just to clarify what i meant by "done and dusted" - the HLF grant, in simple terms, was given for 558's restoration to flight As is obvious, that has been done. The fact that the grant was secured predominantly on the basis of TVOC's Education Programme, and whether that part of the deal has been fulfilled adequately seems to me to be something of a moot point. In my own opinion, the Education Programme has, to date, been a joke - little more than ticking HLF's box.
I have personally been banging on about it being the very core of TVOC's efforts, to significantly boost support across the board. I won't say that I've been a lone voice on this, but until very recently no-one at Brunty seemed to 'get it'
whether part of the HLF's remit is to smack TVOC's wrists for not dealing with the education, i really don't know - but i very much doubt it. I'm pretty certain though, that for HLF to come to the rescue now would require a new application, which would take far longer to achieve that we've realistically got! Even then, there's no guarantee of success anyway.
Not sure what you meant Tim about the forum's value; it could be read either way. Even so, we as a group (the forum members) have achieved incredible success, particularly saving the day back in February 2008 when the project was near collapse. Not that it seemed fully appreciated at the time by the management, but without us 558 would never have had a second test flight!
DG - no need to apologise! I completely agree, particularly with respect to Dr. Pleming - the buck stops with him and should never have allowed certain people to screw things up for so long. It was clear to me that whatever management structure was supposed to be in place back then was an absolute joke - a ship adrift in rough seas with no-one at the helm. Certainly Dr. P is still there, but my understanding of the new management structure is such that TVOC are now more than capable of running things in the way that they should have been long ago, irrespective of Dr. P The disorganisation was almost institutional, with many of TVOC believing their own hype - the main protagonist in this respect was Rusty, in my opinion. Now that she has gone, killing off the rest of the rot will be somewhat simpler i feel.
I'm not trying to say that all is fantastic at Brunty, as there is a lot more to be done yet, but the main difference now is that the shortcomings have finally been admitted (it used to be "we're wonderful - go away!") and that things are already being done to address the problems.
a long way to go, but all the right noises seem to be coming from all the right places - at long last!
sm