Steven Hand photo reposted via FB
Saturday's very spirited and impressive display by Kev Rumens provoked a lot of comment on FB and elsewhere, some armchair pilots even going so far as to say that the Vulcan was quite close to stalling because of the angle of the climb out. I must admit the first time you see the video it's almost heart-in-mouth time! That said, a display pilot has more than enough experience to know how far to push the Vulcan and wouldn't do it if it wasn't safe to. Equally it should be pointed out that Saturday's spirited departure was not repeated on the Sunday; nor was the inverted flight. Was this a QRA take-off as some have said? Hardly! On Quick Reaction Alert Vulcans were usually fully laden, several tonnes heavier and although four could be airborne in roughly two minutes, the climb out was usually pretty sedate given the weight. Here the fuel load is no more than 30 to 40 percent for a quick flight then back to base.
The Sunday at RIAT was still about the Vulcan..but this time it was that memorable formation with the Red Arrows. After the energetic display on Saturday, Sunday's display was somewhat toned down. It still did not make a difference - possibly the finest display over the weekend. Here are a few of Tad Dippel's images, click to view large, more at his FB page Thank you Tad!
