John will run me ragged if I've got this wrong and I've cleverly deleted his last PM before going away but.. I'm pretty certain that CBFSVA is 1-year old today!! :dance: We had a couple of weeks in limbo while the I's were dotted and the T's were crossed but on this day 12months ago was the first flight in a British aircraft and this was done by our very own Rick P
Have we moved on a little bit or what!! :shock:
On behalf of the team here, I'd like to thank all of our pilots as without you.. we'd be just another VA instead of the force that we are. Many of you (and I include me in that) don't pay much attention (if any) to what the other VA's are doing and do what we do because we want to.. not because we want to be the biggest or the best. I can't say what the secret ingredient is but whatever it is works
What's in store for the future..
Nothing too drastic.. at least not by my standards anyway
As new types of aircraft become available, we'll do what we can to get them added to the fleet thus expanding our route network (already by far the most extensive on FlyNET and by some margin) and at the same time, offering you a greater variety of options. We are constantly on the lookout for new aircraft and while British built types are always at the top of the list.. I'd like to see a few non-British types included. While I might not be keen on flying some of these myself, there are some foreign types that served the British Airline industry for a variety of reasons.. mostly as a stop-gap but some for other reasons. A number of aircraft spring to mind.. the Boeing Stratocruiser, the Lockheed Constellation, the Boeing 707, the Lockheed Tristar.. even the B747-100. They all have their place in British aviation history and while not being 'British built' deserve our consideration. While I couldn't put hand on heart and say this will be well recieved by all.. some will flatly refuse and for totally valid reasons, I do see it as a way forward. While it may not happen for a long time, in fact it may never happen.. it is a route I'd like to see us go. There are still parts of the globe where we have little influence and I'd like to see that redressed So.. there you go. My personal thoughts (though I know they're inline with a number of others) warts and all
Again, I thank each and every one of you for hanging in there and staying with us.EDIT.. it has been remiss of me to only include the pilots and for that I apologise. It has since dawned on me that there are a good few out there, not least of all our own GarryR, who contribute to the VA in their own way and are equally worthy of mention so to you all, I extend my thanks
Best regards
DaveB :tab:
Finally came our current name and then the first flight done in a British Aircraft.. a newly acquired HS748, this being done by the ever-young Mr Piper on 20th.
and yes we all had the vote for the new name of the va. so your right and i'am off to stick my head in a bucket of sand. 
