FighterControl

Silence fell as the last flying Vulcan XL558 flew over North Weald Airfield.

(1We Salute You. by Chris, on Flickr

(2Begin The Final Turn Out Off North Weald by Chris, on Flickr

XH558 Nice catch. Same story over at Filton. Bar the odd child who had no idea what they had been blessed with!

7

At Carlisle yesterday a boy on his Dad's shoulders asked "is it coming back Daddy?"

"No son..... that's it" was the reply.

Regards,
Ferrari

Did the police helicopter at NW get in the way I wonder?

Thanks for looking and your replies.

As for the Police Helicopter, I personally think it was a nice gesture,to see them there and for them to say farewell to this great icon.

I hedged my bets and went to a local hill at Kings Newnham. I figured that if 558 came over Baginton or straight from Wellesbourne it would be within a few hundred metres either side of the hill and I was proved correct.

Interestingly, other aircraft were kept out of airspace by ATC but I never heard the Vulcan call up at Brize, Wellesbourne or Coventry.

I was glad I went up. Eight other cars and a motorbike on the same little hill!

Vulcan was on Wellesbourne ATC but flew outside of Coventry's ATZ so did not report in.

Cheers

Shane

Thousands lined the banks of the severn estuary on Sunday only to be disappointed. Had good reception on the scanner when she was in Bristols airspace and listened to her with a photo chase plane. She was then flown over Bristol after doing Bristol airport (Next waypoint was to be the Severn Bridges, Filton, Cardiff), then she did an "unscheduled" photo shoot over the Clifton Bridge, then onto Filton, then Cardiff......missing out the severn bridges. Caught a glimpse as she departed Filton but hey ho, thats aviation. Trying to explain to loads of people that "yes, she does have spare fuel for an emergency, but WE are not that emergency" was fun!

If the Severn Bridges were meant to have been on the tour, then what was the reason that didn't carry out the fly over. Surely they must have known that a large crowd would have gathered in the immediate area to witness the event?

razor23uk wrote:then she did an "unscheduled" photo shoot over the Clifton Bridge,

Sod those that have travelled(maybe a long way) and stood(for over an hour)at a publicised view/waypoint, we'll do what we want to do as it's our aeroplane.

razor23uk wrote: but WE are not that emergency"

No we are/were just the ones that funded the last few years to be totally disregarded at the end.

Two from Bruntingthorpe.
The final topside? XH558 at Bruntingthorpe during her "Farewell Tour." 11-10-2015. by KING COBRA 92, on Flickr

XH558 overflies XM715 'Teasing Tina' at Bruntingthorpe. 11-10-2015. by KING COBRA 92, on Flickr

razor23uk wrote:Thousands lined the banks of the severn estuary on Sunday only to be disappointed. Had good reception on the scanner when she was in Bristols airspace and listened to her with a photo chase plane. She was then flown over Bristol after doing Bristol airport (Next waypoint was to be the Severn Bridges, Filton, Cardiff), then she did an "unscheduled" photo shoot over the Clifton Bridge, then onto Filton, then Cardiff......missing out the severn bridges. Caught a glimpse as she departed Filton but hey ho, thats aviation. Trying to explain to loads of people that "yes, she does have spare fuel for an emergency, but WE are not that emergency" was fun!

I too went with friends and families to Severn Beach which based on the published routes would have been great. My feeling is that they went for the Clifton Bridge photo shoot at the expense of those who waited patiently along that part of the specified route.

Annoyingly, Llandegveth Reservoir is only about half a mile from my house, but we felt trying to get some shots of it with one of the bridges was more desirable.

Even more annoyingly just before arriving at the Reservoir, she flew directly over my house too.

Frustrating. I could understand it had they changed the plan out of necessity but it appears to have been done pretty much on a whim.

Can some one tell me who was Sundays crew please?

razor23uk wrote:Thousands lined the banks of the severn estuary on Sunday only to be disappointed. Had good reception on the scanner when she was in Bristols airspace and listened to her with a photo chase plane. She was then flown over Bristol after doing Bristol airport (Next waypoint was to be the Severn Bridges, Filton, Cardiff), then she did an "unscheduled" photo shoot over the Clifton Bridge, then onto Filton, then Cardiff......missing out the severn bridges. Caught a glimpse as she departed Filton but hey ho, thats aviation. Trying to explain to loads of people that "yes, she does have spare fuel for an emergency, but WE are not that emergency" was fun!

From the latest newsletter:

When in Bristol airspace, we completed the Severn Bridges out of sequence to the route originally published. XH558 did indeed visit the Severn Bridges after completing a flypast at Llandegfedd Reservoir. Our apologies for having to make these operational changes, but variations would have been inevitable as part of over seven hours of total flying time. We did our best to advise of these changes but we are sorry if you were affected.