Being the webmaster for both the TVOC and Vulcan 558 Club sites I thought I'd better add my quid's worth.
Official sites are
www.tvoc.co.uk and
www.vulcan558club.co.uk
The TVOC site has the address and tel. no.s for sending donations but it would be best to give them a call to find out who to make cheques out to as the Vulcan Restoration Trust at Southend will be taking the money, they are a registered charity and can claim the tax back. Online credit card donations are in the pipeline.
A few places to get inside a Vulcs cockpit are as follows:
Jet Age Museum, Staverton, Glos, they have a nose section which you can climb in.
Newark Air Museum, Notts?, complete airframe and they occasionally run up the APU.
Southend Airport, the Vulcan Restoration Trust's Vulc has open days during the year where cockpit visits are possible. For dates go to
www.xl426.com
Another worthy cause is the Comet 'Canopus' at Bruntingthorpe, they were supposed to fly it to Lasham this month but as Frank Spencer would say "they are having a bit of trouble", with the CAA so the flight wont take place until next year.
For those who have never experienced a Vulcan in flight I feel sorry for you. First time I saw it in action was at an airshow at North Weald. I was standing about half way down the runway, the Vulcan was lined up, the engines wound up to an amazing howl, the brakes released and it came thundering down the runway. It took off with the characteristic steep climb and the noise made your whole body vibrate. Its whole display stays virtually within the airfield boundary, no other aircraft has given so much pleasure to airshow crowds.
I've been doing an 'Airshow Awards' feature on my own website (www.airshows.co.uk) throughout the summer and in the most missed display category the Vulcan takes up at least 50% of the nominations. It needs to be flown!