At one time, Seattle was pretty much a "one-industry town." Boeing.

I worked at Boeing in the late Sixties and into the early Seventies. I was a production illustrator (like drafting, but different) in the commercial airplane division, working on installation drawings for the 727 (the No. 2 engine firewall is mine!), and 737, and eventually on original production drawings for the 747. I was there in Everett at the roll-out ceremony for the first 747.

At the same time, Boeing was working on prototypes for the TXF fighter, and the SST. Both of these planes were designed with variable-sweep wings. The advantage of the variable-sweep wing, especially for the SST, was that it could fly efficiently at both supersonic and at subsonic speeds; supersonic over the oceans or uninhabitable areas, and subsonic over populated areas to avoid sonic booms. And it could land and take off from smaller airports because with the wings fully extended, it could take off and land at slower speeds, not requiring the long run-out that the fixed delta-wing designs require.

Boeing got neither government contract. The TFX went to another company and the American SST was just cancelled, despite the fact that it was a far superior aircraft for the purpose than the Concorde.

The result of these cancellations was that there was a genuine depression in the Seattle area. Boeing had to lay a lot of people off, including me. The production illustration department dropped from 125 illustrators to 35, on the basis of seniority, and I didn't have much (4+ years). Local unemployment rate rose to 15%. This was when someone put up a big roadside sign on one of the freeways our of town that said, "Will the last person out of Seattle please turn out the lights?"

Fortunately, I had been working as an announcer at a local radio station on weekends, so I was able to move directly into a new job as an announcer and newscaster. Not everyone was that fortunate. Seattle still depends a lot on Boeing for local employment, but the city has diversified a lot since the Seventies. We'll feel the loss of the contract here, but not as much as when I was working at Boeing.

I agree with Jack the Sailor that the Boeing-built KC-135 Stratotanker (built on the 707 airframe) is perfectly serviceable for any military, or, for that matter, civilian use that it might be needed for—unless, of course, the Bush administration (and potential future Republican administrations) is planning on launching far more extensive military actions that require long-range air support. Sure, the KC-135 has been around for fifty years, but for what it is used for, it works just fine, and there is no real point in replacing it, other than spending more of the taxpayers' money.

Even if it actually did need to be replaced—I don't know all the ins and outs of this yet, but Washington State Senator Patty Murray is royally ticked off and has said that after putting out the call for such a new tanker, along with desired specifications (upon which the new Boeing design was based), the government moved the goal-posts.

From what I've heard, I think JohnInKansas has the right of it.

One of the "perks" of living in a "blue" state under the current administration. The whole deal has a kind of rank smell to it.

Don Firth