Vegas & The Aftermath - Diary

[Doobs]

Was talking to someone the other day who works for Airbus. From what I gather, they're making a new 'plane, which is like their biggest one but with only one deck (if that makes sense?). They have orders for 1,000 a month.

I appreciate it's a huge operation, but 33 rolling off the forecourt every day is an impressive number.

How do you deliver a 'plane? Is that the world's stupidest question? Do they fly them from France?

Surely they are winding you up?  Where do they send 1000 a month to, even if they could build them that quickly.

[Tal]

Was talking to someone the other day who works for Airbus. From what I gather, they're making a new 'plane, which is like their biggest one but with only one deck (if that makes sense?). They have orders for 1,000 a month.

I appreciate it's a huge operation, but 33 rolling off the forecourt every day is an impressive number.

How do you deliver a 'plane? Is that the world's stupidest question? Do they fly them from France?

Surely they are winding you up?  Where do they send 1000 a month to, even if they could build them that quickly.

Sure that's what he said. Could that be the total number of 'planes ordered, rather than just one model? Was surprised but figured Boeing and Airbus keep churning them out to refresh the older models?

Lack of business understanding beginning to shine through...

[nirvana]

10 a month is probably a bit more likely for an Airbus high volume aircraft. Aircraft production is a pretty low volume pursuit but with typically very long life cycles so numbers end up pretty good.

I was discussing production rates the other day for the next 10 years or so for the new F35 Joint Strike Fighter being produced by Lockheed Martin. A stat came up that seemed quite staggering to me.

The F16 is a kinda iconic US jet fighter, the new JSF will replace it - how many F16s would you think had been made - Tal probs shouldn't guess as yr gonna say like 50,000 or something

[Tal]

Nirvana to the rescue. Exit Tal.

[nirvana]

Nirvana to the rescue. Exit Tal.

lol, you should look it up tho, fascinating subjects some of these arms race numbers

[Doobs]

Nirvana to the rescue. Exit Tal.

lol, you should look it up tho, fascinating subjects some of these arms race numbers

Am just going to guess at 5k.  I haven't looked it up, but guess the US got at least 1000, and they seem to be everywhere.  Hoping I don't have to do the Tal walk of shame.

[tikay]

Nirvana to the rescue. Exit Tal.

lol, you should look it up tho, fascinating subjects some of these arms race numbers

I just did. Mind-blowing.

4,540+

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Dynamics_F-16_Fighting_Falcon


Even more mind-blowing, a huge number of them are currently redundant & "in storage" @ the Davis Montha Air Force Base in Tuscan, Arizona, aka "the boneyard".

There are 4,340 "stored" Military Aircraft there.

[mondatoo]

Tinypic seems really good for photos etc, super easy to use.

[nirvana]

Nirvana to the rescue. Exit Tal.

lol, you should look it up tho, fascinating subjects some of these arms race numbers

Am just going to guess at 5k.  I haven't looked it up, but guess the US got at least 1000, and they seem to be everywhere.  Hoping I don't have to do the Tal walk of shame.

Pretty good from someone not in the field, not sure my game is going to take off so the reveal is 4500 ish. That's a lot of fighters all sat around doing nothing much. Also quite amazing that a jet that is widely in service today across a number of countries was developed and first made around 40 years ago - when you think of the technological change that has happened in other fields in that time I think it's quite amazing that the foremost fighter has been around this long. Anyway, this is in danger of becoming a 'concrete' moment so I'll walk on by.

[Doobs]

Nirvana to the rescue. Exit Tal.

lol, you should look it up tho, fascinating subjects some of these arms race numbers

I just did. Mind-blowing.

4,540+

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Dynamics_F-16_Fighting_Falcon


Even more mind-blowing, a huge number of them are currently redundant & "in storage" at NOVA, @ the Davis Montha Air Force Base in Tuscan, Arizona, aka "the boneyard".

There are 4,340 "stored" Military Aircraft there.

ooh, saved from the walk of shame

Astonishing how long they have been making them.  I had a model when I was a kid and am now an old fart. 

[tikay]

And it gets better, or worse.

What would an alien from another planet make of this nonsense?


Methods used to disassemble planes could be crude but effective. To meet U.S. obligations under the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, or START, which called in part for the destruction of hundreds of heavy bombers, AMARC eliminated 314 B-52 aircraft. After removing parts for reuse in operational B-52H bombers, AMARC teams turned for most of these eliminations to a makeshift guillotine: a crane that dropped a 13,000-pound blade of steel from a height of 80 feet onto the aircraft. First the wings were sliced off, then the fuselage was cut into five pieces. The dismembered carcass was left where it lay for 90 days to enable the Commonwealth of Independent States—the other signatories of START—to verify the disassemblies by satellite.

From......

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/military/where-combat-planes-retire.html

[tikay]

Tinypic seems really good for photos etc, super easy to use.

You need to get out more Ray.

Oh, Tom already told you that, right?

PS - Thanks.

Imgur seems to work beautifully on my Company Lappie, but not so good on the one I have at home, which, to be fair, is quite ancient. It has valves & things.

[nirvana]

And it gets better, or worse.

What would an alien from another planet make of this nonsense?


Methods used to disassemble planes could be crude but effective. To meet U.S. obligations under the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, or START, which called in part for the destruction of hundreds of heavy bombers, AMARC eliminated 314 B-52 aircraft. After removing parts for reuse in operational B-52H bombers, AMARC teams turned for most of these eliminations to a makeshift guillotine: a crane that dropped a 13,000-pound blade of steel from a height of 80 feet onto the aircraft. First the wings were sliced off, then the fuselage was cut into five pieces. The dismembered carcass was left where it lay for 90 days to enable the Commonwealth of Independent States—the other signatories of START—to verify the disassemblies by satellite.

From......

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/military/where-combat-planes-retire.html

As you often allude to, aint the internet great

[mondatoo]

Tinypic seems really good for photos etc, super easy to use.

You need to get out more Ray.

Oh, Tom already told you that, right?

PS - Thanks.

Imgur seems to work beautifully on my Company Lappie, but not so good on the one I have at home, which, to be fair, is quite ancient. It has valves & things.

I can't blidey win, well we all know that but... bunch of jokers  

[Royal Flush]

All well and good praising the f-16 but it would be hopeless in air combat against anything used today, the reality is air combat just hasn't happened on any large scale for so damn long.