Vulcan grounded by engine trouble

The Vulcan team's engineering director said funding was their biggest concern

The latest in a series of setbacks means the world's only flying Vulcan bomber will miss a major airshow.

The Cold War aircraft was restored at a Leicestershire airfield in a 15-year, £7m project and took to the skies again this spring.

But the team have faced funding, weather and technical problems which have threatened to ground the plane.

Now a problem with one of the engines means it will miss the autumn airshow at Duxford in Cambridgshire.

The Vulcan returned to the air at RAF Waddington in Lincolnshire, where it was based while in operational service.

'Agonising' prospect

The Vulcan to the Sky team, based at Bruntingthorpe in Leicestershire, said it was disappointed to miss what was traditionally seen as the end of the airshow season.

But Andrew Edmondson, the project's director of engineering, said continued funding was their biggest concern.

"By returning XH558 to flight after years of painstaking restoration, negotiation and fundraising, we have already achieved what was widely considered to be impossible.

"We have proved that we can fly and operate XH558 successfully.

"For this amazing project to falter due to a lack of funding would be agonising for all the team and our supporters."

He added the team hoped to get the plane into the air at least once more this year.