Don't Get in the Choppah!

I really don’t like to complain. I really don’t. I slept a total of 18 hours last night into today. I am pretty sure I either have the flu or the beginnings of bronchitis/pneumonia. Brain isn’t working and neither is the cough syrup.

Anyone got any good chicken soup recipes? You are up against my own terrific Polish recipe, so beware, I will be judging with quite the skeptic eye. Don’t you just love challenges in which you are up against horrible odds?

So what do I have for you today?

How about the $2 billion helicopter order that the US Government revealed has one teenie, weenie and minor flaw. It can’t fly in weather above 80 degrees Fahrenheit. I’m not kidding you. Military vehicles are often made without air conditioning to improve on performance, cut down on weight and to save on fuel, so they’re going to have to go back and retrofit these choppers with some cooling. If the outside temperature is above the 80 degree threshold, the cockpit temps soar to 104, both dangerous for the pilots and soldiers riding along and possibly shutting down the vital instruments to keep the thing in the air.

One senator suggested we scrap the entire order at tax payer expense and just order Blackhawks instead.

Why aren’t we going back to the manufacturer and demanding they fix this stuff for free? The designs should have been a red flag to any experienced engineer and frankly if the helo can’t operate in temperatures found almost anywhere on the globe except maybe Antarctica, it should be their issue to fix them at their expense.

It’s time to hold military contractors responsible for their own mistakes instead of passing the cost of repairs or retrofits to the taxpayers. God help them if I were a contract consultant in Washington, half of the companies who do business with the US would be blacklisted.

Here’s hoping they do the right thing for once.