it seems all but impossible to successfully draw a line under anything on here!
whilst it has taken taken many months, TVOC management do now realise that mistakes have been made and that some things could've been done a lot differently; there really is very little purpose in going over the same old things time and time again.
what is important, i feel, is that 558 does represent a hugely valuable heritage and educational asset to our Nation. the proof of this is not difficult to see, and can be summed up astonishingly easily - the HLF grant!
558 broke the mould in terms of securing any funding from the HLF; they didn't give £2.7m out of the kindness of their hearts, but realised from the outset just how important 558 herself is to the education of British children. of course, the one important factor was that 558 should be a flying example of the type; it was on the basis of this that the grant was secured in the first place!
to my mind, nothing in this respect has changed one single bit - 558 still represents everything that she did when the HLF signed that cheque all that time ago.
for anyone to suddenly throw in the towel and be content that 558 could become just another museum exhibit is little more than an insult to some very eminent people who have made all this possible, particularly those within the HLF.
so, can we please leave the issues about what Mr. Walton did, whether Dr.Pleming did a bad job, how various managers have made mistakes, etc firmly in the past, and focus on the here and now?
as an extremely vocal TVOC critic in the past, i can see just how different the project is from this time last year; in February 2008, 558 hadn't even flown a second Test Flight, let alone secured a PtoF! we now have a management team who are much more aware than at any time before, with a defined focus on what needs to be achieved for the future, and an aeroplane ready and waiting to fly.
if anyone has any respect for the HLF and their appreciation of what 558 represents for our Nation, let's just knuckle down to ensure that all this effort is not in vain!
sm