Snoopy going to Holland?

[Nopax,thanx]

Recently heard that the old Weathership Herc, XV208, has been selected as a possible candidate for sale to the Dutch military. Apparently due to her low hours she is quite desirable, despite the work that will be required to take the airframe back to 'stock' condition. Could be interesting!

[XV208 SNOOPY]

I have heard the rumors too.
Be great to get back in the air again, instead of just the monthly run ups.

Not sure how I feel about the nose job, but I was zapped by the cloggies at RIAT on the nose a few years back! An omen???????

:ooh: :cool:

[lightningmate]

Yet another cunning plan from Sir QinetiQ to improve retirement perks by flogging off resources handed over at tax payers' expense.

lm

[hairyclameater]

Indeed tis true. They then intend to get another and retire their Fokker 60s (!) Shame its Snoopy going though - thats a rare bird that should be put to grass at Cosford with all the other research & test birds IMHO.

[StopStart]

Put out to grass? Don't be daft, it's a perfectly good low hours airframe. I do agree that it shouldn't be bloody Qinetq's to give away though. Give it back to the RAF.
:p

[Gainesy]

Didn't you used to fly it Stoppers?

I was under the impression that it was withdrawn because it needed an extensive re-fit, or was that someone spinning a yarn?

[Trumpet_trousers]

handed over at tax payers' expense.

....IIRC, it was 'sold' to Qinetiq nee DERA, for a notional £1....

[lightningmate]

Others who contribute have a better knowledge than me of the detail why Snoopy was 'retired'. However, I understand it was all tied to the Met Office need to fund its move west from Bracknell so, as a cost saving, they decided to out source provision of the flight research facility. BEagle's favourite company got the contract and guess what, they have delivered a 146 rather late.

As to QQ being charged a nominal £1 for Snoopy, TT may be right but QQ will have charged that £1 back to the MOD plus Mark-Up plus Fee plus VAT etc.

lm

[XV208 SNOOPY]

Lightningmate,
indeed true, cost was not the issue. It was mainly political with the Met Office and the Universities wanting to move away from MoD and a belife that QQ was ripping them off.
Universities got taken in by the Baron, that they could get an airframe that would go higher, faster, further and better payload than Snoopy, at a fraction of the cost, and without all the red tape associated with mil regs.
Move forward 3 years, can't go higher, half the range, less payload, very inflexable operation (JAR ) and the cost................

But WE TOLD THEM SO!!!!!!!!!
:{ :mad: :{ :mad:

[pr00ne]

XV208,

......"can't go higher"..................


Are you SURE??????????????????Care to back that statement up?

[lightningmate]

QQ ripping its customers off - what heresy!

Ref the cannot go higher incredulity debate. I think, possibly, the situation needs to be defined more carefully; let us include the scientific payload being carried aloft by the air platform.

Mind you, 50ft over the oggin is not too demanding of climb and cruise performance but the 146 config of 4 sea bird 'Hoovers' would sure worry me.

lm

[sprucemoose]

Sorry to spoil the bit of Qwintywoo bashing here, but as the aircraft is up for sale through the Disposal Services Agency, I think you can safely assume that Qinetiq isn't going to be pocketing all the proceeds.
I'm sure more people would have complained if it was shoved into a museum with many years life left on it than sold to someone else for a bit of return.

[lightningmate]

Oh Dear, Snoopy is in the clutches of the DSA:

*****************
The Disposal Services Agency provides a total managed disposal service for MOD, wide Public Sector and Private Sector Industry. Our Service removes from our customers all the problems arising from the sale and disposal of surplus assets and the safe disposal of waste. We do this in conjunction with our partnering contractors.

Asset Realisation - A comprehensive collection and preparation for resale (as and if required) of fixed asset purchases.

Inventory Disposal - A complete collection-for-disposal service for all consumable items.

Site Clearances - A bespoke clearance service for projects of all sizes and complexities, covering everything from office floors to complete office blocks, factory units to whole industrial complexes and residential and commercial premises to entire estates. A dedicated team provides full support throughout each project and works with the chosen contractor(s) to ensure the effective and timely release of the asset.

Waste Management - A UK-wide waste management service that complements the DSA's disposal activities. As well as providing a full-service metals, oils and chemicals facility, the Agency also works with licensed waste management specialists to provide a collection-for-disposal facility for all kinds of special/hazardous wastes and for the recycling of fluorescent tubes and street lamps of all kinds.

Consultancy - A professional advisory service for all disposal issues. The DSA uniquely offers a comprehensive consultancy service in all aspects of disposal management. It works alongside its clients to position disposals as an integral part of the total logistics chain. The specialist teams provide everything from individual waste audits, to full partnership association, identifying ways to control and reduce costs and optimise revenues.
*******************

Another 'World Class Organisation' happy to assist in destroying all that was worth while in the rapidly decaying UK plc.

lm

[Trumpet_trousers]

LM,
You're a hard person to please, aren't you? Instead of slagging things off out of hand, why not suggest other viable alternatives for Snoopy?
Perhaps you'd rather see it returned to 'stock' C1 condition, given a 'Brown Bomber' paint job and become part of the BBMF? (Brown Bomber Memorial Flight)....but who exactly would foot the bill for all the work??:uhoh:

[lightningmate]

TT

Not intending to 'slag off' anything, simply commenting on factual events that have occurred and the consequent aftermath. It is not the fate of a specific airframe that wholly concerns me, it is more the ongoing loss/reduction of capabilities within UK plc.

The clip ref the DSA was included since, to me, the words typified the concentration on 'disposal' now so prevalent within the MOD.

Comments from XV208 SNOOPY above indicate some of the reasons why this particular situation has, to many of us, a very familiar 'feel' about it.

lm

[Trumpet_trousers]

lm:

I agree with most of your sentiments, but it appears that you're happy to jump on the 'knocking QQ bandwagon' ...now I'm not particularly a big fan of QQ either, but I think you will find that the Met Office/Universities etc. thought they were going to get a better deal out of BWoS rather than stick with QQ and 208.....
......it would appear that the MO's fingers are more than a little singed......and absolutely nothing to do with QQ either.

...So, having a specialist platform and no customer, what were QQ supposed to do with 208? I would hazard a guess that to put it back into stock C1 condition was/is going to be expensive, so maybe in the cloggies they've found a purchaser that was prepared to foot the bill?