The newsletter received from the Vulcan XH558 organization pointed out that the team is ahead in the schedule as they were striving to complete the winter service in good time to allow the wing modification work to begin in earnest from the middle of January, 2014. Both ejection seats and the canopy were delivered enabling the aircraft to be put up on jacks a good two working weeks ahead of plan. The time saved helped with getting the aircraft airworthy again early in the 2014 season, providing of course all things continue on track with no unexpected issues arising.
XH558 was up on jacks ready to be placed under stress to replicate in-flight forces after the holiday break, prior to work commencing on the wing modification that extended her flying life. Other completed work included the re-installation of the fire bottles, the explosive squibs that fire them and replacement of the serviced inertia switches. Below you can see a short time-lapse video of the seat and canopy installation.
