The B-21 Bomber Has Gamed The Tax Payers

First off the plate, how can a so-low bid build the most advanced bomber ever made by a company who hasn't built a big bodied aircraft in twenty years. And what's wrong with that? The second issue is called appearance of fraud. If the Air Force allows a cost plus bid to succeed in the low dollar realms, then it appears there was some doodling behind the scenes. Low bid with a guarantee of tax payers dollars paying the final price no matter how high the final price is for that said bomber is one by a favored company with strong ties somewhere between California and DC.

A bomber builder won the bid and what's wrong with that? A bomber builder who hasn't built a bomber in twenty years is what's wrong with that too? It should be awarded to those who build structures consistent to what is proposed. The B-2 is the last bomber built in 2000 totaling just 20 of its kind. An expert who builds big aircraft everyday would be a common sense awardee. No worries cost plus will buy our way into a B-21 by somebody who hasn't built a big body in twenty years. After-all it’s somebody else money not the Air Farce's.

This brings us to the final point. How can I, who is only marginally able see the misgiving of a bid process so clearly, when others so brilliant can only utter “I dunno know”, when asked, know this stinks?

A Lawyer Argues For The 787-10 Defense

The prosecution rest its case with this statement.

Seattle Times Dateline December 8,2016.

"It seats 330 passengers in a two-class configuration with a range of 7,400 miles, compared to 290 passengers on the 787-9 with a range just shy of 8,800 miles.

The defense steps up with a torrid case summary.

• We started at 7200  mile range and have expanded it to 7,400 miles from added efficiency built-in.
• It holds more than the 787-9's base configuration of  290 passengers when it seats 330 passengers in a two class alignment.
• It will hold much more if configured based on having Jet Star's 787-8 layout of 334 seats.
• 90% of all world routes fly 7,000 miles or less. 
• The extra seats are extra revenues on those routes.
• The 787-10 completes Multiple Enterprises (ME), a family trait.
• Almost all high density routes fall within the 787 range

Going on with the laser pointer is a time consuming exercise if the prosecution agrees we could go further with more 787-10 attributes, no pun intended. However, it comes to the most famous court quote of our time summarizing why buy the 787-10. If the 787-10 "fits then you must acquit". It fits the business plans of almost every airline's long haul operation existing; while having the commonality of the world's best family of aircraft coming from the single aisle 737 Max to the newest member of the Boeing family, the 777-9X. 

Additionally, the 787-10 becomes a bridge for a transition from medium wide body to extra wide body of the 777's. The behemoth aircraft such as the A-380's have proven it has limitations within the market place, too numerous to mention at this time, but worthy of your considerations. However, I need to remind you of inadequate airports having an A-380 imposing its will on the tarmac at those same airports who struggle to find space and funds to support the behemoth. All of Boeing's family of aircraft fit, and once again that bridge to other Boeing types is completed with the 787-10. The case of having a full family of aircraft has long been made during the last 40 years, commonality. This case is about the 787-10 offering a completeness for every one of its customers. 

Those who have already purchased the 787-10 have put in immense amount of time considering the 787-10 values, and how it will affect its company's goals and aspirations. Over one hundred and sixty 787-10 orders have been placed in the last few years since announcing the program. Its competitor for all its medium wide body have only taken-in a net of 228 A-350's during this same period of those ordered considering all of its A-350 medium wide body types. Boeing has received 402 orders for the medium wide body 787 family of aircraft during the same time period. Included with these ordered 787's, are made up with a significant portion of 787-10's. This happened all during a period which represents both having flying examples where the customer can compare.

The anticipated number of 787-10's is expected to grow after first delivery is made to its initial customers. Data has indicated a particular market for an aircraft having the 787-10's attributes. Boeing has received 1217 medium wide bodied orders for its 787 to date. Were Airbus has received only 810 similarly classed medium wide bodies with its A-350 family of aircraft. Boeing exceeds Airbus with a 1.5 rate. Otherwise, for every one Airbus A-350 purchased Boeing has 1.5 of its 787 purchased. Something must be factual about the 787 family were customers prefer it over the A-350. Customers have had an opportunity to review each manufacturer’s case with its medium wide body class. 

In conclusion, with all the evidence presented, there is only one reason the 787-10 is the best choice for the market when considering high density routes, it just fits the market place, the airport, and the customer.

December 7, 1941

Winging It salutes those who gave their all on December 7, 1941. A photo recap of devastation displayed with the Army Air Corp on that day.

Vindicator Ewa Field first hours of attack.

"One of the seven Vought SB2U-3 Vindicators of U.S. squadron VMSB-231 destroyed on the field at Ewa during the attack on Pearl Harbor, Oahu, Hawaii (USA), on 7 December 1941. All of VMSB-231's spares (the squadron was embarked in the USS Lexington (CV-2), en route to Midway, at the time) were thus destroyed. In the background is one of VMSB-232's Douglas SBDs.

