Hercules on the Road

[tog]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-wiltshire-121...

Can anyone enlighten me as to why this Hercules is being moved by road? Why not fly it out?

[Hooli]

Well I doubt it'll fly with no wings etc

Seriously it's probably not certified to fly anymore if they are scrapping it.

[anonymous-user]

HTH

http://forums.airshows.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=9&amp...

[ninja-lewis]

As for why moved by road and not flown, probably because Hixon Airfield, where it is to be dismantled further, is an airfield in name only these days. The RAF disposed of it nearly 50 years ago and the runways are now mostly overgrown. Factor in the cost and associated risks (assuming there was any life left in the airframe) and a road move probably made the most sense.

[mrloudly]

They probably couldn't afford the fuel to fly it :-)

[olliet]

My god father owns Hixon Airfield, the north/south runway is clear and in ok condiction, the east/west one is over grown... there is a pig farm in one corner + fences + a tank parked on the runway so there is not enough room to land anything these days.

[will261058]

mrloudly said:

They probably couldn't afford the fuel to fly it :-)

I used to work on these. The fuel cost would not have been too high for that sort of distance. The destination would have been the problem assuming the airframe had any hours left or calender time. I was involved in the Nimrod disposal and the health and safety Nazis have a big say. Duxford wanted a Nimrod but the H&S would not allow one to be flown in because the runway was a few feet shorter than the minimum and they were worried a tyre could burst under braking even though the pilots involved were more than happy to do it and regarded the risk as negligable. So what if it burst a tyre. Its a fairly regular occurence anyway and it would not be flying again so no need for any maintenance if it did lose a tyre! I worked on Nimrod for many years and I have seen them lose a lot more than one tyre without problem.