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Sorry, it's for us aviation buffs really but also, anything that p!sses the environmentalists off is even better in my opinion, 40 tonnes of fuel an hour, streeewth!

XH558, the Vulcan bomber that faced an uncertain future after finishing the airshow circuit, has flown again at last after 15 years.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VECwLl06ik0&NR=1

Yep, saw this last Thursday on the news. Absolutely fantastic news, and unbelievable that this piece of heritage has actually been able to take to the skies again.

I was aware of the campaign to get this going again but I really never thought for a moment they'd succeed, particularly in the current "green" political climate.

If I do nothing else next year I must, must, must get to one of the displays that features XH558. I remember last seeing it at Finningly c.1991 and it was an unforgettable experience. Something everyone should see at least once!

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Definately, hopefully one day we'll see concorde fly again too. More test flights for XH558 within the next two weeks apparently.

I was there!

Forget concorde. When Vulcan flies its a memorial to more than science and engineering. Hopefully, one day we will see Vulcan and Lancaster in formation.

Yep, its a very un-PC aircraft with loads of noise and trailing exhaust soot. Don't expect to see the same sort of displays you witnessed in previous years though JT, the aircraft is severly limited by the life of its engines. This means that the number of throttle cycles (idle to max RPM and back is one cycle) will be kept to an absolute minimum. Will still be cool to see her fly again though.



Not sure what the stall speed of the Vulcan is. If its anywhere near the max speed of the Lanc it won't happen.

There are massive problems getting these old aircraft in the sky again, the CAA will not even contemplate issuing certificates of airworthiness unless there is full Design Authority support for the airframe and its engines, usually in the form of a major manufacturer. Each engine that is fitted to XH558 now has a clock ticking on it; once it runs out of calendar life it will need to be overhauled or scrapped. The 593 Olympus's that powered Concorde are even harder to come by (in useable form) than the Vulcan's.

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I don't know what the stall speed of a vulcan is but the last time I saw one fly was at Cosford and with only a slight angle of attack seemed to take an absolute age to cross the airfield (in glorious 3d technicolor sound )

I to would love to see her fly alongside the BBMF Lanc.

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They should pair the Vulcan and the Eurofighter Typhoon.

Anybody seen that yet? If not, be prepared to be amazed at seeing an aircraft flying round and round in.... SQUARES! I kid you not!

And the noise is something else too!

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Brilliant, thanks for letting us know.
I was mightily impressed as a kid in the 60's when I saw a Vulcan at an airshow in Bristol, wonderful noise!

Just recently felt all nostaligic and in awe when I saw XM594 at Newark air museum. You can go right under it, and touch it too - magic!

I also love the EE Lightning, what a wing design. Mind you, the specimen at Newark looked a little rusty. Still worth seeing though.

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p.s. I am still absolutely floored by Paul's death. May 2008 be the greatest ever for SafeSpeed. His spirit lives on.

About 90 kts and 275kts respectively.

Vulcans don't stall in quite the same way as most aircraft, they just drop out of the sky without much of a change in attitude, so most crew prefer to stay well over stall speed. I don't suppose they fly the Lanc at anywhere near max speed these days but formation flying should be possible at about 140-150 kts.

It would probably be possible physically then, but BBMF regulations may intervene preventing them from formating with a 'civilian' registered and operated aircraft. I know this is the case at the annual Flying Legends event at Duxford; the BBMF don't enter the display area while other aircraft are around - they fly to military regulations. Not saying it can't and won't happen though.

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Political Correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a delusional, illogical, liberal minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end.

Ahem, a bit like the old victors then The vulcan with the red arrows was one of my favourite pictures, I used to get goosebumps everytime I hear that distinct change in engine noise as she's spooled up, with brakes on, nothing like it. A big well done to the team and the donators, it was touch and go for quite some time.

Many, many thanks to the OP for that one. Witnessing a Vulcan on take-off is one of the more prodigious sights one will ever see; and the noise will rattle your ribcage!

And Ernest is bang on about the Typhoon! Cosford last year saw the Eurofighter in a very slow fly-past with a mind boggling angle of attack, then lit the afterburners and went vertical.

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Simon

Vulcans are amazing. I'll never forget one coming over low at an air show in the early 1980s. It seemed to fill the whole sky. Awesome is probably exactly the right word.

