A Vulcan once broke the sound barrier (no doubt accidently!) at Woodford while on a company test flight and smashed most of the windows in the greenhouses at a Poynton nursery.
I was assigned to XA893 for 3 months at the Experimental section at Woodford and we had the MK2 AC system fitted as an extra system with a huge bank of resistors etc in the bomb bay. It did not fly very often but it used to ground run for days on end and when the tail was towards the airfield centre it blew a huge hole in the ground which used to fill with water until the next ground run and it would empty the pond. It left a massive arc of brown mud from the pond on to the grass. One day with the tail towards the farm the postman came down the back road into the airport on his bicycle and the cockpit was advised to reduce power but he got caught and he his bike and the mail got blown about! Never knew what hit him but he was not hurt. The CSD units were fitted up the walls in the engine bays and pigs to replace. Didn't help with engine changes either. Towing the aircraft up the hill from the hangar we had to walk behind with chocks behind the main wheels because of the snow/ice.
When the first set of ECM was fitted, to a MK1, they decided to test it in the middle of the Woodford airfield and all the radio, radar, TV etc went off air for miles around including Manchester Airport. The press put it down to a sun spot!
I see someone in a post above says the Tony Blackman book was a good book. Pity about all the mistakes in it and his display of stupidity in demonstrating the 748 in South America bragging about flying in adverse weather when the locals had more sense, and how clever he was to get through it. That is why Airline pilots get more pay!
He was also a "cowboy" at Farnborough telling his crew after watching the Victor demo "we will show them a real demo".
One day he took XA892, I think it was, on test and a hydraulic line broke in the bomb bay and he lost hydraulics, so elected to land at Boscombe. He had reecntly got married so 'borrowed" an Anson to get back home. He arrived at knock off time and taxied the Anson down between the hangars scattering everyone who was walking to the car park.