Chapter 27

I had all these big ideas, but it was going to cost a great deal in investment. Who was going to pay for it?

First, the practicalities. Examine the hangars for condition, and secure guaranteed access to them, including exterior parking space. I spent the rest of the day organising a visit by myself, Bruce of Finance, and Chairman Davis. Getting possible dates and times, I referred back to the estate agency, giving them our possible times, and asking them to see what might fit. All I got was a promise of a response by tomorrow morning, after they finished talking with the air force.

Marjory and I got home in a reasonable time for dinner, and she was careful not to be demanding this time. All my wives got felt up, though, before dinner time, and we had a marvellous seafood meal that the twins had asked for. Most of it was bought in, except for French fries done in the British style by Marjory, with much chunkier fries. She loved much of the British cuisine, having made a trip to the U.K. some time back.

We had our coffee out in the garden patio at the back of the house. It reminded me that we needed to get an enclosed patio before long, to provide decent shelter for young mothers and their new babies.

I mentioned my thoughts in this line, but was told the priority was a sheltered spot for sunbathing while it was still warm outside.

“Well,” I reacted, “We can double up on that. Put up side screens to allow sunbathing, then later add a glazed roof. If it is large enough, we could possibly grow tomatoes inside it, if we had a multifold glazed door on the front facing the garden.”

Cherry was delighted at that idea, and urged the other girls to go with it.

After a normal night of bliss, Marjory and I set off for work.

I was hardly in the door of my office before the phone rang. It was the estate agent Tom Brewer.

“Mr Hargreaves, the time today is acceptable for a visit to the airfield. Can you still make it by 11.30 a.m.? I will be there to escort you. We negotiated with the sellers, and as a result we have today been appointed the sellers’ agent, with power to negotiate for them to fix on a deal acceptable to both parties, you and the air force.

It sounds good to me, and I hope it will to you. I’d love to start selling parts of the air base, with you as our first purchasers. That probably means a sort of loss leader deal, if you are agreeable.”

He sounded very entusiastic, so I agreed with his timing, despite being unsettled at this unusual abdication of responsibility by the owners; but decided that it was a government body wanting an arm’s length arrangement to avoid any hint of impropriety, so I rang my two colleagues to confirm the time as acceptable. It was, for both wanted to get this negotiation started.

Chairman Davis suggested we use his car. I was fine with that, and during the ride I mentioned my thoughts about a possible move of the entire business to the air base if two hangars near each other proved suitable for the task, and at an acceptable price.

This made him think, so the rest of the trip he was silent.

Brewer, the estate agent, a dapper man wearing a small moustache, was waiting for us, standing by his car beside the main gate of the air base, so we stopped and greeted him before promising to follow his car through the site to the building he wanted to show us first. He took us to the nearest hangar, and we dismounted from our vehicles and viewed the massive structure which towered over us.

Brewer announced,” All the hangars are in similar condition, I have been promised. I have keys for every hangar for our inspection tour today. All are normally securely locked, so I have been told there has been no vandalism inside. I can’t guarantee the exterior walls being pristine.”

Wallpainting was not a deal-breaker for me, so we entered, and the interior was HUGE. I could see that the other two were equally bemused by the staggering dimensions.

Brewer told us, “These hangars had to accomodate aircraft with extremely long wings, so the roof had to be completely freestanding; quite a technical challenge, so solid foundations for the supporting walls. That means no intrusive columns inside, so that gives you freedom to lay out the interior any way you want, a great plus to my mind.

The walls take all the load of the roof span down to the solid foundations, so they are very strongly built. The air force is quite demanding for such structures, so you can be sure of their long-term reliability.

There are a set of storage rooms along the supporting walls at both sides. I haven’t been told if they were cleared out or whether you might have to clear them yourself, but I am sure that is the least of your concerns about the building. One proviso came from the sellers: You cannot use the hangars for storage or repair of aircraft. I think you will regard that as a reasonable demand from them. They would only relent if the entire base was being turned into a community airport.”

I took this in, and gladly accepted the proviso, but said, “I would still like to look inside each of these side spaces, Mr Brewer, just to see if they will need extensive redecoration if we should buy.”

“Of course, Mr Hargreaves. Go ahead. I’ll wait here at the doorway. Do you other gentlemen also want to see inside these rooms?”

Davis was no slouch about business, and followed my lead. “We will all go and check them out, Mr Brewer.”

We took the long walk to the first room, the one nearest the hangar entrance. I opened the painted plywood door and looked inside. I turned back to the Chairman and said to him, “I think you should take a good look, sir; a very good look.”

