Guy Martin and the Vulcan

[williamp]

surveyor said:

I do think James May or even Tom Wrigglesworth would/could have done a better job. The production while pretty was pretty average. All IMO.

Dont know the latter, but the former would just take the piss (like he did when they built the mini) and is too old to climb in engine nacelles.

Guy was right for the job, but the programme was "guy martin and....". rather then "The vulcan. Presented by guy martin."

[saaby93]

WinstonWolf said:

I think the bloke just has a natural affinity with anything mechanical.

It's the first time Ive seen him on a programme and wouldnt have watched if it wasnt about the plane in the background
In some ways hes of a similar ilk to Fred Didnah (RIP) but without the knowledge depth of history - why these things turned out the way they did rather than these old switches are quaint

[Kitchski]

surveyor said:

I do think James May or even Tom Wrigglesworth would/could have done a better job. The production while pretty was pretty average. All IMO.

James May would have made a much better 'presenter', yes. Or Clarkson for that matter, but the thing Guy Martin brings is genuine enthusiasm. He's a young guy from the UK who isn't in Playstations, social media or smartphones. He loves engineering, and the history of engineering. He's exactly the kind of person they need on board with 558 to push for this 'education centre' we hear so much about. Good luck to them all.

Personally I don't get the type of people of who sit and moan that a program aired on a major channel on a prime Sunday night slot wasn't full of technical facts and nitty-gritty. These are presumably the same type of people who moan that Top Gear is too entertaining, and not boring enough, or that Wheeler Dealers is farcical because they don't include Ed China's labour time etc, ergo it cannot factually be truly 100% realistic.

Bore off.

It's a program aired at 7:30pm on Ch4. They're trying to reach as wide a market as possible, because that's how you bring in new blood. If you don't get the youth of today interested in aviation or engineering in any sense, then the lack of manufacturing that everybody harps on about us having compared with yesteryear, is only going to get worse.

I enjoyed the program. It's different to something like Vulcans, Victors and Cuba in terms of detail, but there's only so much you can fit in. I loved the fast taxi run, the footage of it in the air was truly brilliant (the best we'll ever have of a V-bomber, in my mind) and I think it touched on all areas of the thing in service, without going into deep detail on any of it.

Only gripes for me (putting on my boring hat)? The Victor didn't get enough of a mention on the BB bits, and at the end I think they should have made some mention of the fact that it did fly again, albeit briefly.

In short, looked forward to it, enjoyed it, recorded it on the planner, will probably watch it again.

[anonymous-user]

Hooli said:

Proper engineering *slaps hand on the wing*
Proper engineering

Get the kettle on lad




I like GM, so will be watching this.

Spot on
Spot on

Let's get cracking.

I thought it was a great programme. Guy Martin's enthusiasm mixed with some fantastic fiming plus it's about the Vulcan, make this well worth watching. It shows all kinds of things people might have wondered about, like how the bombs were dropped and what the cockpit is really like or how the hanger door opened and how to jack up the aircraft. The emergency procedure for the rear crew to exit was rather interesting.

Edited by el stovey on Monday 30th November 09:54

[surveyor]

Kitchski said:

James May would have made a much better 'presenter', yes. Or Clarkson for that matter, but the thing Guy Martin brings is genuine enthusiasm. He's a young guy from the UK who isn't in Playstations, social media or smartphones. He loves engineering, and the history of engineering. He's exactly the kind of person they need on board with 558 to push for this 'education centre' we hear so much about. Good luck to them all.

Personally I don't get the type of people of who sit and moan that a program aired on a major channel on a prime Sunday night slot wasn't full of technical facts and nitty-gritty. These are presumably the same type of people who moan that Top Gear is too entertaining, and not boring enough, or that Wheeler Dealers is farcical because they don't include Ed China's labour time etc, ergo it cannot factually be truly 100% realistic.

Bore off.

It's a program aired at 7:30pm on Ch4. They're trying to reach as wide a market as possible, because that's how you bring in new blood. If you don't get the youth of today interested in aviation or engineering in any sense, then the lack of manufacturing that everybody harps on about us having compared with yesteryear, is only going to get worse.

I enjoyed the program. It's different to something like Vulcans, Victors and Cuba in terms of detail, but there's only so much you can fit in. I loved the fast taxi run, the footage of it in the air was truly brilliant (the best we'll ever have of a V-bomber, in my mind) and I think it touched on all areas of the thing in service, without going into deep detail on any of it.

Only gripes for me (putting on my boring hat)? The Victor didn't get enough of a mention on the BB bits, and at the end I think they should have made some mention of the fact that it did fly again, albeit briefly.

