Vulcan XH558
Today really is a historic day. I shall tell you why:
Avro Vulcan XH558 made its first successful test flight today, lasting 31 minutes. It’s the first time she’s flown since 1992, when she flew at an air display at RAF Cranfield.
10 years of hard work, £6.5 million in public money, thousands of man hours and lot of determination has enabled XH558 to return to the skies. It is now the worlds only flying Vulcan, with two other Vulcans (XL426 and XM655) remaining in taxable condition.
I really can’t wait to see her in the flesh - she’s rumoured to take to the air show circuit next year. Nothing’s confirmed yet. Today’s flight was merely a test flight to ensure everything is how it should be, and XH558 hasn’t got its CAA permit to fly certificate yet. However, hopefully she will have it soon, and we’ll be able to see her a lot more.
From http://www.tvoc.co.uk:
“The return of Avro Vulcan XH558 to the air today in a 34-minute test flight marks the spectacular end of a 10-year effort, and the start of a brand new phase in the life of this amazing aircraft.
This huge achievement, unique in the history of aviation, owes everything to a massive team effort. The financial support of many tens of thousands of members of the public and the Heritage Lottery Fund, added to a superb contribution from Marshall of Cambridge Aerospace, the support of BAE Systems, Rolls-Royce and many other aerospace companies, and of course the Trustees and employees of the Vulcan to the Sky Trust, made this happen. “
It really has been an awesome day for British Aviation.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/help/3662494.stm
Year anniversary and PLASA Pics
Hey
Today (October 8th) is mine and LJ’s first anniversary. We’ve officially been going out a year 
It’s awesome, I’m really surprised she has stayed with me for a year, lol (given my obscure ways sometimes!), but she has, and we’re really happy. I took a trip up to Colchester and met her after college which was cool - we wandered about for a bit, did the usual Monday afternoon ritual of going into Costa or Starbucks and drinking Frapuccino (iced coffee).
The last year with Miss Laura-Jade Klée has been fantastic 
LJ spent the last three months making me an anniversary gift which was a complete secret until all was revealed today. She made me a story book, with pictures and paintings of us and our adventures over the last year. She also wrote a song which accompanied the book - each page has some lyrics on it. The whole idea is that you listen to the song and turn the pages in accordance to the lyrics. The Story Book Song is fantastic, and it really brought a tear to my eye when I saw what she’d spend the last three sold months making! I’m so grateful, she’s just fantastic. Thank you so much babes! I love you
I have more than one reason to be happy. My hosting company emailed me earlier and notified me that my web space has been increased from 500mb to 1GB without any extra charge. I’m damn happy, cos they wanted a shed load of cash for extra space (£10+ vat per year for 100mb!).
I’ve uploaded PLASA 2006 and 2007 pictures to the gallery. I went to PLASA last month. I went for 2 days out of the 4 days that the show was on. The opening day was DJ day, so there were a lot of kids etc there who were DJs. I wanted some kind of T-shirt that said “I’m not a DJ!” I also went back on the closing day (Wed 12th Sep) to find a much quieter exhibition - just what I wanted. I actually had a chance to talk to company reps about stuff, meet people etc and get decent practice/play time on different products. I got over an hour on the Avolites Diamond 4 Vision, which I was pretty happy about seeing as I didn’t get much of a looking on Sunday 9th. For people wondering “WTF has he just gone on about”, the PLASA show is the Professional Lighting and Sound Association’s annual trade show up at Earls Court. It’s where exhibitors from the entertainment industry all come together to show off their new products. It’s a fantastic show, and I recommend anyone who’s interested in lighting, sound, AV etc to take a treck along to next years show.
In other news, soon you’ll be seeing the launch of a new part of my site. I’m gonna add a section about the theatre work that I do and the kind of things that I have lit and done technical stuff for before. Wait and see.
Anyway, take care!
Jamie.