In the English countryside just a five minute drive from the site of the Ladywood works of Sir Frank Whittle and the spiritual home of the British Jet engine in Lutterworth Leicestershire somthing big is stirring.Avro Vulcan XH558 is becoming restless with staying on the ground and wants to take to the air again. Checksix UK went to investigate at the Vulcan’s lair in Bruntingthorpe and gained an exclusive interveiw with former Air Chief Marshall Sir Michael Knight KCB AFC FRAeS Chairman of the Vulcan to the Sky Trust and Dr Robert Pleming Project Director.The Vulcan was designed to meet the specification B.35/46 issued in 1947 by the Air Ministry, which came out of the Air Staff requirement OR.229; the same specification also gave birth to the Handley Page Victor.

The Avro design team, led by Roy Chadwick, initially developed their design into a delta-wing without a tail plane, reminiscent of the designs of the Horten Brothers in Germany. After the tragic death of Roy Chadwick, the design team was led by his assistant S D Davies, and the design developed into the Avro 698. The development progressed with the production of the Avro 707, VX784, the first of four research aircraft produced to provide design data for the Avro 698. The 707 flew for the first time in September 1949 and appeared at the Farnborough Air Show in the same month. Unfortunately the aircraft and pilot were lost on the 30th of September of that year. The development continued and the first clearly identifiable Vulcan was VX770, powered by Rolls-Royce Avon R.A.3’s, taking to the air in August 1952. The naming of the type was not done until 1953. In 1957 the first Vulcan Squadron was formed at RAF Waddington No 83 Squadron.

XH558, die erste Vulcan B. MK2 wurde am 1.Juli 1960 an diese Einheit ausgeliefert. Sie ist damit die aelteste noch existierende Vulcan. Ihren letzten Flug hatte sie am 23.Maerz 1993, welcher in Bruntingthorpe endete und damit war sie nach 33 Jahren Dienst in den Ruhestand getreten. Seitdem wurde sie von ihrem Besitzer C. Walto Ltd. an Tagen der offenen Tuer in Bruntingthorpe einer begeisterten Menge vorgefuehrt (allerdings nur auf der Taxiway). Von der Taxiway bis zur flugfaehigen Restaurierung war es folgedessen nur ein Gedankensprung. Zwar kam die Idee das erste Mal bereits 1991 zum Gespraech, doch das Wagnis schien doch ein wenig zu gross zu sein. Dr. Robert Pleming liess sich davon aber nicht irritieren, inspizierte im Jahre 1993 die Vulcan HX558 genauer, und kam zu der Ueberzeugung, dass es durchaus machbar sei!
1997 hatte ein Expertenteam um ihn damit angefangen, einen Vorschlag auszuarbeiten, wie das Flugzeug nach heutigen Richtlinien wieder flugfaehig gemacht werden kann. Im Mai 1997 wurde der Idee vom Heritage Committee der Firma BAE Systems PLC zugestimmt und die ersten Arbeiten am Flugzeug wurden aufgenommen. Die Vulcan Operation Company begann damit, eine Bestandsaufnahme zu machen, welche sich ueber 2 Jahre hinzog.

XH558, the first Vulcan B.Mk2,was delivered to 230 OCU RAF Waddington on 1.7.60. She is the oldest Vulcan in existence and was the last to fly on 23rd March 1993 when she landed at Bruntingthorpe and left RAF service after 33 years. She was maintained in taxiing condition by her then owner C Walton Ltd, and has been a real crowd pleaser at the open days held at Bruntingthorpe over the years. From the taxiing state it’s but a short hop to think about a return to flight; this was originally mooted in 1991 but was considered then to be too large a project to be undertaken Unconvinced about this, in 1993 Dr Robert Pleming started looking at HX558 in more detail and concluded that the project was achievable. In 1997 a small team of experts led by Dr Pleming began to develop a proposal to return XH558 back to flight under civilian regulation. In May 1997 the Heritage Committee of  BAE Systems PLC agreed that there was no reason why XH558 should not be returned to flight and the real work upon the airframe began. The Vulcan Operating Company began a full technical survey of the aircraft, and this survey took 2 years to complete. From the taxiing state it’s but a short hop to think about a return to flight; this was originally mooted in 1991 but was considered then to be too large a project to be undertaken Unconvinced about this, in 1993 Dr Robert Pleming started looking at HX558 in more detail and concluded that the project was achievable. In 1997 a small team of experts led by Dr Pleming began to develop a proposal to return XH558 back to flight under civilian regulation. In May 1997 the Heritage Committee of  BAE Systems PLC agreed that there was no reason why XH558 should not be returned to flight and the real work upon the airframe began. The Vulcan Operating Company began a full technical survey of the aircraft, and this survey took 2 years to complete.

