A very good day and a dream achieved

Hi everyone. This will be a long post and might bore some of you as it is talking about aircraft.

I just wanted to share something very special with you all.
Some of you may have read my blog post a few days ago regarding exposures.
Well, it all worked out today and for the first time in years, I ventured away from my normal areas and went to see something very special. I have wanted to be able to do this and see this for a long time and yesterday (6/6/15), it finally happened.

At 10am I left my flat and picked up my nephew. I stayed and chatted for a bit and then I then drove (with my nephew in the car) for over an hour to an airport, pulled over on the side of the road at the bottom of the runway and stepped out to the perimeter fence.
There was a fair few people there waiting for the departure of an iconic British built aircraft which had been restored to flight over several years. Unfortunately at the end of summer, this aircraft will never fly again and will become a museum piece at the airport. There are other Vulcan aircraft on display at various museums but none of them are airworthy and cannot fly. 

I’ve never been able to see or hear this aircraft fly because I haven’t had transport to get to airshows and also with the contamination issues of being around people who I don’t know. Yesterday I got my chance. I put my issues with contamination around others aside and joined these people at the bottom of the runway, standing there for about 40 minutes waiting for take off. I even chatted with some of them about the aircraft.

I was finally able to see the Avro Vulcan bomber (XH558) take flight from her home base (now a commercial airport). I filmed the take-off and even hung around for another few hours to watch and film her land. I did move to another position for the landing as she was landing into the wind to help braking.

It was a fantastic day and well worth putting my issues aside and I met some lovely people, all Vulcan and aircraft enthusiasts (I guess you can call us plane spotters). I’m now planning more trips out to see her fly (as long as I have someone with me) and I know on other days when she is doing her displays, there will be many more people around me. My ultimate goal this year is to actually go to a full airshow, see the displays and the many aircraft on offer but, the Vulcan will always be my favourite aircraft with her unique design that could have influenced the design and building of Concorde (delta wing shape).

Most of you know that I like aircraft and build plastic models of them but this is a totally new and different experience for me. Being honest here, I got a totally new feeling being there at the end of the windswept runway, hearing the howl of the engines and having the aircraft fly directly over my head.

I think today has not only helped with exposures for my ocd but has also helped my borderline personality disorder too. I haven’t felt like this for a long time and the buzz of this won’t wear off anytime soon. I have achieved one of my goals, a goal that I set myself when I initially saw the Vulcan sat in a hangar being restored 8 years ago (before the major mental health issues) when I was working. The goal then shifted when I found out that she was flying again but the ocd had taken hold of my life and I was unable to go anywhere. Until this year, the goal to see her fly was a long term thing but after finding out that 2015 was her last ever flying season, I knew I had to do something about it so that I could achieve the target and see this fantastic, iconic plane.

I just want to say a few things to you all now.
My contamination issues and anxiety levels were still very high during the day but I pushed through them.
I also want to add that by doing exposures at my own pace, I can control the anxiety. The ocd will always be part of my life but, with the controlled exposures, it becomes easier and I’m already planning my next big adventure.
I also want to tell you that, I only wiped my hands once during the day with my wipes and I didn’t shower when I got home like I would normally do. I just washed my hands a few times, got changed and continued the evening as if I’d never been out.

I think I’ve bored you enough now but for those of you who are interested, I have posted some videos on YouTube and I will link them here (3 in total)