Restored Vulcan hits financial turbulence

The trust which last October successfully got Avro Vulcan XH558 back into the air following a £6.5m restoration is rattling its tin again amid fears it may not have the cash to make the aircraft ready for the 2008 airshow season. The Vulcan to the Sky trust explains that its cash shortfall is due to "potential sponsors [who] …

[Jim Keir]

Fundraising

Install see-through bomb-bay doors and a row of seats along each side. I'd pay for a flight.

[Daniel]

Expected funds

"potential sponsors [who] have drawn in their purse strings and are not making available the expected funds".

Bearing in mind this may be taken out of context, if the good Doctor actually said this it smacks of enormous arrogance. POTENTIAL sponsors, and yet EXPECTED funds? Funds must never be considered 'expected' if a sponsor is only 'potential'. "Hoped-for", or possibly even "Anticipated", but not "Expected".

If I were a potential sponsor, I'd be turned off by this statement.

[Anonymous Coward]

Just £50,000?

£50,000 a month? It must cost £50,000/hr to fly that thing

[david gomm]

@Daniel

and therein lies part of the problem - TVOC have never been that great at communications.

[Pete James]

Any old iron!

Minor point. Sir Jack Hayward sold Wolves to Steve Morgan a while back and is having a jolly good rest in the Bahamas. His donation was just before he let go so I can see where the slight confusion came from. But I'm a pedant so tough.

Can't wait to see the old bird fly again though. One of the most awesome sights (and sounds) around.

[ChessGeek]

@Daniel

It's more than likely that the sponsors in question had made fairly firm promises of funds - firm enough that a specific amount was named and plans were made based on that pledge - before withdrawing. In such case, the wording would not be inappropriate.

Your remark seems more like nitpicking than constructive comment in any event.

[TeeCee]

Funding opportunity?

It says here that it's fitted with "Olympus" engines. Surely by just adding a small but deliberate spelling mistake on a funding application to the Department of Kultur, Meeja and Sprouts they could have as much cash as they wanted?

Just remember not to try this one after 2012 lads......

[Daniel]

@ChessGeek

Not nitpicking at all - 'Expected' vs 'Anticipated' is an important distinction in the sales world which, let's be honest, this is.

Commenting on a comment which itself commented on a discutable statement, now THAT's nitpicking.

Guilty as charged thus; I'll get me coat. Mine's the black bomberjacket with fleece lining...

[Leo Rampen]

Expected?

Surely this is to be expected? The cost to keep these things running is often far more than the cost to simply get it in the air. I don't know to what extent air shows will actually pay them to turn up (considering ticket cost and turnout, I would imagine many airshows make millions easily), but simply getting the aircraft off the ground was only half the battle.

Good luck with the future, and I hope to see the vulcan flying near me soon.

[Graham Dresch]

A Worthy Cause

To G. Brown:

Supporting Vulcan to the Sky is an appropriate use of taxpayers money.

Subsidising dictatorships in Africa is an inappropriate use of taxpayers money.

Sort this out now.

A taxpayer

[Anonymous Coward]

auction off jollies in the back seats...

Vulcan has 5 seats... threein the rear cockpit, just start auctioning rides in them for the test flights and the display trips... I'm pretty sure the aircraft won't be displaying anywhere near the aerobatics it used to pull off... just one or two flypasts and a steep climb departure...

[Anonymous Coward]

Donations, donations....

There is/was a Vulcan at Coventry airport museum about a dozen years ago which I took my family to see, it might still be there (assuming it isn't this big bird that they've restored for this project).

Fantastic aircraft. However to the individual who said put seats in the bomb bay, I'm afraid that might only work if pixies were queueing up. As I recall the bomb bay of a Vulcan isn't so big - it used to have just the one missile (blue streak? Can't remember).

Would love to see this flying again. Saw it at the HMS Deadloss airshow 20 odd years ago. Magnificent. Book your seat now!

