Vulcan is to retire form the air.

[Guest]

BBC News - Vulcan Bomber XH558: 'Grace and style' in the sky

To difficult with little or no spares & so much money needed the Vulcan it to be grounded.

Really sad but in practical terms it could be lost for ever if it cannot be maintained as it needs to be to fly with safety for the crew.

Saw it flying around a bay in Jersey on it recent first year back in flight & what a sight & what a din.

Laurie

[mossiepilot]

She'll be sadly missed.

Tony.

[Guest]

Its very sad but these things dont run themselves. It was a herculean effort to get it airworthy in the first place.

Keith

[Guest]

Really sad, it's a pity....

[Guest]

I'm gutted, I have seen the old girl several times.

Every time I saw her I couldn't get over the noise, last year at RIAT they put her into a near vertical climb and the sound of raw power was incredible, and yet she looked so graceful in the sky.

I think she represents Britain when it was at it's best, Innovative & bold and from a time when we were a great engineering nation.

[stona]

It is sad.

Last time I looked it was reckoned that about 3 million people attend air shows in Britain each year. According to my arithmetic about 30-40 pence each would have kept her flying. That seems a bargain. I took care of about 150 people's share all by myself,the price of one average 1/32 scale kit

Cheers

Steve

[Guest]

Steve,

I donate at RIAT every year, and would continue to do so but reading the announcement I don't think this time it's just about the money.

"Trust chief executive Dr. Robert Pleming explained the decision to supporters: “We are sure you are aware that all Vulcans have a finite safe flying life and that XH558 is already well beyond the hours flown by any other aircraft of her type,” he wrote. “At the end of next year, she will need a £200,000 modification to her wings to increase her flying life. We know that you would do your upmost to fund this work, but for a number of reasons we have decided not to ask you to take this risk.”The decision is based on a combination of factors. First is the challenging wing modification, as engineering director Andrew Edmondson explains: “It is a demanding procedure that can no longer call upon the original manufacturing jigs and there is no possibility of rectification if an error is made. We are not saying we cannot do it, just that it is risky so other factors must be taken into account.”

Top of the list is the limited life of XH558’s engines. “From the start of the 2014 season, it is unlikely that we could accommodate any engine failures and that even without any technical problems, soon our set of engines would be out of life,” says Edmondson. “There are no more airworthy engines available, and refurbishment would be so difficult and costly that there is no possibility that it will happen.”

Everyone can of course still donate to see her one last time in 2013!

[Ian M]

A great shame to hear but having read the above it seems like the right choice. As much as I would love to see it fly we must be able to see that she has had a good life and has given many thousands of people the opportunity to have their fillings shaken loose as she goes nose up at full throttle. Feeling the very ground under your feet shake and the rumble in your chest.

All very deeply planted in my memory.

Personally I think she would be well served being kept as a static display. Maybe she could be kept to a rolling display.

I would just hate to see her fall from the sky after a structural failure, God forbid into a crowd that has come to see her. Sense over sentiment.

Ian M

[Guest]

Personally I think she would be well served being kept as a static display. Maybe she could be kept to a rolling display.

I would just hate to see her fall from the sky after a structural failure, God forbid into a crowd that has come to see her. Sense over sentiment.

Ian M

Yes to true Ian.

Some years ago, not sure if it is the same one, I saw one in an aircraft museum in the West Midlands. It was inside & well preserved.

Just to walk under it was an awesome experience. An aircraft & a half. Strange being so close. That funny almost pip squeak cockpit looks so mini against the mighty size of the wings.

I wonder which museum it will go to. Imagine & hope they provide a Vulcan hanger. The Falklands Blackbuck thing would make a good great graphic display on how they managed to keep the Vulcan in flight all those miles with refuelling. Perhaps a Victor tanker could also be displayed it would make a great diorama.

Laurie

[Guest]

The one at Cosford is still there, it's now part of the superb new building housing the national Cold War Exhibition.

If anyone hasn't been to Cosford then I heartily recommend it - and it's free entry!

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[Dave W]

There's one on display at Southend Airport.Though sadly its kept outside.The chaps who look after it have an up hill struggle as all care and maintenance has to be done outside.

[Guest]

The one at Cosford is still there, it's now part of the superb new building housing the national Cold War Exhibition.If anyone hasn't been to Cosford then I heartily recommend it - and it's free entry!

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Yes that is where I saw it Gaz. A great sight & a very nice museum. Amazing FREE what does that mean not heard that expression before ?

Laurie