Save the Vulcan!

[Les]

My first sighting, in fact, every single one of my sightings of the Avro Vulcan were extraordinary.

"Back in the day" the RAF sent a few (maybe two?) Vulcans over the Big Pond to McCoy AFB in Florida, to play with the USAF in the annual Bomb Comp.

Early in the morning they would scramble into the blue sky and the red morning light. So many aircraft that you could hear them, even if you were nine miles away. First, the FB-111's (brand new back then) zipped overhead, tucked their wings up tight, right overhead, and zapped away. And of course there were lots of B-52's, even the "weird" ones, the -G's and -H's, with the lopped-off, short tails.

But the Vulcans, with their engines sounding like--I don't know, their pop-right-out Northern European Camoflage paint schemes, the delta wings that looked absolutely enormous--!

And the Vulcans would move, and fly! I, having been inured to the stately passage of heavily-loaded B-52's, could not believe the Vulcan. That something so big could fly and that it was so spritely . . .

And then, at sundown, the Vulcans would come at low altitude, blasting back from their 15-hour missions . . .

What memories!

Bassanio et Portia

 

[Jos]

If you find the excellent book Vulcan 607 it has a wonderful story about one flying into and through the Grand Canyon

Donations however small are accepted from anyone anywhere in the world via their website so if you are even thinking of getting a 40 you can afford to help in a small way

http://www.vulcantothesky.org/pledge1.asp

 

[Peter Delaney]

As a kid, I was lucky enough to be at the Farnborough Air Show back in about 1963 & remember seeing the Vulcan fly with a prototype of the Concord engine mounted under the fuse. From what I can remember, they took off under normal power, got things set, then fired up the Concord engine. I can just about hear that wonderful sound now !

Kind Regards,

Peter D.