Some of you may be worried about this - @Winglad I'm thinking mainly of you!! Was out for a jaunt today and ended up at Wellesbourne Airfield in Warwickshire. Sitting just opposite the Touchdown Cafe, beside the tower, was this: AVIT by Trevor Laight, on Flickr Now we all know Wayne likes gritting roads, licking potholes and, well, most of us are not too sure about the rest, but it seems that when he's on this side of the Irish Sea @Havit likes flying planes... I did cheer up a bit though as a bit further down the field was this handsome beauty which is well worth gawping at: Vulcan XM655 by Trevor Laight, on Flickr You can get up close to this one on Saturdays and if we can get a small group together they'll give us a guided tour. Here's their website if any of you are interested.
I actually learned flying on one of those... Then moved on to the C-172 Long time ago (1992). But flying on two wheels is almost as good!
Do not be too concerned: If Wayne can run a truck on icy roads in the middle of winter in Ireland, he also can handle one of these puppies
These are much more fun No engine needed just skill Wasn’t this one obviously but a similar one. The other trainer I was taught in was a K13 ( Scleicher ASK 13) , far better handling than the Blanik. Got my wings but then moved to an area where it was impossible for me to continue.
Winglad sits and wonders why parts for his Messerschmidt are cheaper than those from World of Triumph.
I actually caught the aero-virus in one of those Blaniks when I was 6. And I agree it is great hearing only the whistling of the wind when airborne. AND you get to meet a lot of friendly farmers, landing in their fields after running out of thermals...
Done that once, wasn’t that far from the field that I should have landed in. Just ran short by a 1/4 of a mile. So a car and trailer was dispatched to bring us back. Thankfully the field was long enough to facilitate a launch from the car. Only time I had ever launched thar way, normally we launched off winches. Far quicker and safer imv. Was trying to get an altitude award. Had had a great flight bar that , loads of thermals with a couple of streets thrown in so distance wise was great just never made the altitude I needed. Was a 1000 feet short.
Glad to see the Vulcan is still there. I used to deliver glass to a company on the edge of the airfield, and could just see the Vulcan from there through the hedgerow. A thing of beauty!
Not sure what will happen to it unfortunately. The events coord was telling me the airfield is not currently allowed to put on any events to promote it as an airfield as the owners are considering selling it for housing - see Ade's post above. This means their Wings and Wheels event has not been on for the last two years where they used to do fast taxi demos*. If the places does become houses the Vulcan will end up in bits to be moved or it will be hoisted on to a plinth and never run up again, which would be a huge shame. *If any of you saw the Guy Martin programme about the last flying Vulcan then you will have seen 655. When he did a fast taxi and pulled a "wheelie" it was in this one, not XH558.
