OSPREY BLOGS

The Sound of Vulcans over Mull

August 14, 2008 12:00 AM

Seeing recent footage of the magnificently restored Avro Vulcan XH558 reminded me of an extraordinary experience I had back in the 70s when the V-bombers were such a distinctive element of Britain’s cold-war weaponry.

I was peacefully wandering along a beach on the coast of Scotland, and it’s hard to find a more peaceful place than Ardtornish Bay, even in that very peaceful part of the world, when two large triangular shadows flitted silently across the shingle and over the calm waters of the Sound of Mull towards the island, startlingly trailed by the full-power thunder of eight Rolls Royce Olympus engines - Two Vulcans close to Mach 1 unmistakeably practising their low-level attack role and having cleared the cliffs behind me by about 20 feet.....!

Vulcan XH558 took to the air again in October last year after 14 years of retirement and a three year project mounted by the Vulcan to the Sky Trust and is now set to be a star turn at airshows for some years to come, running costs permitting. Below is a fantastic video of XH558 taking to the skies once more...

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