No one better than Boeing for tanker

Published 1:16 pm Thursday, January 24, 2008

With over 200 airfuelings off a Boeing tanker, and yes my father worked for Boeing, you might say that I am biased. But more importantly, I still realize the importance of Pentagon suppliers to the defense of our nation. I also have been involved in energy my whole life. All the traditional U.S. Air Force tanker work has been done by Boeing — the B-767 tanker is presently a fact, not a proposal.

Engineering of USAF large aircraft will not end with this plane. NASA and Boeing have already flown a model that just may represent the future. The Russians many years ago flew a commercial aircraft engine on hydrogen in their TU-155. At this point the USAF does not need foreign wind turbines; I mention these monuments to man’s ignorance because Boeing knew better before even our dams were built, but few listened and few American companies looked seriously at this small finicky market. Had FDR and others done so we would not now be faced with the energy challenge we currently are.

The Boeing team has done the tanker job for the USAF for years. Changing to something else at this point is ignoring the fact that future needs will require considerably more engineering than most realize and no dollar value can be placed on the experience Boeing currently has in this area. We are at a point where we need to do a few things right. In this case Boeing already has done it and is already working on what they know will come next. So why the discussion? Why even consider doing anything else?

Hugh Coleman