Shortly after reforming in 1983, 617 Sqn got a personal invitation to take part in the Toronto Airshow. When our Senior Engineering Officer arrived there for the recce he was shown a corner of the Wardair hangar and told "your Vulcan should fit in there nicely". SEngO explained that we had Tornados now and, even though they had no idea what a Tornado was, they still agreed to their invitation. Feeling guilty, it was decided that we would use Victors to get us across the Pond but that we would take a Vulcan tanker into Canada to do the last leg and also take part in the show.
We started our tanker conversion with the Victors with whom we were based. Note the white, dummy ECM pods, carried to prevent flutter and reduce fatigue as I recall.
TANK1 by Stephen Wilson, on Flickr
Getting personal with the drogue. Several of my pics from this period were used in the part-work The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Aircraft.
TANK2 by Stephen Wilson, on Flickr
On the trail to Toronto itself.
TANK3 by Stephen Wilson, on Flickr
As the Vulcan unplugged after its final fill the Hose Drum Unit on the Victor split in two and it started losing fuel rapidly.
TANK4 by Stephen Wilson, on Flickr
The Squadron Boss was at the controls and, despite being close to Greenland, he decided to divert to as close to Marham as he could get. He made it to Prestwick.
The Vulcan took us to Canada, he landed at Goose Bay and we continued to Toronto.
TANK5 by Stephen Wilson, on Flickr
TANK6 by Stephen Wilson, on Flickr
More 617 Sqn next time.
Steve
The View From The Cockpit - Part4
The View From The Cockpit - Part4
Last edited by wizzair on Tue 14 Nov 2017, 8:48 pm, edited 1 time in total.
- MicrolightDriver
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Re: The View From The Cockpit - Part4
Tremendous record of your trip - thanks for posting!
Re: The View From The Cockpit - Part4
Nice to see both types of K2 in action
My completed Model builds...http://www.flickr.com/photos/52328347@N02/sets/
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Re: The View From The Cockpit - Part4
Fantastic shots.
I joined 55 Sqn in 1983 until 86 and went with 617/27 out to Barksdale for the big bombing comp.
Fantastic days, as I recall the GR1s swept the board with pretty much every competition out there at that time.
Never mind the SEngO, as I recall it was the wee fella with the Tate & Lyle that ran the place...
I joined 55 Sqn in 1983 until 86 and went with 617/27 out to Barksdale for the big bombing comp.
Fantastic days, as I recall the GR1s swept the board with pretty much every competition out there at that time.
Never mind the SEngO, as I recall it was the wee fella with the Tate & Lyle that ran the place...
Canon systems
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Re: The View From The Cockpit - Part4
Many thanks for posting these four sections. Really nice to see.
Cheers,
Chris
Chris
Re: The View From The Cockpit - Part4
Great shots and commentary, many thanks for taking the time to share them all.
Kevin Jackson
www.airpowerimages.com
www.airpowerimages.com
Re: The View From The Cockpit - Part4
There's some photos you don't see every day!
Fantastic set, thanks for posting.
Fantastic set, thanks for posting.
Re: The View From The Cockpit - Part4
RoverDriver wrote:Superb shots all round - thanks for posting these.
Victor XL190 was scrapped in 1993, but the nose is on display at the RAF Manston History Museum in Kent. Nice to see it in action!
..and Vulcan XL445 ended up on the dump at Lyneham.
Adrian