Vulcan saved!

[Nobby Diesel]

Sorry, can't find the previous thread on this.

The last V bomber has been saved!!!!!

It's part of our history and a wonderful piece of engineering. My dad did his National Service as a bomb aimer in one of these, so I'm particularly pleased that the Big Bird will survive for the.

Well done to all of those who donated.

Thanks.

[MIKE C (Liverpool Boys)]

I once had my lunch under the wing of a Vulcan at Woodford air show. Now like the Vulcan know longer with us, Bae said it was to expensive.

[monkey]

I remember seeing a Vulcan doing a low pass over Brands Hatch just before a British Grand (1981/82??) It was absolutely breathtaking. Good news indeed.

[termietermite]

I remember seeing a Vulcan doing a low pass over Brands Hatch just before a British Grand (1981/82??) It was absolutely breathtaking. Good news indeed.

And ear-splitting!

[Ferrari Spider]

its not off the ground yet.  be interested if the CAA actually allow that to happen, the Vulcan is a very complex aircraft, the regulations for flying warbirds, especially jet powered are being tightened up, even affecting simple aircraft like Hunters.  The CAA are still refusing permit to fly licences for Buccaneers which are much simpler than the Vulcan, so we shall see.

it'll be good if it does but my gut feeling will be no.  Sorry

[mgmark]

its not off the ground yet.  be interested if the CAA actually allow that to happen, the Vulcan is a very complex aircraft, the regulations for flying warbirds, especially jet powered are being tightened up, even affecting simple aircraft like Hunters.  The CAA are still refusing permit to fly licences for Buccaneers which are much simpler than the Vulcan, so we shall see.

it'll be good if it does but my gut feeling will be no.  Sorry

Bah Humbug!   It's great stuff - apparently about £750k has been pledged from many, many individuals. but what has made the target figure was a £500k donation from an anonymous donor.   Well done, whomever you may be, and it has been great to see so much support for the project from the public at large.  One in the eye for the establishment and corporate world, who are happy to ride on the back of things buit not to get their hands dirty and contribute financially and/or practically when really needed.   

Agree that the CAA is a hurdle, but one that is not insurmountable.   The biggest issue with flying any sort of warbird is a demonstrably safe and rigourous maintenance regime.   Bucanneers are inded smaller and simpler, but you would be really hard pushed to find one that has any sort of fatigue life left on the airframe after the way we threw them around over the years.   Can't wait for the sound of 4 Olumpuses in unison again.

MG Mark

[elanman]

Me too!  4 Olympus on rapid start is a spine tingling sound and takes me back to when I was a lad.  Most impressive Vulcan sight I ever saw was the whole wing scrambling to disperse.  I hope and believe that now the funding issue has been resolved 558 will fly again as this has been the aim ever since the project started and the aircraft has been maintained with that in mind.

[Bobblehat]

Might be being a bit thick here - yeah no surprise! Is this the one based at Bruntingthorp?

[Ferrari Spider]

Mark, you'd be better served if you actually read the thread, rather than pontificating from your uninformed view.  you've already demonstrated how little you know about operational aircraft.

no doubt it is great stuff to have so much pledged by some many for so little, i hadn't nay said that at all.  my comment is about the CAA, they have the final say so in all things flyable and clearly you know little of them as they can be insurmountable.

go away and actually find out the one key thing that needs to be in place before the CAA will even consider letting a warbird back in the sky, as a clue it comes before a rigorous maintenance schedule.  as a clue it was the final nail in Concorde.

with regard to the buccaneer, most of the airframes that have an effective fatigue life went abroad, this was after the CAA declared them to be TOO complex and therefore beyond the wit of Jo Public and to be flying in UK airspace.  There were a number of well supported/funded projects to continue flying this brilliant piece of British Aviation.  Unfortunately the CAA were insurmountable and the airframes departed never to return.

BTW, don't hold your breath to hear a Vulcan airborne, I'll believe it when i see it.

