A_P_2015_04

64 African Pilot April 2015

The huge amount of tanker support required by the missions also resulted in
the fi nal version of the Vulcan - the K.2 tanker. Requested by the MoD during
the Falklands War, a mere 51 days passed between request and delivery of
the fi rst K.2. The K.2 was basically a B.2 with an ugly box tacked underneath
the tail-cone (containing the drogue unit; hoses and drum unit were held
within the ECM bay within the tail-cone) and the bomb bay was fi lled with
three huge fuel tanks. Huge white areas were painted underneath the wings
to help receiving aircraft line up on the tanker. Two years after the Falklands
War, in March 1984, the last Vulcan squadron was disbanded, leaving only
the Vulcan Display Team to continue fl ying. XL426 thrilled airshow visitors
until 1986 when it was offered for tender. Bought by Roy Jacobsen XL426 is
now looked after at Southend airport by the Vulcan Restoration Trust. The
sale of XL426 did not mean the end of the Vulcan Display Team though as it
was replaced by XH558, which was to roar through the skies for many years,
becoming the most famous Vulcan of all.

XH558 RETURNS TO THE AIR

Many Vulcans ended up being scrapped, or burned as fi re practice airframes.
Thankfully a few were preserved and sold to museums or private individuals.
Unfortunately, defence cuts began to bite into all of the UK’s armed forces
and maintaining a single aircraft for display purposes could no longer be
justifi ed by the MoD. In early 1993, despite intensive public lobbying to keep
her fl ying, XH558 was fi nally also offered for tender, retired from the RAF and
sold to David Walton who looked after it for some years at Bruntingthorpe
airfi eld in Leicestershire before selling it on to a company formed with the
aim of returning her to the air.

THE FINAL TAXI RUN - SEPTEMBER 1999

In 1997, Robert Pleming came on the scene and after talks with David Walton
it was agreed to put forward a proposal to return the aircraft to the skies.
Early agreement from BAE Systems’ Heritage Committee was a huge boost
to the idea and a technical survey began to see what was needed to get the
aircraft back in the air. In September 1999 she carried out her last fast taxi
run before retiring to the main hangar at Bruntingthorpe in preparation for the
work to return her to fl ight, when The Vulcan Operating Company (TVOC)
was formed. A further two years down the line, the Vulcan to the Sky fund-
raising campaign began and a year after that the fi rst application for lottery
money was proposed. This failed, but the Heritage Lottery Fund provided
valuable advice on how to try again and in 2003 the second application was
successful. Nearly three million pounds was awarded in June 2004 and this
amount was added to the ‘pot’ already containing a million pounds donated
by supporters of the aircraft since 2001.

In 2005, the Waltons sold the aircraft to the ‘Vulcan to the Sky Trust’ and
restoration work commenced. Over the next two years the aircraft was
practically been rebuilt from the ground up, with over fi ve miles of wiring
replaced, every component inspected and repaired or replaced as necessary.
Any corrosion was rectifi ed, new engines installed; redundant systems removed
to save weight and therefore less stress on the airframe and new and far more
advanced avionics including a GPS navigation kit were installed. The UK’s
Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) classes the Vulcan as a complex type, which
immediately placed the restoration and operation of the aircraft into a very deep

and dark pit. Regulatory and fi nancial problems abound, but two very important

factors enabled the TVOC team to climb out where so many others had failed.

First of all, the Vulcan had a superb safety record whilst in RAF service. Had

this not been the case, there would not have been any way that the CAA would

have permitted it to fl y. Secondly, it has unrivalled support from the public; not

just aircraft enthusiasts, but hundreds of thousands of ‘Joe Public.’ This meant

the donations fl owed in at a rate suffi cient to keep the project going.

In April 2006, the crunch point was reached, with several cost overruns

threatening to scupper the project and the money was predicted to run out

by the end of August. A cool million pounds had to be raised between April

and August to keep the project alive and, incredibly, the money was raised.

With just days to spare, the target amount was reached with the aid of a

massive donation of £500,000 from Sir Jack Hayward (best known as the

owner of England’s Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club, but he also

served in the RAF in WW II. Sir Jack died on the 13 February of this year

aged 92. He was an amazing philanthropist)

Amidst much ceremony and over-fl ights by the Battle of Britain memorial

Flight (BBMF) Lancaster, XH558 was ‘rolled out’ in front of an appreciative

crowd to celebrate the successful acquisition of enough funds to get her as

far as the fi rst test fl ight. From schoolboys’ pocket money to the hefty donation

of a millionaire, this was an aircraft restoration funded unlike any other.

Unfortunately, work was slower than expected and she missed her starring

role in the Falklands Flypast over London in June 2007. It was not until

September that she began engine running trials, bringing roaring Olympus

engines back to life at Bruntingthorpe for the fi rst time in eight years.

Amidst much excitement a date for the fi rst fl ight was set, but then postponed

as snags of various types reared their ugly heads. At the most inopportune

moment, for instance, a hydraulic pipe burst above the number three engine,

just when almost everything else was ready. Dropping the engine to fi x the

pipe and putting the engine back was accomplished in almost no time at all

and then it was time for taxi trials to begin. Slow runs fi rst were followed by

the excitement of faster and noisier runs, with the heart-stopping sight of the

nose wheels rising gracefully from the runway in a ‘reach for the sky’ pose.

Another run tested the huge braking parachute, which unfurled perfectly and

ticked the fi nal box - it was time to fl y.

So it was on a foggy morning that various media and VIPs arrived at

Bruntingthorpe. The roads outside became ever more clogged by Vulcan fans

who had heard about the fi rst fl ight date from friends, from local radio and from

forums on the internet. On 18 October, the sky was blue and the last tendrils of

mist were dissipating from a cold and damp fi eld in the middle of Leicestershire.

Just over half an hour late, the tug was fi nally attached and XH558 began

inching out from her hangar, wings sweeping over the assembled media and

then it was time for a rush down to the designated viewing area around two-

thirds of the way along the massive runway at Bruntingthorpe.

Finally just over an hour after originally planned, XH558 sedately taxied out

from her engine starting pan and proceeded past the assembled VIPs and

media to take to the runway. Al McDicken and David Thomas were the pilots

with Barry Masefi eld as the Engineering Offi cer position in the rear cockpit.

Back tracking to the Bruntingthorpe village end of the runway, she turned

“At its operational height the Vulcan could outfl y and

outmanoeuvre any fi ghter in squadron service today.”

Air Ministry Press Release (1958).