The Vulcan XL426 has been kept at Southend Airport since 1986, where it has been maintained in ground-running condition by volunteers from the Vulcan Restoration Trust (VRT).
Ahead of a sold-out VIP viewing day this weekend, some of those volunteers have shared their reasons for giving up their time to the project and what the project has given them.
The VRT volunteers meet weekly to carry out maintenance and repair tasks on the Vulcan, and also organise events and fundraising.
Impressive – Work is carried out inside the Vulcan’s hangar at Southend Airport (Image: VRT) Their work means the aircraft is one of only three Vulcans in the world kept in live, ground-running condition.
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When dog walker, Hannah Deurden joined the VRT a few years ago she had no previous engineering experience but had loved the Vulcan since being introduced to it by her aircraft engineer father as a child.
Rare – The Vulcan at Southend Airport is one of only three ground-running Vulcan’s in the country (Image: VRT) “We’ve got some wonderful engineers and teachers down here and when you start you are paired up with someone with a lot more experience – this past Saturday I was down there working on the steering system,” she said.
Kevin Packard began volunteering with the Vulcan in 1989 and has worked his way up through the ranks, now serving as vice president of the VRT.
Teamwork – A huge number of volunteers are involved in the aircraft’s restoration and preservation (Image: VRT) He said: “None of us from those early days could have imagined that we’d still be here some 35 years later in a hangar with such a great team of VRT volunteers looking after XL426.”
Adding: “I noticed a few tears in the eyes from many ‘oldies’ at last year’s Twilight Taxi Run, where XL426 performed so magnificently.”
Community – Volunteers like Mario relish in the relationship and bonds formed through the work (Image: VRT) For the VRT’s technical lead, Gareth Green, volunteering with the Vulcan is as much about community as it is about the aircraft itself.
He is particularly proud of the diversity of the trust’s volunteers.
“The team are very important to me, the fact that many members are young or slightly more mature in years, have different skills, and come from all sorts of backgrounds and walks of life are things I very much enjoy,” said Gareth.