Vulcan vs. a Filling Station

[FantomZorbin]

A great many years ago, it was reported in a national daily newspaper that the aircraft had dropped so low on the approach to an airfield that the jet efflux had blown over a petrol filling station*!


Does anyone recollect this event?


* I think it was only a hut with 4 pumps.

[Flap Track 6]

It was Filton in 1960 - an aborted landing in heavy rain.

[GK430]

Yes indeed.

It happened at Filton.
My father was a TP at Filton in the late 50's and early 60's and I went to school with the Petrol filling station's owner's son.


The filling station was on the west side of the A.38 road adjacent to the airfield fence in the undershoot of Rwy 27.

The Vulcan may have been XA889 and went around from a very low level - planned or not, I do not recall and from memory, the garage fuel pumps etc. were all blown across the road and beyond.
The business (garage) never recovered in same location.

Just pleased that the 'old man' was not in the Vulcan on said occasion!

[Steamer Ned]

The following might help a bit, from a family history memoir I'm currently working on:




Vulcan B2 (XH 557) runway overshoot



Approaching for a landing onto runway 09 from the west, the Avro test pilot (?Harry Pollitt) who had never landed at Filton before, brought the aircraft down heavily at least 500 yards beyond the safe point.The aircraft developed wheelbrake failure, possibly due to the heavy landing, and the brake chute also failed to deploy, so the pilot could not stop the aircraft on a flooded runway in heavy rain.The pilot attempted a full-power go-around, but the port main undercarriage set struck street lamps on the main A38 Bristol - Gloucester road, damaging the leg and wheels, and also demolishing four petrol pumps in an adjacent filling station, but the pilot retained control and the aircraft became airborne.A successful landing without casualties was made on a foam blanket at RAF St Mawgan in Cornwall, after dumping excess fuel over the Bristol Channel.



This aircraft returned to Filton in 1961, remaining until 1966 to undertake flight test development of the Olympus 301 engine for upgrading the RAF Vulcan B2 fleet.

[BEagle]

...after dumping excess fuel over the Bristol Channel...

Presumably a trials mod.? No RAF squadron Vulcan had a fuel dumping system.

[GK430]

Steamer Ned,
Thanks for correcting my poor recollection, it was a long time ago.
The name Harry Pollitt does ring a bell.

The garage was 'Nash's Garage'.

Was it really the one and only XH557 that lives on today?

[Kieron Kirk]

"Was it really the one and only XH557 that lives on today?"

Sadly not, XH557 went into RAF service ending it's days with 50 Squadron.

Sold for scrap to the Bird Group on 8th December 1982.

The "flying" survivor is the next a/c from the production line XH558.

Ciarain.

[FantomZorbin]

Very many thanks for all the info.. Rumour had it that at least one of the crew involved was at the OCU at Finningley in the early 70s.

[Warmtoast]

Contemporary Press Cutting of the event

http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r231/thawes/VulcanatFilton_zpsa1ad4ad1.jpg

[FantomZorbin]

Many thanks Warmtoast. I bet Mr Gericke appreciated the extra ventilation in in his car after that!!

[OzBob]

http://www.transportarchive.org.uk/aimages/G1379.jpg

Runway Garage (http://www.aviationarchive.org.uk/Gpages/html/G1379.html)

[Curious Pax]

Jeez - they didn't do a risk assement before putting petrol pumps there did they!!!

[superq7]

OzBob, thanks for posting the filling station picture, I worked there for years and we used to have an area on the field known as Palm Beach, it's on the right hand side of runway 27 about half way down, anyone know why it was so called ?

[sooty655]

OzBob, thanks for posting the filling station picture, I worked there for years and we used to have an area on the field known as Palm Beach, it's on the right hand side of runway 27 about half way down, anyone know why it was so called ?

I understand the area was decked out with palm trees (to represent Hyderabad or somewhere similar) for the filming of "Cone of Silence" which used the Avro Ashton FTB.

The wiki about the making of the film is http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cone_of_Silence_(film)

The DVD is still available on Amazon ~ well worth a watch for the aircraft footage.

[FantomZorbin]

OzBob
'Strewth that is ever so close!! It's amazing it hadn't been flattened many times before!
Many thanks for the picture.

[Flap Track 6]

There have been lots of problems over the years due to the proximity of the A38 to the end of Filton's runway. There used to be a special set of traffic lights to stop the traffic when the Concordes were operating from there.
The last incident I recall was some poor unsuspecting cyclist who was knocked off his bicycle by the jet wash fron a departing Antonov a couple of years ago.

[Mike51]

There won't be any similar problems there in future though. RIP Filton. :(

[ZH875]

...after dumping excess fuel over the Bristol Channel...

Presumably a trials mod.? No RAF squadron Vulcan had a fuel dumping system.

The 50 Squadron Vulcan K2 had a fuel dump system. Dump exit where the VCCP airflow scoop was.

