Big week ends with February target hit and good news

Well the HUGE effort to get £100,000 in the bank by the end of February ended successfully on Wednesday, as the appeal passed that target, and on to the next target, which was £200k by the end of March.

 However, following the Vulcan to the Sky trustees meeting in midweek, this week's Newsletter announced that the remaining £200,000 target, would be split across 3 months which is FANTASTIC news for all concerned, meaning more time and a more realistic schedule to try and raise the money needed.

So, the target now looks like this:

• By March 31st - £75,000
• By April 30th - £150,000
• By May 31st - £200,000

So, £75k is the target this month, and already £8k is in the bank, so efforts will continue to raise the sums needed - and good luck to VTTS with this - I know everyone will still do their bit, so if you can donate, then donate today, as the sooner that money comes in the quicker we will see XH558 at Airshows this Summer!

I was personally really pleased that the 'Leap Day' idea I put to the team was taken on, and £3000+ was raised towards the target - it meant that 600 people must have donated a fiver - in one way a shame that many many more of the 10,000 twitter followers and facebook likers didn't commit, but in another way, those 600 may not have donated before, so good on them for doing so, it was a worthwhile initiative as it helped get over the £100k milestone, proving that yet again, Vulcan fanatics are the best out there!

So, March is a big month too, and hopefully we can get the target needed by the end of the month, plenty of goodies remain on sale at the Vulcan shop, so if you haven't bought anything yet, then please do so now!

The latest engineering report from Taff Stone, is also now available to view, and well worth a watch too, which can view here.

Finally, I do like a good Vulcan video to finish a blog on, so here we go with today's blast from the past, which was the fine display at Broughton in September 2009, finishing off with a cracker of a howl...

Take a 'Leap of Faith' for Vulcan XH558

TEXT LEAP145 TO 70070 TODAY TO DONATE A FIVER

Well, we've arrived at Leap Day - or whatever you want to call it - and today is a key day in the life of Vulcan XH558 - with the funding appeal continuing, but also at a point whereby the Trustees need to see that the chances of raising the £300k by the end of March are good.

One of the initiatives that I'm proud to have suggested to the Vulcan to the Sky Trust has been taken on and is running today, with the idea of taking a 'Leap of Faith' on Leap Day, by donating a fiver to the cause, on a day that only comes around once every 4 years.

I'm hoping that you'll back this Blogger's suggestion, and spread the word around everyone you know - as their fiver will help in making anyone reading this blog happy - a flying Vulcan is what will make all readers happy I'm sure, but we need to raise the funds to make it happen, so please please please, do what you can!

So, whatever time you do it, please just donate that £5 to this fantastic cause - if you're reading this for the first time and don't know what the fuss is all about, then have a look at the video below, and that will give you an indication as to why we love it so much:



That is why we love this aircraft so much - no other can make such a noise!!!

Take a leap of faith with the Vulcan

February 29th 2012, is one of the key dates in the Vulcan's long & beautiful history, it will see the trustees of the Vulcan to the Sky team meet to see if the plug is to be pulled on the best aircraft around.

If that proverbial plug is pulled on XH558 then it will be a very sad day for all Vulcan enthusiasts, and other aircraft enthusiasts too of course.

There are those that have been saying 'it's time to put her in a museum' whilst others will quite rightly continue to battle to keep her up there where she knows best...in the air.

So far the efforts of many have seen the appeal fund rise to over £50,000 which is in itself an incredible effort in the current climate - and I just cannot understand those who bang on about why the VTTS shouldn't be asking for money whilst there is none around. They are simply asking, not demanding. Do the same people slate Children in Need when there is no money around? That happens on a yearly basis, so does Comic Relief, and the public get something out of that, so what is so different with the Vulcan Appeal - no one is forcing anyone to prise open their wallets or purses, they are simply asking for help. Nothing wrong with that in my opinion.

Some good ideas have been raised recently to help assist with the fund appeal, the Valentine's Day one was a good one, donating £10 whilst declaring your love for the Vulcan - a nice topical idea, and I've put an idea forward to the Vulcan team - whether it gets accepted and suggested by the fundraising team I'm not sure yet, but if it doesn't then The Vulcan Bomber Blog will still push it!

