In what seems either a bit of good planning or an admission that FSTA won’t be ready in time it seems the Out of Service Date of the eight strong RAF Tristar fleet has been extended by 4 months to the end of March 2014.
This will allow it to be used for the last Relief in Place in Afghanistan before the main drawdown later that year.
Over the next year and a half both the Tristar and VC10 will be replaced by Airbus A330 based Voyagers as part of the FSTA Airtanker PFI. One of the eight Tristars will also deploy to RAF Mount Pleasant to support the Typhoons there.
Mark sent me this video of a Tristar, always worth a laugh!
Hilarious video!
Interesting the Tristar is going to the Falklands wonder what’s replacing the herc.
Someone must have been unimpressed by the video!
Why scrap the Tristar?
Why not put them in a shed somewhere & keep them back for an emergency? Perhaps 4 still flying(limited hours) with the other 4 for spares. I remain convinced that the A330 Voyager PFI will be an expensive disaster.
@John Hartley
‘I remain convinced that the A330 Voyager PFI will be an expensive disaster’.
Just like all other PFI’s!
We should have just bought the bloody things, or of course better yet pursued an off the shelf aircraft from the start.
Challenger
Absolutely we should have bought them. They would have been cheaper & to a better spec (see RAAF A330).
Had the pleasure of flying out to Akrotiri with crab air on a Tristar this summer – a few bits fell off the ceiling when we landed admittedly, but not bad for a plane older than almost everyone on it. Flew back to the UK on a 10 Squadron Voyager, you just don’t get the same sense of adventure/impending death…
B A
“you just don’t get the same sense of adventure/impending death…”
Should be the motto of most new MoD equipment ;D
I hope Mark didn’t get into a bollocking situation – if he took the video – but I must find it again and share with my US colleagues! lol Was pretty hilarious!
what am i going to do with my polo shirt then?