Originally published at: http://boingboing.net/2016/12/06/trump-rants-on-twitter-about.html
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So how much is Airbus offering him?
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Every exec at Boeing right after the tweet.
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There is no order, just nobody else in the running. The cost of the airframe is a tiny proportion of what the costs are anyway. The VC-25s aren’t just planes, they’re mobile command centres.
I suspect Trump is tweeting this because a) it sounds good despite being meaningless, b) he’d be out on his ear before it entered service and c) he’d rather use his own plane and force people to buy tickets from him.
Worth noting that Obama cancelled the equivalent helicopter contract, though: (not that it really went away)
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$170m is lowish for a 747 ($250m is the [never actually paid] list price). does the figure include all the specialised communication electronics and other military stuff?
eta from the article @beschizza posted:
"We are currently under contract for $170 million to help determine the capabilities of these complex military aircraft that serve the unique requirements of the President of the United States," Boeing said
this does sound like Boeing gets the money for figuring out a design and project proposal
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I’m conflicted. Sure he’s an idiot; but should I care if he has less than up to date protection?
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You don’t say.
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Sounds like a feasibility study.
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So when you factor in all the mods and government-supplied equipment, $4bn must might be closer to the right ballpark than $170m. But the idea of Trump traveling in something else is really a non-starter. ISTR that on 9-11 the aerial refueling capability was actually used.
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What does need to get canceled is how Boeing and all other defense contractors structure their contracts. Cost plus contracts and the like are draining the US treasury. Defense contractors know that they can’t work a profit from a fixed fee contract because of crappy government engineering, bloated and overpaid staff, high rent and rising labor costs over an extended period of time. As a result we taxpayers get stuck paying for the cost of running their business’s and not for quality products.
I’d love for Trump to hang this on his wall and see where the budget “is totally out of control” But, of course he contributes to NONE of this.
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yup, NYT, October 2015:
The Air Force has asked for $102 million in the coming fiscal year and $3 billion over the next five years, not counting any further cost.this seems to be for two planes, though.
refit one of his planes? for only 5 billion?
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But his defenders keep saying that “words mean nothing”! How on earth could words cause stocks to tumble? They mean nothing!
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“When I use a word,” Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, “it means just what I choose it to mean — neither more nor less.”
“The question is,” said Alice, “whether you can make words mean so many different things.”
“The question is,” said Humpty Dumpty, “which is to be master – – that’s all.”
(Through the Looking Glass, Chapter 6)
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Of course he will! Medicaid and social services are out of control!! /s
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It’s not clear to me why we should be critical of this particular thing he says he’s going to do.
They should just use a C-5 Galaxy, and load modules onto it based on the task at hand.
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It will actually cost more to retrofit than to install systems into an aircraft in construction. It isn’t just refueling systems, its hosts of communication systems, anti-missile sensors and defenses, and secret stuff. An aircraft being retrofitted would be out of service for years.
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This wouldn’t be for him - this wouldn’t result in a new plane until he left office; it’s the replacement plane for a future president. So of course he doesn’t care about whoever comes after him. Though I wonder if this will be used as an excuse to refit his own plane (at the cost of billions, at taxpayer expense) that he’ll keep after leaving office, like all the extensive remodeling for security that’s being done to his tower.
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Can we hurry up to the “Couldn’t put Humpty together again” part?
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but it will be yuuge! and painted in tasteful gold! Trump One will be the bestest airplane ever!
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They may not be able to land a C-5 at a lot of major commercial airports they are HUGE. Bigger than the big Airbus monster and that one requires a serious retrofit of airport infrastructure including runways.
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