MIflyer
1st Lieutenant
In the case of the F-22, I was told by a member of the SPO that the SPO chief and senior civilian changed out an engine on an F-15 so they could appreciate the difficulties the mechanics have to deal with. And as a result of their getting their hands stuck with safety wire numerous times, they specified "No Safety Wire On the F-22!"
Now, I am lousy at using safety wire, but I could only wonder how much it cost to design safety wire out of the airplane just because a couple of guys who had no idea what they were doing did not like it.
In another case, I got a quote for manufacturing some rocket engine igniters. $100K did not seem to be excessive for a special production run of a unique item, but then I looked at the details. The specs called for putting two milspec can openers in the box of igniters - not a bad idea, since you would hate to fail to participate in WWIII because you could not find a can opener. Checking the spec showed that those were modern day copies of the famous WWII P-38 folding can opener - and that those two were only going to cost us $3000. No doubt they asked for a quote on supplying two of them from a manufacturer, and the minimum order quantity probably was an 18 wheeler load of them.
And another factor is "other" govt regulations. Many years ago there was an airline named Republic. They were contacted by the FAA and asked to participate in a study into why their airline had the lowest overhead in the industry. Republic agreed, and the FAA explained they would have to sign a contract, since they could not legally ask for anything for free; the payment to Republic would be a nominal sum, $100.
After the study was done Republic was contacted by a Federal watchdog agency and told that under the terms of the contract with the FAA, they were exercising the Government's right to conduct a FULL AUDIT of the airline. This was a big 'effing deal for Republic; they had the lowest overhead because they did not have droves of people standing around waiting to do things like government audits.
So, if you ran a hardware store and the govt wanted to buy a hammer, given their right to do full audits or demand other such requirements, would $400 for hammer be excessive?
Now, I am lousy at using safety wire, but I could only wonder how much it cost to design safety wire out of the airplane just because a couple of guys who had no idea what they were doing did not like it.
In another case, I got a quote for manufacturing some rocket engine igniters. $100K did not seem to be excessive for a special production run of a unique item, but then I looked at the details. The specs called for putting two milspec can openers in the box of igniters - not a bad idea, since you would hate to fail to participate in WWIII because you could not find a can opener. Checking the spec showed that those were modern day copies of the famous WWII P-38 folding can opener - and that those two were only going to cost us $3000. No doubt they asked for a quote on supplying two of them from a manufacturer, and the minimum order quantity probably was an 18 wheeler load of them.
And another factor is "other" govt regulations. Many years ago there was an airline named Republic. They were contacted by the FAA and asked to participate in a study into why their airline had the lowest overhead in the industry. Republic agreed, and the FAA explained they would have to sign a contract, since they could not legally ask for anything for free; the payment to Republic would be a nominal sum, $100.
After the study was done Republic was contacted by a Federal watchdog agency and told that under the terms of the contract with the FAA, they were exercising the Government's right to conduct a FULL AUDIT of the airline. This was a big 'effing deal for Republic; they had the lowest overhead because they did not have droves of people standing around waiting to do things like government audits.
So, if you ran a hardware store and the govt wanted to buy a hammer, given their right to do full audits or demand other such requirements, would $400 for hammer be excessive?
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