Little FYI for you fellas...
From a fiscal year standpoint, FY19 which will change over Oct 1st to FY20...we have produced 34 of 38 C-17’s to date. We have yet to miss a delivery date back to the squadrons in over 15 years...not a single aircraft late delivery. Two of the remaining four will get airborne and gone next week, the third will leave possibly by the end of next week, more likely week after next. The fourth C-17, we’re kinda *frenched on...not only complete overhaul maintenance, avionics, infrared countermeasure upgrades, etc...it’s been awaiting an entire RH side main landing gear swap. After five months of waiting for the landing gear which was freight trucked in last week, a forklift operator on a 10K forklift cut across the hangar door opening at an off angle...understand the hangar doors sectionally ride in railroad tracks in the concrete...he spilled the f’ng main landing gear. It wasn’t strapped down worth a *s-word, etc and moving too fast on the forklift. It turned into a $4 million dollar *f-word up quick, within a minute of bringing the landing gear into the hangar.
We may be looking at our first black eye in many years of on-time delivery. But I don’t think so...two C-17’s are currently here for the FY20 deal...one of those will get jacked next week on six, 60-ton jacks, and an entire RH side main landing gear swap will miraculously take place.
High dollar civil service, upper management, and the collared stars have already spoken...if you think two and three star Generals who run AMXG and AFMC, who have to answer to four star Generals, are going to take a black eye over this spill *s-wordt...Judas Priest couldn’t have sang it better...’You Got Another Thing Coming.’ The hydraulics and landing gear boys will be working seven days a week as of start of next week.
If you think a two star Commanding General is gonna take a black eye over this *s-wordt, and eat a career *f-word up sandwich...you better rethink things real quick...and payroll and money is not even in the equation...this bird will get airborne and leave Robins AFB, come hell or high water, by the third week of Sept!