The Bluebird Project

If I don't get my boat finished, I may have to!

If I don't get my boat finished, I may have to!

Well the FAAM have completely knackered their aeroplane project so there's an opening...

If the Barra project is over, it's a golden opportunity missed that will not re-present itself, and that project will languish now at the FAAM for want of scarce resources.

With any spare capacity this creates, don't go into partnership with anyone. It only ends in tears and recriminations.

Nigel

quicksilver-wsr wrote: With any spare capacity this creates, don't go into partnership with anyone. It only ends in tears and recriminations.

Nigel

Echoes advice I was given many years ago by a seasoned businessman "a Partnership is not a good ship in which to set sail"

I'm not negative by nature - I'm really not - but it's a bit like a marriage: it can work, and sometimes does. But it's the old difficulty of starting off thinking you both want the same thing, and then finding out down the line that you don't. In business terms, it's also the difficulty of one party getting greedy, or thinking it can have dominion over the other, and then it all ends up bloody horrible.

I bet there's the perfect project out there, that was just waiting for the Barra to fall through.

Nigel

I've always been dead-set against partnerships in business. I once allowed shareholders then found they were thieving from me and had to get rid. The Barra' project wasn't a partnership as such in that we expected nothing from them. They wanted a plane and we wanted a follow on project but on a day by day basis we were happy that they kept out of the way and they hailed us as the most maintenance free project they had - so, as you can see, not quite a partnership. And, as one commentator remarked only the other day, through short-sightedness they have lost the best chance in a generation to have their plane. Something else will come along, always assuming we have any strength and enthusiasm left once the big tin machine is finished.

Along this "rather stoney path" I have had many opinions put to me which people are quiet entitled to do about how the project should have been run. One of those opinions was after the Fools at the HLF missed the boat so to speak it was said we should found a major sponsor. Major funding to move things faster and speedy things along 24/7 around the clock working. A couple of Millionaires to fund the project but I have always replied "I have always felt this in the end would have ended in a power struggle or even the courts as the boat got nearer to completion or even before then". However on the other side we have people constantly saying "how much longer before K7 is ready"? I would always say with the Millionaire approach you always run the great risk of court cases and legal battles whilst one Millionaire squabbled with the other Millionaire/sponsor over what was expected of the boat even before it ran on the lake or was housed in the Ruskin. Infact I doubt the boat would have ever gotten rebuilt because of all the legal shite that usually sticks to such matters.

I have always said Bill can be a "Pain in the Arse to work" with sometimes but with the Geordie boy what you see is what you get and I know hand on heart that one day and not to far away now, K7 will be done and we as a team can look back and say what a dam find job of it we will have made. Mike Bull, John, Alain ,Jordan, Ritchie, Gillian,Dawn, Tiny person, Checkie, Rob, Barry from Grimsby Barry from Brum, Southern Chris etc etc etc etc all who have worked on K7 should feel proud. Apologies if i have overlooked anybody but you all know who i mean a fine bunch of people.
Novie

Multi/millionaires tend to "want it now" - or the day before. They are, as a generality, accustomed to getting what they want very quickly. Their money makes this possible.

If they put their dosh into anything that takes an extended period of time, they either (a) drop out through lack of interest - due to their generally low attention-threshold, or (b) get bolshy. Either way, their egos tend then to dictate that they will place the blame at the door of the other party.

A few years ago, I was chatting to the well-known owner of a WW2 warbird and that person told me that they happily derive a proportion of the income needed to keep the plane flying from their supporters'-club annual membership fees, but when someone comes along and offers to put in a big fistful of cash ... with strings attached, of course (there are usually strings) ... they are firmly but politely declined.

The way it was put to me was, "They tend to want too much influence."

Better lots of nice folks backing you for the right reasons than one grumpy, bullying fat-cat who really only wants a part-share in a new toy to impress his friends with.

Do it the hard way - on your own terms - and you'll get a lot more satisfaction and a lot less hassle.

Nigel

Do it the hard way - on your own terms - and you'll get a lot more satisfaction and a lot less hassle.

We've had a few offers over the years of decently large chunks of cash but, as you say, it always comes with strings - a finish date, usually. They all get turned down. Besides, even if we had a gazillion quid it won't allow anyone to put heliciols in any quicker and by the time you get a few people around a sponson it's getting crowded. Nope - our way works, it's getting the job done and I'm content to be a pain in the arse. The day I'm still a pain in the arse and we're not getting the results I'll quietly retire never to be seen or heard from again.

For that, you need to poke Richie with a sharp stick!

Or, better still, feed him some sugary waffles before handing him the helicoil kit.