Buying C 17s

[MightyGem]

Heard the other day that we are buying some C 17s. Any truth in that?

[Grimweasel]

How are we gonna afford them when the Treasury are going to bring down the spending axe on us?? I can't imagine that the money saved by the fewer Typhoons will be allowed for other purchases. They will need the extra cash for all the colonials in the Army and all those extra immigrants that we seem so able to welcome into our queendom with open arms!!!

[RubiC Cube]

AsI understand it, we are buying the 4 we are currently leasing plus one extra, but I stand to be corrected.

[Boy_From_Brazil]

The last I heard, from a pretty good source, is that the lease/purchase of number 5 will not go ahead at this time. (maybe things have changed in the last few weeks, but I doubt it)

I am not too sure what this will mean to the pilots already in the process of being trained up for the additional a/c. Although I am sure the overstretched 99 Sqn guys could use some extra hands.

Only our incredibly inept government would have considered leasing rather than buying in the first place.

BFB

[Green Flash]

'ang on. I thought we always had 5 C-17's, but could only ever use 4 at once as there would always be one at Boeing Central undergoing deep spannering? (Prepares to receive incoming correction).:confused:

[Moose Loadie]

Only got the four, however 2 Grope do try to task five every now and then.

The fifth has been put on hold for now but the new "crews" will be a great help.

[West Coast]

Its right about here that Beagle drops in to share the virtues of the A400 with us.

[BEagle]

Quite so, Westie - it'll complement the excellent C-17s very nicely!

Now that the USAF has gone to an 80/20 lease/purchase option to save your tax dollars on the KC767 instead of a 100% lease-purchase, it looks as though the politicians' idea of air forces renting jets has been shown to be somewhat more expensive in the long run.

C-17, A400M and A330 working together would give the RAF an excellent AT/AR force.

Edited to add - augmented by SF Hercs whilst there's still life in them!

[West Coast]

A400, best damn unproven paper airplane out there...I believe Lockheed thought the same of the J.

[BEagle]

True - but then you could say the same about the SoniCruiser or the 7E7..

When we had a seminar here some years ago back when the J was still unproven due to software glitches, the A400M was still called FLA and the C-17 was happily flying for the US. A golden opportunity for aircrew to take the mickey out of the various manufacturer's reps with their inflated claims.....

This was pre-PowerPoint days and presentations were still on 35 mm slide and OHP. After lunch it was the turn of Lockheed to bull$hit us about the J. "Gentlemen" started the rep, "welcome to the new generation Hercules, the C130J" and pressed the 'slide advance' key. There was an ominous clunk, the slide tray shot backwards out of the machine and the slides ended up all over the floor...... "Would you call that another software snag?" asked some wag at the front. The slides were rounded up, put back in the tray and the show continued. Then the next speaker was the FLA chap. "Sorry that I'm a bit late thanks to delays with the C130J" he started.... Which had the Lockheed rep scowling.

Later in the evening I was talking to a Boeing chap about the excellent C-17 when the FLA bloke joined in. The discussion moved to talking about Long Beach and Bristol. "You ought to visit us" said the FLA chap. "Yes, you'd like Bristol", said I, "Just like Long Beach they've got an historic ship - not the Queen Mary but the SS Great Britain" "Ah - but we've got the Spruce Goose" said the Boeing chap. "So has Filton", said I, "It's called the Wooden Turkey - the FLA mockup!". Boeing bloke nearly wet himself - but the FLA mate cheered up when we bought him a beer! He didn't much care for people saying that 'FLA' stood for 'Funny Looking Albert' though!

Personally I think the main A400M risk will be the engine/prop system. It's a considerable challenge to Europrop but if they can crack it within the timescale the rest of the project will follow relatively easily. Multi-national operational clearance will no doubt be obfuscated by politics, but the 'Bristol Bureaucrat' has some impressive capabilities waiting to be exploited.

[Jackonicko]

The unconfirmed rumour I've heard is that there were six C-17s on the line with RAF serials allocated. These were more recent and additional to the four which were built for the lease. It is further suggested that only four of these six are still going down the line with UK identities, but that they are being built for direct sale, and not for lease.

Don't shoot me, it's not my rumour and I make no claims as to its accuracy, though I do believe that the exact serial numbers have been bandied about by the spotting fraternity for some time.

[bay17-20]

The 4 we have now are leased but will be brought at the end of the lease.

The 5th is delayed by 18 months due to the financial cuts, should be here about 2005.

A further 3 will be added by 2010 bringing the steady state to 8.

For what it is worth the C-17 is here and working better than advertised, its a great piece of kit, the one decent procurement the RAF have made in recent years.

Forget the FLA A400M ("fictional large aircraft") and give the J's a chance to get fully operational. As Beags says, do not forget those "dark" 130's, they need some investment too.

The A400 is just a computer dream at the moment and given other similar projects in the past that have relied on partners buying x number of aircraft, this project will probably be over budget and late, all this for something we politically probably should buy, but do not really need.

[Boy_From_Brazil]

Jacko

The boys at Brize will be in for a bit of a shock! Need to start building some more infrastructure and sending a few dozen more pilots and ALM's through Altus.

If we cannot currently afford the fifth C17, how on earth are these other phantom aircraft being funded?

BFB

[Jackonicko]

"it's not my rumour and I make no claims as to its accuracy"

[NURSE]

maybe we'd be better kicking C130J into touch when a400 comes on stream I sure there will be buyers for them and go 25 a400m 25 c17

[HOODED]

May need those alleged new C17s sooner than planned. Acording to another thread one of ours was involved in a nasty in Afgainstan and is possibly a write off. Guess that wont stop 2 GP tasking 5 though Eh?:hmm:

[Boy_From_Brazil]

Hooded

Where is this other thread?

BFB

[HOODED]

B f B. It's on Rumors and News. C17 hit by missile in Iraq.

[Paterbrat]

Its not the US C17 in Iraq that we are worried about it is the Ascot stuffed in KBL. They were say a possible write-off. What happened?

[Boy_From_Brazil]

Was the rumour about the written-off RAF C17 in Kabul ever confirmed?

BFB

[DuckDodgers]

IT WAS NOT WRITTEN OFF , VERY LITTLE DAMAGE REALLY, FLEW ALL THE WAY BACK TO THE UK.............

[Boy_From_Brazil]

Good news, hope the aircrew were unharmed.

It is one of our dwindling military assets that we cannot afford to lose. 25% of an already overstretched squadron would have been a big blow.

BFB