At the end of 2015, Avro Vulcan XH558, the last airworthy Vulcan airframe, will be grounded. The delta-winged bomber, which made it’s debut in 1956, has long been a symbol of British airpower and XH558, which was built in 1960, has finally reached two major issues that cannot be addressed well: it has flown 10% more than any other Vulcan, ever, which puts the airframe into new and rather dangerous territory, and the “technical authorities”, the three companies who have been supporting XH558, are withdrawing their support, which will end the Civil Aviation Authority’s ability to type certify the airframe for flight. In order to go out on top, the Vulcan has been making the airshow rounds for the final time in the U.K., and at the Royal International Air Tattoo in Kempsford, XH558 put on one hell of a show at takeoff. As soon as the wheels lift off of the tarmac the pilot rolls into a highly banked and climbing right turn…it’s the kind of visual that unnerves people on the ground and you can hear the gasps as the turn starts. If you are going to go out though, you might as well make the last few shows count!
(Courtesy: Foxtrot Alpha)
” A symbol of British airpower ”
Hee hee … ha … ha …. Bahahahahahahahaha !!!
British airpower indeed ! Placing airpower in conjunction with British in a sentence being the oxymoron of the late 20th and 21st century ! Heck … placing ANY military superlative in conjunction with the word British is an oxymoron !
The Brits not having anything even so much as resembling power when it comes to their military since WWII they having been reduced to a 2nd rate Has Been wishing and praying in vain to every ” Small Metal God ” known to man that they may someday be again all while pretending to be ” The Greatest Living Englishman ”
British airpower indeed ! Hee hee . Thats almost as funny as placing reliable alongside British cars and bikes in the same sentence
British airpower …. err … ahhh …. hhhhhh
Bahahahahahahahahahahaha !
ColoradoKid/GuitarSlinger/TJ Martin or whoever you want to call yourself, you are the symbol of being the American asshole who knows everything about nothing. You are a disgrace to real Bangshifters around the world.
Karma will eventually get you with the people you piss off on this forum.
kid, you haven’t done, proved or improved anything I’ve seen yet on this planet except wasting oxygen. you could donate you body to science. you could prove your the biggest asshole on the planet.
…please do not feed the village idiot….
His comments always read like derp derp derp derp with ellipses and exclamation marks randomly added. One day he’ll understand that not all (uninformed) opinions need to be shared. I hope.
XH558 has been the last Vulcan since the early 90s. She’s a glorious thing and it will be a shame to see her land for the last time. I think the hung on to her as she was the first operational Delta wing aircraft. If you look on YouTube for videos of the Vulcan howl you’ll see her other famous feature.