Vulcan British Bomber - Avro Vulcan XH558 (military serial XH558, civil aircraft registration G-VLCN) Spirit of Great Britain is an example of the Avro Vulcan 134 jet-powered delta-wing strategic nuclear bomber operated by the Royal Air Force during the Cold War. It was the last Vulcan in military service, and the last to fly after 1986. It last flew on 28 October 2015.
XH558 Vulcan first flew in 1960, and was one of several examples converted for the maritime reconnaissance role in 1973, and returned as an air-to-air refueling tanker in 1982. After withdrawal in 1984 it continued on the RAF Vulcan Display Flight, performing until 1992.
Vulcan British Bomber
In 1993 it was sold to C Walton Ltd who used it for a ground-based display at their Bruntingthorpe Aerodrome in Leicestershire, until 1999. Through a combination of public donations and lottery funding, it was restored to airworthy condition of Vulcan To The Sky Trust. , which returned him to aviation on 18 October 2007. The donation required to reach that point amounted to £6.5 million.
Avro Vulcan Xh558
It resumed its display career in 2008, funded by ongoing donations to help with its £2 million a year running costs. Summer from 2008 to 2010 based at RAF Brize Norton, Oxfordshire, moved its winter base to RAF Lyneham, Wiltshire in late 2009. From 2011 moved to a new year-round base at commercial Doncaster Sheffield Airport. The prospect of grounding and selling due to lack of funds was routinely avoided, and XH558 flew because underlying life expectancy issues posed a significant threat to continued operations. After losing out once to get an additional two years of service, on May 15, 2015, it was confirmed that 2015 would be XH558's last flight season, as the third-party company responsible for its maintenance withdrew their support.
Since its last flight, XH558 is now kept in an inactive state, along with the two surviving Vulcans, XL426 and XM655.
A total of 136 Vulcans were built at Woodford Aerodrome between 1956 and 1965, with the most operational service being on 20 May 1957.
XH558 was the first of the upgraded versions of the B2 for RAF service, making its first flight from Woodford on 25 May 1960, and was delivered to Operational Conversion Unit No. 230 at RAF Waddington, Lincolnshire, on 1 July 1960. The OCU is the unit that prepares pilots familiar with other aircraft to fly the Vulcan.
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Almost immediately 230 OCUs were transferred to RAF Finningley, South Yorkshire. In 1968, XH558 was transferred back to Waddington, where it saw operational service with units of the Waddington Wing (44, 50 and 101 Squadron).
In August 1973, XH558 was one of nine Vulcans converted to SR2 Maritime Radar Reconnaissance configuration, for use by No.27 Squadron.
In 1979, it was decided that the Vulcan was redundant, with the first st for scrap in December 1980.
In 1982 XH558 was one of six Vulcans converted to the K2 tanker variant, a stop gap measure to alleviate temporary shortages in the RAF's tanker fleet as some had expired from operations in the Falklands War, and new replacement types are not yet ready. .
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St at Woodford for conversion on d June, it returned to service with 50 Squadron at Waddington on 12 October.
The last Vulcans in service were 6 tankers and several other conventional aircraft as trainers, all with 50 Squadron, which was disbanded on 31 March 1984.
XH558 was selected for display duty with the RAF Vulcan Display Flight at Waddington. The VDF was formed in 1984 and already uses the XL426 (aircraft donated to Southd in 1986).
For demonstration duties, XH558 reverted to B2 configuration in 1985, and made its debut at Bournemouth in May 1985. It served the VDF for seven years, making its final flight at Cranfield on 20 September 1992.
British Raf Avro Vulcan Bomber Editorial Image
It was the last Vulcan in service, due in large part to the fact that it saw little service as a low-level bomber and was long out of service due to an accident flying a maritime sortie north from RAF Scampton, on 6 November 1975 On takeoff, gin No. broke. 3 after swallowing a seagull, causing a large hole to be blown out of his right wing. Subsequent major improvements became the basis of the XH558 over the years, with the result that the XH558, despite being the earliest service Mk.2 to RAF ter, actually had less flying time than most of its counterparts.
