So many questions,
The plan would/ will be not to put it on the UK ‘G’ register and not to keep her flying unless someone more clever than me could work out a way to keep it profitable e.g taxi run passengers, sponsorship, advertising etc etc but judging by the response to the Vulcans need for cash it would be a non starter. However the plan is to preserve an airworthy example and keep her fully serviced so that if at some time in the future there was an interest in getting her airborne again then it wouldn’t be an issue.
As for storage etc, we have an undercover workshop that is suitable for the next few years for the restoration back to 1944 spec with wings removed but i’m working on the theory that it will be a tad easier to find a suitable place to display her once restored than to start looking now for a place without actually having the credibility of having the aircraft. However as for suitable locations, Lincolnshire is full of British 1st Airborne Division history and RAF Barkston Heath or surrounding area would be an ideal location but we will see.
As for shares, Ideally another 2 part owners each contributing £20,000 each should do the trick, several machines have been identified with interesting histories however one thing i didn’t plan for is the credit crunch and the strength of the GBP to the USD and at this moment in time it looks as if the project will be relegated to the back burner unless the economy gets back on track or the price of the global Dakota fleet suddenly drops.
Why bother???? Well, we are all on here due to an interest in historic aviation and a feel that in another 50 years we will be writing the same comments about the Dakota as we do about all of the other classic types and since I started researching, it is amazing just how quickly they are being scrapped around the world and I’d imagine in another 10 years or so no one will be operating them commercially so now seems the ideal time to pick up a relatively cheap airframe for long term preservation and investment.
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