Impressive engineering achievement

The Vulcan is not the only historical aircraft built to attack civilian populations. I think it unfair to condemn the Vulcan on this basis

Matt Bailey gave an interesting view in his letter regarding the one remaining airworthy Vulcan bomber.

Whilst I agree that the Vulcan was conceived to excecute attacks of inhuman destruction, I would hope we can see beyond that, and keep the Vulcan flying in honour of what it achieved in reality. When it first flew, it was an advanced design for its time, footage of early Vulcans demonstrates an impressive agility for a relatively large aircraft.

Furthermore, in 1982, like the Hurricane and Spitfire mentioned in Mr Bailey's letter, the Vulcan played its role in liberating British citizens. Whilst the military significance of these attacks is questionable, the fact remains that at the time, these were the longest bombing raids in history.

The project to return XH558 to flight status has been an impressive engineering achievement in its own right. Having made the investment in time and money, I would be disappointed if XH558 was grounded for lack of funding, rather than technical reasons.

The Vulcan is not the only historical aircraft built to attack civilian populations. I think it unfair to condemn the Vulcan on this basis, but ignore the remaining Lancaster operated by the Royal Air Force, the number of B17 Flying Fortresses which remain operational around the world were also intended to attack civilian populations.

Nicolas Marrs

Next letter: Parity of esteem