Look who's back

Thursday 3rd July 2008, a day which will long be remembered amongst aviation enthusiasts. Steven Hadlow takes a look at a momentous occasion.

Welcome Back

As morning broke, the news was still uncertain. The Vulcan To The Sky team were hoping to fly their Avro Vulcan XH558 to RAF Waddington to take part in the 2008 airshow. However, to do this the aircraft first had to pass a CAA inspection to attain the 'Permit To Fly'. It was a tense afternoon as Engineering Director Andrew Edmondson awaited news. The sound of his phone ringing throughout the afternoon with updates was one that probably won't be forgotten by anyone in attendance as we all continued to hope and fear at the same time.

Finally, at around 4 o'clock the news we were all hoping for came through that the Permit To Fly had been issued and that XH558 was all set to arrive later in the day. Early indications were that the aircraft would be arriving to appear solely on static over the weekend however news filtered through that the Vulcan would be performing a Display Authorisation flight on arrival from Bruntingthorpe which, if successfully completed, would allow the grand old girl to perform a flying display for the main airshow over the weekend.

The Vulcan was retired by the Royal Air Force in 1984. However, XH558 continued to serve as the display aircraft of the Vulcan Display Team until 1992, performing it's final display at the RAF Finningley Airshow of that year. Following the RAF decision to end the team in 1993 the aircraft was sold onto David Walton at Bruntingthorpe in Leicestershire. A few years later David sold the aircraft to a team of enthusiasts dedicated to returning the Vulcan to the UK airshow circuit, the rest, as they say, is history.

At approaching half past five the distinctive delta profile of the Vulcan arrived overhead RAF Waddington under the control of David Thomas, Chief Pilot on the Vulcan. Thomas was both the last RAF Vulcan display pilot and also the man who delivered XH558 to Bruntingthorpe back in 1993. So it was fitting that he was in control as he took '558 through two separate display practices in the beautiful early evening sun over Waddington.

Coming home

Following the routines he brought the Vulcan on final approach to Runway 20 and the soft touchdown marked triumph after so many years of close calls and disappointment. This marked XH558s glorious return to it's old RAF home all those years ago. Later on in the evening it was confirmed that the CAA had passed the display as acceptable which paved the way for the Vulcan to make it's historic first public appearance for over 15 years at the main airshow over the weekend.

Unfortuantely Dr Robert Pleming, CEO of the Vulcan Operating Company was unable to be present due to ill health, but he sent a message to express his delight.

“Words cannot fully express what it means to me and all of the team at Vulcan to the Sky to finally see XH558 appear on the airshow circuit once again. It is the culmination of eleven years of effort and is a huge testament to the determination and commitment, not only of our immediate team, but also all of those who have helped along the way. It’s so appropriate, and a real bonus, that XH558’s first public appearance will be at RAF Waddington. I think everyone will find it a very emotional occasion indeed when the Vulcan appears in the skies again above Waddington, and makes her first landing at her home base in some 15 years. All of the hard work that has been put into this unique project is now being rewarded and all of those who have contributed can rightly feel very proud of this achievement."

"I want to  thank everyone for the tremendous support that we have received since the inception of the project. It mustn’t be forgotten that we would never have been able to reach this point in the rollercoaster history of this unique project without the support of the Heritage Lottery Fund, a number of extremely generous individuals, including most recently Eddie Forrester, Managing Director of Aerobytes, whose latest donation has funded our appearance here at Waddington and which will also ensure our appearances at RIAT at Fairford and Farnborough later this month."

"It’s extremely important that I also thank all those many many people who have donated so very generously to enable to us to return this, the ‘People’s Aircraft’, to the public at airshows around the country. Equally importantly, I would also like to acknowledge the huge technical and financial support that has been provided by Marshall of Cambridge Aerospace Ltd, without whose expertise, generosity and commitment we would not be seeing the Vulcan flying."

"The Vulcan to the Sky Trust still faces significant challenges in obtaining the ongoing funding required to keep XH558 in the air, and to deliver on our commitments to Educate and Inspire the Young. Our search for commercial sponsorship has yet to bear fruit and this has been a tremendous disappointment to us – the economic climate for sponsorship could not be worse.”

Look out for a full report on AiA from the RAF Waddington International Airshow, coming soon. We would like to thank the media team at Waddington for their excellent hospitality.