Frame containing the home page introduction text.
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META content="text/html; charset=unicode" http-equiv=Content-Type> <META name=GENERATOR content="MSHTML 8.00.6001.18783"></HEAD> <BODY><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" bgcolor=black bordercolor=black> <tr> <td valign="top"> <P align=center><FONT face=Verdana color=white ></FONT> <P><FONT color=white></FONT> <P align=left><FONT face=Verdana color=white size=5><FONT size=3><FONT face="Times New Roman"><FONT color=white><FONT face=Verdana><FONT size=5><P align=center><FONT size=7 color=yellow face="Gill Sans MT" ><U>Vulcan To The Sky</U></FONT></P> <P align=right><FONT color=green size=4>Subscribe To Our Newsletters<BR></FONT><FONT color=yellow size=4><FONT color=green>Be The First To Get Vulcan Updates. <BR></FONT> <i><FONT size=2 color=green >Register at the top right of this page</FONT> </i></FONT></P> </FONT> <P> <TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=600> <TR> <TD width=99><A href="http://toolbar.google.com/buttons/add?url=http://www.vulcantothesky.org/google/XH558-Twitter.xml"><IMG style="BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px" alt="Google Toolbar" src="images\google-toolbar.gif" width=99 height=22></A></TD> <TD class=google-toolbar width=215 align=left><A href="http://toolbar.google.com/buttons/add?url=http://www.vulcantothesky.org/google/XH558-Twitter.xml">Add Vulcan To the Sky to<BR>your Google ToolBar</A></TD></TR></TABLE></P> <p>XH558 Appeal Update</p> <p>2nd February 2010</p> <p>Dear Supporter,</p> <p><strong>XH558: the deadline has been set - the end of February</strong></p> <p>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.</p> <p>We have so much to fight for, but with less than one month to avoid shutdown, the pressure is now really on.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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." <u>We are not giving in</u>.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>We are therefore launching a number of new activities to secure the immediate future:</p> <ul> <li>An attempt to set a WORLD RECORD for the number of signatures on a single birthday card for XH558.</li> <li>Re-design of the Appeal website to ensure visitors understand our urgent message, with a countdown timer to our deadline of 28th February..</li> <li>A sixty-second no-punches-pulled promotional VIDEO, spread via emails, with the goal of going “viral” with our message.</li> <li>A written notice and Pledge reply slip to all those on our databases.</li> <li>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).</li> <li>A PROMOTION PACK, distributed with the Club’s Winter magazine, to all club members.</li> <li>Targeted ADVERTISING in regional newspapers where affordable.</li> <li>Contact with national media and PR agencies to get XH558’s story in front of as many people as possible.</li> <li>And of course, networking with all existing supporters, sponsors and industry leaders.</li> </ul> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>XH558 is the "People’s Aircraft". Can the people save her again?</p> <p>Robert Pleming</p> <P align=center><FONT size=5><U>Vulcan To The Sky Trust - Mission Statement</U></FONT> </P> <li><FONT size=2> To preserve and protect AVRO Vulcan G-VLCN (XH558) <P><IMG style="WIDTH: 381px; HEIGHT: 254px" border=0 hspace=0 alt="XH558 At Windermere Airshow" align=right src="images\Windermere2.jpg" width=480 height=340 useMap="" <BR></P></FONT> <li><FONT size=2> To demonstrate and display the aircraft at public events and to conserve her as a heritage asset in perpetuity.</FONT></li><FONT size=2> <p> <BR></p></FONT> <li><FONT size=2> To advance the education of the general public, and also specifically engineers and aviators, in the AVRO Vulcan, her provenance; historical and social context; design technologies; operational and maintenance processes and procedures; for the benefit of British heritage, historical and technical knowledge and conservation.</FONT></li><FONT size=2> <p> <BR></p></FONT> <li><FONT size=2>To assist in the conservation to full working order of other heritage aircraft of the 20th century</FONT> <BR> <p> </p> <p align="center" ><FONT size=5><U>XH558 Post RAF History</U> </FONT></p> <p >XH558 was the last Vulcan to leave RAF service, flying on from 1986 to 1993 as the single RAF Display Vulcan, a career of 33 years. Her final flight was on 23rd March 1993 to Bruntingthorpe Aerodrome in Leicestershire, having been sold off by the Ministry of Defence to C Walton Ltd, a family firm who purchased and maintained her, with the thought that one day, she might be returned to fight. In 1997, a small team headed by Dr Robert Pleming started to put together an audacious plan to return her to flight, but it was clear from the start that the project would be technically challenging & enormously expensive. Never deterred, the team set off down the path that led to XH558's return to the air.</p> <p> </p> <p >Over 1998-2000, the start-up team confirmed the formal support of all the manufacturers needed to help XH558's restoration, and completed a technical review which showed there were no show-stoppers. The real challenge was money first estimates were that over £3.5million would be required to pay for the restoration. Eventually a successful bid was made to the Heritage Lottery Fund, who in December 2003 announced a grant of £2.7million for XH558's restoration, and a large grant for a sister project, the exciting new National Cold War Exhibition at RAF Cosford near Wolverhampton.