The sun was shining, it was Sunday, and I had eaten my lunch. What to do next?
Then it dawned on me that this weekend was the Weston Air Festival and Armed Forces Spectacular. Where I hear you ask? Well, the display was to be held along the entire length of seafront at Weston Super Mare.
The sand was soft and warm, with loads of places to park, and the promise of seeing my all time favourite plane – the Avro Vulcan – meant that this was going to be a perfect end to my weekend.
And then the announcement came…. Oh I groaned! The Avro Vulcan XH558 was still in Doncaster, and having problems with refuelling. I recall the last time I had trundled off in the hope of seeing her – Bournemouth Air Show, again along a beautiful beach. Sadly a fret had come in ( FOG to you and I ) and she was unable fly.
So here I was as Weston, hearing this rather sad news. But wait, there was the PlanesTV van adjacent to the commentary desk ( good commentary by the way ). The van – full with electronic gadgetry- were now telling me that she was able to refuel, and that she might be able to take to the air after all.
However, an announcement was then made to inform the spectators that the license would need to be extended to enable the Vulcan to have permission to fly in after her allocated time set for her slot. I groaned. I winced, and I waited.
YES! Bristol had given permission to extend the licence for her. A cheer went up!
I took a few photos, chatted to some people with VERY large lenses attached to their cameras – clearly experts at this type of photography – and waited, together with the entirety of Weston Super Mare judging by the amount of people still holding their breath for the arrival of this classy old lady of the sky.
And, sure enough, there she was…
So here are my shots for the day – and I must say after many years being a plane spotter, she still makes my heart thud.
If she has this effect on you, then do donate – they need lots of bits to keep her in the sky!!! Click here to visit the website and read all about the Avro Vulcan. http://www.vulcantothesky.org/
