The Engineer looked at the aircraft in BZV,that is on the other side of the Congo River.
Are the CL-44 Association the owners or operators of the aircraft?

Recent pix on !!!!!!!!!!!!!! show the Guppy with a bashed in nose...How goes it with fixing that?
Let's say the old bird is all fixed up mechanically, with a crew, and spares etc etc....
Then who markets the plane?
What are the chances of success against competition from 'cheap' eastern European operators with AN12s etc?
Just trying to think ahead that's all

Basco did damage the aircraft but the repairs are in progress,the radome has just been removed for access.
The aircraft is only going to be available for outsize loads.

Was at BASCO this week.
They are apparently waiting for a maintenance scheme from Johnsons Air to enable them commence repair on the damaged section.
Also finance is still not forthcoming so BASCO have stopped work on the aircraft.
Thunderbird 3

Do Basco not already have a maintenance scheme as some of the repairs appear to have been started,or can they do the work without it?

Red Adair
 

No mention of the Guppy should pass without remembering Red Adair, the great oil fire fighter, who died yesterday aged 89.
He often charterered the Guppy to rapidly move his boat and equipment when required to deal with some of the worlds largest and most spectacular oilfield fires.
Obituary on http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/2281867.stm

Indeed Nineiron, a guy to be remembered.
Red also had not one but two JetStars at one time to get folks moved around quickly.
He very quickly proved that business jets save both time and money.

I hear there has been some plans to move the aircraft into the hanger at the earliest oppurtunity to get it finished.

I was at BOH yesterday and bumped into the engineer,so he is obviously back from he's travels,as always he did'nt say too much but things appear to be moving.
I found out more from him than that CL-44 association website.

If you read RRtyne's post you will note that information is available by being a member of the association, not by merely referring to the public pages of the website.

Hi Nineiron

Ready to go??:ok:

Hi Yorky. Ready to go? Is it call-time already? It is said that you've only truly arrived in aviation when most of your preflight is carried out looking upwards. I think they are still deciding whether to fit a Velux window above the fwd entrance door, so it'll be a day or two yet.
I thought you were off to the sun and sand?

Hi Yorkie and nineiron,

I have just found this thread.
I am still ready and waiting to go!! Can't wait to get this plane up in the air.

UK. :ok:

Our third officer thought you were busy! The Theory of Flight as applied to the Guppy is when the weight of the paperwork equals the weight of the aircraft, the aircraft will then fly.

Hi Nineiron,

Whichever comes first! Coopervane has done a great job on my behalf out there, phone calls weekly asking do I have my medical back yet...As coop says, they are short so maybe see you soon as well???:ok:

How ya doing ukav8r? send a PM.

Hi Nineiron,

No am still available,and ready and waiting to go. Not sure who said I was busy..... was not me.

I hear the engineers + crew have now dispersed over
face of the globe.
Allegedly they not been paid for a while and FA was not willing to put any more money into the project.
Therefore the Guppy could be consigned to the scrap yard.
A great shame for a unique aircraft.
Why did FA start the project and then let it fall down ?.
Maybe somebody at BASCO could have some answers.
Any information would be appreciated.

Guppy
 

...I always feel that FA is after a quick buck or two. I imagine he had a potential contact/opening for the Gup which never came to anything.

He's probably out of pocket to the tune of GBP250,000 (?) that's not big bucks to FA afterall GIA went belly up and he was back in business the next day.

As he was employing slave labour he had nothing to loose.

It's great shame what has happen to the Gup....

Guppy
 

Perhaps FA has in mind that the Guppy will be 44years old next year-July 9161 saw it fly as a conventional D4-2.
What a day that would be-and don't discount it.
As the CL44 Book shows-he hardly paid a Kings ransome for it!

The truth about the Guppy
 

All the recent happenings and information on the present status of the Guppy and other CL44s around the world can now be found amongst the Swingtail Newsletter archives on www.cl44.org members' area, which came online yesterday.
The Guppy, despite the inactivity of late, is still a commercial aeroplane, so naturally everthing is not in the public domain. There are regular enquiries from charterers with special freight loads waiting for this machine to return to the sky - after all, what modern machine can perform at the same price? A lot less on fuel, a bit more on maintenance, but low noise and no jet ban problems.
It might be 44 years old, but anybody that has worked on the damage repairs will tell you that it is built like a brick outhouse - that little hole took an entire airbus wingtip beyond repair!