New (temporary!) career for ZD241

[Thumper]

Well it wasn't overnight, 6 days had passed between the taxi run and that article being posted. I've seen how quickly a restaurant can be put up many times over so I know it could have been done in a day easily. The airfield may have restricted access but they still got in to do that mock up, so that clearly wasn't an issue. It was the fact that no-one (who wasn't in the loop or reading Facebook pages in detail every day) knew what was going on and the article was written as fact rather than stating it was a mock up for an idea which raised questions, perfectly normal. This isn't the only aviation forum out there questioning it and taking it as fact.

At least the communication on here has remained civil and adult.

[ACLVC10]

Anyway i think it should be a Fish and Chippy, thats more british and in keeping with the old lady

[Magnum]

I was puzzled by the media articles when they first appeared too. I was aware that 241 had been used for some promotional advertising work as Gary had mentioned this, but still had a minor panic when I first read the articles.

The media do in my experience have a habit of writing an article in such a way to maximise impact. Judging by the reactions on various forums etc they are certainly managing to spread the idea of restaurants on old aircraft throughout the aviation community.

Hopefully word will spread that ZD241 has not been converted into a curry house.

[ACLVC10]

And theres me looking forward to a nice curry on board her, disapointed now

[ZD241]

I was to puzzled by the media articles but as magnum says, they do have the habit of stretching the truth.

However, as GJD owns 241, they can do what ever they like with it and ultimately they don't have to justify it to anyone.

[Thumper]

Quite right, they don't have to justify it but as the aircraft is well known not only on this forum but others and as running the aircraft is of interest to the public, paying public, articles like this even if they are badly written and full of hot air will raise speculation and ultimately criticism, that's all 'part of the job', something that has been proven with XH558.

[ZD241]

241 and 558 are two totally different beasts.

558 is owned and operated by a trust and charity with the purpose of showing it to the public and it's largely funded by the public

I think that 241 is currently owned operated and financed by GJD without any public money. The vc10derlovingcarers and a group which is raising funds with the view to helping with running costs in the future and in the long term buying the aircraft from GJD. (Please correct me if incorrect)

GJD is preserving an aircraft which costs money to run, I believe they have the right to do what they wish with the aircraft in order to preserve it. Gary spoors as openly come out on Facebook to say about it and yet he still seems to be getting stick. That's be honest, he could of just scraped it like the others.

If the group ever raise enough money to buy the aircraft, then they will be in a position to control the interests of it, until then we have to trust GJD. If you ever have the chance to speak to Gary spoors (which I did at the open day) you will relies that he's got the best interests of 241. His vision is to see the aircraft still fast taxing in 40 years time plus, along with the team of guys who give up there spare time to fix the aircraft the future of 241 is very bright.

[vololiberista]

Also bear in mind that in XH558's case a curry restaurant (or chippy) would be, shall we say rather cramped!
vololiberista

[Tonkenna]

241 and 558 are two totally different beasts.

558 is owned and operated by a trust and charity with the purpose of showing it to the public and it's largely funded by the public

I think that 241 is currently owned operated and financed by GJD without any public money. The vc10derlovingcarers and a group which is raising funds with the view to helping with running costs in the future and in the long term buying the aircraft from GJD. (Please correct me if incorrect)

GJD is preserving an aircraft which costs money to run, I believe they have the right to do what they wish with the aircraft in order to preserve it. Gary spoors as openly come out on Facebook to say about it and yet he still seems to be getting stick. That's be honest, he could of just scraped it like the others.

If the group ever raise enough money to buy the aircraft, then they will be in a position to control the interests of it, until then we have to trust GJD. If you ever have the chance to speak to Gary spoors (which I did at the open day) you will relies that he's got the best interests of 241. His vision is to see the aircraft still fast taxing in 40 years time plus, along with the team of guys who give up there spare time to fix the aircraft the future of 241 is very bright.

Here here =D>

Tonks

[Thumper]

You missed the point. I'm not comparing aircraft, I didn't say that I said that in business, one involving the public no matter how loosely you are bound to run into speculation and criticism as some point. 241 is in the public eye, it has nothing to do with who owns it or who doesn't and whether people pay money towards it or not, it went up the runway on Sunday in front of the public, therefore they know about it and will have an opinion.

I have spoken to Gary Spoors several times in the past and I sent him a message yesterday as people seem to be missing the point and jumping on me.

[Tonkenna]

Not you Helen... honestly! There are a lot of folks reading this that are missing the point, just not posting (but contacting me via other means).

Tonks

[ACLVC10]

Maybe we should delete this post and erase it from our memories

[ZD241]

My apologies if you thought I was having a pop at you and missing the point , but that's far from the case, I was only stating my opinion.

I only mentioned 558 as you had made reference to it in a pervious post.

My biggest issue is that a few people seem to think the aircraft is being controlled by the group and that the group should be doing something about it. Were as in reality the group as only just formed and had it's first AGM and as yet doesn't have any control over the aircraft. But that's not to say they don't have it's best interests at heart or that Gary Spoors doesn't take into account there opinion. In fact I believe Gary has a role on the committee?

[nickwilcock]

Hi Tonks,

Presumably the choice of curry would be ACB or ACC only?

[Thumper]

That is exactly the reason why I messaged Gary yesterday, I have seen his posts on the Facebook page and understandably he is getting a little irate over people referring to ZD241 as 'the groups aircraft' and it isn't... yet.

Everything has got lost in translation. It started off with a badly written article that stated Mustafa had bought the VC10 and already turned it into an Indian restaurant. Yes the time scale of 6 days is rather tight but I've seen restaurants pop up overnight before. Because I and others had not read through the GJD and Carers Facebook pages, weren't at the AGM, weren't at the Open Day and haven't been involved with 'tinkering' on the aircraft we had no background information about this, hence we had no idea it was simply a publicity shot. Due to that, rather than jumping to conclusions I simply posted the article on the Carers Facebook page and asked some questions to confirm what was going on. That all seemed to degenerate into banter, tension and some subtle gybes.

It's a great shame that at this early stage of protecting ZD241 as an airframe at Brunty, the different parties involved (GJD, The Group, public interest, etc.) could be seen to be clashing, it would be helpful, for ZD241's benefit, for all parties concerned to work together toward their common goal. I appreciate that you cannot expect everyone to agree on everything all of the time, but seeing a hint of a fallout at this early stage is, I would suggest, less than helpful. While XH558 and ZD241 are two very different aircraft, and the circumstances have obvious differences, the comparison I choose to draw with XH558's history in this regard is that The Club were the first group to work towards saving XH558's airframe (after David Walton, of course!), The Trust appeared much later and, ever since, a degree of conflict between the two groups has often appeared with many Club members feeling, rightly or wrongly, somewhat aggrieved that The Trust tried to push the club into the shadows. Perhaps, had this not been the case from day 1, XH558's constant struggle for support and funding may have been a little different. Personally, I would like to see much more harmony within all those who care about 241's future. Our collective efforts would, in my opinion, be much better spent working towards our shared goal than disagreeing with each other.