It’s not just the managers at Boeing. Working at NASA, we have a long history of bad interaction with Boeing. They have a tendency to take cooperative work, stamp “proprietary” on it and try to prohibit others from using it. Difficult on an interpersonal level.
I wasn’t referring to Boeing, but I’ve heard stories. It’s the only company I know of where the engineers have actually unionized.
Just a nitpicky FTR: The C-17 replaced the C-141 (missionwise, that is - it’s larger), not the C-130. The C-17 production line is nearing its end already, but the C-130 just may go on forever. It’s been in production for 54 years now (!) with the orders still coming in.
Very true, Elvis; in fact, my dad flew C-141’s for years. But we were talking about design competitions. Do a search on the YC-14 and YC-15, interesting airplanes. I don’t know how much of the YC-15 went into the C-17, or why the Air Force bought C-17’s without a formal competition for the contract.
There *was * a formal competition, MD beating Boeing and Lockheed. The C-17 is to a great degree a scaled-up YC-15, MD’s entry in the cancelled C-130 replacement program. Seems quaint now, doesn’t it?
We got a new contract starting in two weeks. I will be a Boeing person. As long as there is a hefty pay rise, I care not.