Everyone has a favourite plane, right?

No? oh. Well this is mine. She's the beautiful Vulcan XH558, the only flying Vulcan in the world. She's had all my spare cash for many, many years now and she IS the most beautiful plane in the whole wide world. You have to hear her 'howl' to appreciate her fully.

I got my passion for her from my mother, who is possibly a bigger Vulcan fan than me. I bought a component share for mum for mothers' day and her name is on the bomb doors of the plane - we're a very normal family really.

Today was XH558's Jubilee Flypast tour, visiting sites that had been important in the development of the plane and commemorating 60 years since the first test flight. She flew over Gloucestershire Airport. I went along with a friend's husband and their lovely little daughter, who really likes loud planes (phew). We positioned ourselves perfectly it turned out, next to a friendly man with a scanner and right in her flight path. She flew in low, did an elegant circuit of the airport and then headed off to her next stop. Everyone was really friendly, it was such a great atmosphere. It was supposed to raise awareness and I'm sure it did that, I certainly heard several people who hadn't seen her before.

Home now, curled up with cats and a pot of mint tea. I'm going to dedicate tomorrow to revision but right now i'm smiling at today's new memories of XH558 in the sun.