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Posted
That's not from Jan 1 2008. You have some 2007 numbers in there. That would be hella scary if those numbers were from just two months. I think theres been 5 so far this year (just a guess).

Well I imagine he's talking fiscal year 2008.

Guest thefranchise
Posted
That's not from Jan 1 2008. You have some 2007 numbers in there. That would be hella scary if those numbers were from just two months. I think theres been 5 so far this year (just a guess).

the T6s were last year my bad; the rest all of 2008

B2 - 2/23/08 - https://www.cnn.com/2008/US/02/23/stealth.b...h.ap/index.html

F15 x 2 (1 fatal) - 2/20/08 - https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...8022002774.html

E6B - 2/12/08 - https://www.navytimes.com/news/2008/02/navy..._crash_080212w/

F15 - 2/1/08 - https://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2008/02/...15crash_080202/

F16 - 1/15/08 - https://www.afrc.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123082428

F18 x 2 - 1/7/08 - https://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/01...arplanes.crash/

Posted
It's an OPR. You're allowed round up (or down) to the nearest Billion depending on what makes you look better on paper.

I just pulled my commander to the side this week to tell him his comments on a report were a bit inflated and that mine were more factually based. Adjectives are good, but I make sure I can back them up.

Most importantly - Glad the guys got out. The ejection seat comment is superior!

Posted
AF.mil B-2 Fact Sheet

Unit cost: Approximately $1.157 billion (fiscal 98 constant dollars)

I generally find a number of errors on AF.mil "fact sheets".

I don't know how the USAF does their "statistics", but when I divide $44B by 21, I get a little more than $2B. But I'm no math major. I guess that's why the AF says the F-22 costs ~$140M, but it seems to cost more like $325M each.

Plenty of good B-2 budgetary documentation. Here's two:

https://www.fas.org/man/gao/nsiad97181.htm

If you don't want to read the whole thing, go to appendix I, near the bottom.

https://www.cdi.org/issues/aviation/B296.html

Yet another of the dozens of sources out there.

Posted

WRT the cost of the B-2, my understanding is that the DOD literally paid $1.2B each, but when you factor in the cost of R&D, test, etc, added to the sticker price of each B-2, the total cost of the B-2 program divided by the number of aircraft they bought comes out to ~$2.2B.

Posted (edited)

the difference is whether you include the r&d costs or not (which you really should). so to build a B-2 it costs $1.2B, but to design them it cost $18.8B.

Edit: ya what he said, beat to the punch while typing it out

Edited by Tron Carter
Posted

Here is a picture from the Air Force Times:

022308_b2crash_800.JPG

It's hard to tell from that angle, but it looks to me like it hit the main parallel taxiway.

Posted

https://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2008/02/...amcrash_022208/

No munitions on board B-2 that crashed

Staff and wire reports

Posted : Saturday Feb 23, 2008 16:06:16 EST A B-2 stealth bomber crashed on the runway Saturday at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, completely destroying the aircraft, an officer at Andersen confirmed. It was the first time a B-2 had ever crashed.

The two pilots from the 509th Bomb Wing ejected safely. Both have been checked by medical staff and are in good condition, according to a Pacific Air Forces statement.

The aircraft was taking off with three others on their last flight out of Guam after a four-month deployment, part of a continuous U.S. bomber presence in the western Pacific. After the crash, the other three bombers were being kept on Guam, said Maj. Eric Hilliard at Hickham Air Force Base in Hawaii.

Area residents told a local TV station they saw black plumes of smoke coming from the base about 10:45 a.m. local time, indicating the aircraft's impact. Emergency vehicles on base immediately reported to the scene of the crash. No other injuries have been reported at Andersen.

All 21 stealth bombers are based at Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo., but the Air Force has been rotating several of them through Guam since 2004. Four of the 509th's B-2s are currently deployed to Andersen and were scheduled to return to Missouri now that six B-52s from the 96th Bomb Wing at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, have arrived to replace them.

The $1.2 billion advanced stealth bomber is certified to carry nuclear munitions, but no munitions were on board the B-2 that crashed. There also were no injuries on the ground or damage to buildings.

