Seen on the street in Kyiv.

Words of Advice:

"If Something Seems To Be Too Good To Be True, It's Best To Shoot It, Just In Case." -- Fiona Glenanne

“The Mob takes the Fifth. If you’re innocent, why are you taking the Fifth Amendment?” -- The TOFF *

"Foreign Relations Boil Down to Two Things: Talking With People or Killing Them." -- Unknown

“Speed is a poor substitute for accuracy.” -- Real, no-shit, fortune from a fortune cookie

"If you believe that you are talking to G-d, you can justify anything.” — my Dad

"Colt .45s; putting bad guys in the ground since 1873." -- Unknown

"Stay Strapped or Get Clapped." -- probably not Mr. Rogers

"The Dildo of Karma rarely comes lubed." -- Unknown

"Eck!" -- George the Cat

* "TOFF" = Treasonous Orange Fat Fuck, A/K/A Dolt-45,
A/K/A Commandante (or Cadet) Bone Spurs,
A/K/A El Caudillo de Mar-a-Lago, A/K/A the Asset., A/K/A P01135809

Monday, February 28, 2011

What is the Mandarin For "Cirrus Aircraft"?

Cirrus Aircraft has been sold to a Chinese government aircraft company.
In a news release, Cirrus CEO Brent Wouters says the deal will be a shot in the arm for the company and for its employees in Grand Forks and Duluth.
Wouter's point of aim is off, it's more like "a shot in the head."

I respectfully submit that anyone who believes that the Chinese intend to keep on manufacturing those airplanes in Duluth needs to have their head examined.

3 comments:

Chuck Pergiel said...

I looked up the Cirrus, and when I saw it I said that looks like a Lancair. I wonder if they merged or something? So I checked, and I found this, which was pretty interesting.

http://www.x-plane.com/adventures/31_Lancair_Cirrus.html

Comrade Misfit said...

Lancair is a different company. They're somewhere in Oregon. The company split in two when Lance-something wanted to build production models, not just kits. Lance-boy sold the kit company and formed Columbia Aircraft to make the production airplanes. Columbia Aircraft went bankrupt and Cessna bought it. The two airplanes are now made as the Cessna 350 and 400, being the first low-wing singles that Cessna ever made (the Tweet had two engines).

BadTux said...

One thing I'll say is that the Chinese do not have the expertise to deal with the U.S. aviation market and, specifically, FAA type certification, and thus are likely to maintain manufacturing in Duluth for a while. The basic problem is that the FAA doesn't type-certify foreign light aircraft unless said aircraft are type-certified by a regulator they believe in. Which China ain't got. Chinese regulators are on par with ex-Soviet Bloc regulators, which is why you can't get ex-Soviet Bloc aircraft certified in the US.

That said, any profits made by Cirrus are going to go straight to China. And manufacturing of various bits and pieces of the Cirrus are going to start migrating to China, with final assembly done in Duluth so that FAA certification tests can be done on the Chinese bits and pieces. So it's definitely a net minus to the United States. But given the many more important things that the Chinese now own, it's a minor net minus.

- Badtux the Aviation Penguin