In short, looked forward to it, enjoyed it, recorded it on the planner, will probably watch it again.

No problem with the dumbing down. Accuracy in what they say would perhaps be nice though.

[Simpo Two]

saaby93 said:

What was incredible at that time was how we actually manged to get on and do things

They had no computers to play with so just got on and did stuff. The rest is accounted for by decades of peacetime, excessive regulation and general fear of doing anything.

An interesting observation was how Spitfires etc could be kept flying almost indefinitely because the technology was simpler. I wondered if a simpler Vulcan could have been built.

[Kitchski]

surveyor said:

No problem with the dumbing down. Accuracy in what they say would perhaps be nice though.

What, specifically, did they get wrong then? I must have missed something.

[chrisga]

I may not know the ins and outs of whether he signed the right CAA form or whether it was 100% factually correct 100% of the time but I enjoy Guy Martin presenting anything on TV, and I enjoyed watching the Vulcan fly so I thought it was a good hour and a half entertainment on a cold wet dark Sunday evening. If it gets people interested in engineering so much the better.

[jamieduff1981]

Kitchski said:

James May would have made a much better 'presenter', yes. Or Clarkson for that matter, but the thing Guy Martin brings is genuine enthusiasm. He's a young guy from the UK who isn't in Playstations, social media or smartphones. He loves engineering, and the history of engineering. He's exactly the kind of person they need on board with 558 to push for this 'education centre' we hear so much about. Good luck to them all.

Personally I don't get the type of people of who sit and moan that a program aired on a major channel on a prime Sunday night slot wasn't full of technical facts and nitty-gritty. These are presumably the same type of people who moan that Top Gear is too entertaining, and not boring enough, or that Wheeler Dealers is farcical because they don't include Ed China's labour time etc, ergo it cannot factually be truly 100% realistic.

Bore off.

It's a program aired at 7:30pm on Ch4. They're trying to reach as wide a market as possible, because that's how you bring in new blood. If you don't get the youth of today interested in aviation or engineering in any sense, then the lack of manufacturing that everybody harps on about us having compared with yesteryear, is only going to get worse.

I enjoyed the program. It's different to something like Vulcans, Victors and Cuba in terms of detail, but there's only so much you can fit in. I loved the fast taxi run, the footage of it in the air was truly brilliant (the best we'll ever have of a V-bomber, in my mind) and I think it touched on all areas of the thing in service, without going into deep detail on any of it.

Only gripes for me (putting on my boring hat)? The Victor didn't get enough of a mention on the BB bits, and at the end I think they should have made some mention of the fact that it did fly again, albeit briefly.

In short, looked forward to it, enjoyed it, recorded it on the planner, will probably watch it again.

Well said. It's prime time TV. There are plenty dry documentaries available as VHS conversions to DVD for those who want to listen to a monotone narrator for 57 minutes.

This programme was a reach-out to those otherwise not especially interested in aviation history using a big dollop of well-known personality who's enthusiasm for stuff tends to be infectious.

The programme wasn't aimed at those who already know the Vulcan's rivet count from above VHS documentaries from the 1980s - it's intended to keep a prime-time TV slot audience tuned in for an hour.

[227bhp]

EagleMoto4-2 said:

I have noticed that everyone on these Guy Martin things always has to say how great he was at the jobs he was given. You begin to wonder whether they are encouraged to blow smoke up his arse or not.

I'm always suspicious of how people are portrayed versus how they actually are in real life, but I have met some people who have worked with him on one of the episodes, I did specifically ask what he was like and they had nothing but good things to say about him, hardly conclusive I know as they were hardly going to tell me he was proper dick, but still....

Anyhow, why did he not get a ride? Too dangerous, insurance issues, not enough seats or something else? I bet he was a bit pissed he didn't get to fly in it.

[Kitchski]

jamieduff1981 said:

The programme wasn't aimed at those who already know the Vulcan's rivet count from above VHS documentaries from the 1980s - it's intended to keep a prime-time TV slot audience tuned in for an hour.

And it did exactly that. My missus normally goes off to bed around 10:00ish (three young kids, not much sleep!) if I'm watching something she's not that bothered about, but she stayed up with me and watched it til the end, and I think found it good to watch.

Only thing that irked her was the size of Guy's sideburns, but that could be a indirect way of telling me not to grow sideys like that

[Lincsblokey]

227bhp said:

EagleMoto4-2 said:

I have noticed that everyone on these Guy Martin things always has to say how great he was at the jobs he was given. You begin to wonder whether they are encouraged to blow smoke up his arse or not.

