

Certainly an "event" worthy of note Mike glad you managed to be in on the finally - i have managed to miss seeing it all year

[droopsnoot]

It is a pity the final flight had to be done with virtually no warning, but it was filmed and apparently will be released on DVD (there is some Youtube footage of course) and a book of photos from this year. It was on the BBC programme "Britains Ultimate Pilots" on Sunday night, showing the flight at RIAT in formation with the Red Arrows.

[GAV]

On one occassion back in the early 90s,3 of us went to a show at Knebworth, the Rally of The Giants, and after a tent weekend there,went up to Skegness.
We found a camp site, in Skeggy,then the following weekend we went to another show,the Notts Americana driving cross country past Lincoln, to the Newark Sowground. I also saw a sign for Louth,as nye on 3 decades before, I had gone to watch my first ever motor race,with another trainee Cadet at Grimsby, from Louth,in his brothers 850 Fiat to Cadwell Park. Then to his Mum's for a fab tea, before the kind brother drove us back to the hostel, named The Ship.

After that lapse into nostalgia, The 3 of us tried to erected our 6 person tent,near to a Runway,that gliders and stuff we're taking off from, it was somewhat blustery but with help got the tent up, without us finishing up aloft too.
In the background by the Aircraft Museum,was a Vulcan .
Another American car owning friend was a member of a Classic Club in Southend, who met at the Anne Boleyn Pub, opposite Rochford Airport, so I started going there with him.
Sadly after he left us, I continued to go down there and could see the Vulcan Bomber , they were trying in vain to get off the ground again, to no avail as going over the railway bridge.
There was a stand at a show mentioned elsewhere, on Canvey Island and in the Bus Museum,given over to mostly vendors for the day,was a stand raising funds for at least the ground bound Vulcan. Presumably the Southend one, and not the Robin Hood Airfield one Mike mentions.
Do you happen to know if that would be the same one we saw at Newark?
The real icing on the cake though for me was before moving here we lived atop a hill, in a place called Lawford Dale,near Manningtree.
The Clacton Airshow was on and the Vulcan could be seen in full view from the sitting room window, flying over nice and low(on a previous occassion the Queens Flight flew past) en route to Clacton too.
I guess that was a real priveledge seeing the last flying VBomber.

[miketemplar]

The final flight HAD to be done like that or not at all. The official line is that the airport was fearful that the expected crowds that such an event would draw would close the airport down, but I think it was most probably a H&S issue fuelled by the fears of the local constabulary, who 1) would have to provide a lot of extra man-power to police such an event and 2)said in the event of an incident at Robin Hood the emergency services might not be able to get through. That brought other things into play, like a lack of insurance cover in the event of an incident because such an event would have to be "covered" against such possibilities and any possible disruption to the normal operating of the airport.
Personally, I've had a 50 year love affair with the Vulcan, which resulted in me training at RAF Manby, College of Air Warfare on Varsity's and RAF Lindholme, Air Navigation School on Hastings, to become a navigator in one. Sadly, due to other circumstances, it never came to pass but the affair lives on.
We've seen her (558) seven times this year, and frankly it was never enough, though the most memorable times were in earlier years, 2014 at Dunsfold, when she flew with both her sisters, the BBMF and the Canadian Lancaster's together, and much earlier 1968 when she flew below the level of the road on the A44 between Ponterwyd and Llangurig only to rise up alongside us to clear the ridge at the end of the valley!
THAT was magical, so much grace, power and presence, God bless her!

[miketemplar]

Anybody seen the item on BBC Lincolnshire last night? Apparently somebody was seen barrel rolling a Avro Vulcan over Grantham last month, I mean as if?!!
A final "two fingers up" at the powers that be that grounded her for no good reason.
Hope no-one get a b-----king!

[droopsnoot]

I've read that there's an investigation going on into something like that, but all I've seen so far is a sequence of time-lapse photographs which aren't quite the same as video. There was a persistent rumour that as at least one of the Vulcan pilots was retiring at the same time as the plane, it might be attempted as the worst the CAA could do would be to remove said pilots license. As long as nothing goes wrong, that is.

There is also mention elsewhere that the people who do fast taxis with another Vulcan (I forget where) feel that it's quite capable of taking off, and also feel that if they were to succumb to temptation, by the time they landed again they would be license-less.

[miketemplar]

That would be 602 at Wellesbourne, she still does fast taxis. It's highley likely the CAA would revoke a chaps flying licence for a deliberate act, but "accidently?!" probably not, though there would surely be an investigation.
I think it was last year somebody did exactly that with a Victor at Bruntisthorpe, (it's on Youtube) I believe there was much amusement all round.
If said pilot is retiring, there can be no better final entry in his log than "made the last barrel roll in a Vulcan". Fair play to the man!

[hbpeter]

Not seen anything of this, but I really hope it happened, two large fingers to the man!!

Peter

[miketemplar]

The pilot's a hero! Last man ever to roll a Vulcan, quite a noteworthy end to a flying career!