XH558...

[saaby93]

Wind noise
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfrWc9YzVFs

[saaby93]

This turned up
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Wemyw-5czU
and this - wait for the end
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJlsDiC9TBI

[Benni]

I have only seen the silhouette from far away on my way to Santa Pod years ago,
but have been an observant here, the Yeovilton video has THE best sound in my opinion.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Djd1pPQZ_LE&pb...

I was always hoping to see a flypast at Santa Pod, they booked the "Battle of Britain" planes often,
but sadly that never happened, folks on the banking like a good overdose of sound.

[tdm34]

Benni said:

I have only seen the silhouette from far away on my way to Santa Pod years ago,
but have been an observant here, the Yeovilton video has THE best sound in my opinion.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Djd1pPQZ_LE&pb...

I was always hoping to see a flypast at Santa Pod, they booked the "Battle of Britain" planes often,
but sadly that never happened, folks on the banking like a good overdose of sound.

Looked very like it was undershooting the landing, he saved it by basically giving it everything, iirc three sheep in the field died of shock.

[ecsrobin]

tdm34 said:

Looked very like it was undershooting the landing, he saved it by basically giving it everything, iirc three sheep in the field died of shock.

Yep coming up short give it the beans and go around. Sounds great but close to going wrong in that heavy thing.

[LukeBrown66]

Aye he got that a bit wrong by the looks of it lol! one in a million chance though as that team could pedal that thing.

[saaby93]

upside down
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Wemyw-5czU

[HoHoHo]

saaby93 said:

upside down
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Wemyw-5czU

So sad it is now slowly rotting outside

[aeropilot]

HoHoHo said:

saaby93 said:

upside down
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Wemyw-5czU

So sad it is now slowly rotting outside

Was predicted to be the case though by almost everyone outside of the '558 fanclub'.

[The Brummie]

aeropilot said:

HoHoHo said:

saaby93 said:

upside down
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Wemyw-5czU

So sad it is now slowly rotting outside

Was predicted to be the case though by almost everyone outside of the '558 fanclub'.


Even now the 558 fan club insist that she is in very good condition both inside & out.


Before i was banned from a 558 Facebook page for calling the admin a **** I was told that as aircraft where designed for an ‘outdoor life’ 558 was perfectly at home sat in the corner at Doncaster Airport as is the case currently.

The idiots still believe that the hangar & visitor centre for 558 & the Canberra will built ‘soon’.

Apparently all they were waiting for was a mortgage to be approved & then the building could begin.

I asked a simple question - how would VTTS repay such a hefty mortgage. A fairly sensible question I would have thought.

The reply was that the public were keen too see 558 indoors so more funding raising (begging bowl more like) would be done to ensure that the mortgage would be paid!!!

This was before the demise of Dr P & the final message to me before I was banned was that I should respect Dr P for getting 558 back into the air (which goes without saying) & that I should stop trying to destroy a charity!!!!

Nothing could be further from the truth however the fan-club do not like being asked pertinent questions.

I would imagine that with Dr P now gone things have been put on hold. As for the future of 558 I guess no-one really knows now.

[Benni]

I have been reading a lot about Vulcans here, but don´t remember seeing footage of this tragic airshow accident :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYRKFkkyxh0&pb...
Prototype crashing in public view, accident report lost, anyone here know more ?

[yellowjack]

Benni said:

I have been reading a lot about Vulcans here, but don´t remember seeing footage of this tragic airshow accident :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYRKFkkyxh0&pb...
Prototype crashing in public view, accident report lost, anyone here know more ?

You may already have seen this... https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/55327

Scroll down for the listing on this page... http://www.ukserials.com/losses-1958.htm ...but there's not much detail on there.

[Eric Mc]

Leading edge of the wing collapsed leading to structural break up.

[aeropilot]

It was announced that Sqn Ldr Barry Masefield, AEO on Black Buck 2 mission during the Falklands War, and for many years associated with '558 as AEO during her RAF VDF days and all her post RAF flying days with VTTS, sadly passed away yesterday.

[Kitchski]

aeropilot said:

It was announced that Sqn Ldr Barry Masefield, AEO on Black Buck 2 mission during the Falklands War, and for many years associated with '558 as AEO during her RAF VDF days and all her post RAF flying days with VTTS, sadly passed away yesterday.

