Kitchen Garden Forum

Totally off the board / forum subjects, just something we did yesterday to get a break from gardening. Apologies if it's subject or length meets with disapproval.

Planes don't normally interest me, but I enjoy and admire the historical ones and the skill of the Red Arrows..

We had arrived before 12noon, I said to Mrs S that we had struck lucky on getting a parking space where we had good view of airfield and the flight direction I thought the aircraft would take. At that time, as far as we were aware, the plane should appear around 2.20pm providing she was on schedule. From time to time I got asked by various strangers if I knew anymore than they did. That's a negative then lol.

I had been lucky with parking, or so I thought until a clued up ice cream van appeared and parked his van with its arse end in my camera view.
Improvisation cured that lol.

By 2pm the place was packed, people just parking cars wherever they could, even a mile away from where they might see then walking.
Around 2:19 the place fell quieter, then the shout went up, someone had a radio scanner and the she was bang on time. A cheer went up and the Vulcan appeared in the distance from behind the trees at 2:21pm She banked round and descended to low height, people were waving, not just to the pilot and crew but waving goodbye to the plane. I was clicking away as fast as the camera would focus itself. Then as she had appeared so she had disappeared from my view, behind some trees.

She was gone, the whole thing had lasted less than One minute.

Just after we left the site, Mrs S asked me if the Vulcan had been in the Falklands, I said yes. She replied that she probably helped make the bombs for it then, such was the nature of her work at that time.

She had a connection.

That is the first time I had ever seen a Vulcan in flight, like Concorde once seen never forgotten.

There may be one of two more flights before the end of the month, I shall make every effort to see that plane again if I can, magic !!!.

oh, and for those who might be wondering about my choice of thread title, perhaps one of the most famous Vulcans of all time

Mr Spock !! (he of the pointed ears)

Lovely photo Pa Snip and you were lucky to have such a good flying day. We saw her at the Eastbourne Air Show back in the summer.
It's always rather moving and quite sad, I think, when these historic aircraft disappear from public view. I recall the day Concorde was taken out of service when hundreds of people flocked to Heathrow to get a final view of her landing. One of the design guys who worked on her in the early days went along and said he felt his eyes welling up in tears as she came in.

As an aside on Concorde, I was once driving along the M25 motorway past Heathrow as Corcorde took off immediately over my car. I had my cat on the back seat of the car in an open cat basket. Poor creature went absolutely berserk at the noise. It was pretty awesome for a human too! I would sometimes see her coming into land as I drove home from work along the M4. Such an elegant aircraft!

Age eleven staying with my godmother at Pateley Bridge and walking with her from her house, halfway to Wath down to Pateley and we were over flown by a Vulcan with two Phantoms escorting it at VERY low level. Could see detail of ground crew labels on the planes.

The Gouthwaite reservoir is just up beyond Wath, with the eponymous Middlesmoor further up and there were always fast jets around, American ones seemed to prefer going crossways to the valley and the RAF tended to want to check how the grass was growing on the valley bottom.

Had the memorable experience of looking out of the skylight in the study/bedroom I was in, DOWN into the cockpit of a passing Phantom as it banked along the curve of the valley. The garden was precipitous, with the cellar door opening out stepless to the rear and three foot wide terraces.

It's amazing how we all (me included) love the Vulcan despite what it was designed to do. I don't think it ever saw active service apart from Thatcher's Falklands Farce (I believe we shouldn't have colonies in this day and age even if the people we planted there still want to be colonialists; anyway we should have negotiated. No wonder we won't condemn Israel for Palestinian colonisation and genocide but that's another contentious story).

Only just found this thread, after I had mentioned the Vulcan on "Early autumn Bits and Bobs".

Peter, I always remember how we used to get many very low-flying planes around here and often sat on top of the moor to watch the planes from above! One day, with two grandchildren at the highest point on Embsay Moor, one plane came so close over us that the youngest (about threw himself on the ground because he thought the plane would chop his head off. And I can't blame him, It was a terrifying roar with the whooosh to match.

And yes, Geoff, it's frightening to think what these things were designed for even if they are not always used for it. If only everybody could agree, the money could be spend on so many more worthwhile causes.