Originally Posted by
92125
Nonsense it may be, but a replacement fleet would cost double that per unit. Rock and a hard place.
The 'soft place' of putting them on the G-register would no doubt have seen all the fleet back in the air by now, but naturally it needs to be ensured that the TEMPEST clearance of the gliders is still valid, so we are where we are...
Like it or loathe it, in the same timeframe on the recovery, the scores stand at:
Serco - 1
Marshall's - DNF
Babcock/Southern Sailplanes - 25
The figure I've seen is £100k per glider, which is comparable to a new K21 once instruments etc. are added. However if you want 60 K21s (or just about any other type of glide) it will take time - lots of it. And if you want mods forget it, Schleicher almost certainly won't do that.
Putting them on the G-reg probably wouldn't have made much difference, as I understand it paperwork is either missing or in a total guddle and it would have to be right for the G-reg as well, though quite possibly there would be less of it. However each glider would have to be minutely inspected, all ADs correct & present and all undocumented repairs re-repaired.
TEMPEST?