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Guest willo

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hiall.when i first came to live in scarb'ro [1980] one of the first things i noticed [could'nt really miss-lol] was the vulcan bomber flying over the castle headland, i was told that the vulcans were a 24x7 presence & were britains 1st line of nuclear deterant/strike force. over the weekend i posted on the scarbr'o forum asking any ones memories of this majestic [scary] bit of local history. the only positive reply i got was from 1 ex raf chap with an impressive knowledge of aircraft / bases/pilots[their goldfishes names blah blah, who assures me that the vulcans never flew over here.now either i'm having flashbacks to when i was'nt in vietnam or we had some *******! big seagulls here in those days. i'v trawled the net looking for a scarbr'o vulcan connection,with no joy. i just wondered if any of you guys/gals remember seeing the vulcan during your trips to the resort. cheers all,willo.

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Hi Willo, Just to mention I used to go to see the V bombers that flew from RAF Finningly, Doncaster and its a fair bet they flew over the East coast perhaps around Scarborough, but they left Finningly by 1970.

As far as I can see the remaining Vulcans flew from RAf's Scampton and Waddington; these squadrons were closed by 1984 .

There was a Vulcan display unit of 2 aircraft but this was reduced to one in 1986 and the remaining aircraft was sold off in 1992.

There has been work done by the Vulcan Trust over recent years supported by a Lottery grant to get Vulcan XH558 back to flying condition. From its website it looks like it should be flying by 2008.

This doesn't help your quest much Willo but puts some of the background in place.

I have just come back from an enjoyable week at Scarborough were I have gone for most of my life. Whats the web address of the Scarborough forum?

Cheers, John

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hi john, the webby's scarborough evening news [just type that in],will get on this, i'm starting to feel like david vincent [THE INVADERS} 100% sure i'm right,will probably get a visit from the men in black for speaking publicly --lol. going back to the vulcan, they flew from lincolnshire-doncaster & sunderland , so as they flew somewhere around 400mph,its just a short dash to scarborough from those locations i guess.wikk get back to y'all on this many thanx,willo.

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hi john, the webby's scarborough evening news [just type that in],will get on this, i'm starting to feel like david vincent [THE INVADERS} 100% sure i'm right,will probably get a visit from the men in black for speaking publicly --lol. going back to the vulcan, they flew from lincolnshire-doncaster & sunderland , so as they flew somewhere around 400mph,its just a short dash to scarborough from those locations i guess.wikk get back to y'all on this many thanx,willo.

found this,Avro Vulcan

Much loved by its crews, the mighty delta winged 'Avro Vulcan' was designed to perform Britain's nuclear deterrent bomber role during the Cold War. It carried out this responsibility for more than a decade. The aircraft then served as a low-level nuclear strike and maritime radar reconnaissance platform, before finally being called to war action in the Falklands conflict where it provided long-range bombing capabilities, attacking surface targets and Stanley Airport. me'thinks i'm right after all-lol.

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At the risk of prodding an old sleeping dog  into life,  may I offer another possible solution. 

     Living just south of Lincoln we knew the Vulcans from start to finish. The three experimental mini-Vulcans could be seen at odd times about the maker's factory more or less across the road from RAF Waddington. In 1952 we had a family day out to Rudyard Lake in Staffordshire and saw this odd formation of a big and the  smaller dark triangles  flying  over. That fascinated Father. (ex 49 and 614 Squadrons,  Scampton)     The following day, the Sunday Despatch published photos of the frst flight of the new bomber. Very nice 

 Fifty or so years ago we moved into our  bungalow, outside Lincoln, nice location, just the thing. All we missed out was checking the sky. Waddington was and is open 24/7,  flew  Vulcans  and we were right under the take-off flight path. Cold War and all that, no secret now I suppose but almost everyday at about 8.15 one would go overhead,  relatively slowly fully loaded, climbing steadily on a course  toward the Eastern  bloc. The noise was quite something.  No complaints, half the estate were in the  RAF. Just for the record, among others we then had the L -drivers going round and round taking off and landing until  way past sunset. All in all we saw enough of them. 

 In the 1970's our American owners insisted we acquired  a.twin engine 6 seat Cessna G-ATCY to save time on company business and which we flew out of what had been  till recently USAAF Sturgate near Gainsborough. I made use of it when possible, using the co-pliots seat I if I could. Our pilot had years of experience and flew it on the beacons like a little airliner. Coming back from the Continent involved landing at Stanstead for customs clearance  That and my favourite trip from Cardiff put us over towards the East coast. Ken meticulously reported his details to Air Traffic Control and the RAF bases  at Brize Norton, Cottesmore, Waddington and Scampton so they knew where he was. What bothered  him was that the RAF flew their own way and he had no idea what  was  where.  And No we didn't  have radar fitted.

Travelling at side of him,  once over Lincolnshire it was "Keep your eyes open your side".  To a point at Waddington  but definitely near Scampton he was on their approach line. Apparently the Vulcans had a low level return flight path from the east  along the coast, up the Humber, then turn south for home. . His concern was that being lined up for Sturgate he might meet a Vulcan going in the Scampton  direction on just about the same line.  Is it possible I wonder that Willo saw one of these returning home?

Cousin Malcoim being  Medical Officer at Scampton at the time was useful. The cockpit is horribly cramped for several hours flying. A chance on the simulator came up. I did my best but the instructor spoiled it  by saying " Congratulations. You've  just  flattened Worksop".

Time passed and the last one in active service came over and went away. Later in preservation I saw it practising landings  and take-offs about 50 yards away..Full power at that distance was quite deafening.  One later final view as it came low over the Newark Air Museum and  soon  thereafter  grounded.  At least it ended peacefully. Our plane got put down a bit sudden by a new pilot and ended up.in five pieces in three fields  with two directors and  the chief engineer as passengers.  All aboard  walked away. After that bookings for it's replacement declined drastically. No idea why of course.

 

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