→ Vulcan XH558’s first public display after her award-winning return-to-flight restoration, captured here from the rear of her predecessor, the Avro Lancaster. Only 11 years seperates the first flights of these two dramatically different aircraft.
→ Artist’s impressions of the Aviation Academy.
The story started with the world’s most ambitious and complex technical restoration project, an award-winning aspiration to return one of the world’s most iconic aircraft to the skies. Now, after meeting all the objectives, delighting more than two million people every year and inspiring new generations of young people, Vulcan to the Sky Trust is entering an exciting new phase of the narrative.
When XH558 lands for the last time at the end of a spectacular Farewell to Flight season, eight years after that remarkable return to the skies, it will be to become the centrepiece of a new type of education initiative. The exciting Etna project will build on XH558’s inspirational qualities to encourage the development of the technical and aviation industry skills that Britain so badly needs, continuing XH558’s success as an icon of British achievement.
To deliver the first phase of XH558’s new life, we are working closely with the Aviation Skills Partnership (ASP) to develop plans for a Vulcan Aviation Academy & Heritage Centre at her home at Robin Hood Airport near Doncaster. The plan is supported by a core group of founding partners which includes Peel Airports Group, Doncaster College and University Centre, Skypeople, Aviation Shake, the Spirit of Goole Youth Build-a-Plane Project, and the Light Aircraft Association Educational Trust. The Academy will focus on six areas of aviation skills: piloting, air traffic controls, airport ground operations, aircraft operations, cabin crew and aviation engineering.
XH558 will be cared for at an adjacent heritage centre from where she will continue to delight visitors of all ages as she does today, with the added excitement of regular fast taxi runs.
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