The Vulcan XH558 & General Aviation Thread

[Pullman99]

Seems they've gotten away with it again for now-

Presubaly so; although they're not on finals yet. From general comments it would seem that they may have a bit of organisational restructuring to do in the coming months.

[Pullman99]

Looks like they're cleared for take off again!

Latest news on XH558

http://www.vulcantothesky.org/

[Mike Bull]

Made the BBC too-

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-11663661

So, they needed to find 75k- though apparently, Dr Plemming is paid 72k a year out of the company?!

Trouble is, with the board agreeing that 'the rest of the money can be raised later', is that they are already behind for 2011 before they've started- but at least everyone who had received their notices can breathe a sigh of relief for now.

[orgster1]

What exactly does this Flemming chap do to warrant £72K a year? I know he's the chief exec and all that but does he actually get his hands dirty or is he another push a lot of paper work around type 2, or is it he just sits there in an attempt to look good in his Armani suit? Perhaps if these chief exec people had a reality check in that they really are not worth what they "THINK" they are then lots of money could be saved for (in this case) things like fuel or wages for the real people behind the project like pilots and ground crew. (Who more than likely do it from affection rather than gain)? It gets right up my nose that projects like this have to raise so much money and then firstly fuel someone’s ego. (This goes all the way from projects like this all the way up to the head of the BBC and Banks and we won't even go near the NHS) If the BBP was anything like it I wouldn't even press the link to the website seriously. Rant over

[sutol]

What exactly does this Flemming chap do to warrant £72K a year? I know he's the chief exec and all that but does he actually get his hands dirty or is he another push a lot of paper work around type 2, or is it he just sits there in an attempt to look good in his Armani suit? Perhaps if these chief exec people had a reality check in that they really are not worth what they "THINK" they are then lots of money could be saved for (in this case) things like fuel or wages for the real people behind the project like pilots and ground crew. (Who more than likely do it from affection rather than gain)? It gets right up my nose that projects like this have to raise so much money and then firstly fuel someone’s ego. (This goes all the way from projects like this all the way up to the head of the BBC and Banks and we won't even go near the NHS) If the BBP was anything like it I wouldn't even press the link to the website seriously. Rant over

I have no idea what Flemming does day to day for his salary but Vulcan have a wage bill around £650k,that's employees. It also pays big hanger fees and consultant fees. Expensive this Vulcan. Having seen her she is magniicent in the air but it is a lot of money on one project

[Renegadenemo]

It would be interesting to know exactly what the CAA insist upon in terms of engineering and management support before they'll sign off on letting that weapon of mass destruction leave the ground. I have absolutely no idea but it could be that there's no way they could fly the thing without a 650K wages bill and, let's be fair, if you work your way to the level where the CAA will trust you on such an undertaking you damn-well want to be paid for your efforts.
And another thing... having crawled about an example of said machine for an afternoon I now know why it took a government to keep such a thing flying and making one work these days makes our tin boat project look as trivial and simple as making a cheese sandwich!
Let's not be too harsh on these people, at least until we understand what they're up against. Personally, I think they've made an outstanding job of mending their plane and garnering public subscription to pay for it. I've spoken to Dr Pleming a time or two and he seems like a good enough bloke to me. I'd certainly not want his job so maybe - just maybe - he actually works for his dosh?

[captainbear]

Couldn’t agree more with Bill’s last posting. I saw the Vulcan flying at the Sunderland airshow and it is a magnificent, amazing sight/sound. The big problem, as I see it, is that the British government never seems to look further forward than the life of a single parliament, so to spend money on long-term projects like these is totally beyond their comprehension. There are only two flying Lancasters left in the world (out of many thousands) and how we wish there could be more now. Concorde has gone the same way. They chop up historic ships for fun and refuse to help groups that are prepared to do something about preserving our history before it’s too late (unless of course it’s the Mary Rose or the Cutty Sark).
Bureaucracy has always been expensive and people that can work out how to get results from it are few and far between. So if there are people out there that will spend their own time and their money on projects like XH558, Concorde and K7 etc, all the very best to them. And if they have to be paid for doing it, I reckon that’s a small price to pay to stop these machines from disappearing from living memory. When they’re gone, they’re gone for ever.

[Mike Bull]

I can see why the aviation enthusiasts get exasperated and start to question salaries at '558 central, but it's all gone on long enough now that anything truly negative would have come to light. They do a bloody incredible job to get that old thing into the air each year, and good on them.

At least the government in the shape of the MoD do operate the Lancaster (and it's accompanying friends the fighters) at the BBMF; can you imagine the uproar if ever they decided to do away with that? Likewise the Red Arrows, though we're not talking heritage there. Mind you, isn't the Hawk due out of service fairly soon? What do we get then- one Typhoon towing eight replicas?!

[orgster1]

I agree that things like 558 should be cherished and looked after as a reminder of our once great technological nation, and yes I agree Vulcan’s are an awe inspiring spectacle having seen them first hand when they were still in service and having to halt procedures during motorcycle racing to let them land and take off, and I have also been privy to climbing all over one at Blackpool airport not long after it was parked there and took in what a huge feat of engineering it was. But my response was to Mikes post about having to raise 75k then pay 72k to one person, and that they are already behind before they even leave the starting blocks next year. And as regards to bureaucracy coming at a high price that’s one of my main points! As long as we keep accepting it then people will just keep putting their price up until saturation point comes and the thing will never get off the ground because of the human factor. This reminds me of the (Alleged) joke picture doing the rounds on the internet where you have 12 blokes stood around a hole in the road all with fancy titles like IT consultant manager and Manager in charge of Human resources etc, and then one bloke in the hole doing the digging named BLOKE FROM POLAND. To me that sums up everything from things like 558 all the way up to having to bail banks out with our hard earned cash only to see them award themselves money for the privilege. Every day I work in an environment that’s full of OK we need to have a meeting before we can make the coffee so that we can bring in a consultant to see if the kettle can hold enough water and bring in another department to make sure we have enough cups to go around and then I get dragged into it because I have letters after my name. (Yes I have heard all the jokes what you’re thinking) But I sit there wondering exactly how much off all the rubbish actually gets the job done so that we can have a simple cup of coffee. Anyway I’m waffling here. Make sure you all dig deep next year to keep 558 around for 2012 and I hope they don’t rely too much on the public as they may be spending all their money on little Olympic fluffy toys and plastic horns to make a din with.

[Mike Bull]

Very interesting interview with Dr Pleming-

http://www.globalaviationresource.com/reports/2010/xh558.php