THE LAST Vulcan bomber flew out of Bournemouth Airport on Sunday, but not before a rather special reunion took place near the runway.

Poole resident and former RAF flyer, Colston Nichols, who last sat behind the controls of the same mighty Vulcan bomber thirty years ago, jumped at the chance to clamber into the cockpit once again.

And when the 66-year-old grandfather climbed into the nerve centre of Vulcan XH558, it was like turning back the clock three decades.

“As you get in the smell hits you,” he said. “It is an amalgamation of fuel, hydraulic fluid and leather. Each aircraft had its own smell and I was instantly transported back.”

Mr Nichols was invited to take a look over his former Cold War bomber by Cobham Aviation Services and the Vulcan To The Sky Trust, the charity responsible for keeping this last example of long-range British bomber airborne.

The Vulcan, which touched down at Bournemouth Airport for the first time since 1992, didn’t get much of a chance to thrill crowds at this year’s airshow because of the weather. It was only able to make an unscheduled display on the Thursday.

Avro Vulcan XH558, the last remaining working example of a Vulcan, is marking its 50th anniversary this year.

Mr Nichols, who successfully landed XH558 some 11 times, said: “It has been a very emotional day. I just never thought I would actually see a Vulcan again, far less clamber into one and have a look around.”

And the experience sparked some more unusual memories.

“Once, we were at altitude at night and there was this dull thud and suddenly some choice words and the mentioning of lots of blood from the rear of the cockpit,” he recalled.

“With some trepidation, we on the flight deck, looked around and asked what the hell was going on. It transpired a can of tomato soup had exploded.”