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The Start of the End!  Death of a Victor Charles!!  Bruntingthorpe Sunday 2^nd May 2010                     (Ian Ellington)

To my horror in late March! News was filtering around a number of forums that the RAF were about to start and withdraw the VC10’s from service!  Most to be scrapped, but a couple may head to museums?? On 6th April though the reality sunk in when two VC10’s “XR807 and XV109” departed Brize Norton for the last time and headed to Bruntingthorpe to be parted out!!

Being a fan of the older types of Prop/Jet airliners this came as a great shock as apparently the aircraft have a few more years of airframe life left in them, but all said and done the RAF now must be struggling for spares etc.  “So for me” it will be a sad day when the last of the four Rolls Royce Conway’s on the VC10’s are shut down and replaced by the more modern and quieter Airbus A330!!

Mentioned also on a couple of forums, was talk of Bruntingthorpe Museum getting a Nimrod on Tues 27^th April,  the VC10’s had arrived earlier in the month, (6^th April) but in their case to be scrapped!. So basically I was going to wait until the Nimrod arrived then head down one Sunday. “However though” I didn’t want to leave it to long as the first of the VC10’s was deteriorating fast!!!!  It had been mentioned on the forum that one had to be scrapped by the end of April?? Say a prayer!!   

After checking the weather on the Saturday night 1^st May, It didn’t look to good, but there was a break in the rain after lunch time on the Sunday, so I thought I’d head down as next week might have been too late!!  one of the VC10’s might have been converted to a coke can!!!!!!!!

Bruntingthorpe Sat 2^nd May

On arrival at Bruntingthorpe “and paying the £5 entrance fee” I was greeted by a Jaguar GR1 XZ382 in racing green metallic with jaguar stickers!!  “Not my cup of tea” but as I headed round the corner two noses of a true classic appeared!!! A hanger with two serviceable lightning’s in it! Although Im not into fighters! Lightning’s/Phantoms & Starfighters are a bit tasty to say the least!! So with that in mind it got worked and onto the CF card!! Anyway on having a chat with a guy who was working on them, he mentioned that one of the lightnings (XR728 Coded JS) was the one which was at the front of the diamond nine formation at a dull/wet and cold Brinbook Airshow in the early eighties!!!  I remember it well!! While also remembering a young Kev Perry bad with the drink from the night before and nearly missing them!!!!!!!!!

Memories!! At a Dull/Wet Binbrook Airshow in the 80s!! 

Click on each image to enlarge then click again for full size

I then headed to the newly arrived Nimrod XV226, “looking very smart” while also having the added bonus of 40 years of Titles/Badges on it. Then it was off to the Nimrods mentor “The Comet” This was the last Comet to fly as XS235.  Now registerd as G-CPDA, I’m lead to believe it is next into the hanger to be resprayed into BOAC colors one side and RAF the other??  Must say the Boscombe Down colours now looking a bit faded!  Still nice though all the same!  Another gem at Bruntingthorpe is the Massive Supper Guppy!!! F-BTGV, Got inside and got lost!!!  “Where am a???”

 A big bonus for me was getting some clean shots of some of these aircraft as I had the museum practically to myself!! “Unlike the last visit several years ago”

Of interest to me around the field!

XS904 (BQ) EE Lightning F.6 (Lightning Preservation Group)

XR728 (JS)  EE Lightning F.6 (Lightning Preservation Group)

XT630 (X) Westland Scout AH1

G-BVXC/WT333 Canberra B(I)8/B.6 Mod (Canberra WT333 Operating Team)  Link to their site

F-BGTV Aerospatiale Super Guppy

G-CPDA/XS235 HS Comet 4C

XV226 HS Nimrod MR2P

XM715 HP Victor K2  (which was in the hanger on a repaint!)

