The Vulcan Restoration Trust are planning to hold a number of events and open days during 2011, at Southend Airport, Eastwoodbury Crescent, Southend-on-sea, Essex, SS2 6YF.
The next ‘Visit the Vulcan Day’ of 2011 will be held on 19 June 2011 and will be a great Fathers Day event for a family day out.
Visitors will be able to get ‘up close and personal’ with ex-RAF V-Bomber Avro Vulcan XL426, and have a guided tour of the cockpit. VRT Team members will be on hand to answer questions, and various stalls will be available. The adjacent ‘Lancaster’ restaurant will be open for refreshments. Entry is £2.00 (under 16s free but must be accompanied at all times), plus an additional £2.50 for the cockpit tour for all ages. Gates open at 10am, with last admission at 5pm. No animals except for assistance dogs please.
The public will be able to inspect the latest work carried out on XL426 – known as ‘The Southend Vulcan’ – as the ‘426 Return To Power!’ appeal program progresses. A number of items that have been removed from the bomber for restoration will be on display.
During the day the aircraft’s Airborne Auxiliary Power Unit (a small Rover jet engine) will be run, allowing various systems on the bomber to be operated, such as the vast bomb doors, which once would have held Britain’s nuclear deterrent, the Blue Steel nuclear missile. One very lucky member of the visiting public will be able to take the controls during this demonstration, for a fee, on a first come basis. A very unique opportunity.
We expect to be joined by a number of armoured vehicles which will be open for inspection.
The ‘Southend Vulcan’ is one of only three Vulcans in the UK still in ‘running’ condition.
Built in Manchester in 1962, our XL426 served with the RAF for 24 years, being based at Scampton and Waddington in Lincolnshire, with numbers 83, 27, 617 and finally 50 Squadrons. It was part of the nuclear deterrent force and carried the Blue Steel Cruise missile. In 1963 it set an unofficial record for flying the North Atlantic of 4 hours and 52 minutes. XL426’s final years with the RAF were spent with the Vulcan Display Team, appearing at air displays in Britain, Europe and North America. Retired to Southend Airport in 1986, its buyer intended to continue displaying XL426 at airshows. This proved to be beyond his means and, confounded by regulations, resulted in the bomber being left in open storage, eventually on grass, at the Essex airport. Here it deteriorated until the original members of what became the Vulcan Restoration Trust took over its ownership in 1993, restoring the airframe, returning it to taxiing condition and continuing to maintain XL426 in full ground running condition as a tribute to the men and women who designed, built, flew and maintained the Vulcan during its time with the RAF.
The proceeds from our events such as this one go towards our continued work in preserving XL426 for future generations
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June 11, 2011 at 9:11 am