Warbird Information Exchange

Frigging ell been 2 months and nothing new on the English warbird Vulcan bomber, obviously no one cares about her on this forum is what i thinking.. ?

There is no more news. They appear to have run out of money yet again, and are, according to Dr Pleming, the project leader, living 'from hand to mouth' financially. They are having to spend $120k per month just to keep it in an operational state but on the ground, and don't seem to have the funds to fly it again. As ever, survival seems to depend on the hope that, having got this far and done a single test flight, one or more major sponsors will step forward to fund the extimated $2m - $2.5m annual running costs.

You can read about the project's latest set of financial woes here............ http://www.tvoc.co.uk/

I really wish those guys the best. You'd think that Richard Branson would step in on something like this, especially since its local.

B

_________________
documenting restored B-17s and those undergoing restoration to flight:

Why the h3ll do people keep bringing up Branson's name whenever the Vulcan is mentioned?

This thing is a bottomless pit as far as funding is concerned - c. $25m, probably much more, needed over its projected 10-year life.

He's a very astute businessman, not a rich idiot, and has (very sensibly) consistently refused to have anything to do with the project when he has been approached to provide funding.

isn't he also heavily involved with the Sally B in some way?
B

_________________
documenting restored B-17s and those undergoing restoration to flight:

He made a relatively small (by Vulcan standards) one-off contribution in 2005 to help fund their insurance cost increases, for which he gained a nice bit of publicity. So yes, he has supported 'Sally B' in the past, but isn't listed as a current sponsor.

Its his money, and he can do with it what he wants, obviously.

I'm not sure of how astute a business decision it is to plan commercial space flight at this stage, or to make several attempts to fly around the world in a balloon, so I don't really see why the Vulcan would be considered any worse of a business decision. If he likes positive publicity, as it seems like he does, I think he could stroke a check big enough to paint "Virgin" on the side of the thing for the forseeable future, and not see even a small dip in his net worth.

Again, its his money, I understand that.

B

_________________
documenting restored B-17s and those undergoing restoration to flight:

Why not? With the floundering and flopping of the US Space Program and the fair successes of the civilian-side space ventures, I'd say this is low hanging fruit for Sir Richard. Being an early adopter makes sense to a calculated risk taker like he is... because it's not a matter of "if" civilian space travel will be a success anymore... it's "when".

I am sure if Sir Richard wanted to pilot the Vulcan himself on some record-breaking jaunt, he would have stepped up with the money, but to give a huge sum to an effort that allows other folks to fly it about... well, I see why he's not breaking the door down.

_________________
Ryan Keough
Stow, MA

he might be waiting for them to run out of money and then buy it for 10% of what it took to restore it to flying status and then he could fly it as much as he wants. That would certainly be the smart business move, I guess.

:shrug:

B

_________________
documenting restored B-17s and those undergoing restoration to flight:

Found on a news server ,

The Vulcan To The Sky Trust is in desperate need for £100,000 ($200,000)
to fund the completion of the flight-test programme for Avro Vulcan
XH558, which would enable the V-Bomber to participate in the 2008 air
show season.

XH558 made its first flight on 18 October 2007 after lengthy restoration
costing £6 million. This was double the original estimate and the
project's contingency funding was wiped out earlier this year when
unexpected rectification work was required to address corrosion in wing
stringers.

"We're looking for £100,000 to complete the flight-test programme and
we're in discussions with potential sponsors, but nothing is finalised,"
says Andrew Edmondson, who is project engineering director at Vulcan
Operating Company (VOC), the organisation carrying out the restoration
in conjunction with Marshall Aerospace.

Vulcan landing

"It is crucial we have the funding in January," he adds, as the aim is
to undertake these remaining test flights and complete the documentation
required for the "BCAR A8-20 Permit To Fly" by the end of March. "This
would allow us to hand the aircraft over to operations and give them six
weeks to prepare the presentation of the aircraft prior to the start of
the air show season in May," says Edmondson.

"Our expectation is that we need to complete two 3h air tests, and then
make the submission through Marshalls for the A8-20 permit required to
fly at air shows."

A provisional list of 17 air shows at which the Vulcan could participate
in 2008 has been prepared with venues "as far north as RAF Leuchars
[Scotland] and as far west as RNAS Culdrose [in Cornwall]", says
Edmondson. "Farnborough is also on the list," he adds.

----

Seems she may become a white dwarf if not funded ...