I'm always suspicious of how people are portrayed versus how they actually are in real life, but I have met some people who have worked with him on one of the episodes, I did specifically ask what he was like and they had nothing but good things to say about him, hardly conclusive I know as they were hardly going to tell me he was proper dick, but still....

Anyhow, why did he not get a ride? Too dangerous, insurance issues, not enough seats or something else? I bet he was a bit pissed he didn't get to fly in it.

First hand, couldnt say a bad thing about him, or his whole family, his enthusiasm comes from being taught from a very early age to build not buy, Ian was and is a brilliant engineer in his own right, and Guy grew up from a very early age doing things the old fashioned way. Always have a good chuckle when we bump into one another.

He is also a great supporter of several charitys, as well as being immensely fast on a bike. Maybe not had the luck at the TT, but dont let that fool those that dont follow road racing closely, multiple ulster gp wins, most succesful rider around the Southern 100 etc...

[Kitchski]

227bhp said:

I'm always suspicious of how people are portrayed versus how they actually are in real life, but I have met some people who have worked with him on one of the episodes, I did specifically ask what he was like and they had nothing but good things to say about him, hardly conclusive I know as they were hardly going to tell me he was proper dick, but still....

Anyhow, why did he not get a ride? Too dangerous, insurance issues, not enough seats or something else? I bet he was a bit pissed he didn't get to fly in it.

He's good with spanners, anybody can see that, and VERY particular. You only need to read his book to get a feel for what a nightmare it must be to be one of his mechanics at the TT. He's also got a natural feel for handling vehicles of any type, and it's not hard to see why when you see what he does in those road races.

As for the passengers, I read somewhere 558's not allowed to take passengers because it has live ejector seats fitted. Apparently, that's also the reason why visitors weren't allowed in the cockpit when it was parked at airshows etc. Don't bite my head off if that's wrong. In fact, I think one of the VTTS guys told me that at Brunters one year. It could be related to insurance too.

[surveyor]

Kitchski said:

surveyor said:

No problem with the dumbing down. Accuracy in what they say would perhaps be nice though.

What, specifically, did they get wrong then? I must have missed something.

Last flight (err not). Guy Martin part of the crew (err not), read the thread for other more technical....

[Kitchski]

surveyor said:

Last flight (err not). Guy Martin part of the crew (err not), read the thread for other more technical....

The last flight bit I already mentioned. The rest, meh.

[227bhp]

Kitchski said:

227bhp said:

I'm always suspicious of how people are portrayed versus how they actually are in real life, but I have met some people who have worked with him on one of the episodes, I did specifically ask what he was like and they had nothing but good things to say about him, hardly conclusive I know as they were hardly going to tell me he was proper dick, but still....

Anyhow, why did he not get a ride? Too dangerous, insurance issues, not enough seats or something else? I bet he was a bit pissed he didn't get to fly in it.

He's good with spanners, anybody can see that, and VERY particular. You only need to read his book to get a feel for what a nightmare it must be to be one of his mechanics at the TT. He's also got a natural feel for handling vehicles of any type, and it's not hard to see why when you see what he does in those road races.

As for the passengers, I read somewhere 558's not allowed to take passengers because it has live ejector seats fitted. Apparently, that's also the reason why visitors weren't allowed in the cockpit when it was parked at airshows etc. Don't bite my head off if that's wrong. In fact, I think one of the VTTS guys told me that at Brunters one year. It could be related to insurance too.

Yes anyone could have seen that by the close up shot of him tightening a nut up
To me there are three ways of being exceptionally good at something:
1. Natural talent
2. Doing it over and over again until you get it right (because you have an overwhelming interest in it)
3. A combination of the two

I think he's 2. It was a while ago since I read his book, but something tells me he said as much - it's a typical AS trait (Sorry, we're back to that!!).

[RicksAlfas]

When the Vulcan had the problem with it's front undercarriage, why did they "scramble" a Spitfire to meet it?
Was it a PR thing, or was it all they had airworthy at the time?!

[Smollet]

RicksAlfas said:

When the Vulcan had the problem with it's front undercarriage, why did they "scramble" a Spitfire to meet it?
Was it a PR thing, or was it all they had airworthy at the time?!

It had just been used to frighten off a Bear and was local at the time

[Simpo Two]

RicksAlfas said:

When the Vulcan had the problem with it's front undercarriage, why did they "scramble" a Spitfire to meet it? Was it a PR thing, or was it all they had airworthy at the time?!

I resolved this oddity by concluding it was the nearest thing to them in the air at the time.

Vulcan evidently has no manual thingy to lower u/c by hand.

[RichB]

Yes, the Spitfire was at the same display and flew over to visually inspect the Vulcan.