Vulcan Latest

[jims-terrano]

Hi All, I know this is not 4x4 related but thought it a worth while cause for people to read about. This is the latest news letter from the Vulcan To The Air Trust, it speaks for it's self.

Jim T


Dear Supporter,

XH558’s Future Now at Risk.

I imagine that you were as pleased as I was to see the excellent coverage that XH558 and her 50th Birthday Appeal gained in the Mail on Sunday on 17th January. We all need to thank those responsible for making this happen: the supporters who wrote letters to the Mail on Sunday Editor, asking him to publicise our campaign. But the situation remains dire.

The Extent of the Problem

Having already funded Marshall Aerospace to commence the most urgent “critical path” tasks needed for the Winter Engineering Programme, we now have just sufficient funds in our bank account to pay our overhead costs from today until the end of February – slightly less than five weeks. As the result, at the end of this week, I may need to recommend to the Board of Trustees that we give one month’s notice to all VTST employees with effect from 1st February.

The implications for XH558 are extremely grave: if we don’t find the money to keep going and finish the engineering programme, we may well lose all control over her destiny. We have already launched the plea for funds in a national newspaper, unfortunately apparently to little effect. We have raised just over £180,000, but we still need a total of £800,000 to get XH558 to the 2010 display season.

Because of the amount of work needed to be done this Winter, and the lead time associated with some of the items, there is real urgency in raising the sum needed – a further £620,000. As is the nature of engineering work on aircraft, not only is it surprisingly expensive but it’s “all or nothing”, which is why we now should not proceed further until we have confidence of reaching the full amount.

Including the necessary test flight, the whole engineering programme should last no longer than four months. But the longer we have to wait before reaching our £800,000 target, the more we delay XH558’s appearance her 50th Birthday air display season, and the more funds we would have used on unproductive overheads.

For XH558, the only way is forward through to completion of the whole engineering programme.

If there’s one positive thing we can say, it is that, barring mishaps, this is by far the most expensive Winter Service that XH558 will have to undergo for the foreseeable future. It will put in place the fatigue life extension modifications necessary for the remainder of her flying life.

Action Plan

So where to from here?

First, and most important, we are not giving up. We have to turn XH558’s 50th Birthday Appeal into nothing less than her 2010 Survival Appeal.

Recognising that supporters do not want to risk any of their donations not achieving tangible success, we are re-launching and re-driving our Pledge scheme.

Shortly, our website pages will change to reflect the new Appeal. We will be launching a Vulcan viral video, containing an attempt at a new world record, which we hope, with your help, will capture the attention of many.

The nature of the tasks and lead times of the Winter Engineering Programme means that it may be possible to move forward having raised only part of the funds, as long as there is confidence that the remaining funds will be forthcoming.

So when new pledges reach the half-way point of £310,000 (a total raised of £490,000), we will review the progress of the Appeal. If we are confident the whole amount will be raised, we will call in the pledges to date to allow work on XH558 to continue.

To set a deadline, we need to see £310,000 in new pledges by the end of February at the latest, if we are not to miss the main airshows this summer

As part of this new Campaign, I would like to offer an incentive: those who honour a pledge of £1,000 or more will receive an invitation for a personal visit to XH558 at RAF Lyneham during the Winter Service, to see her close-up and talk to the engineers who are working on her.

Please now would you help XH558 by making a Pledge if you can, but just as importantly, by spreading the word about this revised and renewed Pledge Campaign?

http://www.site.vulcantothesky.org/pledge.asp

We will continue to publicise XH558’s current plight and your help in doing this is so very valuable. So far we have not been successful in gaining the attention of very many of the 2.5million who saw her last summer – we need to radically improve this performance.

Assuming that we are successful in returning XH558 to flight, we have decided that we need to run a funding campaign spanning the whole year, aimed at avoiding getting in to a similar situation again. This Annual campaign will be launched formally on XH558’s Birthday, 25th May, and will run from this date every year. We are also closely examining our costs again, in order to reach a sustainable balance of income and expenditure in coming years.

These are desperate times and we recognise that with the shocking disaster in Haiti lest week, this is not a good time to prevail upon anyone’s generosity. However, from the above I hope you will understand that for XH558 it is now or never. We have no choice but to come back to you.

Very many thanks for any assistance you may be able to give.

Robert Pleming

[Deleted account DD]

Breaks my heart to see pieces of historical engineering excellence like this one struggling to be maintained when various organisations will cheerfully throw thousands upon thousands on crap art and dubious "national treasures"

A beautiful aircraft and I'm not even a plane spotter

[Deleted account DD]

Order going in for a mug, go on you know you want one

[(RIP) PLANK]

my father may he rest in peace, did his national service working on these aircraft and the experience stayed with him allways, he said it was the best time of his life.

So i will take a look and give some support if I can.

[lacroupade]

Ditto. We had a Vulcan at Halton when I did my apprenticeship back at the beginning of the 70s - they landed the bloody thing on a grass strip unbelievably! No idea where it ended up but they did remove it years later.

I remember sitting in the cockpit when we were doing ejector seat training - it was incredibly tiny and claustrophobic for such a huge aircraft and only had two ejector seats for the pilots, the other three crew had to bale out of a hatch underneath.

