Merry Christmas every body
and best wishes for the new year:D

Hmmm. Some photoshoppery going on there I think.

I mean, c’mon….a Swordfish……in the air! :diablo:

Merry Xmas! 🙂

someone got upset that the MOD was in effect subsidising it when it landed at an RAF base.

I’d hardly call waiving a landing fee subsidising it. :rolleyes:
There’s always some jobsworth idiot sticking their oar in and making things far worse for everyone.:mad:

I take it this will mean the end of free Vulcan displays at the RAF families days in future.

How much would that be then?

With the current financial situation in the UK it really is difficult to see her raising the money needed. Times are tough for most people lately and to be honest airshows and aircraft probably do not feature highly for most.

Ironically though I think if they fail to keep her flying the airshow scene will suffer hugely. The so called “Vulcan effect” increased the attendances at shows hugely this year and I would think that would be very similar for 2010, Without her will people spend the hard earned/saved pounds to go to shows as much as they have this year?.

I agree. I really doubt I’ll bother with anything other than the free show at Bournemouth if there’s no Vulcan on the circuit next year.

I’ve never seen Farnborough so packed as it was in 2008 when the Vulcan was there, even though the weather was far from good. B/mth this year was absolutely heaving. Now of course nice weather and a beach will always bring people out, but a lot of those I spoke too were looking forward to seeing the Vulcan more than anything. The sight of it steaming in up the coast from the Solent was amazing. Nothing else bar Concorde could match that for wow factor.

The loss of the Vulcan on the circuit would be huge. Another old graceful jet gone, not to mention whether we will ever see the Sea Vixen flying again?
Look on the bright side though, I’m sure no Vulcan would free up funds for RIAT to have yet another F16, another F18 and another stunt/display team. :rolleyes:

As others have said the timing of this appeal is not good either, Did they raise much money over the summertime at all?

Not really. Airshow fees barely cover the running costs if that. Any money raised will probably be used up by the end of the year.

Great photos.

I saw the Oman Air Force 1-11 leaving Hurn this morning.

Just seen the Sea Vixen and Gnat flying over the house on their way to Cowes. 😀

Hurn, it was only Kevins take off that was more ‘aggressive’ at Fairford. The rest of the display was the usual Vulcan display… Slow and rather uninspiring. More like a large glider than a heavy bomber. What stuck me on both days at Fairford is just how quiet the display is. The vulcan is all about Power and noise… You only hear the aircraft a couple of times during the show… As for power… Well, it’s just not there any more. I remember when you used to ‘feel’ the Vulcan during her display. Now you can barely heir her, let along feel her! It’s just not the same. Oh well, at the least the take off is worth watching!

Well, I personally wasn’t at RIAT, but from what I’ve been told, although the display routine on Sunday was the same, the turns were tighter, more bank involved and generally more dynamic.

There were always times during the displays of old that the Vulcan would seem silent, only to then up the power and deafen everyone.
Sadly now though with only limited engines and engine cycles, if displays roared like they used to there only might be five years worth of displays.

Given that they’re going for 10 years or so displaying, the cycles are being carefully handled to ensure prolonged engine life.
If I’m to be honest, I’m all for those old days of huge power climbs and noise, but I can understand why we’re not getting them right now.

As to whether the Vulcan will actually get 10 years on the display circuit is another matter altogether. I certainly hope it can, but for now I’ll just be grateful that its still in the UK skies at all.

RAF engineers took part in the rebuild on detachment from their normal duties -you pay their wages.

Lol, well that’s 0.01p of my taxes well spent then! :p