[Shaggy Sheep Driver]

I went to Amazon to look at the 'Cone of Silence' DVD. Reviewers report that to make the film fit DVD format, much of the picture at the sides has been cropped (to the extent that in one dialogue the second person does not even appear on the screen!). Pity, as I'd have bought it if that wasn't the case.

[sooty655]

I went to Amazon to look at the 'Cone of Silence' DVD. Reviewers report that to make the film fit DVD format, much of the picture at the sides has been cropped (to the extent that in one dialogue the second person does not even appear on the screen!). Pity, as I'd have bought it if that wasn't the case.

My copy seems to have been "borrowed" so I can't check, but I certainly didn't notice any problem when I watched it. There are some interesting shots of the Avro Ashton FTB. It is fun trying to spot the water spray grid in front of one of the Olympus engines (which they obviously tried to keep out of shot).

[Johnflex]

I flew with Tom Frost (on HS 125s) after he retired from his test pilot position with Rolls Royce. He related this incident to me and I got the impression he was the pilot concerned!

[sooty655]

I believe the pilot was Flt/Lt Wareham, with Tom Frost in the right hand seat.

[FantomZorbin]

Sooty655.
If that is F/L Reg Wareham then he was on the OCU staff at Finningley in the late 60s

[Yellow Sun]

If that is F/L Reg Wareham then he was on the OCU staff at Finningley in the late 60s

It is, and he moved to Scampton with the OCU in 1969. Funny, he didn't talk about it much:hmm:

YS

[sandiego89]

Jeez - they didn't do a risk assement before putting petrol pumps there did they!!!

No kidding :ooh:- "Hey lets have some hi-grade pumps right at the end of the runway!" Perhaps the gas station was there before the runway was there, or before it was extended?

Would have been a great place to watch the action though.

[Claudine]

Hi All,
I really enjoyed reading this thread and thanks in particular to Warmtoast for the newspaper cutting which I'd never seen before.
It was my father, Flt/Lt Reginald Wareham, at the controls of the Vulcan and Tom Frost was the co-pilot.
My father sadly died in October 2006.

[John Farley]

The following might help a bit, from a family history memoir I'm currently working on:

Vulcan B2 (XH 557) runway overshoot

Approaching for a landing onto runway 09 from the west, the Avro test pilot (?Harry Pollitt) who had never landed at Filton before, brought the aircraft down heavily at least 500 yards beyond the safe point.The aircraft developed wheelbrake failure, possibly due to the heavy landing, and the brake chute also failed to deploy, so the pilot could not stop the aircraft on a flooded runway in heavy rain.The pilot attempted a full-power go-around, but the port main undercarriage set struck street lamps on the main A38 Bristol - Gloucester road, damaging the leg and wheels, and also demolishing four petrol pumps in an adjacent filling station, but the pilot retained control and the aircraft became airborne.A successful landing without casualties was made on a foam blanket at RAF St Mawgan in Cornwall, after dumping excess fuel over the Bristol Channel.



There is the odd bit of mis-information in the above.

It was not a runway overshoot it was a landing from which it was decided to go around after touchdown followed by a late unstick.

The aircraft was on a delivery flight from Handling Squadron Boscombe to Filton. The Captain as has been stated was Flt Lt Wareham who had 15 hours on type. Tom Frost in the right had not been in a Vulcan before. The runway was 10. No Avro test pilot was involved. Harry Pollitt and Tom Frost were both Filton based test pilots

[Steamer Ned]

Many thanks to those who have supplied information since my post first appeared. The sources I used for my description of the incident included my father, a flight test engineer at Bristol Siddeley Engines Ltd (who was waiting for XH557 to arrive); and the senior ATCO on duty that day, both now deceased. I've amended my memoir accordingly.
Thanks to Mr Farley for the point about runway numbering - I was using the number as correct in 2008, damn that magnetic drift!

[jamesfrost]

My dad was Tom Frost, and he told me this tale in my youth. My recollection of the story is that the incident actually happened more than once within a few weeks, and the same guy was filling up at the station both times.

[Peter-RB]

Re the picture of the Filling Station,
...I wish I had the chance to buy the Mk 5 Jaguar that can be seen in the L/H side, there like Hens Teeth now..

Peter R-B

[con-pilot]

Petrol stations at the end of a runway are never a good thing.

American Airlines Flight 625 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Airlines_Flight_625)

[henry_crun]

Not shown in that pic are all the kids perched on their bikes and leaning against the mesh fence. There were dozens of us on Sundays and school holidays. Lots of interesting aircraft to watch, Brabazon, Britannias, Freighter Mk31 and Mk32, Sycamore, 173, Brigands, sixteen Vampires taking off in 4 rows of 4, Chipmunks (flew in some of those), and of course that odd-looking Ashton.

