A familiar number to some, XH558 is the last Vulcan Cold War bomber that survives in a condition that will allow it to fly again after the type was withdrawn from service in 1984.  XH558 performed her last display flight on Sunday 20th of September 1992 at the Cranfield Dreamflight air show, and flew to her home at Bruntingthorpe on the 23rd of March 1993.

Kept fit by exercising through taxiing runs, a campaign was started to return her to the sky. For those who attended the air displays she attended, the Vulcan was one of the most eagerly awaited attraction, and everyone would gather at the side of the runway for her acceleration run, take-off and climb. The 4 Rolls-Royce Olympus engines truly shook the earth, and the normal consequence of the take-off run was the triggering of the majority of the visitor's car alarms. In flight, she provided a stunning display, at both high and low speeds, thanks to the huge delta wing. It was no myth that this huge bomber had the maneuverability and performance to match a fighter.

The efforts to return her to the sky are soon to become reality, although it is dismaying to note that once again, the European Union has managed to throw some directive spanners into the works, delaying them and significantly increasing their cost. In 2005,

No doubt to be revised, 2006 was to see her in the air, with display flying beginning in 2007. More details can be found (and contributions made) at:

http://www.tvoc.co.uk/

Heritage Lottery Funding has secured much of the project, but delays, additional costs, EU directives, and loss of sponsorship have left a shortfall of some £350,000.

I suppose the delays are a sort of 'good news'/'bad news' thing. Although they lost some sponsorship, she will fly to a later date, and that date is coming. One thing that is known is that when she does return to the air, her flying life has a limit of 400 hours, and will fly for ten to fifteen years to give the general public the greatest opportunity to see her before finally flying to the Imperial War Museum at Duxford where she will remain for the benefit of the nation, in perpetuity.

I was dismayed to receive the following noitification today:
It is with great regret that the Trustees of Vulcan to the Sky have been obliged to issue letters of termination of contract to the workforce at Bruntingthorpe and Wimborne.

Despite unremitting and continuing efforts to find a major benefactor or sponsor for the project, none has yet been identified. Escalating costs mean that a million pounds are still needed before the end of August if the aircraft is to be returned to flight next year.

Everything is still being done to find such a company or person but time is getting very short. To be unable to complete the project after so much has been given and so much achieved is little short of a tragedy; but, as has been said before, the combination of time lag, engineering cost uplift and no sponsor has so far rendered the task insurmountable.

If �1M can be identified and raised over the next four weeks, it may still be possible to move forward to meet the target of flying for the Falklands Commemoration and the 2007 Air Display season.

More info:- http://www.tvoc.co.uk/index2.php

Not having the spare �1,000,000 lying around under the bed, all i can do is add a post in here to add a little publicity to the appeal.

Now that they've managed to kill all the Concorde's - a Concorde will never be seen flying again, as their working parts are no longer airworty, having already deteriorated due to inactivity - concentrating on retaining a representative from a unique period in aviation has gained increased importance.

XH558 took to the skies back in October of 2007, and has since been undergoing various airworthiness and certification tests in order to get ready for the 2008 air show season.

That said, work has not been continuous, as sponsors have had to tighten their belts in the current economic conditions, with a funding gap meaning work stopping at one point, and brought a public appeal for further donations to keep the restoration company afloat. The last major announcement was on March 18, confirming that work was once again underway.

This made it all the more surprising when I read that XH558 was going to appear at the 2008 Leuchars Air Show on Saturday, September 13. Having kept an eye on the slowly developing Leuchars Air Show web site, and the Vulcan to the Skies site, I had no idea this was one the cards, as neither site currently has any mention of this appearance. And I just looked again - Jersey is marked for Thursday, September 11, two days prior to this, and is the last event currently listed in the TVOC calendar at the moment.

I'd like to think we will see and hear XH558 so soon, but unless the Air Show site and the Vulcan's owner come up with this info too, I'm not holding my breath, especially as it would be the last event of the year, and the furthest flight from Home Base at Bruntingthorpe, both reason for it to be cancelled even it is scheduled.

In an interesting coincidence, it's now 15 years since XH558 arrived at Bruntingthorpe in 1993, and with the delays in her restoration, 2008 will mark the start of her last 15 years of flying life, as this is the remaining predicted life of of the aircraft's airworthiness, after which she will no longer be flight certifiable, and it is expected that there will be no airworthy parts left in the stores.

I see something has gone amiss on our most recent blog entry about Leuchars, and part of the entry has gone walkabout. Even more odd is the fact that the missing stuff is not in the backup either. Need to revise it, just to keep things right, but it included a pic which probably belongs here too.

Pictured at the recent RAF Waddington International Airshow last Saturday, Avro Vulcan XH558 took to the air for her first public display since 1992.

Here we see XH558 flying in formation on the tail of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight's Lancaster - significantly, although separated by some years and looking rather different from one another, both aircraft were created by Roy Chadwick at Avro.

The Vulcan never flew its circuit / display at Leuchars due to the rubbish weather condidtions, it flew out Sunday morning to a bone shaking rumble, the pilots gave a circuit round the base for the 150+ people that were there and off they went, this is proberly the last time that she will be in scotland as the major sponser has pulled out  

see pictures herehttp://www.flickr.com/photos/barrylow

Thanks big baz.  I intended to go and see the beast in flight but the weather put me off the idea.