I agree. Once again, the commercial market is threatened by overseas competitors that can build it better, faster and cheaper. The military market is threatened by poor budget management by the contractors. I swear to God, some of the stuff I see take place is ludicrous! It's amazing how many branches the money-tree has inside a big defense contractor. LM's saving grace is that we hold three new aircraft designs that have been contracted by the US Govt: The C-130J, F-22 and the X-35. The F-16 line is pumping out aircraft, but mainly for our allies. Theres talk of starting the P-3 line again, or developing a replacement for it, and the C-5 fleet is being updated with new avionics as we speak. However, none of it is worth a damn if they can't manage the funds properly. That's why the original P-3 replacement, the P-7, went under. In fact, the whole program was mismanaged.

When I'm president, things will be much better!

 

Some real stuff, some gags...











Click here to see this one. Adults only.

 

Ok, got to throw in my .2 for my favorite airplane of all time the XB-70. Though short lived, it was the prelude to many aircraft today.


Here's some OLD videos

http://www.dfrc.nasa.gov/gallery/movie/XB-.../EM-0039-03.mov
http://www.dfrc.nasa.gov/gallery/movie/XB-.../EM-0039-05.mov
http://www.dfrc.nasa.gov/gallery/movie/XB-.../EM-0039-01.mov

 

That er was so fast that they couldn't keep the paint on it!

 

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One of my personal favorites: