Faulty T-7 Parts Cause More Delays

Every Monday at 8PM ET, Mover (F-16, F/A-18, T-38, 737, helicopter pilot, author, cop, and wanna be race car driver) and Gonky (F/A-18, T-38, A320, dirt bike racer, author, and awesome dad) discuss everything from aviation to racing to life and anything in between. Featuring Daniel Flores!



*The appearance of U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) visual information does not imply or constitute DoD endorsement.*
*Views presented are my own and do not represent the views of DoD or its Components.*

[christoffermonikander]

Boeing doesn't have a parts problem, they have a management problem.

[ghostviggen]

It’s good that Boeing discovered faulty parts before it got into the airplane. Usually it has been the other way around.

[blueskiestrevor]

My problem is that the whole point of the new trainer was that they asked companies to pitch already existing airframes so we could avoid these problems. There was a competitor in the Air Force trials the T-50A, a very mature aircraft. The T-50A has been in service with South Korea for years and even has a combat version in service. It seems like the Air Force chose the least developed aircraft because they wanted everything done their way. Apparently, doing it their way means over budget, and 10 years late.

[theghost]

I've been looking forward to the T-7A but I'll also miss the t-38.

[keyboard_g]

Boeing does this need to catch a break, they need to replace management. Take out people who are sacrificing quality for profit.

[chrismaggio]

New motto "If it's Boeing its not going"

[HammerheadClassCruiser]

The TA/FA-50 was the best choice, but that would have given Lock-Mart another fighter-ish contract (which I suspect the Air Force wanted to avoid) and they've got there hands full with F-35 and F-16 production. It's incredibly frustrating because Taiwan has its T-5 Brave Eagle in production with 30 units delivered despite that aircraft first flying (in 2020) four years after the first flight of the T-7 (in 2016) admittedly the T-5 is "just" a heavily reworked F-CK-1 Ching-kuo, but if the USAF really wanted to go fast they could've asked Northrop to build the F-20 (same F-404 engine as the T-7 and TA-50)

[gatorspad]

T-50. Built with quality and available for many years. Should’ve been the pick. Now we have another Boeing product with issues. Who would’ve guessed 😑

[crazypetec-fe]

"Boeing can't catch a break." That's because they keep breaking themselves. Start by booting all the financiers off the board and bring back the engineers who used to run Boeing back in the good ol' days when they built solid airplanes.

[couchfighter]

Dude, I see these all the time. People don't even realize they are not F18's and I point out the single nozzle and people trip out. and they fly with a little Draken A4 chase plane. I saw a T7 in a hard break the other day right over the Carrolton disc gold course. "I am in Saint louis. Love these videos. Keep it up.

[pontiacgto]

Cancel the contract and buy the Lockheed T-50.

[nimaiiikun]

kinda wish they just went with the Lockheed/Korean aerospace T-50 Golden Eagle. lower risk and the base model is already proven. but I guess they didn't want Lockheed to own all the AF contracts

[VonRose]

GE used to build every single part on the T700 engine and others.
I would argue when you control the manufacturing to that level your forecasts and quality are far more stable and improved.
Boeing is overstretched and more concerned about cutting cost over quality.

[theshotdoctor]

You’re definitely seeing the effects on the training pipeline, I’ll be commissioning in may but I won’t go to UPT for at least 6-8 months

[basmo]

If I'm making a decision on any plane procurement, I'm not going with Boeing.

And USAF is having tremendous issues keeping t-38 flying and now it's going to have to last longer.

[Tjecktjeck]

Can somebody explain what's the point in ''advanced'' trainer when there are F-16B/F-18B around for much less money and with comparable/superior performance?

[couchfighter]

I saw it yesterday again at lunch. I will try and get some pics from Banshee road and email them, video or whatever I end up with

[patrickfree]

There were "parts flow" issues for the UH-72 for a couple years. It has been handled to the point the OR rate isn't as bad as it used to be. Also, the UH-72 has AFCS and in "level 4/attitude hold" it does a great job to help the pilot however, it does not have a "hover hold/hover button" equipped on the aircraft we use to train students here at Rucker. I mean Ft Novosel. -UH-72 IP w/five years in the helicopter.

[stupidburp]

Need to proactively look up supply chains to inspect their plans, materials, and processes even before parts samples are produced and shipped. That is on the prime contractor and program manager.

[Jamezl]

Has their ever been a military aircraft that has come in on-time and in budget in the history of aviation?