Competent and safe pilots exist, you just have to find them and that is not necessarily easy.

As regards the alleged age issue, why not book a trial lesson at a flying school and see how you fell?

If I were to fly such a long distance safely and reliably, then I’d want a single-engined turbine (> very reliable engine type) with a pressurized cabin (> to be able to go over weather and mountains) and deicing capabilities (> essential in colder European seasons). That means a Piper Meridian as minimum equipment (but I admit that I am very conservative and probably overly cautious), alternatively a (more expensive) TBM700/850

I believe I read somewhere recently that in case of ditching on water the BRS (parachute) in a Cirrus must not be released, as the undercarriage is a part of the energy absorbing structure of the aircraft enabling a safe arrival beneath the parachute and it won’t fulfil this function when alighting on water.

there is a German company called Remos doing a very reasonably priced VLA/LSA called the GX

… and it costs more than € 100,000 which is not quite my idea of “reasonably priced 😮 Neat aircraft though.

http://www.felix-gliders.nl/engels.html

This one by any chance? They really are great!

Is only the TFC having this particular problem with the CAA, and if so, why? What is the situation with the ex-TFC P-40 at North Weald?

That description would fit a Diamond Twin Star 😉

…would it not be appropriate to make a film about the Berlin Airlift whilst some original aircraft are around

If the project which resulted in two C-54’s being marooned at North Weald never took off, why should another one succeed?

And what would a film about the Berlin airlift be without Tempelhof? As a present to his red/green friends, and to ensure that his megalomaniac Berlin International project will not be devoid of aircraft, Berlin’s twit of a mayor closed this historic airport in October last year. And when an airport is closed in Germany it remains like this. The interesting thing was that not enough interest could be aroused for a petition to keep it open to be succesful. Obviously, the majority doesn’t care anymore.

So forget about it; waste of time and money and it won’t interest anyone anyway. Sad, but that’s reality.

… high up on the Vehner moor in Austria, between Osnabruck and Oldenburg

Osnabrück and Oldenburg are in North Germany, close to the Dutch border…. where it’s pretty flat!

Maybe i have read this wrong as it is still the morning, but it appears that it is now for sale in Germany!

If you look at the other aircraft also offered by this broker, you’ll find a Citation X based in Mengen (runway’s much too short for that), a Cessna Skycatcher based in Mengen (none delivered to anyone sofar) and an Antonov An-2 on floats based in Mengen (no comment).

So I wouldn’t bet on the Hispano actually being in Germany…