Update from Vulcan to the Sky Trust – April 2024

Last month we were pleased to be able to share the news with you that the City of Doncaster Council (CDC) announced they had signed a lease for the former Doncaster Sheffield Airport. The lease is for 125 years and CDC noted that “The lease agreement is the first stage in the process to reopen the airport. The next stage is the appointment of an airport operator to manage the operational airport.”

We were equally as pleased that we were able to engage in discussions with CDC at such an early stage of their management of the site and agreed dates for Vulcan XH558 Tours for the months ahead. We announced those dates to supporters last week and the eight sessions across four event dates sold out in just over an hour.

Marc Walters, Chief Executive of Vulcan to the Sky Trust (VTST) said: “We are pleased to be working with the City of Doncaster Council, as the leaseholders for the airport, and our current landlords to be able to put these events on.

“We know how important these tours are to supporters and they sell out very quickly when they are released. We will be adding more dates in the coming months and we look forward to working with the successful company who will eventually reopen the airport as we work to secure our long-term future in Doncaster.”

Ahead of visits the engineering team have been working hard on some maintenance and cleaning tasks. You can read about this work in articles written by two of the volunteer team, Dave Hirons and Connor Sykes.

Our team have also been busy with our education partners, The Work-wise Foundation. With Vulcan XH558 as the centrepiece our mission is to inspire the next generation to learn about, be inspired by and find a future career in science, technology, engineering or manufacturing. Collaboratively we have delivered a series of events and activities, such as Get up to Speed with STEM 2024, Dr Pleming’s Operation Vulcan Design Projects: Fostering Innovation in Education, Get in the Spirit Challenges: Unleashing Creativity Across Schools, and collaborating on projects with Doncaster UTC.

Such activities remind us of the continued importance of Vulcan XH558, the innovative design of the aircraft and it’s role as a peacekeeper during the Cold War, and the work we do alongside The Work-wise Foundation in inspiring future generations, embracing innovation, fostering creativity and supporting diversity in STEM fields. You will be able to read more about this work in next month’s newsletter.