Vulcan!

^^Gord^^ · 16 Apr 2008 at 18:31

I didn't think I'd ever get to take pictures of one of these taking to the sky but today at RAF Cottesmore I did!

The weather was better than forecast but not good. Still working though what I shot but this is the pick of the bunch so I'll share this for now. Maybe more to follow depending on quality....

dirtybeatfreak · 16 Apr 2008 at 18:46

hi gord mate, havent seen you post here for a good while, great shot as usual!! looking forward to the others

robertgilbert86 · 16 Apr 2008 at 18:48

Decent shot, lovely plane

Zefan · 16 Apr 2008 at 18:51

Lovely, excellent shots on your website too

Totality · 16 Apr 2008 at 19:19

Did you use your 300mm F/4 by any chance?

^^Gord^^ · 16 Apr 2008 at 19:24

Thanks for comments!

Totality said:
Did you use your 300mm F/4 by any chance?

I didn't, as I've not shot a Vulcan before I didn't know what focal length I would need so went with my 100-400 L IS instead.

I have got some shots of the 300 f/4 L IS and the 100-400 L IS for you but they are in a queue of other shots I need to look at first

p4radox · 16 Apr 2008 at 19:34

Gorgeous plane, just spotted it on the BBC website too.

^^Gord^^ · 16 Apr 2008 at 20:01

Here are the others, I wouldn't usually use these are they aren't good quality but the Vulcan is an exception!

^^Gord^^ · 16 Apr 2008 at 20:01

a1ex2001 · 16 Apr 2008 at 20:14

The weather really let you down, still some good shots though and mybe a once in a lifetime opertunity.

3dcandy · 16 Apr 2008 at 20:36

hopefully XH558 will attend a few airshows this year, so it won't be very rare. half the fun of a Vulcan is the noise when they fly, but I've been told it doesn't make the same noise any more...

nice shots mate!

Tysonator · 16 Apr 2008 at 20:56

I love this plane, the load noise is amazing !

Flibster · 16 Apr 2008 at 21:56

3dcandy said:
but I've been told it doesn't make the same noise any more...

It does...

Same 201 engines - same howl...

However - due to losing so much weight - I believe it was in the 10 tons area iirc, they may not use full power any more. They certainly don't need to - so the howl won't be as loud, but it will still be there.

This also has the benefit of preserving the life of their engines. The most wear happens in the top few percent - so reducing that by even 3% helps. They only have 8 and then thats it. Can't rebuild them or retrofit other ones.

Noise is the same as ever though.

V-Spec · 16 Apr 2008 at 22:03

Good to see her back in the skies again, with a bit of luck we'll see it at some shows this year, I believe it was going to appear down the road from me <waddington> this year, but i'm not sure :confused:

lukechad · 16 Apr 2008 at 22:16

Awesome plane would really love to see it fly myself!!! the shots look great also mate! Looks like you had difficult plant spotting conditions there to be fair with the very gery monotone cloud behind!

Tysonator · 16 Apr 2008 at 22:27

I agree with above, difficult shots with the grey mono sky.
Good pic's

GSXRMovistar · 16 Apr 2008 at 22:51

Excellent shots.

BUFF · 17 Apr 2008 at 00:51

shame that they had to abort the test due to that starboard undercarriage cover not retracting

Hope that she makes it North at some point, Leuchars show would be good.

nutcase · 17 Apr 2008 at 10:07

Beautiful

Logsi · 17 Apr 2008 at 11:10

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7351628.stm

Are you one of the photogs in the video?

Josh