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My Solution For A Cheap Tanker Program

C

casey jones

Charter Member
This is just my idea I am no expert at anything...just a thought, first I would trash all the bidding for a new tanker, then I would go to Mojave, there I should find maybe many numbers of Boeing 767s in storage, then I would buy them and ask Boeing to completly bring them up to standard as a USAF tanker. Money Saved!


Cheers

Casey
 
What about all the cycles on the airframe already? They would probably still spend billions getting a fleet airworthy only to have to scrap them again after a short term use (relatively speaking).
 
how bout cutting out all the red tape crap and backhanders and just give the contract to the best plane? :bump:
 
I highly agree with Stiz, and Trans_23... Trans brings up a HUGE point.. In that they will spend hundreds of millions to billions on converting the aircraft over. I know first hand. Right now I managing a project for COMHSMWNGLANT where we have taken one of the YSH-60R prototypes, and we are converting it back into a SH-60B (which the aircraft was originally before being inducted into the YSH-60R program)... Needless to say, the last time this aircraft flew before it start the conversion was 2007. We are aiming to do a ground turn at the end of the month, and then it is going to NADEP for more re-work... The avionics do not work, and there are a lot of strange oddities that I have never seen in my whole career on the B's.. Keep in mind it was Sikorsky who converted this aircraft back (I use the term loosely, as they just took out all the R wiring, strung up all the B wiring without labeling it, and then turning it over to us to check flight).. Obviously this is an extreme example. As of this point we could have purchased at least 2 brand new MH-60R's from Sikorsky for what DoD has used on the conversion of this bird. Now the looming question is, why are they doing this when the B's are getting retired. Well this airframe only has 5,600HR's on it (the H-60 has a limit of 8000 hours, but can go up to 14,000HR's with extensions/inspections) so someone thought it would be a good idea to get useful life out of it. In conclusion, while it does seem like an excellent idea to go to the desert and convert birds. In the real world when you involve all the contractos, squadrons, and military processes it will get all messed up and overrun by a lot of money. Cause once the contractors have "fulfilled" their end of it, we are left to pick up the pieces.

I really hope Boeing wins, but it all depends on costs in the end. I have never worked on fixed wing birds, but I know with the Airbus the end maintenance was going to cost a lot more than the Boeing. While the upfront cost for the Airbus was cheaper to purchase. I hope they choose based on the aircrafts capabilitiy, but I am sure money and all that will largely come into play. That is just my 2 cents though. Take it for what it is worth.
 
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