A Vulcan Bomber (Not XH558)
I recently received some rather sad news in my email inbox.
The future of the last remaining flying Vulcan Bomber, XH558, once again hangs in the balance.
I’m a member of the Vulcan To The Sky club, supporting the continued efforts of the team dedicated to keeping XH558 in the air. They recently sent out an email, which I’m sure they won’t mind being replicated here.
In August 2006, Vulcan to the Sky launched a pledge campaign to save Vulcan XH558. The response to that campaign was staggering, with £1.3 million being pledged or donated in just three weeks.
As the direct consequence, Vulcan XH558 returned to flight in 2007 and was the unquestionable star of airshows last summer – entertaining a total audience estimated at 1.5 million people.
Unfortunately, Vulcan XH558 will now be grounded unless further funding of £1million is identified by end of January 2009.
Despite the current economic conditions, we are determined to keep XH558 flying. Confounding everyone’s expectations, we succeeded in 2006, and with your help, we can succeed again.
The Vulcan ‘09 Pledge Campaign is aimed at raising the funds that XH558 needs, so please sign up and play your part in securing the future of the world’s only flying Vulcan.
These pledges will allow the project to pay its monthly expenses, clear debt and provide a stable financial footing for the future. Importantly, it will also give us the breathing space to convert last summer’s success into secure long-term commercial funding.
You can make a pledge here if you so wish, or at the very least you can sign the online petition on the number 10 website.
The petition serves to invite the Prime Minister to step in to ensure XH558 reveives sufficient funding to continue flying – whether from public or private sources. She not only serves as a ‘living museum’ to educate a generation lucky enough not to be experience the Cold War, but also as a flying memorial to the servicemen who lost their lives during the Falklands conflict.
Wednesday 1 July 2009 at 18:11:47
[...] Vulcan Petition Update Posted on Wednesday 1 July 2009 by Nick You may remember that I previously posted a link to the Number 10 petition website in connection with Vulcan XH558. If you don’t then you can find the post here. [...]