[clive 373]

Hi All,
I really enjoyed reading this thread and thanks in particular to Warmtoast for the newspaper cutting which I'd never seen before.
It was my father, Flt/Lt Reginald Wareham, at the controls of the Vulcan and Tom Frost was the co-pilot.
My father sadly died in October 2006.
hi claudine,
I Googled your dad's name and came across this site.
l desperately wanted to be a fighter pilot, but was turned down. Not knowing what to do l joined the meteorological office, and became an observer at Scampton.
I well remember the 230OCU arriving and your dad appearing in the office. What a wonderful bloke he was. He was so understanding of my grief. He had his students taking me up in the chipmunk fairly often, and within a week of him being posted to run the simulator at Finningley he was on the phone inviting me to come over and FLY it!.
I went on to get my pilots licence in Kenya.
l will never forget his kindness, and his sense of fun, he really was inspirational.
Kind regards
Clive Pritchard.

[GOLF_BRAVO_ZULU]

As I recall Cone of Silence, they used an AVRO Canada Jetliner.

[Alan Baker]

As I recall Cone of Silence, they used an AVRO Canada Jetliner.

No, it was the six engined Avro Ashton testbed. Previous posts have mentioned the DVD, the film was made in an unspecified anamorphic format, i.e. 2.35:1 aspect ratio like CinemaScope. The dvd is 4x3 except for the opening credits, so much of the image is missing.

[treadigraph]

A couple of years ago I read an old article by (I think) Neil Williams on formation flying. If I remember correctly he describes in it how the Vulcan diverted to St Mawgan which was also hosting a BOAC 707 doing crew training circuits. The 707 offered to formate with the Vulcan to give a visual assessment of any damage - then proceeded to terrify the Vulcan crew with their inept attempts to join up, probably scarier than anything else that happened to them that day.

[Xray4277]

Jeez - they didn't do a risk assement before putting petrol pumps there did they!!!

They probably didn't do risk assessments FULL STOP back then. I mean, who decided to put Speke Hall so close to Liverpool airport? It'd be a lovely place to live if it wasn't for all those damned aircraft taking off... :)

[Wander00]

They built a secondary school at the end of the runway at Watton, and when anyone commented they said "well Watton will close soon". It did, but rather a longer time later than they expected. Oddly, I discovered later that my birth Mother was a school governor

[FantomZorbin]

Wander00 I believe the USAF still use part of it for some sort of 'drops' , mainly at night.

[FlightlessParrot]

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/915x372/avro_ashton_mk_3_411062dc4be3234714137f24e943542bdde4a6c8.jp g

No, it was the six engined Avro Ashton testbed. Previous posts have mentioned the DVD, the film was made in an unspecified anamorphic format, i.e. 2.35:1 aspect ratio like CinemaScope. The dvd is 4x3 except for the opening credits, so much of the image is missing.

This is probably thread drift, but I'd never heard of this beast before (despite having been an air-struck schoolboy at the relevant time); so perhaps others would like to see a picture.

From Wikimedia Commons: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/86/Avro_Ashton_Mk_3.jpg

[Brian Catt]

I was there. Age 16. With a privileged few who probably had the best view if all. I watched this event unfold from above on the 3rd Floor of the Training college DO - on top of the hill at Filton with a view across the end of the runway looking North up the A38. . We heard it first, then watched it appear and cross the road, as it appeared from stage left, standing on its tail a few feet off the ground on full power, and dragged its very as yet undecided arse across the petro station which was in operation at the time, and had never seemed a very good idea, even to a 16 year old at the time, ripping up the allotment on the other side of the road. It really was just standing on its engines, going nowhere vertically, for what seemed a VERY long time. My recollection is the braking chute did not deploy properly and was dropped, and apprentices from the college recovered it as a trophy, may be wrong.

But this was a sight and sound you don't forget. Given ejection seats were only provided to the pilot and copilot. I expect the navigator and bomb aimer were rather pleased it lifted, if they were on board.

It was very quiet in the training DO until the silence was broken by a senior trainee, and local Bristolian, " Oi bet 'is pants are brown", he appropriately remarked.

There were other incidents in the short time I was there. The biggest fire in the Patchway Bristol Siddley engine works when an Olympus engine exploded on test and the fuel lines didn't shut down, the fire was threatening to ignite the fuel tanks in the adjacent concrete walls of the test bay, and 19 appliances were called to cool it down, from as far away as Gloucester, Not that anything happens fast in Wiltshire, except the events happening. A Gannet crashed killing the crew, etc. It was considered part of aviation that people died back then.

I only have my now personal details to add, nothing technical. I saw that Vulcan thing happen, underneath my line of sight...... more to the point. I heard it happen. Later in life, one of the fun things to do was to park the MIni Cooper on the perimeter road, separated from the runway by a two bar wooden fence between you and the runway (27R?) back then, behind the departing 707's and Comet's, looking up their exhausts, on the main West runway, and get the full blast of the very non by-pass engines at full power for take off, COOL.

........ then maybe to the Air Port bowl behind the only Hotel then, the Ariel.