Bruntingthorpe Super Guppy to be scrapped

[WV908]

Hot off the heels of the demise of Marham's Victor, the next supposedly preserved aircraft to meet it's fate this year; and the first of the Cold War Jets collection to succumb to the axe, news has reached today that the Super Guppy at Bruntingthorpe has been towed over to the scrapping compound. The group that was looking after her is sadly powerless as is David Walton it seems. 

 

The official line given is that she is too big to store, which quite frankly is rubbish when you consider the other extant aircraft on site such as the Tristars, VC-10's and 747's, the futures of which at this point are still unknown. 

 

Cheers,

  WV908

[Team Aer Lingus]

ah so the clear out  begins very sad news 

[spruecutter96]

That is some genuinely sad news. It also speaks volumes about the idea that Bruntingthorpe's new management will not interfere with the aviation side of things (as was very heavily-implied on the B/Thorpe official website some months ago). As previously stated, if you can have Boeing 747's sitting around for years, the Super Guppy doesn't seem like such a big deal. Of course, there is no revenue generated by the Guppy - so go figure that one. 

 

Chris.   

[WV908]

Reportedly the 747 and both VC-10's are to be binned off before the Guppy. It's disgusting all of it. The Tristars, Guppy and 747 are impossible to road out, but it's proven the VC-10's can go out by road so why are they being scrapped so early? 

 

As an an unfortunate aside, there is much bun fighting going on between various Facebook groups from Brunty volunteers as to what's happening with the aircraft - some saying the Comet is to be scrapped, others denying anything will be scrapped at all and one report saying the Guppy hasn't moved. It's madness. 

 

Cheers,

  WV908

[spruecutter96]

I don't do Facebook, unfortunately. 

 

What's the latest about the Lightning Preservation Group? I read a rumour that they are staying on site, but will have to occupy a new-built, high-fenced compound all to themselves (possibly on the large "aircraft-parking area" at the back of the site, previously used during Cold-War taxy days?). I doubt the new management would be paying for such a compound.

 

The implication seemed to be that Cox Automotive really don't like the general-public driving all around their facility during jet taxy-days. Considering that it would be a tough job to drive away in any of the stored cars, this seems a tad paranoid from where I'm sitting. I was also told at the last 2019 taxy-day that the Lightnings were instructed not to use full reheat at any point, in case they blew any debris towards the ranks of stored cars and damaged them. Admittedly, I have no way of knowing how true this information is.

 

The scuttle-butt was that the car-storage side of things was worth £30 Million a year (and that turn-over effectively paid for the aviation preservation). There's also been some talk about the smaller jets being moved into a purpose-built museum building.

 

Additionally, is there any news about the Victor's fate? She was a real star, for me. I remember when she did a tight turn last year and blew several of the red-and-white runway wall-sections into the air.  

 

Could someone advise, please? 

 

Chris. 

[spruecutter96]

1 hour ago, WV908 said:

Reportedly the 747 and both VC-10's are to be binned off before the Guppy. It's disgusting all of it. The Tristars, Guppy and 747 are impossible to road out, but it's proven the VC-10's can go out by road so why are they being scrapped so early? 

 

As an an unfortunate aside, there is much bun fighting going on between various Facebook groups from Brunty volunteers as to what's happening with the aircraft - some saying the Comet is to be scrapped, others denying anything will be scrapped at all and one report saying the Guppy hasn't moved. It's madness. 

 

Cheers,

  WV908

Early rumours had the Tristars sold to an American in-air refueling company. Has this fallen through? Or not true in the first place?

 

Chris. 

[WV908]

@spruecutter96 The LPG will be staying where they currently are now - a compound is being cleared In the trees behind the Q Shed which it is hoped will be populated and open by Spring 2021. There is a possibility that the LPG pan will remain as a running pan. 

 

Aircraft that will be part of this 'new' museum include;

 

Victor, Nimrod, Comet, Iskra, Sea Vixen, Hunter GA.11, Canberra and Meteor among others.

 

It hasn't been said what is happening to the Gnat, Starfighter and Hunter T but I would expect them to be included.

 

Nothing I have seen mentions a hangar but at present I'm just happy with things not being scrapped. 

 

The Tri-Stars do have American registrations, but you can't fly them out as the runway is full of cars. 

