Re: Pre-loved airframes
" 747's [...] continuing improvements over the years, everthing from winglets, improved avionics and flight control systems, to better engines."
All sound stuff - but surely there are a few relatively modern 747s out in the Mojave or similar? Maybe not...
"you can look at the Royal Australian Navy Super Seasprites, "
Not famiiliar with those, but after a bit of reading it sounds like a similar procurement/development mess to the UK's equivalent fiasco with Nimrod AEW replacement. Mind you more recently the F35 demonstrates that unproven new designs can come with snags too. These examples are all miltary craft; I'm struggling to think of similar examples in the civil market (doesn't mean there aren't any).
"In the end, it just makes sense to buy new and avoid all the hassles and potential problems."
That's part of it. I suspect there may also be some behind the scenes financing deals favouring the new aircraft too.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
