Avro Vulcan XH558 (military serial XH558, civil aircraft registration G-VLCN) Spirit of Great Britain was the last remaining airworthy example of the 134 Avro Vulcan jet-powered delta winged strategic nuclear bomber aircraft operated by the Royal Air Force during the Cold War. It was the last Vulcan in military service, and the last to fly at all after 1986. It last flew on 28 October 2015."Final Flight report" Vulcan To The Sky, 30 October 2015.
Vulcan XH558 first flew in 1960, and was one of the few examples converted for a maritime reconnaissance role in 1973, and then again as an air-to-air refuelling tanker in 1982. After withdrawal in 1984 it continued with the RAF's Vulcan Display Flight, performing until 1992.Cotter 2010, p. 32. In 1993 it was sold to C Walton Ltd who used it for ground-based displays at their Bruntingthorpe Aerodrome in Leicestershire, until 1999. Through a combination of public donations and lottery funding, it was restored to airworthy condition by the Vulcan To The Sky Trust, who returned it to flight on 18 October 2007. The donations required to reach that point totalled £6.5 million.
It recommenced its display career in 2008, funded by continuing donations to assist the £2 million annual running costs. In the summers from 2008 to 2010 it was based at RAF Brize Norton, Oxfordshire, moving its winter base to RAF Lyneham, Wiltshire at the end of 2009. From 2011 it moved to a new year-round base at the commercial Doncaster Sheffield Airport. The prospect of grounding and sale due to lack of funds was regularly averted, and XH558 flew long enough for fundamental engineering life-expectancy issues to become the main threat to continued operation. After being overcome once to gain an extra two years of flight, on 15 May 2015 it was confirmed that 2015 would be XH558's last flying season, due to the third-party companies responsible for maintaining it withdrawing their support."Important announcement on the 2015 season." Vulcan To The Sky, 15 May 2015. Since its last flight, XH558 is now kept in taxiable condition, in common with two of the other surviving Vulcans, XL426 and XM655.
History
Royal Air Force A total of 136 Vulcans were produced at Woodford Aerodrome between 1956 and 1965, with the first entering operational service on 20 May 1957.Birtles, p121Birtles, p47 XH558 was the first of the upgraded B2 version to enter service with the RAF, making its maiden flight from Woodford on 25 May 1960, and being delivered to No. 230 Operational Conversion Unit at RAF Waddington, Lincolnshire, on 1 July 1960. The OCU was the unit which prepared pilots familiar with other aircraft to fly the Vulcan.Birtles 2008, p. 97. Almost immediately 230 OCU transferred to RAF Finningley, South Yorkshire. In 1968, XH558 transferred back to Waddington, where it saw operational service with units of the Waddington Wing (44, 50 and 101 Squadrons).
In August 1973, XH558 was one of nine Vulcans converted to a SR2 Maritime Radar Reconnaissance configuration, for use by No. 27 Squadron. By 1979 it had been decided the Vulcan was redundant, with the first being sent for scrap in December 1980.Birtles, p57 The last operational bomber squadron disbanded on 27 December 1982. In 1982 XH558 was one of the six Vulcans converted to the K2 tanker variant, a stopgap measure to mitigate temporary shortages in the RAF tanker fleet due to some being life-expired in Falklands War operations, and newer replacement types not yet being ready. Sent to Woodford for conversion at the end of June, it passed back into service with 50 Squadron at Waddington on 12 October. The last Vulcans in service were the six tankers and a few other standard aircraft as trainers, all with 50 Squadron, which disbanded on 31 March 1984. XH558 was finally withdrawn from service on 17 September 1984.
XH558 was subsequently selected for display duties with the RAF's Vulcan Display Flight at Waddington. The VDF had been formed in 1984 and was already using XL426 (the aircraft donated to Southend in 1986).Cubitt and Ellis 1997, p. 123. For display duties, XH558 was returned to B2 configuration in 1985, and made its debut at Bournemouth in May 1985. It served in the VDF for seven years, making its final flight at Cranfield on 20 September 1992.
It was the last Vulcan in service, largely due to the fact that it had seen little service as a low-level bomber and had spent considerable time grounded due to an accident when taking off for a northbound maritime sortie from RAF Scampton, on 6 November 1975. On takeoff, the No. 3 engine disintegrated after ingesting a seagull, resulting in a very large hole being blown right through her starboard wing. Subsequent major repairs grounded XH558 for many years, with the result that XH558, despite being the earliest Mk.2 to enter RAF service, had actually flown considerably fewer hours than most of her stablemates.
Earlier the aircraft had appeared in the 1961 Central Office of Information (COI) film No Claim Bonus which was also later used as a Trade test colour film on BBC 2.
Post-RAF
Having been put up for disposal, XH558 was acquired by the Walton family, and delivered by air to Bruntingthorpe Aerodrome in Leicestershire on 23 March 1993, its last flight of the 20th Century.Cotter 2010, p. 34. It was kept in serviceable condition, performing fast runs along the main runway along with other fast jets during special open days.
A decade earlier, shortly after the Waltons had acquired Bruntingthorpe, plans had been drawn up to fly the preserved XM575 from East Midlands Airport to their planned aircraft museum, although it never took place as the money ran out before the necessary servicing could be completed.
