Last flying Vulcan to tour V-Force airstations in spectacular salute to heroes of the Cold War
Photography competition to capture flight of the Vulcan at ten locations across the UK
As we approach the 25thAnniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall (November 9th), the last flying example of Britain’s famous V-Force is to make a spectacular salute to the heroic airmen and women who helped protect our nation throughout the Cold War. On September 25th, Vulcan XH558 will fly over each of the ten RAF stations where Great Britain’s nuclear deterrent aircraft (the V-Force) were based, tipping her giant delta wings to honour those who were ready to give their lives for their country.
“Because there were no great battles, we often forget the bravery of those who fought in the Cold War,” says Vulcan to the Sky Trust chief executive Dr. Robert Pleming. “This is a period of remarkable tension, courage and technical innovation that shaped our lives over four decades. At its peak, our airmen were ready to fly East with just 90 seconds notice, knowing there may be no England to fly home to.”
Vulcan XH558’s Cold War Tour will visit ten RAF and former RAF V-Force stations: RAF Finningley (Now Robin Hood Airport Doncaster Sheffield), RAF Scampton, RAF Coningsby, RAF Marham, RAF Honington, RAF Wyton, RAF Gaydon, RAF Wittering, RAF Cottesmore and RAF Waddington. The name V-Force comes from the names of the three aircraft developed to carry Britain’s first nuclear deterrent: Vulcan, Victor and Valiant.
To help people see the Vulcan low over each location, the charity that operates her has established a Cold War Tour webpage containing everything needed, including information on the route, a tracking app for smartphones and links to fascinating period video footage. The hashtag for those who would like to Tweet their support for the heroes of the Cold War is #558ColdWarTour.
A unique commemorative route map is being designed as a gift for those who support the Cold War Tour with a donation of £25 or more. Supporters who help to make the flight possible will also receive a Cold War Tour 2014 collector’s certificate.
Those who would like a more permanent tribute, perhaps to a relative or loved-one, are invited to place a name and a dedication in XH558’s Cold War Season Book of Dedications that will fly in the aircraft during the tour before having names hand-written onto the pages over the winter. A contribution of £60 is requested for this tribute, which will be displayed in XH558’s period hangar, visited by more than 15,000 people each year.
All profits from these activities will be used to maintain Vulcan XH558. “She is the most dramatic reminder of the bravery and innovation of this unique period,” says Pleming. “Seeing her fly inspires people of all ages, taking the story of British heroism and technical excellence to new generations.” This will be the last of Vulcan XH558’s flights in 2014, a year that the charity has dedicated to remembering the heroes of the Cold War.
Photography Competition
Each tour location will provide opportunities to take superb pictures of the last flying Vulcan. To encourage keen amateur photographers to share their best work, the charity is launching a Cold War Tour photographic competition. The best three pictures taken at each location and submitted to 558ColdWarTour@vulcantothesky.org will be published on the Vulcan XH558 Facebook page in a dedicated album, tweeted to Vulcan supporters and placed on the aircraft’s Pinterest page. The best picture from each location, selected by an independent panel of specialists, will be published in the charity’s newsletter and featured in a unique, commemorative Cold War image compilation to be released for Christmas. Winners will receive a copy personally signed by the Cold War Tour flight crew.
More information on Vulcan XH558, the tour and the various ways to support it can be found at www.vulcantothesky.org/CWT
For more information on Vulcan memorabilia and to sign-up for regular email news about Vulcan XH558 and where to see her, visit www.vulcantothesky.org. There is also a popular Facebook community at www.facebook.com/VulcanXH558 and a Twitter feed at @XH558.
Press enquiries
Richard Gotch at Market Engineering (further information and interviews)
+44 (0) 1295 277050 / +44 (0)7831 569732
richard.gotch@m-eng.com
Pictures
A wide selection of high-resolution images can be downloaded from www.autopresspoint.com or contact megan.davies@m-eng.com to have them emailed.
Why is the Vulcan Important?
The Avro Vulcan is an iconic example of British aerospace engineering at its world-beating best. The design brief was issued by the MoD in 1946 and the aircraft flew for the first time on August 30th1952, just eleven years after the first flight of its predecessor, the Avro Lancaster. Its impressive list of technical achievements includes being the first successful large delta wing aircraft (leading directly to Concorde), innovations such as electrically-powered flying controls, one of the first applications of anti-lock brakes, and a speed and agility that was so close to a jet fighter’s that it was given a fighter-style control column in place of the traditional bomber pilot’s yoke.
Success as a Cold War peacekeeper meant that the Vulcan might have flown its entire service life without ever entering combat if it hadn’t been for the Falklands Conflict in 1982. During a marathon 8,000 mile flight supported by eleven Victor tankers, Squadron Leader Martin Withers and his crew released the bombs over Port Stanley Airport that prevented Argentina operating its Mirage III fighters from the island and initiated the campaign that recaptured the Falklands. Two years later, the last Vulcans were withdrawn from service. Squadron Leader Withers earned a Distinguished Flying Cross for his part in this action.
Today, only one Vulcan is left flying: XH558, owned by the Vulcan To The Sky Trust, a Registered Charity. Returned to the air in 2007 following one of the world’s most challenging restoration programmes, she has become an airshow phenomenon. “People forget that airshows attract seven million people annually. As a spectator activity, that’s second only to football,” says Dr Pleming. “An appearance by the Vulcan builds even on this remarkable level, typically increasing attendance by 20-40 percent. Airshow organisers talk about ‘the Vulcan Effect’ and have described the aircraft as a national treasure.”
Squadron Leader Martin Withers DFC is a passionate supporter of the educational role of the aircraft. “Part of our mission is to ensure that young people learn about the knife-edge fear of the Cold War,” he explains. “If I had been ordered to press the button that releases the nuclear payload over our enemy, there would almost certainly have been no Britain left to fly home to. The Vulcan is the most powerful symbol of a remarkable period in global history that we must never forget”
Withers is also passionate about the aircraft’s growing role in technical education. “This is one of the most significant steps forward in aerospace technology ever, and it is thoroughly British. The Vulcan fires young people with a passion to develop and build world-beating technologies. And we can help give them those skills through training that call upon the extraordinary knowledge, rigour and precision needed to restore and maintain the UK’s only flying ‘complex’ heritage aircraft to world-class safety standards.”
When the combination of age and complexity of the aircraft eventually prevents further renewal of her Permit to Fly, it is hoped that she will form the heart of a new type of engineering education initiative called Ve3, the Vulcan Engineering Education & Experience centre.
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