 

Cheers,

  WV908

 

 

[Max Headroom]

Wasn’t the VC-10 also due to fly out?

 

Trevor

[EwenS]

I’ve always been highly dubious about whether the Tristars and VC10s would ever have a new life tanking in the USA given how long they have been in storage and the number of deals that have already fallen through. This was reinforced by hearing at the end of Sept that Singapore has sold its 4 KC-135R aircraft to Meta Aerospace to provide refuelling capacity to the US forces. Singapore has replaced them over the last couple of years with Airbus KC-330.

 

Just how many civilian tankers does the US need? Recently used KC-135s make much more sense than Tristars and VC10s from long term storage. France is also in the process of replacing its 14 C-135FR/ KC-135R. What will happen to those airframes?

 

Despite all the talk I’m really struggling to see much of a hope for all these old museum pieces.

[spruecutter96]

Thanks for the reply, WV908. Whatever the future might bring, I really hope that as many airframes are kept in taxi-able condition as possible. It would be a great shame if the public were denied being able to enjoy and admire these pieces of history. The efforts of all the preservation groups is very much appreciated.     

[spruecutter96]

6 minutes ago, Beermonster1958 said:

That's probably for the best..

 

John.

If you have Netflix, I would strongly recommend that everyone watches "The Social Dilemma" - it's VERY scary stuff.

 

Chris.   

[WV908]

There has been an update of sorts on the remaining aircraft - all the small jets will join the Lightnings in the new compound behind the 'Q' shed, whilst the Victor, Nimrod and Comet will be held elsewhere on site, but are not on the chopping list.

 

Cheers,

 WV908

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

14 hours ago, spruecutter96 said:

If you have Netflix, I would strongly recommend that everyone watches "The Social Dilemma" - it's VERY scary stuff.

 

Chris.   

 

14 hours ago, Beermonster1958 said:

Seen it Chris! . It saddens me that so many people seem to have lives that almost revolve around the likes of Farce Book.

Makes me happy that I killed my facebook off 8 year's ago. This Forum is as close to a social media life that I have. As for the aircraft I truly hope they can do something to keep them all around. Sadly though I feel some may have to be sacrificed for others to live. 

[spruecutter96]

29 minutes ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

 

Makes me happy that I killed my facebook off 8 year's ago. This Forum is as close to a social media life that I have. As for the aircraft I truly hope they can do something to keep them all around. Sadly though I feel some may have to be sacrificed for others to live. 

Unfortunately, I think you have hit the proverbial nail-on-the-head, sir. 

 

Chris. 

[TheVoidDragon]

On 28/11/2020 at 16:55, WV908 said:

There has been an update of sorts on the remaining aircraft - all the small jets will join the Lightnings in the new compound behind the 'Q' shed, whilst the Victor, Nimrod and Comet will be held elsewhere on site, but are not on the chopping list.

 

Cheers,

 WV908

Only just seen this thread, but I'm very glad this is the case!

 

I've been to the Bruntingthorpe Cold War Jets day only 3 times (only found out about it about 2 years ago) and very very much enjoyed it, so it's just absurd that this has happened at all. It's baffling to me how a beloved one-of-a-kind part of preserving our aviation history, that has had a huge amount of work put into it by many people, could be considered of lesser worth than the ability to store and sell more cars. It's not as if any of it can be easily replaced, so I find this whole situation just disgusting from what I've read of it, really.

 

I was worried that they'd all have to be scrapped so it's wonderful that that's not the case, but it's just so disheartening that it's got to this in the first place.

Edited March 1, 2021 by TheVoidDragon

[spruecutter96]

I have been told that the storing of cars generates about £30 Million a year for the site. Unfortunately, I would think that the storing of the numerous aircraft costs a serious amount of money a year. I'm sure the money generated by the cold War Jets Taxi Days was a very minor sum, when compared to the annual cost of fuel and maintenance for all the airframes.  

 

I'm sure I'm not alone in feeling sad about the loss of the Cold War days. They were great events, with a very relaxed, informal vibe that I used to love. I really hope that some form of event can be held in their place. 

 

Chris. 

[John B (Sc)]

The storing of cars is likely to be a profitable exercise for a few years only, but probably too long for the aircraft storage prospects.  

 

Very sad.