VX927

Your kidding right? The RAF or any civilian aircraft MUST be airworthy in order to fly correct?

From what has been said/posted/ publicised, she was good for one last flight before she would be grounded due to the rear spar mod that was required. This was the reason her display season ended was it not?

EXACTLY… Of course she was airworthy when she flew into Bruntingthorpe.. I know she was… I’m NOT the one suggesting she wasn’t (read post 589) XL319 is the one saying that she wasn’t airworthy… Appartenly she had a list of things wrong with her that was as long as the M6! I think what he (XL391) doesn’t quite understand is that they were items that were approaching the end of their fatigue life. But as long as they were still in date, then she was airworthy.

The point I’m making is that if the sponsorship doesn’t come forward, and 558 is grounded then we’re no further forward. Yes, she’s airworthy, but she was airworthy back in 93 (or whenever it was) when she arrived at Bruntingthorpe.

Peter, what did I post that made you think I was suggesting anything to the contrary?

I’d say it was an extremely smart move, we have an airworthy Vulcan Bomber because of it. No company was/is ever going to sponsor her until she was rebuilt and in possesion of a valid permit to fly. You don’t need to be Alan Sugar to work that out. And as for being ‘sure they’d be queueing out the door to sponsor her’, how could they be so sure?? Do they have a crystal ball?? They’ve used public money to do what they said and that was to get her flying again. She might need public money to stay there.

But the point that you dont quite seem to get, is that if there is no money to fly fer her, then it was waste… Why was it a waste?… It was a waste because 558 was airworthy when she arrived at Bruntingthorpe… Airworthy, and unable to fly. 15 years or so later, and (assuming that no sponsor comes forward), then where are we? We’re left, with a Vulcan, that is sat at Bruntingthorpe, airworthy, but unable to fly. So really, we’re no further forward. All that has happened is that we’ve built up peoples hopes, and spent £7.5MILLION on an MOT, even though we cant afford the tax and insurance!!!

At worst, groundbound. However me and the other X-thousand or so supporters/idiots/misguided souls/money to burn merchants/lepers have no intention of letting that happen.

Thats very admirable of you, but at £1.2million per year, I hope you’ve got deep pockets.

No, airshows are called airshows. They’re called this because the general public pay for a ticket to see aircraft put on a show up in the air. That’s why they’re called airshows and not airsubscriptionschemes. Sally B relies heavily on the Sally B club for a lot of funding IIRC and while the running costs for the Vulcan are of course bound to be a lot higher, this possibility has to be looked at in case this company you’re content in waiting for doesn’t show up…

Right… But SallyB still generates revenue from AIRSHOWS? I dont remember Sally B having an “airsubscriptionscheme” (or whatever it is you’re calling it), and would therefore question the relevance of Sally B in this thread?

Like I said above, you can keep your hands in your pocket, like I said, you give because you want to, not because you have to.

No need… I’ve given my fair share to the project, and I will continue to support it to the bitter end. I’m just saying that when people ‘in the know’ say that Sponsors are lining up to give their cash to get her flying, no sorry, once she’s flown.. No sorry (again), once she’s got her permit, then I do expect there to be some honesty in that.

Anyway, in the meantime, I’ll quite happily keep throwing money down into the ‘bottomless money pit’ that has made whoever has seen it fly this week, or indeed the last few weeks, wet their Y-fronts with excitement… :rolleyes:

Here here. As I’ve said before, well done to all the engineers, aircrew etc… The rest of the team… now it’s your turn!

Well firstly he directed his question regarding the sponsership to Andrew edmundson, he is the engineering director not accountant etc now i dont know about you but id say he has done his job.

Valid point, but none the less Andrew raised the issue of sponsorship on his last update so I don’t think burlington was too far off the mark… But yes youre right… Burlington… Good question, and I’m with you all the way, but please dont upset the club members by directing your questions at the wrong people in TVOC… You should know better!

The press release on the vtts website makes no mention of sponsers waiting in the wings , in fact its a plea for them more than anything else. And this list of sponors, first ive heard of that and im a club member! sorry but i think you may have been misinformed, from everything i know there still looking for a sponsor.

Oh Bubbles… maybe you just don’t get it?… The issue of sponsorship goes back much further than the latest press release. Go away and have another look at TVOC’s stance on Sponsorship… The fact is that TVOC have never come forward and said no one wants to sponsor the Jet… there has always been reasons why that haven’t come forward ‘yet’… And I’m sure you’ll find somewhere down the path, we were told that the sponsors would come forward when the permit was issues. Well actually, we were first told that it would be once she first flew, but that was 6 months ago, and no one has come forward yet… or at least no one we know about. Then we were told they’d come forward once the permit was issued. So, like I said, I’m looking forward to seeing which companies are going to come forward and sponsor the mighty Vulcan.

sorry to burst your bubble but i very much doubt any one at T.V.O.C is listening

Bubbles…. I think you hit th nail on the head!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:(

Cant you just let it go for one day?

