hval,
I regret no, I have not seen the report but I am in regular contact with the pilot who owns Buccaneer XX896, he flew me in it in 2008 when I was last in Cape Town. It was he who gave me the gist of the company's response to it. It would, I believe, have left even these multi-millionaires in a sticky position with their bank managers if they had tried to incorporate the 'mandatories' even with out touching the 'desirables'. So it was a fait a complis!
Sad, eh!
As for spares, they were part owned/sponsored by Shell who I believe were underwriting the procurement of spares. When I was there, they had enough spares to keep them going but they were more 'ginger' with their Bucc landings than we ever were in the RAF (it was designed to be flown into the runway/deck without any flare), in order to conserve tyres for example! They had a sizeable hangar with a 'spares shop' and more than one engine available on the shelf for each type, which also included Pumas!
Certainly, they were a very professional outfit and operated as if they were a small squadron - they even had Friday Happy Hour to which they invited 120 Buccaneer aircrew who were in RSA for our 50th Anniversary reunion with our sister SAAF Bucc Sqn guys in 2008!
Latest from my mate on Facebook abt TC =
New toy. To supplement the infrequent jet flying, this Extra 300L is our new toy at Thunder City. What a great little machine.
Suggests that they might still be flying the jets!
Foldie
