Another Point on Last Post

I'd like to add another point to my last post about Pelosi not flying commercial like everybody else.

In my humble opinion, international terrorists will leave Nancy Pelosi alone so that she's inflicted on us if they manage to take out the President and Vice-President. The Speaker of the House is #3 in line of succession.

God help us if Pelosi winds up in charge for ANY reason. Stay healthy, Mr. President and Mr. Vice-President. Please.

Injured F-15C Pilot Sues Boeing: Aging Fighter Broke Up in Mid-Air

A Missouri National Guard pilot from the 110th Squadron, 131st Fighter Wing is suing Boeing over injuries he sustained when his F-15C Eagle broke apart in mid-air and crashed in southern Missouri. He ejected in time but sustained major injuries.

This crash led the Air Force to temporarily ground hundreds of early to mid-model F-15s until the fleet could be inspected for the sort of catastrophic problem which doomed this particular F-15 model C.

This is one of the reasons why the F-22 Raptor is being developed; most of the F-15s have more than double the service life that the fighter was originally built for. The F-15s were designed to operate for 4,000 hours, though they extended that expectation to 8,000 hours. Many of the F-15s (A through D models) are approaching or have gone through that limit. The F-15E will probably be in service through 2025 as they have a much longer service life--17,000 to 18,000 hours.

The F-15C that broke apart had about 5,600 hours on it.

The day will come when the F-15E Strike Eagles are the only F-15s left in the air. We can only hope that the F-22 Raptor will serve the nation and the Air Force as well as the F-15 has.

Boeing Loses Bid to Build Next Generation U.S. Air Force Refuelling Tankers: This is a Screwup on Boeing's Part

Boeing has no one to blame but itself for losing a $40 billion U.S. Air Force contract to build a fleet of airborne refueling tankers. The people who were in charge let the Boeing workers down big-time.

Here's why Boeing itself is to blame for this mess:

They had put in a bid to build a fleet of refueling tankers based on the Boeing 767. Their competition was Northrup Grumman, which is an affiliate of the European-based EADS company, which builds the Airbus aircraft. The Europeans proposed a design based on the Airbus A330.

The 767 is smaller than the A330, holds 14,000 gallons less, and has 21% less cargo capacity. Why didn't they field a Boeing 777 or one of the brand-new Boeing 787s against the Airbus?

Bigger is better when it comes to an in-air refueling aircraft.

The other big deal is that production of the Boeing 767 is winding down, in favor of the Boeing 787. If the Pentagon had chosen the 767, it would have driven up maintenance costs, as the Air Force would have had to pay for manufacturing of parts on it's own, rather than have the per-unit price be less if the aircraft and it's replacement parts were still in production, with other companies purchasing the planes and parts too.

I feel bad for all of the American jobs that will be jeopardized by this screw-up. And there's nothing wrong with the 767; it was simply the wrong aircraft to put up against the A330.

The good news is that the Air Force is planning three separate buys of tankers; Boeing lost the first round. They can try again in the second and third rounds.

I hope they get their act together.

$1.2 Billion B-2 Stealth Bomber Crashes: Pilots are Safe

A $1.2 billion B-2 stealth bomber crashed at Anderson Air Force Base on Guam yesterday. The crew ejected before the bomber hit the ground; that's the one positive development out of this story.

I wonder how much of the price tag goes into engines and hydraulics, to make sure that this kind of thing doesn't happen to these overpriced aircraft.

I think that the Air Force needs to re-evaluate where it spends it's money. It's crying about needing to replace all of it's F-15s and F-16s and A-10s, all of it's tankers and many of it's cargo aircraft. Do they really need to sink $1.2 billion into a single copy of this bomber? I hope they're not planning on building a replacement.

This is the first B-2 that's been lost. It probably won't be the last; they aren't getting any younger. There are still twenty B-2s left in the Air Force inventory.

I think they should take the replacement cost and build a squadron of F-22s, so that they can start replacing the aging F-15s and F-16s.