>From "7E7 jetliner design taking shape" in http://seattle.bizjournals.com/seattle/stories/2003/09/08/daily12.html?page=2 Boeing spokesman quoted: "Bair defended the design process for the 7E7 from accusations by some engineers that the company is handing off too much of its design expertise to suppliers and others outside the company. He contended that Boeing is retaining its core knowledge, adding that a big piece of this is the company's ability to integrate all the aspects of an aircraft's design, manufacture, maintenance and life cycle for a design that will succeed in the marketplace. " "The reason the company will hand the detail design over to the contractors who will produce those assemblies is to make sure the design and manufacture are perfectly compatible, he said. " " 'When you try to do detail design work away from plants that manufacture the part, you're guessing about he manufacturing capability,' he said" Will it be a Boeing airplane? Will Boeing stand behind all the "detail design work"? Auto makers used to have suppliers design the part, then give the follow-on orders to the lowest bidder, just like the U.S.government does. Gerry http://foley.ultinet.net/~gerry/aerial/aerial.html http://home.columbus.rr.com/gfoley http://members.fortunecity.com/gfoley/egypt/egypt.html