Cameron sees Vulcan return to skies

AIRCRAFT enthusiasts, including Prime Minister David Cameron, saw the Yorkshire-based Vulcan bomber flying yesterday, just weeks after two of its engines were destroyed in a test flight incident.

Engineers worked around the clock to make the iconic aircraft ready for the opening day of the Farnborough air show, which also saw major contract announcements by two giants of the aerospace industry.

Bosses from Seattle-based aircraft manufacturer Boeing said it had secured £4.65bn deal for new aircraft, while Rolls-Royce said it had received a £118m order from the US Army for 500 aircraft engines.

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The Vulcan, which is based at Doncaster’s Robin Hood airport, has just had two new Rolls-Royce engines fitted after bags of silica gel, a drying agent, were sucked into them before a test flight on May 28.

Both engines were damaged beyond repair, and the Vulcan to the Sky charity, which runs the aircraft, had to have two spares from its limited stock transported to Doncaster from its stores in Leicestershire.

Charity spokesman Richard Clarke said the Cold War aircraft had flown at the Royal International Air Tattoo at RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire at the weekend before heading to Farnborough yesterday.

He added: “The Prime Minister saw her come in to land with the Red Arrows, and Farnborough really is the big one when it comes to raising corporate awareness of the Vulcan so we’re delighted to be here.”

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Opening the event, Mr Cameron announced a £50m defence contract which he said would boost the RAF and UK manufacturing.

He said the Government had placed an order for a a full flight simulator for the Airbus A400M. The MoD has already ordered 22 of the A400Ms to replace its fleet of C-130 Hercules.

As well as announcing its new contract at the show, which opens to the public next weekend, Rolls-Royce also unveiled the first jet engine to be made entirely from Lego.

The engine is a half-size replica of the Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 which powers the Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft.

The model shows the complex inner workings of a jet engine and took four people eight weeks to complete. Including 152,455 Lego bricks, the engine weighs 677lb (307kg) and is more than 6ft long.