I really don't understand this kind of logic. I've just been looking at the posts on UKAR about this same subject and it's mind-numbing to see how some people on there (in typical fashion) can't even be bothered to cut and paste a simple message and email it (a task which takes about a minute and costs nothing) but they can take the time to write paragraphs whining and bitching about the project, presumably to supposedly impress us all with their views... even though we've heard the same moans and comments a hundred times or more.
We all know that the project has had a troubled past and I've been doing my best to follow it with more than a little cynicism, as you'll see if you trace my postings on here. But this just isn't the time to be going over this ground again. There's less than three weeks before the project gets closed-down and the people get laid-off. You can virtually guarantee that once the project stops, it will never start again. The aircraft will be rolled-out, and probably never go back into the hangar, and she'll be left out in the open at Bruntigthorpe to slowly rot. Years of work, money-raising, enthuisasm and high hopes, along with a pile of Lottery cash, will have been thrown-away. What possible point is there in allowing this to happen, unless it's merely for the benefit of the miserable UKAR users who are waiting to post-up their "I told you so" messages next month?
We all know that the project requires huge sums of cash to keep going, and everything ultimately depends on sponsorship. But there's not even a hope of sponsorship until the project is completed and the aircraft flies. If XH558 only succeeds in making a few test flights and a handful of public appearances next year, surely this is better than allowing the project to fail, for the sake of 250k? The deal is this - we'll never know what might or might not happen unless the aircraft flies. If the 250k is found, it's pretty certain that it will fly. If it isn't found, the project ends, and despite a long saga of finger-pointing, the end result will still be another pile of non-airworthy metal.
There are no guarantees in this project and I'm sure there are many people who might well have to account for their actions sooner or later. But let's be adult about this and do the finger-pointing at the right time. Moaning and arguing right now will achieve absolutely nothing except failure.
The only possible way (save for a miracle) that the cash can be found, is if the HLF can cough-up a little more cash to add to the money they've already allocated. TVOC seem certain that they won't do this, but as members of the Lottery-paying public, we have every right to press them to do so. If they allow their money to be wasted simply because they're too pig-headed to spend a little bit more, they're a disgrace. I'm not defending TVOC, but right now we need to be clear about what is important. To do nothing and get sidetracked with the wider aspects of the project at this moment in time is counter-productive; It's a bit like proposing to have an inquest on the Titanic disaster on the upper deck, while people are jumping into lifeboats...