As most of our readers will know, the fabulous ‘Tin Triangle’, the Avro Vulcan, will be making her air show curtain call in a few short weeks. It has been a marvelous run for the old girl, and a real testament to the fortitude of those who fought through a mountain of red tape and engineering challenges to bring this beautiful aircraft back to flight in October, 2007 fourteen years into her original retirement. Once the pride of the Royal Air Force nuclear deterrent during the 1960s and early 70s, Vulcan B.2 XH558 is the last of her breed to still keep air under her wings, but this will come to an end following her valedictory flight towards the end of the air show season. Her last currently scheduled appearance is setnfor September 26th at the former RAF Church Fenton near Leeds, Yorkshire. The Vulcan to the Sky Trust, who maintain the Vulcan, has published her remaining appearances HERE, but these will be subject to change, and there is always the possibility of additions so do check with their website or Facebook page HERE before making firm plans to see her. Once her flying days are done, the Vulcan will return to Robin Hood airport, near Doncaster, where she will continue to ‘live’ in a new museum planned for the site. Like several other former RAF V-bombers, the plans are to keep XH558 active, albeit on the ground, with ‘fast-taxi’ events simulating the take off run. These have proven to be popular affairs, and long may they continue!
In the meantime, we thought you would enjoy seeing some spectacular images by Robin Pettifer showing XH558 on a recent flypast of Beachy Head on the Channel Coast in southern England. Many thanks to Phil Buckley for obtaining these images for WarbirdsNews, and to Robin Pettifer for agreeing to share them with you all!
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Richard Mallory Allnutt's aviation passion ignited at the 1974 Farnborough Airshow. Raised in 1970s Britain, he was immersed in WWII aviation lore. Moving to Washington DC, he frequented the Smithsonian’s National Air & Space Museum, meeting aviation legends.
After grad school, Richard worked for Lockheed-Martin but stayed devoted to aviation, volunteering at museums and honing his photography skills. In 2013, he became the founding editor of Warbirds News, now Vintage Aviation News. With around 800 articles written, he focuses on supporting grassroots aviation groups.
Richard values the connections made in the aviation community and is proud to help grow Vintage Aviation News.
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