Vulcan XM655 Today At Wellesbourne

How long have they been taxiing from the south side of the aerodrome? I have been to around 6 or 7 open days and they have always taxied from the road end, why the chance??

Great to see her on full song with the nose in the air again, well done guys, your doing yourselves and the aircraft proud.

Some scans from slides

First, second and fourth are ‘art’ btw 😉

Ray
I think it is a plastic Spitfire.. There was def one there last year. Think it is listed in W&R. Love the Banbury run but unable to go this year as already promised to do Young Eagles at Ox. Had nice day for it though.
OAW

:rolleyes: Its just clicked that there was a thread on this a while back… started by yours truly.

Its a replica spitfire from BoB. Picture below from http://cloudancer100.tripod.com/id6.htm

BTW, I picked up this about the DC3 (more pics) at http://homepage.ntlworld.com/barry.clay1/id51.htm

“This very special Dakota is G-ANAF which is operated on behalf of Thales ( formerly Racal ) on electronic research,the aircraft makes regular trips of three hours across country testing out vital equipment for the company,various antennae arrangements have been noted.
This is a typical example of how a vintage aircraft is still a useful platform for unusually placed radomes,more modern machines feature nosewheels and would be hopeless for such tasks.”

BTBTW, as a vaguely tenuous link, a related page http://cloudancer100.tripod.com/id13.htm has some shots of the Hurricane modified with a thin wing at Coventry.

Fantastic pics Mike.

Looks like they have put in some incredible work to make her look and go that well!!

I thought the runway looked a bit dirty though!

Wish I could have made it but DIY got in the way!

Ray
I think it is a plastic Spitfire.. There was def one there last year. Think it is listed in W&R. Love the Banbury run but unable to go this year as already promised to do Young Eagles at Ox. Had nice day for it though.
OAW

Until someone posts better shots I hope these will help show the sequence:

Thanks for the portrait, I am in your photo of 655’s jet pipes, looking grumpily at the camera with flyaway silver hair, immediately to the left of the chap in the green coat on the right hand side of the picture 🙂 (My five seconds of fame)

Michael Baldock

🙂 Excellent pics Mike. Makes up for my failure at the crucial moment!

Sorry to have snapped you but not talked. I was at the Banbury Run (vintage bike event) in the morning and the difference in the atmosphere was amazing. The people at Wellesbourne were so enthusiastic and friendly and just keen to talk to anybody.

Reminds me, on the far (tower) side of the airfield at the left end were two Bulldogs. Tucked between them and a shed was a single engined tail dragger painted in dark brown and green. The guy I was talking to at that point thought it was a Hurricane. I doubt it but anyone know for sure?

Great pictures of the taxi run especially with the nose wheel off the ground. The aircraft looks to have been painted and is looking far better than when I saw it last about 4 years ago. I know it’s difficult with it being kept outside but well done to all those involved.

Thanks for the pictures.

Ian

Niiiice pics, 🙂

Betcha it sounded unreal too !!!
Lucky beggars !!! 😀

Great pictures. Last year was more of a trundle so it’s nice to see some real grunt.
Beautiful condition, a credit to all who look after it.

Wow Amazing shot of the vulcan with her nose gear clear of the runway. I bet the crew were itching to go one step further??

Great shot of that taxi-run! 😎

BTW, does somebody know how things are going for the Vulcan to the Sky project. I heard they recieved that funds they attempted to have for so long. Have they made progress with their project during the last months?

J.V.

Wow. Awesome shots – especially the one with the nose leg in the air!

Until someone posts better shots I hope these will help show the sequence:

Thanks for the portrait, I am in your photo of 655’s jet pipes, looking grumpily at the camera with flyaway silver hair, immediately to the left of the chap in the green coat on the right hand side of the picture 🙂 (My five seconds of fame)

Michael Baldock

Wow! 655 looks magnificent! What does the writing on the side of the nose say?

The pregnant Dakota looks interesting – I wonder what it will give birth to?

655 certainly looked (and sounded 😮 ) the biz. Some places were not highly polished mausoleum finish but then she’s been outside for 20 years and has to work (not often enough!) for a living.

To my surprise my three-year old liked noise (when I was her age I cried at nasty noisy jets 😮 ).

Writing on the side – “Avro Vulcan XM655 1964 – 2004 Keeping 655 Alive”. Close up at http://www.xm655.com/index.html.

Dakota – note the home-made fin behind the tail wheel. About 2″ thick and with no hint of shaping. I guess its to improve handling with that boil on the belly.

Apparently, the DC3 is / was used for RADAR work; ground mapping I suppose.

Keeping 655 Alive

Managed to get the nose up today.

Wow! 655 looks magnificent! What does the writing on the side of the nose say?

The pregnant Dakota looks interesting – I wonder what it will give birth to?

Boy 655 just keeps looking better and better. SHe has to be the most well looked after Survivng outdoor vulcan in the world!!!!

Part 2