Our 2025 Christmas Buffet will take place on Saturday 6 December at Hawkwell Village Hall, Essex SS5 4EH.
The event is open to both VRT Members and non-members.
We are delighted to welcome as our guest speaker Vulcan Pilot Peter Merrifield, who will be speaking about what it was like to fly the Vulcan in the 1970s Royal Air Force.
Peter joined the RAF on 4 April 1968 (just three day’s after its 50th anniversary!) and flew the Vulcan B2 from 1970-75, based at RAF Scampton. He was initially with 617 Squadron before moving to the Radar Flying Squadron, part of 230 Operational Conversion Unit (OCU), also at Scampton.
Following the Vulcan, Peter did an operational tour in Germany before converting to the Nimrod MR1, joining 42 Squadron at RAF St Mawgan in 1977. After four years at the Cornwall base, he was posted to the other end of the country to RAF Kinloss to take up Nimrod crew training duties. The following year, 1982, Peter joined 201 Squadron flying the improved Nimrod MR2P from Kinloss. In 1985, he joined the Nimrod AEW Joint Trials Unit before moving to 18 Group at Northwood the following year, where he was a Maritime Air Controller.
Peter returned to flying in 1990, again on the Nimrod MR2P with 201 Squadron at Kinloss. He retired from the RAF in October 1994. He then became a commercial airliner pilot flying the MD 83, followed by Airbus 320,321 and 330, before his retirement from flying in 2014.
In his talk, Peter will cover the history of the Vulcan, what it was like to fly (including some of the handling issues it threw up for pilots), as well as taking a look back at his time at Scampton with 617 Squadron and 230 OCU.
It is sure to be a fascinating afternoon and one which will also include our famous Christmas Buffet, plus dessert, tea and coffee (included in the ticket price).
There will also be a licensed pay bar.
The timetable for the afternoon is:
11.30: Doors open
12:00: Bar opens
12.30: Christmas Buffet Lunch
13:30: Flying the Vulcan with Peter Merrifield (part 1)
14:15: Break for Coffee and Mince Pies
14:45: Flying the Vulcan with Peter Merrifield (part 2)
15:15: Vulcan XL426 Annual Prize Draw
16:00: Annual General Meeting and A Look Back at 2025
17:00: Close
Admittance to our Christmas Buffet is by ticket only; there will be no ‘on the door’ sales. For clarity, one ticket per person is required.
