XL426 In the sun
I grew up in Lincoln, surrounded by RAF bases, one to the south, one to the north and a couple more within half an hours drive. RAF Waddington was the home of the Vulcan when I was younger and they would regularly be in the skies above, they used to fly straight over Lincoln, their flight path right above our house. Not sure that would be allowed these days. I loved to play my music really loud back then, but even at those high volumes, a Vulcan coming over with that unmistakable howl would drown out those parent annoying power chords. The windows would rattle and, often as not the dog would bark (pointlessly).
The re-enactors
Move on nearly half a century (how to make yourself feel old in just six words!) and I was up at RAF Waddington to see the last two flying Lancasters and the last flying Vulcan grace the Lincolnshire skies. It was a sight to behold. Now, sadly, just the Lancasters fly, one based at RAF Coningsby and the other at the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum in Ontario, there are no Vulcans flying now. The last airworthy one - XH558 – took its final flight in October 2015.
Getting dark
So when my good mate @richgaynor told me about a photography session with XL426, with taxi runs and re-enactors I was right up for it. Come the day and we met up at Newark and drove around 150 miles down to Southend Airport, also home of the Vulcan Restoration Trust. 150 miles might seem like a trip to the local restaurant for some Australian and American readers, but for us in the UK, it’s a trek.
Standing proud
Suffice it to say, it was worth the trip; the Vulcan taxied into position (and the engines howled as it did, bring back some great memories), and then was positioned in a few vantage points so all of the attending photographers can hopefully get some decent shots (I’ll leave it to you to determine whether mine are ok or not). As the evening pulled in and the light went we were whacking up the ISO and for the last shots made use of lighting provided by the organiser. A good day out. A long day out. But I wouldn’t have missed it.