Vulcan v the BUFF
At the Greenham Common airshow some years ago I was having a beer or three with a Yankee tanker crew whilst a Vulcan was performing. It had already been announced by HMG that the aircraft was to be 'retired'.
'Such a pity the British government have decided to break that aircraft up' said one of the cousins. 'They could have sold them to the States. We would have put them through the paint shop, given a racey paint job. Restarted production, sold them all over the world, making money for England and the U.S. Air Force would have had a bomber that really worked.'
Sitting just in front of us was a B-52 crew, shrinking lower in to their seats. I am sure they had not been 'noticed' when the remark was passed.