Oh well, let's hope TVOC do manage to achieve something because it's clear that nobody else will. Despite my pleas on here I see that people are still only interested in venting their frustrations rather than actually doing something constructive. I posted a similar message on Fightercontrol and it generated not so much as one reply. I asked Ukar to put the same message on their site but the guy who runs the site couldn't even be bothered - evidently he'd rather just allow pages of endless babble about the subject but when it comes to having a sensible discussion about what can be done - nooo, doesn't want to know - of course.
So there we are. The radio interviews have been and gone, the TV clips have been and gone, the letters to MP's, the questions to government departments, the campaigns, the "profile raising" and all for what? Nothing! I kept saying that the only route out of this was/is the HLF but nobody (not even TVOC) seem even vaguely interested in pursuing the one good chance they have of funding the project. Evidently they'd rather continue their endless quest for some millionaire benefactor that they must imagine will suddenly appear as if by magic. I don't know who is more crazy.
I find the whole business really, really sad. Having followed and supported the project right from the start I'm saddened to see that it remains under the control of a group who have the support and confidence of virtually nobody, while the whole project has now been seized-upon why every well-meaning idiot in the land it seems, all eager to "save" the project but nobody having a clue how to actually do it. Patently there's nothing else which can be done, so we may as well leave the endless moaning to run its course and just hope that there's some miracle before TVOC pronounce the project dead and disappear with whatever money that's left.
What a complete, utter waste of time and money it's all been, and what a shame that the aircraft wasn't purchased by someone else (preferably in another country) in the first place, so this whole sad saga could have maybe been avoided. Maybe Brits should stick to restoring Spitfires.