Goodbye Beautiful Lady - My Love Affair With Vulcan XH558
Last Saturday was the last time I will ever see Vulcan XH558. It's like saying goodbye to a treasured friend or relative. People look strangely at me when I eulogise about XH558, my excitement when I know I'll be seeing her, how can someone be so passionate about a plane? But she's more than just a plane. To me she represents the brilliance of British engineering, the beauty that machinery can have, she's not called The Spirit Of Great Britain for nothing!
Growing up I was fascinated by aircraft, age 10 I went to Biggin Hill airshow for the first time and I was hooked. I devoured (and still do) programmes or articles about aircraft and began to learn about the vintage aircraft of the world wars and the cold war. One that always stood out for me was the Vulcan. To me and my limited knowledge of avionics (it's not much better now!) it just looked perfect.
My Dad told me about how she used to stun crowds at airshows and shake the ground with her roar. I was so jealous that he'd seen her fly and wished I could have the same experience. We went to Hendon aircraft museum when I was 16 and I saw a Vulcan up close there for the first time and she was even more beautiful than I imagined.
When it was announced that the Vulcan To The Sky Trust were working to get Vulcan XH558 flying for one season I was incredibly excited. Me and Dad followed the updates on her refurbishment closely and when she took her first flight at the end of 2007 I knew that I had the chance of finally seeing a Vulcan fly.
My moment came in July 2008 at the Farnborough Airshow. As soon as we got onsite I insisted that I was off to find her, to make sure she was real.
And there she was
When it came for her to take off she started taxiing so slowly, then those engines came to life and I heard my first ever Vulcan howl. The sound just built and built and she thundered off of the runway. I clearly remember the very experienced commentator being stunned into gasping "Just wow".
Up she goes
Vulcan to the sky
Once she finished her display I knew that I had to see her again, no matter what it took. I was so relieved when it was announced at the season that they'd raised enough money to keep her flying.
I tried to do my bit by purchasing bits of merchandise from the Vulcan To The Sky website and from the Vulcan Village stores at airshows, an adorable 'Brunty Bear' for, calendars for the kitchen each year and shirts and DVDs for Dad (lucky he's as big a Vulcan fan as me!).
Airbourne 2009 - dropping hints as to who I'd like to visit us in the future!
I next saw XH558 at Shoreham airshow in 2009. Her display wasn't as cautious as the year before and she really let rip with the engines and howl at the top of her climb!
Shoreham 2009
At the following year's Farnborough Airshow we managed to get a spot by the runway so that we had a good view of the aircraft as they started their taxis and also as they landed. This meant I got closer to XH558 in flight than I had before!
Getting a good view of XH558 in the static aircraft park
Brunty Bear enjoying his day out
Getting ready to taxi
About to touch down after her display
I'd also started making (very) amateur videos at airshows so finally caught her on tape!
Due to technical problems that XH558 suffered early in the 2011 season I didn't get to see her at all and I really missed her, she'd started to become a real fixture of the shows I was going to.
Luckily she was back for Farnborough 2012 brightening up a day of typical British summer weather!
Gotta love the summer!
Dad with XH558
Up she goes!
The infamous howl!
Later that summer my wish finally came true and XH558 graced the skies of Airbourne, after travelling around the South East to see her it was really special to see her in my home town and I was really proud that Eastbourne was finally seeing how amazing she was. It was the busiest day they'd ever had in the history of the airshow - proof of the famous 'Vulcan Effect'.
Here she comes!
A wing over over the sea
2012 was a really good 'Vulcan year' as I also saw her at Shoreham again.
Climbing for the howl
Open bomb bay
Final pass
I next saw XH558 was in the blistering heat of Farnborough 2014, it was the perfect summer's day and she positively sparkled in the sunshine! We were right up on the runway fence and so got a completely unobstructed view.
Ready to taxi
Perfect touchdown
If I thought I'd got as close as possible to XH558 then I was in for a fantastic surprise. On Friday 29th Aug 2014 it was announced that a local Eastbourne resident had paid for XH558 to carry out a flypast at Beachy Head the following day. I was so excited as I'd seen the videos of her circling Beachy Head back in 2012 and had seen how close she'd been then.
I wasn't disappointed. She came so close I felt like I could reach out and touch her. She flew level with us and I'll never be as close to something that majestic in flight ever again. It was just perfect.
You can see from this Youtube video how close she came -
Running in
I barely needed the zoom!
Post-howl departure
The final time I spent time with my beautiful lady was Saturday 15th August this year at Airbourne. We went to Beachy Head to watch her circle before the show. As I said on my Airbourne Review blog, the moment she appeared from behind the cliff I just cried. She looked so perfect and graceful and I ached knowing that this would be the last time she flew over Eastbourne.
Appearing from behind the cliff
Giving everyone on top of the hill a treat!
It was amazing looking down on her running in to the show
I wish I'd thought to make a video of her display but I was far too busy being completely over-emotional, luckily there's a couple of great videos on Youtube of her display -
And now it's the end of my meetings with XH558, but like all true love affairs my love and adoration for her will never die, I have so many fantastic memories of seeing her at different shows and I know she'll continue to inspire aviation fans young and old alike.
Thank you XH558 and the Vulcan To The Sky trust, you mean so much to so many people.
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