VULCAN GETS GREEN LIGHT FOR WADDINGTON AIR SHOW08:00 - 04 July 2008
Vulcan bomber XH558 has been cleared to perform a flying display at the Waddington Air Show this weekend.
It had been feared that the historic aircraft would not receive its permit to fly in time.
But Civil Aviation Authority inspectors have now given it the green light after more than a decade of painstaking restoration work.
The project, which cost an estimated £7m, would not have been possible without hundreds of individual donations.
Vulcan Operating Company engineering director Andrew Edmondson said: "I am over the moon.
"It has taken 15 years of work and we have now received a permit.
"It has been one of the most complex projects to have been done in the world.
"Without the help of a number of people the Vulcan would not be in this position today.
"I feel a bit teary now. It has been a very long road but we have made it."
Eurofighter Typhoon display team pilot Charlie Matthews said he was thrilled to see the Vulcan return to RAF Waddington.
"I have read all the books and it is just fantastic," he said.
"To have this piece of RAF history back in the air, in such a poignant year with the RAF celebrating its 90th anniversary, is great.
"The more aircraft relics we can keep going, the better."
The Vulcan will be performing on both days of the RAF Waddington International Air Show. Tomorrow it takes off at 3pm. It will fly with a Lancaster bomber before performing its own display at 4.05pm.
On Sunday, it will take off at 1.40pm and perform its own display at 3.20pm.
The air show will also feature flying performances from the Red Arrows, a USAF B-52, Spanish and Indian display teams, a French Mirage 2000, Chinook and Apache helicopters and the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight among others.
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