A meeting earlier this week between the Trust, the Emergency Services including the South Yorkshire Police, Doncaster Council and the Airport has made it clear that XH558’s huge popularity could put her final flights at risk.
Could, but will not. What does Pleming imagine? Police suddenly acquire the power to ground an aeroplane because they can’t monitor car parking on a grass verge?! What claptrap.

The clear message from all of them is that unless supporters choose other ways to see her fly, the Trust will be asked to cancel further flying.
And the Trust would hopefully tell them to get stuffed. If they don’t like the inconvenience of a few parked cars – tough. Are they cancelling football matches too?

Correspondence has been received that also makes it clear that the Trust could also be liable for very substantial costs if safety is deemed to be at risk.
Substantial? More than today’s junket?

But I must ask everyone please, do not come to Robin Hood to see her take-off and land. If you do, and the numbers are vast, the police have stated that they may well have no option but to lock down the airport, the financial consequences of which to the Trust would be terminal.
Vast? He means more than the usual 50-max cars, mostly on a disused road? Financial consequences that are terminal to the Trust? Who cares? It stops flying in two weeks. Oh I forgot, Pleming and Co want even more money to keep them in business even when XH558 has stopped flying. Hmm…

Robin Hood Doncaster Sheffield is an operational international airport that relies on free passenger flow in and out. If there is an incident with an aircraft, emergency services must have fast, uninterrupted access. The police have told us that they have a legal responsibility to ensure that emergency access points are clear of obstructions. Emergency services have pointed out that fire and ambulance access to local homes must be guaranteed.
Then put a copper next to each crash gate – all three of them.

Steve Gill, “They are providing a number of opportunities for spectators and loyal supporters to see the Vulcan in her last flying tours. These opportunities will be right across the country and have been designed so that they do not cause disruption at Doncaster Sheffield Airport.
That’s very generous of them. Not very generous of the Airport though, is it? In fact, the airport appears to have done nothing for XH558 other than take money for hangarage.

“As an operational airport our number one priority is our passengers and our relationships with our airline partners. We urge people to listen to the pleas from the Vulcan team and the police and not travel to Doncaster to see the Vulcan but to maximise the opportunities available elsewhere.”
As an enthusiast and historian and supporter of the Vulcan (but not necessarily the people who operate it), I’ll go where I prefer thanks very much, without being preached-to by people who are more concerned with avoiding effort and making money, and don’t seem to have much regard for the actual aircraft or the people who appreciate it and pay for it.

Police Supt Rollitt states, although I understand the passion of the supporters of the Vulcan, over the past few months as we approach its final flights, more and more spectators have turned up at events where the Vulcan has been. This has started to overwhelm local authorities and emergency services. My first priority is ensuring the safety of all road users and local communities.
Rubbish. This “overwhelmed” business refers to air shows, not Finningley

Doncaster airport is a small commercial airport that can accommodate its passengers, however the infrastructure around it cannot accommodate a large influx of people hoping to see the Vulcan. The Vulcan trust have worked with us to satisfy the safety issue by providing a flight timetable to ensure that members of the public will get see the final flights from other vantage points around the country.
Amazing isn’t it, how the same place used to hold an annual air show attracting up to 200,000 people and nobody raised an eyebrow

TO, I’m sure they all thought the Vulcan’s appearance was very nice whether they cared or not, but that’s a minor point amongst today’s events.

The story gets more ridiculous by the day and despite my previous occasional tongue-in-cheek comments, I think the latest developments are serious.

Today, the Vulcan flew again and nobody was informed about this until roughly 20 minutes before take-off. A deliberate attempt to prevent people from seeing the departure. VTTS claimed this was because the event wasn’t planned until last night and not fixed until this morning. But no news until 20 minutes before take-off? Nope, it was a deliberate attempt to keep the flight secret. There was no news of the destination (it transpired it was the Bomber Command memorial at Lincoln), nor was there any word of where the Vulcan would go before or after the flypast. It eventually appeared at Scampton to perform what was presumably supposed to be a “practice” display, although one fails to see why any practice is required when only two display routines are still left to complete (this coming Sunday).

The aircraft then went-off on a (second) photo shoot over Lincolnshire. No news of the time of return to Finningley until it was roughly ten miles from landing.

Okay – apart from the way in which the whole event was wilfully hidden from everyone – including all those who paid for the fuel to allow it to happen, the event then included two lengthy photographic sessions. This is remarkable when VTTS have been begging for money to finance next week’s tour flights. It beggars belief – the cost of one day’s flying was written-off today on a flight that nobody even knew about. I’ve read some comments that it was “worth it” to salute the Bomber Command veterans. I don’t buy this for a minute. I seriously doubt whether more than a couple of them had even the slightest interest in seeing a Vulcan.

