Senators Call for the Grounding of the 737 MAX

#151
#151
AM64 said:
The respect comes easily. You have done what I intended to do with my life. However, the military in particular takes a dim view of people who might find the big E on a chart but couldn't tell you which way it points. Engineering was interesting as long as I could get out into plants to do testing and diagnostics, but even that was definitely down the list of professional choices. I've never gotten over going to the alert barn at Langley when my brother was flying F-106s - one of the guys was asking me all about Three Mile Island, and I was thinking what I had been doing at TMI still seemed so insignificant and dull in comparison to what they did.
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I heard a sea story about a Marine aviator once that had not been winged yet and until that point you must have 20/20 vision. He was all but finished and had a couple more training flights before wings, and unfortunately a flight physical at NAMI (Naval Aerospace Medical Institute). If he failed his physical, he would get the dreaded NAMI whammy and be sent back to the fleet as a grunt. So the night before his physical, he broke into NAMI, and got a copy of the eye chart which he then memorized. Passed his physical.


I love Marines. Adapt Overcome.... whatever else Gunny Highway said in Heartbreak Ridge....


Were you at TMI when the big meltdown happened?
 
#152
#152
SpaceCoastVol said:
I heard a sea story about a Marine aviator once that had not been winged yet and until that point you must have 20/20 vision. He was all but finished and had a couple more training flights before wings, and unfortunately a flight physical at NAMI (Naval Aerospace Medical Institute). If he failed his physical, he would get the dreaded NAMI whammy and be sent back to the fleet as a grunt. So the night before his physical, he broke into NAMI, and got a copy of the eye chart which he then memorized. Passed his physical.


I love Marines. Adapt Overcome.... whatever else Gunny Highway said in Heartbreak Ridge....


Were you at TMI when the big meltdown happened?
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Yes, I worked for Babcock and Wilcox (manufacturer) at the time. I took a team from B&W the next day to help determine the status of the plant and to do what we could do to help get the plant to a safe state. I was there for a couple of weeks and then on and off several times during the summer. The operators made a couple of significant errors - a lot like the Air France crew, but fortunately only the plant was trashed and there was no loss of life. It's hard to fully blame the operators because conditions made control room indications confusing. I guess it has a lot to do with why I'm a firm believer in ensuring that the person making operational decisions is as much in the loop as possible.
 
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#155
#155
Seeking Alpha has an article that talks about BA considering cutting 787 production. I can't read it as I am in Colombia right now, but it looks like more problems for BA.

Too big to fail?
 
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#158
#158
Rasputin_Vol said:
This is a perfect of example of what happens when a engineering company is run by bean counters.
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Volvo is in trouble in Germany over emissions - similar to the VW issue. The real interesting thing I learned from the article I read is that Volvo is now owned by Geely; Geely is a large Chinese auto company. They do buy some technology sometimes rather than just copy. Apparently just like bean counters the world over, though, they thought they could bypass honest engineering.
 
#159
#159
Matt2496 said:
Boeing-built DirecTV satellite may explode in orbit after suffering unexpected malfunction
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It would be interesting if the article had reported how the batteries were damaged. The didn't report, for example, if the batteries may have been overcharged because of mechanical error, or if they were damaged by impact from space debris, or a solar related issue. Since the "satellite is notably several years beyond its intended lifespan", you'd think it wasn't a manufacturing defect.
 
#160
#160
SpaceCoastVol said:
Seeking Alpha has an article that talks about BA considering cutting 787 production. I can't read it as I am in Colombia right now, but it looks like more problems for BA.

Too big to fail?
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Too big to fail. Strategically critical US asset. 8 year backlog on orders. It's a BUY, but how low could it go first.

GE might have that same national defense support.
 
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#161
#161
Thunder Good-Oil said:
Too big to fail. Strategically critical US asset. 8 year backlog on orders. It's a BUY, but how low could it go first.

GE might have that same national defense support.
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I was going to lump GE into the same category as Boeing earlier, but Jack Welch was an engineer and he was a catalyst for some of the diversification that GE made by purchasing NBC and other ventures outside of their core competencies.

This was probably true in the early to mid 1970's when I was born, but they said at one time, the majority of electrical products found in the average home was made by GE. Light bulbs, irons, appliances...
 
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#162
#162
Rasputin_Vol said:
I was going to lump GE into the same category as Boeing earlier, but Jack Welch was an engineer and he was a catalyst for some of the diversification that GE made by purchasing NBC and other ventures outside of their core competencies.

This was probably true in the early to mid 1970's when I was born, but they said at one time, the majority of electrical products found in the average home was made by GE. Light bulbs, irons, appliances...
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GE was very much a financial when Jack was growing it. Point I made is that as long as they're making jet engines the government will keep them alive. Of course that won't eliminate the possibility of Chapter 11 and the bond owners pushing out the equity holders. I suppose that in a national crises their power generation assets will be protected same as engines, but that protection doesn't necessarily translate to the right side of the balance sheet as well as the left side.
 
#166
#166
#170
#170
Rasputin_Vol said:
Boeing getting rewarded with a bailout... WTF?

White House seeks to pass coronavirus aid, including for airlines and Boeing, 'very quickly'
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Boeing is a strategically critical company. The airlines not so much, but traveler's safety would be a serious issue if they all collapsed simultaneously.

As long as it's simply low interest loans to ensure they have the working capital to keep operating, then that's reasonable. It's not necessarily stockholders that will benefit from the aid. Employees stand to be beneficiaries, so rational Democrats shouldn't attack the plan. But the far left element no doubt will.
 
#172
#172
Thunder Good-Oil said:
Boeing is a strategically critical company. The airlines not so much, but traveler's safety would be a serious issue if they all collapsed simultaneously.

As long as it's simply low interest loans to ensure they have the working capital to keep operating, then that's reasonable. It's not necessarily stockholders that will benefit from the aid. Employees stand to be beneficiaries, so rational Democrats shouldn't attack the plan. But the far left element no doubt will.
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The airlines are a strategic resource also as their aircraft and crew comprise the Civil Reserve Fleet. In fact I’d probably put them at a slightly higher priority than Boeing as far as criticality.
 
#174
#174
NorthDallas40 said:
The airlines are a strategic resource also as their aircraft and crew comprise the Civil Reserve Fleet. In fact I’d probably put them at a slightly higher priority than Boeing as far as criticality.
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During a near term world war, yes. But in the long view, no. Boeing can create planes that don't require a human to be on board.
 
#175
#175
Thunder Good-Oil said:
During a near term world war, yes. But in the long view, no. Boeing can create planes that don't require a human to be on board.
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I think it’s a matter of government liability. If they have imposed requirements on the air fleet for accessibility then they probably have some exposure in guaranteeing that availability
 
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