I always loved this big bastard too....

[jims-terrano]

Speaking of Victors, this really shouldn't of happened or was it an accident

Jim T

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3HaeYVlBw8

[lacroupade]

What a ballsup, but thats some seriously good piloting at the end! Amazing vid!

Check this out - interesting explanation and confirms what I just wrote - if anyone else had been flying it, it would have been trashed I've no doubt.

[Deleted account DD]

Originally Posted by lacroupade

Ditto. We had a Vulcan at Halton when I did my apprenticeship back at the beginning of the 70s - they landed the bloody thing on a grass strip unbelievably! No idea where it ended up but they did remove it years later.

Old fart

When I joined the RAF, at our passing out parade, one of (if not the) last operational flights out of Waddington was a 3 ship that did a fly past over us. Clucking noisy it was but very impressive.

Love em.

[jims-terrano]

XH558 Survival Appeal Update

Dear Supporter,

XH558: the deadline has been set – the end of February.

Sadness and grim determination are the main emotions today: the Trust’s funds are such that the decision has now been taken to place all its employees on one month’s notice, as of 1st February.

We have so much to fight for, but with less than one month to avoid shutdown, the pressure is now really on.

On the few occasions when we have been in a similar position before, all XH558’s most loyal supporters have rallied to the cause, and somehow she has been saved. We are not assuming that the same will happen this time, which is why we are enlisting so many more people to help.

In 1941, Sir Winston Churchill said: “Never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never, in nothing, great or small, large or petty, never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense.” We are not giving in.

Mindful that we should not solicit donations whilst we are uncertain about XH558’s future, we are putting 100% of our efforts into the Survival Appeal Pledge Scheme.

We need to raise over £300,000 in new pledges by the end of February to justify a stay of execution, followed by a further £300,000 in March to reach our target of £800,000.

We are therefore launching a number of new activities to secure the immediate future:

· An attempt to set a WORLD RECORD for the number of signatures on a single birthday card for XH558.
· Re-design of the Appeal website to ensure visitors understand our urgent message, with a countdown timer to our deadline of 28th February..
· A sixty-second no-punches-pulled promotional VIDEO, spread via emails, with the goal of going “viral” with our message.
· A written notice and Pledge reply slip to all those on our databases.
· A SURVIVAL RAFFLE, launched by the Vulcan to the Sky Club, to create instant availability of working capital, once we are secured. (Prizes will be honoured by the Club if the worst happens).
· A PROMOTION PACK, distributed with the Club’s Winter magazine, to all club members.
· Targeted ADVERTISING in regional newspapers where affordable.
· Contact with national media and PR agencies to get XH558’s story in front of as many people as possible.
· And of course networking with all existing supporters, sponsors and industry leaders.

If we gather sufficient momentum over the next four weeks, we may well be able to start work on XH558 once again, but we will only do this if we are confident that the target will be met.

In the meantime, work continues at Marshall Aerospace on the detailed planning for the Winter Engineering Programme, whilst our own team are helping with the Appeal.

Assuming we are successful, with the new experienced gained over the past year, we will be building funds throughout the year in all ways possible to avoid the desperate measures we have had to take each winter to keep the dream alive.

Remember our ultimate goal: to be flying down the Mall on 4th June 2012 in celebration of Her Majesty the Queen’s – and the Vulcan’s – Diamond Jubilee.

As we count down the days of February, all the thousands of our loyal supporters know full well what they will be missing if the worst comes to the worst for XH558. What is most galling, is that there are millions of people who really don’t know what they will have missed. But if they did, they could well decide to help save her.

XH558 is the “People’s Aircraft”. Can the people save her again?

Robert Pleming

[Deleted account DD]

Thats very sad if not unexpected

They seem to be a good bunch. The mugs & other bits I bought arrived yesterday and are as cool as

[ClanWolf]

Copied these across to GTROC and SO.com The more help the better.

[jims-terrano]

Once again, onwards and upwards!! – 25th February 2010

Dear Supporters,

There can now be no doubt that XH558 has a guardian angel looking after her: I can now confirm some really good news that vastly changes the status of our current Appeal.

Shortly, the Results Graph on our appeal site will show a massive increase due to a fantastic confirmed donation of £458,000! The donor has asked to remain anonymous, but I can reassure you that he is fully aware of the significance of this contribution.

As the result, I have pleasure in confirming that the Board of Trustees has decided that VTST now has sufficient funding in place to go forward with the planned engineering programme, and onward to the 2010 Display Season.

We have to temper this great news with the fact that our Public Appeal has been waning compared with previous years, probably as a result of the poor economic conditions and the weariness of boom and bust cycles.

Our main drive this year will be to finally put XH558 onto a firm business footing, with many new income generation schemes: Educational Lectures, New Merchandise, Regional Sponsorship, Competitions, and of course, an ongoing Annual Appeal. We must acknowledge we will continue to need public support, but gear the appeal over the whole year.

