Avro Vulcan

The future of XH558 at Doncaster has been a big, big issue of late.

This podcast has just been posted up on UKAR & it is an interview with Dr. Pleming (Vulcan To The Sky Chief Executive) & is probably the most revealing interview he's ever carried out about the aircraft. In it he discusses many of the rumours currently circulating including what is actually happening with the aircraft at Doncaster right now & the aircraft being mothballed for possibly 12 months, about whether the Vulcan can realistically stay at Doncaster & the possibility of carrying out a ferry flight to Bruntingthorpe, Scampton or Elvington, the infamous silica gel incident, the money situation, the situation with the Canberra, & the truth about whether the Vulcan DID actually illegally barrel roll or not during the transit flight between airshows.

It's a lengthy interview but well worth a listen. Certainly answers a lot of previously unanswered questions about both the aircraft & the Vulcan To The Sky Trust. -

www.airshows.co.uk/podcast/

Steve

Thanks Steve for the link to the podcast. As you say it answers a lot of questions that have been asked for a number of years. Until May of last year when I moved to Norfolk was one of the many unpaid volunteers at Doncaster who helped with tours and events in hanger 3. I must admit some of the information given was news to me. I understand that the volunteers were taken by surprise when the tours were stopped and they did a sterling job packing up all the displays and equipment for storage along with 558.

I still remember being at Doncaster in October 2015 when she made her last few circuits and final landing, attached is a picture of Martin Withers and myself taken on that dat

It remains to be seen what the future holds for 558, but I have an uneasy feeling that the road ahead will not be straightforward. I truly hope I'm proved wrong.
Roger

RogerP wrote:

Thanks Steve for the link to the podcast. As you say it answers a lot of questions that have been asked for a number of years. Until May of last year when I moved to Norfolk was one of the many unpaid volunteers at Doncaster who helped with tours and events in hanger 3. I must admit some of the information given was news to me. I understand that the volunteers were taken by surprise when the tours were stopped and they did a sterling job packing up all the displays and equipment for storage along with 558.

I still remember being at Doncaster in October 2015 when she made her last few circuits and final landing, attached is a picture of Martin Withers and myself taken on that dat

It remains to be seen what the future holds for 558, but I have an uneasy feeling that the road ahead will not be straightforward. I truly hope I'm proved wrong.
Roger

Yes I totally agree Roger I'm afraid. If the 'live' Classic Jet Museum plans at Doncaster for the future where to come off as planned than I think it would be absolutely fantastic but I fear in this post Shoreham world it'll just be an overoptimistic dream. Not to mention the funding side to it all & all the countless other obstacles that are & will be in the way. & whilst we wait for all this to possibly not happen 558 sits silently in the Hangar 'mothballing' away when she could be fast taxying & enjoyed by the public at the weekends at Elvington, Scampton, Cranwell or Brunty. I admire they're long term plans for the future but I think the present is just as important & keeping the aircraft in the general publics mind.

Great photo by the way. That must have been a very emotional day.

Steve

A couple of pictures taken yesterday at the City of Norwich Aviation Museum when we opened 612 for public tours.
Especially for Canberra are pictures of the soup can heaters, one outboard of the co pilots seat and the other under the Nav Radar's table, both are circled in pink. From April onwards she will be open most Tuesdays for internal inspection hosted by yours truly. Hope to see some of you there
Roger

Thanks for the pics of the heaters. Main reason I asked was that in the book about the first raid on Stanley its mentioned that the only rations they had were orange juice and butties. And IIRC thats all the Victor crews at Marham got for in flight rations.

I don't think the heaters were used very often, from what I understand they didn't work very well and sometimes overheated resulting in the can exploding and hot soup being showered around the cockpit!

The aircrew rations had to be low-flatulence generating and the sandwiches were cut into bite size pieces for convenience. No fizzy drinks of course. As I have previously mentioned, it was necessary to puncture the soup can before putting it into the heater to avoid bursting. In those days the soup tins were tinned sheet steel, no aluminium as were beer cans. Tomato soup appeared to be a general favourite judging by the mess left from a 'burster'

Curiously, amid the 'compo' rations issued in FEAF during my tour in the early '60s, they could include double skinned canned soup the inter-space being wound with a slow burning pyrotechnic cord. As I recall a cap on top of the tin was removed to expose the end of the pyro and could be lit with a burning cigarette or match and the burning cord heated the soup or meat with little of no smoke. The can then had to be handled with gloves or towel to prevent finger burns. I have never seen them since and assume that they were unsuitable for aircraft use due to the fire risk.

EDIT
It just occurred to me to Google self-heating soup and sure enough:

www.thejournal.ie/self-heating-soup-cans-1370166-Mar2014/

And of course there was the problem of butties catching fire, no Im not making this up.Butties tend to have butter or marge in them which is grease based and LOX doesnt like grease and there were a couple of occassions of butties catching fire!!

canberra wrote:

And of course there was the problem of butties catching fire, no Im not making this up.Butties tend to have butter or marge in them which is grease based and LOX doesnt like grease and there were a couple of occassions of butties catching fire!!

More likely from GOX (Gaseous Oxygen) than LOX (Liquid Oxygen). The approved lubricant for installing (say) cockpit oxygen hoses to manifolds was distilled water but 'spit' was more convenient.

All V-Bombers had only GOX systems.

Finally XL426 can get out of the elements at Southend & be kept undercover -

---

"We are very delighted to announce that Vulcan XL426 is moving to a new home under cover at London Southend Airport.

XL426 is relocating to the airport’s Hangar 6 for an initial five-year period. The hangar will become our engineering and visitor base. XL426 was moved off her parking pan on the airport’s eastern perimeter for the final time on 5 May to a temporary holding location until the hangar is ready.

The move to Hangar 6 is expected to take place in the next few weeks."

---

Full story here in
www.avrovulcan.com/?q=node/1355

Steve