The latest update has been released from Robert Pleming:
Following what we expect to be XH558’s last sortie of 2009, we have been working hard to bottom out all the activities we need to carry out over the next few months, and crucially their costs, preparatory to explaining our plans for the next year to you all.
Very important decisions are being made concerning aircraft flying life management, with the objective of ensuring that we meet our commitments to fly the aircraft for as long as possible into the foreseeable future.
We have decided to bring forward work that we had intended to carry out during Winter 2010-11, and that of course brings forward the associated costs.
One of the big disappointments arising from our history of continually having to struggle for funds is that we are not given the usual commercial terms by our major suppliers: we have to pay for most technical, engineering and support costs at the start of the related activity, rather than at the end. Whilst providing comfort to our suppliers, this creates real timescale pressure on fund-raising, since we obviously then have to raise substantially all of the funds needed before the work can start.
Given our proven success at raising funds over time, what we could do with right now is a £500,000 line-of-credit or overdraft, but sadly, for us as a charity, this sort of facility is apparently not available from traditional banking sources.
As the result, we are now nearly ready to launch XH558’s 50th Birthday Appeal.
We are currently finalising the detailed explanation of our plans and the 50th Birthday Appeal that will be available from our web site, whilst also being sent out to all those for whom we have address information.
There will be an explanation of our situation, detailed income and expenditure analysis, whilst on the web site - a comprehensive set of Questions & Answers and regular updates of the Appeal progress, both by performance graphs and by weekly updates. If there are any queries, there will also be a facility to contact us and have those matters resolved.
Our official launch date is currently Friday 16th October. Once you have received this information, we hope you will understand the rationale behind our proposals and the 50th Birthday Appeal.
We estimate that only about 50,000 people have actually helped sustain XH558 over the past year, compared with over 2.5million who have enjoyed the sight and sound of her flying. We need your help to convert the remaining 2,450,000 from passive spectators to active supporters!
With best wishes,
Robert Pleming
Chief Executive VTS Trust
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