"Darrell A. Larose" wrote in message
...
"Keith Willshaw" ) writes:
"robert arndt" wrote in message
m...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/2980910.stm

Rpb

There's actually a larger requirement than just a flying
gin palace for the boy Blair. The RAF's VC-10's are now
seriously long in the tooth as are the Tristar tankers and both
got a lot of flying hours lately supporting ops in Afghanistan and
Iraq.

There's a real need to replace both in the refuelling and
transport role. Its my understanding that 2 bids have been
made

The first from EADS, RR, Cobham and Thales involves
the use of Airbus 330-200 airframes while the other
from BAE Sysytems,Boeing and Serco involves the
use of Boeing 767-300ER airframes.


The RAF could buy the CanForce CC-150 Polaris, #05 (A310-304F). This was
fitted out for long departed Canadian Prime Minister, Brian Mulroney, as a
VIP Air Force 1 type of a/c. It even has Gold faucets in the bathroom.


Buying a one off is a bad idea as it raises the cost of ownership
since you have to hold a separate spares inventory , train
personnel to fly and operate it etc etc.

Using standard RAF transport with reconfigurable seating
would seem a better option.

Keith

Keith