Aye, me buckos - I can just feel the excitement in the cockpit as the Boeing pilot calls out “Steady as we go!” and he fights to control the violently pitching and bucking 100-ton aircraft at the same time avoiding the 3 other Jumbo jets which are approaching from different points of the compass at a closing (heh) speeds of 900+ knots.
“Avast there! Three points to starboard, ye scurvy dog!”
OK, Nickrz, sit quietly here next to me while I spin The Straight Dope (gosh, I’ve always wanted to say that!)
Seems that Elbows has more than a wing and a prayer to stand on. According to Contracts and Pricing personnel (there are three, a manager, his director, and his VP) who all confirm that the Simon Winchester account quoted by Elbows did, in fact, happen!!
This is called an ‘Over-water Delivery’(OWD) and is rare. In the late 80’s (when the Winchester event took place) it was becoming even more rare. The practice was most widely used when Boeing was delivering the earliest of transoceanic aircraft and the Asean customers were new to Boeing. I was, indeed, a money and tax thing. Not a tax thing for Boeing, but for the international customer. I am uinformed that Uncle Sam has always gotten his due. The request for an OWD was initiated by the customer’s legal advisors. Boeing has not been the initiator of an OWD request.
I tried to pin them down. How many OWDs have occurred? More than 10, fewer than 100, most in the 50s, 60s, and 70s. A few in the 80s. When was the last one? Lots of mumbles and no recollection. Well, when was the last one you remember? More mumbles and a ‘late 80s, I think’ answer. Sheesh. I’d remember something like that. What high intrigue!
Anyway, it seems the practice has been overcome by laws, spurred by increased trade with the Pacific Rim countries, that closed the loopholes. As for the cost of money issue, Boeing routinely accepts payment for product early, banks it, and pays the customers an agreed upon amount of interest, calculated to the minute that the transfer of ownership actually takes place. As I siad in my original post, it is standard for customers to take posession of their aircraft at either the Renton or Everett facility, depending on which model they bought.
One other reason for OWD was mentioned, and I report it just because I heard it, is that in the early days (their words, not mine) some Asean pilots were type qualified (that is, knew how to fly the plane and licensed to do so in their native country), but did not meet the requirements for flight inside US air boundaries. I know there are certain FAA requirements (like speaking in English) that are imposed, so this has a logical ring to it, too.
Sooooooooooooo, OWD was done. It could still be done today, but the raison d’etre is gone. You want it, come get it. It’s parked right over there.
Chuck L.
Boeing snoop.
“The intellectuals’ chief cause of anguish are one another’s works.”
Jacques Barzun
Cheers! CAL
Jacques, you wonderful fellow, may heavens finest blessings shower down upon you, today and always!
That’s some straight dope!
ARRRR! Hoist that dog from the yardarm!
Wow. No shit. Now that’s some classic snooping there, pal. Our hearty thanks and a YO HO HO for a job well done!
I hereby admit I was wrong.
First time ever.
Never again.
“non sunt multiplicanda entia praeter necessitatem”
Mousetrap.
Chaim Mattis Keller
ckeller@schicktech.com
“Sherlock Holmes once said that once you have eliminated the
impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be
the answer. I, however, do not like to eliminate the impossible.
The impossible often has a kind of integrity to it that the merely improbable lacks.”
– Douglas Adams’s Dirk Gently, Holistic Detective
Oops! I meant to post this elsewhere. Ignore the above!
Chaim Mattis Keller