Interview with Air Chief Marshal Sir Michael Knight KCB AFC FRAeS
and Dr Robert Pleming / Project Director:

Checksix: Many of our readers are outside the UK,and many are based in Europe is there a message for them as we do talk about the Vulcan being important to the UK aviation heritage

Dr Robert Pleming: VTS does have members in mainland Europe, and the Vulcan was part of the Combined European response to the perceived threat from the East. The Vulcan was an important part of the NATO strategy as a deterrent and as such was a great success in keeping the peace. The more I read about that period the more I realise how dangerous those times were. There was no common thinking, people in the US were trying to think what were the people in Moscow thinking and we now know that some of the conclusions were erroneous and the Russians were just as scared of the Americans, as Americans were of the Russians. In retrospect we can see clearly how important this aircraft was in maintaining a balance between the superpowers over Europe, and this is the reason that the Vulcan is so important to the nation’s heritage.

Sir Michael Knight: A bizarre fact is that this plane and others like it achieved its objective. Its design objective was to deter nuclear war and this it did. The Vulcan was involved in only one hot war and then as a conventional bomber (Falklands 1982). At that time the plane was being phased out of service; it was a real aviation and logistical achievement that proved the capability of the aircraft and crew.

Dr Robert Pleming: To be an effective deterrent you had to be a credible deterrent, the way this aircraft was designed, built  and operated gave it the credibility we needed.The Russians knew that we would be able to strike back.

Sir Michael Knight: We had to have the technical capability in the airplane, it’s systems and well trained air and ground crew. We also had the political will to use the deterrent.If we had been lacking in any of these areas we would not have had a credible deterrent.

Checksix: This is a B.MK2 and one of the oldest?

Dr Robert Pleming/Sir Michael Knight: This is the oldest complete Vulcan in existence (the full story is on the website) This aircraft despite its age is by a long way the best, largely due to it being kept in a hangar for much of it’s life. It is the obvious choice for the project and the only realistic candidate. We have been focused on it for the last eight years.

Checksix: What will come next after the Vulcan is flying? Will we see perhaps a Victor?

Dr Robert Pleming/Sir Michael Knight: No the Victors and Valiants are beyond repair and we still have much to do before the first Vulcan flight, and in the year after the first flight we will still be working on getting the operation running. Fortunately we have a marvellous team here that are self motivated so I {RP} could work part time, but that’s quite a way off yet.

Checksix: We understand that you have 4 engines with zero running time on them. Is this true?

Sir Michael Knight: We have eight with zero running time on them and that’s the reason Rolls-Royce will allow us to use them, they are in absolute pristine condition.  Four of them are at the front of the hangar under cover.

Checksix: In terms of cycles on the engines how many are you allowed?

Dr Robert Pleming: Well that’s the real point in terms of flying life, we are limited to 1200 cycles per engine and if we use the same flying model used by the Vulcan display flight we would consume 6 cycles per flying hour giving us only 200 hours per engine. However with appropriate changes to the flying and operating profile we can conserve cycles and so extend the flying life of the plane.

Checksix: If you could pick anything to help you with the project what would it be?

Sir Michael Knight/Dr Robert Pleming: Cash !! What is extraordinary is that we have never had a donation of more than £7000, and its not for the lack of trying. We don’t have any corporate sponsors at all, although some of the OEMs are working on the project at greatly reduced rates or at no cost at all. A commercial sponsor could have a huge impact on the project.

Checksix: So the major support has been from ordinary people donating small sums.

Sir Michael Knight/Dr Robert Pleming: Yes that’s pretty much the case. We do feel that many people still think that this project won’t get off the ground and is not a credible project. But as you have seen today we have all the support we need from the industry to make this a success. So if you know a rock star or tycoon with £100,000 to spare we could use their help and perhaps your readers could help with this, who knows, and remember for every £100,000 we raise it then releases another £300,000 from the HLF.

Checksix: Would the Vulcan display overseas, Europe and the US?

Dr Robert Pleming: If there was sufficient demand and the appropriate governmental permission was forthcoming we would give serious consideration to taking the Vulcan to other countries. As a deterrent the plane is a part of many countries’ Cold War story.

Sir Michael Knight: The States as well, the Americans loved this plane and we left 5 Vulcans in the States at the end of their useful life. We actually held an airshow for the Americans, with tea and scones and out of the 78 or so Generals on the staff of SAC 65 attended including the Commander in Chief. We got 5 Vulcans airborne in 1min 58sec. After a flyby by the 4 ship group the 5th did a display routine and landed and taxied to the dais, and we gave it to the US in a fully serviceable condition.

Checksix: In terms of the time frame for the aircraft what is the schedule relating to the big events like the roll out , engine start and ultimately the first flight?

Dr Robert Pleming : The key to this is the inch by inch inspection and report from Marshall Aerospace, at the moment we are targeting the third quarter of 2006 is a realistic target date for the first flight.

Checksix: Will you hold open-days for the public during the restoration period?

Dr Robert Pleming: We have a visitors scheme. VVAS (Vulcan Visitor Admission Scheme) details are on the web site. We are installing a mezzanine floor into the hangar to house exhibitions and allow better viewing for the public. We are also negotiating with suppliers to get the best possible price for this; we are after all a charity.

Checksix: Sir Michael, Dr Pleming, thank you for talking to us.