Originally Posted by
Wrathmonk
I seem to recall being told in the dim distant past that one of the differences between Cat 3 and Cat 4 (other than the obvious damage and repair means) was that the cause of / reason for a Cat 3 could (but not necessarily always) be investigated by a Unit Inquiry (appointed by, and reporting to, the stn cdr) whereas the cause of / reason for a Cat 4 or Cat 5 had to be investigated by a Board of Inquiry (convened by, and reporting to, the AOC). Maybe this is the politics that Lyneham Lad refers to?W
I cannot possibly comment on the above............
The particular case I had in mind when I made my comment was about a Harrier in RAFG. It suffered engine failure on the approach and impacted very heavily in the undershoot at Guetersloh. The damage to the fuselage in particular was very extensive and even BAe (as was) sucked their teeth and shook their heads. However, 431MU was short of work and was fighting to justify it's existence as a repair organisation so (AIUI) a political (or perhaps deemed tactical) decision was made to declare the aircraft Cat3 in order to justify keeping a RAFG aircraft repair resource.
We ended up carrying out repair work that went beyond even what BAe had carried out previously and for the first time ever (
AFAIK) BOTH of longitudinal beams for the main U/C were replaced as well as much other work to the fuselage. Nigh on 3 years of continuous work by the team saw the aircraft successfully returned to Guetersloh in fine fettle.