Bond fans called on to help save Vulcan bomber

He helped save the world from criminal masterminds, nuclear annihilation and chemical warfare - reports ThisIsLeicestershire.

Now, James Bond's legions of fans around the world are being called on to help save Vulcan bomber XH558, based in Bruntingthorpe, near Lutterworth.

Supporters of the Cold War bomber have until March 6 to raise £1 million, or the restored Vulcan – the only one still capable of flight – will be grounded.

It flew for the first time in 15 years last summer after painstaking restoration work costing £7 million.

More than 20,000 people donated towards the restoration fund, which also won £2.7 million of Heritage Lottery cash.

Supporters now hope Bond fans will back their fund-raising campaign because of the pivotal role the Vulcan had in the 1965 Bond film Thunderball.

Richard Clarke, spokesman of the Vulcan to the Sky trust, which is campaigning to save the plane, said: "We are calling on all James Bond aficionados to help us out. We need to keep this going."

Bond websites have been contacted and fans are being urged to visit the Vulcan to the Sky website to pledge their support.

In Thunderball, a criminal organisation called Spectre hijacks a RAF Vulcan bomber and holds the world to ransom with its cargo of atomic bombs.

The scale model of the Vulcan – seen crashing into the sea in the film – is kept in the aircraft's hangar in Bruntingthorpe.

It was donated to the campaign 15 years ago by someone who had worked on the set of the film and had it repainted to look like the XH558.

Richard said: "The Vulcan had an important role in the film.

"They used archive RAF shots of the Vulcan landing and taking off. We still have the actual model that they used for the scene where it crashed into the sea. It's on a scale of 10 per cent, so it's about 20ft wide. They must have done that into a water tank, but watching the film, it still looks real even now."

James Bond expert Dave Worrall, who co-wrote the Essential James Bond book, said: "It's not so much an iconic plane as an iconic sequence for Bond fans.

"They used some stock footage of the Vulcan, but most of it was done by model work, including the scene of the plane crashing into the water and what happened when it sank to the ocean bed.

"They sank a full-scale model of the Vulcan in the Bahamas. It's still there. Dive groups take expeditions out there."

Unless £1 million is raised by March 6, the organisation will go into administration and the aircraft will be sold to a wealthy American.

The team needs the money to meet hefty maintenance and running costs for the new season of shows. It also owes its landlord, C Walton Ltd, and Marshall of Cambridge Aerospace, more than £1.4 million. So far, less than half of £1 million needed has been received in pledges or donations.

To support the Vulcan, call 0116 247 8145.

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