Distinguished flyer

To Robin Hood (huh) Airport near Doncaster today to see the last flying Vulcan get airborne for it's final flight of 2012. An amazing aircraft, for a bomber it can fly as fast as, and handle, like a fighter. This example is now run entirely on public donations - a charity which we both support. Today the Vulcan was doing a tour of the country to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the first Vulcan prototype making its maiden flight.
While we were in the viewing lounge waiting for the Vulcan to take off, Martin Withers was mingling with the assembled crowd. Withers was the pilot who flew the Vulcan on the raid to Port Stanley airfield during the Falklands Conflict, winning a DFC for his efforts.
Robin Hood Airport is a sad place. the shops and other businesses in the viewing lounge were all closed up, as though someone had tried their hand at running a business but the custom wasn't there. Apart from WH Smith there was nowhere to buy food and drink of any description. Even the JD Wetherspoon's had the shutter half pulled down. It was a little like wandering down the high street of an abandoned town.