As has been said plenty of times before, the CAA rules are not set in stone and can be amended provided that suitable justification is provided. In the case of a civilian Harrier, you cannot provide the following:

1. The aircraft is supported by a suitable engineering body, ie. the Design Authority
2. The Engine is supported by a suitable engineering body, ie. the Design Authority
3. The aircraft had a satisfactory safety record in service. Usually excludes combat losses, or those losses as a direct result of combat maneuvres (ie. high speed low level CFIT
4. The operating company is deemed as suitable – past experience with a similar type, or expertise on a similar type.

As far as the categories go, the CAA employ engineers to come up with these rules. They are not designed by beaurocrats but by the people who operated these aircraft in front line service. Do not think that operating an aircraft for airshows is safer than operating an aircraft for any other purpose. It will cause the same amount of damage if it crashes.

The CAA will let you fly a harrier, BUT you must prove that it is safe to do so. Sadly with that aircraft type, you cannot.

edit: comparing the CAA to the FAA is a bit odd. Take the engineering license as an example. If you have an EASA B1.1, you can convert to an FAA equivalent with the addition of a couple of module exams (legislation) and suitable experience. To convert an FAA license to an EASA B1.1, you must do ALL modules and have relevant experience.

each component will have a stamp. Each assembly will have a stamp at various stages of its construction. The short answer is thousands.

have you ever been involved in trying to attract major investment to anything? You can’t just hold the buckets out for that level of cash.

They are TRYING to get sustainable income. You all complain when they wave the bucket at you, and then complain when they avoid askng you to donate.

Grow up – its a charity. Charities often spend huge sums on promotion in the hope that they will gain long term investment from it. Now is probably a good time since we are apparently emerging from the recession and Sir Jack Hayward may be feeling generous again.

The answer is simple – if you don’t support this project, don’t donate. Just don’t complain about its fate when its life actually does run out. If the aircraft appears at an airshow where you are (inevitably complaining about Sally B’s or BBMF’s running costs) don’t look at it. If you feel that you could be a better project manager than Dr Bob, then construct a business case and take over.

Its the same arguements over and over again. Pease silence this broken record.

Loony. I draw your attention to the data sheet for Aeroshell fluid 41 OM15 in RAF circles…

“AeroShell Fluid 41 is dyed red for identification and leak detection purposes.”

http://www.transair.co.uk/product4.asp?CustomerID=12000020&ACBSessionID=y8JEn5QJcfiU95izKn2r&SID=2&Product_ID=9058

Spill it on a black surface and you can barely see it, but spill it on a white surface and it’s not scarlet red but see-through and slightly pink… try it. I’ve been covered in enough of the stuff to know what colour it is…

Irrespective of the subtle shades of mineral hydraulic fluid, the Vulcan’s legs were certainly NOT painted black to aid the visual idetification of hydraulic leaks. Perhaps you discovered such mechanical failings through the magical use of smell alone. If so, I applaud you…..

black is the worst colour for showing hyd leaks. The fluid used is a translucent red/pink (OM15) and shows up best against white….

If its value is nil, why is it on e-bay and not donated to IWM?

Reminds me of a Leconfield legend, i’d assume in the 1950’s:

AOC was due to visit so the entire station was lined up on the apron. As the AOC set up on finals in his meteor, the whole ensemble turned to watch. AOC then nose-dives into the ground at the runway threshold and the remains of the aircraft turn into a fireball. This was bad, but what was worse is that the whole compliment of station fire crews were also on parade in their best blues half a mile from the nearest fire engine….. I’d have loved to see the SWO’s face…..