Boeing Big Chill-ers

The Boeing Co., Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, has been awarded a $23,657,671 contract for engineering support services for VC-25A G12/G13 chillers, including prototype design, manufacture/procurement, installation, and the testing of one prototype, consisting of both Group A and Group B equipment.  The Air Force requires that the current air chillers in the G12 and G13 galleys be modified with new cold food stowage to improve reliability and maintainability. Work will be performed in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; San Antonio, Texas; and various other locations, with an expected completion date of Oct. 30, 2019. This award is the result of a sole-source acquisition. Fiscal 2017 procurement funds in the amount of $23,657,671 are being obligated at the time of award. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma, is the contracting activity (FA8106-17-D-0002/FA8106-18-F-1002).

Seriously $23 million for refrigerators on Air Force One? Now the $22 million spent on UFO research sounds like a bargain.

a reply to: gariac

lol. What if Trump finds out?

I think he would have a go at that just to show he cares or to show off ... depending on your bent.

It would be funny, especially at a later time when he has no cold beer because they were in G13.

P

Has no one mentioned the new Boeing bat refueler yet?

a reply to: gariac

This award is the result of a sole-source acquisition.

Thats why the cost is so high, theres no competing bids.

They used to take bids from defense contractors, now they just take bribes-- (ahem) "Campaign Contributions".

a reply to: pigsy2400

the minute it was released, there are a few threads already

Insert clip from Independance Day, come on you don't really think they spend $20,000 on a hammer do you?

$1m for air coolers, $22m for Phantom Works project aTR-3g

a reply to: Forensick

No, they really do pay $20,000 for it. As much fun as it is to say they're moving money around secretly, that's what the classified budget is for. I've watched units drop ridiculous amounts of money on things like laptops, or even hand tools. It's one way they dump budget towards the end of the year.

These cjillers will only be used by two aircraft, which means they're only buying as many as need to be installed at build. They generally don't replace the entire unit if something happens to it, so they won't buy any more than these. That means Boeing can charge whatever they want, and put any profit towards more expensive programs, like paying the KC-46 overages.

a reply to: Zaphod58

people never consider the 300+$ screwdriver is most likely a specialized tool made just for whatever parts it goes to.

a reply to: penroc3

Exactly. You can't just take a Dell laptop out on the ramp and plug it into an F-35. And you can't take Home Depot tools into a fuel tank to make repairs to the tank.

a reply to: Zaphod58
There are a set of wire crimping tools we have for the A-380 that cost something like $30k a pop, and that's just the hand tool not the whole kit. Or the standard RS232 laptop cable used to talk and program first class seats that has been "approved" for aircraft use that cost $1000-$1500 each! And absolutely identical to the $4 one you can buy online.

a reply to: thebozeian

It always makes me laugh, but God help anyone caught with the over the counter cable.

a reply to: Zaphod58
Yeah we had a tool-crib operator who almost got fired and was sideways promoted because he saw the price our approved supplier was charging for floor brooms and went off his own bat and bought the exact same one from another supplier for 1/3 the price.

a reply to: thebozeian

The average person has no idea how ugly prices are and how strict they are for very specific tools. A great example is the -135 they blew apart at the Depot in the 90s.

They were doing a pressure check, and they used a home made pressure gauge. It didn't read high enough and they missed it flipping so thought the pressure was much lower than it was. By the time they realized how high it really was, the aft fuselage exploded, between the wings and empennage.

a reply to: Zaphod58
THAT incident is quoted worldwide. We have looked at it many times in recurrent Human Factors courses. Apparently the correct gauges would have only cost something like $1500 which is ironically small in this industry. One thing about $900 hammers et al. They still get left in fuel tanks and dry bays just as easily as the $10 ones!

a reply to: thebozeian

Always used to love hearing "anyone seen the hammer". Or even better, someone working the cockpit in a fighter start swearing. We damn near had to slip a fighter launch because they were getting ready to pull the seat to get a tool out. Luckily there was just enough poking out that they could very slowly and carefully pull it out.

a reply to: Zaphod58
A few weeks back I departed a 380 and despite hearing the dreaded "ding" of an ECAM warning over the open mike we concluded quickly that the aircraft could dispatch with that particular T/R fault (no cockpit effect). Jumping in the van and watching it taxi away, my bosses phone rings and its another engineer who had been on board earlier that day, "ahhh has anyone seen my hammer? I dont remember where I left it or when I last used it. Could someone take a look on the aircraft at seat so and so?". My boss cut him off and yelled that the aircraft was about to taxi onto the runway and to ring the Maintenance watch supervisor to talk to the skipper NOW! To late, they were in blackout period so couldn't contact them. I'm not sure if he has found it but I do know he got to take a stroll on the carpet to have a nice little chat with a few managers. Its that kind of stupidity that is seeing us now forced to adopt company tooling instead of using our own, not that I believe it will solve the problem.

a reply to: thebozeian

It won't make a damn bit of difference. I've actually seen company tools vanish faster because people don't care. It's not their money.

The only way to stop it is positive control checks after every job. That SHOULD be happening anyway, but I've noticed tool checks are the first things to stop, unless QA stands over their shoulder watching.

Working at a Defence Force museum for many many years we all had to use the toolboard where all tools were tagged and had to be returned at end of day.If a tool was missing at end of day we all had to stay back and look for it.

a reply to: Blackfinger

That's how it should be, and that's ruined more than one set of plans, but probably saved more than one aircraft. When my father was Senior Enlisted Advisor for a couple units, no one even thought about not doing a tool check. They didn't have a single instance of a problem in the several years he held that position for two different squadrons.

originally posted by: thebozeian
a reply to: Zaphod58
There are a set of wire crimping tools we have for the A-380 that cost something like $30k a pop, and that's just the hand tool not the whole kit. Or the standard RS232 laptop cable used to talk and program first class seats that has been "approved" for aircraft use that cost $1000-$1500 each! And absolutely identical to the $4 one you can buy online.

I'm always dubious of any wire crimp, so I don't mind one for an aircraft being overpriced.

www.edn.com...
Shocker! The Chinese crimps were no good!

For my own use, I solder everything generally. My "professional" gate installer neglected to connect the fire department switch when upgrading the gate. That I fixed myself with 3M Scotchlok IDC splices with the weatherproof goop inside. Crimp...uh no. I would have screamed bloody murder if I got fined by the fire department for the installers lack of diligence.

I have some crimpers for RF connectors. I limit the types of connectors I use because of the ridiculous price of the tools.