I'm not criticisng anybody - it's commendable that so many people are doing their best to save the project from disaster. I'm just a tad concerned that the creation of so much duplication and confliction will ultimately allow the project to slip between two (or more) proverbial stools.
Likewise, I've been banging-on about getting another
PR company for months so I'm delighted that they have finally done so. I just find it odd that Dr Pleming seems reluctant to even discuss the subject and nobody seems prepared to say who the company is, whether they're going to charge yet more money for their efforts, or if they're any good. Having had one bad experience with a
PR company, one hopes that this time things will work-out better.
But as I keep saying, the key to all of this is HLF and no matter how much fund raising continues, or how much the
PR company might (or might not) achieve for the future, it's the short-term task of getting the aircraft back into the air that counts, and clearly it's HLF that has the power to do this. Although it's good that the guys at Bruntingthorpe are evidently trying to "take charge" of the project, I hope that they will also do their best to come between the Trust members and the HLF to ensure that HLF funny understand the enthusiasm for this project. My dark vision is of a meeting between HLF and Felicity Irwin where she allows HLF to walk-away from the project. If all the comments and rumours about her lack of committment are correct, it could well happen, and if it does, then I fear the project is well and truly dead.
As I've said, I'm right behind anyone who tries to save this project, but my personal view is that all efforts should be directed towards HLF right now. Anything else just isn't going to work, and if all the rumours are right, I'm equally concerned that HLF should not be allowed to simply act on the advice/attitude of the Trust, as I get the impression that some of the Trust team are wanting to wash their hands of the project. When so much Lottery money is involved, we shouldn't allow the Trust to dictate the aircraft's future any longer, as in essence it's not their aircraft - it's the HLF's and therefore as Lottery punters, it's ours!