Johnny writes:

Heads up! As I drove by the Boeing Hangar in Long Beach
CA, I notice a Biz Jet variant of the Military C-117.

That's *C-17.* The C-117 was the military version of the
Super DC-3:

http://www.rob.clubkawasaki.com/jas46.jpg

Also, a bizjet is a corporate aircraft along the lines of
a Learjet or a Gulfstream, not a commercial aircraft.


It was painted in a purplish pink/white scheme. The only
lettering that I could make out was a "Oman" as in the
middle eastern country.

There's a picture of that airplane in the current issue
of one of the aviation-enthusiast magazines. You can
probably find it at your local Borders, Barnes & Noble,
etc. The aircraft is going to the Sultanate Of Oman Air
Force.

So why the airline livery? Your guess is as good as mine.
I suspect it's for reasons of national prestige. It isn't
every day that a nation as small as Oman acquires a strategic
airlifter like the Globemaster III.

It used to be that as was the case with heavy bombers, the
U.S. wouldn't even sell such aircraft to close allies. That
policy has clearly fallen by the wayside. As well as Oman,
Canada, Australia, and the RAF now operate the C-17.



Geoff

--
"The most used phrase in my administration if I
were to be President would be 'What the hell you
mean we're out of missiles?'" -- Glenn Beck