tenthije
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tenthijeMy theory: maybe it had to do with the UN vote on Syria
My theory: the mostly non-violent coup d’etat on the Maldives. Plenty of tourists that might have needed evactuation had the coup turned violent.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-16932366
http://edition.cnn.com/2012/02/07/world/asia/maldives-president-resigns/index.html?hpt=hp_t2
tenthijewould be a nice joke, the chinese come out with a f-35 looking design, flying like the F-35 with all its problems and then, the US just come out laughing, with a F-32
An even better joke would be if China managed to get their “JSF” frontline ready before the US did. And at the the JSF’s current pace of development I would not be too quick to rule that out either!:diablo:
tenthijeI disagree with China. Don’t get me wrong, I am absolutely not in favour of the carbon tax, but that does not mean we should not pay it. Who are we (or in this case the Chinese) to decide which tax we support and which we do not? I find the taxes for car ownership to be insanely high, but that does not mean I don´t have to pay them.
They are welcome to lobby to get the damn tax repealed, or to use whatever loophole the law offers. Besides that, they´ll just have to play by the rules.
tenthijeMight have already been reported, if so apologies, must have missed it.
Russia has sold 36 Yak-130s to Syria. The contract was signed in december and is valued at 425 million euro. The Russian newspaper Kommersant reported this today.
Syria signed the contract with Rosoboronexport. The first planes will be delivered as soon as the first downpayment has been received.
There is a bit of confusion in the Dutch article on the number of jet that have been ordered. In the first line it mentions specifically 36 Yak-130s. In the last line of the article it mentions 55 planes. Judging from the (poor) google translation of the Kommersant article I think the 55 planes refer to the combined order made by Syria and previously by Rusia.
tenthijeAs the resident Dutchman, let me just say “BRING IT ON”! I don’t mind to see traffic doubled at Schiphol, though I would imagine a few locals might feel different. Would you be willing to take them in?
BTW, the comment about the guy from Holland being impossible to understand is probably close to the truth as well.
tenthijeYou have to remember though that a British soldier (any western soldier really) is paid a whole lot more then a soldier in China, India or Russia. Therefor the Chinese, Indians and the Russians can spend a greater share of their overall budget on buying/developing equipment. Next to that are secondary expenses that are taken for granted here and laughed at in other countries. I would imagine the barracks in the UK to be more pleasant then those in China, same for medical treatment, but also the over-all level of training.
And that’s even before the military operations overseas are added in the mix.
That’s not to say there ain’t a whole lot of waste in the defence department of the UK. Or any western nation for that matter.
tenthijeYou have to remember though that a British soldier (any western soldier really) is paid a whole lot more then a soldier in China, India or Russia. Therefor the Chinese, Indians and the Russians can spend a greater share of their overall budget on buying/developing equipment. Next to that are secondary expenses that are taken for granted here and laughed at in other countries. I would imagine the barracks in the UK to be more pleasant then those in China, same for medical treatment, but also the over-all level of training.
And that’s even before the military operations overseas are added in the mix.
That’s not to say there ain’t a whole lot of waste in the defence department of the UK. Or any western nation for that matter.
tenthijeThat sounds a little more optimistic! Not so positive is the presence of the PPV in your coalition government, but then as I’m not a Dutch citizen, it could be rightly argued that its none of my business.
You’re right it ain’t any of your business. :p You’re even more right that the presence of the PVV in the coalition is… regretable. But they did get a large share of votes, so as much as it pains me to say so, they got in deservedly.
Please keep us posted on the rescue plan. Thanks.
Will do. Also keep an eye on the Aviodrome thread at the historic forum.
tenthijeThe regional broadcaster Omroep Flevoland reported yesterday on the radio broadcast (link) that a collective has been set up with the primary aim to save the collection of planes, objects and documents.
This group consists of amongst others the VSB Fund, Mondriaan Foundation, Vriendenkring Aviodrome (the Aviodrome’s volunteer organisation), the Royal Netherlands Society for Aviation, the borough of Lelystad and various wealthy individuals.
The secondary aim of this group is to enable a restart of the Aviodrome taken over by the Libéma group (the group whose deal fell through two weeks ago due to financing). They would then manage the museum, but the currently Aviodrome owned collection would fall under ownership of the collective mentioned earlier.
