Hi All,
I asked if it was possible as other aircraft have been made airworthy for one last ferry flight in the past, plus the fact that any parts needed as replacements surely could be cannibalised from XH558 just for the ferry flight then returned. :confused: I know this idea is far out there but surely this would be a better outcome all around in my view, especially if wellesbourne closed rather than scrapping the machine that has been lovingly cared for by the custodians since delivery to wellesbourne yes ?

I imagine the money needed to do this could be raised if enthusiasts wanted it to happen with all the proper paperwork etc.etc. in place and it meant another delta was saved from the scrappers could be kept live. Add to that Bruntingthorpe is the perfect home if like I said the worse comes to the worse or do you think that a lot of enthusiasts would deem this as a waste of money ? that’s all just floating the idea that’s all…..:rolleyes:

A fantasy day out could be with the best of RAF aviation live and fast taxi runs by Vulcan/Victor/Vc10/Nimrod/Jaguar/Canberra/Lightning/Hunter/Provost/ Hawk/ Tornado plus other foreign aircraft, what say you ?

Geoff.

There was a big gap of a number of years in XM655’s care. She was looked after for a couple of years post delivery in 84 and then nothing until the early 90’s when Delta Engineering bought 655 back to life. I joined Delta in 94 and helped with the start of her restoration. A few years later Delta moved to Kemble and I and a couple of other engineers founded 655 MaPS and the rest is history as they say. Unfortunately you could have all the money needed but without OEM support you ain’t going to fly.

Hi All,
Two things here if I may.
1. If the worse comes to the worse could XM655 be made airworthy for a brief delivery flight to Bruntingthorpe ? as I imagine this would be a preferred outcome and home if closure comes ?

2. What of the Parcel/Border force International hub at Coventry airport where will they disappear to ? As far as I am aware they chose Coventry because it was central to England and it already had a not to busy runway instead of going to BHX a busy international airport (correct if wrong please).

Geoff.

Living close to Coventry airport I can say it has gone fairly quiet in the past year or so indeed I would say Wellesbourne is far busier.The Royal Mail stopped flying at Cov a few years ago and now use road transport in to and out of their hub there. There can be no way Coventry makes money from the aviation side of things its just not busy enough.

According to the airfields website ATC will be on its normal Christmas holidays over the festive period and return Jan 2nd 2017.Should the airfield operators cease operations the airfield businesses have a plan to take over the operations and keep the airfield open.

I had a look around the Reserve collection at Stafford when I collected a seven store bomb rack for XM655 a few years ago and there were a few Spits in store there and as Roobarb says they are used to trade with other museums etc. I was amazed looking round Stafford, the place is full of rare and interesting stuff such as Sir Arthur Harris’s desk, bits of Stirling and many other rare artifacts.

I’ve got a feeling that we may be witnessing the beginning of the end of classic jet operations in this country.

Well, some six years after it started my part in WR963’s adventure has ended.

I’m not sure quite how or why, but internal politics passed me by and it seems that raising my child wasn’t deemed an acceptable use if my spare time, so what started as a leave of absence has become a permanent one and I’ve been pretty much cold shouldered since November. More recently I’ve come to disagree to a change in stance which is starting to use methods I’m less than comfortable with – in that for the first time I can remember you won’t be able just to turn up on a Saturday and look at the Shackleton, and will have to pay a significant amount and book in advance. We always said there would be no barriers, and now there are; both physical and financial.

I’m also not keen on how things have taken on a lack of transparency in the state of the Trust, and the health of the aircraft, resulting in little to no updates on engineering matters on forums, which has put me directly in the firing line over sanitised reports and lack of information.

I’m happy I left the aircraft in better state than I found it; and that my last chance to run up the Griffons was for the taxy run in front of a massive crowd.

Regards,

Rich

As you know Rich I’ve been in the same situation as a founding member of 655 MaPS things change and indeed you change so its always good to go out on a high which I did with both XM655 and XV232. We did our bit, on wards and upwards bud.

Unfortunately ‘rampant corrosion’ is very likely a feature of most Vulcans living outside . The initial idea of cheap Vulcan’s and the draw they would bring to museums was fine -however the long term reality and the cost of maintaining them safely with ‘modern’ Health & Safety will eventually make them too expensive to maintain.

As with any airframe that is exposed to the elements corrosion will always be a problem the only thing you can do is try and slow it down.

All the best on your latest venture B2 hope to get up to Elvington in the near future for a look see.