XH558...

[Riley Blue]

RoverP6B said:

Riley Blue said:

Having looked at VTTS's 2014 accounts I can see why RR might feel they're due a bob or two...

I haven't seen them, won't have time to look into them, can you summarise?

SMB has made a decent summary, no point in me repeating what has been written.

[MartG]

SMB said:

Riley Blue said:

Having looked at VTTS's 2014 accounts I can see why RR might feel they're due a bob or two...

from the published accounts i see online, any charge from rr is not in any way itemised, nor the costs from marshalls etc, so given an annual operating budget of approx £2m for the whole program, how much would RR expect? and realistically what impact would it make on their bottom line? At most the trust could afford a few hundred thousand( if people donated more) and RR 1H15 turnover was £6.3bn.(order book £76bn) with profit at approx £500m per 6 month period.

I get they are a business and they are there to make money, but as marshalls and the trust do most of the work on the aircraft, and the book value of these supposed spare engines must be zero after being unwanted for 20 years, what has been the real cost?

As VTTS is a registered charity, won't RR/Marshalls/Airbus be able to write some of it off against tax ?

[MartG]

Just received by e-mail:

We are busy adding even more locations to the tour and seeking final permissions.

Look out for our special National Tour alert which will be packed with information about where to see XH558 flying this weekend. Dropping into your email box early tomorrow evening, it will include flight plans and a map to help you find the nearest place for you and your family and friends to see her.

The tour routes on Saturday and Sunday, with lots of other related information, will now feature in a DEDICATED ‘NATIONAL TOUR’ NEWSLETTER EDITION. This will be sent to all our usual newsletter subscribers by 6pm tomorrow evening WEDNESDAY 7th October.


Please be aware that due to various permissions and agreements, the routes will vary to those originally published over 10 days ago, which were only ever intended as a guide. We have also listened to public opinion to arrive at what we believe will be the best possible compromise in light of all the restrictions placed upon XH558.

Although flight paths may vary once announced and XH558 is airborne, the turning points we reveal will be our intended destinations given favourable weather conditions. Please be aware of these considerations when opening your tour letter and in selecting your best viewing location. Thank you.

Also remember the flights are subject to suitable weather and technical conditions and it is crucial there must be free-access in the vicinity of the airport perimeter to allow us to operate.

[jmorgan]

Gonna be chaos on the roads around wherever. Hope I can get in early to somewhere if there is a fly over nearby. And I am not working!

[SMB]

jmorgan said:

Gonna be chaos on the roads around wherever. Hope I can get in early to somewhere if there is a fly over nearby. And I am not working!

if the key locations have any sense they will open fields for parking at those locations. Hopefully that is why details are delayed whilst arrangements are made.

[jmorgan]

SMB said:

jmorgan said:

Gonna be chaos on the roads around wherever. Hope I can get in early to somewhere if there is a fly over nearby. And I am not working!

if the key locations have any sense they will open fields for parking at those locations. Hopefully that is why details are delayed whilst arrangements are made.

Aye, but, you are forgetting the general public are involved.

I hope it really goes we'll and is not a drama.

[Trevatanus]

Routes for the weekend flypast were supposed to be released today, but have been delayed till tomorrow

[RoverP6B]

It has been reported that Pleming has said this tour won't be the Vulcan's last flight either...

[marksx]

RoverP6B said:

It has been reported that Pleming has said this tour won't be the Vulcan's last flight either...

They were never meant to be were they?

See end of list

http://www.vulcantothesky.org/appearances.html

[Dr Interceptor]

Good to see that she's scheduled to come over Farnborough (based on the provisional plan)... It'll be busy round here for sure!

[aeropilot]

Dr Interceptor said:

Good to see that she's scheduled to come over Farnborough (based on the provisional plan)... It'll be busy round here for sure!

I'm playing with bang sticks at Bisley on Sunday morning, so waiting to see what the times for her appearance at Farnborough is as I may hang around in the area

[sa_20v]

Dumb question but will she just fly over the designated points or can we expect some sort of display? I'm hoping she'll arrive inverted...

[2fast748]

sa_20v said:

Dumb question but will she just fly over the designated points or can we expect some sort of display? I'm hoping she'll arrive inverted...

Ha!

I'd like to see her come in at Mach 2, at about 100 feet!

[Dr Interceptor]

sa_20v said:

Dumb question but will she just fly over the designated points or can we expect some sort of display? I'm hoping she'll arrive inverted...

I wouldn't expect a display at each location... maybe a circle, couple of passes and a wing dip? Otherwise it'd just take too long.

[silverfoxcc]

I am getting 404 for the southern schedule.
Can anyoe give me an indication of wwhere she will be in the Basingstoke/Slough/Reading triangle please?

[Dr Interceptor]

silverfoxcc said:

I am getting 404 for the southern schedule.
Can anyoe give me an indication of wwhere she will be in the Basingstoke/Slough/Reading triangle please?

The confirmed route isn't due to be published until this evening.

Anything that has been published to date is purely provisional.

[aeropilot]

sa_20v said:

Dumb question but will she just fly over the designated points or can we expect some sort of display?

Almost certainly, it will be just fly-over at each point, and no display.

[SydneyBridge]

Dedicated viewing points also to be announced later.
Hopefully something around basingstoke area. From initial map she was flying a straight line from farnborough, parallel with the M3 and then further West, so nowhere near reading

[yellowjack]

2fast748 said:

sa_20v said:

Dumb question but will she just fly over the designated points or can we expect some sort of display? I'm hoping she'll arrive inverted...

Ha!

I'd like to see her come in at Mach 2, at about 100 feet!

Interesting. The 100 ft AGL bit she could probably manage OK, even on the eve of her retirement. But Mach 2 is comfortably in excess of twice the old girl's rated maximum airspeed.

From Wikipedia (so apologies if not entirely accurate):

Wiki Avro Vulcan entry said:

In 1957, a Vulcan B.1 XA892 attached to the Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment (A&AEE) at Boscombe Down for acceptance testing was unintentionally flown to an Indicated Mach Number (IMN) above 1.04, alarming the crew that it had reached supersonic speed. XA892's commander, Flt Lt Milt Cottee (RAAF), and co-pilot, Flt Lt Ray Bray (RAF), were tasked to fly at 478 mph (769 km/h) and 0.98 IMN, taking the aircraft to a load factor of 3 g. It climbed to 35,000 ft (11,000 m) and then dived, intending to reach the target speed at 27,000 ft (8,200 m). Approaching the target altitude, the throttles were closed and full up-elevator applied, but XA892 continued to pitch nose-down. Cottee contemplated pushing forward to go inverted and then rolling upright; instead, he opened the speed brakes. Although the airspeed was above their maximum operating speed, the speed brakes were undamaged and did slow the aircraft, which came back past the vertical at about 18,000 ft (5,500 m) and leveled off at 8,000 ft (2,400 m). There were no reports of a sonic boom, it is unlikely a true Mach Number of 1.0 was reached. Afterwards, a rear bulkhead was found to be deformed.

[ApOrbital]

Missed her last week in bedfordshire and i was on the flight path and they changed it doh,I got told on the vulcan page on fb that it costs 16k an hour on fuel?