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It’s funny you mention the U2. If I’m remembering right, the U2 went from idea to flying in 18 months. That is my benchmark for what 18 months of development by
by tonyarkles 8y ago
It’s funny you mention the U2. If I’m remembering right, the U2 went from idea to flying in 18 months. That is my benchmark for what 18 months of development by a talented team looks like. And yes, you’re right, it’s not an airplane for mass production, but it filled a niche and did a damned good job of it.
- thatfunkymunki 8y agoThe U2 is still flying today, albeit for a different mission, and the USAF is having a hard time fielding anything that comes close in capability.
- Lio 8y agoTo restate the point that a lot of people are making here, engineering is about trade offs. If it wasn't it would be science. If the requirements for something are highly specialised, you're only going to make only a small number of them and you have a hard deadline to do it by then you shouldn't be wasting time on mass production considerations. That's a trade off and I think they dealt with it correctly. The AK-47 is built to be mass producible and reliable in the field. It's a great success in those terms. The U2 and SR-71 are build to different criteria but are also great successes.