I do wonder how many of Boeing's problems/idiocy could be fixed almost overnight if they put in charge the men who designed and built the XB-37 Experimental space ship. They have been working flawlessly (as far as we know) for the last 15 years. I think putting those guys in charge of Boeing (all of it from the top down as CEO, GM, etc) would go a long way toward fixing what is wrong in all of Boeing.
Now that is predicated on the reported fleet of two being the whole number purchased. If it turns out the Air Force purchased 17 of them, 4 of them blew up at Vandenberg and the rest were lost in space, then all bets are off.
They are by all accounts I have seen, some fine machines.
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I worked for a part of Boeing between 1997 and 2001. We were the old North American Rockwell campus in Anaheim, not at all related to aviation. I remember hearing through the grapevine that when a new CFO came in about 1998 that she was being given a tour of the plane production lines - 737, 747, 767, 777; she asked each product line manager how much it cost to produce one plane. None of them could answer her. Crazy place that has only gotten crazier.
There were only two built. I have first hand knowledge of this fact.
That is what I figured. They seem to be what Boeing used to be, unmatched excellence in air and space. Too bad they got McDougled to death when they merged.
I once asked the production manager the exact same question about the production cost for one of the systems coming off his line and got the same answer. It may have something to do with an understandable refusal to answer such a leading question. I do think it is an excellent idea for someone in the company to know what the actual incremental cost is and keeps an eye on costs and efficiency.
Success has many fathers. The X-37 was kicked around a lot two decades ago between NASA and AF and contractors. A real miracle given the outcomes from the other X- vehicles, X-33, X-34, X-38, X-40, etc.
Over the past couple of decades the bean counters at Boeing replaced all the competent can do people with mush brained imports. Those who can are now either too old to do the job or not interested in coming to Boeing's rescue. Boeing committed corporate suicide and would already be history, closed and shuttered, if it wasn't for government life support in the form of tax dollars.
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