Avro Vulcan XH558

Avro Vulcan XH558 Spirit of Great Britain
XH558 (underside) during the 2009 Cosford Airshow
General information
Other name(s)	Spirit of Great Britain (2010–present)
Type	Avro Vulcan B2
Manufacturer	Avro
Owners	Royal Air Force (1960–1993) C Walton Ltd (1993–2005) Vulcan To The Sky Trust (2005–present)
Construction number	Set 12
Registration	G-VLCN
Serial	XH558
Total hours	7,658 (31 December 2014)
History
First flight	25 May 1960
In service	Royal Air Force (1960–1993) -B2 bomber (1960–1973) -SR2 Maritime Radar Reconnaissance (1973–1982) -K2 tanker (1982–1984) -Vulcan Display Flight (1985–1992) Civilian display flights (2008–2015)
Last flight	28 October 2015
Preserved at	Doncaster Sheffield Airport
Fate	Preserved in taxiable condition

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.^[1]

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.^[2] 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.^[3] Since its last flight, XH558 is now kept in taxiable condition, in common with two of the other surviving Vulcans, XL426 and XM655.