Page 144 - Demo

142TIMED TO PERFECTIONOne dark night, my captain said that I could do the landing when we arrived at Goose Bay (Newfoundland) at the end of our transatlantic flight but, before we arrived, he impressed on me that the runway at %u201cGoose%u201d was twice the normal width and, therefore, it was easy to misjudge height on finals. However, I was an experienced and responsible co-pilot, 22 years old with, um, dozens of hours on the Vulcan - so no sweat.As we came down finals, I was concentrating hard on getting everything right, probably too hard. I raised the nose to achieve the touchdown attitude when I was still too high, with the result that, as the Vulcan%u2019s undercarriage finally met the runway, the planned-for %u2018kiss%u2019 was replaced by a teeth-jarring %u2018thump%u2019. We rolled down the runway in awkward silence, until my captain switched on his microphone, and asked the rear crew1 if anyone had noted the time of landing. %u201cBloody should have%u201d, was the reply. %u201dAll the clocks have stopped back here%u201d.1 The Vulcan, in common with the other V-bombers the Victor and Valiant, carried a crew of 5. Pilot and co-pilot in the front, navigator plotter, navigator radar and air electronics operator in the back.