The first and last!

At a time when most aeroplanes still had propellers, A.V. Roe and Company (known as Avro) took a bold step. Not only did they decide to build a jet-powered aircraft, but also a Delta - one with huge triangular wings, something which hardly anyone had tried before, certainly nothing as big as the Vulcan!

Although some B Mk.1 Vulcans were already working hard with the Royal Air Force, FiveFiveEight was the first of the bigger and more powerful B Mk.2. Delivered to the RAF in July 1960, FiveFiveEight immediately started work training Pilots and Aircrew how to fly this huge machine, ready for all the other B Mk.2s being built at Woodford in Manchester.

In 1973 FiveFiveEight was given an important new job - Maritime Radar Reconnaissance, a complicated name for searching the seas around Britain, using her powerful Radar equipment to help the Royal Navy keep our Nation safe from attack. FiveFiveEight was given a glossy new coat of paint to protect all her complex systems from the damaging salty air. Today, this job is done by RAF Nimrod aircraft, which have to have a shower every time they return from the sea, to get rid of the salt!

In 1982, keeping her shiny new paintwork, FiveFiveEight began one of the most important jobs she'd ever done - she became a Tanker! While big aeroplanes, such as Vulcans and Victors, can fly a very long way, smaller fighter aeroplanes, like Lightnings, only have very small fuel tanks. They need to be refuelled whilst flying! Tanker aircraft are like petrol stations in the sky, trailing long hoses behind for fighters to 'plug into' and receive more fuel.

FiveFiveEight was one of the first Vulcans to have massive new fuel tanks fitted into her bomb-bay, and was tested and tested and tested to make sure the new system worked properly. She continued as a Tanker for some years until 1986 when, as the very last Vulcan in RAF service, she started her most famous job - with all her Tanker equipment removed, she became the RAF's display Vulcan, travelling to airshows far and wide.

FiveFiveEight's impressive displays, with thunderous takeoffs and astonishing manoeuvres, became famous at airshows and FiveFiveEight became one of Britain's most popular attractions. The public never ceased to be amazed just how such a huge aeroplane could fly like a much smaller fighter!

Sadly, in 1992, it looked as if FiveFiveEight's long career would come to an end - despite still looking very modern, she was now very old and it was becoming more and more difficult to keep her flying. Eventually, in March 1993, FiveFiveEight landed for the last time at Bruntingthorpe Airfield in Leicestershire, where a huge crowd were gathered to witness the end of an era.

Ever since that sad day, many people dreamt of making FiveFiveEight fly again, but it always seemed an impossible task. British rules about aeroplanes and flying are incredibly strict, and no aeroplane of FiveFiveEight's size and complexity had ever been allowed to before. She had to content herself with fast taxiing and pretend takeoffs, which were always popular, with hundreds of people watching and grinning as she shot up Bruntingthorpe's runway.

But that, as they say, is now history...!