Vulcan vs. a Filling Station
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Vulcan v petrol station
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!
If that is F/L Reg Wareham then he was on the OCU staff at Finningley in the late 60s
YS
Jeez - they didn't do a risk assement before putting petrol pumps there did they!!!
- "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.
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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.
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.
Do a Hover - it avoids G
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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.
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.
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
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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!
Thanks to Mr Farley for the point about runway numbering - I was using the number as correct in 2008, damn that magnetic drift!
Last edited by Steamer Ned; 13th Aug 2014 at 17:54. Reason: Added the last sentence
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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.
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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
...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
Aviator Extraordinaire
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Petrol stations at the end of a runway are never a good thing.
American Airlines Flight 625 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
American Airlines Flight 625 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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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.
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reggie Wareham.
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.
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.
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.
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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.
Gnome de PPRuNe
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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.
Risk assessment? Wos that then?
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
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From Wikimedia Commons: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...shton_Mk_3.jpg
