Too Much Money For The F-35?

Trump is doing right by some issues, pre-presidency some cost overuns and mistakes on the development of the F-35 and Airforce One. This story from ABC news is based on a Tweet.

"President-elect Donald Trump has taken to Twitter again to express his displeasure about the price tag of an aircraft.

"Based on the tremendous cost and cost overruns of the Lockheed Martin F-35, I have asked Boeing to price-out a comparable F-18 Super Hornet!" he tweeted Thursday.

Based on the tremendous cost and cost overruns of the Lockheed Martin F-35, I have asked Boeing to price-out a comparable F-18 Super Hornet!

In recent weeks Trump has tweeted about the high costs of the new Air Force One and the F-35 that is intended to become the main fighter aircraft for the Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps.

On Wednesday Trump met separately with the CEOs of both Boeing and Lockheed Martin at his Mar-A-Lago estate in Florida to discuss both programs. Those meetings were followed by a separate meeting with senior military officials involved with the development of both aircraft.

The Pentagon is in the process of purchasing 2,443 F-35 fighters that will become the standard fighter aircraft for the military. The F-35 has stealth capability and is one of the most highly computerized aircraft to ever fly.

Each F-35 costs about $112 million to produce, but Lockheed Martin estimates that costs will go down as more aircraft are produced so that by 2019 each F-35 will cost $85 million.

The F/A-18 is a fighter aircraft that went into use in the 1980s by the Navy and Marine Corps as a carrier-based aircraft. It is not flown by the Air Force.

The Navy and Marine Corps are in the process of modernizing their F/A-18 aircraft until they are all eventually replaced by the F-35.

"I had a productive meeting with President-elect Trump this afternoon," Marillyn Hewson, the CEO of Lockheed Martin, said in a statement following her meeting Wednesday with Trump. "I appreciated the opportunity to discuss the importance of the F-35 program and the progress we've made in bringing costs down. The F-35 is a critical program to our national security, and I conveyed our continued commitment to delivering an affordable aircraft to our U.S. military and our allies."

Trump later met with Air Force generals and Navy admirals involved with both programs.

He told reporters the meeting was focused on "trying to get costs down cost primarily the F-35 trying to get the costs down cause it's a program that's very very expensive."

"We are going to get the costs down and get it done beautifully," he added. He described the senior military officials he met with as "great people, amazing people, I'm very impressed with them and very good negotiators."

Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenberg described his meeting with Trump about the new Air Force One as a "very productive" discussion. Muilenberg said that they could produce the new Air Force One "affordably" for less than the $4 billion price tag that Trump has described for the aircraft that will go into service in 2024.

"We will get it done for less than that," Muilenberg told reporters.

The Air Force has projected that over the next five years the new Air Force One could cost $2.78 billion, but there is no full contract with Boeing yet. For now, the Air Force has spent almost $170 million on three small contracts with Boeing related to the project."

Saving money is one thing and wasted money never comes back to you.

The story that scares me is the one about nuclear weapons: China watching Trump

I hope things turn out for the best and I worry about Nuclear proliferation. Share your opinions on this subject here on the blog!

Bob Winfrey

Airplane Models with LED Lighting Delivered and Admired

Finally made some room in the workshop and the 5 Airplane Models with LED Lighting are delivered to their new home! The wingspan on these models was four feet, yep that's right four feet wide. These Model Planes will be used for lighting in a lounge area in an airplane hanger. I can't wait to see them in their new home!

We also just shipped out a new model of the F4-E Phantom. We custom painted it and added the extra weapons you see hanging from the belly.

If you have any model aircraft you want constructed please take a look around our web site and there are hundreds of model planes for sale. If you can't find one that you like contact us and we can build any model you like right here in the USA!

Bob Winfrey
Custom Airplane Models

Custom Built Aircraft Models With LED Lighting

A set of 36 inch wide Custom Built Aircraft Models with LED lighting are getting ready to leave the work shop. These custom built models are going to be used to light a recreation area in a hanger.

You can see the detail in the cockpits and there are rows of lighting under the belly of the aircraft model. The cockpits are lighted, the landing lights and running lights are lit as well. These models were custom built right here in the USA!

You can order yours here! Military Models Online


We also added a B-2 Lancer model to be admired by all it is now back in stock on our web site!

This model airplane is hand carved from solid Philippine Mahogany. Our skilled modelers spend hours and hours crafting the details of this solid hardwood work of art.

The finish is painted by hand and all the call sings, tail numbers and details are clear coated to protect them for many years to come.

Come on in take a look around and enjoy!

B-2 Lancer

Have a great holiday!

Amazon Asks FAA For Permission To Fly Drones

I posted a story about the FAA telling Amazon no to delivering packages with drones. Well Amazon has decided to "ask" the FAA for permission to use this type of delivery system. I don't really want this type of thing flying over my head but we will have to see how this works out!

See the whole story here

Amazon Asks Permission to Fly Drones

Amazon Dreams Smashed

No package delivery by #modelaircraft touts the government. I don't know if any of you had seen the commercials around super bowl time were Amazon told the world that someday they would deliver packages with a remote operated drone. I saw the commercial and it was pretty inspiring. I thought it was a little far fetched but the government has stepped up and stated that it is not going to happen!

Read the story here:  Amazon Dreams Come Crashing Down

I personally don't like anything flying over my head that may come crashing down on it! Too bad though cool idea. Stay tuned as the stories emerge and I will try and keep you updated as to what I learn!

Great post. At least the park service is getting a clue about how to handle the difference between a drone and a model aircraft!

I for one enjoy RC modelling, and aircraft models themselves. Building them has always been a fun and clean hobby. Great for kids! I don't think we should give away too many more of our freedoms.

Web story: PR web story

How about you? Please comment!