Flying Signman
Thank you for your reply. Whilst I don't want to get to the stage that Tim has found himself in (and I do have sympathy for him) the facts remain that this project has NOT ground to a halt because of lack of money. It has found itself where it's at today because of (IMHO) poor management. Infact, management that has been beyond belief at times.
I have never slagged off the project. I have always wished them the best of luck, but luck is simply not enough, and my complaint has always been this managerial attitude of 'I know better than you, therefore I'm not going to listen to you' (or anyone else for that manner)
I myself have written to Pleming on more than one occasion. I know countless other ex Vulcan Pilots and aircrew who have also written to Plemming offering our services; do you think any of us have even so much as received an acknowledgement for our correspondance? Of course not. We haven't had a thing back, either from Pleming or TVOC as a group. That is not poor management, it's NO management!
The reason why there is little dialogue is NOT because of some of the things that are actually said, but it's because Pleming and his team refuse to enter into any discussions whatsoever with the public (he's even said that himself I think somewhere) and thus, when difficult questions get asked by the public, about THEIR money, no answer is offered and people do begin to 'slag them off' as you rightly say. But who is to blame for that do you think??
Now you claim that we should applaud them at Brunters because they are still here and still 'talking with the public' But what else do you expect? I have yet to see anything constructive posted on here or even on their own web site in responce to any form of cricism. Is that 'talking to the public' I think not. It displays an abundance of arrogance on their part that they continue NOT to talk to the public. I regret that, despite persistant requests on PPrune and elsewhere, you won't find any responce from TVOC answering any questions posed.
Indeed, if you go back a couple of pages on here, someone will tell you how posts are removed from TVOC site if they ask awkward questions or make disparaging comments. Do you consider that to be good management? I don't I'm afraid.
And so we come back to this never-ending saga of holding the British public to ransom with the old 'Cough up or she's grounded' statement yet again. It's really wearing thin now don't you think? Just get on and ground the thing if it's so dire - put us all out of our misery!
If Pleming and the rest of the team can't come up with something a little bit better than that, then they should go frankly. I shan't even bother to talk about this new female who's supposed to be running the education side of things - where do they get them from??
So, I regret that I must disagree with you on most counts and I fear it's now just a matter of time until the project folds for good. I only hope that when this sorry tale does end, that some form of inquiry is launched into some of the claims made on this forum and others. It will make for ineteresting reading for sure.
Winco