Posted on 09/17/2022 8:47:07 AM PDT by pterional
Maybe a Reserve officer?
“ Maybe a Reserve officer?”
Former enlisted. Looking now
Looks like the parachute didn’t deploy
Well they used to tell us, you can’t sue the government.
Mike Lindell’s going to try to succeed at it but he’s got a mega team
Even Mike Lindell has a problem there.
It can be VERY expensive to sue the government.
He’s had to introduce a new product line, corduroy pillow cases, to raise funds.
I’m surprised you didn’t hear of them.
They’re making headlines...
supplier https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atmel
Its not like suing on a suspicious hunch and hoping the judge allows your suit to go forward and grant you discovery. The USAF’s own investigation will help her case.
Why not sue the manufacturer?
To no one in particular:
I’m the sales manager for a company that makes passive electronic devices for military/aerospace applications. I’m not new at this, I’ve been at it since 1986 so not an expert but I know a few things.
One way or another every component down to the smallest washer used in military aircraft are qualified to the applicable MIL SPEC by the prime (or sub) contractor. In my industry, that is currently MIL-PRF 27, years ago it was MIL-T-27.
My company makes a part that is used in the ejection seat F-15/F-16/F-18, we, at the customers expense, qualified this device which was notable for the fact that it had a custom heat sink that would allow it to fit a very tight space in the cockpit. Our design is then locked in we cannot make any changes without customer (in this case Boeing) approval.
Anyway, when the government buys spare parts (The DLA which stands for Defense Logistics Center) they specify the approved manufacturer on the RFQ however if another manufacturer wants to be allowed to supply the part they can submit a sample and the DLA will decide to include them in the RFQ process.
This part was designed by my company to meet a customer print, in this a case McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing) SCD (Source Control Drawing).
We go ahead and quote a spares order for say 3 pcs but lose the order to another supplier that is not on the SCD. The other supplier is offering the part for less than what we have to pay for the above mentioned heat sink keeping in mind that this is not just a heat sink it is a complex multi winding transformer on a spec toroid (the core) with 14 secondary center taps and a bifilar wound primary.
I sent a letter to the DLA protesting the award to no avail. You might say that my company is sour grapes but keep in mind that this device is very specific and controls the ejection seat in a multi-million dollar fighter aircraft. Also keep in mind that the DLA will buy from the new company to save money, Boeing will not do that until the new company qualifies the part and is included on the SCD. No manufacturer in their right mind would spend $25,000.00 to qualify this thing so that they could make and sell a handful of these units per year. Back in the day we made hundreds of this transformer, the DLA spares buys are 5 or less a year.
It doesn’t take a genius to guess what the DLA is putting in these aircraft. It is also not just this one application it is across the board on all kinds of defense programs.
I know from experience that when something like this happens, an accident that results in death and/or loss of millions of dollars in property, a wide scale investigation into every thing related, the components, service records, test data also military procedures. Not saying the Airforce will take responsibility but I will say they will find out exactly what caused this accident. If any suppliers of any parts are anywhere near the root cause of this accident, woe to them. I personally live by the creed it is not worth $100 profit to cut corners on anything we supply to the military.
Nothing unusual about Safety Center recommendations not being followed. They are not God and the reality is sometimes designs are imperfect - AND as good as we can get for that purpose.
The F-111 capsule was too heavy for the parachutes. Oh well. Never got fixed. Ejections seats during my time worked about 90% of the time. Sucked if you were in the 10% category but we all knew it and accepted the risk.
Thanks for the details on mil-spec parts. Excellent background knowledge for this particular story.
“Generally speaking, the service member can’t sue the government, but the family members can.”
TY, I was hoping someone pointed that out!
Which is why a pilot will seldom eject unless it’s the last available option.
I was stationed at Shaw AFB. Shaw has a very high ops tempo. I’ll never forget one night we were night flying. I have never seen the fog as thick as it was that night. I felt the ground shake when the jet hit the ground. I was one of the first people on the scene, recovering he hydrazine tank.
Teledyne impressed the heck out me. I had to replace hydraulic valves that lasted 30 years. The new ones only lasted 30 days. Ain’t progress something?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.