The idea is based around the social network, between Facebook and Twitter, there are over 20,000 'likes' or 'followers' - now I do appreciate that there is the strong chance that people who 'like' the Vulcan's Facebook page, are also more than likely a 'follower' of the Twitter page too, but that still leaves over 10,000 individuals - so my idea was as follows:

The Idea:

For all 'Likers' and 'Followers' to donate £5.58 to the Vulcan Appeal, on Wednesday 29th February 2012, a kind of 'Leap of Faith' or as I put it to the VTTS team...'One Giant Leap for XH558' - and wherever you are in the world during the 29th February, you could donate, it could be done anywhere across the world, so participants would all feel that they had done their bit at the specially suggested time. It's a one off event that could attract the best media coverage given that they are normally after great stories, and this is a 'Best of British' story that would be a cracker...

Now, having already submitted that idea a couple of weeks ago, the news came out that the meeting would then take place on the 29th February itself, so maybe we could all just donate on the Leap Year day (is there such a term? No? Oh there is now....) - and we can all show our faith in the Vulcan Bomber and help her get past the next milestone of £100,000 which holds a large significance of course.

If every Facebook 'Liker' or Twitter 'Follower' donated the minimal sum of £5.58 then over £111,000 would be raised on it's own - adding to the £50k already in the bank. If even half of those donated, then it would still raise over £50,000 - enough needed to get to that first £100k target.

Think about it for a second, it's £5.58, that's all. It's not a massive amount (even though I'm sure any amount higher than that would also be appreciated, and feel free to donate it!) but if everyone made a collective effort on just one day then anything is possible. Think back to the Children in Need and Comic Relief days, the emphasis takes place on one given day normally, and millions are raised. The Vulcan team are not asking for millions here (far from it, the efforts of many have already reduced the target to a much lower amount compared to previous years), they are asking the public to help keep an inconic aircraft in the air - my thoughts as mentioned before are that 2012 will indeed be her final year up there, so let's all pull together, after all, what's the point of being a 'Liker' or a 'Follower' if there is no display or flying Vulcan to 'like' or 'follow'?

Let's do it, just £5.58 on Wednesday 29th February, 2012.

Here's the link to make your donation

Ps: The Vulcan Bomber Blog became proud owners of a share certificate following the purchase of a Fire Suppression share via the Component Life Register over the weekend, and also related blogs Chester FC and The Daily Banksy also became owners of shares relating to the Engine Swap & Pneumatic Cylinder components.





For best results on the howl, tune in to the very start, and then head to about 6:30 for about 20 seconds!
The Vulcan Bomber Blog

Time to Save the Vulcan

It's been a while since I posted on this blog as other things have had to take priority, but now is the time to come back and concentrate on the immediate future of XH558.

The message of course has come out from the Vulcan to the Sky Trust, that £300,000 is required to cover the costs to get the Delta Lady ready for the 2012 display season - and sure there will no doubt be the usual knockers who say why isn't this or that in place to prevent them from asking the public for money again.

Well the simple fact is that the Trust is exactly that, a Trust, it's not like a normal company who can reel in profits from advertising etc, the one product they have to sell has restrictions, for instance the fact that you cannot advertise anything on it - there are many traditionalists out there that say good, but the sad fact is that if the advertising restriction was lifted there would be no doubt in my mind that the Vulcan team would have no problem finding the money to get her through the season.

I'm not talking about the Vulcan being painted bright orange to represent a particular mobile phone company, or have SKY blasted all over it, although that may be the closest we'd get to Vulcan to the SKY being advertised on her, I'm on about some small but noticeable adverts, that would reel in the pounds needed to guide her through the tough times. Look at the wingwalkers for instance, having seen sponsors such as Utterly Butterly or Breitling, they look good, and that money I'm sure pays for all kinds of things for their displays, I really do think that the rules should be looked at to keep the Vulcan in the air, rather than a desperate plea for money each year.

Personally, even if adverts were rampant on the Vulcan, it would be the sight and sound of the Delta Lady that I'd still be enjoying, rather than the though of visiting her in a museum somewhere.