More than 300 aircraft like the above pictured were destroyed on one single day. Over 2,000 military personnel died.

May God bless those souls and their families and a thank you for being in harms way for my freedom. 




Destroyed P-40



Hickman  Field





It was war and it did not end well for the attackers

Trump Opens AF-1 Negotiations with a "Drop IT" Too Much Money Statement

Boeing hasn't even begun its build of replacing the old AF-1's with four new 747-8i's when Donald Trump throws a negotiation hay maker with a cancellation notice. Don't worry Boeing, just offer Trump a deal he can't refuse? The new dog is in town and assuming the US Government is just there to write enormous checks is now over.

Air Force Rendition of the 747-8i

Don't get his message wrong, he wants the Boeing 747-8i over his aging 757 BBJ campaign buster. The 747 costs as much as one Trump Tower and he's into prestige and big things. The US and Trump are in his 100+ day mode and bravado is needed until further notice. The opening offer for a new AF-1 is "to cancel it", makes Boeing scramble its position of giving the US an all-new 747-8i at tremendous costs reduction or until it shows only a nominal profit on the "deal". Trump wants a shiny new 747 no doubt about it. Boeing has to negotiate, satisfying Trump’s campaign theme of being a deal maker. First up is AF-1 not the F-35. I can't imagine Trump flying to Asia in an Old AF-1 or a BBJ 757 with Trump painted all over it.

Trump wants the Great Seal of the US on a new AF-1 having a “deal logo” behind it. If Boeing plays its cards right Trump will order more F-18's because the nation needs a strong military where a Trump F-18 deal will include some AF-1's thrown in for nothing much more. The F-18 deal would keep Boeing Jobs going and the AF-1 deal would keep jobs going and so forth. Trump is not stupid and the liberals need to get over it!

It’s all about the deal. Boeing needs to change its marketing appeal to its customers during the duration of Trump's term. "It's all about the deal." I got that message six months ago from Trumps campaign literature telling he is the Grand Deal Wizard (GDW) and you better get with it or lose your position at the tax payer money trough when the dinner bell rings.

AF-1 is a "symbolic deal" for his first term and he needs it badly. The AF-1 is a gilded flying pig and Trump needs it to fly from wizard tower to tower hauling the GDW. Showing up in Paris with a sick 757 is so not Trump. A new 747-8i would do just fine next to the press "Cessna's" parked on flight line row. The Red White and Blue livery says Trump all over the Iconic 747 Hump. The presidential seal needs a bill board area fuselage space hanging Trump credentials when pulling up on the tarmac. Not even Jet way worthy is an AF-1, as a president walks on the flight line as required for all heads of state.

No 777's, 787's, or even an Airbus A-380 will do. It has to be a deal driven 747-8i with a paint livery to die for (counting other casualties). Yes, Donald Trump will order the 747-8i on his terms and that is the whole purpose of saying, "cancel it".

Breaking News After this article posted J

Boeing Said to Offer Talks on Air Force One After Trump Tweets

Narrowing Down To Boeing's Red Letter 787-8's

Boeing has delivered its fair share of 787-8's in the last five years and now it seems the low hanging fruit has gone from the market, leaving only 110 of the 787-8 to be built. It reminds me of the pudding cup as a hungry appetite scraps the sides for some little extra culinary pleasure. Boeing has reached that point with the 787-8 undelivered clientele. Below is the menu list of 787-8 customers who have not yet received even one of the 787's and shows no life of receiving even one 787-8, which is troubling the firing order on the factory floor. Its getting hard to schedule a 787-8 for a production spot since the larger stake holders (customers) haven't committed to its first 787-8.

See below for the list of nine customers holding out from 787-8 delivery:

Fig. 1

The difficult list of nine customers represent about 60% of the 787-8 backlog undelivered. There are currently 110 787-8 not yet delivered and it seems a long way from any delivery completion with this customer list. Much can be said about the Aeroflot order with Russia or Delta's fascination with Airbus but the main thing with Iraq is an uncertainty at best. ALAFCO maybe holding eight positions having customer intentions validated. This makes any kind of Order Quality Analysis impossible. The summary statement from this list suggests too many loose ends exists with Boeing to be comfortable without some kind of definitive assurances coming from these listed customers.

However, the life line comes from the higher profit 787-9's and 787-10's currently waiting for the build order. Over 400 787-9's and 164 787-10's can fill the factory for years to come. 

Below are the zero built list for the 787-9. This list does not include any customers already receiving its 789-9's having more on backlog awaiting delivery.

Fig. 2

There are twenty-one customers who have yet to receive even one 787-9 out of 195 booked classified as a zero received group. There are plenty of good news stories in this group as some are new orders and almost all are committed customers.

