It seems to be XX284 on loan from RAF valley.

They flew into Hurn with it the other weekend and I have to admit it looks a bit odd with it stuck in the formation.

I’m just guessing here but maybe as they lost at least one aircraft last year they’re a bit short on all red ones now. They seem to only have ten ‘Reds’ listed on their website currently with XX284 and XX294 as spares.
XX294 is listed as part of the aircraft replacement program, so I’ve no idea if it’s airworthy.

Anyway, they’re coming down here later today so I’ll keep a look out!

TBH booking the Sea Vixen as replacement is a no brainer as it was on standby anyway for the B/mth air festival.

A big noisy aircraft, probably a bit cheaper and not a bad display either come to think of it. 🙂

Bit of a chicken-and-egg situation. No one is going to make work for something that’s not available to fly, but if it’s airworthy, work may be offered? For example, if the owners of the Vulcan and Sea Vixen thought they would not get any air show bookings, would they still proceed to make these aircraft airworthy?

Well the Sea Vixen hardly gets any bookings at all, but they still keep it airworthy.
In fact I’m surprised they do seeing the costs involved and I doubt they turn in any kind of profit. I suppose it helps that the company services other aircraft too, whereas the Vulcan people are just there solely for that one aeroplane, so no bookings would make it all a bit pointless.

We don’t get German Phantoms flying at UK airshows because the German Airforce won’t perform at any airshow, I’m not certain but I think this came in after Ramstein.

Yeah, I think that’s about right. Shame really as the Phantom at Yeovilton was a beauty. An absolute beast that I’d have loved to have seen flying, if only for a few flypasts.

Getting back to the Buccaneer. Can anyone tell me why it’s regarded as ‘complex’?
I remember reading some stuff on the web where it seemed HHA thought they’d be able to get that changed to ‘Intermediate’ like the Sea Vixen, but the CAA just wouldn’t relent sadly.

Sounds like your one of the first to be getting an XH558 ‘tour’ at Robin Hood.

Don’t expect too much, just a look around and underneath the aircraft and an opportunity to chat with the engineers.

I’ve heard of that bump before but until I viewed that video I hadn’t quite comprehended just what a hazard it is.

Seriously, how can they get away with that? I’m inclined to agree with Propstrike – that needs sorting before it causes an accident that kills someone.

Have to agree with you all, that bump looks very dangerous and lucky the Mustang only received what looked like minor damage. 😮 Well done to the Sally B pilot too, no wonder they use the hard runway now.

have they dropped the plan to ground her next year?

There isn’t a plan to drop it next year. In fact flying in 2012 seems to be something they’re very keen on achieving.

I doubt even VttS could say with certainty what will happen after that though. At some point it’s going to need a mod to the leading edge of the wing, which would appear to be very costly and might ultimately lead to grounding. That’s of course if a lack of funding hasn’t already grounded it beforehand.

As always, enjoy seeing it while you still can.

It can usually be found at the B/mth aviation museum.