Reply With QuoteAwesome
The end of the end is near for the famed Avro Vulcan Bomber “XH558.” The aircraft has been flying in private hands and with private funding since 2007, an amazing feat to say the least. Now, after flying more hours than any other Vulcan, this will be her last air show season.
Crews are pushing XH558 to her max for crowds at the Royal International Air Tattoo in RAF Fairford, UK, one of the world’s largest air shows. On takeoff yesterday, the massive delta-winged beast rolled hard to the right just above the runway. The maneuver, which was lower and steeper than any performed by the aircraft before, provoked a collective gasp and then cheers from the crowd as the huge jet powered through the extremely low-level turn.
http://foxtrotalpha.jalopnik.com/the...n-a-1718892290
Awesome
+ flying virtually upside down! Quite a few more degrees over than I saw her fly at Yeovilton earlier this month 8)
Vulcan + Red arrows = lots of shutter actuations!
Great, thanks for posting
I so enjoyed that! Thanks for sharing it with us.
Sadly, it seems, the end of another era. The modern planes just don't do it for me in the way that planes such as the Vulcan, the Spitfire and the Lancaster do.
Totally concur with that.......Originally Posted by series5
'Awesome' is overused these days, but that was. Thanks.
Magnificent. It would be wrong to say they don't build them like that anymore, but somehow there is a magic in that aircraft like no other.
Thank you for that.
I haven't seen a Vulcan fly since I was a teenager in the early 80s. Alas, never will again. IMHO, along with Concorde, the Harrier jump jet and possibly today the A380 the most evocative (if that's the right word) aircraft to ever fly.
Beautiful aircraft,I have walked around one on static show at Duxford.A dream to see it fly,alas it looks like time is running out.
Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for sharing! I went on Friday to RIAT but the Vulcan was only flying on the weekend, so at least I got to see it second hand.
great video work.
Martyn
Thanks for sharing. It's a shame this is the last season.
For anyone interested in these old birds,' Vulcan 607' is a good read regarding Operation Black Buck..
I'd love the Rolling Stones tour managers to get in touch with the XH558 team.
Then they could have a 'last ever' tour every few years with a 'comeback' tour in between.
It's been great to see the Vulcan flying again, we tend to forget who old these designs are!
A bit of a privilege to have seen it around over the last few years, I think.
True, but who knows when bits could fall off and fatalities could occur in front of huge crowds, it's not the same as flying an old plane!
M
Last edited by snowman; 20th July 2015 at 21:52.
I for one am pleased these are out of service. Last night I watched a documentary about the British secret service, in which a Vulcan was hijacked and one of the nuclear bombs it was carrying was stolen for ransom!
Scary stuff, but it all turned out OK I'm happy to say. I'm glad the modern aeroplanes of today don't just disappear without trace.
^
Ummm, Malaysia Airlines Flight 370?
^ it hasn't gone missing, it's in Diego Garcia. ......apparently. ....
+1
Wonderful.
Thank you. Magnificent machine; magnificent flying.
What a magnificent machine. It's criminal that the government or lottery doesn't contribute funding to this piece of British history. Shame
What a brilliant video, thank you for sharing it
One to show my kids tomorrow
Errr ... isn't that the plot of the James Bond film "Thunderball" ?????I for one am pleased these are out of service. Last night I watched a documentary about the British secret service, in which a Vulcan was hijacked and one of the nuclear bombs it was carrying was stolen for ransom!
Scary stuff, but it all turned out OK I'm happy to say. I'm glad the modern aeroplanes of today don't just disappear without trace.
I don't think you got the joke mate....
Really have to see it, hear it and feel it for real to get the full impression. Videos only give a weak impression of just how incredible an experience the Vulcan is.
Sorry chaps, crap attempt at humour.
The Vulcan is the plane that made the biggest impact on me as a kid. I remember seeing one in an air musuem and being amazed that such a beautiful plane was used in war. It's such an elegant design that belies the plane's enormity. Great video clip and very sad it's being retired.
Hopefully will see and hear the Vulcan one last time at the Scottish air show in Sept
I'll get me coat....
I dropped my daughter in Letchlade on Saturday afternoon and just as we pulled up I saw XH558 doing it's thing. Fantastic and the third time i've seen it now.
I still remember the practice scrambles of 3 Vulcans at Finningley Air Shows etc. Very impressive and they really threw the planes round the skies when they were in their prime.
Sad day when she is grounded but it's been a great project.
Saw 558 and others perform many times at the annual Woodford airshow and they always put on a spectacular display as it was their birthplace!
I remember that the Vulcans would make an unearthly ghostly howl when they came around to face you and it was a combination (I think) of the induction roar and some sort of shift / dopplar effect as they changed direction.
The American B1 Lancer was equally impressive and loud, but I don't know if they are still flying / displaying these days.
Never say never again.
- - - Updated - - -
(wasn't a patch on Thunderball)
I was at the RIAT and saw the Vulcan do that amazing take off. Before it took off the commentator was teasing by saying the Vulcan may have to take it easy.
I saw a real pilot walking around wearing his Casio. It was the plane spotters wearing the Breitlings like myself. I could not get into the Breitling owners club since it was too early and they were busy hoovering.
I went to the RIAT on Sunday and had the privilege of seeing the Vulcan in all its glory. She made that fantastic induction roar on a return pass, sounds like nothing else out there. The Vulcan has been one of my favourites ever since my dad took us to Barton air show in the mid-80's. First experience of the Vulcan was while we were sat on his (beige Ford Cortina) bonnet when the sky above us just turned black. Looked upwards to see the undercarriage and open bomb bay of the Vulcan flying right over the crowd at only a couple of hundred feet. Been a fan ever since!
I was talking to Bill Perrins, one of the Vulcan pilots in the local pub on Sunday evening - he flies the Vulcan, the Rolls Royce XIX Spitfire and a P-51, plus the Dreamliner, in his day job. He also wore a simple white-face three-hander on his wrist - nothing flash. A real gentleman, too.
Looking forward to seeing this on 15th August at Herne Bay!
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