Omega obviously had their nose put out of joint -

Omega obviously had their nose put out of joint - by $TMPS swooping in with their 3/4 x Tristar tankers maintained in an airworthy condition - as they had bought 20 x ex-Japan Air Lines DC-10s 21.5 years ago but only ever converted one into a KDC-10 tanker.

Omega was quite happy to tick along with 1 x KDC-10 and 2 x KC-707 earning contracts worth $488M+ in total over the past 12 years for which records are available on-line.

Unlike the $TMPS Tristars which are pretty much ready to go, if Omega was planning to submit a proposal to convert additional former-JAL DC-10s to KDC-10s - as part of the larger contract competition $TMPS won - they would have needed a lot of work.

Although I don't know where there are, they are most probably in cocoon storage somewhere - I don't imagine Omega has been paying to have them in "airworthy storage" - as the $TMPS Tristars have been since their retirement from RAF service in 2014.

All would need the purchase and fitment of Cobham fuselage refueling units or wing refueling pods - not cheap.

https://www.cobham.com/mission-systems/air-to...ing-units/

https://www.cobham.com/mission-systems/air-to...t/docview/

Some DC-10s, those from the JAL domestic fleet, would need an additional center portion of the main undercarriage fitting to get a Maximum Take-Off Weight in the same league as $TMPS's Tristars - again not cheap.

Omega buys JAL DC-10 Fleet - 1997:

https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/ja...ium-18852/

It took over 7 years for Omega to decide to put just one of the KDC-10 into service:

https://www.airfleets.net/ficheapp/plane-dc10-46974.htm

They have also have a few ex-Italian Air Force KC-707 which they bought back around 2004 which they haven't done anything with.

Only in December 2018 - as I posted earlier - have Omega started to look at the possibility of bringing some of the KDC-10s and KC-707 into service to bid for USAF contracts:

https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/om...er-454368/

It is almost as if Omega have been deliberately trying to stay "small" - waiting to grow when they could afford it - but now have had $TMPS get the jump on them in just 13 months since the Tristars were acquired with 100% more off-load capacity (based on 4 x Tristar vs 1 x KDC-10 and 2 x KC707).

"Per Ardua Ad Astra" - "Through Adversity To The Stars"

A very apposite motto for those who trade successfully in the OTC market..

All posts are my opinion - trade at your own risk.