Where has XH558 thread gone?

[CJS]

It's only 40 miles from the sea so you can take the kids to the beach afterwards, or at least you could if you could afford the petrol to get there.

[aviodromefriend]

Remind me again of the positive reasons for being in Doncaster?

One will do.

It has a lot of people having nothing to do, so people will keep showing up funding some pockets. Well, I now almost feel as I was when I had to remember Tom Gibbons what happened at RIAT '08...

[reheat module]

Remind me again of the positive reasons for being in Doncaster?

One will do.

1. It's far enough away from Brunty to continue to provide debate and argument amongst the gullible and naive.

[Binbrook 01]

1 : Who gives a flying fox anymore... Its not going anywhere, and I don't care. Can we start another post to replace this rambling one


Aside from that, this hobby is pointless these days... The Social Media idiot (Actually those that proclaim to know everything while actually knowing squat) generation has seen to that...

B1 out.

[106500]

Remind me again of the positive reasons for being in Doncaster?

One will do.

1. It's far enough away from Brunty to continue to provide debate and argument amongst the gullible and naive.

Doncaster has a reasonably secure future as a airport. Compare this with Wellesbourne where the owners would do anything to convert the land to a housing estate if they could get away with it. Even Bruntingthorpe could be sold and used for something else by a less sympathetic owner. I understand this was one of the main drivers for choosing Doncaster.

I reckon VTTS will achieve their goal of a hanger and even get the Canberra back in the air! Yes I acknowledge some of their marketing ploys are less than ideal but they are definitely a 'professional' outfit in my opinion. I acknowledge that the volunteers and set ups are fantastic at Wellesbourne and Southend but my money is on Doncaster to 'deliver the goods' under a long term future.

[Dan213]

Remind me again of the positive reasons for being in Doncaster?

One will do.

1. It's far enough away from Brunty to continue to provide debate and argument amongst the gullible and naive.

Doncaster has a reasonably secure future as a airport. Compare this with Wellesbourne where the owners would do anything to convert the land to a housing estate if they could get away with it. Even Bruntingthorpe could be sold and used for something else by a less sympathetic owner. I understand this was one of the main drivers for choosing Doncaster.

I reckon VTTS will achieve their goal of a hangar and even get the Canberra back in the air! Yes I acknowledge some of their marketing ploys are less than ideal but they are definitely a 'professional' outfit in my opinion. I acknowledge that the volunteers and set ups are fantastic at Wellesbourne and Southend but my money is on Doncaster to 'deliver the goods' under a long term future.

That’s all well and good but where is the money going to come from to build this hangar and get the Canberra in the air?

[vulcan558]

Remind me again of the positive reasons for being in Doncaster?

One will do.

1. It's far enough away from Brunty to continue to provide debate and argument amongst the gullible and naive.

Doncaster has a reasonably secure future as a airport. Compare this with Wellesbourne where the owners would do anything to convert the land to a housing estate if they could get away with it. Even Bruntingthorpe could be sold and used for something else by a less sympathetic owner. I understand this was one of the main drivers for choosing Doncaster.

I reckon VTTS will achieve their goal of a hangar and even get the Canberra back in the air! Yes I acknowledge some of their marketing ploys are less than ideal but they are definitely a 'professional' outfit in my opinion. I acknowledge that the volunteers and set ups are fantastic at Wellesbourne and Southend but my money is on Doncaster to 'deliver the goods' under a long term future.

Nothing to stop the owners building up Doncaster and then selling it on. It is no more secure then any other place.

[Xm657]

106500 I admire your optimism, and indeed there is more chance of Doncaster Airport remaining in its present form a few decades from now that Bruntingthorpe or Wellesbourne. However that hardly matters if Doncaster isn't any good for displaying a running a Vulcan and too expensive to house one even in the short term. Instead of trying to find a long term high quality runway, Pleming should have looked for a long term, safe and inexpensive shelter for 558.

There's no reason why Bruntungthorpe could not have been that, perhaps David Walton could have sold him a small piece of land so even if the runway disappeared in 50 years time, the visitor center would be safe - and in the mean time or perhaps for ever, 558 could have taxied and delighted her fans.

