Sorry, but without all the "Who did what's". Do you not think its time that the RAF chucked the Tristars? There is a good reason the airlines don't use them anymore. With the anual maintanance bill alone you could probably run A330's (or similar) all day. Spares are no problem, and you can get them fixed anywhere in the world. Most of the charter airlines have untilisation of around 5,000 hours per year, exactly the same amount of time it takes to locate most spares for the Tri. The troops/service personnel deserve a reliable, dependable service. I worked Tri's in the 80's and they were cr$p then so chr%st knows what they must be like then. With reliable a/c you could even have, shock horror, a schedule. If that F*ck witt over at Paddy Air can pull it off why not Betties Flying Circus. There are much cheaper viable options available.
OK rant over, I just think you guys and galls deserve better! Just don't get me started on the Nimrod project, for the price of that $%%^^&* Grrr! you could have funded what you needed x 4 and still have cash for decent carpets!