[Leica] [IMG] AIRCRAFT - Last flying Vulcan XH558

[douglas.sharp at gmx.de (Douglas Sharp)]

Peter,

wonderful to see that Vulcan to the Sky actual got XH558 back into the 
air, a beautiful and breathtaking machine. The last time I saw one in 
flight was at Leeds & Bradford Airport (then Yeadon Aerodrome - that 
dates it!) on a low pass at the SSAFA airshow before it relocated to 
Church Fenton. Must have been some time in the late 1960's. An 
ear-shattering experience as that colossal ghostly white machine flew 
over at about 50 feet off the ground - couldn't hear a thing for about 
10 minutes after it had gone.

It still looks like a really state of the art modern jet, hard to 
believe it was built in 1960.

Thanks for showing
Douglas

Peter Dzwig wrote:
> Some shots of the last flying Vulcan taken at Goodwood this year. Thought 
> some
> of you might be interested :-)
>
> <http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/PeterDzwig/album83/Aircraft/29570025_Vulcanedited-1.tif.html>
>
> <http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/PeterDzwig/album83/Aircraft/29570026_Vulcanedited-1.tif.html>
>
> <http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/PeterDzwig/album83/Aircraft/29570027_Vulcanedited-1.tif.html>
>
> <http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/PeterDzwig/album83/Aircraft/29570020_editedVulcan.tif.html>
>
> The Avro Vulcan was one of the mainstays of the British V-Bomber nuclear 
> strike
> force in the 1960s. They were operational with the RAF from 1953 to 1984. 
> The
> trio of Avro Vulcan, Handley Page Victor and Vickers Valiant were designed 
> to
> carry nuclear bombs far into the heart of the old Soviet Union.
>
> The Vulcan last saw action carrying conventional weapons in the Falklands 
> War
> when a force of them flew non-stop from Ascension to the Falklands (and 
> back!)
> refuelling from Victor tankers with which they rendez-vous'd over the South
> Atlantic. The mission was to deny the Argentinians the use of the Falklands
> airstrip at Stamley.
>
> The Vulcan was also used as a flying testbed for the RR Olympus engines 
> that
> were used to power Concorde.
>
> see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avro_Vulcan#Flying
>
> Your comments and constructive criticisms are as always welcome,
>
> Thanks for taking the time to look.
>
> Peter Dzwig
>
>
>
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