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Any chance the Vulcan can match the Tornado for a slow flyby?

And while we are indulging in a little nostalgia... I used to watch these flying low level over the sea off Portsmouth - and you could see the TOPS of the wings from the beach....


As for civilian and military aircraft side by side... exceptions must be made.

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Time to take responsibility for our actions.. and don't be afraid of speaking out!

Love it too, very Thunderbirds.

I missed the news about the Vulcan so thanks for posting Wayneo.

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interesting to hear of canberras flying that low, I had always thought of them as high altitude aircraft. That was certainly how they ended their days on photo recon or weather recording duties.

For low flying - in pre harrier days - you needed a buccaneer. they are so stable at low level even the brylcreem boys managed the occasional low level sortie.

My Brother-in-Law was rendered very deaf by working as an avionics man on the Vulcan ground crew. Even though he says he wore ear protectors.

On the bright side There is now a new Haynes Manual for the care and maintainance of Supermarine Spitfires!

http://www.haynes.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stor ... &langId=-1

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Here in Cumbria there are a lot of complaints about low flying - but I have never regarded it as low level!!

You wouldn't believe the number of horses and dogs that have had miscarriages - although I've never seen a vet's bill for it yet!

We did once have a tornado fly over Staveley so low it set off several car alarms - but that was the only incidence in recent time.
There are several places where you can get good views of low flying - they use the valleys to try and sneak up on the electronic warfare site at Spadeadam (home of the canceled Blue Streak project) and at Dunmail Raise on the A591, you can watch them come up at you from the valley below to "scrape" over the pass but they are still usually above 500 feet even at the crest. Mainly Tornadoes and Harriers now, but we used to get Jaguars and F15's.
We have had Typhoons over Staveley and Windermere, and I'm looking forward to seeing one of those hurtling up the Raise!!

The Solway Aviation Museum has a Vulcan you can sit in as well as a Nimrod cockpit you can enter - but they close tomorrow for the winter. The airport is now owned by Eddie Stobbarts, so you might be able to fly in soon if plans go OK!

Last I heard, the half dozen or so Canberras at BAE at Salmesbury had all been sold to various air-preservation societies, so I suspect we can look forward to seeing them for some time.
They only cost £1 but you had to transport them out by road!!
Like the Buccaneer they were given a new lease of life for the 1st Gulf conflict, and used for high level photo reconnaissance, with updated avionics etc. NASA still use two American built Canberras for high altitude research work!!
There are some good pictures on the RAF Marham site if you are interested.
Finally the Canberra was used operationally by the Indian Airforce for low level ground hugging pull-up attacks from 1965 - during their war with Pakistan!

I'm surprised Cooperman has not shown his face in this thread!

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Time to take responsibility for our actions.. and don't be afraid of speaking out!

Hi

Great to see the Vulcan back in the air...seen the former display vulcan many times at airshows.

I bought the Vulcan for my PC Flight simulator, it handles really well...!
funds made from the sale of the virtual Vulcan for the flight simulator actually went towards restoration of XH 558. Money well spent... !!

I love going to airshows, and have seen all the fast jets that the RAF use, saw the Typhoon again at Southport Airshow again...last saw it with the Saab Grippen..Great plane.. !!

Didnt know we had a community of plane spotters amongst Safe Speed...

My real hobby is collecting Space Memorabilia and Astronaut autographs (when Im not fighting with PCSO Bluecaps ) Im lucky to have met a lot of the Apollo Astronauts .. and fortunate to have dinner with Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin in Ireland a few years ago. what a night that was !!!!!

I have also met Charlie Duke(Apollo 16), Ed Mitchell (Apollo 14) Dave Scott ( Apollo 15), Alan Bean (Apollo 12) and many others....

Most of these guys are or were some of the greatest test pilots, with Armstrong flying the X-15 as well as being 1st Man on the Moon !!

But the Vulcan can you beat that awesome noise !!!!!!!!!!!


Honestandy ( Final Warning)

Great pics, Ernest especially that with Concorde.

I never knew, Andy, that Armstrong was a X-15 pilot. Now that was an awesome piece of kit. Am I right in recalling a Mach 5 top speed?

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Simon