[Emperor Palpatine]

Often design flaws take years to show up or even decades. When the Silver Bridge collapsed in Gallipolis, Ohio back in the 60's it was caused by a tiny crack in an I-Bar suspender that was there since the bridge was built in the late teens.



Lockheed built a turboprop airliner called the Electra in the late 50's that at the time was one of the most thoroughly tested planes ever built. They flew flawlessly in service for several years until the wings started to tear of several planes in flight killing hundreds. The design flaw was failure to isolate engine vibrations in wing spars. Lockheed fixed the problem and the plane continued to fly successfully. The military variation of the Electra is the P-3 orion and still flies to this day.



Some bridge engineer somewhere is about to lose his license, I'd wager.

[Pilsner]

Some bridge engineer somewhere is about to lose his license, I'd wager.

If the bridge was built in 1967, I doubt the head engineer is still alive, much less licensed.

I once read a comment by a science fiction writer that mankind would never set sail to the stars, unless it had a faster than light (FTL) drive. His theory was simple: Without FTL, it will take generations for star ships to got to other planetary systems, and return. Only the government can afford to build such a space ship, and government officials cannot be trusted to oversee a massive construction project, if the government officials know that they will have been dead for a couple of lifetimes before their incompetence, or corruption, is discovered.

[Attention Surplus Disorder]

Optical illusion, or are those pretty danged short wings on that bird?