With a puzzled glance, he joined me and stared at the interior. It was a fully equipped office space with desk and swivel chair, and a bank of shelving. The shelves were almost empty, as the air force would take all their records with them.The shelves though, held printer paper and boxes of staples and other stationery supplies. It was almost as if the staff walked out one day and never returned. That was probably what happened, for none of it personally belonged to the military personnel, so was of no concern to them. The officers had the responsibility, but probably made wrong assumptions about whether the rooms had contents that had been abandoned by the service personnel.

David commented, “Useful for us, Mr Hargreaves.”

“Indeed, sir. I was hoping they would have abandoned most of what they had here that wasn’t immediately useful to them, or was out of date, not worth the effort of salvaging, and this suggests it might be so. I have hopes for the other rooms; they may have parts and equipment.”

“You do? You are suggesting spares? Spares that we can assimilate? In that case, let’s have a look at the other rooms right away.”

As we spoke, Robert Bruce gently ran his finger across the table surface and looked at his finger tip. “Hmm...” he said to himself.

We moved along to the next office, and found it had hanging space for staff overalls and other clothing gear. Some of it was still hanging there, abandoned and probably only fit for the garbage bin. There were foot lockers for changing shoes. These would be empty, I expected.

I finished my look and asked to move along.

The next room was larger and lined with shelving holding aircraft engine parts of all types and sizes, testing equipment, etc. I merely said, “Uh-huh, something for later,” and suggested, “Move on, I think. I want to see inside all the rooms here before we move on to the next hangar.”

Chairman Davis nodded, “I agree. This could be interesting,” and we tried the next few rooms. The other side rooms in the hangar had a range of tools, equipment, and parts, and one room was full of blower heaters to warm up areas where men had to work on engines and so on. By the time we had completed our tour, I was extremely keen to see what the other hangars held.

One room had a folding ladder inside, and Bruce’s eyes lit up. He dragged it out of the room and set it up so that he could climb up to the roof level of the bank of internal rooms. I was curious about his activities, but said nothing, waiting until he returned to ground level.

“Mr Bruce? What was that climb in aid of?” I asked.

“Dust, just dust,” was all the reply I got.

Having completed our survey of this hangar, we moved our vehicles along to the next. It turned out to be similar to the first, the only difference being which parts were being stored, and the type of table and chairs. I suspected aircraft variants or helicopter parts, but wondered if one of the hangars on the base included the motor pool and held auto engine parts and ongoing supplies such as gaskets and valves.

Mr Bruce gave his apologies and left us in order to examine the interior, saying he wanted to walk round the perimeter of the hangar. We both shrugged and left him to it.

When we concluded with that hangar, I was happy enough to be prepared to bid for the two, but when we met Robert Bruce again, he asked whether our inspection could include the other hangars. In response to Brewer’s query for a reason, he said, “Just for comparison purposes, Mr Brewer, so that we know which hangars might be best best for our needs. Those closest to the main gate may not necessarily be the best ones for our needs.”

Brewer was happy to agree, for he had keys for all the hangars. This extension of our inspection tour added a lot of extra time, but Bruce assured an anxious Chairman Davis that it was important. At each hangar, Davis and I inspected the interior, checking out the rooms, and Bruce inspected the exterior walls and doors. All the hangars appeared to be similar in their condition and contents as far as I could make out, but there was indeed a motor pool corner in one, bereft of vehicles, but with rooms stuffed with vehicle parts. A detailed inventory would be needed to establish exactly what was held within all the side rooms of the hangars, I assumed. Possibly our final choice of hangars would be down to the value of the parts and equipment stored within.

Once we had completed our survey, Chairman Davis asked the estate agent, “Tell me exactly, Mr Brewer: What are we being offered, and what is included in the offer, in detail? For example, is there a charge for access to each hangar, or is that included in the final agreed price?”

Brewer was anxious to tell us, “Everything is included, Mr Davis. Whatever you decide to buy, access comes free as part of it. There are no hidden extras.”

“Contents as well? The stuff you said we might have to clear out? We will have ownership of whatever we find, such as tools left behind that we might find useful for our own purposes?”

“That is what I understand, sir. The sellers have given us carte blanche in that regard. The Air Force has no requirement for anything left behind, so you can buy a hangar complete, or more than one if you wish. We are open to whatever offers you care to make for as many hangars as your budget allows. There is no lien or other encumbrance on the land and property, I am assured.”

This was another oddity that unsettled me, but I did not know what to make of it; the nonchalant, lackadaisical approach to offers from the seller, almost a giveaway suggestion. That made little sense to me, and made me suspicious.

Mr Bruce intervened now, with a more confident attitude than mine at the moment.

