Avro Vulcan XH558 ‘The Spirit of Great Britain’ during its final RIAT display, Fairford UK

Avro Vulcan XH558 (civil aircraft registration G-VLCN) ‘The Spirit of Great Britain’ during its final Royal International Air Tattoo (RIAT) display, Fairford UK (photo 7914-7). I took a gamble that day to go outside the field at quite some distance figuring, having seen the display on previous days, that there was a reasonable chance that she would turn over me. And she did, and how! After that I went home, very, very happy, with my best pictures of this amazing, very capable and beautiful aircraft which is now history, sadly. But it was a miracle in the first place that she was revived in 2008.

The Avro Vulcan
The Avro Vulcan was a jet-powered tailless delta wing high-altitude strategic bomber, which was operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF) from 1956 until 1984. Painted gloss white, the 698 prototype VX770 flew for the first time on 30 August 1952 piloted by Roly Falk flying solo. The second prototype, VX777, flew in September 1953. More representative of the production aircraft, it was lengthened to accommodate a longer nose undercarriage leg, featured a visual bomb-aiming blister under the cabin and was fitted with Bristol Olympus 100 engines. The first production B.1, XA889, flew in September 1955. Falk, flying the second production B.1 XA890 amazed crowds at the Farnborough Air Show by executing a barrel roll. The first 15 B.1s were powered by the Olympus 101 of 11,000 lbf (49 kN) thrust. The 46th production aircraft and first B.2, XH533, first flew in September 1958 fitted with Olympus 200 engines of 16,000 lbf (71 kN) thrust. A total of 134 production Vulcans were assembled at Woodford Aerodrome, 45 to the B.1 design and 89 were B.2 models, the last being delivered to the RAF in January 1965.

The Vulcan's only combat missions took place towards the end of the type's service in 1982. During the Falklands War, the Vulcan was deployed against Argentinian forces which had occupied the Falkland Islands. The missions performed by the Vulcan became known as the Black Buck raids, each aircraft had to fly 3,889 mi (6,259 km) from Ascension Island to reach Stanley on the Falklands. Victor tankers conducted the necessary air-to-air refuelling for the Vulcan to cover the distance involved; approximately 1,100,000 imp gal (5,000,000 l) of fuel was used in each mission.

XH558 (one of the B.2 aircraft) was delivered in July 1960 and the last one to be retired by the RAF in 1992, 8 years after the type was retired from service. This is because after the disbandment of No. 50 Squadron, two Vulcans continued flying with the RAF in air displays as part of the Vulcan Display Flight. XH558 replaced XL426 and started flying displays in 1985. The VDF continued with XH558 until 1992, finishing operations after the Ministry of Defence determined it was too costly to run in light of budget cuts.

It recommenced its display career in 2008, funded by continuing donations to assist the £2m a year running costs. The prospect of grounding and sale due to lack of funds was regularly averted, and XH558 flew long enough for fundamental engineering life-expectancy issues to become the main threat to continued operation. After being overcome once to gain an extra two years flight, on 15 May 2015 it was confirmed that 2015 would be XH558's last flying season, due to the third party companies responsible for maintaining it withdrawing their support. Since its last flight, XH558 is now kept in taxiable condition, in common with two of the other surviving Vulcans, XL426 and XM655.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avro_Vulcan en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avro_Vulcan_XH558

Taken in: United Kingdom / England / Gloucestershire (show map)

Taken on: July 19, 2015

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Sets appears in: • RIAT 2015 Fairford UK

Groups appears in: • Canon - Aviation • The Royal International Air Tattoo (Official) more » • Avro Vulcan XH558 "The Spirit of Great Britain" « less

Camera: Canon EOS 60D, f/8.0, 1/500 sec, 235mm, ISO 100 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Canon EOS 60D
Lens:	EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM
Aperture:	f/8.0
Exposure Time:	0.002 sec (1/500)
Focal Length:	235mm
ISO:	100
Exposure Bias:	+1/3 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Program:	Shutter speed priority AE
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Color Space:	sRGB
Software:	TSR Watermark Image Software 3.5.5.6 www.watermark-image.com
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