I’ll ask Robert on Sunday, rather than risk a TVOC forum rumour.
It might be true…The Ops Manager lives just down the road from Brize 😉

Vulcan at Dunsford

The UK has been feeling the full force of the ‘Vulcan Effect’ this summer, with the British public flocking to witness the return of one of its greatest heroes. In the past few weeks, the newly restored Avro Vulcan bomber, XH558, has made flying appearances at three major airshows, with each one subsequently boasting a record number of attendees as the result. With a combined viewing audience of a million people, it is clear that the Vulcan is breathing new life into air shows around the UK – already the second largest spectator events in the UK after football.

The latest stop on the ‘Vulcan Tour’ will be the ‘Wings and Wheels Show’ at Dunsfold in Surrey, where she is planned to appear on Sunday 24th August. This is the first time that the Vulcan has appeared at this event and there is a great deal of excitement and anticipation at the prospect of this iconic and venerable aircraft making a long awaited and much welcome visit to the County.

With a record 490,000 visitors at Lowestoft, at least 300,000 at Farnborough and 135,000 at Waddington, the Vulcan was the key attraction for many people eager to see her back in flight, following her successful £7m overhaul spanning the last three years. Members of the Vulcan to the Sky Trust (VTST) have spent the last decade dreaming of the days XH558 would fly once again in front of sell-out crowds.

Now they dream of continuing to showcase XH558 for the next decade, as VTST Chief Executive Dr Robert Pleming explains:

“It has been absolutely terrific to see the reaction of the crowds watching the Vulcan flying at airshows, and the sheer numbers of people who have turned up to see this much-loved and admired aircraft just shows how much XH558 is valued and remembered as a true icon of British aviation. The public seems to be taking the Vulcan to their hearts in the same way as Concorde was. Without the generosity of the public, and support from sponsors and the Heritage Lottery Fund, the Vulcan would have remained in early retirement. I just hope that now we will be able to bring the aircraft to many more shows and enable the younger generation to see not only a superb example of British engineering but a living part of our history. XH558 is the only Vulcan in the world that can fly, but it’s true that without sponsorship, this display may be one of her last, and millions of people will be denied the experience of seeing this amazing aircraft in the air!”

The Vulcan is also at the centre of an educational programme, explaining not only the history of the last half of the 20th Century and its relevance to today, but also the amazing design and engineering achievements that this 1950s-era aircraft represents. It is hoped that money to keep the Vulcan flying in shows in future years will be raised through commercial sponsorship as well as by continued public donations.

VOC Engineering Update is in and very interesting ALSO Flight Op’s page as well….at last. XH558 has been sponsored to attend Dunfold next month.:)

http://www.tvoc.co.uk/news/anmviewer.asp?a=328&z=2

Farnborough Friday

What a great display today and THANK YOU VTTS for getting me to this location to film 558. Even the security guy moved out of the way for me!

My clip is here: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=dCNhpYuguRM

I am told Wednesday’s display at Farnborough will be around 3.15pm.

As regards the point raised concerning the Lowestoft Airshow. I have now recieved my programme for the Lowestoft airshow and according to the flying schedule the Vulcan is down to fly on both days Thursday 24th at 16.00hours and 15.30 hours on Friday 25th. Having looked through the programme I have noticed that 558 is the only aircraft not currently showing a sponsor so I suspect that although shown as flying it could be a case of No sponsor , No Fly.
Hopeing for better news in the next few days with a sponsor coming forward so that 558 can show herself down here in East Anglia after all it can only do good for her to be seen in as many areas as possible.

HERES HOPEING.

The people who run the event might have paid for her to appear, so as long as it’s not raining and 558 is servicable she will be there – enjoy.:D

Is there no end to the spending on the Vulcan – I thought someone had stumped up the cash to get her through the show season in mid June, surely they haven’t spent £150k already ! but then again if the ‘norm’ upkeep is £50k per month just to keep it hangared then £150k won’t have gone far.

Also if the main leg needs replacing doesn’t this make it U/S until its replaced and signed off by one the ‘marshalls’ ? or even its an acceptable deferred fault which I doubt it is they would still need one of the ‘marshalls’ to sign for it and the pilots and if something happens the insurance probably wont cover them so they won’t fly it anyway just to be on the safe side.

So I doubt it will do much flying at Farnborough but will be static until its time to leave.

Yes Aerobytes stumped up the cash to get her through Waddington, Fairford and Farnborough and made it clear they alone could not fund Vulcan operations for any length of time.

The leg is scheduled in as part of the servicing – I think sometime in August. The leg’s have a landing quota set by the OEM so it will be replaced with a spare, so the aircraft is not U/S. It just limits the amount of “flyaways” as this attracts additional landings of course.

Currently the aircraft is due to display next Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, it will depart after the display on Sunday.

Four displays and just a few miles away from home as well – way to go!

If Lowestoft have asked for it’s attendance and willing to pay her appearance fee (which is not much greater than what other civilian aircraft charge) , then they might well have it’s presence.
Just looked at http://www.lowestoftairfestival.co.uk/index.asp and no mention of the Vulcan or any of the air craft in fact, so assume no “Vulcan Effect” at Lowestoft.