Well where do I start with this post???
About a month ago, I got in touch with Dr Robert Pleming to see if he could be Jim'll Fix It, and give my mother the pleasure of seeing Avro Vulcan XH558 taking off with the famous howl.
The reason was simple, a few years ago, my mother had a serious heart operation, which was a triple bypass which got complicated and ended up a 7-way bypass, and thanks to the efforts of the hospital staff, she pulled through.
It was at that point that I wanted to do something special for her at some point during the rest of her life, and to cut the story short, it was my mum who introduced me to the Vulcan at a very young age, and that moment was decisive in my life as the day I got hooked on what's well known as "The Vulcan Effect".
So, it was that I got in touch with Dr Pleming, and to my delight, he responded, and offered his help in making this special treat come true for my mum.
It was after that, that I received contact from Mike Pollitt, who invited us, and in particular my mother, to come down to RAF Brize Norton on Saturday just gone, and to be their guests to meet the aircrew, view the aircraft, and watch the Vulcan not only take off, but actually display in front of us, as the charity day at Brize took place.
Well without any further ado, I made sure my mum had nothing planned for that day, and if she had, I would have cancelled it for her anyway!!!
So, we made the journey down from Chester to Brize Norton early Saturday morning, and arrived at lunchtime to be met by Mike Pollitt, and little did we know what was in store for us the rest of the day!
Mike then took us through as guests of the Station Commander, who had kindly authorised access to the base for us, something we'll be forever thankful for.
It was then, that we were taken to where the Vulcan was sitting, where we took some photos, and were given a tour around the outside of 558, catching sight of the "Gibbon" in the window of the bubble underneath the cockpit!
To my utter amazement, Mike then asked if we'd like to have a look inside the cock pit, so we climbed the ladder, and up we went, thank god my mum had put her size 4 trainers on!!!
I couldn't believe we were actually sitting in the cock pit of the world's only flying Vulcan, to say we were privilidged would be the biggest understatement of the century!
Mike was great, giving us a history of 558, and also pointing out various aspects of the instruments, but what struck us most was the cramped conditions the crew must have had in that tiny cock pit, with it's extremely small windows. I dread to think how they coped on their way to and from the Falklands in '82!
Following the tour, our amazement continued, when we were taken up to the Flight Planning room, where we met Martin Withers, Bill Perrin, and Barry Masefield, yep, we were actually now talking with the Vulcan air crew, and listening to their pre flight brief.
Soon, they would disappear to head for XH558, to start their pre flight checks, and it was at this point that Mike then said he would take us over to the other side of the airfield, we thought to just head to where the rest of the people who were in for "Party in the Park" were situated, but how wrong could I be...
Before we got on the transport to take us to our new destination, we looked over and saw soldiers disembarking what seemed a passenger jet, it was in fact soldiers in their desert gear, arriving back from Afghanistan, how they were going to enjoy themselves as soon as they got back to their loved ones.
Anyway, we climbed aboard the minibus which stopped en-route, to pick up none other than Dr Pleming, who greeted my mother, another great moment to meet the number one man behind the Vulcan to the Sky team.
We continued our journey, and were "gobsmacked" when we arrived at the Brize Norton Control Tower, to which we were taken inside, and met the air traffic controllers doing their Saturday shifts, this was completely unexpected to say the least.
Whilst there we saw another lot of soldiers this time leave for Afghanistan on one of the base's Tristars, a round of "Good Luck Lads" was said when it lifted off from the runway, I hope they all return safely.
Next, we heard the instructions for the Vulcan to taxi, and subsequently made it's way to the end of the runway to get ready for take off - it was just at this point that we moved outside to the balcony of the control tower, as the moment I'd hoped my mother would see, was finally arriving.
A teasing couple of minutes sat there, and then the power went up, we could see the Vulcan move, and then the howl made its way up the runway - possibly one of the best howls I can ever recall - and it lifted off just in front of us on it's usual steep climb, and then headed off for the Goodwood Revival.
In between we were treated to a couple of VC10's taking off for Cyprus, and also the departure of a C17 Globemaster, who was limbering up for a flypast, which would take place along with a VC10 following the Vulcan display, once it had returned from it's display sequence.
Return it did, having flown at RAF Kemble, which was hastily arranged thanks to the bonus of the CAA representative being present at Kemble that day, which allowed Martin Withers to display the aircraft and obtain a Display Authorisation for 2010.
So, the Vulcan came flying round in front of us, and whilst it did, we noticed that soldiers were beginning to come off a VC10 that had just parked up by the control tower, they weren't rushing to get to the coach that was waiting for them though, instead they were all looking up to the skies where they were being treated to a "welcome home" from the Vulcan, great timing!
We were treated to a display in what felt like a private airshow for my mum, obviously we knew it wasn't as the Party in the Park was taking place, but up there on the control tower balcony, it was such a fantastic place to be watching the Delta Lady blast through the skies!
One final howl on the power climb out, and then she drifted off (that's 558, not my mum!) to take part in a photoshoot before heading back to base.
Even then, the flying didn't stop as the Spitfire from the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight roared across the airfield, and over our heads whilst doing his display.
It was prior to landing that Mike Pollitt then took us back over to the terminal, where we were taken to the roof to get a great view of the landing - could this get any better? The answer to that was a resounding yes.
We were taken over back the apron to see the Vulcan taxi in to her final resting position for the day, with the piercing sound of those engines making sweet music in our ears!!
Just for good measure whilst the checks were being completed, the C17 & VC10 flew past as part of the day's celebrations.
Eventually all the post flight checks were complete, and we managed to get photos of the crew, who were of course, the crew who completed the Black Buck mission, so great to catch them all together on the same day!
It was after this point that we made our farewells, on what was possible one of the greatest days of my mum's life - a magical day that she would never ever forget.
Never did I believe when I tried to get in contact with Dr Pleming did I realise that one month later, my mum would not only get to see the Vulcan take off again, but also meet the aircrew, see the pre flight briefing, go inside the cock pit, end up in the tower control, and have pride of place on the balcony with a full view of the runway, see the take off, display, and landing, before then having the opportunity to greet the crew again, and get a picture of them.
It was simply a wonderful day, and as my mother said, "that was a magical experience, one that will never be bettered".
My sincere thanks go to Mike Pollitt for his brilliant hosting, to the aircrew for allowing us the opportunity to get close & inside XH558, and of course to Dr Robert Pleming for making the whole thing possible, I think it's fair to say we were all overwhelmed with what happened on our day, and it made the 3 hour journey back home a lot quicker thanks to those memories we took back with us.
Once I get the footage of that famous howl on the take off, onto the pc, I will post it both here and on Youtube, it's certainly a howl not to be missed!
