I took the 2 pictures of 607 at Nellis with a pocket camera so the negs are tiny unfortunately. The other Vulcan so painted was XM648. Here’s the story behind the painting:

This was the first RAF participation in Red Flag and the Vulcans and Buccaneers went for 2 successive Flags 77/8 and 77/9. After about a week of 77/8 we got the message at Waddington that the Vulcans were being spotted any time they turned because the sun glinted off their light grey undersides. So there was a panic paint job using the same 2-tone brown that the Buccs were done in. I recall that we did a fighter affiliation sortie just before leaving for Nellis in the new colours and the UK fighter guys said it made us easier to spot, but that was at 40000ft! 607 was captained by Sqn Ldr, later Air Cdr, Chris Lumb and 648 by Flt Lt Phil Nelson. My log book shows arrival at Nellis on 19 Aug 77, trips on 22/24/26/30 (in 648)/31 Aug/1 Sep and depart on 2 Sep.

Our Red Flag was a daytime experience but subsequent Flags for the Vulcan were at night using TFR and so there was no need for fancy painting.

I’ve certainly seen video taken from a SAM site on the ranges of a Vulcan smokin’ through with some impressed commentry from the operators. At one point just the tail of the Vulcan fills the screen and there’s not much space between us and the ground. We’re all beyond court martial now so I can admit that we flew at around 100 to 150 ft most of the time which was certainly exhillerating.