4 weeks to go to Save the Vulcan

On Friday, there was another update from the Vulcan to the Sky team, as they sent out their weekly newsletter, however, this week, it wasn't a pleasant update - as they have announced that they are once again facing a serious problem with raising funds.

The current campaign sees a target of £350,000 needed by the end of May for the airshow season to be funded, however, they have only seen £37,000 come in, and a figure of £75,000 is needed by the end of March which is when a decision is made on whether the Vulcan will continue ti fly.

Banksy asks you to help Save the Vulcan

There will be some critics out there who say that they are demanding money from the public again, which to a point is true, but the money needs to come from somewhere, otherwise there will be no flying Vulcan this year or next, and that will be a very sad day if the project has to come to an end prematurely.

The fact is that sponsors are hard to find out there simply because they know that there is probably no return for them, whereas for the public the return is seeing the Delta Lady up in the air making the noises we all love to hear.

So, time is running out once again, and as usual there is no promise of a last minute backer coming in so we must all do what we can to keep the Vulcan alive for a little while yet, so get your thinking caps on and see what you can do to help the cause!

The owner of this blog has got an idea which has been put to the Vulcan team, and we'll see if it can 'take off' as it would be a unique idea, which may set a ball rolling, but would need the buy in of many!

The current suggestion from the Vulcan team is for every supporter to set up a standing order for £5.58 a month, equivalent to maybe two pints (depending on where you come from), or even a packet of cigarettes, so if you are able to do anything to help - maybe forego those 2 pints or the pack of fags - remember it won't be forever, but in the short term you'd be helping the project out!

Let's all get behind the efforts to Save the Vulcan!

Waddo confirms Vulcan appearance in July

Well now that the airshow season is getting ever close, the rumours of appearances at various places across the UK now start to slip out, and some get confirmed, as we've seen now with the confirmation on the Waddington Airshow website that XH558 is due to appear there.

Last week we saw that Abingdon will potentially get to see her first as on Sunday 8th May (Victory in Europe Day), she is down to appear in Oxfordshire, and I'm sure there will be thousands flocking there to get a glimpse.

Other confirmed appearances include RAF Cosford on the 12th June, and just before that an appearance at Douglas Bay in the Isle of Man on the 10th June.

The appearances are of course subject to weather and serviceability, and more importantly down to funding, and already an appeal is underway for the fuel of the Vulcan's first flight of the year - and 'packs' of fuel can be purchased for £40 to help the Vulcan get off the ground at the end of this month as she looks to head to her new home which is being kept under wraps at the moment.

There is also the Summer Season Plaque 2011 too, where you can get your name in the Bomb bay doors for the rest of her life, and also shout when the doors open during a mid air display, "I can see my name in there!" as you convince yourself that yes, you can actually see it from the crowd line!



Buy a fuel pack today

 That is available to anyone that sets up a standing order for £5.58 per month, a paltry figure by any stretch to have something that you can boast proudly to friends and family, more details on that can be found here.

It's all good stuff, but remember that the team need to raise £350k by the end of May, already we have a total of £26k raised, and lets not forget that that was pretty much started at the same time as Comic Relief, so hopefully with that now out of the way, having raised a staggering £74m, then efforts can now be stepped up for the Vulcan appeal!

That's it for now...up the Vulcan!

Winter Service complete!

Great news from the Vulcan appeared on Friday, when it was announced that the Winter Service had been completed with great success - and now the next step is getting ready for the airshow season!

There is of course the small matter of £350,000 to raise, and the team are calling on the public to back the latest campaign - of course it's the public that have saved the Vulcan on many occasions previously, but the reward for all those who have donated previously is the sight of the beautiful XH558 rip roaring through the skies at airshow venues around the UK in the summer - there can be no better reward.

The Winter Service was completed with flying colours, which included the testing of the engines last week, and the lucky residents around RAF Lyneham would have heard the dulcet tones screaming through the trees signalling the return of the Delta Lady!

It's time then to look forward, and soon the Vulcan will leave its current base for a new home, rumoured to be RAF Coltishall in Norfolk, although RAF Wittering has also been mentioned, so we await to see where she ends up in the not too distant future - in fact, it's set to be at the end of March, so not long now.

It's also not long now until the Airshow season gets underway, and already RAF Cosford have booked the Vulcan, and will be hopeful of getting the first glimpse of her at a UK airshow this season.

The Summer Season Plaque campaign is now underway, and for a modest £5.58 per month, your name can appear in the Bomb Bay doors, alongside the Winter Service Plaque that was created over the last few months, so this is a new exciting opportunity to get involved if you missed out previously. See here for more details.

The Vulcan has kept herself in the news too with a visit from the Chelsea Pensioners last week, great to see that these veterans get to meet up with another veteran - albeit one that ways around 30 tonnes!!!

So, all eyes will now start to focus on the Participation Lists of various airshows, in the hope that they will be close enough to travel to a major venue near them to see the famous howl of the Vulcan - sadly I'm based in the North West, who unfortunately don't get to see her that often, so hopefully there will be more appearances up North than ever before this year, as we're all desperate to see her, and you lucky folk in the south just don't realise how lucky you actually are!

In the words of Dale Winton (with the exception of a word or two)....Bring on the Vulcan!