It’s the end of an era as the Vulcan flies for the final time

THE ONLY remaining flying Vulcan bomber has flown for the last time.

The huge Cold War aircraft, which once carried Britain’s nuclear deterrent, took off from Doncaster Robin Hood Airport for a short final trip after the gloomy South Yorkshire skies cleared.

The pilot at the controls of XH558, Martin Withers, led the first of the now legendary raids on the Falklands by the Vulcans in 1982 – the only time the aircraft ever dropped bombs in anger in its long RAF service.

As he prepared for the flight, Mr Withers said: “Everyone asks me what is so special about this aircraft and why people love it. Really the people who fly it are the wrong people to ask. It’s such a combination of grace and beauty of just seeing this thing fly.”

The XH558, which first came into RAF service in 1960, has been kept in the air by a volunteer trust since 2007.

This summer, millions of people have watched it as it has made a farewell tour of the UK before its permit-to-fly expires at the end of October.

The Vulcan To The Sky Trust, which brought the 55-year-old aircraft back to flight eight years ago, has accepted advice that they no longer have the expertise to keep it airworthy.

The Vulcan did two wide circuits of the airport, coming in low over the runway the first time around, performing a touch-and-go manoeuvre on the second, and landing on the third.