pete.cook
08-31-2006, 12:14 PM
It has been annouced by the team attempting to restore an AVRO Vulcan bomber to flight status that an anonymous donor has stepped in at the last minute to offer support in the form of £500,000. This has enabled the team to exceed the £1M target they needed to get the aircraft airworthy again.
There are only 16 of these planes left and this one, XH558, is the only one near to becoming airworthy. The last of them flew in 1993. I was fortunate enough to see one of the last flights by a Vulcan, over Portsmouth Naval Base in 1992 for Navy Days (I was involved as a guide aboard HMS Birmingham). The thing was huge, but extremely graceful. The roar of the engines was incredible, especially when the pilot pitched the nose up and accelerated away from us. The vibrations could be felt throught the ship's deck and all the cars in the car park had their alarms set of by it!
The hope is that she can be made ready for next year's 25th Anniversary of the Falklands Conflict, which featured the longest ever bombing mission undertaken when a Vulcan launched from the UK bombed Stanley Airport's runway. They also hope to display her in the airshow season. If she does, I highly recommend you try to get to a show to see her.
More information about the project can be found here (http://www.tvoc.co.uk/index2.php). If you want to see this beautiful, graceful and powerful aeroplane fly again, please consider making a donation to the cause too.
There are only 16 of these planes left and this one, XH558, is the only one near to becoming airworthy. The last of them flew in 1993. I was fortunate enough to see one of the last flights by a Vulcan, over Portsmouth Naval Base in 1992 for Navy Days (I was involved as a guide aboard HMS Birmingham). The thing was huge, but extremely graceful. The roar of the engines was incredible, especially when the pilot pitched the nose up and accelerated away from us. The vibrations could be felt throught the ship's deck and all the cars in the car park had their alarms set of by it!
The hope is that she can be made ready for next year's 25th Anniversary of the Falklands Conflict, which featured the longest ever bombing mission undertaken when a Vulcan launched from the UK bombed Stanley Airport's runway. They also hope to display her in the airshow season. If she does, I highly recommend you try to get to a show to see her.
More information about the project can be found here (http://www.tvoc.co.uk/index2.php). If you want to see this beautiful, graceful and powerful aeroplane fly again, please consider making a donation to the cause too.