Vacation is Almost Over

Our spring break is coming to a close, I really look forward to going back to school, but at the same time, I do not. Anyways, many interesting things happened this week, including the Pennsylvania Primary which Clinton Won. I do not have a lot to say about that, but that Pennsylvanians made a choice that I think was fine. I am still confident that Obama will be the nominee. After this vacation we will have about 40 days left of school, not including weekends. Our school ends on June 16, 2008. Enjoy your next day of vacation left.

The 787 Finally Moves!

On Friday, Boeing announced it has moved the static test 787 to the test rig. This is a great milestone for the Boeing Company, but I hope that they can stay on schedule with the new 787. Anyways, the first power on is scheduled for June. Good Luck to Boeing. Here is an excerpt from the press release:

Some assembly remains to be completed on the static airframe. That work will be completed concurrently with test set-up. Test set up is expected to begin immediately, with tests commencing this summer.

“During static tests we apply loads to the airplane structure that simulate both normal operation as well as extreme flight conditions,” said Randy Harley, vice president of Engineering & Technology for the 787 program. “We monitor the airplane to confirm analytical predictions and make sure the structure holds up to these conditions.”

Movement of the static airframe clears the way to begin assembly of the third 787 to enter the flight test program. Most pieces of the third airplane arrived in Everett earlier this month. All assemblies for Airplane #3 are now in Everett, and the airplane will be loaded into the first position of Final Assembly early next week.

Source: Boeing

Source: Flightblogger

McCain Influencing Tanker Deal?

In my opinion he had. Even after Boeing announced great earnings, people questioned how many billions in revenue Boeing would lose without the KC-45 tanker deal. In the early 2000s, McCain was the senator who killed the first KC-767 deal to lease a hundred of them. Why? To him, he says it does not provide him with the best value for the taxpayer. Really? Airbus’s tanker is more expensive, it is based on the A330 which costs more than the 767, but carries more fuel. The air force also ranked the Boeing tanker more survivable. Does John McCain want planes to drop out of the sky faster? I hope not. Even then, in his current bid for the presidency, he has lobbyists that once worked for EADS in the first deal. In my opinion, John McCain had influence in this new tanker deal and ever since his relations with Boeing went sour, he has rooted the other candidate. The best tanker for America is the KC-767 from Boeing. The best tanker for other countries is the KC-30. We should build American tankers built by American people, and built by an experienced American company in th tanker industry. Again, this is my opinion on the tanker deal, I hope that Boeing can get an appeal, but that looks unlikely unfortunately.

Source: Boeing