15 October 2012
Vulcan to the Sky Trust, the charity that operates the last flying Vulcan bomber, has announced it is planning for 2013 to be the aircraft’s final flying season. Following its restoration, Vulcan XH558 was granted a technically-determined number of flying hours. At the end of next year’s display season, six years after the return-to-flight, XH558’s current cleared flying life will have been almost completely consumed.
Since the restoration in 2007, Vulcan XH558 has been seen by more than ten million people at over 60 locations, with three million turning out to see her during the 2012 Diamond Jubilee season.
Trust chief executive Dr. Robert Pleming explained the decision, “All Vulcans have a finite safe flying life and XH558 is already well beyond the hours flown by any other aircraft of her type. At the end of next year, she will need a £200,000 modification to her wings to increase her flying life. For a number of reasons we have decided not to take this risk.”
The decision is based on a combination of factors, including the challenging wing modification, the supply of components and the limited life of XH558’s engines. Engineering director Andrew Edmondson explains, “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. There are no more airworthy engines available, and refurbishment would be so difficult and costly that there is no possibility that it will happen.”
Dr. Pleming concluded, “It is with great sadness that we are planning for next year to be the last opportunity anyone will have, anywhere in the world, to see a Vulcan in the air. With the passionate and generous support of the British people, we returned an all-British icon to the sky and brought the excitement of engineering and aviation to new generations.”
The Vulcan to the Sky Trust’s aircraft will become the centrepiece of a new project that aims to inspire and train young people. “XH558 will be maintained in excellent running order and will continue to delight her supporters with fast taxi runs while developing further her role in education as the centrepiece of an exciting new type of inspirational engineering education centre,” added Trust director Michael Trotter.
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