Chopper

[Big John]

See announcement where they bought the European chopper for Bush vs
the Siskorsky (sp).

What next, buy a 380 for AF One???

Big John

[Bob Noel]

In article >,
Big John > wrote:

> See announcement where they bought the European chopper for Bush vs
> the Siskorsky (sp).
>
> What next, buy a 380 for AF One???

unlikely. Boeing might give the USAF the plane first.

--
Bob Noel
looking for a sig the lawyers will like

[Colin W Kingsbury]

"Big John" > wrote in message
...
> See announcement where they bought the European chopper for Bush vs
> the Siskorsky (sp).
>

Most of the parts and much of the final assembly is being sourced here. With
the end of vertically-integrated manufacturers (i.e. Ford owning the coal
mine that feeds their steel mill that feeds their assembly line) it's
becoming rare for any complex product like a helicopter to be built of 100%
domestic parts. Most American cars these days have a large amount of foreign
parts (not to mention steel) in them and more every day are being assembled
in Mexico. Meanwhile, Mercedes and BMW are now exporting some of the cars
they assemble here back to Europe.

Then there's the fact that this acquisition is diplomacy by another means.
Buying a "foreign" helicopter when we have a perfectly good domestic
alternative demonstrates that we are capable of rising above the sort of
petty nationalism that we have been widely accused of. Who knows, it might
even lead to Airbus sourcing more parts from US manufacturers. You can make
a valid argument that we should support certain industries such as heavy
aerospace (Boeing, Grumman, etc.) that are vital to long-term national
security. Electric Boat in Connecticut was kept alive building the totally
unnecessary Seawolf attack subs because there was a fear that if we stopped
building nuclear subs when we don't need them, we wouldn't remember how to
when we do. Oh, and an obscure politician named Joe Lieberman helped a
little, too. But Sikorsky will survive- their annual revenues are in the
multi-billion dollar range and this deal was $1.6bn over *30* years. The
cancellation of the Comanche program was a lot worse.

Is it a stab in their pride? No doubt, but that's not the most important
thing here.

-cwk.

[Ash Wyllie]

Big John opined

>See announcement where they bought the European chopper for Bush vs
>the Siskorsky (sp).

Given the way the helo companies in the US behave, I am not surprised.

>What next, buy a 380 for AF One???

Given Boings's current behavior, yes.

-ash
Cthulhu in 2005!
Why wait for nature?

[Matt Barrow]

"Ash Wyllie" > wrote in message
...
> Big John opined
>
> >See announcement where they bought the European chopper for Bush vs
> >the Siskorsky (sp).
>
> Given the way the helo companies in the US behave, I am not surprised.
>
> >What next, buy a 380 for AF One???
>
> Given Boings's current behavior, yes.

Given that logic, the government wouldn't use any Microsoft products. :~)

Might it have to do with Boeing/Bell/Sikorsky/MD not making any choppers
that met the size/weight requirements? The large executive aircraft don't
seem to sell in large enough numbers to be and isn't the Eurocopter heavily
subsidized?

By the way, here's some interesting comments on the new A380 and why it
might fail:
http://varifrank.com/archives/2005/01/no_bucks_no_buc.php


--
Matt
---------------------
Matthew W. Barrow
Site-Fill Homes, LLC.
Montrose, CO

[Blueskies]

"Big John" > wrote in message ...
> See announcement where they bought the European chopper for Bush vs
> the Siskorsky (sp).
>
> What next, buy a 380 for AF One???
>
> Big John

This is a joint venture (aren't they all?) between AgustaWestland and Lockheed:

http://news.ft.com/cms/s/25aaef3e-719c-11d9-9f56-00000e2511c8.html

[[email protected]]

On Sat, 29 Jan 2005 17:02:49 GMT, "Colin W Kingsbury"
> wrote:

>"Big John" > wrote in message
...
>> See announcement where they bought the European chopper for Bush vs
>> the Siskorsky (sp).
>>
>Then there's the fact that this acquisition is diplomacy by another means.
>Buying a "foreign" helicopter when we have a perfectly good domestic
>alternative demonstrates that we are capable of rising above the sort of
>petty nationalism that we have been widely accused of. Who knows, it might
>even lead to Airbus sourcing more parts from US manufacturers.

Colin,

You are dreaming and naive' if you think our European "allies" appreciate ANY
gestures that we may make to appease them. Airbus will continue to be heavily
subsidized. US products will continue to be subject to tariffs, and our
policies and actions will still be hated. Like it or not we are the last 800
pound gorilla and it is fashionable to hate the big kahuna.

Demonick

[Ash Wyllie]

Matt Barrow opined

>"Ash Wyllie" > wrote in message
...
>> Big John opined
>>
>> >See announcement where they bought the European chopper for Bush vs
>> >the Siskorsky (sp).
>>
>> Given the way the helo companies in the US behave, I am not surprised.
>>
>> >What next, buy a 380 for AF One???
>>
>> Given Boings's current behavior, yes.

>Given that logic, the government wouldn't use any Microsoft products. :~)

The CIA is a big user of Linux. It even seems to obey the GPL.

>Might it have to do with Boeing/Bell/Sikorsky/MD not making any choppers
>that met the size/weight requirements? The large executive aircraft don't
>seem to sell in large enough numbers to be and isn't the Eurocopter heavily
>subsidized?

>By the way, here's some interesting comments on the new A380 and why it
>might fail:
>http://varifrank.com/archives/2005/01/no_bucks_no_buc.php





-ash
Cthulhu in 2005!
Why wait for nature?