I'm not going to comment on the cost of the manuals, but on a couple other concerns: 1) Mechanics and pilots are responsible for knowing the aircraft systems.

I'm not going to comment on the cost of the manuals, but on a couple other concerns: 1) Mechanics and pilots are responsible for knowing the aircraft systems. Who has time to read and memorize 100,000 pages? How do you recruit new pilots in an efficient manner? 2) The cost could have been largely avoided by using an off-the-shelf airplane, instead of a billion dollar frankenstein. Possibly with the additional electronics in pods that have a limited interface with the airplane electrical system. Source: commercially-rated airplane pilot.