Post number 424 is something that those of us who have been watching and supporting this project for many years now probably found more than a little galling, as for Phleming being a Pprune member, sorry I just do not catch the relevance, joined Dec 2005, posted Aug 2006 total posts, (1). Made as a result of another’s insistence that he ‘Take a Look’ at the Forum. He then goes on too state in detail his feelings about Forums and his considered opinion on their content and how he can ‘Illuminate’ the thread.
Ok let us take a closer look at that,….. he states having read a ‘couple of pages’ he grasps the depth of feeling being expressed, Doubtful really, there had been a total of 421 posts prior to his single offering large numbers of which had been supportive others that were not relevant too the thread in content and among these a very small number which had expressed well founded arguments on the state of the project, going through them now one would be hard pressed to get the undercurrent of feeling from just a couple of pages reading so given that one must assume, hopefully that he read the thread fully and understood it and still reads it.
Overall however the ‘Good Doctor’ managed to construct a workable post consisting mostly of regurgitated information then currently available on the TVOC website, inclusion of a few additional figures gave it a wholesome flavour assumed fit for the members of this forum, however what also comes through strongly are certain facts that were mentioned at that time in passing but have since become very relevant too the situation the TVOC finds itself in currently regarding finance.
The project started with in the best tradition of such projects a structural survey, rightly this brought too light a number of problems that required rectification, but the one thing that seemed to have escaped this survey was the major item of the extent of the wheel well corrosion, Since this has been cited as a major reason why the project expended so much money over budget my question has long been why this item was not picked up on the survey originally as it turned out to be almost a project killer if the accounts are to be believed, having spoken to several aircrew about it since it became a feature it turns out that this one was well known about by the RAF, had been seen on a number of occasions before as airframes went through majors and could not have been overlooked by the TVOC.
Such anomalies as this run though the entire operation of the project and considering the hype placed on the professional approach taken by the TVOC towards engineering it leaves one asking more than a few pertinent questions about the management of this aspect of the operation and with hindsight goes a long way towards explaining why Marshalls cost the TVOC so much money, but not totally, that there seems to have been the assumption by the group that Marshalls were working too a fixed price seems on the face of it too have been very lax on their part appearing to be more concerned over a 20 month period in getting the insurance companies to talk civil to each other as to overlook this seemingly minor item on the agenda, I cannot blame Marshalls for this as they are after all a major aviation engineering company with share holders to satisfy, but I can question the boards naive approach too the matter.
Moving on slightly too the subject of information management or lack of it in the opinion of some, Phleming makes the point ‘I remain amazed that despite all our efforts, so many are still unaware of what we are trying to do But when these people are informed, they are totally supportive.’
I would not be surprised myself after all this time the TVOC is still as insular as it always was, still unable too grasp the significant essence of a forum in it’s ability to fully understand a subject, make cognitive decisions about the matter at hand and make a worthwhile contribution too the project, however I do feel they understand that such a forum could if slighted make life very difficult indeed for a management group entrenched as this one appears to be in a sense of it’s own righteousness.
This post was truncated due too the length and hardly scratches the surface of the problems currently evident in the resident board and management of the TVOC but it does I feel make clear that Dr Phlemings post was designed for the consumption of and to silence forthwith what he sees as the chattering classes and that his feelings too such an organ as a forum are those of distain and beneath worthwhile consideration, but he also makes it clear that these feelings obstruct his view of the fact that such a forum can make or break a project like TVOC.
In closing I personally feel that the current board has in the main done the job that it was tasked to do, and it is hoped be able too answer some of the glaring questions currently and in the past asked of it’s decision making process but should at this point consider stepping down in favour of a more dynamic group better suited too the forward operation of 558 as it is clear that currently this board is so detached from the grass roots supporters that confidence in them is draining away and at the very least it is now impinging on the future viability such as it may be of the original aspirations of the project.