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[tickmike]

I was in my office and I could hear a different jet noise from the ones going in/out of East Midlands Airport, quickly looking out of the window a Vulcan Bomber came over very low  , What a sight and sound.

Looking on there web site I found it's doing a tour of the uk today and tomorrow.
http://www.vulcantothesky.org/salute-to-the-v-force-tour.html

[broadstairs]

She's a magnificent beast and it's a great pity that they cannot find suitably qualified people to maintain and fly her longer.

Stuart

[HPsauce]

I don't think that is the problem; it's the engines which have major components that are getting to end-of-life and there are no spares and no way of making any.

[kitz]

Seen her a few times at airshows...  which reminds me I must go to the one this year.   We used to take my daughter every year when she was little.

What is really sad is that there was a Vulcan bomber permanently at Blackpool airport for many,many years...  and can you believe they scrapped it to make way for a new car park 

Added link

[HPsauce]

The most incredible thing I have EVER seen was the Vulcan flying testbed for the Concorde engines.
It had a full 2-engine Concorde nacelle in the bomb bay, live obviously.
The 2 Concorde engines, Olympus's like the Vulcans, were later much more powerful versions, together producing as much thrust as the 4 in the wings.

We saw it do its "party trick" at an airshow, but from behind. We were at, believe it or not the UK Prison Service annual dog show (don't ask, it's a long story...) which was about 2 miles from an airfield where the airshow took place.
The Vulcan flew very low and slow over us towards the airfield then put all 6 engines on full afterburners and literally went straight up, accelerating.

It was the noisiest, most indescribable thing I have ever experienced. Totally awesome, like I imagine a major earthquake to be.

The dog show was abandoned, the dogs were almost all uncontrollable afterwards.   

[kitz]

Funny enough - one of those do doo do doo moments...  just got a msg from a friend that they went to see her today.    He managed to get a couple of cracking photos of her.

He also a vid from today - (not his) which others may be interested in - about half way through that infamous ROAR.

https://www.facebook.com/andrea.maley1/videos/1010572575620208/

The dog show was abandoned, the dogs were almost all uncontrollable afterwards.

I bet 

[tickmike]

I have told this before 

I remember when I was very young I was with my mum and dad going to Cromer or Yarmouth in Norfolk for a holiday, it was dark and my dad was driving a 1938 Rover 14 he had restored .
The rear vision was no so good in them old cars.
He was driving along this road and a car was coming up behind him so he opened his door window and waved it on to pass us as there was a clear road ahead.
There was an almighty roar and a Vulcan Bomber  just skimmed the top of the car and landed in the airfield he was driving  passed.
 
What my dad had seen was the Vulcans landing lights in his rear view mirror.

[sevenlayermuddle]

One afternoon a few years back, when I was still being paid to work, my concentration was broken by the annoying sound of a noisy engine.   There is an air base a few miles away so, although we're not normally on the flightpath, I ignored it.   But it came back again, and again, louder than ever, and sounding like more than one.

Eventually I gave up trying to work and looked out of the window, to find the red arrows in close formation appear on the horizon zooming right towards me and over the house, low enough to make me flinch.  Various other impressive aerobatics  routines ensued, directly over my garden. Well technically, I found,  it was for  a charity event  in the village a mile down the road but I got full benefit.   

How embarassing that I'd missed most of it, sat in the study muttering and grumbling to myself about the 'darned noise'.

[burakkucat]

It was the early 1970s (I can't remember the precise year) when I was a member of a group who went for an organised visit to RAF Scampton.

As an active base, photography was not permitted. Various aspects of the base's history was recounted, including details of 617 squadron. I remember that there was a memorial to Nigger, Guy Gibson's dog, who was killed in a road traffic accident just before the dams raid.

At the time of my visit, Avro Vulcans were based at Scampton and it was arranged that we could ascend step-ladders to see one of the planes (in its hanger) close-up. The bomb-bay was open and the step-ladder was positioned so that we could ascend right up to where the then current nuclear deterrent pay-load would be loaded. A little later on in the visit, one Vulcan took off to practice the manoeuvres it would be performing at an air-show that coming weekend. Needless to say we, the visiting audience, were suitably impressed (and buffeted) having been deliberately positioned by our guide to watch (from a safe position) a low level pass which culminated in a maximum thrust, nose up, rapid emergency climb to a high altitude. 

My last real-life sighting of a Vulcan was around five years ago during a visit to the IWM Duxford where it was on display, as a museum exhibit along, with its other famous Avro predecessor, a Lancaster.

[HPsauce]

Just managed to catch her as she flew over the Chilterns just before 2pm and got a few seconds of video too. 
Not quite on the published route so I only got a fleeting view from about half a mile away. Should have been directly overhead. 

[KIAB]

Real shame they didn't take the Vulcan's flight path over the west country  , was hoping to be up at Elvington to see this wonderful sight, but a serious shoulder injury prevented me getting up there.

[simoncraddock]

It's based about 15mins up the road from me at the old Finningly base now the Doncaster/Sheffield Robin Hood Airport. My home is on the inbound flight path so we are fortunate to see stuff like this from time to time.

[les-70]

  I once worked at Finningley for about about 6 weeks in 1968 when it was live Vulcan base.  I have a vivid memory of me by a row of ominous objects marked WAXX, I can't remember the numbers.  But that is Weapon Atomic XX.  They did regular scramble drills carrying weapons and never knowing if the arming mechanism was engaged.  Quite a sight the whole lot going from parked to steep climbs within a minute or so.  With all on afterburners all the way from parked and even using taxi ways for take off it was totally frightening. You simply had to cover your ears and keep well out of the way. The thoughts of the reality of the possible mission took the edge of the simple awe of it.  I love to see one now but being in the west, not this time.

[simoncraddock]

1968, just before my time lol but I can remember often seeing several of them at the annual Finningly airshow as a child in the late 70's early 80's.

[guest]

I went along to Bruntingthorpe at the weekend to see it for the last time.

I was peripherally involved (helped them source obsolete parts) with the Vulcan to the Sky project the best part of 20 years ago but there isn't going to be any resurrection this time The sad fact of the matter is that there is only a handful (literally) of people left alive capable of maintaining it & most of them were nearing retirement the last time (late 1990s).

Nothing lasts forever, everything changes.....