In 1997, a study was conducted looking into the feasibility of returning XH558 to flight – a risky prospect for the owners considering the aircraft would need to be retired as a ground-based attraction and largely dismantled before restoration could begin. With the decision taken in 1998, the last public ground run took place on 5 September 1999.
The Vulcan to the Sky Trust was established to raise funds; including lodging an application with the Heritage Lottery Fund, rejected in 2002 but then refocused and accepted in 2004.Birtles 2008, p. 98. Work began on the restoration in 2005; to bring confidence to donors of the project, the Walton family formally passed ownership of XH558 to the Trust in the same year. In celebration of meeting a funding target, on 31 August XH558 was rolled out of its hangar for the first time in seven years for a publicity shoot."Donor saves Vulcan bomber project." BBC News, 31 August 2006.
XH558 returned to flight for the first time on 18 October 2007, conducting three test flights."Vulcan bomber returns to the sky." BBC News, 18 October 2007."First Takeoff Video." Youtube. Retrieved: 6 June 2015. Given the civilian registration of G-VLCN by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), an exemption was made to allow it to fly in Royal Air Force markings as XH558."G-VLCN." United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority. Retrieved: 6 June 2015. During part of May 2008, XH558 resided at RAF Coningsby where it underwent further testing, and while there took part in a photo-call with the Lancaster and a Typhoon .Pleming, Dr. Robert. "Return to flight." Vulcan To The Sky. Retrieved: 6 June 2015. On 9 June 2008, XH558 flew its final test flight, a 98-minute journey from Bruntingthorpe, which included a display in front of examiners from the CAA. Deemed a success, an application for a permit to fly at air shows was submitted to the CAA, with a view to attending its first public event in 15 years, the RAF Waddington Airshow, on 5 and 6 July."Clear skies give Vulcan chance to shine." Harborough Mail, 9 June 2008.
The CAA granted permission for XH558 to fly from Bruntingthorpe to Waddington on Thursday 3 July, but authorisation for display flights was not granted until the Friday, allowing the first display flight, lasting five minutes, to go ahead on the Saturday in front of an estimated crowd of 125,000.Dancey 2014, pp. 156–157."Bomber takes to the skies again". BBC News, 3 July 2008."Vulcan gets full display go-ahead". BBC News, 4 July 2008."Thousands watch Vulcan's display". BBC News, 6 July 2008. An electrical fault prevented it from flying on the Sunday.
XH558 was named Spirit of Great Britain in 2010.
A combination of factors resulted in a decision at the end of 2012 to retire XH558 after the end of the 2013 season. After another feasibility study the decision was reversed and a major funding drive launched, which resulted in the required engineering work being done to ensure XH558 flew for the 2014 and 2015 seasons – see Operation 2015.
Retirement
On 15 May 2015 it was announced that 2015 would be XH558's last flying season.
The UK Civil Aviation Authority rescinded its 'Permit to fly'
Various options to continue flights beyond 2015 were considered and ultimately rejected for engineering, cost, practicality or other reasons outside of the Trust's control – limiting the hours flown in 2015, building new Olympus engines and sourcing parts from other Vulcans, training new staff, using other technical authorities, and even relocating XH558 to another country. As a result, following completion of the 2015 Farewell to Flight display season, XH558's final ever flight occurred on 28 October 2015, a small display at its Doncaster Sheffield base.
Future plans With XH558 now permanently grounded, the Trust intended to make the Vulcan the focus of a new educational and heritage facility at Doncaster Sheffield Airport, but was given notice to quit in August 2022, with a final occupancy date of June 2023. This was coincidental with the announcement of the commercial failure and possible closure of the airport.Doncaster Sheffield Airport owners reiterate that it 'cannot continue in its current form' and admit 800 jobs are at risk Yorkshire Post, 27 July 2022. Retrieved 16 August 2022Vulcan XH558: Iconic Cold War aircraft to leave Doncaster Sheffield Airport amid uncertainty over future Yorkshire Post, 15 August 2022. Retrieved 16 August 2022Vulcan XH558 set to leave Doncaster Sheffield Airport in 2023 vulcantothesky.org, 15 August 2022. Retrieved 16 August 2022 In December 2024, the Vulcan To The Sky Trust confirmed that the long term future of XH558 at Doncaster had been secured in principle.Vulcan XH558 secures long-term home at Doncaster Sheffield Airport vulcantothesky.org, 3 December 2024. Retrieved 20 January 2025
The Trust's ongoing commitment was to keep XH558 in good condition and use it for educational purposes, which they committed to do for 80 years as a condition of the 2005 Lottery funding. The first stage was to establish the Vulcan Aviation Academy & Heritage Centre, involving an academy building for 14–18 year olds, focussing on "six areas of aviation skills: piloting, air traffic controls, airport ground operations, aircraft operations, cabin crew and aviation engineering". XH558 would be housed in an adjacent heritage centre, where it will be maintained so as to be able to perform taxi runs, the frequency of which would be funding-dependent. With less engineering required to support the Vulcan as a taxi-able exhibit, the Trust's associated engineering company was examining the possibility of setting up as an independent, CAA-approved, heritage aviation servicing operation. As a result of the new focus post-flight operations, the Trust's additional base at Hinckley was also to close."An exciting new life for XH558". Vulcan To The Sky, 25 November 2015.
Displays