RE: 558 hopes dashed ?

My worry David is that the longer we wait to see what happens perhaps the more likely it is that she falls off the agenda and ends up rotting like so many other significant airframes.
I do think that we are slightly powerless on this forum as we are so insular, I often wonder if Flypast staff ever read the postings here to see whats really burning with enthusiasts.
Clearly we are not privvy to business discussions and decisions being made by TVOC (perhaps we should be as the majority of the cash so far is public)and we can only hope that they are being made with the longterm interests of XH 558 at the forefront.
I sincerely hope that the ‘to fly’ option is still actively being pursued rather that the usual British ‘oh well never mind’ attitide that generally prevails.

RE: 558 hopes dashed ?

Out of interest, how much press coverage has this received ?. Obviously there is some info on the web, but how much has been open to the wider public , local / national TV/Radio.
I’m sure that there is a vast number of interested folks who as yet do not know that the project is falling over, and if they did might react strongly as its their money in the bag ,so to speak.
Obviously I don’t know what coverage has been given, if any , on Leicestershire TV/Radio but I have not seen anything nationally.
Perhaps the press should be alerted, you never know they might be fed up (as I am) with the firefighters strike.
Phil

RE: 558 hopes dashed ?

The problem is its not a simple as that, just because someone might have the money(not too many forthcoming yet) does not mean that they can operate her.
Bruntingthorope has everything – except the money!!.
Logistically how could she be, a) exported to the states and then b)made airworthy and even more so c) maintained and operated and even then would she be permitted to visit the UK and display.
Perhaps the money raised to date should (ironically) be spent on lottery tickets in the vain hope of securing a big win…….joking guys, joking.
If we could find 1 million peolple in the UK (and further afield) that definitely want the Vulcan to fly and get then to commit to a 1 off cost of £5 or 1/2 million at £10 then its covered (and more).
Cant be that hard surely.

RE: 558 hopes dashed ?

And this is the other statement that they have sent me.

Heritage Lottery Fund Statement – Vulcan to the Sky
15 November 2002

At their November meeting Heritage Lottery Fund Trustees considered an application towards the purchase and restoration to full flying condition of the Avro Vulcan XH558.

While the heritage value of the aeroplane and its place in the history of British aviation was recognised as considerable, and it was clear that the project had received considerable support, it was agreed with regret that HLF was unable to support the application.

The reasons for rejecting the application centred on value for money considerations. When the risks posed by flying and the short flying life after restoration – estimated at around 5-8 years only – were set against the high cost of returning the aircraft to flight (a grant of £2.5m was requested), it was clear that the project was too costly for the public benefits likely to be delivered. Our average grant size is £190,000, and by far the majority of our awards are for amounts less than £100,000. We have £300million available against applications totalling more than £800million.

‘We recognise the special attraction of seeing a majestic aircraft in-flight’, commented Liz Forgan, Chair of the Heritage Lottery Fund, ‘but the short life of the plane following such costly restoration could not justify making an exception to our established policy, which is not to restore aircraft for flight.’

HLF has always made it clear that returning historic aircraft to flight falls outside policy guidelines. This is for a number of reasons, including the fragility of historic craft and the high costs and risks inevitably associated with flight. We do of course occasionally make exceptions to our policies, where these are merited by the particular circumstances, although there is no precedent for funding the restoration of an historic aircraft to flying order.

Substantial support for aviation heritage
The Heritage Lottery Fund remains committed to supporting our varied and popular aviation heritage having invested over £27million in aircraft collections and restoration to date, including a recent £9million grant towards the creation of ‘Air Space’ at the Imperial War Museum in Duxford, Cambridgeshire and support for the Royal Air Force Museum at Hendon, as well as smaller collections. Other projects in this sector include the purchase and restoration of a 1969 Westland Wessex HCC.4 helicopter for display at the Helicopter Museum in Weston Super Mare and the creation of an Aviation and Heritage Centre at the Aerospace Museum in Shropshire.
-Ends-

RE: 558 hopes dashed ?

Doughnut, what age group are you in ?, this is a genuine question , I was wondering whether you had seen airborne Vulcans as I know some of the members here are of an age that may not have been interested in aviation or going to airshows when Vulcans were operational.
If you are of that age group I can perhaps understand your comments if not I find it difficult to understand how you could dismiss this as easily as you do.
Forget the sheer awesomeness of the vulcan on take off and in the air for the moment.
If the CAA are receptive, which indications say they are, to the Vulcan operating in civilian hands it would be a major milestone and could set a precedent for other types to be freed from their bonds over a period of time.If the Vulcan was able to return to the skies and proved an impecable safety record in the public domain then the CAA could reconsider some other rulings providing the same assurances were in place. This was to be the ideal oportunity to prove that complex ex-military aircraft can operate successfuly and safely under non military management.
Back to sentimentality, I have been interested in aircraft for a large % of my life and have attended airshows for most of it to date (1958 – )and for over 30 years of that time the Vulcan featured prominantly. I went to Brunntigthorpe the day XH558 landed, supposedly for good and was saddened but realistic,saddened because like many felt the Vulcan epitomised all that was good about British aviation and that this was the end, realistic because I accept that not everything can stay in service for ever.
Then there was a glimmer of hope, that maybe she could operate agian in a civilain guise, and as the momentum built so did the optimism and then it looked like reality, now well……………
Can you see how I and countless other feel?