Why? I think burlington bert made a very valid point. I’m genuinely excited to see this list of major sponsors thats going come forward when the permit is issued. Apparently there is a long list of them?

On a slightly different note, can anyone shed any light on where she’s going to be operating from? I was told her days at Bruntingthorpe are numbered, and I saw on response from the PM petition that “The MOD has also agreed to reduce the charges for basing the Vulcan at RAF Waddington, should the Vulcan Trust wish to proceed with that option”…

VX927 – sorry to go-off at a tangent here but I fear Scampton’s future isn’t going to be a good one, which is why the idea of even trying to move the Lightning to Scampton might not even be worth the effort.

Clearly, the Reds will leave. Even if by some miracle they were allowed to stay, their Hawks are only good for a few more years (I suspect even a decade would be pushing-it) and when the hawks go, then so does the team. In the meantime, it looks like they may well move to Valley either this year or next, in which case they won’t be coming back to Scampton even to use the airspace. Leeming was a possibility but the most recent “gossip” suggests this isn’t going to happen now.

Consequently, Scampton’s a lost cause. You’re right that there is some Heritage interest in the base, but only in parts of the remaining domestic site. The actual airfield is effectively redundant, and were it not for the cost of returning it to an acceptable standard, I suspect the MoD would have already disposed of it. I don’t know what HHA will do when the time comes, but I really can’t imagine that a company like HHA would be able to finance airfield operations on their own, so I guess they will have to leave too, although I can’t imagine where they could go.

It’s a real shame that somebody can’t step-in and save the airfield before it is allowed to decay. I seem to recall there was once some vague idea of creating a sort of Northern Outpost of the IWM but the idea seems to have drifted away again. With an airport at Kirmington and Finningley, I can’t imagine there’s even a case for using the field for civil ops, so I guess it will eventually become another new housing site.

As for the Lightning, it would be great if there was some way that the aircraft could remain at Binbrook, under cover, preferably in some sort of museum. If that isn’t a possibility, then Bruntingthorpe must be the most sensible destination – if there’s any way of actually getting her there!

Chocks, I’m not sure where you got your information from, but I dont think you’re exactly right in all you say there.

Firstly, the move to Valley… Thats not going to happen. Yes, there are plans to move the Arrows, but believe me, they wont be going very far. It’s not possible to re create their airspace anywhere else, and Valley is far too busy with training to block their airspace for 45mins, 6 times a day, even if the extra airspace could be created. Leeming was never a serious contender because of the proximity to the A1. I understand that Yeovelton was even looked at, but again there were issues with re creating R313.

My understanding is the English Herritage have taken an interest in the whole site, accommodation, airfield buildings and the airfield. I may be wrong with the airfield side of things, but thats what I understand. They certainly have an interest in all the buildings. This being the reason why the most recent plans up expand the base fell through… Because the MOD wanted to knock down and re build, but English heritage said they can only renovate (far to expensive).

What remains sure is that as long as we have the Red Arrows, then we’ll have airspace over Scampton, and I would think that we’ll have a runway there for them, should they ever need it.

The sad thing is that all the reports produced say that the airfield should stay… Indeed, the Reds want to stay… Apparently, even most of the ‘top brass’ want it to stay. But the man at the top thinks it should close. You never know, we could have big change next month and someone else steps in who wants to keep it open again.

However, I’m also told that if the MOD ever leave the site, then they have to remove the bend from the A15 that was put in to accommodate the runway extension. The A15 is very historical… it’s the old Roman road, and was only changed because of the airfield. By the time they’ve paid for a new road, they may as well re surface the runway, and carry on using the station!!!!!

Sorry gents… Back to the Lightning!!!!!

Does air atlantique / classic flight have any other work lined up for the dakotas, or will they have to be sold off?

Contrary to what you appear to believe, we were sort of busy doing technical stuff between Nov to April so you could have a lovely time watching the old girl last week and hopefully during the coming season. I did manage to polish the roundels on the nose, but access to the fin without a suitable platform is not a safe prospect. Hire of a suitable device would be prohibitive, not to mention wasteful of funds, so it will have to wait. Got my T-Cut handy just in case we get a chance though.

Ah, I’m sorry, I thought I read somewhere that the aircraft when its a care and maintenance program after the first flight… And I’m sure that doesn’t involve maintenance every working hour of ever working day? Or maybe I’m wrong? Unfortunately we dont know because TVOC have always insisted on keeping us in the dark as to what has been happening with the old girl. Thankfully now we’re at least getting good updates on this forum. I cant help but think that the fund raising would have been a lot easier if only we’d have been given more info.

Anyway, I didn’t mean any offense by it, I even offered to buy the paint if they needed re painting… I hope that the sponsors who are supposed to be flooding forward once the test flight is finished get a slightly warmer reception when they offer to stump up the cash.

Anyway, once again, well done and congratulations… I’m not criticising you for having faded roundalls… I simply said it’s a shame that they couldn’t be sored before the test flights, and offered to buy some paint to help. Good luck with the rest of the project. I’m going to offer the paint to someone who might be a it more appreciative.