Mid-week displays at Farnborough delivered a squadron of delights in the form of the Phoenix like return of the Vulcan to the air – I remember being onboard a Vulcan at least 10 years ago listening to the plans for its refurbishment – which later became the most expensive return to service ever cannibalising 15 of them to produce one of air-worthiness. A packed airstrip at Farnborough 2008 waited patiently to be shaken by the Vulcan’s take off less than 100 yards away. It reminded me of my tour of that plane previously with anecdotes about its Cold War role as nuclear bomber with wings filled with fuel at the height of the Cold War. A time when Britain had an aerial nuclear delivery platform as well as the submaritine Polaris. The return to flight of the Vulcan is pictured in the sequence above:
Flying in immediately in the opposite direction to the Vulcan were the Red Arrows display team in their hallmark red Hawks from BAE

Registering about the same level as the Vulcan in terms of deafness, acoustic vibration and ground shaking was the Airbus A-380 which took to the skies immediately in front of the exhibition halls at Farnborough 2008. It’s always fascinating to see the maneuverability of large but unoccupied passenger planes, indeed the A-380 is the largest example.
Tight turns, sharp banks made the 4-engined Airbus display a real spectacle – a few doubted the runway would be long enough for take-off.