Was sad to read that on the FB post. RIP to a good man who had a lot of stories to tell!

[eltawater]

The Vulcan Experience is off the cards due to a fundraising shortfall of £2.2 million:

https://vulcantothesky.org/news/lack-of-funding-me...

[gazapc]

eltawater said:

The Vulcan Experience is off the cards due to a fundraising shortfall of £2.2 million:

https://vulcantothesky.org/news/lack-of-funding-me...

Sad times. It seems the aircraft will slowly rot away or have to be sliced up so it can be moved by road.

It was clear that after the last flight, XH558 on its own was not 'special' enough to warrant its own sole visitor attraction; after all, there are plenty of other examples of grounded Vulcans elsewhere.

I was supportive of something like Bruntingthorpe, but clearly that was an error. However I think the point still stands that the Vulcan should have gone to somewhere largely existing where it was not the only attraction and not limited by being on a busy airport. Where that is, I am not sure.

[aeropilot]

eltawater said:

The Vulcan Experience is off the cards due to a fundraising shortfall of £2.2 million:

https://vulcantothesky.org/news/lack-of-funding-me...

Hardly news is it, its just confirmation of what the world and his dog have known for years.

[PurpleTurtle]

Lots of people piling in on the VTTS Facebook page as to why they did the final landing at Doncaster.

VTTS have gone into a detailed reply to one person, explaining reasons why it needed to go to a functioning civilian airport that wasn't at risk of development, which all seems very reasonable. Might have helped those who put money into the supporting pot to explain this a while back, as it all seems to make sense.

I had stopped following that page for a long time, simply because there were lots of loud, know-all voices on there shouting too loudly. If I want poorly considered arguments by self-appointed experts I go to NP&E, thanks!

[JeremyH5]

PurpleTurtle said:

Lots of people piling in on the VTTS Facebook page as to why they did the final landing at Doncaster.

VTTS have gone into a detailed reply to one person, explaining reasons why it needed to go to a functioning civilian airport that wasn't at risk of development, which all seems very reasonable. Might have helped those who put money into the supporting pot to explain this a while back, as it all seems to make sense.

I had stopped following that page for a long time, simply because there were lots of loud, know-all voices on there shouting too loudly. If I want poorly considered arguments by self-appointed experts I go to NP&E, thanks!

Here’s the reasoning from the Facebook page. Makes sense to me.

XH558 has operated from Doncaster Sheffield Airport (DSA) since March 2011. When it became clear that 2015 would be XH558's final flying season, the question of course occurred of where her final landing should be. Whilst VTST and XH558 had been based at DSA (Ex RAF Finningley) for four years, we reviewed all of the alternative sites that had a runway.
The Trust has a unique contractual obligation in the heritage jet world: as the result of the grant received from the Heritage Lottery Fund towards the restoration, the Trust is contractually responsible for preserving the aircraft, demonstrating it to the public and telling its story until at least 2085. There are other very successful ground operations of Cold War aircraft, for example Vulcan XL426 at Southend, Vulcan XM655 at Wellesbourne and the collections at Elvington and Bruntingthorpe. If our outlook was only for the next decade or so, then one of these locations may well have been the better choice. However, our obligation for a considerably longer time period meant it vital to find a location where the runway is an intrinsic part of a long-term business. Many private airfields are at risk of development, so we could easily have landed somewhere only to see the runway built on in a few years – such as is happening at Dunsfold and Bruntingthorpe.
A second reason for looking for a location with an operational runway was the ease of operating other heritage aircraft, which at the time was also key to our plans for XH558’s future security and funding. The Trust had experience in conducting flights from Bruntingthorpe, Brize Norton and Lyneham prior to moving to Doncaster; our experience is that it is much more practical and convenient to be based at an operational civilian airport than either a non-operational runway requiring special fire cover or a military base with its security implications.
The third reason for choosing DSA is the obvious heritage connection: RAF Finningley was a V-Bomber base, the home for the Vulcan Operational Conversion Unit for many years, and XH558’s home base from 1961 to 1968.
This is now a period of reflection for us as a charity as we consider how we continue to provide the best we can for our supporters working with Doncaster Sheffield Airport.