Re:Last chance to see

mellman01

Right guy's and gall's it seems the dear old Avro Vulcan bomber will fly for the last time next year so if you want see this iconic bird fly then go to an airshow because after 2013 it's sadly going to be grounded for good.

frogmorton

Gosh Mell

that will be sad :? I hope to get the chance to see it before it's grounded permanently

Thanks for the heads-up

Toni xx

mellman01

Yeah it cost over £400K a year to run and it's getting old so it's a dock yard job for it, they shut down the company that flew the General Electric Lightning that was flying in South Africa after a pilot was killed when one crashed, his hyralics failed and when he went to bail out his ejection seat failed as well it was because some idiot had left the safety pins in it so it didn't go off and that was him brown bread poor fecker.

LignumVitae

Is it a Vulcan that sat outside Blackpool airport for years? I remember seeing them at air shows as a kid, they were immense. The women in my family worked on Lancasters at Avro during the war. If they could build as well as they could gossip it's no wonder we won the war. Cheers for this Mellman. LV xx

barbara12

I think this is the one we saw at Southport air show a few years ago now...if it is it....it overshadowed the whole beach when it came over...and what a noise it made...fantastic to see.

mellman01

Not sure L V, and yes what a noise it makes when it powers out Barbara it sounds like the hounds of hell are coming for you, makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up each time I hear it I love this old plane it's a one off, it will be sad to see her go but thank God we can at least see her one last time.

LignumVitae

I googled it, it was there until 2006!

joanlawson

I've always had a special interest in the Vulcan as my brother-in-law flew them during the 1960's. I also helped to raise money for the Vulcan to the Sky Trust, which was responsible for getting the restored XH558 Vulcan back in the air.

It will be a sad day when the Vulcan no longer flies as it is such a magnificent aircraft. However, it has appeared at more than 60 airshows and events since 2007, when it was first restored. The Vulcan to the Sky Trust estimates that more than ten million people have seen the aircraft, including three million when it flew as part of the Queen's 2012 Diamond Jubilee celebrations.

At the end of next year, she would need a £200,000 modification to her wings to increase her flying life. Even though supporters of the charity would do their utmost to fund this work, this is no longer an option due to the complexity of the wing modification and the difficulty in sourcing parts. There is also concern about the limited life of the Vulcan's jet engines.

However, Michael Trotter, the Trust's director, has said that the XH558 will be maintained in excellent running order and will continue to delight her supporters with fast taxi runs, while developing further her role in education as the centrepiece of an exciting new type of inspirational engineering education centre.
I don't know where this centre will be, but it's good to know that the Vulcan will still be seen by many people.

Joan