Originally Posted by
Hughes500
A certain UK manufacturer was asked by UK Mil to fit a USB plug to a certain type of UK Mil helicopter. The manufacturer purchased Belkin plugs from a certain high street retailer for under £ 5 each, they put one of their certificates on it and charged us the tax payer £ 350 for it.
And here we see just how deep your ignorance is. In order to "put one of their certificates on it" they will need to have expended a lot of engineering effort selecting the part and then ensuring it was capable of the job and compatible with the operating environment to provide the (legally mandated) clearance - that's (from experience) probably a minimum of £20k in non-recurring engineering. So if the parts are then fitted to a fleet of 60 helicopters the act of "putting a certificate on it" costs ~£330 per aircraft and the ~£3 cost of the part is irrelevant.
So most of what you say suffers from the distinct disadvantage of not having the faintest clue what you're talking about, I'm afraid.
But you carry on spitting dummies to demonstrate who grown-up and professional you really are...
PDR