Re: Space Access Update #112 9/19/05

In article <436551a5.48834126@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
Derek Lyons <fairwater@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>>And in fact, Boeing came very near bankruptcy while waiting for the market
>>to grow enough to buy 747s. The company is still distinctly risk-averse
>>as a result of that near-death experience.
>
>Boeing spent a good chunk of the period 1930-1970 leaping from one
>near death experience to another - it's not just waiting for the 747
>market that made them jumpy.

The 747 experience is the one that seems to have left real scars, though --
it's the one that Boeing management itself tends to cite.

>For the 747 there was also a period where they couldn't get the
>engines a 747 needed - resulting in several dozen of the sitting in
>Everett awaiting engines (and payment!).

"Every time we've done a new engine and a new airframe simultaneously,
we've almost lost our shirts." -- Dana Andrews (then of Boeing), on why
Boeing RLV concepts tend to use existing engines.
--
spsystems.net is temporarily off the air; | Henry Spencer
mail to henry at zoo.utoronto.ca instead. | henry@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
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