Actually in Usworth and she really is in a poor condition and the attached photographs do her even less justice ;
By: avion ancien - 6th February 2015 at 21:12
Curses! The same thing happens to me on eBay. Maybe it explains why I’ve no vampires in my garden!
By: Moggy C - 6th February 2015 at 20:43
£499 😀
By: avion ancien - 6th February 2015 at 20:12
Are you sure we haven’t misunderstood and they are looking for the lowest quote to take it away and dispose of it?
Moggy
I knew I was missing something. I’ll immediately put in a bid to accept £500 from the MoD to take it off their hands!
By: Arabella-Cox - 6th February 2015 at 18:50
Funny how very little of anything decent appears to come up for ‘open’ tender nowadays. Clearly the usual suspects weren’t interested in this one so they thought the only way to get shot was to offer it to ‘the mugs and nutters who play with bits of old aircraft for a hobby’.
By: Mr Merry - 6th February 2015 at 18:12
That would make more sense Moggy, I can’t see much that is salvageable. It’s certainly not a restoration project.
By: Moggy C - 6th February 2015 at 18:02
Are you sure we haven’t misunderstood and they are looking for the lowest quote to take it away and dispose of it?
Moggy
By: Mr Merry - 6th February 2015 at 17:36
I can’t understand why the put the aircraft out for tender? It’s a basket case sadly just fit for scrap, there are better projects out there.
By: David Thompson - 6th February 2015 at 12:42
I actually went along on Thursday afternoon as a prospective bidder and was the first one there and in the near hour I was there I was the only one to arrive ! The viewing was to continue until late afternoon and then this morning too but I understand that bids may have been made without viewing ?
Thanks to Moggy for posting the photographs up for me , and finding the time to do so ! , and as Bruce rightly comments the pod is in a very , very poor state with daylight being clearly seen through it in several places . The cockpit canopy is covered in algae but from what I could see the coaming had gone as had most if not all of the instruments and I suspect that only both seats are worthy of recovery ? The engine covers are also in a poor condition as are the booms and wings . If anyone would like a set of photos just PM me your details .
By: Moggy C - 6th February 2015 at 11:59
Oi! I’m trying to work 😉
Moggy
By: Bruce - 6th February 2015 at 11:13
All the instruments were removed some time ago.
Despite the appearance, getting a column out is a very involved job, and will take a good day or so’s work!
Bruce
By: Tin Triangle - 6th February 2015 at 11:06
🙁
If it’s going to be broken up, I’d gladly give a control column/throttle box/instrument or two a good home, as I don’t have any and would love to start a small collection. Does anyone know how complete the pit is?
By: Bruce - 6th February 2015 at 10:00
Sadly, that is what ‘Beyond Repair’ looks like.
Lots of bits to the right person, but much like the parrot, it has ceased to be.
By: Moggy C - 6th February 2015 at 09:02
Well David engaged in a bit of subterfuge and came back today with 50+ ‘As is’ pictures of the poor little bat.
I do have a day job, and it currently is a bit pressing, so here’s three to be going on with, the best of the rest over the next few days
Moggy
Nice job Dave
Moggy
By: D1566 - 30th January 2015 at 07:31
That should buff out OK 🙂
By: Arabella-Cox - 29th January 2015 at 19:22
Some silly bu**er, without going to view it first, will probably pay daft money for it.
Anon.
By: Bruce - 29th January 2015 at 18:50
Absolutely John.
An airworthy Vampire has a value of around 65 to 75k stg. That won’t buy you a lot of man hours to build a fuselage.
As it sits, it’s value is a few hundred quid, that is all.
By: John Green - 29th January 2015 at 18:12
I’m aware that much of a Vampire is timber but still astonished that is has to be scrapped when monstrously tangled heaps of corroded ally are, it seems, routinely dug out from under 100 feet of water and restored to pristine flying condition.
Is it a case of comparative values ?
By: Anark - 29th January 2015 at 17:40
Cadets can now join from when they are in Year 8 (in line with the Army Cadet Force) so 12 year olds are now indeed allowed.
By: Chris B - 29th January 2015 at 17:27
Is not the minimum age to join the ATC 13? Even so H & S would no doubt preclude paint stripping.
Chris
ex ATC 367 Sqn many many years ago
By: Bruce - 29th January 2015 at 12:19
The cadets used to keep it in good order as I understand things, but they have to carry out full risk assessments now for any activity like working on aircraft. These then have to be approved elsewhere, and if one comes up that says something along the lines of – ’12 year olds will be working with paint stripper’, it isn’t going to happen.
So, in the interests of ‘Elf and Safety gone mad, the Vampire was quietly forgotten and metaphorically pushed to one side.
Vampires don’t last once the pod starts to go, and they are extremely difficult to repair unless you catch them very early, so the only way out for this one is as spares or saucepans I’m afraid.
Bruce
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January 28, 2015 at 11:05 pm