Anyway, enough about adverts, time to talk practically, funds are needed urgently, and I really do believe that this will be the final year in the sky for XH558, so let's keep fighting, as it would be a desperately sad story to have already seen her last flight.

If you have an idea to help raise funds, then contact the Vulcan to the Sky team, I've got an idea which I'm going to share with them today, and if they proceed with it - and I hope they do - then maybe, just maybe it will play a part in keeping the Vulcan in the sky this year - that's all I want from it. Nothing more.

So, £300k needed then, let's raise it, and prove once again that Vulcan fans are the best around, and keep the old lady up there!

A fine end to the 2011 season for the Delta Lady

And so, the Vulcan made it's final flight of 2011, and let's hope not it's final flight of all, on Sunday in sun filled skies, the perfect end to a display season that has seen plenty of highs and a few lows, but fortunately the no shows due to the weather or going tech were largely outweighed by the successful appearances, at the major shows up and down the country.

The season started on my birthday funnily enough - that was nice - on May 8th, when on Victory on Europe Day, the Vulcan appeared at the Abingdon Air & Country Show, and performed in front of 10,000 people - this was a great start to the year considering in 2010 the aircraft was only ready for action a good month after this, so well done to everyone involved in getting the Delta Lady through the major service that was required prior to this year's display season.

The first major show was on the May Bank Holiday, and it didn't disappoint, with over 100,000 witnessing the display at Southend, and the following day it attended the Cold War Jets Day at its former home at Bruntingthorpe, and I think it's fair to say it caused quite a stir with the take off from there, with many people staying on at the end to witness it.

Into June, and a new display for the crew and great news for the people on the Isle of Man, when the Vulcan appeared at Douglas to coincide with the Isle of Man TT, which allowed people to look upwards rather than at the roads, and in clear blue skies in the soft evening light, XH558 performed impeccably to give the locals a taste of what they had been missing.

Unfortunately, those clear blue skies soon shifted, despite the weather being fantastic around this time, for on Sunday 12th June, it really closed in across the country, and the planned appearance at RAF Cosford was cancelled due to the terrible weather that saw many many inches of rainfall across the country. Typical this really, as Cosford was the first show booked on the airshow calendar back on February 9th!

From it's display at the Isle of Man, the Vulcan had headed to RAF Kemble, and a double date on Saturday 18th June saw it display first at the Kemble Show, then headed off to Margate - another new display for the team - and once again the people at the Margate Show were treated to a vintage display, all 25,000 of them watching the Vulcan, many for the first time.

There was a couple of weeks break for the team then, as they prepared for the RAF's premier show, the Waddington Airshow, and hopes were high of good weather, and also a big turnout from the Vulcan to the Sky team. Sadly, they were only given a pitch right at the end of the static line up, although for me personally that was fine, as I was parked very close to XH558, so to see it right in front of me for most of the show was good enough.

I also got to meet Mike from the team too, and spoke at great length about the financial situation, and how we could help do our bit, I also got to see into the Bomb Day doors, and saw my name in there following a donation - that was nice.

The display at Waddo was fantastic, with the new 'cork-screw' manoeuvre added into the display too, and that was something else, but everyone enjoyed some great howls from the Vulcan, and was one of the top performers at the Show, along with the Thunderbirds, and also Team Viper.

Nearly 150,000 saw the Vulcan perform over the weekend, and the team enjoyed seeing donations flooding in from the appearance, which would help see the team through to the end of the season, along with of course, some great sponsorship from Eddie Forrester (Aerobytes) who had brought his sponsorship forward to help plug the gap that was apparent earlier on in the season.

Thrown in for good measure on the Sunday at Waddo, was a quick sortie to Goodwood for the Festival of Speed. This had proved to be a great show that has attracted the Vulcan to attend in recent years, and I'm sure everyone who was there - all 60,000 of them - really enjoyed the display once again.

The Vulcan ended up staying at Waddo due to a fault, which was worked on heavily during the week, which delayed the trip to Yeovilton, but thanks to the impressive work of the team behind the scenes, got the aircraft ready, and off to Yeovilton she went towards the end of the week, and on Saturday 9th July, she appeared in the skies of the South West to put a smile on the faces at Yeovilton, the scene of course of one of the best You Tube videos of the Vulcan.

