Farewell to a beautiful old lady.

'Where She Belongs', watercolour, 52 x 34 cm. This is the very beautiful Avro Vulcan B2 bomber, XH558 'The Spirit of Great Britain'. This aircraft type, revolutionary when introduced to the Royal Air Force in 1956, was the mainstay of the British nuclear deterrent force for most of the Cold Way. Designed and built to do the dirtiest of dirty jobs for her country, she served for almost 30 years, during which time she became one of the most-loved aircraft at airshows and among aircraft enthusiasts across the UK. This aircraft, 'The Spirit of Great Britain' has been kept in flying order since her retirement for display purposes, but will touch down for the final time in October. She has been undertaking a farewell tour of all the locations that host a grounded Vulcan and this painting captures her as she flies down Bassenthwaite Lake in the English Lake District. This painting has lots of meaning for me, not just because I love the aircraft, but because I saw her just a few minutes before this at Carlisle.

If you have seen the youtube video of the Vulcan at Keswick recently, this painting shows the aircraft about 2 minutes before the video starts; Bassenthwaite is the lake in the background at the start of the film.

It is sad indeed that the Vulcan will no longer grace our skies in the UK: this aircraft just needs to be seen, heard and 'felt' airborne. So this is my loving tribute to her and her type - captured forever 'where she belongs'.