At last!

First flight

After all the waiting, and a fantastic effort by all those involved, 558 made her first air test on the 18th October.  Pilots for the day were Dave Thomas and Al McDicken.  I believe Barry Masefield was AEO.  The flight was only a short one, but from all we hear, it went well.  The pilots certainly had a grin on their faces!  I guess it is down to them now to get a display format together and we can look forward to seeing the aircraft on the display circuit.  I'm sure though that there will still be lots of calls for funding, but at least people will be able to respond to a flying aircraft, rather than one on jacks.  Great work.

On Monday 15th I attended a lunch at the Royal Air Force Club with Robert Pleming as guest speaker.  He gave a good talk on how the Vulcan Operating Company had managed to get the aircraft to the taxi stage, with an air test expected 'within days', and he was right.  He did though speak of the £6M that it had cost to date, and a continuing need for funds.  Hopefully now they will get a corporate sponsor on board.