On 5 Mar 2004 08:36:49 -0800, (ed kyle) wrote:


The result is that we know how spiders build webs in space, but
we can only watch helplessly while Airbus wins business (and
jobs) from Boeing,

NASA did try to help Boeing/Lockheed/McD in that area with the High
Speed Civil Transport project. They weren't interested. NASA also has
been doing work on Blended Wing Body designs... again, a big yawn from
industry, despite the great potential benefits of such a design. Both
Airbus and Boeing are stuck in the tube-and-wings mindset, and not
much more can be done to improve that design, NASA funding or not.
Until someone finally decides to break out of that mold, the winner of
the contest will be the one who can get the most government subsidies,
and that has been Airbus for nearly a decade now.

while Russia's Energomash takes U.S. taxpayer
money to build rocket engines for the Pentagon, while the
U.S. President is forced to consider flying in non-U.S.
helicopters, etc..

I don't have many qualms with that one. US-101 is a non-US helicopter
design, but it will still be largely US-built. The US spent most of
its rotary wing development money on XV-15 and the V-22, which will
probably pay big dividends once the V-22 and the BA-609 go into
production. Regardless, I suspect Sikorsky will win the Presidential
Helicopter contract, and 10 years from now they'll switch over to
BA-609s.

Brian