Through a combination of public donations and lottery funding, it was restored to airworthy condition by the Vulcan To The Sky Trust, who returned it to flight on 18 October 2007.

The prospect of grounding and sale due to lack of funds was regularly averted, and XH558 flew long enough for fundamental engineering life-expectancy issues to become the main threat to continued operation.

After being overcome once to gain an extra two years of flight, on 15 May 2015 it was confirmed that 2015 would be XH558's last flying season, due to the third-party companies responsible for maintaining it withdrawing their support.

Subsequent major repairs grounded XH558 for many years, with the result that XH558, despite being the earliest Mk.2 to enter RAF service, had actually flown considerably fewer hours than most of her stablemates.

Having been put up for disposal, XH558 was acquired by the Walton family, and delivered by air to Bruntingthorpe Aerodrome in Leicestershire on 23 March 1993, its last flight of the 20th Century.

[11] In 1997, a study was conducted looking into the feasibility of returning XH558 to flight – a risky prospect for the owners considering the aircraft would need to be retired as a ground-based attraction and largely dismantled before restoration could begin.

[12] Work began on the restoration in 2005; to bring confidence to donors of the project, the Walton family formally passed ownership of XH558 to the Trust in the same year.

[14][15] Given the civilian registration of G-VLCN by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), an exemption was made to allow it to fly in Royal Air Force markings as XH558.

Deemed a success, an application for a permit to fly at air shows was submitted to the CAA, with a view to attending its first public event in 15 years, the RAF Waddington Airshow, on 5 and 6 July.

After another feasibility study the decision was reversed and a major funding drive launched, which resulted in the required engineering work being done to ensure XH558 flew for the 2014 and 2015 seasons – see Operation 2015.

[1] With XH558 now permanently grounded, the Trust intended to make the Vulcan the focus of a new educational and heritage facility at Doncaster Sheffield Airport, but was given notice to quit in August 2022, with a final occupancy date of June 2023.

[26][31] Although XH558 had achieved its first flight in 2007, delays had meant it was unable to return to the display circuit for the 2007 season as had been hoped, or join the flypast down The Mall in London on 17 June 2007 marking the 25th Anniversary of the Falklands War.

[12][13] Post-restoration, displays were conducted every year from the 2008 to 2015 seasons inclusive, helping the Trust to exceed the requirement placed as part of the Heritage Lottery Fund grant to fly for at least 250 hours.

[34][35][36] In order to extend the life of the aircraft, for the 2010 season the flight time was limited to between 30 and 40 hours, reducing the number of air show appearances from 2009.

A de Havilland Sea Vixen that was already airborne for the next display instead flew a tribute, with XH558 doing the same at its allotted time, the last aircraft to fly on the day.

[43] As a result of the crash, on 24 August the CAA imposed temporary regulations on civilian vintage jets displaying over land, restricting them to flypasts and banning high energy aerobatics.

[21] The Trust's head often references the 11-year gap between the first flights of the Lancaster bomber and the Vulcan to highlight to the public what a tremendous technological leap forward it was.

As a suitably approved organisation, Marshal Aerospace were appointed to provide the necessary design authority required for converting a military aircraft to a civil one according to CAA standards.

[20][58] The Great Recession thwarted plans to secure major commercial sponsorship, with the Trust also believing XH558's past as a nuclear bomber made some investors reluctant to get involved.

[60] During this crisis, appeals were made to the government to step in, with celebrity supporters Richard Branson, Robin Gibb, Frederick Forsyth and Air Chief Marshal Michael Knight appealing in national newspapers for XH558 to be added to the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight[33] and the Trust starting a Downing Street petition for government funding.

[61] A shortfall in donations again attributed to the recession sparked another funding crisis in early 2010, with staff again put on notice and £650,000 needing to be raised by the end of March.

[62] With funding for maintenance work brought forward from 2011 also required, the Vulcan 50th Birthday appeal was launched to raise £800,000 by the end of March.

[63] After the final display of the 2010 season on 26 September, the Trust again warned of a shortfall in part due to the recession, launching an appeal for the £400,000 required by the end of October to fund the project through the winter maintenance period.

Despite reaching a critical stage in the last few days and ultimately falling slightly short of the target, it was decided enough money had been raised to avert permanently grounding the aircraft, with hopes to display it for another two seasons.

[24] Even though it was now expected to be its last due to the engineering situation, the ability to even complete the 2013 season was also cast into doubt when the drive to fund the ordinary winter maintenance period only raised half of the target of £400,000.

[69][70] In early 2013 a feasibility study by Cranfield Aerospace concluded the wing repair was possible, involving the reverse engineering of the parts required to perform Avro's original Modification 2221.

[23] In the early years, some display venues had apparently underestimated the available space and towing vehicles required to handle an aircraft as big and heavy as XH558.

The move was for cost and logistical reasons, particularly the ongoing risk of foreign body damage to XH558 due to the high level of use of Bruntingthorpe's runway.

[citation needed] One of the reasons the Heritage Lottery Fund accepted the Trust's resubmitted proposal in 2003 was because it had been suitably refocused on the educational aspects of the restoration with reference to the Vulcan's role as a nuclear deterrent during the Cold War, in which the permanent readiness of the V-Force provided the credible second strike capability to deter a first strike by the Soviet Union.

According to BBC journalist Robert Hall, commenting on this sinister reminder during the final stages of test flights, the "debate over whether a symbol of destruction should be restored will continue".