A mixed bag of a weekend for the Vulcan crew

It was a weekend that was being extremely anticipated, with a trip to the Isle of Man for the first ever display at Douglas to close the Isle of Man TT Races, followed by an appearance at RAF Cosford's Air Show - generally regarded as the main start of the airshow season.

Friday night saw the rainclouds disappear at the perfect time as the Vulcan display was completed over Douglas Bay in lovely blue skies, and a friend of mine who was there for the TT commented, "wow, that was loud!" after the display by XH558!

I'm sure many more felt the same, and some great You Tube videos available too, such as this one, that features the great sight and sounds of the Vulcan - there is also a particular video on there which whilst distant, catches the howl at the end of the display rather nicely - check it out.

Then onto Sunday, and what everyone hoped would be a great display at Cosford, only for the weather to completely ruin the day, and forced the cancellation of the appearance by the Delta Lady.

So, with no doubt a disappointed crowd, but more so disappointed crew, who would have been looking forward to a trip, but ultimately the weather dictates events in this country, and sadly another year minus the Vulcan at Cosford, lets hope for an appearance in 2012!

So, eyes now turn to next weekend, and the plan is to see the Vulcan crew take the aircraft from its residential home at Doncaster Airport, to Kemble in Gloucestershire, ready for the airshow on Saturday.

The flight is to take place on Friday morning from Doncaster, to then see the display on Saturday afternoon around 3pm - a proper kick off time!

Great to see that the donations continue to come in, and the appeal is now up to just shy of £220,000 - so just another £130k to go to hit the target of £350k by July 31st.

To donate, please visit the Vulcan website.

Excitement building ahead of main airshow season

Vulcan fans can be forgiven for getting excited at the prospect of seeing XH558 in the air again, as the taster given at Bruntingthorpe for the Cold War Jets Day ceertainly whetted the appetite for some more Vulcan action, and with the appeal reaching £215k, now maybe we should look at a countdown of the target which is now under £135,000 which hopefully can be raised between now and the end of July.

There has been plenty of news surrounding the Vulcan movements recently, and of course the new home at Doncaster Airport, which will hopefully bring in more revenue - and a chance for the public to see the aircraft and experience that famous howl - oh I couldn't resist it, another excuse to throw in the video of "the howl":



This week though, the airshow season really kicks off with RAF Cosford being the first 'biggie' of the year, and weather and serviceability permitting, theVulcan will make an appearance on Sunday afternoon, with the probability of a late afternoon display following arrival from South Yorkshire, before heading off to Kemble in Gloucestershire to stay the week before the Cotswold Airshow takes place.

Before all that though, there is the rare appearance of a late evening display over the Isle of Man, where the Vulcan will be helping to finish off the Isle of Man TT event, and there certainly haven't been many appearances around the 7.30pm/8pm mark which is likely to be the case on Friday night, let's hope there are plenty of youtubers around as they look to catch the display at Douglas - the first time they have displayed in the Isle of Man!

There will then be of course the Cosford show on Sunday, which last time the Vulcan appeared resulted in the gates being closed due to the capacity being reached on the airfield, and roads brought to a halt in the area - the compelling Vulcan effect will I'm sure take place again in the midlands on Sunday, so it will be an early start for most even though the flying display doesn't actually start until the clock passes noon!

In the near future there is of course the visit to the RAF Waddington, who are beginning to line up a half decent show, despite some major pull outs, but it remains a great show with the Thunderbirds the headline act this year, although I'm sure XH558 will give them a run for their money!

The Royal International Air Tattoo is just around the corner too, and despite her not being confirmed as yet, I'm sure she'll be there, and sandwiched in between is a trip to Yeovilton (who can forget that youtube video!!??!!), whilst also pencilled in further down the line are Sunderland (a 2 day-er), Shoreham (another 2 day-er!), Portrush & Cosby both in September.

I'm sure more dates will be added, and something that has been added is The Vulcan Bomber Blog on the Summer Plaque which I'm delighted about as this blog makes its own contribution to the appeal.

That's it for now, but for those in the North West, keep your eyes looking up this Friday evening, and if you're lucky you may just be on the flightpath as the Vulcan travels over from Donny to Douglas!