Boeing Tanker Protest Sustained!!!!!

[cco23i]

The one bad thing about the 10 is that single engine up on the tail. I am not afraid of heights but that one would worry me!


Scott

[Robbie Roberts]

The one bad thing about the 10 is that single engine up on the tail. I am not afraid of heights but that one would worry me!


Scott

That one is easy- We have pressure service ports at the bottom, behind the APU, and can service oil and CSD there using one of those blasted pump boxes... If we need to get into the engine(JETS Shop) we just run a tail stand in, and they crank open the "Patio doors" and have a nice work space. I'm sure you've seen the tail stand- they go around the whole back end, and have a platform at engine height... Don't even notice the height after a few minutes! And we have JLGs to do anything up high...

Robbie

[The Inspector]

I taught the -10 @ BFG, every time I went up on the patio doors for a 'shipside' it was always blowing 348 MPH from 35 different directions and the entire area seemed to be awash in turbine oil and skydrol-But I do love that big old bird, simple, tough, easy to work on, and intellegently laid out and designed systems. Once you work on them you want to go kick a 727 for being so complex.

In class I would be explaining how a system worked and someone would pull a dark face and blurt out".....that's just like the 767, whaddid thoseb@stards do? steal that from Boeing?" 'no, this airplanes first flight was in 1969, the 767's first flight was in 1982, so who's stealing from whom?'

I now teach parts of the DREAMLINER and as I look at this new wonderplane, I see an awful lot of Long Beach in it-

Center engine changes are easy because the beaver tail fairing has hard points for bootstrap chainfalls, and the tailcone swings down out of your way. And the APU TSCP-700 is about as complex as a VW engine and twice as reliable-

It took them a while, but now even the package nazis are operating 10's and 11's just like the boys from Memphis have for 30 years-

[The Inspector]

...oh yeah, and you can service all three hydraulic systems at the keel beam in the right hand wheel well, and the main wheel doors are actually designed to be used as work platforms and can be raised and lowered by the mechanic by hitting a bypass lever on the main gear leg, unlike the rice paper main doors on a 67-

[Robbie Roberts]

...oh yeah, and you can service all three hydraulic systems at the keel beam in the right hand wheel well, and the main wheel doors are actually designed to be used as work platforms and can be raised and lowered by the mechanic by hitting a bypass lever on the main gear leg, unlike the rice paper main doors on a 67-

Makes a nice little work room in bad weather when servicing hydraulics, doesn't it?

The KC-10A is the only large airframe I've worked on, and I am more than happy with it! Only ones I am interested in working on- otherwise want Warbird or GA...

Robbie

[The Inspector]

.......and you can operate hydraulics without needing fuel for fluid cooling thanks to really long open air line runs, just change the aux pump at the conclusion of the maintenance check.
Stab trim not working? climb the ladder and reset the ACME screw 'knock overs' and voila! stab trim back to normal......

[cco23i]

MMMMM, Interesting. See what happens when the newest thing I have worked was a 68 model F-111D! All well live and learn.

Scott

[bdk]

Key Air Force Official on Tanker Program Quits
By AUGUST COLE
July 29, 2008; Page A13

A top U.S. Air Force acquisitions official is stepping down, becoming the most senior weapons buyer to depart since the unraveling of a $40 billion contract to buy aerial refueling tankers.

The Air Force said Kenneth Miller, a senior Defense Department official with more than 30 years of government service, will leave at the end of the month. He was the service's point person with Congress on the tanker program.

Mr. Miller held the title of special assistant for acquisition governance and transparency to the secretary of the Air Force. Before coming to the Air Force in 2005 to help the service with its weapons purchases, Mr. Miller worked for the Navy on a variety of acquisitions-related issues.

In June, the Government Accountability Office found eight major faults with the Air Force's decision to award the tanker contract to Northrop Grumman Corp., which teamed up with Airbus parent European Aeronautic Defence & Space Co. to offer an Airbus plane for the mission. Boeing Co., which lost the competition, protested, leading to the GAO's ruling.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates said earlier this month that he would reopen the tanker competition with a new fast-track bidding process that will deliver a winner by the end of the year.

Mr. Miller technically retired in February after 34 years of service, but Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne persuaded him to stay on. Mr. Wynne, along with the Air Force's chief of staff, was ousted by Mr. Gates last month over the Air Force's handling of nuclear-weapons security. Mr. Miller, a member of the government's senior executive service, couldn't be reached for comment.

The Air Force has been under intense scrutiny over its alleged mishandling of a variety of high-profile weapons contracts, including the plan to buy 179 aerial refueling tankers. Despite efforts to make such acquisitions more transparent and resistant to protests, the GAO has continued to find fault with the Air Force's ability to pick a clear winner.

Before the tanker protest was upheld, the GAO twice found in favor of Lockheed Martin Corp. and United Technologies Corp.'s Sikorsky unit, which disputed the Air Force's decision to award a $10 billion contract for search-and-rescue helicopters to Boeing. A new winner for that program could be decided as soon as October, almost two years later than originally planned.

[cco23i]

MMMMMMMM, The plot thickens!

Scott

[CAPFlyer]

Hrm... I wasn't aware that they were re-bidding CSAR-X again. Maybe they'll finally decide on an aircraft that isn't twice the size of the HH-60H that it's supposed to replace...

[cco23i]

????????????

[CAPFlyer]

Before the tanker protest was upheld, the GAO twice found in favor of Lockheed Martin Corp. and United Technologies Corp.'s Sikorsky unit, which disputed the Air Force's decision to award a $10 billion contract for search-and-rescue helicopters to Boeing. A new winner for that program could be decided as soon as October, almost two years later than originally planned.

I was unaware that the second awarding of the CSAR-X contract to Boeing had been successfully appealed to the GAO. I was among those who believed that just as it was wrong for NG to get the KC-X award, it was wrong for Boeing to get the CSAR-X contract which also had size as a requirement for the replacement aircraft.

[The Inspector]

BDK & capflyer,

NOOO, but this whole sordid mess is really begining to smell like last weeks fried fish isn't it?
The really sad thing is it's happening for real, on our watch! If this were a new Summer comedy movie that would be one thing, but this is deadly serious and all our futures are in the hands of morons like this guy Miller-
Be afraid, be very afraid!!!

[CAPFlyer]

I know. I think there's a general cleaning of idiots going on. Maybe we'll be lucky enough to see that spread to the whole Air Force and get the guys who should have been there all along in place. The Navy and Army have already had their cleanings, so I guess it's the Air Force's turn.

It'll just be nice to see the Air Force buy what it asks for, even if it does end up being a flop. I'd love to see the rules followed just the way they're supposed to be - buy what fits the request, request what fits the need.

[The Inspector]

amen-10-4, roggo roggo