Next, it was the big one, in terms of military airshows, the Royal International Air Tattoo, and this was the one that the team really had to be at, so every stop would be pulled out for this one, and must be the only aircraft at the display that was desperate to source sponsors to keep her in the air, with the continued avoidance of the Vulcan being included in any Heritage Flight with the RAF, which I still find disappointed even now, considering the draw this aircraft has with the public.

RIAT saw over 140,000 people pack into Fairford, and suffer incredibly with some adverse weather - what's new? Hopefully next year's display will give us better weather considering it's brought forward due to the Olympics - I'll be pushing for that date to be kept earlier too if blue skies happen to be over Gloucestershire that weekend!

Anyway, another great display by the Vulcan on the Thursday (press day), Saturday, and the Sunday, and the coffers swelling too, all added to a great weekend for the team, and the public of course.

XH558 remained at Fairford for a few more days, before the trip to the North West, which this particular blogger was looking forward to, as we don't get to see much of her in this part of the world, and the good news was that she was ready to fly on Saturday 23rd July, and a double appearance at both the Southport Airshow, which was very welcomed, and in blue skies again too, before heading on to the picturesque Lake Windermere, which allowed some great shots of the Vulcan for many a photographer - some on the hills to catch the best shots.

Then, next another new venue, the Sunderland International Airshow, and just under 1 million, yes, 1 million people saw the Vulcan perform here for the very first time, and what great numbers to display in front of, for the team. A new venue, a new observing crowd, and a healthy swoop of donations from the event.

Unfortunately, the next 11 days saw some cancellations, just when the momentum had really got going, but a fuel leak fault put pay to the much anticipated trip to Dawlish, Shoreham, Bournemouth, Oxford, and Dunsfold (sadly for one of the main sponsors).

The engineers, and volunteers worked tirelessly on getting her airworthy as quickly as possible and had done a tremendous job in getting her ready, and were given the green light on the Friday before the shows at Cosby & Portrush on the 4th September, but very very typically, the weather closed in, and the displays sadly had to be cancelled, which left only one to go, that at RAF Leuchars.

Leuchars had booked the Vulcan late on, and a big effort was made to get the aircraft up there, with the sortie to the north of the border for the first and only time this season, the weather was once again closing in, but left a window big enough to be able to get there, and gave a cracking display at Leuchars, which I'm sure was appreciated by everyone concerned at the venue.

That was scheduled to be the last display of the season, but it wouldn't be the last of the flying, as on Sunday 16th October, the team took her on a flight around parts of England that wouldn't normally have got to see her. A flypast over Highclere Castle, where Downton Abbey is filmed - although I don't think that was the reason for the flypast! - then onto Wooton Bassett, before the trip back to Doncaster, and a quick display for pilot currency purposes - saw the last action in 2011 for Vulcan fans.

Now the battle continues to try and get her through the winter service, which brings us nicely onto the fundraising side of the Vulcan team.

We heard back the spring that £350k was needed by the end of May to ensure that XH558 would be arriving on to the airshow scene with stable finances, and yet again, the Great British public rose to the challenge and dug deep to fund the appeal.

One of the reasons why I decide to put my hand in my pocket is not just for the great sight of the Vulcan in the sky, but also to doff my cap to those who put in so many voluntary hours to keep the Vulcan going, when others cannot afford to put their time and effort in to it - a donation is my way of thanking those people. If it wasn't for them, we would not be celebrating 4 years of having the people's aircraft in the air, today.

We have Eddie Forrester to thank for pulling his sponsorship forward to get the Vulcan through the display season, so now it's back down to us Vulcan fans to go for it again - I'm ready for the challenge again, and I hope everyone else who adores this aircraft feels the same.

We all know that D-Day will come, but for now, we can still look forward to at least one more year of the Vulcan ripping the skies apart with the ferocious howl, and delightful calm that follows, so if you can spare a fiver, then donate it today - remember what you donate today brings the total of the Winter Service down, and maybe next time the appeal will be less money to raise, and maybe, just maybe, a sponsor may be attracted to meet the gap - I do feel gutted though for the VTTS team that all those regulations around the lottery funding means they can't advertise on the aircraft - I wonder if one company would fund the difference to advertise on the Vulcan, at the expense of the lottery funding? Does it work that way?

