VULCAN GAINS A REPRIEVE

Aviation enthusiasts will be delighted to hear that the world’s last airworthy Avro Vulcan bomber (XH558) has received a further stay of execution after a solid response by supporters to an appeal for funding, The Vulcan to the Sky Trust reports that the success of their Winter appeal means they can now focus on developing commercial revenue streams to raise money so that keeping the aircraft flying will be less dependent on quarterly fund raising appeals.

Photo: The Chris Kennedy Collection

Only 136 of the iconic Vulcans were ever built and more than £7m has already been raised from donations to keep this amazing aircraft in the sky so that others might enjoy her awe-inspiring capabilities. But a constant flow of money is needed if this fantastic example of British military aviation history is to continue being enjoyed.

The Vulcan 558 Club was launched in May 1997 in response the public’s call to conserve the last Vulcan to be retired by the RAF.The mighty aircraft was very much a symbol of the Cold War and was one of three ‘V bombers’ designed to carry nuclear bombs to Russia had the Soviet Union launched an attack.Vulcan and the other two V bombers (Handley page Victor and Vickers Valiant) became a deterrent that probably helped prevent a 3^rd global conflict. But in 1982 the Vulcan was used in anger for the only time when 7 missions were flown from Ascension Island to bomb the Argentines after they had invaded the Falkland Islands. The missions were supported by 13 Victor air-to-air refuelling tanker aircraft on the longest-ever bombing mission until then that flew return sorties of nearly 8,000 miles (12,500km).

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