The spring months have seen a remarkable variety of aircraft taking to the air for the first time. Behind the scenes, too, some less high-profile aeroplanes are on their way back into the skies. It never ceases to amaze me what interesting old aircraft keep cropping up, and where. The first of these can hardly be described as 'hidden', as six Lockheed Tristars have been a part of the Bruntingthorpe skyline since being retired from RAF service a year ago. The venerable pioneer wide-body jets were replaced in their tanker/transport role by eight Airbus A330 Voyagers operated on a ￡13-billion contract by AirTanker, a consortium made up of Babcock, Cobham, the Airbus Group, Rolls-Royce and Thales. Now an independent company, AGD Systems, intends to return the Tristars to airworthiness.
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