The recently approved state construction budget includes $2.7 million to buy out mobile homes and relocate residents under Fairchild's runway approach. Spokane officials and the regional chamber of commerce are trying to leave no stone unturned. The next closest right now is Salt Lake."Ī fleet of new tankers would likely protect Fairchild - and its many jobs - in future rounds of military base closings. “You can't move a lot of airplanes across the ocean without our support. "We support a lot of movement through Alaska, a lot of movement across the Pacific,” he explained. Tibbetts, who lives in Spokane, thinks the Inland Northwest air base is well positioned. "As far as the competition goes, everyone wants it and not everybody is going to get it,” Tibbitts said. Spokane's Fairchild Air Force Base is competing to host later deliveries. They'll be assigned to McConnell Air Force Base in Kansas. The first set of new air tankers is scheduled to be delivered to the U.S. Last month, Boeing booked a $536 million charge against its earnings for engineering and manufacturing cost overruns. The next generation tanker program continues to be dogged by difficulties. The bigger, more advanced KC-46 model is based on the twin-engine Boeing 767 commercial jetliner. The assembly line for the new tankers is at Boeing's Everett, Washington, plant. Air Force awarded a $35 billion contract to build 179 next generation air tankers. Finally in 2011, workers and Northwest politicians could celebrate when the U.S. New planes would be more efficient and Boeing and Airbus duked it out for the contract to build them for a decade. They regularly take it down to the depot and take it right down to the skin and rebuild it.” "It's still a great aircraft,” Tibbitts said from the cockpit of a tanker delivered in 1959. Colonel in the Washington Air National Guard, said critical components such as engines and avionics have been upgraded over the years. The aging Stratotankers require a lot of maintenance. The majority of these "flying gas stations" are still flying today because of delays in building a modernized replacement.Īn invitation to fly along with the Washington Air National Guard on a refueling mission Thursday provided a look at what is happening with the venerable jet and its successor. The Boeing Company built more than 700 KC-135 Stratotankers for the Air Force in the 1950s to the mid-1960's.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |