Vulcan bomber unlikely to be ready for Falklands anniversary flypast

But despite a round-the-clock effort to get Britain's last remaining Vulcan bomber airworthy for the anniversary flypast, the desperately disappointed restoration team were forced to admit yesterday that they would almost certainly miss the deadline.

The absence of Vulcan XH558 will be a major disappointment to the thousands of Falklands veterans and members of the public expected at the June 17 event.

Vulcans played a pivotal role in the recapture of the islands. In the first surprise attack of the 1982 conflict, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher sent Vulcans to bomb Stanley airfield from Ascension Island in the mid-Atlantic.

The raids were a remarkable achievement - with a round trip of 8,000 miles, they were, at the time, the longest-distance bombing missions ever carried out.

Engineers have spent eight years and £5million trying to make the last surviving Vulcan airworthy, but after being dogged by technical and financial setbacks, have had to concede that it is unlikely to be ready for the flypast.

Project director Robert Pleming said: "We were held up in January by discovery of corrosion in the undercarriage and on the wing edge, which added £300,000 to the project.

"But we've worked round the clock. We've got the wheels going on this week, the last two engines are going in and we're almost there. We are not optimistic we will make June 17 but we will definitely be flying this summer."

The plane, which is based at Bruntingthorpe airfield in Leicestershire, still has to undergo extensive checks before it can be cleared for air-show flying by the Civil Aviation Authority.

The delta-winged Vulcan was one of Britain's V-bomber force designed to carry nuclear bombs deep into the Soviet Union during the Cold War. They were nearing the end of their working life when they were called into action in the Falklands.

During the raids on the airstrip, codenamed Black Buck, the Vulcans dropped 21 1,000lb bombs.

They did not destroy the runway, but caused enough damage to dissuade the Argentines from launching jet fighters from it.

The raids also demonstrated Britain's ability and willingness to attack the islands.

After the Falklands war, six Vulcans continued in service as air-to-air refuelling tankers until 1984.

Mr Pleming hopes the restoration of the Vulcan XH558, which never dropped a bomb in anger, will be complete in time for this summer's air shows, but says it will 'definitely' be ready for a Falklands memorial dedication in Wales in September.

Chinook helicopter Bravo November - the sole survivor of the sinking of the Atlantic Conveyor freighter in the Falklands conflict - may also be unavailable for the flypast as it is being deployed in Afghanistan.