Vulcan remains grounded

Gary Parsons - 8-Jul-2009

July 8: Following the disappointing grounding of the Vulcan over the Waddington International Airshow weekend due to its ‘Permit to Fly’ not being renewed, the Vulcan to the Sky Trust (VTST) says it is doing all it can to rectify the situation before this weekend’s Yeovilton Air Day in Somerset.

Robert Pleming, VTST Chief Executive said: “On behalf of the Vulcan to the Sky Trust, I would like to apologise unreservedly for the huge disappointment felt by very many people, some of whom had travelled great distances, at the absence of the Vulcan from the flying display [at Waddington]. The events leading to the cancellation of the Vulcan’s displays are deeply regrettable, and we will do everything we can to prevent this happening again.”

The problem arose on Friday evening when the Civilian Aviation Authority (CAA) advised the Engineering Authority for the Vulcan, Marshall of Cambridge Aerospace (MA), that the Permit to Fly would not be renewed. It is understood that structural inspections on another Vulcan, XM603 at BAE Systems’ facility at Woodford in Lancashire, are required to check the condition of parts of the aircraft that would have made it necessary to partially dismantle XH558, but these checks have not yet been completed.

In a press release, a spokesman for the VTST says “MA remained confident that the permit revalidation would be obtained in time, to the extent that a joint decision was made to launch XH558 from RAF Brize Norton on Thursday July 2 to fly to RAF Waddington for the airshow. Unfortunately, on Friday July 3, MA was informed by the CAA that the justification for deferring the inspections (on XM603) was inadequate and that the CAA would require a much more detailed explanation before the Permit would be renewed. This report would also need to be underwritten by BAE Systems.”

VTST hopes that MA will provide the necessary documentation to enable the CAA to reissue the Permit to Fly before this weekend’s Yeovilton Air Day.

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