XH558 all set for Sunderland show

It's the last weekend of the month, and also the last action for the Vulcan team for the next few weeks, as they travel up to the Sunderland airshow for performances on Saturday and Sunday.

Last weekend it was of course the North West that got to see the Delta Lady, now its the turn of the North East, as the two dayer at Sunderland gets going.

The Vulcan is scheduled to appear in the late afternoon slot on both days, with 4.20pm the provisional time booked in.

It's also the final weekend of the Vulcan Appeal, with only £23,000 left to find before the target of £350k is hit, it will be a tough ask to reach that target by Sunday, based on previous weekend totals, but hopefully they can get near as dammit to it - remember you can donate today either visiting here, or by texting VULCAN to 70558 - do it today and help reach that target!

It's been a week of reflection for many up here in the North West following the displays at Southport and Lake Windermere, and whilst appreciating the fact that we saw an attendance at two shows in this neck of the woods, it also shows just how great the lack of shows are up here. The only other ones to note are Blackpool & Rhyl, both of which are in their infnacy, and without any kind of substantial budget to play around with.

The olden days - some call it the Golden Age - used to see the Woodford Airshow, and that of course has a special meaning for the Vulcan, given that's where she was first built, and had it not been for the Vulcan at Woodford being a feeder to XH558 as far as parts are concerned, then we may not have seen the last couple of years displays from the team.

Woodford used to be a classic show, even though it was extremely expensive at the time, they always did manage to get something different there - unfortunately the only regular visitor to the show was the rain, which pretty much saw the cancellation of the shows there. Two years there for me stand out in particular, the first being the one that saw the Sukhoi SU-27's and the other being the rained off one where the B1 was there, now they were the days, just a shame that you couldn't really see the B1 due to the horrible weather that day!

As I'm talking about Woodford Airshow, thought I'd pick out a video off youtube for it, no Vulcan in this, but some real classics, that used to be major attractions at the show. Enjoy...

Blues skies seal special Vulcan appearance on Saturday

Vulcan fans in the North West of England were treated to a special appearance by XH558 on Saturday at both Southport and Lake Windermere as the sun beat down on the crowds watching.

At Southport on saturday, the 'Vulcan Effect' was in full swing, as many people were overheard saying "I can't wait for the Vulcan" or something similar - I lost count of the amount of times I heard that on Saturday.

Having started off with some turboprop items on Saturday as well as the Hunter & Hawk, like the weather, the show was just getting warmed up in time for the big hitters to arrive after 3pm, and arrive they did, the 2 Tornado's doing their role demo certainly woke the place up with many pyrotechnics going off on the beach, and some fantastic fast passes from the pair, before then the tranquility of the Lancaster bomber and a Spitfire from the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight then took over.

Just after 4pm it was time for the Vulcan's friends, The Blades, to do their display, and what a great little display they have, with all ex-Red Arrows pilots doing the biz here, and whilst the end of the their display was approaching you could visibly see he vast numbers of people swelling towards any vacant space, looking around for the first sight of the Vulcan.

XH558: Busy thrilling the Southport crowd

It was spotted out to the right in the Blackpool direction, and without hesitation flew in straight into her routine, and once here had a captivated audience enjoying every minute of the Vulcan display on a blue sky background, which was extremely welcome!

The twists and turns of Martin Withers display was beautiful to watch and of course those power climbs which sees the arrival of 'the noise' and we weren't let down when awaiting 'the howl' - you could see them shaping up for it over the beach, and up they pulled and out came the famous howl, now one of the main attractions of the display, and the corkscrew followed, however no need for airbrakes this time thanks to that sea breeze!

Fantastic sight over Lake Windermere

Then we were treated again, just when we thought the display was over, XH558 lowered the undercarriage, and gave us another pass before pulling up with a final power climb that made Southport beach shudder such was the noise that followed, and upon that climb it was time to wave farewell for the time being to the Vulcan, and off she went in the direction of Lake Windermere, off to thrill the thousands waiting up there to see her.

Much has been said about the crowds disappearing after the Vulcan display has finished at the various venues, well I'm a Vulcan fan of course, but didn't leave the display but I did retreat back to the pub & then the car to be in place to leave once the Red Arrows were due to finish their display, so it's true in a sense that lots of people do tend to be glued to the Vulcan display, and then once over, they do head elsewhere, one thing is for certain though there was certainly evidence of the 'Vulcan Effect' at Southport once again.