The B-2 that crashed was the second B-2 to take off from Andersen on Saturday morning, according to a KUAM TV news report. The first bomber took off safely, according to the station, but was brought back when the other aircraft plunged to the ground.

A board of officers will investigate what caused the bat-like aircraft to crash at 10:30 a.m., shortly after taking off from a runway. It was the first crash of a B-2 bomber, said Capt. Sheila Johnston, a spokeswoman for Air Combat Command at Langley Air Force Base in Virginia

Guest mjk5401
Posted

My bad as well. I thought the 18s were before christmas, but I was to lazy to do the research. Thanks for the links, and yes, it has been a shitty year with or without the T6s.

In regards to the cost, the ~1.2B pricetag was based on the value of the 1998 dollar, do they take into consideration of inflation and the weaker dollar value of 2008?

Posted
Here is a picture from the Air Force Times:

022308_b2crash_800.JPG

It's hard to tell from that angle, but it looks to me like it hit the main parallel taxiway.

Looks like pretty much where we had 3 Herks parked all December. Could've been a loss of $2.29B!

Posted (edited)

Glad the guys are ok.

One thing that strikes me is that fact that this is the first ever crash of a B2. Considering how radically different the aircraft design is from pretty much everything else, I think that's pretty amazing. With the V-22, there's a lot of screaming about the crashes, until people (correctly) point out that crashes are not unusual during the development of new aircraft as the bugs are worked out. That it was accomplished in the B2 with no crashes (and going on 20 years now the thing has been flying), its pretty cool.

Any other airframes have similar records?

Edited by hd5032
Posted
Just curious why this particular accident (the B-2) falls under the "we need new iron" column ?

Not saying this particular accident will draw attention to the argument, just that it might take high profile accidents like this one to convince congress. And that is a sad thought.

Posted

Hell, the BUFF dropped pieces off of it during and after its development, and still flew.

I'm not sure there are any airplanes around that could top that.

--------

There are some interesting theories on another site, to include wake turbulence and flight computer failure.

Posted

The SR-71 had an impressive no Class A record for a couple of decades.

Guest regularjoe
Posted
Hell, the BUFF dropped pieces off of it during and after its development, and still flew.

I'm not sure there are any airplanes around that could top that.

--------

There are some interesting theories on another site, to include wake turbulence and flight computer failure.

post-4065-1203879020_thumb.jpg

Guest billpritjr
Posted
Not saying this particular accident will draw attention to the argument, just that it might take high profile accidents like this one to convince congress. And that is a sad thought.

Ok roger that. Unfortunately, how many Harriers have crashed? Ospreys? Etc? Congress could care less. If they have a factory producing unsafe-airplanes in their district, but the factory employes 20,000 people, thats all they care about. Actually right now the LAST thing they would want to do is anything to stop new orders of airplanes, etc

Posted (edited)
post-4065-1203879020_thumb.jpg

OK, maybe the no-tail design on the B-2 is not as revolutionary as I thought.

That's badass. :rock:

Edited by hd5032
Posted

I would say the dates listed for the crashes stopped in the early 70's, but how often were they flying the Blackbird after that?

Guest xtndr50boom
Posted

Second to last SR-71 crash was in 1972 @ Kadena. Went off the runway during a landing attempt in a typhoon.

Last one was due to dual (all) hydraulic failure in late 1989 near the Phillipines.

For an aircraft with that kind of revolutionary performance and the hostile airspace it flew over it's pretty incredible they could go 16-17 years without a crash, but then again it looks like they learned alot of lessons the hard way pre-1972.

The AF retired their aircraft a few months after the 89 crash (not related). Congress reactivated two SR-71s for the AF in the mid-90s and they flew for ~ 2 years. NASA flew theirs (3 airframes, but only two flew) from 1990 to the aircraft's last flight in october 1999

Posted

Correction - That was an EA-6B, not an E-6B. Vastly different aircraft...

Weird to think I just saw both of those aircraft shortly before their loss, when I passed through Andersen a couple weeks ago...

Good to hear the crew's OK.

Guest awalkertx
Posted
post-4065-1203879020_thumb.jpg

looks like an H model - probably got fixed. "tail" is one of those things that falls under the category of stuff not mentioned in the MEL. makes crosswind landings and spin practice a lot easier though!

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