The third aim of the group is to start a public rally to raise money nationwide through various donations. Similar to how the Aviodrome managed to get the money for the DC-2, L749, B747 etc.
The collective and Libéma has around six weeks time to get it all sorted. The auction could be organised as of mid February.
tenthijeI’m so sad to hear this news. Is there any chance that it can be saved as a going concern? Collections such as these need to be kept together. It would be nice to think that KLM and perhaps the Dutch Government could be involved in a rescue, but I guess that’s wishful thinking on my part.
Apparantly KLM has expressed an interest in the DC-2, but nothing else. You have to bear in mind that both KLM and Schiphol Group have been sponsoring the Aviodrome quite heavily over the years. Indeed a large part of the Aviodrome’s senior management consists of former KLM managers. But with the general downturn they can’t go on sponsoring forever.
Don’t expect anything from the national government. At the moment there is a coalition government that kind a sort a (ain’t gonna explain) contains the PVV. They are a right-wing populist party. They have made cutting money from “development aid”, “culture” and anything deemed “left-wing hobbies” (their literal words) a big taboo. As long as they are in the coalition you don’t need to expect much from the national government. The local and regional government already have a lot of money in the Aviodrome. It looks like this will continue, even if only to preserve their current investments.
it ain’t all bad though!
The regional broadcaster Omroep Flevoland reported yesterday on the radio broadcast (link) that a collective has been set up with the primary aim to save the collection of planes, objects and documents.
This group consists of amongst others the VSB Fund, Mondriaan Foundation, Vriendenkring Aviodrome (the Aviodrome’s volunteer organisation), the Royal Netherlands Society for Aviation, the borough of Lelystad and various wealthy individuals.
The secondary aim of this group is to enable a restart of the Aviodrome taken over by the Libéma group (the group whose deal fell through two weeks ago due to financing). They would then manage the museum, but the currently Aviodrome owned collection would fall under ownership of the collective mentioned earlier.
The third aim of the group is to start a public rally to raise money nationwide through various donations. Similar to how the Aviodrome managed to get the money for the DC-2, L749, B747 etc.
The collective and Libéma has around six weeks time to get it all sorted. The auction could be organised as of mid February.
tenthijeLooks great! If I win the lotery I might tonight just go there. Never knew spotting was this convenient in Indonesia. I always figured there’d be a lot of hassle.
Happy new year for you too!
tenthijeI think it is not so much the distance that is the problem. It’s the fact it’s in the middle of nowhere.
When the museum was at Schiphol I visited it regularly. When I went spotting at AMS and the weather turned unfavourable, the museum was always there to provide shelter at a modest price. Add to that the “tourists” that want to take their (grand)children to the airport and combine it with the museum.
That does not happen anymore. If you go to the museum, you will have gone specifically for the museum. There is nothing else. In fact, other then the Batavia wharf, the Batavia outlet village and Walibi Flevo the whole province has nothing of interest.* There are no “unplanned visits” anymore. Add to that the fact that the museum is now on a relatively quiet road in the outback, whereas the old location was literally at the crossroads of a busy railine, several busy motorways and one of the premier European airports. Big surprise it’s harder to get people to come!
* I expect to get a bashing on that from locals. Probably there are a few other interesting things. The fact I can’t name them is a reflection of their bad PR department. You want a laugh, check the tourism Flevoland site. Click for five minutes, then tell me what you can see/visit in the area? You’ll learn nothing but marketing bull**** about the brand strategy and value of Flevoland.
tenthijeThanks for your vote of confidence and support. Doing the inventory of the museum is not even complete and you’re already dividing up the loot. Classy.
tenthijeAre they still trying to make it airworthy ?
Technically she is airworthy. The reason she does not fly much is money. The museum did not go bankrupt by chance (and I am not implying that flying the Connie was the only or even the main reason).
Maybe if legislation was more favourable it could have been financially possible. As it is, the plane is classed as an experimental and is not allowed to take passengers. Good luck trying to make an empty plane, in particular one that is as maintenance intensive as a Constellation, in any way cost neutral or even profitable.
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