“Mr Brewer, you said the base closed a few years ago, implying not many. Exactly how many years ago did the base close and come on the market? I should tell you that during my examination of dust levels inside, and external conditions, my view is that it is not just a few years.

I noticed that around some of the hangars there are small trees growing happily next to the walls, suggesting they have had between eight and twelve years of growth. Such plant growth would not be tolerated when the base was active. The timescale therefore appears to be far longer than you implied.”

Brewer’s face turned white as he realised his strategy was adrift.

“Uh ... I believe it is about ten years, sir,” he admitted.

Bruce hammered home his large nail: “So the base has been on the market for a decade or more with no offers? Am I right?”

“Um ... you could be right, sir. It was only yesterday that we became sole selling agents, so we have no responsibility for what happened previously to this time. You will understand that I am not yet conversant with what the previous agency had done about selling, but no prior unaccepted offers were mentioned to us. This change to our firm came about when we made enquiries on your behalf. The whole base is now under our umbrella as selling agents.”

“In that case, the hangars, though in good physical condition might be described not so much as ‘neglected’ but as ‘abandoned, heading towards derelict’?”

“That is a little harsh, Mr...”

“Bruce.”

“Mr Bruce. The hangars have been continuously been given basic maintenance, and the Air Force has continued their insurance in case of accidental loss, such as fire caused by lightning.”

“So the base is costing them money, just sitting there doing nothing?”

“You might use such terminology, Mr Bruce, but the Air Force views it as simply being responsible owners as part of the community. There is surely nothing to fault them over that precautionary principle?”

“No, I agree fully with your statement. However, in the face of continuing costs with no return, the Air Force would be happy to see the back of the whole lot and make a considerable saving in security, maintenance, and insurance. How does fifty thousand dollars grab you?”

Brewer thought for a long calculating moment before demanding from Robert, “Cash on the nail, or within one week?”

“Within one week; I can guarantee that, Mr Brewer. We have the resources available.”

Brewer stretched out his hand, and Bruce took it, as Davis and I looked on in amazement. I hoped my confusion was not showing in my face, but Brewer’s attention was entirely on Mr Bruce. He could see who controlled the money, and was the most equipped with knowledge with this deal.

“Deal,” said Brewer. “You take on all responsibility for insurance, etc. from today, of course.”

“Of course,” replied Bruce, as the rest of us looked on, still in shock. He continued, “I think that concludes the business for today, Mr Brewer. We will get back to you as soon as we get in touch with our bankers and arrange the payment. You will see to the legal documents, I presume?”

“I guarantee that. I will be speaking with our lawyer later today. Farewell.”

We walked back to Chairman’s Davis’s car, while Brewer stood with his mobile phone in hand, presumably talking to his office. Once we got into the car, Chairman David turned to his finance chief.

“Robert, what were you playing at, taking over negotiations, instead of leaving it to me? And what did we just pay 50,000 dollars for? I am left confused, man. You are supposed to look after our finances, not squander them.”

“Sir, let me explain. I first noticed how much dust there was in the rooms, but the space on their roofs was more likely to show how long it had been since they were cleaned, for everything gets cleaned when the base is in use. The dust was thick up there where you couldn’t see it without climbing up! I then wanted to see what sort of plant growth had built up against the walls outside or nearby, sheltered by the walls. Plants are quick to take over sheltered spots like that, if no-one is attending to the weeding any more. There was so much plant growth that I wanted to see if this was consistent around the base, so that was why I asked to see the other hangars.”

David was getting the general idea.

“So that is why you knew it had been lying derelict for so long?”

“Yes, sir. It just required careful observation. Then, no offers of any kind in ten years? They would be ready to unload at almost any price!”

“So what do we get for our fifty grand? Both hangars?”

“Unless I am wildly wrong, sir, Brewer agreed to the whole base for fifty K.”

We both gaped at him, speechless, so he continued, “I reckon we can rent out the hangars we don’t need as warehouses for other companies; once we have removed the contents of the side rooms, naturally. I reckon there are enough spares in all these hangars combined, for us to retail as a section of our parts inventory and cover our outlay within the year. Aircraft engines used by the military are almost the same as what is used in civilian planes, and small carriers will be desperate for our cheap spares once they know we have them.

We don’t have aircraft spares at present, and there are many refurbisher groups that will be looking for engine parts, which will be most of what is stored here. The Air Force doesn’t bother with refurbishing outdated aircraft and these parts have to be at an absolute minimum ten years out of date from their point of view, but the enthusiasts will be glad to have such parts at half the cost of new ones.”

“But,” queried the Chairman, “Where do we get the fifty thousand dollars, Mr Bruce?”