B.C. volunteers irate over air force's decision to sell vintage ai

[Leafless]

The Canadian Forces' decision to sell a rare Second World War Spitfire to a private foundation in Gatineau for $1 has upset a group of volunteers who worked thousands of hours rebuilding the plane, funded by tax dollars and donations.

At the centre of the sale is the Y2K Spitfire, estimated to be worth around $700,000 and now being rebuilt at the air force museum at Comox, B.C. The project to get the plane flying again was financed by a $250,000 federal grant as well as $325,000 in donations collected from British Columbia residents, various organizations and museum visitors.

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/Life/voluntee...8303/story.html

Even Mackay questioned the antics of Vintage Wings of Canada located in Gatineau, Quebec.

Vintage Wings has a close relationship with the air force and, recently, the service sent a C-17 aircraft to New Zealand at no cost to pick up one of the organization's planes. That angered Defence Minister Peter MacKay, who said the move was not a proper

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/Life/MacKay+q...8792/story.html

It seems a lot of Canadian interest from museum's to civil servants end up being part of Quebec's own brand of nationalism.

Even the Wakefield steam train (another thread) owned by a private Quebec businessman ended up getting federal funding.

OTTAWA — The Harper government rewrote the rules of an economic development program in order to pay for a $2-million project in a Conservative Quebec riding that would otherwise have been left out. Ottawa announced last week that it will provide one-third of the funding to repair the tracks used by the Wakefield Steam Train, a major tourist draw in western Quebec that was grounded earlier this year after a series of landslides.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/Pag...orce_login=true

Edited May 19, 2009 by Leafless

[CANADIEN]

And of course, you would not even mention it if it an Ontario company.

[Leafless]

And of course, you would not even mention it if it an Ontario company.

And I wonder what convinced them to set up in Quebec.

And also important is, who exactly is running Canada's air force and why the heavy relationship with a private company.

And the Wakefield steam train used to be run out of an Ottawa museum before they started greasing the tracks on a slope on the Quebec side which contributed along with other reasons to the train eventually being shut down.

It was then acquired by a private Quebec buisnessman for very little money.

[CANADIEN]

And I wonder what convinced them to set up in Quebec.

And I wonder why they cannot set business anywhere in the country, including Quebec.

And also important is, who exactly is running Canada's air force and why the heavy relationship with a private company.

In case you didn't notice, the Minsiter questioned the nature of the relationship beetween that fundation and the Air Forrce, NOT where it is located.

But we both know that if the company had been located in Peterborough or Truro you would not even mention the story.

Edited May 20, 2009 by CANADIEN

[Leafless]

And I wonder why they cannot set business anywhere in the country, including Quebec.

But that is the point they did not and for what reasons (unknown) did they choose Quebec.

I don't like to speculate but the reasons could be many including possible government influence from Quebec's aerospace industry, an industry created using resources and technical expertise taken from other Canadian provinces and moved to Quebec.

In case you didn't notice, the Minsiter questioned the nature of the relationship beetween that fundation and the Air Forrce, NOT where it is located.

That is the whole point how did Mr. Potter a wealthy individual who could well afford to acquire air craft on his own, manage to form an powerful relationship with Canada's air force and commit it to doing 'personal favours' for a private restoration company.

This is also including acquiring other provinces air craft projects for $1.00.

But we both know that if the company had been located in Peterborough or Truro you would not even mention the story.

I suspect if the company was located in any other location in Canada it would not be successful in acquiring the type of government intervention as it does in Gatineau.

[Wild Bill]

One thing's for sure, any vintage aircraft volunteers in Canada will think carefully before investing time and effort with the Canadian Air Force again.

[CANADIEN]

But that is the point they did not and for what reasons (unknown) did they choose Quebec.

I don't like to speculate but the reasons could be many including possible government influence from Quebec's aerospace industry, an industry created using resources and technical expertise taken from other Canadian provinces and moved to Quebec.

Yet you do exactly that.

Enough time wasted on this one.

[Wilber]

One thing's for sure, any vintage aircraft volunteers in Canada will think carefully before investing time and effort with the Canadian Air Force again.

Got that right.

[Leafless]

One thing's for sure, any vintage aircraft volunteers in Canada will think carefully before investing time and effort with the Canadian Air Force again.

I hesitate to think that this will put the air force in their place.

And this coming from an air force that is part of a government that preaches unity and equality.

Looks more like they are supporting segragationism and inequality.

[Wilber]

The P-40 is interesting. Nice to have a flying example in Canada but it is 6100 nautical miles from Kandahar to Trenton via Frankfurt and 15,300 nautical miles via Auckland and Honolulu. The difference is about 20 hrs flying time at over $12K US per hour. That little delivery wasn't cheap.