We will now focus our campaign on the 50th Birthday Appeal, which will also be marketed through our World Record attempt for signatures on XH558’s Birthday Card, until we launch our fresh campaign in May, aimed at taking XH558 on into 2011.

Very soon, those who have pledged will be receiving their “redemption” letters. Please await their arrival before making payment, so we can accurately record details and apply Gift Aid if applicable.

Your continuing support is much appreciated by everyone who appreciates what XH558 represents and by all those who have helped XH558 over the years. She is adored and appreciated by people all over the world. She is quite simply - the one and only!

Each and every one of us owes a deep debt of gratitude to every individual who contributed, no matter how small their donation, for keeping the dream alive.

My sincerest thanks and best wishes to you all,

Robert Pleming.

Vulcan to the Sky Trust.

[Deleted account DD]

Excellent news ..................for now

[sidsid06]

i know how they could save the aircraft just put ROYAL BANK OF SCOTAND ON THE WINGS AND THE MONEY WILL SOON START FLOODING IN FROM THE GOVERMENT!

[jims-terrano]

Hi All, another news letter from VTSC. I know this is not really a 4x4 subject but as you can tell it's something that I have an interest in. I'm not trying to ram it down your throats so please say if you don't really want these updates. The real interesting stuff will start shortly when they start posting engineering reports with photo's.

Jim

XH558 Update – Friday 12th March 2010


Dear Supporters,

Following on from the fantastic news of two weeks ago with the achievement of our Survival Appeal target, our immediate priority has been to start the work required to return XH558 to the 2010 air display season as soon as possible.

This has involved formalising the contracts, and in most cases making full payments, for all of the third-party engineering activities, such as the base maintenance support programme (with Marshall Aerospace), component overhaul and remanufacture. The initial on-aircraft activities have been to remove components for return to their Original Equipment Manufacturers. Examples of these are the fatigue meters for bay servicing by Meggitt, and the ejection seats for their annual inspection by SES. The engineers will then focus on the first stages of the “Minor” service: the inspection of the airframe, engines and systems, and determining whether any rectification is needed. In addition to the “Minor” service, four additional engineers will join the team to install the two airframe modifications (Mods 2429 and 2430) needed to extend XH558’s airframe life for the coming years.

As the project plan stands at the moment, we are forecasting finishing in early June, but as ever, dates are dependent on what happens as we proceed with the work. We will keep you updated.

I must at this point pay sincere tribute on behalf of XH558 and the VTST team to all those supporters of XH558 who have donated or made a Pledge in the past four months. The generous support of a few thousand people will enable millions to enjoy XH558’s display this summer – a numerical inequality that I’m sure has not escaped you.

This time last year, because we were so focused on achieving a successful first full season, we took our eyes off the ball of ensuring that our financial future was secure. Now that we have learnt the valuable lessons of 2009, Michael Trotter and I have agreed with VTST’s Board of Trustees that we need a sustainable financial plan in place by the Autumn. This is a vital objective.

From an administration perspective, we will shortly be calling in the Pledges made over the last few months. We have created the mailing database and have provided the letter template to our mailing house. These letters will now be produced and despatched in the latter part of next week to all those loyal supporters who have made a Pledge. Please could I ask you to await the arrival of your letter, which will contain important instructions about how to honour your pledge. This is so that we can accurately record your contribution, and avoid following up Pledges that have already been honoured.

On the promotion and marketing front in the short term, we have been reshaping our plans for taking our project out to the wider world. We have a number of new initiatives that will be revealed as we approach the return of XH558 to flight.

We recognise that working with you, our loyal supporters, remains a very effective way of keeping XH558’s profile high, which is a pre-requisite for continued fund-raising from the public at large. The ongoing and invaluable support from the Vulcan to the Sky Club, remains pivotal to this effort.

From an Operations perspective, we have undertaken a full review of all aspects of the 2009 season. Last year, the Trust’s marginal costs of operating XH558 at air displays exceeded the money raised at airshows by over £130,000. This year we need to do much better, and have the goal of breaking even over the season. With air show organisers, we are seeking local sponsors to supplement the usual airshow appearance fees, to increase our airshow revenues.

We are still in the early stages of planning this 2010 air display season, but if we can’t see additional sources of operational revenues from the flying we do, we will be looking to cut our operating costs, by for example make fewer long (and expensive) transits. A provisional flying programme will be published in late May, based on discussions with organisers and the developing picture from the aircraft servicing.

Above all, with experience of running XH558 as a “single aircraft airline” for well over a year behind us, we are more confident for a viable future, based on our growing commercial activities and the finance streams we are building. The launch of our Annual Appeal for 2011, and other special events planned around XH558’s 50th Anniversary on 25th May, will be central to continuing this drive. In the medium term, the target of flying down the Mall on 4th June 2012, in celebration of Her Majesty the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, remains firmly in our sights.

We will of course continue with these regular updates for you, giving the very latest news on developments.

Looking back over the past couple of months to another discomforting experience on the roller-coaster that is keeping XH558 flying, it’s clear that we all, XH558 included, owe so much to one another. We must continue to do the best for what is quite a remarkable British project and a unique achievement.

For being part of that, I thank you.

With kindest regards,

Robert Pleming