[Andy Zarse]

Mark, you'd be better served if you actually read the thread, rather than pontificating from your uninformed view.  you've already demonstrated how little you know about operational aircraft.

no doubt it is great stuff to have so much pledged by some many for so little, i hadn't nay said that at all.  my comment is about the CAA, they have the final say so in all things flyable and clearly you know little of them as they can be insurmountable.

go away and actually find out the one key thing that needs to be in place before the CAA will even consider letting a warbird back in the sky, as a clue it comes before a rigorous maintenance schedule.  as a clue it was the final nail in Concorde.

with regard to the buccaneer, most of the airframes that have an effective fatigue life went abroad, this was after the CAA declared them to be TOO complex and therefore beyond the wit of Jo Public and to be flying in UK airspace.  There were a number of well supported/funded projects to continue flying this brilliant piece of British Aviation.  Unfortunately the CAA were insurmountable and the airframes departed never to return.

BTW, don't hold your breath to hear a Vulcan airborne, I'll believe it when i see it.

Ouch! Very harsh words mate, perhaps a bit too strong?

Here's a rhetorical question for you. Why do you think that the likes of highly professional companies such as Bae and  Marshall Areospace etc, not to mention our anonymous donor (who appears to be a very astute businessman), let alone the lawyers at the Lottery Fund, have given so much time and money to this project if they think the outcome stands no chance of ever flying?

And do you not think the CAA may just have commented that it was a total waste of time and effort from outset, instead the CAA sent round their inspectors to sign of the work completed towards receiving a Cert of Airworthiness.

Finally, I cannot see the sense in likening some fly-by-night half-arsed operation  to get a knackered old Bucanneer in the air (based, say, from Bournemouth airport) has got any similarity with VTS Trust whatsoever. I can only conclude what you say has little logic.

[Ferrari Spider]

Yes i agree with what you are saying Mr Zarse, however, the ways of the CAA and their masters are strange and powerful, BUT new regulations are still being developed and introduced that make the operation of complex warbirds difficult if not impossible to fly.

BTW, i take exception  that you would think i would not present a logical argument, , the Buccaneer projects that I referred to were well organised and funded, as well based as VTS.

the proof will be in the flying, as a wise sage once said.

[Andy Zarse]

Yes i agree with what you are saying Mr Zarse, however, the ways of the CAA and their masters are strange and powerful, BUT new regulations are still being developed and introduced that make the operation of complex warbirds difficult if not impossible to fly.

There are high politics to consider Peter, and the influence of people even more powerful than the CAA mandarins.  I mean, does the Director of the CAA want his knighthood and early retirement on full pension or not? The Secretary of State would likely overrule any adverse decision made by the CAA, (presumably upon proper advice that it was safe to do so) if it meant avoiding a nasty political storm over wasted lottery funds, accusations of insults to our Forces etc in the run up to a general election. Indeed I would stress that there are browny points politically from seeing this through to conclusion, and remember the £1.5million LHF investment was made after a degree of "political pressure". 558 is supposed to be leading the flypast for the South Atlantic rememberance, what a chance for Tony/Gordon/John Reid etc to bask in some reflected glory.

BTW, i take exception  that you would think i would not present a logical argument, , the Buccaneer projects that I referred to were well organised and funded, as well based as VTS.

the proof will be in the flying, as a wise sage once said.

Nonsense, these operations are simply not even in the same league as the Vulcan Trust, with full OEM and quasi-governmental backing. Not fit to be mentioned in the same breath.

[Fisherman]

I grew up 3 or 4 miles from Woodford, the noise of the Vulcan arriving for the airshow was always one of the highlights of the year when I was a niper

[nickliv]

Believe it when you see it FS?

Now now, you know that you'll hear it first.

Fingers crossed though, the sea vixen made it, even after a twit connected it to 24V ground power.

It's a 12 volt aeroplane.......... Pass the wire

I know that the CAA can be insurmountable, and when they say jump, we ask 'how high, where to, and do you want a piggyback?'

I hope that someone on the 558 project has had the foresight to check whether the whole thing might be viable before they embarked on the project.

A mate at RAF waddington thinks it'll put in an appearance at the air show next year. Hope so, I can go along and watch from the tower.

Fingers crossed.

[Chris24]

The way i understand it was that the CAA said it would give approval for XH558 to return to flight if the work was done properly and checked by them and so long as it would be flown by the previous RAF Vulcan display pilots. Who have agreed to fly her once again.

Can't wait to see her fly again, and i will start going to airshows again. I may even cry when i see her "up where she belongs"