This has all happened before. Didn't the last Vulcan 558 trust implode amid financial irregularities and so on? We're here again, aren't we?
Having put more into this fund than I could really afford (i.e. letting my enthusiasm for the Vulcan get the better of me), the current situation is depressing and very hard to take.
I think the general consensus that the whole thing has been grossly mis-managed sounds about right from where I'm sitting. That
is how it appears. I am a layman - not an 'insider', and that is exactly how he whole project now comes across.
I can't understand how last year's late corrosion problems could have come about - and at that late stage in particular. The whole airframe had been subject to countless ultrasonic and visual tests and inspections, so how could it have been discovered so late in the day?
Surely the latest calculations for running costs could and should have been anticipated well in advance. To have to admit that these matters were seemingly overlooked or ignored is a clear signal of incompetence if ever there was one.
As for the (alleged) expense claim issue, I would very much like to see where this goes - if true then we need someone like the SFO in on this as soon as possible.
The absolutely deafening silence since October is a
PR cock-up of colossal magnitude. Where are all the sponsors who were just waiting to see the aircraft in the air? Has the Trust succeeded in scaring them ALL away? Or was this a complete lie from the outset? Either way, it's yet more evidence (as if more were needed) of managerial ineptitude.
I haven't even renewed my club subscription, let alone pledge more money, and that's not going to change unless something radically changes at VTST.
"Vulcan to the Sky - the
PR disaster to end all
PR disasters"