The plane previously appeared in the 1961 film Central Office of Information (COI); "No Claim Bonus" which was also later used as a color trade test film on BBC 2.
After being prepared for disposal, XH558 was acquired by the Walton family, and transferred to Bruntingthorpe Airfield in Leicestershire on 23 March 1993, its last flight in the 20th Ctury.
It is kept in serviceable condition, making sprints along the main runway with other fast jets on special operations days.
Easy Model 33309 Avro Vulcan Xm607
A decade earlier, shortly after Walton's takeover of Bruntingthorpe, plans were made to fly the preserved XM575 from East Midlands Airport to the planned aircraft museum, although this did not happen as money ran out before completion. required service.
In 1997, a study was carried out to see the possibility of returning XH558 to aviation - a risky prospect for its owners as the aircraft would have to be retired as a ground-based attraction and more dismantled before restoration began. By decision taken in 1998, the last public ground run was on September 5, 1999.
The Vulcan to the Sky Trust has been set up to raise funds; including submitting an application to the Heritage Lottery Fund, this was rejected in 2002 but refocused and accepted in 2004.
Restoration work began in 2005; to reassure the project's donors, the Walton family officially returned ownership of XH558 to the Trust that same year.
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To celebrate reaching its funding target, on August 31, XH558 was launched from the hangar for the first time in seven years for a publicity shoot.
Granted civil registration G-VLCN by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), an exception was made to allow it to fly under Royal Air Force marking as XH558.
In early May 2008, XH558 remained at RAF Coningsby where it underwent further testing, and while there took part in a photo call with the Lancaster and Typhoon.
On 9 June 2008, XH558 made its final test flight, a 98-minute journey from Bruntingthorpe, which included a demonstration in front of CAA testers. Deemed a success, an application for a license to fly at the airshow was submitted to the CAA, with the aim of attending the first public event in 15 years, the RAF Waddington Airshow, on 5 and 6 July.
Personalised Avro Vulcan Bomber Aircraft Bedroom Door Plaque
The CAA gave XH558 permission to fly from Bruntingthorpe to Waddington on Thursday 3 July, but authorization for a display flight was not given until Friday, so the first view flight, which lasted 5 minutes, went ahead on Saturday when before an estimated crowd of 125,000.
A combination of factors resulted in the decision in late 2012 to retire XH558 after the end of the 2013 season. After another feasibility study, the decision was reversed and a major fundraiser was launched, resulting in on the work required to ensure XH558 flies for the 2014 and 2015 seasons – see Operations 2015.
On May 15, 2015, it was announced that 2015 would be the last flight season of the XH558, as the three companies assisting the project with technical expertise (BAE Systems, Marshall Aerospace and Defce Group and Rolls-Royce) did not want to support the aircraft. beyond that, it means no CAA approval is required to fly. According to the Trust, the company made the decision for two reasons - they were in uncertain territory regarding the predictability of future safety risks to continue flying due to the fact that XH558 clocked more hours of flight than any other Vulcan, and second. , the increasing difficulty of obtaining expertise. necessary, especially regarding gynecology.
Various options to continue flying after 2015 were considered and ultimately rejected due to sophistication, cost, practicality, or other reasons beyond the Trust's control – limiting flight times in 2015, building new Olympus gins and acquiring parts from other Vulcans, training new staff, using other technical authorities, and moving XH558 overseas.
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As a result, after completing the 2015 Farewell to Flight display season, XH558's final flight took place on 28 October 2015, a small display at Sheffield's Doncaster base.
With XH558 permanently grounded, the Trust intended to make Vulcan the focus of a new educational and heritage facility at Doncaster Sheffield Airport, but was given a retirement notice in August 2022, with a final occupancy date of June 2023. This coincided with the announcement of a commercial failure and possible closure of the airport.
Trusts are ongoing
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