The 787-10 has not been even built at this time so any analysis would be a ridiculous adventure. But... A FYI for any further analysis of customers buying the 787-10.

Fig. 3

Boeing Goes Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Now " 787 Tuesday" 12/6/2016

Tomorrow comes the delivery of four 787-9's to four different customers. Boeing is having its own "Aviation Tuesday" on December 6, 2016. There are four 787-9's scheduled for delivery per AllThings787 blog by: Uresh Seth.

This much referred to site is used by Winging It for its best information on the productivity of the 787 program. A long followed, very reliable and honest presentation for the 787 program. 

They have reported from its charts the following information gathered from its reliable sources. The following deliveries for tomorrow's events at the Boeing Customer Delivery Centers:

Customer              Model             Center

British Airways       787-9             Everett

Xiamen                  787-9            Charleston

Hainan                  787-9             Charleston

Aero Mexico           787-9             Everett 

An Auspicious Occasion for customers and Boeing just before Christmas. Boeing hopes to deliver its 500^th 787 on December 20^th sing “Foam, Foam, Foam”.

Oh Canada... What Have You Done with the F-35??? National Anthem

With limited financial resources Canada caves for the F-18. A populist leader will make popular decisions of the people not necessarily the correct decision for the people. Trudeau is such a leader leading from behind the Canadian sentiment of no F-35’s because the perceived opinion of the F-35 is too expense while having multiple developmental glitches and will possibly be ineffective against adversarial incursions into Canadian airspace. All well intended ideas against having the F-35.

The best case scenario for the Canadian F-35 would be a wait and see if costs, defects, and lack of operational capabilities are mitigated. This is the position of Trudeau leading from behind the public sentiment. Yes, the F-35 is in a chaotic phase of development, and it appears wise to “can” the Conservative opinion of buying the F-35 fighters.

However, leading from the front suggests buying the F-35 en mass as Canada faces a vast front on the Arctic Circle with many possible incursions from many adversarial combatants. The Canadian front may be North America’s Achilles heel, which will bode unwell for Canada and the US sitting smug with its F-18 fighter squadrons.

Whose interest is it defending North America? The Canadians or the US? 

The answer is a mutually acceptable agreement because both need the best defense is a great offense and the F-35 will offer a fundamental solution being able to strike and defend. The multi role fighter does both at once when all its attributes are turned on.

Trudeau made a political statement with a no F-35’s response to Canada’s conservative sentiments. The Canadian voters were swallowed up in popular agreement making Canadian tax dollars available for other civil programs such as cheese inspections coming in from the US. It’s a Canadian tradition after all, having neatly pressed uniforms for the mounted police when defending by riding horse back along its southern border.

The following items have just been covered:

·      

•    Political Progressive Populism
• ·      F-18’s fit the budget
• ·      F-35 is not ready for prime time
• ·      Leading from the wake of public sentiment
• ·      Billions is not in the Canadian lexicon

What the US government, in behalf of its people need to do, defending the Lower 48, Alaska and Hawaii is go back to the World War II sphere of influence through several tactics. It needs the Canadian Shield protecting its cheese industry and other North American cultural oddities such as Hockey and the NHL.

America and Israel have a plan which should expand to all loyal allies to America. In post war Europe it was called the Lend/Lease treaty.

Wikipedia information:

“The Lend-Lease policy, formally titled "An Act to Promote the Defense of the United States", (Pub.L. 77–11, H.R. 1776, 55 Stat. 31, enacted March 11, 1941)^[1] was a program under which the United States supplied Free France, the United Kingdom, the Republic of China, and later the USSR and other Allied nations with food, oil, and materiel between 1941 and August 1945.”

The US needs to form an alliance with all its F-35 current partners and customers. Israel set the standard as a crucial ally in the Middle Eastern part of the word. 

They just plain get a budget from the US with no visible strings attached when buying the F-35. 

In Canada who is so strapped with Canadian dollar type cash, It should/could “buy” a fifth generation fighter for the price of a fourth generation fighter where US acts as a middle man on the purchase from Lockheed. The US military purchasing with its own contract price from Lockheed would then buy for any "Ally" an F-35 and then sell-back that F-35 to the same “Ally” with a current fourth generation replacement price.

Graphically charting a transaction with a Canadian would flow like this:

Canada buys 50 F-35’s to assist defending North America and its own nation (already by treaty). It has been often been recognized of its aging F-18’s and needs the F-35. The current market price of an F-18 (is $60 Million US each?). The current market price to the US of an F-35 from Lockheed is $100 million US. The US will buy an F-35 for Canada in behalf of North America’s over-arching defense at its own contract price and then sell back to Canada that same F-35 using a fourth generation price (i.e. the sixty million mentioned above).