As it stands now, 558 will only ever be safe until the next rent payment is due, with an ever diminishing set of visitors coming back to see one static Vulcan or perhaps a pricey stationary engine run. She seems doomed to me!

[GertrudetheMerciless]

Remind me again of the positive reasons for being in Doncaster?

One will do.

Well, it’s very secure. No one will get near the jet.

Mind you, security’s pretty good at Brun...

[Marathon Milkshake]

I reckon VTTS will achieve their goal of a hangar and even get the Canberra back in the air! Yes I acknowledge some of their marketing ploys are less than ideal but they are definitely a 'professional' outfit in my opinion. I acknowledge that the volunteers and set ups are fantastic at Wellesbourne and Southend but my money is on Doncaster to 'deliver the goods' under a long term future.

I have a bridge for sale, slightly used, one very understanding former owner, yours for free with a deposit of £100 for every time you wish to see it.

[Dan O'Hagan]

There's little doubt that VTTS has a very unusual, and loyal, clientele. Certainly there are very few (if any) aviation "enthusiasts" as we'd know them from this board or similar who are still taken in by the VTTS pledges, promises and cock-and-bull. The people who still follow them blindly, and line their coffers aren't the sort of people who go to airshows, read the aviation press or join UKAR - they have no idea that XH558 will never fly, nor of the politics and decision-making that has left it rotting at Doomcaster. They will be oblivious to what the wider aviation community thinks of VTTS and remain a teat that can be milked, seemingly endlessly.

But still we are no nearer to taxi runs, nor to a hangar being built...

[MicrolightDriver]

There's little doubt that VTTS has a very unusual, and loyal, clientele. Certainly there are very few (if any) aviation "enthusiasts" as we'd know them from this board or similar who are still taken in by the VTTS pledges, promises and cock-and-bull. The people who still follow them blindly, and line their coffers aren't the sort of people who go to airshows, read the aviation press or join UKAR - they have no idea that XH558 will never fly, nor of the politics and decision-making that has left it rotting at Doomcaster. They will be oblivious to what the wider aviation community thinks of VTTS and remain a teat that can be milked, seemingly endlessly....

Move along now, no derisive stereotyping to see here....

[Alanko]

Aside from that, this hobby is pointless these days... The Social Media idiot (Actually those that proclaim to know everything while actually knowing squat) generation has seen to that...

Yeah, it was the "social media generation" that killed your hobby and not the cheapskate, socially maladjusted weirdos that litter every perimeter fence and 'naughty field'.

[CJS]

"your hobby..."? Why are you even here, are you an interloper from a steam train forum or something?

[spellow3010]

"your hobby..."? Why are you even here, are you an interloper from a steam train forum or something?

What do steam train forums or their users have to do with anything? Surely, as an educator of young people, you don't stoop to social stereotyping?

[CJS]

Um...no it's just another example of a forum he might have infiltrated UKAR from.

Substitute steam train for gardening or naked Bolivian mud wrestling if it will offend you less.

Blimey...

[spellow3010]

Um...no it's just another example of a forum he might have infiltrated UKAR from.

Substitute steam train for gardening or naked Bolivian mud wrestling if it will offend you less.

Blimey...

Glad that's understood...

We welcome all sorts here.

[Alanko]

"your hobby..."? Why are you even here, are you an interloper from a steam train forum or something?

Damn. Cut me to the bone.

[vulcan558]

The Vulcan xh558 Spares stores are having a big sale on Saturday the 19th of May.
Lots of new lots for sale if your intrested in this type of stuff.

[IgnatiusJReilly]

I can fully understand that there's now, no real requirement to hold (and to pay to store) tons and tons of spares for a static exhibit. But every time these sales come round, I'm left with a deep feeling of repugnance that this repository of parts are being sold off purely to fund this months payroll.

It's worth remembering that it's now been nearly 6 months since they were granted planning permission for the hangar.
The weekly newsletter update provide zero information on progress made. They're basically just adverts with some tenuous Vulcan fluff thrown in occasionally.
I'm reminded of the estate agents maxim that if something hasn't sold within the first couple of months, then you're probably asking too much. I don't think it's a massive stretch to suggest that if the trust hasn't persuaded an investor to sign up to fund the hangar by now, there isn't one out there for a deal of this nature.
At the very least, I think VTTS are under an obligation to provide an honest and frank update on what plan B is.
And also to provide some clarity on what the money currently being raised is being spent on.
(Clearly, we all know that the money is just funding salaries and consultancy fees, but it'd be nice to hear them say it)
Surely the day of reckoning can't be far away - I really must go and have a look to see when the next set of accounts will be published - if that doesn't trigger a charity commission review then I really don't know what will.

