Almost one month has passed since XH558 touched down at Robin Hood and residing only 20 minutes away from the airport, it’s clear that her arrival has created quite a buzz in the county of South Yorkshire and beyond. That was very graphically illustrated by the crowds who flocked to the airport terminal building and the perimeter fences for the aircraft’s first flight out of the former RAF Finningley since 1994.
Both the Vulcan to the Sky Trust (VTTST) and Robin Hood Airport have been keen to publicise the ‘Vulcan Viewing Gallery’ which affords a lovely view of the aircraft parked in front of the terminal building. Other attractions include the chance to try out the flight simulator, purchase from a wide variety of Vulcan related merchandise and speak with volunteers involved with the project. The viewing gallery has been open from the 22nd April to 2nd May and proved to be a popular location to soak up the atmosphere of the Vulcan’s residence at its former RAF home.
It is whilst soaking up that atmosphere in the viewing gallery myself that I notice VTTST Chief Executive Dr Robert Pleming arriving to witness the impending training flight. The warm welcome that the airport management have given the Vulcan team is something that we quickly get round to discussing.
"We’re absolutely delighted with the reception. The airport has been so accommodating and it’s incredibly heartening. The fact that we’ve been able to use this unused part of the terminal for a Vulcan Viewing Gallery is one example of the way they’ve been helping out. The discussions on the home - the hangar home for 558 - are proceeding well and I hope to be able to say something on that front in the next few weeks. At the moment we’re absolutely delighted to be back here."
But the goodwill of the Vulcan’s many supporters will not be enough to ensure a full display season and permanent home for the aircraft in Doncaster. The financial battle continues to be fought and the targeted £350,000 required by the end of May remains some distance away as Dr Pleming is honest enough to admit.
"It’s tough, we’re way away from our target. We’re at about £120,000 now, we hope to be up at over £200,000 by the end of April, so we’re lagging behind where we need to be. I need to explain, this is so that we’ve got the foundation for the summer months to take us forward. We will need to tell everybody about where we are financially on a regular basis because it’s quite clear a combination of donations and some merchandising are really the major funding sources for the aircraft.
"We’ve got some good ideas. We’ve got some real opportunities once we’ve completed the negotiations on the home here at Robin Hood. I remain endlessly optimistic, as I always have been, but it’s tough, it's very tough. I think we can see the result of the pressures on people’s pockets in very real terms. There are people who have had to go part-time, people who’ve lost their jobs and we can see from the feedback that we get that it’s a very tough time for everybody. I hope we can survive."
With the first display appearance for the aircraft rapidly approaching on the 8th May at the Abingdon Air and Country Show, the currency flight was an opportunity for a number of display practices to be flown, whilst undertaking other flight handling procedures and simulated emergencies, such as an engine failure. With the glorious weather of the previous Easter Bank Holiday disappearing, it was touch and go as to whether the flight would go ahead.
The crew decided to go for it and delayed their departure for an hour until 1pm in order to wait for predicted better weather. Carrying a somewhat lighter than normal fuel load, the aircraft used barely a third of the available runway, powering into the sky in the style of a modern day fighter rather than the cold war icon that she is. It later emerged that the crew decided to head north rather than go south as previously envisaged, again in the search of better weather conditions.
Pilots Martin Withers and Kev Rumens shared the display practices, performed at RAF Church Fenton and later Elvington Airfield, bringing proceedings at the Yorkshire Air Museum to something of a standstill, by all accounts, according to the amused crew! Dr Pleming also revealed another important facet of the training flight in that Air Electronics Officer (AEO) Barry Masefield will be retiring at the end of this display season and therefore it is important that fellow AEO, Phil Davies, is comfortable with leading those duties after Barry’s retirement.
The flight lasted for almost two hours and, on arrival back at Robin Hood, there was a welcome touch and go to the delight of the gathered crowds. The flight was a great success, with nothing more than a minor hitch with one of the UHF radios to report. XH558 is now ready to make her first airshow appearance of the season this coming weekend, which hopefully will provide an additional boost to that testing financial target which lies ahead.
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