Beagle.."..do you understand the implications..." yes I do and have first hand experience. It takes about the same time as it does to manoeuvre a big aircraft out of a hangar! If that's too slow spend a few grand on an extra deice rig! Your criticism would rule out any of the contenders for this contract. On the other hand I agree ther are justified criticisms of the terms of this contract and these have been discussed at length elsewhere but in terms of defending the FI, the 330 gives options none of your suggestions do; want to double or quadruple our FJ presence in a few days? Easy. The only limit becomes the resilience of the pilots buttocks!
Nutloose "the Stirling was.." Yes -and its operational performance, ceiling and bomb load, was severely restricted as a result!
Last edited by ShotOne; 16th Sep 2013 at 09:55.