</p> <p >On 31st August 2006, XH558 rolled out of the hangar for the first time in 7 years. This had coincided with an critical funding crisis, but in the last 3 weeks of August, the Trust, with the drive, energy & enthusiasm of XH558's supporters in the Vulcan to the Sky Club, managed to raise over £1.3million to save the project.</p> <p >The Vulcan to the Sky Trust has been pleased to welcome many visitors, but one of the most important was Baroness Thatcher, who was British Prime Minister during the South Atlantic Conflict in 1982. Thatcher visited XH558 in March 2007, as part of the 25th anniversary commemorations of the Conflict. She met for the first time some of the Vulcan aircrew who had flown "Black Buck" missions to the Falklands.</p> <p >After extensive tests, XH558's Olympus engines were started up for the first time in August 2007. A further two months of testing on the ground followed, to ensure that XH558 was 100% ready for flight.</p> <p >Finally, 14 years after its last flight & with over £7million spent, Vulcan XH558 roared into the air again on Thursday 18th October 2007, a perfect day for flying. An unforgettable day for the Vulcan to the Sky team. A great British project, owing its success to optimism, determination, teamwork and a little bit of paranoia!</p> <p >XH558 was finally granted her Permit to Fly on 3rd July 2008, and returned to air displays two days later at a packed RAF Waddington Airshow, her former home. There was not a dry eye on the airfield!</p> <p >As well as flying Vulcan XH558, the Vulcan to the Sky Trust has some major educational objectives: helping people to understand the history of the Cold War (1946-1991), and inspiring the young in technology.</p> <p >To keep XH558 flying at air shows & to deliver our inspirational educational activities, the Vulcan to the Sky Trust has to raise over £1.6million per year. We are now totally reliant on donations from the public and on sponsorship.<BR><BR> Click on the image below for a report from the BBC on the first flight.</p></FONT> <p align="center" > <A href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/media/avdb/regions/east_midlands/video/127000/bb/127099_16x9_bb.asx"><IMG class=photo style="WIDTH: 277px; HEIGHT: 200px" height=102 alt="Vulcan Bomber on the runway" src="http://www.bbc.co.uk/leicester/content/images/2007/10/18/vulcan_203x152.jpg" width=137 border=0></A></p> <p> <HR> <P></P> <p ></p> <p align="center" ></FONT><FONT face=Verdana size=3><FONT color=white><FONT size=4>The Following link is a downloadable<br>"life and times of the Vulcan"<br>and explains how we got here.</FONT> </FONT></P> <p align="center" ><A class=submenulinks href="http://www.vulcantothesky.org/downloads/Life_&_Times_of_the_Avro_Vulcan_V10_December_2009.pdf" target="_blank"><FONT face=Verdana color=white size=5>Life and Times of the Avro Vulcan</FONT></A><FONT size=4> </FONT></p> <h1 ></FONT></FONT></FONT><FONT size=4><FONT size=3><FONT color=white><SPAN lang=EN-GB style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS'"><SPAN style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"> <HR></h1> <p align="center" ><FONT face="Gill Sans MT" color=yellow size=5>"Honouring The Past - Inspiring The Future"</FONT></p></SPAN></SPAN></FONT></FONT></SPAN></FONT></FONT></FONT></LI></td> </tr> </table></BODY></HTML>
<link href="vulcanstyle.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"> <title>Vulcan to the Sky Trust - Avro Vulcan Bomber XH558 - Vulcan To The Sky Trust</title> <div class="newscontainer" style="top:0; left:0"> <div class="newsmain"> <div align="center"><img src="images/newsboxheader.gif" alt="Latest News on the Vulcan to the sky project" width="166" height="39" /></div> <div id="newsbox" font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 8px; color: #FFFFFF;> <script language="JavaScript" src="news/xlaabsolutenm.aspx?z=1&sort=startdate&ord=desc&h=3" type="text/javascript"></script> </div> <br /> <div id="searchbox"> <table width="159" border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <form action="news/PPLsearch.aspx" method="post" name="form1" target="mainframe" id="form1"> <tr> <td align="right" style="padding:0px"><img src="images/searchnewsboxheader.gif" alt="Search archived Vulcan to the sky news" width="166" height="34" /></td> </tr> <tr> <td><input type="text" name="search" size="15" /> <input type="image" name="Submit" value=">>" src="images/homepagesearchbutton.gif" alt="Click here to search the archive" /> <br /> </td> </tr> </form> </table> </div> <br /> <div id="quick-column"> <div id="quicklogo"></div> <ul id="menu" class="undo"> <li><a href="http://www.site.vulcantothesky.org/help.asp" target="_parent">How to Help</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.site.vulcantothesky.org/guestbook.asp" target="_parent">Guest Book</a></li> <li><a href="http://site.vulcantothesky.org/shop.asp" target="_parent">Merchandise</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.site.vulcantothesky.org/partnership-links.asp" target="_parent">Our Partners</a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>
