XJ823

Some new pictures from today, following XJ823’s recent repaint.

With the aid of a hired cherrypicker, some of the more difficult areas have been accessed and all the upper and exposed surfaces have been repainted last month.

For some reason her starboard engine cover is currently out; maybe something to do with the repainting works.

The camouflage scheme has been completely redone, which will protect her over the winter, leaving just a few details such as scripts etc. to be done in the spring, when she should look even better. Some protective paintwork has also been applied on the underside. With the cover off her starboard engines, she looks ready to fly here.

This one was takien looking back through the fence from airside after the sun came out, glinting on the fresh paintwork.

The Scottish Flyer Viscount service with G-AVHE/HK and IW which seemed to stop at every airfield from Aberdeen southwards.

That’s what my 1969 ticket was for. I flew Glasgow to Leeds and back to visit my cousin. Glasgow-Edinburgh on a BEA Viscount, then the Scottish Flyer from Edinburgh to Leeds/Bradford (HS748 G-ATEI) stopping at Newcastle and Teesside. On the way home a few days later G-ATEI again, taking off on the old runway 28 at LBA and using the full length before rotating, a brief visit to Teesside and this time I came off at Newcastle to catch my first ever flight on a jet – a BUA BAC-111 from Newcastle to Glasgow as part of the AMS-NCL-GLA route, which had all the seats facing backwards (may have been used on a military contract). In later years I moved away from the Glasgow area and did my PPL at Carlisle where I had to fly solo into both Newcastle and Teesside as part of my qualifying cross-country flight.

Now that is a real interesting photo. I have a Channel Airways flight ticket from 1969 and the cover shows an illustration of a Trident in their colours. I remember they had ordered a few Tridents but I didn’t realise that they had ever actually taken delivery of any Tridents. This must be a real rarity and couldn’t have operated in that colour scheme for long.

Ditto – haven’t been to Lossie since – ohh -1978 – would love to see it again now, after nearly 30 years

Even longer for me. Flew into Lossie in 1967 on a Cherokee 6 and in 1971 on an Islander to help out with Loganair’s pleasure flights at the open day/air display. All changed there now; Gannets all gone. Thanks for posting these excellent pictures.

Thanks for the tip, Peter. There were minor problems with water seepage, such that XJ823’s cockpit had to be covered in tarpaulin last winter. I think the problem’s been resolved but I can mention it to the engineer.

The White Heather at Kirkbride in West Cumbria was originally built as the officer’s mess when Kirkbride Airfield was RAF Kirkbride.

Maybe it is a nitrogen bottle. The chap who devised it brought it down from the museum and showed me how to work it, so that we could close up the Vulcan at the end of my afternoon on the Vulcan guide rota. He described it as an air bottle so I assumed it contained compressed air, which of course is almost 80% nitrogen, but for all I know it could have contained pure nitrogen.

Cockpit

Flight Engineer and Navigator’s stations

XJ823 at Carlisle was opened on Sunday afternoons during September and October, using an air bottle to power up the operation of the hatch. Here are a few pics form one of the September open days. Because she has been opened very rarely she’s in very good internal condition, but externally she has suffered the ravages of the weather and it is hoped to be able to repaint her in the near future.