Then, to end the day nicely, we now read the latest VTTS newsletter. South Yorkshire Police say:-

…more and more spectators have turned up at events where the Vulcan has been. This has started to overwhelm local authorities and emergency services. My first priority is ensuring the safety of all road users and local communities. Doncaster airport is a small commercial airport that can accommodate its passengers, however the infrastructure around it cannot accommodate a large influx of people hoping to see the Vulcan. The Vulcan trust have worked with us to satisfy the safety issue by providing a flight timetable to ensure that members of the public will get see the final flights from other vantage points around the country.

What utter claptrap. I’ve actually been to Finningley on countless occasions (unlike Sup Int Rollitt) and seen this “mayhem” for myself. There isn’t any. The old Bawtry Road (now disused) is often fairly full (but never packed) with cars and maybe 100 spectators maximum. The perimeter road occasionally boasts maybe 30 cars (often less). Yes, there can be problems with stupid people selfishly parking cars in bad positions but I have seen very few. They are usually on the grass verge. The only slight risk is from idiotic people running back and forth across the road.

So how are the local authorities overwhelmed? More to the point, where are they? I’ve only seen two policemen there twice, in all the times I’ve been. Is the possibility of two coppers turning-up to ask drivers to make sure they park their cars on the grass verge really too much for the Police to handle?

I have read an awful lot of rubbish about XH558 over the years, a lot of it from VTTS. This latest announcement is perhaps the most ludicrous and offensive of the lot. They actually want to keep spectators away from Finningley, supposedly to ease the pressure on the authorities who never even go anywhere near the airfield other than on the rarest of occasions. If it is about the last flight (whenever that is, and if VTTS care to actually tell us – the people who paid for the aircraft), then I’m sure the Police could manage to send maybe a couple of cars to the end of the runway to ensure that there are no parking crimes for the half-hour that this would require. It’s a once-only event.

I really do think VTTS have stretched people’s goodwill and understanding way beyond any acceptable limit today. There are three advertised days of flying left, perhaps one more for the final flight. If the Police can’t manage to monitor a small stretch of road for an hour then we really have reached a sorry state. Once again, the situation seems to be as it often has been – the people who support XH558 and the people who pay for it to fly, are being wilfully ignored, misled, or simply fibbed-to. As somebody said to me today, it’s only because we are so happy to see the Vulcan fly that so many people ignore this kind of attitude, but in any other circumstances I think most right-minded people would be disgusted.

The inference from your comnent is that there is another flight planned after the 11th. Do we know that or is it just rumour, speculation or wishful thinking?

As far as I can determine, no reference to a last flight has been made by VTTS as yet so it seems pretty certain that it will be after the tour flights. Given the comments above, I have to wonder whether a lot of people have (wrongly) made the assumption that the second tour flight will also be the aircraft’s very last flight. Maybe that’s what VTTS are hoping, so that the very last flight can take place without any announcement.

Wings my comment was of course tongue-in-cheek, but it is true that despite the obvious possibilities of making a flight over Sheffield, the Vulcan folks have managed to avoid doing so ever since the aircraft began its post-RAF flying. It’s become a sort of running joke with some people that they must hate Sheffield or suffer from some sort of allergy.

Piston I suggest you moderate your language and manners. More than a few parts of the Vulcan were manufactured in Sheffield. If you want to know which, I suggest you go find-out instead of simply making childish comments (not least the assumption that one determines the size of a city with a poll!).

Mike J I think it fair to say that more than a few people may well consider that little of what you say makes sense either, but most of us wouldn’t be so childish as to say so…

I guess the event might have been more fun for those who live near-enough to see any of it in person, but for the rest of the country it was a television event and as I’ve said before, the most we saw was eight aircraft together. It seems reasonable to conclude therefore, that eight aircraft would have produced the same results, even if the flypast routes had to be flown individually rather than simultaneously. It just seemed rather silly to have gathered so many aircraft together on the ground and then missed the opportunity to assemble them in the air even if only for a few minutes. I’m not the only person who thought this.

Why? It’s a machine designed and built in Manchester and one that spent most of its service life either at St.Mawgan, St.Eval or Ballykelly. Doesn’t have any connection with Scotland other than the years it was based at Lossie as an AEW2.

What amazes me is how they are still raising money for the aircraft’s future retirement, even though nobody was asked whether it was a good retirement plan or not. If they had bothered to consult anyone other than themselves, maybe it wouldn’t be making a final flight into Finningley at all.