Of course there are other expenses supporting the program and an ally who already has a support structure for its fourth generation fighters who would role that expense into a fifth generation budget support. This resource example is for; parts, maintaining and training of flight and ground operations.

It isn’t lend-lease but it does go a long way defending this nation and North America and other parts of the world. Israel has a sweet deal, because they are at the tip of the spear when defending American security in an active war region. Israel is essentially given an F-35 out of the US defense budget when the US allocates to Israel a defense award from each US budget year for F-35's.

The Canadian example mapped out above would give Canada a strong value for having its F-35 fighters. At full price, Canada would have to pay $100 million per aircraft from Lockheed at current conditions or pay $60 million to the US Government for its defense of North America using F-35's. It would then get Trudeau off his political hook he had set when he proclaimed “no F-35’s not on my watch”.

Fifty F-35’s at $60 million would then would cost Canada $3 Billion instead of $5 Billion at current full price. The difference of $2 Billion is a fair price to pay having Canada guarding the DEW line.

Boeing's 2017 Order Book Starts With Juneyao

Juneyao has agreed to buy ten 787-9's in its just signed MOU with Boeing. A long planned for wide body order is taking shape for the Chinese operator.

Juneyao, Boeing formalize MoU for 787-9s

A quote from the news suggest Boeing sales is relentlessly pursuing the Far Eastern marketplace.

"Juneyao´s main base lies in Shanghai, where China Eastern Airlines is also based. The carrier currently operates 56 A320 family jets, largely on domestic services. Its only international routes are to points in Japan, South Korea and Thailand."

The mention of the fleet made up with the 56 A-320's is significant as the Boeing 787 shoe horns in on this exclusive Airbus customer, which may open the door for further Max orders and a future fleet change with Boeing could be achieved. 

Jayenao is an Airbus Customer having all its 57 single aisle A-320's family.

Refer to Winging It Article:

Airplane Wars Strategic Plans"The Boeing Response"

Air France Flies Its First 787-9 with Boeing's Five Hundredth Frame Built

Once it was unimaginable how Boeing was going to build five hundred wide bodies. Well, it did just that and Air France received the 500th 787 built body in the form of a 787-9 Dreamliner. Congratulations are in order for both for this feat. The other story is that; Boeing is delivering its five hundredth customer DreamLiner this month. That delivery is scheduled for December 20, 2016 delivering to Avianca and it's a 787-8.

The significance of this accomplishment for Boeing. It can now claim Program maturity as it has significantly proven the 787's veracity for proof of concept and a free flowing reliability. Even though there are day to day incidences reported, such as engine shut down or warning indicators revealing an actual fault, those are typical mishaps not wanted, but endured by all aircraft of every type. The 787 difference is these types of failures have been significantly prepared for by Boeing and it has mitigated any problematic occurrences through advance technology monitoring and reporting.

Air France has a very mature and clean Dreamliner, and should not expect any mishaps that are not already dealt with from the other 499 aircraft now flying with its many customers. In addition, Air France is positioning itself for a more optimal operations as it will increase its profit margins demonstrated by so many other customers who fly the 787. They will compete with the region's burgeoning stars such Norwegian Air and Thompson Air. They will become on par with British Airways as it has its own 787-9's. BAC has nine 787-8's delivered or in production and sixteen 787-9's delivered including one to be delivered.

Air France is countering with 787's after its first 787-9 delivery this week having a dozen in total coming from Air Cap leasing. In addition Air France has a large direct purchase from Boeing after lining up some eighteen 787-9's and seven 787-10's. They will go head to head with the above mentioned Airlines once it stocks its inventory with Boeing wide bodied 787's. In all, Air France will fly with thirty-seven 787's from leasing or direct buys once all orders are filled making its competitors aware of its presences in the marketplace.

Boeing 787 Month End Report

Below are the mid quarter numbers with YTD progress. Boeing has slacken the delivery pace in November having only nine 787 delivered but remains on schedule for delivering 138 787's during 2016. Order numbers remain at 68 787 after the robust order slurry in October.

Fig. 1

The 90 day moving average dipped from a plus 12 monthly average down to 11.33 falling below monthly guidance. However about 12 787's will be delivered in December capping off the year with 138 delivered in total if all goes well.

Fig. 2

Program health is solid as more 787 orders are expected soon rather than later.

Fig. 3

The 787-9 delivery Program to Date demonstrates its ever increased delivery profile compare with the 787-8. The 787-9 dominates with 616 orders verses the 787-8's 431 ordered.

Fig. 4

Final analysis comes from process totals as the In Production number decreases exhibiting program build efficiency has increased. In January 2016 only eight 787 were delivered with 45 frames in process as compared with November's 37 in process demonstrating a higher factory floor efficiency.

Fig. 5