Guy Martin’s Vulcan grip

You’ll have to have been living in a very small box, with no windows, internet or TV to have not noticed the crescendo of final flights of the much-loved Vulcan bomber XH558 this year – which flew for the final time in October.

This distinctive delta-wing plane played a pivotal role in protecting UK interests in the post-World War II era as the first nuclear deterrent, and was also responsible for the longest raid in British military history when it successfully attacked enemy targets in the Falkland Islands. And now Lincolnshire’s favourite Latvian descended full-time truck mechanic, part-time racer, book seller and drinker of tea, Guy Martin, managed to get his grubby mitts on an XH558 before it ran out of airtime. With unprecedented access, he was on hand as the engineers prepared it for its farewell tour, and he also got the rare chance to fly alongside the plane in formation, as well as taking the controls to try and ‘wheelie’ the 70-tonne aircraft along a runway.

His experiences have all been captured for a 90-minute documentary – Guy Martin: Last flight of the Vulcan bomber – which will air this Sunday November 29, at 7:30pm on Channel4.