(Merged) Vulcan thread

Someone mentioned last week, maybe because one of the VTS Trustee’s is also involved in Duxford. It will never fast taxi there, if it did go there. Since when did Duxford have a policy of fast taxi’s? I would be asking for the TSR 2 to taxi first!

Totaly agree it wont ever fast taxi at Duxford that’s just the plan, seems madness to me, I agree Duxford dont have any policy of fast taxi runs, also keeping a Vulcan in taxing condtion is a rather big job, what plans and people would Duxford have in place to support this if it did happen ?

I’d promised myself I wasn’t going to read another Vulcan thread. I wish I had kept my promise.

BTW how many Seafire threads are there active at the moment? Why not merge them?

The whole XH558 issue becomes more of a farce every week, and why oh why if it ever does fly do they want to send it to Duxford when it stops flying again, I did here something about it being kept in taxing condtion at Duxford but if thats the plan why not get XJ824 into taxing condtion ? and keep XH558 at Brunty after its flying life is over, or retire it to somewhere like Elvington.

Someone mentioned last week, maybe because one of the VTS Trustee’s is also involved in Duxford. It will never fast taxi there, if it did go there. Since when did Duxford have a policy of fast taxi’s? I would be asking for the TSR 2 to taxi first!

The whole XH558 issue becomes more of a farce every week, and why oh why if it ever does fly do they want to send it to Duxford when it stops flying again, I did here something about it being kept in taxing condtion at Duxford but if thats the plan why not get XJ824 into taxing condtion ? and keep XH558 at Brunty after its flying life is over, or retire it to somewhere like Elvington.

Welcome lotus72 – You are not the first to comment on this. However there is a good overall engineering in this months flypast. As for fundrasing ideas, send then to VTTS at the Wimborne chapter, I have been doing so for three years – see what responce you get 😉

I, too, am completely frustrated at the lack of communication of the VTTS people. I have given a fair bit of my hard-earned cash over the past 4-5 years & am frustrated at the lack of communication shown. The Vulcan To The Sky website is just useless, only being updated about every six months (for starters) !! I do get the impression that they are a bunch of amateurs at this, and should be much more ‘switched on’ to the commercial aspects of the enterprise, by that I mean getting money to plough into the restoration, rather than just making money. Examples : the video releases shoudl have been coming out much more frequently (who wouldn’t like a 15 minute DVD every three months to keep you updated on the work? It would make a nice library of stuff, and a nice extra piece of income.) Plus, the video footage should be made available to broadcasters who want to film pieces, thereby making a bit MORE money! Apologies if I have upset anyone here, this is my first post.

oooh thats Fighting Talk Dennis – we’ll see!

TT 🙂

Sorry Denis if you are watching, i support what you guys are doing come and give us a hand on our Beech and T-6 projects, i believe they will be airborne before 558 ever is.

Hi Phil

Thanks for the offer but Canopus is my sunday project… as to the second bit…£50.00 says you are wrong..

Den

They wave figures that look like telephone numbers in the air like it’s petty cash.
The key word here is of course ‘Major Sponsor’, without one it’s a non starter.
So far, no ‘Major Sponsor’ has come forward and it seems to me that it’s unlikely to happen.

One has to ask one’s self what a major corporate sponsor would hope to gain from this, should one be found.

As to a million quid a year to run it.
That’s never going to happen–you need to sell a lot of Tee-shirts to net a profit of £1,000,000.00!!!

Andy.

It is just like the dome sage

more and more money……………….

It ain’t never gonna fly, just like the dome.

At least the dome is being re-modelled into another useable venue

Sorry Denis if you are watching, i support what you guys are doing but i think the people at the top are causing more confusion and fraustration than ever……..so many mixed messages, up beat, down beat, up beat again, doom and gloom….

come and give us a hand on our Beech and T-6 projects, i believe they will be airborne before 558 ever is.

Mike – I wish I hadn’t looked – £1 million per year for 40 hours !

This is one ****** up thread!!!

i want to see her fly, but it seems that its not just that simple. :rolleyes:

hmmm I spotted that – erm Olympus dear chap?

TT

Re: Bristol Freighter got to hope that Mike Collett backed a winner in the Grand National and set up an ebay buyers account – Twin Pin and BrisFret in formation yes please! 😎

The point is that to make a difference, you need to work out what is most important to you. Is it your day job, doing whatever it is you do, or is it something that you have a real passion for?

Bruce, I would absolutely love to do something like that full time, especially with the boring desk job I do at the moment. I’m quite handy as well. I can do any spannerwork and I can gas and mig weld (though I haven’t done so for a year or so…) I’ve got a 65 Sunbeam Tiger there that is at the start of a very long restoration process, lack of space stopping that at the moment. The only problem is that with a new house, one little toddler already and possibly another on the way, my main priority is obviously security for the family. I can’t take a risk like that at the moment. When the house is paid, the kids have upped sticks etc etc, then it becomes viable.

