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Post by Dave Homewood on Aug 7, 2010 12:51:46 GMT 12
Along with the Mig ;D
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Post by skyhawkdon on Aug 7, 2010 13:09:57 GMT 12
www.stuff.co.nz/national/4000693/Crunch-time-nears-for-US-firm-to-find-funds-to-buy-SkyhawksCrunch time nears for US firm to find funds to buy Skyhawks
By MARTIN KAY - The Dominion Post Last updated 05:00 07/08/2010
The future of the mothballed air combat wing could be decided within a month as crunch time looms for the American buyers to come up with $151 million.
The Cabinet is expected to consider a paper on the 17 Skyhawks and 17 Aermacchi trainers in the next two to four weeks as concerns rise that Arizona firm Tactical Air Services has not found the funds nearly a year after getting final clearance to import the planes.
Options are likely to include setting a deadline for TAS to find the money or canning the sale and finding another buyer. Selling the more valuable Aermacchis separately and keeping the Skyhawks for engineer training or selling the parts will also be considered.
A last resort would be to fully decommission the Skyhawks and give them to aviation museums and RSAs. That would mean no financial return to the Government, but would preserve an important part of New Zealand's military history and is seen as preferable to scrapping them.
The Cabinet discussions will be held as a key milestone for TAS to find the money draws near. A United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives import permit expires on September 22, and while the licence can be extended, the date is starting to be seen as make-or-break time for TAS.
Associate Defence Minister Heather Roy, who has responsibility for the future of the decommissioned air combat wing, has also made clear she wants the future of the planes settled well before the next election, preferably by the end of this year.
She said through a spokesman yesterday she was still hopeful the TAS sale would proceed.
"While selling the Skyhawks to TAS still remains the preferred option, I acknowledge that the time is drawing near when a decision will have to be made."
TAS chief executive "Hoss" Pearson could not be contacted, but said in May he was confident he could find the money.
The bill for storing the Skyhawks since their decommissioning in 2001 is well over $12m, and it is estimated it will cost at least another $20m to get them serviceable if the TAS sale proceeds.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Aug 7, 2010 14:41:57 GMT 12
RSA's? Which RSA would want the burden of taking on housing and looking after a jet aircraft?
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Post by luke6745 on Aug 7, 2010 15:02:05 GMT 12
I doubt Hoss Pearson will magically find $151million in the next month. It seems strange to go through this whole process of selling the Macchis again so it would seem logical to put them back in service. As for the Skyhawks, I also do wonder what RSA would actually want to take one on.
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Post by skyhawkdon on Aug 9, 2010 17:22:16 GMT 12
RSA's? Which RSA would want the burden of taking on housing and looking after a jet aircraft? None will be offered to RSAs! Just more bad reporting. The good news is NONE will be chopped up. All (bar the one or two that will go to Musuems in Australia) will be staying in NZ...  |
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Post by Dave Homewood on Aug 9, 2010 19:21:05 GMT 12
Yes, that is good news. So long as the TAS deal doesn't go through like the Minister hopes...
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Post by skyhawkdon on Aug 9, 2010 20:17:26 GMT 12
Not a hope!  |
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Post by Dave Homewood on Aug 9, 2010 20:34:10 GMT 12
I wonder how they will get them from Woodbourne to the various museums around NZ? Disassembled obviously, but will they fit into a Hercules, and if yes, will No. 40 Squadron have the aircraft and hours to squander on transporting dead aircraft around the country?
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Post by shorty on Aug 9, 2010 22:02:10 GMT 12
Simple Dave, you tell the museum they can have one, come and get it. Then you leave it up to the museum involved to move it.
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Post by sqwark2k on Aug 9, 2010 22:22:28 GMT 12
Wings removed, Flat deck transporter.... road trip. No way govt will spend defence dollars on transporting scrap metal.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Aug 9, 2010 22:29:03 GMT 12
And yet they have done it many times before. They even transported a flipping crocodile last year!
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Post by luke6745 on Aug 9, 2010 23:37:17 GMT 12
Well, you could call transporting them around the country in Hercs training missions...
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Post by shorty on Aug 10, 2010 9:29:31 GMT 12
They may do it on a "space available" basis. (I got a vintage car moved that way from Woodbourne to Ohakea way back when dinosaurs roamed the earth))
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Post by Barnsey on Aug 10, 2010 12:44:44 GMT 12
I hope they allocate the rooted ones to the random museums (corroded 414 frames), the best of the bad to static display at the RNZAF museum and allow the opportunity for the best of the bunch to be demilitarised and brought back to flying status.
Don, fingers, pies?
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Post by skyhawkdon on Aug 10, 2010 15:36:20 GMT 12
There is high level support (Government) to see one flying in a Private/RNZAF partnership "Heritage Flight" arrangement. They are looking for someone with lots of money for the Private part of the deal... so if you know anyone tell them to get in touch with Heather Roy! There is also a certain historic aircraft currently for sale at Wanaka which people are trying to put it into a similar arrangement (ala the Spitfire). Again they are looking for someone to front up with the cash...
The actual allocation of individual airframes to GWT/Museums hasn't been given much thought as yet, but Phil raises a good point about which ones should be kept by the RNZAF (the best of them). There are still issues to be dealt with with the US State Dept in terms of gifting to Museums etc. It is likely they aircraft will be pretty gutted and there is even talk of having to make them unflyable.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Aug 10, 2010 18:43:32 GMT 12
I thought they'd already spent $12 million making them unflyable. |
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Post by smithy on Aug 10, 2010 18:52:59 GMT 12
So finally an end in sight for this sorry bloody fiasco.
Be wonderful if they could get something going in terms of a flying example over NZ.
Once this TAS deal is officially tits up, what's the go with the Macchis? Are we still trying to sell them? Keeping them just in case?
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Post by skyhawkdon on Aug 10, 2010 20:36:27 GMT 12
I thought they'd already spent $12 million making them unflyable. The real figure is more than double that for both the Skyhawks and Macchis. Think what the Air Force Museum and Historic Flight could have done with that sort of money over the last 10 years... bloody scandalous  |
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Post by nige on Aug 11, 2010 9:33:45 GMT 12
Regarding "looking for someone with lots of money for the Private part of the deal", there must be few business tycoons out there that the govt knows quite well. Otherwise howabout Sir Peter Jackson? He seems to have a soft spot for aviation!
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Post by davekiwi on Aug 11, 2010 18:20:58 GMT 12
Slightly tongues in cheek ;D, but it sounds like the Historic Flight could become the second biggest fixed wing "flight" in the RNZAF, if all comes to pass.
Maybe a "flyable" vampire or two, haha, the "restoration" of the RAAF Canberra even .....
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