Vulcan over the Solent

[jonjo]

Poynton is on the flight path to the Vulcan factory at Woodford, about a mile away. It was never an RAF base. Its the Avro works

Oh I stand corrected, I was three when the family left.

My confusion can also be attributed to a pretty female student at college who hailed from Poynton. Her father was a RAF Vulcan pilot back in the early 1980's and after a drink or two she would talk about the mission impossible of Vulcan's strategic role. I assumed she lived in Poynton because the base was nearby.

[Cap'n Creosote]

In the early 1960's I used to cycle up to Ringway airport to watch the aircraft. You could stand on the Altrincham/Wilmslow road, right at the end of the runway in those days.

Vulcans would often liven up our day by coming in on an approach (even with undercarriage down sometimes) and then without touching the tarmac, open up the engines and roar over our heads.
And sometimes go round for another go!

They never landed. I never understood what they were doing, I assume it was some kind of training exercise. We referred to them as "doing beat ups" what ever that meant.

[Alfie168]

Its called doing circuits, or if you touch down before opening up again, circuits and bumps. I used to watch them doing that at Waddington in the last days of the Vulcans in the early eighties. These days they do circuits and bumps in the AWACS Boeings at Waddington, which is not as noisy with their fan jets, but its still a large aircraft to be throwing around, and impressive to watch.

Tim

[Ken_Irby]

Just like to say that I made bits for the Vulcan while working for Hawker Siddley Aviation & still think the things a brute.Take a look at the kink in the leading edge & that chopped off tail.The Folland gnat was a far prettier airoplane

the pilot of red6 is the son of an old friend of ours and another old(er) mutual friend was an raf technician on XH558 when it was operational who later went on to be the co of the atc unit where said red arrows pilot went to school.
Chas