It's a thought, but personally I wouldn't care what was on the aircraft, as long as it was in the air!

Hopes for a good winter

Well it's been almost a month now since I last blogged due to concentrating on other projects, and since then of course the Vulcan managed to get that last appearance of the season at RAF Leuchars which delighted the Scots as this was the only time that XH558 would make it to north of the border this year.

It was touch and go though with the weather, but pleased everyone got to see the Delta Lady, and hear the sound of those fantastic engines, and then of course it was back down to Doncaster to rest up for the winter.

"Just let me take off"

Due to the loss of revenue though from potential appearances at various airshows in the last month prior to Leuchars, she's lost out on around £100,000 which has been a real setback to the funds anticipated by the Vulcan to the Sky team, although it must also be stated, that the attendance record for this season has been excellent, and more often than not it was the weather that put pay to some of those non-attendances.

The VTTS are now looking for over £300,000 to be able to get the Vulcan through its Winter Service and ready for next season's displays, which of course are set to be very special with it being the 60th year since the Vulcan was born, so hopefully everyone will pull together and blitz this target to enable the dream to happen - and I think it's quite possible that this could be the very last season for our historic aircraft, so important more than ever now to donate whatever you can to the appeal.

It's always a difficult time mind, with Children in Need coming along shortly, and then of course the small matter of Christmas, which is always a time when we're all short of money, but as has been stated, even a fiver could make so much difference to the project - so if you can, donate a fiver today! (or more if you csan spare it)

Thanks for the 2011 memories!

Now that the season has finished for 2011, I think it's time to say a huge thanks to those who made this display season possible - from the people who have worked tirelessly on the servicing side of things and turned round repairs in what must have been record time (those same people had the kick in the teeth when the weather prevented an unbelievable effort in getting XH558 airbourne), to the crew who have of course given us those displays up and down the country - and have to make their own detailed travel arrangements, car sharing wherever they go - notably the trip back from Yeovilton!

Thanks also to those at the top of the project, to Robert Pleming for continuing his efforts to keep the Vulcan in the air, I think he's come in for some unwarranted stick over the years, but the fact still remains that we have a flying Vulcan right now, for a fourth year since that amazing return to flight.

One way of helping the fund right now is of course the Component Life Register, and TheVulcanBomber blog will be purchasing one of those items very shrotly to demonstrate its support of the appeal, and hopes that its contribution will help towards that total - the Blog already contributes via a monthly standing order but is only too glad to help further.

Also, any funds raised from revenue generated from Google Adsense on this blog is also being donated in to the appeal, so if you want to help in that way, please do!

That's it for today, it's good to be back blogging about the Vulcan, and I'll be back with another update soon, as we await to see what the latest appeal figure stands at.

Everyone do the Sun Dance!

It's set to be the final scheduled weekend of flying for the Vulcan crew, with the planned trip to RAF Leuchars tomorrow, but will the weather once again spoil the end of season party?

Having checked the various websites, the forecast doesn't look good, and I think we all may need to to a Sun Dance to help shift the clouds for what will be the final air show at RAF Leuchars, and I'm sure there will be many sad to say that tomorrow.

It has been a great display year for XH558 - only blemished by the last month with both technical and weather difficulties getting in the way of what would have been a fantastic season's reord of flying, but there you go, it's not been perfect but show me a display team that has been this season!

Good Luck to everyone heading up to Leuchars this weekend, and I hope you get to see some sunshine and a cracking display - remember that the blue skies arrived at Fairford in the end, so stick with it if it doesn't start the morning looking like you're going to need the sun cream!

I'm sure all the Vulcan crew will be giving the display run the best chance they can, last weekend proved that with most of their day spent waiting around hoping for better weather that sadly never arrived, and prevented them getting off the ground at RAF Conningsby.

So, finishing this Blog off with a Vulcan video from RAF Leuchars, a special one from last year's Leuchars show, but also a video that captures both a great flypast, and at the same time possibly the worst timing of a Vulcan take off as far as a person filming it goes! That's the gamble of being outside the base I guess!