SX-OAD Boeing 747-212B (ex Olympic Airways)

XR807 (Q) VC10

XV109 (Z) VC10

Now it was time to head to the other side of the airfield and the main reason for the visit! “Victor Charles x2. Having found my way round I was confronted by what can be described as XV109 coded (Z) fenced off in its own compound etc! It looked a bit worse for wear just the basic airframe although it was sat on its undercarriage via jacks.  What a sad sight!!   While the other “XR807” Coded (Q) sat engineless but otherwise untouched!  A big bonus though was no fence round it!!  Rumor has it that one was going to be kept in a serviceable condition for the usual fast taxiing on the open days etc, obviously though not this one either! “No engines” time will tell as I was told there are not expecting any more this year????  mmm! wait and see??

There was no one working on or around the aircraft, so again had the place to myself! So they both got truly worked!!!

XV109 (coded Z)

And XV109 in better times!! 

XR807 (Coded Q)

And XR807 in better times

Also in the distance was an ex Olympic Airways Boeing 747-200 SX-OAD, it was part painted in Asda green colours one side along with the faded Olympic colours, so is a bit of a mess now! This was in the middle of the test track where a number of tasty super cars were horsing about!! Ferrari’s/Aston Martins and Lamborghinis to name a few!! 

Once I said my goodbyes to the Victor Charles!! RiP!!!! I was then off to Coventry where I was hoping to shoot some of the stored BAe ATPs.

Coventry Sunday 2^nd May

With Coventry still being shut to Commercial flights I didn’t expect to see much apart from the based & stored stuff? No surprises apart from Atlantic’s B737-300F which I hadn’t shot yet!!

On arrival it was straight round to shoot the Quartet of BAe ATPs in their ex operator’s colors! The two ex Indian ones were the main reason for the visit, but equally the ex Emerald and Magic Bird Cargo where just as nice!  If you drive past the entrance to the Airport then turn left after the runway you will head down a road which runs parallel along the runway! You can read most stuff off, “but for me” it was hoping to get close enough to the ATPs to shoot?? and also the B737-300F??

 Of interest!!

G-OBWP / MANC BAe ATPs (Both ex First Flight India)

G-BTPL BAe ATP (ex Magic Bird)

G-JEMC BAe ATP (ex Emerald Airways)

G-JMCL Boeing 737-300F Atlanic Cargo

I was seriously thinking of going into the museum at Coventry to shoot the Argosy and the newly arrived Viscount in Air Inter colors! But to be honest the weather had turned dull again! Plenty of time to get them in better weather conditions so left and headed to East Midlands.

East Midlands Sunday 2^nd May

Another Classic Jet was sat on the Cargo Ramp at East Mids! 9G-AED DC8-62F. “Which I’m lead to believe is now based at Manston with a new UK operator? Shot it at Newcastle last year but would have been a nice end of the day to see it depart?? Unfortunately not though! Still nice to see a couple of freight movements in daylight hours, a couple DHL B757s and the arrival of a newly delivered B767-300F. 

The arrivals were on runway 09. A good spot is the Aero park near Donnington race track for shots where they have a small museum, and another Argosy as an inmate!! But another good place is to drive past there and turn right at the pub! This then heads to a crash gate where you can walk most of the way down the runway! You do need steps though, but a nice spot in nice weather! “Which wasn’t the case today!!

Off Interest

G-TOYA / TOYB Boeing 737-300’s  Kuban Airlines  (Ex bmi baby)

G-MIDL Airbus A321-200 (ex bmi-international /all white)

ZS-JIV Lockheed L382G Safair

9G-AED Douglas DC8-62F

G-DHLE / DHLF Boeing 767-300F DHL

G-BIKU / BMRJ / BMRH B757-200F DHL

EI-OZI Airbus A300B4-200F DHL

G-PMHT TBM700

G-BWDB ATR72 Aurigny

D-ILKA Dornier 228-100  Manx2

OY-BTZ / G-VIPW Pa31 Navajo’s 

On the whole an enjoyable but sad day for me “the most elegant airliner reduced to a coke can!! “Never nice to see”

RIP!!   XV109/XR807

Regards

Ian Ellington

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