Originally Posted by
ShotOne
Let's be clear what we're saying. Nobody is suggesting that airliners are literally plucked off the shelf like a tin of baked beans. But when an airline wants 200 people taking to Spain fifty times a week they don't invite a contractor to commence a design process.
That was the argument that led to the modified Nimrods (AEW and MRA4) because "everyone knew it was bleedin' obvious" that modifying an existing design would be quicker and cheaper than designing a bespoke aeroplane. So the RMPA team directed that only designs based on existing airframes could be offered - despite at least two of the main contenders pleading to be allowed to offer a blank sheet of paper design. The AEW case is slightly different - that was the MoD trying to play the role of Prime when they had neither the culture nor the competence to undertake it.
Of course the reality was quite the opposite; both cost more money and took longer than designing from scratch and neither delivered because force-fitting the upgrades into the extant aircraft imposed so many constraints.
We have to remember that >95% of the things which "everybody knows because it's bleedin' obvious" are actually completely untrue.
"Common sense" is rarely either, in my experience.
PDR