One of the last chances to see a Vulcan bomber fly in the North West with weekend
The world’s only flying Avro Vulcan bomber will thunder over Cheshire for possibly the last time this weekend as she performs an ear-splitting flypast at this weekends Cholmondeley Pageant of Power.
The Vulcan a strategic bomber, saw active service with the Royal Air Force between 1956 and 1984, she is on a farewell tour this summer following a decision to ground the aging delta wing jet.
One of her key features in that nervy era of nuclear proliferation was the ability to start the engines in 27 seconds, slightly faster than a Ford Capri.
Cheshire is also a bit of a ‘spiritual home’ for the Vulcan, an icon of Cold War tensions, many were assembled at the Avro factory in Woodford near Stockport, in fact XH558 took off from Woodford on her maiden flight 55 years ago this year.
Sadly, the Vulcan has suffered from the withdrawal of support by three expert companies who the team depend upon to allow her to fly, without the crucial support the ‘suits’ (and regulations) at the Civil Aviation Authority will prohibit XH558 from flying.
Though still very much airworthy and safe, her structure and systems are already more than ten percent beyond the flying hours of any other Vulcan, maintaining her excellent safety record requires expertise that is increasingly difficult to find.
First picture of XH558 at the Woodford airfield and factory in Cheshire.
Along with the Vulcan other aircraft on display during the course of the ‘Pageant of Power’ weekend include; The Red Bull Matadors, BAC Strikemaster and the RAF Typhoon Display Team, the Vulcan is due to fly over on Sunday 14th June.
The Cholmondeley Pageant of Power is in it’s eighth year and kicks of with a preview and concert on Friday 12th June running through to Sunday 14th June you can read more about it here: Cholmondeley Pageant of Power
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