Pobjoy
What I am getting at is why would MoD (UK Plc) give away 62 airframes that have a considerable second hand value to a niche charity very few people have heard of and agree to part fund the refurbish of said airframes and also to allow the charity to semi-refurbish the others to a 'standard' and then pocket the cash to 'expand the organisation' ?
Even as they are the Vigilants have to be worth at least £10K (so 62 x £10K = £620K) scrap value each and as an 'airworthy' aircraft £40K each (62 x £40K = £2.5M) and as a refurbed Grob 109 'Advantage' (62 x £140K = £8.6M) - OK take out the refurbish costs but to the man in the street that is still big ££
The questions for me is/are 'Why' ?
- Why did ACO not do this for their own people ? (small cost - big return)
- Why has this all been done on the QT and not out in the Open ?
- Why is the Govt backing this niche charity in this way ? Who are their powerful friends who have covered this up/'arranged' the transfer ?
I don't see fleets of refurbished Vigilants flying hordes of disadvantage or disabled kids any time soon. But I do see a lot of people on a nice gravy train going to the seaside on the taxpayers ££ and the much reduced capability of the ACO Gliding organisation.
Followed by a statement in a couple of years to say that sadly the project proved 'non-viable' for a variety of reasons.
Where are they going to store 62 Vigilant airframes ? - that's a huge footprint. I hope it's not going to be FOC on Government property (where they are now) surely............ - could always park them alongside the Shackletons at Paphos I suppose
Arc