The Vulcan has to operate under VFR (Visual Flight Regulations) as part of it`s permit to fly.
Therefore it has to have the ground in sight at all times,and is not allowed to fly through cloud and is restricted to what altitude it can fly at.
Daft I know,but that is down to the CAA who set out the details under which the aircraft is permitted to operate.
Seems that quite a few people still don`t realise the strict rulings imposed by the CAA that the Vulcan has to operate under.
It would seem to me that the Vulcan operators (VTTS),should try and get the CAA to review these rules if they are losing many displays because of them.
The crew operating the Vulcan are ex-Vulcan crews and very expierenced;they should be allowed to travel through weather to a venue,if the weather at the venue is safe to display in.
Unfortunatly the Vulcan is not the only UK based aircraft that is restricted in this way,The B-17 "Sally B" operates under similar rules.
To be honest when I saw the weather was going to be ropey,both at Portrush and for the transit flight,I didn`t hold out much hope for the Vulcan being able to make it.
If the CAA would apply a bit more common sense to the operators of these aircraft,and in relation to display lines at some venues,including Portrush,then more people would be able to get to see these aircraft.
One of the reasons I didn`t go to this years show was because of the flightline being pushed further and further out each year for the jets;again this is down to the CAA.
I was pleased to hear that this year the jets did come in a bit nearer,although from what I hear the RAF aircraft stuck pretty close to the line.
This is understandable because the CAA work closely with the RAF for UK displays;it could be that the Belgian F-16 may have been in a bit too close for the CAA`s liking,but there is no point displaying an aircraft miles out from the crowd as happened last year with the Typhoon.
Regarding the weather at Portrush,I feel the organisers might want to consider having the show a week earlier.
Portrush have now had 10 airshows,and I can only think of two that didn`t suffer badly from cancelations due to the weather.
The longer transit for some aircraft has proved too much for some especially if the weather enroute is not ideal-the BBMF is one that springs to mind.
Now if the organisers could just sort out the traffic,and stop the campervans hogging the Ramore Carpark-after all it does clearly state "NO CAMPING" at the entrance.
