Without orders for additional C-17s, Boeing’s Long Beach, Calif., line could well close in 2008, after the 180th airplane is built. Giambastiani, though negative about the idea, left the door to production slightly ajar. He noted that the C-17 matter is “still in play right now,” as the Pentagon heads into the home stretch on its Quadrennial Defense Review. “There are lots of ways to skin a cat,” he said. Watch this space.
U.S. Air Force F-15C Eagles have roared out of Barnes Air National Guard Base, Mass., for the last time. The 104th Fighter Wing’s last three F-15Cs departed the base Oct. 23 for the “Boneyard” at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz., ending the aircraft's era on the frontlines of homeland defense.
