Vulcan bomber routes revealed

Routes for this weekend’s tour by the world’s last flying Vulcan bomber have finally been revealed.
Saturday's route over northern England and Scotland.Saturday's route over northern England and Scotland.
Saturday's route over northern England and Scotland.

Cold War icon XH558, which is based at Robin Hood Airport in Doncaster, will take off for a marathon, nationwide Farewell To Flight sortie this weekend.

But the UK-wide tour will not be the last by the aircraft – with more farewell flights planned throughout this month.

Fans of the aircraft have been told to stay away from Doncaster over fears too many spectactors could cause traffic chaos and safety issues, causing the event to be scrapped.

Sunday's route over southern England and Wales.Sunday's route over southern England and Wales.
Sunday's route over southern England and Wales.

Now the aircraft’s owners, the Vulcan To The Sky Trust, have revealed the full itinerary for this Saturday and Sunday’s spectacular.

Saturday’s northern route is scheduled to fly over Gainsborough, Brough, Menwith Hill, Leeming, Durham Tees Airport, Newcastle Airport, Eshott Airfield, Alnwick, East Fortune, Carlisle Airport, Bowness on Windermere, Warton, Chadderton, Manchester Airport, Woodford, RAF Cosford, East Midlands Airport and Derby.

The Sunday southern route is due to take in RAF Waddington, Rutland Water, North Weald Airfield, Gravesend, Herne Bay, Manston, Dover, Ashford, Dunsfold, Farnborough, Middle Wallop, Old Sarum, Bristol Airport, Filton, Cardiff Airport, St Athan, Staverton Glos Airport, RAF Brize Norton, Wellesbourne, Bruntingthorpe and Newark.

Flyovers at certain airports will be dependent on Air Traffic Control clearances at the time of arrival.

Pictures from the Yorkshire Airshow at Leeds East Air field September 26 2015. The Avro Vulcan XH558 during its display flypast.Pictures from the Yorkshire Airshow at Leeds East Air field September 26 2015. The Avro Vulcan XH558 during its display flypast.
Pictures from the Yorkshire Airshow at Leeds East Air field September 26 2015. The Avro Vulcan XH558 during its display flypast.

A spokesman for VTTS said: “This coming weekend, XH558 will take off on two large, orbital tours of the country, visiting as many places as we can sensibly cover within the operational constraints and time we have available.

“With flight times expected to be over three and a half hours each day, we also have to consider the limits of fuel-load and, of course, the comfort of our flight crews in very cramped and high workload conditions.”

The routes vary from those originally published more than 10 days ago.

Times have yet to be confirmed and will be published in a VTTS newsletter on Friday, but the flights are expected to start after lunch each day.

Full updates, locations and timings will be made available on Facebook and Twitter.

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