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Post by vgp on Feb 21, 2008 17:57:43 GMT 12
e.g if the sale falls over( unless you weren't paying attention you must of seen pearson sign the sale agreement on the news, eg of a sale agreement if you buy a house conditionally you are legally binded to that contract until or unless one of those conditions can not be met - same type of thing etc) due to the time gone by and money spent on maintaining(sort of) the jets the govt( apart from looking stupid or more stupider) is not likely to spend more money or man power on either fleet if the sale falls over to pull the avionics components/engines etc to give them away to a museums etc they are likely to drop a wrecking ball or cutter threw them.
Re: Heather roy is a Politician and is going were she can score Political points for her self and NZ First party and at present their are points in it for her.
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Post by vgp on Feb 21, 2008 17:58:49 GMT 12
Haha....I love the "naughty bored planes" remark....brilliant! All joking aside, it will be nice when we can LOOK BACK on the whole debacle of retirement-storage-sale, I'm not enjoying the proceedings that much. The News said last night that the State Department is still to blame for the lack of sale...has anyone written to the US Ambassador about this? They won't tell you nothing if you asked
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Post by p40fanatic on Feb 21, 2008 18:01:52 GMT 12
Ah, so they will tell me something if I do?
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Post by vgp on Feb 21, 2008 18:14:24 GMT 12
sorry mores the point if the question involves anything US or NZ political or sensitive in nature they will not release any info to the general public regarding it.
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Post by p40fanatic on Feb 21, 2008 18:17:20 GMT 12
Ah I see. Valid point. So it'd be silly to ask questions about the goings-on at Groom Lake as well then? *cough* Adventure flight TA-4K.....
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Post by vgp on Feb 21, 2008 18:42:31 GMT 12
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Post by motoxjase on Feb 21, 2008 20:37:48 GMT 12
35 million for the Skyhawks? .......thats a joke! Im fed up with all of this! The army got to keep examples of the M113 APCs, an Andover went to Wigram, Strikemasters to the training school, why cant the flaming goverment dish out the Skyhawks!! My 7 year old son is mad on military planes and has sat in the Skyhawks recently but has never heard a Jet in full noise so we have to go to Wanaka to see a F111 in flight,. The Skyhawks are gone but for gods-sake they are part of the history of the RNZAF so come on Helen and put some in Musuems!
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Post by sniff on Feb 21, 2008 20:49:08 GMT 12
Let's not forget that the A-4's were a goneburger once the F-16 lease was announced. The issue is not whether we should keep the A-4's, but where they should go. The separate debate is: do we need a rapid response, weapon on target capabilty, and how do we provide it?
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Post by flyjoe180 on Feb 22, 2008 7:22:41 GMT 12
Heather Roy is Deputy Leader of the ACT Party.
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Post by vgp on Feb 22, 2008 8:49:13 GMT 12
sorry yes she is they seem like the same party these days.
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Post by skyhawkdon on Feb 22, 2008 9:22:00 GMT 12
Re: Heather roy is a Politician and is going were she can score Political points for her self and NZ First party and at present their are points in it for her. VGP - Your comment is a little unfair as well as factually incorrect. As someone else has pointed out Heather Roy is an ACT MP, not a NZ First MP. Yes MPs will try and grab a headline - that is the nature of the game, especially for the small parties who need all the headlines they can get. The 2 main parties tend to grab all the headlines on the big issues, so the small parties have to feed off the crumbs that are left! In my opinion Heather is the only current MP who really gives a stuff about defence issues (Ron Mark would be the only other MP who comes close). Heather has a genuine interest in things military, being an active Army Territorial soldier (she is a Private, "Grunt First Class"). Not only does she have a full time job as an MP, and a part time one are an Army Territorial, she is a mother of 4 and a wife! She would be one of the hardest working MPs in Parliament. I would encourage anyone who has an opinion on Defence issues to email her and if you get the opportunity, to meet her and have a chat - I'm sure you will be impressed.
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Post by vgp on Feb 22, 2008 9:24:55 GMT 12
don you are probably right re: heather it is just that she is not being overly clear in what end result she wants from it, as they are not likely to put them back into service.
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Post by vgp on Feb 22, 2008 9:27:20 GMT 12
and yes sorry re: NZ First (getting that wrong) that party is run by a self absorded weasel.
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Post by motoxjase on Feb 24, 2008 16:56:18 GMT 12
Hi guys, cnt disclose my contacts but Don knows who it is and its reliable but last week a company that is similar to ATSI inspected the Skyhawks and just before Christmas another company that also is similar to ATSI inspected the Skyhawks, also the Indonesian Air-force has shown an interest in parts etc. I was told the names of the two companies were mentioned but cant say the names etc to protect my mate Word is that a deal will be cut this year (Safe-Air word that is) so lets see what happens
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Post by skyhawkdon on Feb 24, 2008 19:19:32 GMT 12
I hope these companies know what they are buying! Was the interest just in the Skyhawks or Macchi's as well?
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Post by motoxjase on Feb 24, 2008 19:52:21 GMT 12
Just the Skyhawks with a figure of 45 million quoted not 35 million. Safe-Air management have gone dog regarding the leaking of info about the Skyhawk and certain people have had their keys to the Skyhawk compound takin of them and are now not allowed inside the compound. I was also told about a presentation tomorrow night at the Delta lounge (?) regarding the Skyhawks any-one know about this? Its on a 7 and the guy doing the presentation was involved with the Skyhawks for quite some time, any-one know about this?
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Post by skyhawkdon on Feb 25, 2008 6:36:29 GMT 12
The presentation is being given by Des Ashton to the Royal Aeronautical Society (RAS). I have given him some photos and material for it. Pat Leggett who trained in the US on the Skyhawks and accompanied them on the USS Okinawa to NZ is going to be there too. I was invited to attend, but too hard to get there for me during the week. I'm sure they won't mind you going along Jase. Tell them I said its OK!
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Post by tfly on Feb 29, 2008 17:47:58 GMT 12
45 million after all this? How much have they spent storing/maintaining them for the past 7 or so years? I still think the best solution is to donate some to local museums and leave the remainder with the airforce as instructional airframes.
This smacks of a Government that will do anything to 'get rid' and see them out of NZ before the next election to me!
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Post by lumpy on Feb 29, 2008 19:00:18 GMT 12
Pretty much agree with that tfly . Given our long association with the aircraft , it would be positivly criminal to sell them all . Would be great to see one airworthy , ( good recruiting ,pr , etc ) , 3 or 4 instructional ( and as spairs for the flying one ) and a similar number donated to museums ( near as airworthy as possible - in case at some time in the distant future restoration was feasable ) Otherwise keep the lot ! :-)
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Post by sniff on Feb 29, 2008 19:25:05 GMT 12
Trouble is, the more you keep, the more you pay! How much over the last 7 years, and whose operating budget did it come from? Also see the other thread of who pays for RNZAF flying displays...... Airshow performances generally come out of RNZAf funding as far as I know. There is a certain budget allowed each year for these purposes, on the grounds its good PR for recruiting etc, and the taxpayer also needs to see what they are paying for. That budget gets divvied up amongst the events that have applied for Air Force participation based on operational comittments etc. Which would you rather see? Glad-wrapped A4's or an impressive flying display...
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