Originally Posted by
bearfoil
How long was F-BVFD allowed to fly seriously "out of rig"?
Sorry, but it wasn't "seriously out of rig" (where did you get that?).
'FD was delivered to AF in March 1977, and Dakar happened in November 1977.
Even before the incident, 'FD was already known as a gas guzzler ... don't forget those aircraft were still all pretty well hand-built.
The added weight from the repairs, and the residual distortion of the airframe, obviously didn't improve that.
Nevertheless, 'FD stayed in regular service until May 1982, when it was withdrawn when the Paris-Dakar-Rio route was closed down.
It wasn't scrapped until 1994.
There was never any question of the aircraft not being airworthy after the (approved) repairs. The increase in fuel consumption (hence limited range) was an operational problem, not an airworthiness problem.
CJ