XR537 / G-NATY at Bournemouth

To save me typing replies to all the PMs, I thought it easier to post a thread.

XR537 will NOT be flying at Bournemouth this Friday (17th Aug), either solo or in a formation flypast with the Arrows.

Firstly, it is still on its Test Schedule, so PDAs are not even on our radar at the moment.

Secondly, it’s too late to book arrange anything for either type of flypast, as these things take lots of paperwork/clearance/planning well in advance. If you were the requisite authority in the RAF, would you allow a newly-restored jet to fly with your top-team (and all their hardware) whilst it was still on its Test Schedule?? A no-brainer, thinks I.

Thirdly, the engineers have been working their butts off in the last few weeks, and deserve a bit of a break… there’s a Hunter in for mending and plenty of other bits to also get on with.

Lastly, and most importantly, we don’t have a pilot anyway, as Brian is attending a happy family event which takes considerable precedence over anything else… in our books, families come before work!

In response to the next question that will, no doubt, wing its merry way… no, we can’t do a ground line-up with the Hawks for photos, as (a) we haven’t even asked (and would take equal amounts of pre-planning and permissions even if we were given the green light, but also (b) how do we taxi it across with no pilot? :confused: – it cannot be taxied or even started-up without BG in the hot seat?

No doubt, future events and airshows will, hopefully, sort out a combined event of some sort, but these things take time to seek permission, to plan, and all the factors have to be just right, and then we can roll.

Don’t forget that this is the lowest F.I. Gnat alive, and the engine is almost brand new… if we don’t cane her, we can get decades of use out of her… plenty of time to do something at Bournemouth, or further afield (she does have slippers) and, whilst I don’t speak for them, I am sure that the RAF would probably like to do something in the future to welcome back one of their former kites to the skies.

A former Reds Leader and former Executive Officer are both joining the piloting team, so let’s first get them type-checked, PDAd, and happy with the kit, before we start jumping into areas that risk everything.

There is plenty of time… let’s just her her absolutely right, and then we can all take as many pictures as we want… except those, of course, that infringe our IPO! 😉 …oh yes, I know the names! :dev2: Muhahahahahahaha

Whilst I hate to put the kibosh on people’s hopes for one particular Friday, I hope that this reassures people that we are working through an agreed, safe and and CAA-approved schedule and when it’s all done, we will have years of photo opportunities ahead… let’s look forward to those.