David, The servicing requirements are likely to be less. If you take out all the redundant systems, as Damien said, then the requirement to service those systems goes away. So, no armaments, cabin press (maybe), some nav and radio kit may be removed (GPS stuff in its place), etc. I would assume that the aircraft will be serviced iaw the APs, which will give a servicing requirement based on both flying hours and calender time. I will guarantee that the aircraft will not rack up as many flying hours as an in-service aeroplane, and hence will be serviced more regularly per flying hour. Hence things like NDT inspections will be effectively done more frequently. It may be that the VTS may want to do NDT Checks more often, given tha nature of the airframe, but I can’t really comment on that, as I am not ‘in the know’
However, the aircraft is likely to be limited to something below its MAR limitations, and hence will not generate fatigue counts at the same rate as a jet flown to the full MAR limits.
As for displaying her at Duxford (or wherever) when she finally runs out of life, how many of the people who willsee her willknow that there is no operational armaments system or no 1960’s nav kit? Of the small percentage who do know, who will care? It is probably safe to assume that if she goes to Duxford she will be in better condition than the Vulcan there already, and hence a better bet for being kept in topline form. (although having seen what has happened to other aircraft that have flown in there, that may be too much to ask!)
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