No more Vulcan from next year
 

Well, it was good while it lasted.

I'd rather see one Vulcan than nine poxy hawks.

Apparently there's a headstone with that written on it looking for a new home...

As a taxpayer I'm making my views felt.

That you don't like 'em doesn't bother me.

Anyhoo, I'm sure there will be another 'reds' subject you can fart on about in a few months time.

Not wishing to join the bun fight, but....

It would be nice if there was money available to fly the older aircraft, at public expence. The Red's and the BBMF are both great, but there's an awfull lot of hardware gone between the two...

Indeed, Michelin Stars.

Not that you will ever get to find out.

They do write some ****e, don't they.

I vividly recall, as a 14 year old schoolboy, something to do with an 8000 mile bombing mission in the South Atlantic. Nothing at all to do with "Bombs, HC".

In 1993, it may have been the only one left in the RAF, and it displayed at my squadron's disbandment at BZZ. Most impressive. Certainly not "the only one left" of the fleet though.

Only one left? I don't think so.

SGC

Do you expect anything more from the BBC ?

The person writing the story probably wasn't even
born in 1982 !

I totally agree with WW. Not knocking the "Reds" at all, just the utterly boring aircraft they have to fly (For advertising "BAE Systems" purposes)!

I would much rather See, hear and FEEL one Vulcan display!

Unfortunately some of you are SO brainwashed and immune to sarcasym.......but perhaps thats a good thing for the Military to be. :p


Now put them in nine Twyfooms and it would be a MUCH harder choice. One can but dream..........:ok:

So what do you choose to believe?

On the one hand, "it will never fly again" stories have become a standard part of XH558 winter fundraising activities in recent years.

On the other, this does have a slightly different tone to past messages, so it may be more real: and it does come on the heels of the mangling of two engines at Finningley, which inevitably raised doubts about the future.

On the third (did they say it was only metallurgists who had three hands?) PPRuNe is the place to go if you want to find negative views about XH558: from, perhaps, what you might expect to be the best informed community on the subject anywhere.

So what do you choose to believe?

I've now seen XH558 do her stuff half a dozen times since 2008, at East Fortune and Leuchars. Four memories stick with me.

One is that unique engine tone as the power is increased. A throwback to witnessing a mass Vulcan takeoff at a Finningley Airshow in (I think) the very early 70s. The second was a roll off the top of a takeoff at Leuchars in 2009.

The third was at the press day at Leuchars in, I think, 2008: the look on the face of a Dutch F16 pilot as he saw a shape he'd never seen flying before.

And the fourth was at this year's perfect Leuchars Air Show, with a nearly three year old grandson who still tells me that the "Vulcan was very loud"; only he makes it sound like "falcon".

I suppose, at least, that young Alistair will always remember that he did see the Vulcan flying when he was small.

I think it should come over here to the US where there is more of a "can do" attitude, rather than the "its not going to be flyable anymore".
Putting on hard hat for the expected US-bashing.
:E
f

Knowing first hand what it took to keep them flying in the sixties, when we had full manufacturer spares support and the defence budget to support us, I think they've done a fantastic job to keep 558 in flying condition for six years. But all good things must come to an end, and she's had her day. Twice.

Perhaps now 558 will stop sucking in all the "Vulcan money" and something may be available for proper historic Vulcans to be preserved, such as XM607 that is doing a very good impression of a ten-year-old Triumph Dolomite outside at Waddington.

Come on guys. Stop knocking the Reds on this thread.
Why can't you just reminisce about the fine Vulcan, and leave the Reds out of it!
The financial link is tenuous in the extreme. The funding is from completely different sources. Or do you, WW, think it comes from one big pot?? Well done you.
I'm still in the mob, and feel the good the Reds do outweigh the negativity you suggest. Why use this as another reason to knock the "poxy Hawks". Nice. Again, well done you.

Go on. Why not put on some great photos of the Vulcan, ones that we can all enjoy. You know it makes sense.

Come on guys - they're only looking for a couple of hundred thousand

I reckon they are fishing for a one-off big donation by a "patriotic millionaire" (ie someone in need of a knighthood) which saves them handling thousands of £5 donations

TBH they've done a great job but every year its the same "it'll never fly again" story - and yet she still flies

Oh come on guys VTTS have been flagging the main spar issue up for years so this news shouldn't come as a surprise. Posters on Pprune have also commented about the displays and the perception that they've been using up the fatigue life at a fast pace. There is also a link on BBC BBC News - Vulcan bomber XH558 to be grounded saying that they will run out of usable spare engines by 2014. Lastly VTTS have said that they have been exploring ways of funding a permanent ground display/museum using XH558 as a centrepiece when the time comes for it to be grounded.

Has anyone yet seen any report concerning the completely avoidable destruction of 2 airworthy and quite priceless Olympus engines earlier this year?

I didn't understand the bit about wing modifications unless they mean an entirely new Mod to reinforce the wings as opposed to a re-spar or repair.

The engines would appear to be the stopper though. Their mtbf was very low in the 60s and compared with a modern fan they are the equivalent of the Bleriot. If it could be fixed for £200k, so be it.

To say they have run out of engines, how many installed power plants are there in museums around the world?

The Panton brothers discovered that their merlins were perfectly serviceable, so maybe they could find some 201s n museums and do a swappsey.