Straight & Level, November 2025

The lighter side of Flight International.

University challenge

The aviation industry has struggled to provide a viable air link between the UK’s two most famous university cities since novelist Graham Greene used a short-lived pre-war service to shuttle between Oxford and Cambridge for assignations with his mistress.

Despite being just 100km apart as the crow flies, the connection takes over 2h by car and has no direct train link. The most recent carrier to try to bridge the gap was one Sky Commuter. The start-up launched an operation using a Piper Navajo in 2006.

Now Skyports, a developer of advanced air mobility (AAM) vertiports, is heading a consortium of aviation companies that includes VX4-developer Vertical Aerospace looking to test the viability of the “OxCam AAM Corridor” for electric air taxi flights.

Vertical VX4

Source: Vertical Aerospace

“Can you speed up a bit? I have a novel examining Catholic guilt and moral ambiguity to write.”

With the certification of electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) platforms still likely to be some years off, there is scant detail in the press release on what the six-month project will actually do to “accelerate the transition of AAM from trials to commercially viable, regional operations within the UK”.

Another hurdle could be the lack of anywhere to take off from and land in Cambridge. The city’s airport is due to close before the end of the decade and be turned into housing after owner Marshall Aerospace relocates from its historic site.

However, we hope a future eVTOL service will fare better than Sky Commuter, which founder Nick Rowley unveiled with a memorable PR stunt involving a “race” between the Piper, a Lotus sports car, and a train between Oxford and Cambridge airports. The aircraft won convincingly but revenue challenges (a lack of passengers) forced him to abandon the venture, which offered fares in line with second-class rail tickets, after just six weeks.

Vulcan in peril

Keeping one of the UK’s most iconic Cold War bombers from the scrapyard seems a never-ending struggle.

Once again, the Vulcan to the Sky Trust (VTST) has launched a “critical fundraising appeal” to preserve the last intact Avro Vulcan, XH558, which needs a new home after its custodians were forced to vacate its hangar at the shuttered Doncaster Sheffield airport eight years ago.

Vulcan XH558

Source: Wayne Fielding

Homeless: XH558

While the trust and its volunteers have tried to maintain the tours and events that generate the revenue for the upkeep of the delta-winged aircraft, the loss of a permanent venue has put strain on the charity’s business finances, and the halt of the popular engine ground runs have compounded the problem.

Marc Walters, chief executive of VTST, says: “This is not the message we wanted to be putting out in 2025, but the reality is Vulcan XH558 needs urgent support.”

Plans by the local council to reopen the airport, and a site earmarked for a Vulcan Experience centre, with XH558 as its centrepiece, have brought fresh hope. However, the VTST needs “help to get there”, including contributions to continue its day-to-day operations while it explores longer-term funding options for the new facility.

More at vulcantothesky.org

Ex appeal

Sometimes the planets just align – as was the case at the recent DSEI show in London’s Docklands.

Our roving reporter was amused to discover that 2Excel – creator of the UK’s Excalibur flight-test aircraft and operator of oil-spill response-tasked Boeing 727s – had as its immediate neighbour Exel; full name Ex-Eltronics.

And the event location’s name? ExCel, of course. Excellent…

Geography Wizz

Wizz Air could be risking political ire with its announcement of a boost in capacity to “Israel’s capital” Tel Aviv this winter.

While Tel Aviv is indeed home to Ben Gurion International airport and the nation’s largest city and commercial hub, Israel’s declared capital is very much Jerusalem.