not a clue about french cannals but it was being built for that intention if i remember there was no intention for it to go on british ones

and the locale it is in seems a simple enough hop to france !!

i was on board having a toot round one (an mtb ) whilst it was being rebuilt for a customer as a canal cruiser ( gorgeous job it was too ) and in one of the least likely places to find one

under a tarpaulined scaffolding at the side of a practicaly derilict mill just outside rochdale

premmisises of a forces equipment surplus dealer by that i mean vehicles , engines ,plant , ships compasses , n.b.c equipment etc etc

the intention for the owner was to use it as a canal cruiser on french canals

there is a distinct possibility that could be it as the one i saw was a major strip and rebuild !!

i saw this half way through the rebuild so basicaly a bare sound shell with some fittings so aprox half done that was four-five years back with one very industrious builder working on the project looking at what was left to do to finnish i’d have guessed about a year or over for one worker

so it should if completed be in good shape still

I didnt say you were approaching any of the rules in the CofC, but one doesnt have to in order to get personal!

This is one of those subjects (like the Vulcan, and the (non) restoration of the RAFM Halifax) that gets people riled every time, and for which there is no adequate answer. Virtual shouting at one another – especially when, it would seem, neither have the answers will get nowhere.

There is nothing published that says that the Lightning cannot fly in the UK. Actually, I would go so far as to say that there is no reason that the aircraft cannot fly in the UK, except for cubic money.

There is a supposition amongst many enthusiasts, that one can grab an ex military aircraft, fresh out of service, and simply go fly. That attitude seems to prevail whether it be a Harrier, Jaguar, Lightning, or Vulcan. Ah yes – the Vulcan.

The Vulcan is the one that proves it can be done, and shows the way – BUT as I said earlier, it requires cubic money in order to do it.

SO – my suggestion, if you want to see a Lightning fly in the UK is to do what they did – set up an operating company, get a design authority to take on the work (at commercial rates), and employ suitably qualified technicians to undertake the work. Me, I’ll have half a dozen Spitfires instead ta!

The key to operating any ex military aircraft is in being able to prove you can do so, and that you have enough paperwork and knowledge from qualified people to do so safely. That goes for anything, but the demands get greater, the more complicated the aircraft gets.

Bruce

exactly i hear plenty of talk but few who get together and actualy do a job with the needed resources

that’s why the british talk and the south africans did it !!

the vulcan struggled and that is a falklands associated aircraft that everyone in the country knows !!

the lightning would never achieve the required running costs

sure it is a well known aircraft amongst enthusiasts but go outside that circle and people wouldn’t know it if they saw it !! and to run aircraft of this type you need as many funders as possible from every walk not just lightning fans

the fact as mentioned of trying to get permission to fly over a ten year period and failing speaks more than any printed word !!

remember branson wanting concorde and proving he could make it work ???

he is a billionaire airline owner and couldn’t get what he wanted yet small groups think they can

for me it is a reality check and common sense that says the lightning will never fly in the uk again !!

Compared against modern stuff, a Lightning is a simple toy. A versatile and fast one, but nothing more. It’s 1950’s technology.
.

this comment shows you know asolutely nothing about engineering procedures !!

engineering was actualy very technical then ( technology like ultrasound was well under use by then !! )

the trouble is people with no engineering background do not apreciate the quantum leep made from the forties to the late 50’s

sorry but even the smallest fault can equal heaps of trouble and very fast !!

they are too complex and too high a performance machine to be in private hands

1 when in raf service they were supported by large teams of raf technicians and the factory plus government funding wich in the cold war era was a bottomless pocket !!

not by a small group of idividuals giving cabbies !! ( no matter how skilled you cannot in all seriousness believe a backyard garage can give the same exacting and day to day knoledge standards of a specialist opperating base that used them from new !!

2 it was not without reason our own caa grounded them to stop accidents as they were considdered too hot a machine in private hands and there were concerns about maintainance !!

3 and tragic as it was do we realy need another ramstien to realise they are not suitable aircraft for private hands ( as mentioned it was considdered leathal by regular lightning pilots !! )

fantastic aircraft and no doubt operated to the best of the companys abilitys maybe nursed and maybe looked superb inside and out

but there are so many intricate factory tollerances , stress fatigues , correct metal hardnesses ( for every part !! )

that in all reality you cannot say that all the orriginal knowledge is there for a half cetury old high tech aircraft

i have worked in aerospace engineering specificaly in metal heat treatment

so it could ( not saying it is !! ) but could even be one component slightly off spec

the only way of knowing what has happened without pointing fingers is wait to see what the proffesionals report says when it is finnished !!

this comes up regular on photography sites and to be honnest realy doesn’t warant the associated worry

a lot have a pop at modern technology and reliability being worse than film cameras but in realistic terms imagine a film camera after that many shots

if indeed the mechanicals would last that long

the reality is with digital we can all now shoot pro volumes thus wear out gear as quick as a pro

i try to use my d40 as i used my olympus om’s and nikon film cameras

and shoot like for like volumes as the problem is usualy the mechanical shutter rather than the solid state components

a problem any heavy use slr will eventualy suffer

although to be fair sometimes i get a reluctant shutter button but it remmedies itself if switched off and back on

but i purchased a demmo model at huge discount from jessops so expected a niggle

but planning an upgrade to the d3000 which is effectively the d60 sensor with other upgrades added on such as faster multi frame shooting if required !!

My problem is the delusional fatties. The ones that claim its a gland problem, or they’re big boned; then get a government payout for being disabled… all due to that over developed pie-eating habit.

:p

can agree with that to some degree but we cannot put all the blame on some groups

school meals have now improved ( to some degree ) now i had a bad diet when jamie oliver did his school meals thing when i was working in schools

i could have had my lunch free in school at the time but went out to buy something healthier at the local bakery

as the meals served at the time were not fit for a rat

so these kids have been exposed to and in some ways educated by adults

that a bad diet is ok then they get home and parents are either too lazy or too busy with work to cook proper meals anymore instead chucking microwave or fast junk on them

too many ills are blamed on the young we should be looking at the generation that taught them the habbits !!

LOL !! far from took it to heart but some may and that’s the point as for gingers ‘

i’m not picky if you don’t like red heads it is more for me , thier fantastic women although a tip if living with one

keep all sharp objects and anything throwable locked up and keep just out of striking distance !!!:diablo: