Sea Vixen down

[Tony1963]

Eric Mc said:

Hawker Siddeley (also absorbed into BAe) looked after Mosquito RR299.

Well, if that’s it, that’s hardly a precedent, I’d say. A fairly simple twin engined piston aircraft compared to a complex twin jet.

[aeropilot]

Tony1963 said:

Just as a matter of interest, how many aircraft have BAeSystems, BAe, BAC contributed to over the years?

Both of the RNHF Swordfish were taotaly restored by BAe, as well as their Sea Hawk. Pretty sure the old FB11 Sea Fury that was lost years ago was totally rebuilt by BAe as well at some point.
Add in a lot of the work their did for the re-spar of the BBMF Lanc back in the 90's.

[andy97]

Tony1963 said:

Sea Vixen, Bloodhound SSC... not great times.

How much money do Navy Wings actually need to get the Sea Vixen airworthy again?
(Not that i have any!)

[Eric Mc]

Tony1963 said:

Well, if that’s it, that’s hardly a precedent, I’d say. A fairly simple twin engined piston aircraft compared to a complex twin jet.

I was just answering your query - as you didn’t mention HS in your list of BAe
constituent companies.

[BrettMRC]

andy97 said:

How much money do Navy Wings actually need to get the Sea Vixen airworthy again?
(Not that i have any!)

Probably £3-5Million....

[Tony1963]

Eric Mc said:

I was just answering your query - as you didn’t mention HS in your list of BAe
constituent companies.

And thank you!

What I should’ve said is that I doubt anyone would want to get involved with something like the Sea Vixen, especially when it isn’t going to promote the company to potential customers.

We just have to accept now that the best days of classic military jets at air shows are well behind us. The insurance, fuel, dwindling spares and poor image post-Shoreham is seeing to that. And now we are also facing less choice for fast taxi runs with the dodgy future of Bruntingthorpe.

[Eric Mc]

Sadly, I think in regards to jet warbirds, you are correct.

[aeropilot]

Tony1963 said:

And now we are also facing less choice for fast taxi runs with the dodgy future of Bruntingthorpe.

Indeed.

I know the Buccaneer guys are already in the process of arranging the moving of their aircraft away from Brunty. They are at an advantage of course because of the folding wings on the Bucc.

I haven't heard where they are moving to though, can't be that many options open though.

As for everyone else, including the LPG with their Q-Shed etc., I can't see them being able to move easily

[Eric Mc]

What's happening at Brunthingthorpe?

[aeropilot]

Eric Mc said:

What's happening at Brunthingthorpe?

Airfield owner has sent letters to some of the aviation groups there given notice to leave the site. There is not confirmation of which ones or whether all of them.

The site is being filled up very quickly with unsold car storage which is a nice little earner for the owners, and it seems any fast taxi runs for the rest of this year are not going to take place.
The view is it maybe a temporary 12-18 month situation, but the fact that some groups have already been given notice to leave letters would indicate its a more long term permanent situation.

[AshVX220]

If by some bizarre fortune I got a decent Euromillions win, this is one of the kind of things I would fund.

My Dad had a bit of a soft spot for Sea Vixens.

[Scotty2]

That's really sad news about Bruntingthorpe.
I saw the last VC10 landing there and experienced the fast taxi runs a few times. Lightning included.

[andy97]

aeropilot said:

The site is being filled up very quickly with unsold car storage which is a nice little earner for the owners,

50p Per car per day rumour has it.
And if you see how many cars are stored there you can see what a nice little earner it is. I also heard that the owners were looking to buy another airfield for the same purpose!

[LotusOmega375D]

andy97 said:

50p Per car per day rumour has it.!

Wow I just paid £32 quid for a day’s parking at Luton Airport. I’ll try Bruntingthorpe next time.

[MB140]

aeropilot said:

Tony1963 said:

And now we are also facing less choice for fast taxi runs with the dodgy future of Bruntingthorpe.

Indeed.

I know the Buccaneer guys are already in the process of arranging the moving of their aircraft away from Brunty. They are at an advantage of course because of the folding wings on the Bucc.

I haven't heard where they are moving to though, can't be that many options open though.

As for everyone else, including the LPG with their Q-Shed etc., I can't see them being able to move easily

I wonder if they would consider Newark Air museum. Easy access from the A1 and A46. Still had quite a bit of runway there. Okay might need some maintenance as it’s unused at the moment. I hope so. I would be there every weekend.

Can’t see it though and I’m not sure if Newark Air Museum own the runway still. I think it might be owned by Newark Showground (council).

[aeropilot]

andy97 said:

aeropilot said:

The site is being filled up very quickly with unsold car storage which is a nice little earner for the owners,

50p Per car per day rumour has it.
And if you see how many cars are stored there you can see what a nice little earner it is. I also heard that the owners were looking to buy another airfield for the same purpose!

There's also stories that the younger generation of the Walton family now running the business do not have the passion for aviation that David Walton had, so that probably also explains the situation.
Its 32 years since the first aircraft arrived there when CB-P delivered Lightning XR728 to Brunty, and the airfield back then was pretty empty of anything. When David Walton bought Vulcan XH558 from the RAF in 1993, he must have been in his late 40's or early 50's then, so must be nearly 80 odd now and 'retired' from the day to day running of the business, so perhaps this situation has been 'brewing' for a decade of more now, and some of groups have probably began to be aware of what the likely future held for them.