When the final flying Avro Vulcan B2, serial number XH558, landed at Bruntingthorpe Aerodrome on Tuesday 23rd March 1993 very few expected to see this historic type grace the skies of Great Britain again. This Cold War giant was expected to spend its twilight years undertaking fast taxi runs down the runway at the site of the former RAF base. However, not known at the time, ‘The Delta Lady’ would become one of the most inspiring educational tools the UK aerospace industry has witnessed. Now the aircraft is conducting what has been confirmed as the final display season, James Innes examines how 558 made its ground-breaking legislative journey from a ‘National Defender’ to a ‘National Icon’.
