by Paul Creasey » Mon May 09, 2011 12:27 pm
Hello,
The Vulcan that appeared at Abingdon yesterday afternoon was XH558 - now based at the former RAF Finningley (OK - RHADS, if you prefer!) - and operated by The Vulcan Operating Company. This is a "private" enterprise, supported by The Vulcan To The Sky Trust (VTTST - a registered charity) and The Vulcan To The Sky Club (an active supporter's club). The history of '558 since it left RAF service in March 1993 has been a chequered one following initial acquisition by the Walton organisation at Bruntingthorpe. I think it is fair to say that, without the Walton's initial purchase of the airframe - and equally importantly a large quantity of spare parts - a flying Vulcan in 2011 simply would not have happened. Following a successful bid for lottery funding, VTTST was formed and they have been responsible for upkeep and maintenance of '558 in flying condition for a number of years now. This has included some very deep (and expensive!) maintenance and modification tasks, as well as the not inconsiderable job of obtaining and maintaining the necessary approvals from the Civil Aviation Authority to operate '558 as a civilian aircraft. '558 receives no official government support (although the RAF have been very supportive of the project in a number of ways) and relies totally on private contributions and sponsorship (appx £2 million per annum) to keep going.
As for XM607 - she still resides at RAF Waddington, alongside the A15 and opposite the Waddo viewing area. As Ian quite rightly stated, '607 was one of the Falklands "Black Buck" aircraft (and isn't Rowland White's "Vulcan 607" an EXCELLENT read?). As-to finishing it's life as a "Gate Guardian" - that's a MUCH better end than the sad sight of most of the Vulcan fleet being literally hacked to pieces by the scrapmen in the mid 1980's!!
So............why wasn't '607 preserved in flying condition? She had had quite a hard life, and was very close to her finite "fatigue life" - the long trips to/from the South Atlantic wouldn't have helped - whereas '558 had rather more (although still finite) fatigue life left.
The short answer, I guess, was simply down to MONEY!
To keep one flying Vulcan ('558) and two taxiable ground running examples ('426 at Southend and '655 at Wellesbourne) continues to stretch the abilities of many supporters almost to the limit.
Regrettably, whilst there are many people who purport to "love Vulcans", there are rather fewer who are either prepared to "put their hands in their pockets" or get involved with the practical aspects of maintenance and repair!
Regards
Paul.