Last flying Vulcan pulled out of shows

ENGINEERS are battling to repair a fuel leak on the last remaining Vulcan bomber capable of flight after the fault led to the Doncaster-based aircraft being pulled out of three weekend airshows.
By The Newsroom
Published 18th Aug 2011, 07:00 BST

The Cold War aircraft, which is maintained and flown by a charity, is now based at Robin Hood Airport, which was converted from the former RAF Finningley, a Vulcan base until the 1980s.

The Vulcan to the Sky Trust recently hit its latest fundraising target of £350,000, and the plane has made several airshow appearances, which help to boost its chances of staying airworthy.

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But the trust’s engineering director Andrew Edmondson, said the fuel leak setback meant that the team would be missing out on vital opportunities to raise more cash because appearances had been cancelled.

He added: “XH558 has developed a fuel leak from one of the large fuel tanks in her fuselage. This was discovered after the aircraft was refueled ready for this week’s flights.

“We have every confidence the problem is temporary, and we are working with Fire Proof Tanks of Portsmouth, the manufacturer of the fuel tank, with the aim of completing the repair as soon as possible.”

Mr Edmondson said the charity could pay for the repairs from its contingency budget, but added: “It costs around £2m a year to fly XH558 and we receive no funding from Government or the RAF. The income from these shows was an important part of our revenue and it will be missed.”

Today the Vulcan was due to be flying at an airshow in Dawlish, Devon, and was set to appear in Bournemouth, Shoreham and Oxford on Saturday and Sunday.

Related topics:DoncasterGovernmentRAF