Blog

As part of the New Year update to the site I thought I’d add a blog page as a way of expanding on some of the areas of the site and as a dumping ground for random posts and thoughts.

So to kick things off I go over a few of the most commonly asked questions that come up regarding the aircraft and project as a whole.

Probably the thing I’m asked most regularly is ‘Will it fly again?’ – and in a word – no. The budget will never stretch to it and regulation would (probably) never allow it, even if the budget were completely unlimited (which it most definitely isn’t). If there were to be a flying Jaguar back in the UK, this airframe is not the one for the job.

‘Will you get the aircraft inside?’ – The golden fleece of aircraft restorers up and down the country…. Again a solution that is wholly budget defined. Inside space on UK airfields is at a premium and doesn’t come particularly cheap. Although the Jaguar isn’t the largest aircraft it is still 18m long with a 10m wingspan and a fin height of 5m – so would still occupy a significant chunk of space. When I bought the aircraft I did investigate various local airfields for potential locations, based on their access and proximity. I’m based in the North Buckinghamshire/Oxfordshire area so there are a few airfields close by that might have provided a fitting home (I’ll mention no names) but we have ended up at Enstone and are pretty happy with that. It does mean that for the foreseeable future the aircraft remains outside however.

‘Do you intend to source engines’ – again, in a word, no. Expanding the project’s remit to include engines, even non-running space fillers involves way more logistically than I am planning to stretch too. I’d never say never but even non-running engine modules (in the unlikely event that any would even become available) certainly wouldn’t come cheap. I appreciate that the Bentwaters CW Museum have their aircraft ground-runable but they are a highly experienced team (who ongoing support I massively appreciate) that have performed miracles with their airframe and I can’t hope to replicate their achievements.

So we’ll leave it there for now, three pretty commonly asked questions, three pretty straightforwards responses. Hopefully this all makes sense. At the end of the day budget is all important especially when there isn’t a bottomless pit of cash to fulfil every task and aspiration for the aircraft and will continue to be a semi-limiting factor.

I’ll try and update this page on a pretty regular basis and as always I’m always contactable through the ‘Contact’ page or through the usual social media feeds.