dorbie 0 #1 July 21, 2007 Aw crap.... http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19877344/ Oh well, it was good while it lasted, at least now they can unionize and plan their next billion dollar budget overrun on a government handout. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ryoder 1,381 #2 July 21, 2007 Quote Aw crap.... http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19877344/ Oh well, it was good while it lasted, at least now they can unionize and plan their next billion dollar budget overrun on a government handout. "Aw crap" is for sure! So much for innovation, and efficiency. When I started working at General Dynamics, I wondered: "How can they charge 40 million dollars for an F-16?" After working there, I left wondering: "How can they charge only 40 million dollars for an F-16?" Before I worked there, I had no opinions about unions. By the time I left, I considered membership in a union to be evidence of mental incompetence. They had five unions there, and the goal of every one was to stamp out efficiency anywhere they found it."There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest #3 July 21, 2007 Burt has made a colossal mistake!!! What was he thinking?! mh ."The mouse does not know life until it is in the mouth of the cat." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
1969912 0 #4 July 21, 2007 Wow. But Northrop has owned 49% of Scaled for several years, so maybe they are willing to keep their fingers out of it. Hopefully it just means more $ for cool Rutan projects. ------------------- http://www.livescience.com/blogs/2007/07/20/spaceshiptwo-development-benefits-by-new-equity-deal/ Northrop Grumman’s 100 percent equity plans for Scaled Composites in Mojave, California will not impact work underway in developing the commercial, passenger-carrying SpaceShipTwo...... McClain [Director of Media Relations for Northrop Grumman] emphasized that the equity change will have no impact on development of the SpaceShipTwo suborbital vehicle. There are to be no differences at all in the on-going work at Scaled with aerospace primes or jobs it does in its commercial programs..... “The partnership between Scaled Composites and the Virgin Group on The Spaceship Company is unchanged by the transaction,” McClain added. “Certainly, Burt will remain at the helm and lead Scaled Composites…and the entire management team will remain. It will continue in its current operating model as a separate entity within Northrop Grumman,” he told SPACE.com...... Regarding the benefit to Northrop Grumman by the ownership of Scaled Composites, McClain added: “First of all, both Northrop Grumman and Scaled Composites felt that Scaled would benefit from the broader resources that Northrop Grumman can bring. But, in particular, Northrop Grumman recognized the innovative and entrepreneurial qualities of Scaled Composites as a good fit with our company’s efforts to define the future of aeronautics and spaceflight.”..... McClain said that Northrop Grumman values the mode of operation that Scaled Composites has currently. --------------------- "Once we got to the point where twenty/something's needed a place on the corner that changed the oil in their cars we were doomed . . ." -NickDG Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
airtwardo 6 #5 July 21, 2007 Quote Burt has made a colossal mistake!!! What was he thinking?! mh . Or...maybe he's got something ELSE in the works? ~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zing 2 #6 July 21, 2007 BINGO! ... Spaceship One was a proof of concept vehicle, now that Rutan has demonstrably proved civilian space launches are possible, I'd bet he's ready to move on to other aviation projects. He's got a few other ideas up his sleeve.Zing Lurks Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lawrocket 3 #7 July 21, 2007 RUtan has bought and sold and bought and sold the company before and he seems to keep on kicking. My wife is hotter than your wife. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dorbie 0 #8 July 22, 2007 Quote BINGO! ... Spaceship One was a proof of concept vehicle, now that Rutan has demonstrably proved civilian space launches are possible, I'd bet he's ready to move on to other aviation projects. He's got a few other ideas up his sleeve. You mean Northrop has something else up their sleve . Mr Rutan is now their employee. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
airtwardo 6 #9 July 22, 2007 Mr Rutan is now their employee. Quote Have you ever MET Dick Rutan??? ~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
1969912 0 #10 July 22, 2007 No, just Burt. "Once we got to the point where twenty/something's needed a place on the corner that changed the oil in their cars we were doomed . . ." -NickDG Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
waltappel 1 #11 July 23, 2007 Quote Mr Rutan is now their employee. Quote Have you ever MET Dick Rutan??? Uh, is he a dick? (sorry--somebody had to say it!) Walt Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SkydiveJack 1 #12 July 24, 2007 Quote Mr Rutan is now their employee. Quote Have you ever MET Dick Rutan??? Let's ask him about it this week. See you Wednesday Twardo! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
champu 1 #13 July 24, 2007 Quote You mean Northrop has something else up their sleve . Mr Rutan is now their employee. If history repeats itself with Northrop acquisitions he'll be on the board of directors before long. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
birdlike 0 #14 July 24, 2007 Quote Aw crap.... http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19877344/ Oh well, it was good while it lasted, at least now they can unionize and plan their next billion dollar budget overrun on a government handout. What was once a pioneering hero-driven enterprise is probably doomed now to be a corporate dumpster for stifled ideas and fiscal waste, driven by executive egos more than passion for discovery. Spirits fly on dangerous missions Imaginations on fire Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest #15 July 27, 2007 Bump. Mishap at Scaled Composites Kills Three, Injures Three mh . "The mouse does not know life until it is in the mouth of the cat." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kallend 1,623 #16 July 27, 2007 Quote Bump. Mishap at Scaled Composites Kills Three, Injures Three mh . I guess we can add nitrous to BATFE's list of explosives, then, along with flour and sawdust. TWO KILLED, FOUR HURT AT SCALED COMPOSITES EXPLOSION www.avweb.com/eletter/archives/avflash/920-full.html#195749) Two people were killed and four others critically hurt in an explosion at Scaled Composites in Mojave, Calif., on Thursday afternoon, the Associated Press reports (abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=local&id=5514742). Burt Rutan, president of the company, was reached by the AP and said he had no information about the incident but was on his way to the scene. Local TV news showed the blast scene in a remote corner of the airport, with wrecked vehicles and equipment strewn over the site. The accident involved nitrous oxide, a local fire official told KABC-TV reporters, which is used as a fuel in rocket motors. SpaceShipOne was built by Scaled, and a second generation of ships is currently being built for Virgin Galactic.... The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
