Wirt,
Where did you get the information on the 100 takeoffs?
I'm just real curious and an Aviation enthusiast.

Gary (180 miles from Boeing) Sielaff
----- Original Message -----
From: "Wirt Atmar" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, May 10, 2001 10:18 AM
Subject: Re: [HP3000-L] Value


> Chuck writes:
>
> > The PC was designed to be cost effective and so its components are not
as
> >  rugged as those found in that HP3000 you paid 100 times as much for.
Also,
> >  how many of those HP3000 components have been replaced over the years?
>
> Chuck's point is well taken. One of the most important things to consider
in
> the design of any piece of equipment is the environment into which it is
to
> be placed. In the case of PC's, it's one of extremely rapid evolution, and
> there's simply no reason to overbuild these devices. Moreover, there is
> expected to be no one present to work on these devices, debug them, and
> replace defective components.
>
> In that regard, I was reading the other day a fact that actually shocked
me
> when I first read it, but one that makes otherwise perfect sense: B-17's
were
> designed during WWII for only 100 takeoffs and landings. It was felt that
> building the machines for any greater duty cycle than that was merely
wasted
> effort.
>
> The reason for that design criterion was that mortality rates were so high
> over Europe for American bomber crews that a crew who survived 25 missions
> over Germany were given rotation home and out of the war, but very few
ever
> made it. Indeed, the fact that the "Memphis Belle" was the first achieve
that
> status was the whole reason behind the recent, mostly true movie about the
> "Belle."
>
> If 25 missions was unlikely to be survived, 100 mission survival was many
> sigmas out, essentially zero probability of survival. Moreover every part
of
> the B-17 was designed to be as simple and as easily replaced as it
possibly
> could be so that damaged aircraft could be canabalized and their parts
reused
> on other airframes.
>
> Nonetheless, the reliability and the ruggedness of the B-17's became
> legendary. Cheap and simple doesn't always mean poor quality.
>
> Wirt Atmar
>
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