Quoting RivetGun : "So in the opinion of 2 FTS, the LAA's airworthiness oversight regime is not fit for purpose (at least not for the purpose of flying cadets)."
Hmm, thanks for that. I'd suggest many in the LAA think that 2FTS, or at least its 'leaders', don't appear to be fit for any known purpose themselves - judging by results, or the near total lack of them !
As for the DHC-1, it needn't be impossibly expensive to run, a B Word says. Provide you have plentiful supplies of oil and clothes to wipe her down with... What a shame the Lycomning conversions were never aerobatics approved in UK.