A Little VC10derness

Rumour is they are going stateside ......

Just out of interest are there now 6 Tristar's at Bruntingthorpe? By my reckoning 2 have been at Cambridge for years and will never fly again, 1 went to Kemble and is now partially dismantled already, leaving 6 potential flyers at Brunty?

Correct!

The six Tristars at Brunti have been reregistered:

N304CS 1157 (ZD948)
N309CS 1165 (ZD951)
N405CS 1164 (ZD950)
N507CS 1186 (ZE704)
N703CS 1188 (ZE705)
N705CS 1174 (ZD953)

The new owner is CSDS Aircraft Sales & Leasing.

Oh, sounds like they wont around for much longer then. Good news that they will fly again, shame its the last I'll see of them.

As CSDS is based in California I presume the Tri-Stars will be heading over to the USA then?

If it is the same deal that was being discussed originally then yes it is for relocation to the States. A couple of organisations out there expressed an interest in using them for a couple of different roles.

If the deal has been done then it is most likely they wont hang around at Brunty for long. I know they are pushed for space at present.

It's great that they have been given an extended life.....

Thumper wrote:As CSDS is based in California I presume the Tri-Stars will be heading over to the USA then?

I don't know, CSDS appears to be a leasing company rather than an operator, so depends if they actually have a customer for them. They may want to leave them stored where they are until they are needed, or maybe get them shifted to warmer/drier climates to prevent corrosion.

One thing that I'm wondering about is whether they will be flown out "as is" on a special permit to fly? I heard from a 216 Squadron guy, that the original deal fell through due to the cost of returning them to the civilian register - removing all the RAF modifications.

If you are correct the permit is a 28 day permit to allow them to fly, one flight only. They will leave Brunty and make a fuel stop in Ireland before heading over the pond.

Anyone have any ideas how soon this will happen? Soon I would say as I understand Bruntingthorpe needs the room ...

The original deal through as the successful tenderer had simply failed to come up with the money by the necessary date. They then went to the next in line - GJD Services. However, the original successful bidders were still interested in their purchase, only now they are being sold by GJD rather than the MOD.

The RAF titling and serials will be removed for their ferry flights, and the appropriate N-registration applied. I presume they will also require 'Restricted' to be painted by the entrance doors seeing as they will not be issued with full civilian CofA's for some time, or possibly not at all in the case of one - possibly two - airframes.

As mentioned previously, they will be ferried singularly over a period of a few weeks.

If it is the original deal back on, I heard it was to use them for Tanking. Apparently a company similar to Omega Tanker but a completely new venture. If that's the case modifications should be minimal. Great news that these majestic old RAF birds will continue in a new life for a few more years, and the L10-11 isn't a museum piece just yet.

looks like they are already up for sale.

Considering how little the DSA charge for an aircraft I think there may be quite some mark up on price.


http://www.controller.com/list/list.asp ... D&setype=1

Magnum wrote:looks like they are already up for sale.

Considering how little the DSA charge for an aircraft I think there may be quite some mark up on price.


http://www.controller.com/list/list.asp ... D&setype=1

I was told by someone in 216 that the remaining 6 were up for about £700,000 for the lot, i.e. not much more than £100K each. One of them is on there for a cool $3.5 that's not a bad return on investment! I hope that the difference is partly down to the cost of returning them to civilian use otherwise the MOD has given them away!