The Vulcan to the Sky Trust has secured a new permit to fly from the UK Civil Aviation Authority, but was unable to fly aircraft XH558 at the Yeovilton Air Day on 11 July due to a technical fault and poor weather conditions.
The CAA refused to renew the restored Cold War bomber’s permit when it expired on 3 July, as some required airframe testing had not been completed. The decision prevented the aircraft from participating at last weekend's Waddington air show in Lincolnshire, apart from as a static attraction, and left it stranded at the site awaiting a new approval.
Trust officials delivered a draft report to BAE Systems on 8 July, with the company having requested “a number of minor alterations” before it would endorse it for CAA consideration. The report was prepared by personnel from Marshall Aerospace, the certification authority for the Vulcan.
A final report with a covering letter from BAE was handed over to the CAA the following day, and the authority issued a renewed permit on 10 July, enabling the Avro Vulcan to leave Waddington for Yeovilton in Somerset.
The Vulcan to the Sky Trust said the aircraft would fly at the show, “weather permitting”, but its Twitter feed confirms that a brake problem forced it to shut down XH558 shortly after starting up its Rolls-Royce Olympus engines. By the time the fault had been fixed the weather conditions had become too poor for it to fly, it adds. The Met Office had forecast heavy rain for the afternoon.
XH558's next planned appearance will be at the Royal International Air Tattoo, being staged at Royal Air Force base Fairford in Gloucestershire on 18-19 July.
Source: FlightGlobal.com
