"Bill Silvey" wrote in message om...
snip

Ah, good, now we can start killing our own SpecOps guys by the two-dozen
instead of mere Marines.

Good on ya, Bell/Boeing! Only forty or so deaths in twenty years of
development!

Care to ponder that we have already done so with the MH-47 (like the
one that went down off the PI last year with what, some ten folks
onboard?) and MH-53? Ever examine the current safety record of the
CH-46? The prototype B-29 killed 100% of its test crew, and the B-29
went on to a rather successful career. F-111's had a problem with
falling from the sky in their early days, and likewise went on to a
successful career. The Comet, from which the RN was to eventually get
its current Nimrods, had a bit of a problem with explosive
decompression. And the Electra, from which we get the Orion, had a
pretty nasty early record as well...

I guess the lesson here is supposed to be that if there are
developmental problems, the program should be immediately killed, huh
Bill? One wonders how many aircraft that kind of thinking would have
left us with in the past...

Brooks