Driving over the Bathgate Alps to Linlithgow yesterday saw a slow moving aircraft, wasn't until it banked that I saw the huge delta wing, awesome sight!
Anybody else see it and more importantly get any pictures?

I bet a lot more heard it!

Is there only one still flying now?

What time was that?

Is there only one still flying now?

There weren't any a while ago. There was a massive restoration project to get back one the air. It costs an insane amount of cash just to keep airworthy.

tron – Member

Is there only one still flying now?

There weren't any a while ago. There was a massive restoration project to get back one the air. It costs an insane amount of cash just to keep airworthy.

Isn't it privately funded rather than state funded as well?

I remember the debate about whether the red arrows were worth the money.

s – Member

Is there only one still flying now?

Yes. http://www.vulcantothesky.org/

Heavily sponsored and got a big ol' lottery grant. Which, I suppose if you consider the national lottery (or more specifically lottery comission funding for sports, arts and heritage stuff) to be a stealth tax on the poor, means it is kind of 'funded'.

My father-in-law is the man you see at airshows selling jigsaws with vulcans on to raise money for them. He tells me it costs thousands just to taxi up and down the runway a couple of times, never mind getting it into the air.

I know it's all on the public purse (not the Vulcan)- but it mystifies me as to why the RAF have the BBMF and concentrate all their "heritage" effort on one distinct period.

OK WW2 and BoB in particular were defining moments for the RAF, but you'd think they would have a wider remit.

And whats with the Lanc flying around in celebration / memory of the Battle of Britain anyway?

just getting to the Bo'ness hill climb and thought my exhaust had fallen off, with lots of people stopping and pointing at me, looked behind to find the Vulcan climbing up from the Forth over our heads – superb.

it mystifies me as to why the RAF have the BBMF and concentrate all their "heritage" effort on one distinct period.

I suspect it's because there are very very few people who will complain about the Battle of Britain. There will be plenty who see the Vulcan as a pretty grim machine – after all, it was designed to deliver nukes.

They are amazing when in the air – I seen one last year over Warkworth in Northumberland. It had been at or due at the Sunderland Air show and it was so graceful in the air – like an Albatros or something. Slow yet nimble and bloody loud.

I only managed a crapy phone pic, gutted.

The one and only airworthy Vulcan was displaying at the Jersey Airshow last week.

I saw the Vulcan at Yeovilton air day.Read Vulcan 607 the story of the bombing of Port Stanley runway during the Falklands war

The Lancaster contribution to the BBMF is in recognition of all the thousands of Bomber Command personnel who lost their lives. Personally, I'm slightly less comfortable with the sight of a strategic bomber being a symbol of memorial than a point defence fighter, but there you go.

The Vulcan represents a bygone age – skint post war Britain managed to design and operate not one but three hugely expensive strategic bombers, the Victor and Valiant aircraft are oft overlooked. Imagine Britain finding the cash for three wholly individual designs for nuclear attack submarines today and you have some idea of the cost involved.

I stood right behind a Vulcan being given the full moo at an airshow as a child, the bloody thing nearly knocked me off my feet. Given that the number of people who lost their lives to a Vulcan's bombs doesn't outnumber the amount of Vulcan crews lost during training, I have far less issue with them being kept flying today.

You Mean this bad boy 🙂

and that wasnt me holding the camera at a funny angle, he really was pointing it at the sky

The Lancaster contribution to the BBMF is in recognition of all the thousands of Bomber Command personnel who lost their lives.

I wholeheartedly agree with that.

My point was specifically regarding the recent BoB fly pasts. Spitfire / Hurricane "missing man" formation would have been be more appropriate.

I thought this was goign to be about Gee Atherton.

The Vulcan (only one still airborne)was flying at the Leuchers airshow this Saturday past, quite a sight and noise.

Pics from last year
http://www.airshow.co.uk/gallery/2009-flying

I saw it flying low over the Cotswolds on Saturday. Deafening!

hopefully the same sort of think can happen to a Concorde…

real shame not to see them in the air rather than dumped at CDG and Brooklands…

I had the pleasure of seeing the vulcan fly a display at the Royal International Air Tatoo this year, piloted by Martin Withers who was the pilot of Vulcan 607 from Black Buck One. It really is an amazing bit of machinery and the noise it makes would make Jeremy Clarkson wet himself with joy!

We saw it at Leuchars on saturday, had a nice free flyby directly over my house on Sunday

Vulcan by PeterPoddy, on Flickr

More here

I grew up near Woodford in Cheshire. We used to go and lie on the end of the runway there as the Vulcan's came into land.

It was probably the scariest thing we ever did as kids.

hopefully the same sort of think can happen to a Concorde…

It won't. Ever.
Massively more complex than the Vulcan (therefore more expensive).
No spares (sold off/museum pieces)
No support from OE manufacturers
No support from Airbus (who hold/held the CoAs, approvals etc, and won't release then)
Without that support, the CAA won't let it fly.

real shame not to see them in the air rather than dumped at CDG and Brooklands…

Can't comment on the CDG one, but the a/c at Brooklands was rotting in a hanger in Filton, and had been for years. A pre-production a/c.

Photo from Museum of flight yesterday , Impressive beast .

Also.

Quite sad to think these dont fly anymore , fantastic engineering .

It costs an insane amount of cash just to keep airworthy.

And how much do you reckon was spent originally on them while in service…

And people wonder where their taxes go – Eurofighter £100m each to buy and then god knows (but I'm sure someone on here does?) how much to actually keep in service.

I saw the Vulcan yesterday as I was riding South from St Andrews along the Coastal path. It made a pass towards the airfield with 4 fighters in close formation – amazing sight but I didn't get a photo unfortunately

My Vulcan pics from last years Uffington show where it did a quick flypast en route to somewhere else:

and

Being funded by a charity they obviously try to fly it as economically as possible as it was almost silent as it passed overhead twice. No standing it on its tail and making the ground shake – sadly. They must have been saving that for the main show(s) it was heading too and from.

No standing it on its tail and making the ground shake – sadly.

Runway owners don't like them doing that any more. It used to tear the concrete to pieces!

I remember seeing a Vulcan at Teeside airshow in the early/mid 1980s. It went down the flight line making the earth tremble, set all the car alarms off and then the pilot stood it on its tail and it went almost straight up, turned and came back down the crowdline in the other direction. Hugely impressive, you could feel the vibration and the turbulence coming off the aircraft. Ears were ringing the next day.

Would love to see XH558 in real life.

I saw a Lancaster over Skipton yesterday at about 3pm

a couple i shot at fairford last year

It must have been Fairford last year, driving down the M5 past Dursley sort of area when I seen a Vulcan appear above the hills, bank round over the Severn and disappear back in the same direction. Looked fantastic, graceful looking old bird.