Thread: Roadster pickup getting closer

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Damn--I had to get my dictionary out to see what a "trebuchet" was. Why would I want to build one? My wife works for Canadian Dept. of National Defence. She can probably get me one discount from her department. Thats all the Canadian military has, along with their Sea King helicopters that won't fly!!!

Originally Posted by brianrupnow

....... along with their Sea King helicopters that won't fly!!!

So thats why one "fell" out of the sky during an air show a few miles from me 5-6 years ago?? They had to take it back to North of the Border on a couple of semi's. I've seen it on about half of the "disaster" TV shows ever since - and yep, I was there.

Brian and Dave Wikipedia has a great section devoted to what you guys are refering too. I was in Canada around the time of a Sea King crash. The people we were staying with were furious with the government.
Here is a Wikipedia exerpt..."Following a change of government in October 1993, the incoming Liberal Party ordered the Canadian Forces to immediately cancel the entire order, forcing the payment of cancellation fees of $500 million (CAD). By not purchasing the helicopters and slashing the DND budget, the government hoped to trim the deficit and become more fiscally responsible. But by canceling the New Shipboard Aircraft Project outright, the new Liberal government left itself with very little room to maneuver, as during the 1990s the Sea Kings' air frames, engines and avionics systems slowly but steadily became dated and obsolete as the Sea King entered its 30th year of service. The Sea Kings still needed replacing, but no alternative or contingency plan was offered. Some have noted that the decision to simply cancel the NSA contract in the end did not turn out to be very fiscally responsible of the government at the time.[14] Chrétien one time famously retorted during a debate that the President of the United States still flew in a Sea King, so that helicopter was still good for the Canadian Armed Forces.

Consequently, events unfolded to force the government's hand on the matter. By the mid 1990s each Sea King requires over 30 man-hours of maintenance for every hour of flying time, a figure described by the Canadian Naval Officers Association as 'grossly disproportionate'.[15] Furthermore, the helicopters are unavailable for operations 40% of the time and due to the fact that the airframes are 10-15 years older than other Sea Kings flying in allied air forces, AIRCOM is frequently forced to have spare parts custom-made as Sikorsky's supplies are either overly expensive or no longer in production. AIRCOM's Sea Kings are now widely perceived as unreliable, outdated and expensive to maintain, by observers both inside and outside the Canadian Forces. On February 27, 2003, when HMCS Iroquois was deploying to Afghanistan, a Sea King crashed within moments of takeoff, and the picture of the helicopter lying on its side on the destroyer's landing pad was embarrassing.[16]. Late that year, the entire fleet was grounded (except for essential operations) for several weeks after two aircraft coincidentally lost power within a few days of each other.

When it subsequently became clear that new helicopters were still desperately needed to replace AIRCOM's CH-124 Sea King fleet, the Liberal government began a slow, tortured procurement process that critics have accused of being deliberately tailored to prevent the EH-101 from being chosen as a candidate. One problem was that the government continued to tweak the terms of the new Sea King replacement project, dubbed the Maritime Helicopter Project. The project was divided into two sections, with distinct airframe and integrated mission systems components. The two-parts decision was attacked from all sides; opponents insisted that separating the major MHP components would only serve to drive up total costs.[17] Public Works insistence on “lowest-cost compliant” bids did not help the situation any further.[18]"......

Don sorry for the highjack!
I'm also excited to hear you'll be starting up again, and even on my limited small scale project understand totally what you mean! I was burnt with body work, and spent in the finance dept for parts, so I took a break while my savings is rebuilding! I have a deal with my wife that works well, no spending on the hot rod unless there is cash in the savings acct for it. So it is a slow process right now, as I have some big dollar things coming up, starting with remounting the engine( having a pro do this for welding skills reasons) and then welding in new lower shock mounts to the 9' transaxle. Then comes the big bucks for headers, brackets and pulleys, gauges and dash components....you know the scoop!
So longwinded response .....very happy to see you guys jump in again!