[Simon Brown]

would they brand it?

paint the fin in Virgin Atlantic colours - he may not have got his hands on a concorde but Branson could get his mits on a Vulcan. Would be good advertising and thousands of aircraft enthusiasts across the country would have an immediate "preferred airline"...

Paris Hilton cos the idea is probably nonsense

[Bob Gender]

Paramount

Isn't there a Star Trek film underway? Can anyone say "cross promotion"?

Mine's the Buzz Rickson MA-1...

[Ian Johnston]

Countdown to disaster

So they can't fly it? Good.

Because they'll crash it. Historic aircraft coaxed into the air again /always/ crash. There are Spitfire, Messerschmitt and Wellington shaped dents in runways across Britain. And why? Because airshow audiences don't want to see aircraft sailing safely and serenely through the sky. They actually want to see spectacular crashes, but failing that they'll accept dangerous, gung-ho low level pratting about. Go on - have a look on youtube for the Spitfire which tries to end a loop about 50' below ground level.

It's a loss of interesting metalwork, of course, but it also kills too many pilots (though generally rather foolish ones) and members of the public.

It's dead pool time. If they keep on flying the Vulcan I'll have a tenner on it crashing before the end of 2010, and another tenner that it kills more than five people when it does. Anyone?

[graeme leggett]

back seat driver...

Unfortunately, the three back seats face backward into a large black panel covered with dials - not much to see there - one of those seats was for the nav and one for the engineer.

Still there's always the bombardier position

[Morely Dotes]

What a disappointment!

The headline made me think that a post-ST III Mr. Spock has been investing in Sharper Image stocks.

The black leather with the rubber ears in the pocket, thanks.

[Olly]

Nooooooooooo!

I want to see it at RAF Fairford...

Come on Vulture Central can't you dig into your beer kitty?

[Emo]

See one for free

At Blackpool Airport entrance, rather rusty and has had bits nicked off it :(

[Andy Enderby]

@Andrew

The Vulcan is still at Coventry in the museum. I saw it a couple of weeks ago. If you turn up on the right days, when a qualified guide is present they actually open up their Argosy and the Vulcan to viewing by the public. Getting into the Vulcan means clambering up the old crew ladder through the hatch just in front of the nose gear.

There are indeed five seats, the pilots get ejection seats, the three poor buggers in the back go down with the plane if it all goes titsup. The three lucky chappies in the back would be a Navigator, Radio Operator and Flight Engineer if I remember (for Mr Legett). Should you check out Google Earth by the way, the Vulcan is immediately recognisable.

[Anonymous Coward]

In danger of an IT angle

Tried to donate (they'd have got 50 notes from me) when it first flew - but firefox on linux was incompatible with the banking system for donations on their website. How many other "potential" "anticipated" sponsors have been put off by this?

[GrahamT]

Top Gear

This sounds like just the project for Jeremy Clarkson to get involved with;

old British technology, ahead of its time, fast, historical, and he might get a ride in it. It ticks all the riight boxes.

Come on Mr Clarkson, get your hands in your pockets, and do a Top Gear special or something, to raise the profile.

There is even room for you, Hammond and May in the back.

[Anonymous Coward]

Pick up the phone!!

Just donated using the phone number on the website.

0116 247 8145

[mike brockington]

Also available in Scotland

There's a Vulcan on display at the National Museum of Flight, at East Fortune near(ish) to Edinburgh. It made a great umbrella last September while watching the Typhoon clowning around.

[Anonymous Coward]

Vulcan seats

The last Vulcan I saw a flying was an RAF aircraft at the Avro Woodford air show. The crew did the usual show including the infamous flyover to half way down the runway and a vertical climb (well it looked vertical to us). That would be OK for a service aircraft but I would not trust a restored aircraft. They may be able to get it in the air again, but would it be reliable? And where are you going to find pilots qualified on type?

At the same air show was a restored Westland Wyvern, during the display the pilot attempted a slow barrel roll at low level which turned into a snap when he saw the runway approaching quickly. He landed very soon after this brown trouser moment. No. Selling seats on the Vulcan is a bad idea.