16 May London Southend Airport to host twilight Vulcan taxi-run this weekend
On Saturday 20th May 2023 the Vulcan Restoration Trust is holding a special twilight taxi-run at London Southend Airport, where they will commemorate the 80th Anniversary of 617 Squadron and its famous World War 2 ‘Dam Busters’ raid against the Mohne, Edersee and Sorpe dams.
Avro Vulcan XL426 has strong links with the ‘Dam Busters’. Its sister aircraft, the Avro Lancaster, were used on the raid and served with 617 Squadron in the 1960’s, ‘70s and ‘80s. XL426 wears 617 Squadron’s famous diamond-shaped emblem, featuring a breached dam, on the port side of its fin.
The Dambusters Twilight Taxi-Run event at London Southend Airport will begin with a big-screen Secret Cinema showing of the 1955 feature film, The Dam Busters. Shown in association with the 2023 Southend Film Festival, the film stars Richard Todd as Guy Gibson and Michael Redgrave as Barnes Wallis.
As the film ends and the night draws in, visitors will be able to move out of the hangar to witness Vulcan XL426 taxi in the twilight. There will be superb opportunities to watch and photograph
XL426 as she starts her engines as the sun sets.
XL426 will carry out two taxi-runs on the Southend Airport runway. The second run will be a high- speed pass.
Visitors will be able to view all of this from the Trust’s exclusive visitor area in front of its hangar. This will give an uninterrupted view across the airport and unrivalled photographic opportunities. Visitors will then have a close-up view as the Vulcan taxies back to her parking spot and her engines spool down.
Doors open from 4.30pm.
Attendance is limited and tickets are now on sale. Prices are as follows:
Public Adult: £65.00; VRT Member Adult: £35.00; Under-16 (must be over 6 years of age): £25.00
