North East Aircraft Museum bosses plea to save Vulcan bomber

Jun 25 2009 by Tom Mullen, The Journal

MUSEUM bosses have issued an urgent plea for funding to help prevent a vintage fighter bomber being mothballed.

The North East Aircraft Museum’s Vulcan Bomber is one of only 14 of its kind, and is treasured by plane enthusiasts and history buffs.

But the credit crunch and stone-hurling vandals have plagued the 1960s Cold War icon, which draws tourists from around the country.

And a decline in the number of volunteers at the museum, near Washington, has now led bosses to issue an desperate plea for help to stop the Vulcan fading away altogether.

Linda Ross from the museum said: “There is an urgent need for help. There is a lot that needs doing to preserve the instrumentation in the cockpit, and health and safety rules these days mean it must be made totally safe.

“People can still climb inside and it’s a wonderful machine, but without the right help there is a chance it might not be with us even within the next year. There have been fewer volunteers helping out at the museum and we want to encourage more people to come and get involved.”

Since the plane came to the museum in the early 1980s it has been targeted intermittently by vandals. Despite being surrounded by a protective fence, the Vulcan’s windows have been smashed, paintwork chipped and wheels and engine damaged. Most recently, yobs uprooted some football goalposts from a nearby playing field and rammed them through the fence, narrowly missing the plane.