Vulcan Display Flying 60's &70's?
 

Afternoon All

Apart from XH558 display team. In the Operational days how many display crews did each Vulcan station have, and was it a new crew each year and did they do the display training over the base or did they go another flying station?

For Cyprus of course just one station and pretty hard to find somewhere else :)

There were two Sqns so one sqn got the job each year. Our crew on 35 got the role. It was better clever manoeuvring by my skipper, a flt cdr who reached AVM, so that we got the coveted display in NZ.

​​​​​​Ron Dick, OC IX had been the pilot the previous year and flew as instructor on one trip. We then did several practises at Akrotiri culminating in a final observed display check before being signed off by the AOC in C. Our crew broke up and was posted shortly thereafter. My skipper managed to get an additional 3 months but without crew.

Excellent practice in crew coordination and long range unsupported ranger exercise and completely irrelevant given our crew disbanded.
​​​​​​

I remember in the 80s when we were at Waddo we used to sit by a tent in the middle of the airfield whilst some ATC Cadets got in a flight in a Chipmunk and we would be watching a 44 squadron?? Vulcan practice their display routine every evening (. I don't think we would be allowed now).

Remember seeing them practising over waddo in the 70's and at Marham. Very noisy indeed spoke to an AEO once who was at waddo and said they could not hear the noise inside the aircraft, like everyone could outside. Must have been fun PN doing the display flying!!

The real fun was the trip not the display. Post airshow party we were flown their in Dakota. Great party (I think). Only thing I remember was the biggest pissoir in the world then returning to Singapore at exactly the same time as our homebound VC10 flight which, unfortunately, we missed and had to stay in a hotel down town for a week - the Equatorial IIRC.

PN

No offence meant but I'm finding your post hard to follow.

Did you and your crew display in NZ? Whose Dakota? How did you get from NZ back to Singapore, if not in your Vulcan? Was there another crew, so meaning you were then going to be VC10ed back to Blighty?

Once Changi had closed and transport aircraft were being routed to Tengah, we used to stay downtown in the Equatorial Hotel on Bukit Timah Road - then very modern.

Yes

RNZAF, captained by a pilot officer no less. All the A4 drivers opted for a bus ride back.

Via Amberley and Darwin

Yes. Two. One ferried the aircraft out via Bombay and the return flight with a third crew via Chenai.
We took the VC10 back to Akrotiri via Sri Lanka.

[Quotr]Once Changi had closed and transport aircraft were being routed to Tengah, we used to stay downtown in the Equatorial Hotel on Bukit Time Road - then very modern.[/QUOTE]

Indeed, we had to go to the Mandarin and Shangri La for happy hour and preferred the roof top bar at the Hilton though they only served 3 for 2 but the pool was better than the Equatorial.

Enough detail? :)

Getting the 'no accommodation' slip from Slops cost a beer and a meal.

Don't ask me how we ever got funding.

Thanks PN! Those were the days!

Brian, indeed. While the V-Force in the 60s was very tightly controlled it also enjoyed top priority for spares etc. Our first 5-day ranger to Offutt stretched out to 4 weeks as we had a succession of tech issues. One was when we had ice in the pitot/static system. Now don't ask me how that happened but it might have been because the Crew Chief wanted more time Stateside.

Rectification was simple. Put aircraft in heated shed, melt ice and blow through. Execution was something else. The Aircraft was fully fuelled and rules would not permit it to be put in the shed lest we had a fuel overflow. Rules also mandated that fuel once delivered could not be returned to POL. The other requirement was to defuel into bowsers. However as SOP all bowsers were full and we had to wait until they had empty bowsers. Unfortunately the weather that caused our problem also prevented aircraft from landing which meant the bowsers remained full and the Looking Glass landed elsewhere.

And so it went on.

Finally we were ready to depart and gave a farewell dinner to the three USAF Majors that had hosted us. During the meal we got the message that we were U/S again; we had a very diligent crew chief. One of the Majors, Ralph Kelly then told us we had to go to bed early as we had an early start. ???? Then he said he would fly us to Vandenburg via March early in the morning returning the next day. We managed to get hold of DetCom "Cherokee Philips" who met us in the car park and dolled out some more green drinking tickets much against his better judgement.

We stopped off at March and that is another story as was our return.

When we got back DetCom was mightily relieved as we were now serviceable and he had been worried having to explain why a fully serviceable nuclear bomber was sitting at SAC HQ without a crew.

Glider 90

My somewhat dim memory (even helped by logbooks) seem to indicate that when I was display pilot on 101 (Waddo). ( 70-71) practises were at Waddo. and I flew a couple of trips with the previous years pilot before being cleared by the "Staish" (watching on the ground!. Seems along time ago!!

Bill

PN
Were you zapped by 75 Squadron?

BM

Your memory does not fail you. I remember watching your practice displays at Waddo at that time.

No, that was Ron Dick the year before. We zapped them.

ake-ake-kia-kaha
 

Zapped

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....d72093c88a.jpg

Forever be strong!

In memory of Cousin Jim F/S James Haswell Wood, RNZAF 21/03/1945 – Attack Against Munster Viaduct

Thanks All.