As fas as the appeal goes, we're nearly there folks, as of Friday's total only another £31,000 to raise by the end of July to ensure that the appearances for August & September are completed, and considering the delight that has been given to fans by the Vulcan crew, I'll certainly be throwing another donation forward as that £350k target gets ever closer.

Text 'Vulcan' to 70558 today to donate a fiver

I'm sure there will be another appeal later in the year as the Winter Service is needed, but hopefully their will be some additional sponsorship accrued, and with all the standing orders that have been set up, it would be interesting to note how much per month is now raised via those - remember the more standing orders that are in place the lower the remaining targets should be, so if you can spare a little more then please set one up, it's only £5.58 per month.

I was reading Barry Masefield's latest blog and it was an eye opener when I read about the trip to (and from) Yeovilton, as following the immense achievement of getting that number two engine ready, the team had to get off down to Yeovilton before the airfield closed for the day, but get down there they did, followed by a stop over in a Travelodge, before then having to display, and drive back up to Lincolnshire to pick up their cars - you don't really think about that part, you just think oh they'll stay down there until they fly the Vulcan back, but of course it's never what you think - fair play to the crew, and keep the blog going Barry!

That's it for now, hopefully another update on the finances to come, and hopefully another major step closer to reaching that magical target - remember you can donate a fiver today by texting Vulcan to 70558 - do it now if you can!

Great news as the Vulcan confirms Lake Windermere appearance

It looks as though the North West will be getting to see a little more of XH558 as it's just been announced in the last few minutes that the Vulcan will be doing a display flight over Lake Windermere - which should be a fascinating scenic display, and will take place this Saturday - the same day she is due up at Southport.

The appearance, which has been made possible by Vulcan supporter and sponsor Eddie Forrester, whose company Aerobytes have once again put their money where their mouths are, and sponsored the display, so the sight & sound of the Vulcan is set to rip through the quiet & peaceful setting of Lake Windermere this Saturday - or Sunday, depending on the weather & serviceability of course.

The news also comes on the same day that the Vulcan Appeal total is now standing at £310,000 - so just another £40k to go, and hopefully that will be boosted by the text appeal that was contained in yesterday's Sun newspaper report, to see that again, click here.

The news gets better and better it seems at present, so let's hope that by the 31st July, the target will be hit, and we can all enjoy the August & September displays that will have been made possible by joe public.

Successful weekend at Fairford as Appeal passes £300k

The weekend saw another successful couple of displays at arguably the biggest airshow on the UK calendar, as the Air Tattoo was graced by the presence of the Vulcan with two stunning displays.

XH558 : Star of the Show

Many who were at the event commented how the display had been more dynamic than ever, which is a recurring comment it seems at present, and that will surely help boost the coffers - in fact right now the Vulcan Appeal stands at £302,000 - a significant milestone passed as the £350k target gets closer and closer, with the July 31st deadline looming.

Included in that total of £302k is also a very welcome £10,000 donation from the Vulcan to the Sky Supporters Club, and is a perfectly timed input from the VTTSSC, and with the Vulcan Village having their biggest display of items for purchase at the Air Tattoo, then hopefully the target will reduce quickly, although I would expect that once that target is reached the team will soon be planning their next appeal which will be the Winter Service.

On the subject of appeals, there was a good piece in The Sun yesterday about the appeal to save the Vulcan, and you can read more about it here - shame about one of the comments below the story, however, everyone is entitled to their opinion, but one of them is just so way off the mark it's untrue! let's hope the article encourages a few more to donate. Link: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/features/3700033/Once-Britains-first-defence-against-nuclear-annihilation-iconic-Vulcan-warplane-now-faces-extinction.html


This week of course its the run up to the Southport Airshow, and XH558 will be appearing at the Saturday show at approximately 4.20pm, give or take the odd minute delay due to sea breeze!

Fairford to Southport via Wittering!

This is the North West's chance to welcome back the aircraft that was built in the same region of course, Woodford in Manchester to be exact, but sadly there is no possibility of even a public flypast there due to the authorities claiming that the roads would become a nightmare surrounding the former British Aerospace factory.

So, Southport it is, and the Vulcan crew will be hoping for some blue skies to greet them following the downpours at Fairford which delayed the start of this year's show.

It will be an exciting time for 'us lot' camped up here in the North West where we rarely get to see the Vulcan fly, so we'll all be making the most of it this coming Saturday.

As an appetite whetter, here's a dark but very good youtube video of the Vulcan at Southport, something quite haunting about this particular one...