Local residents were delighted to see the last flying Vulcan bomber take to the skies above Wilmslow and Alderley Edge this afternoon before it retires later this month.
The iconic Cold War jet took off from Doncaster at 1pm on the northern route of its Farewell Tour and having flown up to Dalkeith in Scotland the Vulcan XH558 flew over the outskirts of Manchester Airport just after 3pm.
It could be seen above Wilmslow and Alderley Edge soon afterwards as it headed to Woodford, where the bomber was made, and then again as it travelled on to RAF Cosford.
Today's flight was amongst the longest ever undertaken by XH558 following the end of her RAF Service in 1984, keeping her in the air for three and a half hours to give as many people as possible a chance to see her.
Spectators took to Twitter and Facebook to share their photos and delight at seeing the bomber fly overhead before she is grounded in a couple of weeks time.
Geoffrey Davies-Palin said "The beautiful Vulcan bomber has just flown over my house at about 400 feet goosebumps from head to toe. Amazing sight and sound."
Melanie Connor tweeted "Flew over our village. It was fantastic. So proud."
Heather Thomas tweeted "@XH558 AMAZING. Right over our heads in alderley edge. Thank you!"
Tomorrow she will tour over the south of the country before she takes to the skies for her final flight in mid-late October, details of which are yet to be confirmed.
Photos. 1. Credit Manchester Military History Society. 2 & 3. Vulcan XH558 flies over Chorley Hall Lane playing field taken by Lara Willet. 4-7 Taken by Lee Calver at Manchester Airport. 8. Taken from Woodford Aerodrome by Ian Mclellan. 9. Taken from Mill Lane, between Poynton and Woodford, by Peter Wright.
Comments
Here's what readers have had to say so far. Why not add your thoughts below.
It is indeed a beautiful looking jet but lets never forget what it was designed specific to do ...drop 4500 kg nuclear bombs on Russian cities. Each one cost 3/4 of a million Pounds way back in 1956!.
That £17 million each in today,s money !
136 were built and you can at least double there price when you add in running costs.
Imagine the country we could have had without these costs?
The Vulcan was built for a very specific purpose in the depths of the Cold War, and it served us admirably. I'd say excellent value for money!
It's a sad thought to know that if Vulcan bomber crews were to be given them order to drop nuclear bombs in Russian that they were unlikely to come home to anything worth landing on, if they made it home at all.
They did fly a vital mission in the Falklands war before being decommissioned.
An historic air craft indeed but should now bow out to retirement.
I'm surprised by Jon's comment as UKIP policy is to support the nuclear detrerent. Quote: "Keep our Trident nuclear deterrent"
I well remember the massive acceleration with a vertical climb and the ground shaking ! These moments one never forgets.
As far as I am aware, the crews of the Vulcan bombers never had to drop an "armed" nuclear weapon. And I hope that the UK's current and potential future nuclear weapons are never used. But I do see the reasoning behind having them as a deterrent / last line of defence.
I do not agree to their use as an act of aggression but purely in form of defence from a direct and sustained nuclear attack on UK sovereign territory.
So based on this, I assume that I don't share the exact same view point as you, but I do believe that you have the right to say and share what you did.
My opinion is that free speech is an important part of a democracy, and long may it last.
The Vulcan was a nuclear deterrent. It ensured that if Russia pressed the button they would get a revenge attack in return as the Vulcans would be airborne and on their way to their targets before the Russian missiles hit UK. It was called Mutually Assured Destruction or MAD. Mad indeed, but thank heavens it worked.
It's easy to look back with hindsight and declare it was all a terrible waste of money and resources, but at the time it was what we had to live with, an all-to-real threat and we were grateful indeed to the engineers at Avro and the air crews of the RAF for providing that protective deterrent.