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The Office - Part Four

Warbirds, Replicas and Nostalgic photos in here please.
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wizzair
Posts: 35
Joined: Sat Sep 22, 2012 5:02 pm

The Office - Part Four

Post by wizzair » Tue May 17, 2022 7:12 am

Shortly after reforming in 1983, 617 Sqn got a personal invitation to take part in the Toronto Airshow. When our Senior Engineering Officer arrived there for the recce he was shown a corner of the Wardair hangar and told "your Vulcan should fit in there nicely". SEngO explained that we had Tornados now and, even though they had no idea what a Tornado was, they still agreed to their invitation. Feeling guilty, it was decided that we would use Victors to get us across the Pond but that we would take a Vulcan tanker into Canada to do the last leg and also take part in the show.
We started our tanker conversion with the Victors with whom we were based. Note the white, dummy ECM pods, carried to prevent flutter and reduce fatigue as I recall.

ImageTANK1 by Stephen Wilson, on Flickr

Getting personal with the drogue. Several of my pics from this period were used in the part-work The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Aircraft.

ImageTANK2 by Stephen Wilson, on Flickr

On the trail to Toronto itself.

ImageTANK3 by Stephen Wilson, on Flickr

As the Vulcan unplugged after its final fill of the trip the Hose Drum Unit on the Victor split in two and it started losing fuel rapidly.

ImageTANK4 by Stephen Wilson, on Flickr

The Victor Squadron Boss was at the controls and, despite being close to Greenland, he decided to divert to as close to Marham as he could get. He made it to Prestwick.

The Vulcan took us to Canada, he landed at Goose Bay and we continued to Toronto.

ImageTANK5 by Stephen Wilson, on Flickr

ImageTANK6 by Stephen Wilson, on Flickr

More 617 Sqn next time.

Steve W

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Knife 04
Posts: 3407
Joined: Thu Dec 10, 2009 10:05 pm
Location: 'Up the smoke doin' a deal'

Re: The Office - Part Four

Post by Knife 04 » Tue May 17, 2022 7:45 am

These are brilliant Steve - all 4 episodes have been a fantastic trip through your career.

Very much looking forward to any future posts

best

Darren

Fibrous Freddie
Posts: 181
Joined: Mon Aug 19, 2019 2:24 pm

Re: The Office - Part Four

Post by Fibrous Freddie » Tue May 17, 2022 7:59 am

Superb...
Thanks.

TimFoo
Posts: 214
Joined: Thu Jun 21, 2018 7:18 am

Re: The Office - Part Four

Post by TimFoo » Tue May 17, 2022 11:11 am

Just Brilliant!!! Most interesting....

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paulh
Posts: 535
Joined: Sun Oct 04, 2009 6:15 pm
Location: Humberston, NE LINCS

Re: The Office - Part Four

Post by paulh » Tue May 17, 2022 11:33 am

Fantastic sets you have been posting Steve, much appreciated :thumb:

Thanks - Paul

Mustang531
Posts: 2375
Joined: Sat Aug 22, 2020 5:47 pm

Re: The Office - Part Four

Post by Mustang531 » Tue May 17, 2022 1:52 pm

These are absolutely wonderful, thanks for sharing them with us.

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f106dart
Posts: 533
Joined: Sat Oct 10, 2009 1:20 am

Re: The Office - Part Four

Post by f106dart » Tue May 17, 2022 2:30 pm

Knife 04 wrote:
Tue May 17, 2022 7:45 am
These are brilliant Steve - all 4 episodes have been a fantastic trip through your career.

Very much looking forward to any future posts

best

Darren
Let's hope this wasn't the end of your flying RAF flying career. With more to follow

matt e
Posts: 1691
Joined: Wed Feb 16, 2011 8:00 pm

Re: The Office - Part Four

Post by matt e » Tue May 17, 2022 3:03 pm

Superb

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DanBeeden
Posts: 1989
Joined: Thu Oct 08, 2009 1:10 pm
Location: Short finals

Re: The Office - Part Four

Post by DanBeeden » Tue May 17, 2022 7:15 pm

Fantastic!

mancman
Posts: 187
Joined: Sat Aug 31, 2019 7:47 am

Re: The Office - Part Four

Post by mancman » Tue May 17, 2022 7:36 pm

Thanks for these posts, nice to see an insiders view of what most us could only view from the outside.

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The Phantom
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Joined: Sun Oct 04, 2009 7:16 pm

Re: The Office - Part Four

Post by The Phantom » Wed May 18, 2022 6:31 am

Brilliant photos and information :thumb:

Hunter49
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Joined: Sat Dec 19, 2009 7:46 pm

Re: The Office - Part Four

Post by Hunter49 » Wed May 18, 2022 2:01 pm

GREAT ! Rob

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