XL, think ol’ Bruce is talking a lot of sense there. What you may take as cynicism from certain and I mean certain members of the forum is actually based on their own experiences of ‘aviation preservation’ whether past or present – they have often gone or are going through similar challenges (albeit at a smaller £££ scale) – fundamentally we are all enthusiasts and I think in the majority of cases we would all like to see a Vulcan fly again – the point is that we should all be shouting, clamouring and supporting the project – but we arent – the question is WHY?

IMHO

1) the money
2) the secrecy
3) the confusing publicity

I dont want to go over old ground here chap as pretty much this has been done to death – some may ‘have a go’ for the sake of ‘having a go’ but some have reasons, questions and observations from their own experience.

As for being an enthusiast – good on you – get your hands dirty – I’LL NEVER put anyone down for having a crack at working at a museum, aeroplane, etc as you know the ‘armchair preservationists’ outnumber the dirty fingernail brigade by about 20 to one!

TT

David is right. And 70K for a Bristol Freighter – wow yes please. Would it ever fly in the UK though?

It stands a much greater chance of being kept flying in the UK that the Vulcan does for lots of reasons, not least that the type has been certificated on the UK register by the CAA ever since the prototype flew, unlike the Vulcan which has NEVER flown as a civilian aircraft.Cost of maintaining two Bristol Hercules pistons must be just a tad less than four RR Conways, not to mention the insurance cover. If I could afford it, I would put my money on the Freighter as being a better bet! :rolleyes:

XL391

This might sound extreme, but bear with me..

Ever thought of getting another job? It sounds like you are being worked very hard! I started in the preservation movement, as an enthusiast just like you. My local museum at the time just happened to be the Mosquito Museum (it could have been anywhere). I was there for about three years as a volunteer before being offered a job on ‘real’ historic aircraft. I worked for Historic Flying for nearly ten years. I still go the the museum, and am still employed in the vintage aircraft world. I have even just started my own small company dealing in vintage aircraft spares.

The point is that to make a difference, you need to work out what is most important to you. Is it your day job, doing whatever it is you do, or is it something that you have a real passion for?

You will find a way, but remember that with volunteer groups, you cant expect people to always come after you. Be a pest, a nuisance, and keep on at people.

Cheers for now

Bruce

Bruce,

I understand totally what you are saying, but I can’t stand the negativity towards outdoor aircraft and how pointless it is preserving them. I know that in the end, the be all and end all is that if they aren’t undercover, they will become dangerously unsafe and vanish forever. However, they CAN survive outside but obviously with far more work and expenditure.
My favourite aircraft is the Vulcan and it would be a priviledge to help with the preservation of one. After ‘391 was destroyed at Blackpool, I made a point of trying to help out with preserving one. To that end, I approached The Solway Aviation Museum (XJ823) and RAF Waddington (XM607) with regards to giving a helping hand two days a month. I get one day off a week, this being a weekday, and was willing to give two out of four. Unfortunately, Solway’s volunteers only work weekends and because of our old friend H&S, I couldn’t work there on my own during the week. As for Waddington, well, the Station Commander hasn’t come back to me just yet. It’s only been 4 months… :rolleyes:

Actually, despite my scepticism from day one, I will take this opportunity to acknowledge the good things that VTTS have achieved:

Attracted lottery funding, having successfully changed the lottery rules on airworthy projects.

Attracted manufacturer support for the project

Attracted a suitable overhaul company willing and capable to support the project

Attracted support from all the OEM’s

Attracted the support of the CAA, and gained their permission to attempt this thing in the first place.

There you go – lots of positives there.

However, I have always been critical of the way in which the average person is treated, with poor press releases, and misleading articles. The current Flypast article suggests all is roses; information on their own website, and from Denis posted here yesterday suggests otherwise. Do I want to throw my money after something that might not happen? – No. Might I support it if these answers are forthcoming, and we get better communication? Yes

XL391 – it is good that you have the enthusiasm to want to preserve as much of our heritage as possible. Might I suggest you start to find ways of making a difference? David Burke, despite your attacks on him is a stalwart of the preservation movement, and has helped me and my projects on countless occasions. It is because he is involved in the preservation movement that he realises what the challenges are, and that sometimes you have to draw a line. Sadly, there will be more of these challenges in years to come…

Bruce

XL391 – Can we just be serious – there are 850,000 reasons why Denis might wish to stay. Anyone who is serious considering contributing to the project wants answers and might just feel that the figures are running away with them . There is a Bristol Freighter for sale at present that could be bought for 70K – small money in terms of VOC but any appeal to get her home certainly won’t get the coverage that VOC has attained over the years.

David is right. And 70K for a Bristol Freighter – wow yes please. Would it ever fly in the UK though?