You may want to buy a used Harrier jet for the front lawn as per the previous post, but if Del-Boy offers you a Nimrod then turn him down.

The RAF have 18 of them. One tragically crashed in Afghanistan on 2nd September 2006 with the loss of 14 servicemen. It had been based out of RAF Kinloss in Scotland and the families have been leading the fight to find out the cause of the accident. A three week inquest in May 2008 gave them the answers that they were seeking, however they rather spoiled it by promptly suing the MoD using the results. Let the dead rest in peace and pay your own mortgage off.

It wasn’t due to enemy fire – but rather because fuel leaked in to a dry bay and hit a hot air pipe causing a fire. Safety modifications were ordered and these must be completed by 31th March or they are grounded. Of the 18 Nimrods, only 5 have been given the necessary upgrade and 4 of those 5 are currently grounded undergoing other maintenance anyway.

So right now we have one airworthy non-fireball-potential Nimrod and also a few that their crews will be a tiny bit nervous going anywhere near. And on the 31st the UK, on current progress, will only have one allowed to fly at all. Count ’em. One.

This is a disgrace. What is this Government up to? Our eyes in the sky will just sit on the tarmac?

Rest assured that TheEye will be up on the roof this evening with binoculars watching for threats.