Im sure that was partly the case. (IIRC he got 2 of them, sold one).

I retired from UTC and worked in /with S-ski quite a bit. The supply chain management deal was, by far, the deal maker in the EA deal. More than 2/3rds of the plane came from UTC or subsidiaries. also, the engines were the premier platform for that line.

If EA goes south (as any small aerospace company can), UTC wont have lost anything. Its all upside at this point. But, then, that the UTC way. Some say they are not indistinguishable from the mafia in their management practices. And I say that with the kindest regard. Its nice to know where you stand with your business partners.

"Reverse Engineering"

How does one say, "Sikorski" in Chinese?[/quote]

I'm not a huge fan of how UTC deals with it's component companies.

Got a few years behind/in UTC products, and my first real engineering job was at Pratt & Whitney.

And I was laid off, with no notice, on December 24th, 1997.

I thought I was going back to see my family for Christmas and coming back to work on a test project for the PW4098.

I found myself in the unemployment line with a bunch of other Engineers and Technicians.