Vulcan XL426 to Move to Hangar at London Southend Airport

We are delighted to let everyone know that Vulcan XL426 will soon be moving to a new home under cover at London Southend Airport.

XL426 is relocating to the airport’s Hangar 6 for an initial five-year period. The hangar will become our engineering and visitor base. XL426 was moved off her parking pan on the airport’s eastern perimeter for the final time on 5 May to a temporary holding location until the hangar is ready.

We expect to move XL426 into Hangar 6 in the next few weeks.

Since the beginning of May our volunteers have been busy, assisted by London Southend Airport, getting the hangar ready for XL426’s arrival. This work has included: upgrading of the hangar’s electrical services, replacement of ceiling tiles, bringing the hangar doors back into full operation, and an extensive amount of cleaning and tidying. The hangar, together with the adjacent Hangar 5, which we will use for storing our ground equipment and spares, measures some 4,000 square metres.

We have been in negotiation with London Southend Airport since early 2017 over the new site and agreement to relocate XL426 to Hangar 6 was reached at the end of April. The move is necessary due to extra car parking space being needed for the increasing numbers of passengers using the airport. This extra space includes the area of XL426’s former parking pan; meaning we had to find a new home for the Vulcan.

Glyn Jones, CEO Stobart Aviation has said: “The Vulcan is a key part of the history of London Southend Airport and is incredibly popular with visitors, so we have been very pleased to work with the Trust to provide it with a new home that helps their objective of creating an even better visitor experience, at the same time as helping us grow as an airport.”
London Southend Airport has been incredibly positive and helpful throughout the whole process and we can’t thank them enough for the support they have provided and will continue to provide. A roof over XL426’s head is really a dream come true for us and opens up many opportunities, both in terms of engineering and getting XL426 open to the public more often.

London Southend Airport is aware that we’re a totally voluntary body and is assisting us practically and financially with XL426’s move so that the costs, and the ongoing cost of running the hangar, remain affordable. We will, however, soon be launching a campaign to raise funds to improve our engineering facilities and to make the hangar a high quality environment in which the public can visit XL426.

In the meantime, though, anyone wishing to contribute can do so via our website http://www.avrovulcan.com. All donations will be very gratefully received. In keeping with our policy of total openness, we must point out that the lease contains a break clause. London Southend Airport, however, has said it does not envisage ever implementing this. The lease on our former parking pan contained a similar clause and we survived there for over two decades!

We will keep you updated with our progress and will post some photos of the hangar work – and the move – as we go along. You can also keep up-to-date by visiting our Facebook page.

The first chance to see XL426 in its new home will be on Fathers’ Day, Sunday June 18th, when we are holding our next Visit the Vulcan Day. Further Visit the Vulcan Days will take place on Sunday August 20th and Sunday September 24th.

Many thanks
Rich
Rich Clarkson (VRT Trustee)