On the one hand, the whole project is now an embarrassing shambles that will inevitably end, as widely predicted, in a pile of scrap and sawn off nose section. But the idea that there is a small priviliged band of people still drawing a salary and pension contributions from this every month, sticks in the craw somewhat.

[HeyfordDave111]

I can fully understand that there's now, no real requirement to hold (and to pay to store) tons and tons of spares for a static exhibit. But every time these sales come round, I'm left with a deep feeling of repugnance that this repository of parts are being sold off purely to fund this months payroll.

It's worth remembering that it's now been nearly 6 months since they were granted planning permission for the hangar.
The weekly newsletter update provide zero information on progress made. They're basically just adverts with some tenuous Vulcan fluff thrown in occasionally.
I'm reminded of the estate agents maxim that if something hasn't sold within the first couple of months, then you're probably asking too much. I don't think it's a massive stretch to suggest that if the trust hasn't persuaded an investor to sign up to fund the hangar by now, there isn't one out there for a deal of this nature.
At the very least, I think VTTS are under an obligation to provide an honest and frank update on what plan B is.
And also to provide some clarity on what the money currently being raised is being spent on.
(Clearly, we all know that the money is just funding salaries and consultancy fees, but it'd be nice to hear them say it)
Surely the day of reckoning can't be far away - I really must go and have a look to see when the next set of accounts will be published - if that doesn't trigger a charity commission review then I really don't know what will.

On the one hand, the whole project is now an embarrassing shambles that will inevitably end, as widely predicted, in a pile of scrap and sawn off nose section. But the idea that there is a small priviliged band of people still drawing a salary and pension contributions from this every month, sticks in the craw somewhat.

Well, to take this further, if VTTS can find a mug willing to finance and build this purpose built hangar, i will doff my cap to them. However time is now an interesting thing to discuss...........

For example, if they broke ground tomorrow, how long would it take to build said hangar to hand over day? I'm sure some of you out there can answer this........i'm going to guess at a year.

so that will be 18 months that 558 has only raised money from engine runs at daft amounts of money, and a 'tat' sale of parts plus 'merchandise'.
I'm afraid i am now also of the opinion that wages are being paid out of this very limited income, and as such only a limited amount may go towards 558's upkeep (perhaps just enough to keep her in some semblance of taxiable condition).

Having said that, what's become of the fast taxi's? Seems quiet on that front again now as we march inexorably towards yet another anniversary since 558 was grounded, with little to show in the time between except for money being wasted on staff wages. (yes i mean wasted, as i feel it should now be a volunteer organisation from the top down)

What has become quite clear to me is that monies ARE going into the VTTS group, but nothing seems to be happening towards the longer term preservation of 558 and the Canberra (I don't count the Swift as it isn't theirs /ours (delete where appropriate)) which i find a prospect very hard to come to terms with.
The longer those airframes stay outside without a shelter being built, the more desperate the whole situation looks.

[jalfrezi]

A hangar could be built in a few months, much less than a year. The basic structure could be erected very quickly, they wouldn't need for it to necessarily be complete before moving the Vulcan inside either.

Though the speed of the build would depend on whether they can pay for the building quickly, normally funds would need to be released at different stages during the build.

[MicrolightDriver]

The Vulcan xh558 Spares stores are having a big sale on Saturday the 18th of May.
Lots of new lots for sale if your intrested in this type of stuff.

You really don't like it if this thread goes quiet do you?

[Big Eric]

Only 2 more posts to go before we hit the 1,500 replies mark, good work chaps.

[HeyfordDave111]

The Vulcan xh558 Spares stores are having a big sale on Saturday the 18th of May.
Lots of new lots for sale if your intrested in this type of stuff.

You really don't like it if this thread goes quiet do you?

I would have thought that this post was rather informative, casting no comments either way except the fact he was reporting!
Am i wrong?

number 1499 dammit