In the January 2010 issue of FlyPast, VTST Chief Pilot Martin Withers shared some personal highlights with Steve Beebee about displaying Vulcan XH558 the previous year
“It’s really just about doing something I love, and it becomes particularly memorable when people tell you how positive the crowd’s reaction has been.”
Flying the sole airworthy Avro Vulcan, an aircraft that seems to unite avid and casual enthusiasts alike, gives display pilots Martin Withers and Kev Rumens a unique and enviable perspective.
Martin has the distinction of also having flown the type operationally, taking part in the first of the Falklands Black Buck sorties against the Argentine occupied Port Stanley airfield. For his part in the 1982 operation he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, and the aircraft he captained that day, XM607, survives in static condition at Waddington, Lincs.
Softly spoken and modest, there’s a gleam in his eyes whenever the subject of flying the Vulcan arises. From many outstanding memories of 2009, the event that Martin looks back on most fondly is the Windermere airshow on July 25. Set against the tranquil waters and rolling hills of the Lake District, the sight of the delta bomber descending from the north above Amb…
