Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!ames!skipper!shafer From: shafer@elxsi.dfrf.nasa.gov (Mary Shafer) Newsgroups: sci.space Subject: Re: Don't Mess with NASA (afterburners) Message-ID: Date: 20 Jul 89 20:29:37 GMT References: <8907201027.AA07833@osteocyber.ortho.hmc.psu.edu> <1989Jul20.184051.19979@utzoo.uucp> Sender: news@skipper.dfrf.nasa.gov Organization: NASA Dryden, Edwards, Cal. Lines: 59 In-reply-to: henry@utzoo.uucp's message of 20 Jul 89 18:40:51 GMT In article <1989Jul20.184051.19979@utzoo.uucp> henry@utzoo.uucp (Henry Spencer) writes: >In article <8907201027.AA07833@osteocyber.ortho.hmc.psu.edu> dsc@OSTEOCYBER.ORTHO.HMC.PSU.EDU (david s. channin) writes: >> ... What are the laws, regulations, etc (if any) that prevent you from >> doing the following: >> 1. Walk into the Northrop offices in wherever. >> 2. Pull out a bank check for x million dollars. >> 3. Say,``I'd would like that nice T-38 that's in the showroom''. >> 4. Fly away with same after filling the tank... >> >> Why wouldn't this scenario work?? (or would it?). >The answer to item 3 will be "sorry, that is a USAF aircraft that is not >for sale to civilians without government approval". This is partly >because the USAF paid for development and "owns the rights" to some >degree, and partly because practically all of the military-aircraft >manufacturers are utterly dependent on US government business and >are desperately anxious not to annoy their big customer. And the US >government feels that private citizens should not be allowed to own jet >fighters. Change the scenario to: 1. Walk into the Bede offices in wherever. 2. Pull out a bank check for x million dollars. 3. Say,``I'd would like that nice BD-5J that's in the showroom''. 4. Fly away with same after filling the tank... and you'll be on your way. Just speaking personally, as a fairly frequent flier, I'd really prefer that fighters be limited-distribution items. There are enough things to worry about, without worrying about some yahoo out there in an F-something with sidewinders at my 747's six. A more practical example is the private F-86 (bought surplus from the RCAF) that hit the Farrell's in Sacramento. I work at a facility that flies high-performance aircraft (F-15, F-16, F-18, F-104, F-111, T-38 currently) and I have some real definite opinions about required piloting skills. We require our test pilots to fly a minimum of 200 hours per year, with specified minimums for each aircraft, to maintain proficiency. That F-86 driver had very low total time, low jet time, and was what I'd consider non-current. I think that there are certain minimums that should be required. Just because you can afford an airplane, doesn't mean you can fly it. Look at the stereotype about MDs and Bonanzas. More incidentally, the reason you can't buy a T-38 is because they're no longer in production. But I don't know why those posters who despise the government and all its fruits are panting to buy those fruits. Let's see some consistancy here! :-) -- M F Shafer shafer@elxsi.dfrf.nasa.gov NASA Ames Research Center arpa!elxsi.dfrf.nasa.gov!shafer Dryden Flight Research Facility Of course I don't speak for NASA