First one I saw was when I was very young, I was playing on the local common and a shadow passed over me, when I looked up there was a Vulcan flying slow at low level, next day it was in the local paper, the Vulcan was doing a flypast over the local AVRO factory as a thank you to the workforce who had made parts of the plane there. I knew what the plane was because I used to collect Turf cigarette cards, we were producing new models of aircraft what seemed like every month back then so it was a very exciting time for a young boy.
Last time I saw one was at the opening of the Manchester Air & Space Museum, again it was a low speed low level pass, incredible how they creep up on you almost silently then as it passes all hell breaks loose, I think every burglar alarm for miles around the museum went off.
My two favourite aircraft of all time are the Vulcan and the English Electric P1, the P1 always looked very futuristic to me. On the way to Blackpool on the A6 there was an English Electric showroom at a busy road junction, a P1 was on display outside in front of the showroom for a number of years.
Happy days....
