Avro Vulcan

NJR;109911 wrote:

CDP and myself saw it land at Doncaster yesterday on the way back from the ARG Display at Aeroventure. Just before joining the pilot asked ATC for the phone number of the Vulcan engineering guys, tower gave them a number and the crew asked if they would ring the engineers. Joining and landing was very sedate and following there was a very strong smell of seemingly unburnt fuel. Hopefully a minor fault?

I hope so too. But I'm impressed 558 appeared at an ARG display. I don't remember seeing that on any display list

NJR;109911 wrote:

there was a very strong smell of seemingly unburnt fuel. Hopefully a minor fault?

She used to smell really strongly of unburnt jet fuel lots of times when i saw her landing at Bruntingthorpe. Especially when watching her coming in right overhead at the end of the runway. According to the '558 twitter page she's ready for her next displays which will be Duxford and Cosby.

Bigbear;109947 wrote:

I hope so too. But I'm impressed 558 appeared at an ARG display. I don't remember seeing that on any display list

We had to keep it quiet, calling favours in!!

I've already posted this brilliant video clip in the airshow thread but it really is the best youtube clip of '558 i've seen so it seems only right to post the link here in the XH558 thread.

Here she is making several passes over (and below) Beachy Head priar to running into her display sequence at Eastbourne. Breathtaking -

Just read this in my inbox -

This Saturday afternoon 29th September, providing weather conditions and aircraft serviceability allow, XH558 will take off on a 3-hour sortie to commemorate Sixty Glorious Years of the Avro Vulcan as she makes a tour of various airports near to sites that played a significant part in their development or service life.

We can only give approximate route timings from one point to another at this stage, as an exact take-off time will be subject to conditions on the day. Clearance from the relevant ATC units cannot be guaranteed until the aircraft is in the air talking to them, and will then be based on their own traffic movements at the time.

Our experienced Navigator, Andy Marson, has spent today talking to all the units concerned to give them an initial briefing and to seek approvals. The proposed flight plan will take into account feedback obtained today, but we have to remain flexible, as the final flight plan may well have to change on the day.

Although we hope to be able to tell you more on Friday, information on how the sortie is progressing will be made available on our official Twitter feed, providing actual route and expected timings. If you wish to see XH558 on Saturday, our advice at this stage is please plan to be near one of the listed locations from about 3pm watching our Twitter feed on your mobile.

Follow our Twitter feed online here , or follow us from your mobile device if you are out and about at one of the locations. Our hash tag ID is simply: #XH558

We would stress that to comply with the conditions under which we operate, this flight will consist purely of approaches and fly-pasts - no displays are planned.

Approximate timings to be confirmed on Friday with actual route times via our official Twitter feed.

Route markers: (Refer to map which will be refined by Friday).

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1. Doncaster
- Bitteswell
2. Coventry Airport
3. Birmingham Airport
4. RAF Cosford
5. Gloucester (Staverton)
- Cheltenham
6. Filton
7. Cardiff Airport
8. St. Athan
9. Ross-on-Wye (Memorial)
10. RAF Halton

Return to Doncaster.

Ayup Steve thanks for this i will be at Bagington on Saturday to see XH558 fly over weather permitting .

Woodford? Chadderton? Oh, sorry, it's only "airports near to sites that played a significant part in their development or service life".

Obviously Birmingham & Cardiff Airports played a more pivotal role in Vulcan history than those airfields tigger!
Hope they know St Athan is closed on Sats, with VGS gliding going on!

Vulcan over Staverton Sat 29th Sep 2012.

See link for videos:

www.thisisgloucestershire.co.uk/Thousand...71-detail/story.html

Filton

Didn't know anything about this - I live 2 miles south of the runway and heard nothing, which is probably a good think as dashing out of the house would have been too late.