You must be kidding, Michael. I do not know any other Western country that is so protective about its own industry. As soon as something is produced cheaper elsewhere, the USA "close" the borders by asking a ridiculous import tax. Free trade in the USA apparantly only applies when you want to export something. The USA received some serious fines from the international community for this behavior, but I am afraid that will not change matters.Cheers,Henri

I am a fan of both Boeing and Airbus. Both are good in their own ways. I love the 747 and 777, I also love the A320 and A340 :-)

This same fued pops up from time to time. It's a poitless arguement, and gets people riled up and ######. I don't think it will ever go away. I enjoy sitting down with a cup of coffee in the morning and getting a chuckle out of some of the posts. Regards, Scott

Greetings BC!"(...) an odd ball metric size (...)"Such varmin doesn't exist: once a size is odd ball, it ceases to be metric... you can't have it both ways. A size either fits into the metric system or not: the metric system by its very nature doesn't allow for oddball sizes. Jaap Verduijn.

Henri,If that were really true then why would the US run a trade deficit?Your comment suggests that European governments have "clean hands" when it comes to protectionist behavior. But I can cite many examples where the European Union has imposed extremely high tariffs on foreign goods, especially agricultural products. The reason is that the European farmers are a very powerful political lobby and governments try not to antagonize them. You don't see American farmers blocking roads and ports but that's a regular occurence in Europe, especially France.

My $.02Ever since PSS introduced the A320/19/21 software, I have spent hours reading about Airbus Industrie as well as hours burried in 320/340/330 AOMs I have purchased. I too, was very curious about this "rivalry". I had already spent years studying Boeing and their products/technology.1. In any marketplace, there HAS to be competition, otherwise the sole huge company gets complacent, arrogant and "rests on its accomplishments" ... very general I admit ... but IBM is an example of arrogance which almost killed it in the early 90's2. Regardless of goverment support (and of course the US military has supported Boeing R&D and much innovation) companies need to look way ahead and develop technology for safety and efficiency ... I think AIRBUS has had the benefit of many years of Boeing, MDD, BAC et all, on which to base their technology ... and as a credit to AIRBUS, have made conservative yet very innovative advances in technology. Clearly it appears to me that Boeing is stimulated to follow AIRBUS, just as AIRBUS is stimulated to follow BOEING ... OK the 777 doesnt have a side stick, but has similar electronic flight envelope protections as does the AIRBUS.3. AIRBUS aircraft were designed around standard sized cargo containers ... which is a true advantage over Boeing4. BOEING aircraft re generally overpowered vs AIRBUS underpowered, but .. efficiency and safety are visible in both.Regardless of political arguments, government support, trade tariff issues, AIRBUS has had astounding market growth ... in 30 years AIRBUS have come to equity with BOEING in sales ..(although every one will fight as to who sells more)... a major success story.Asking which product is better REALLY IS liking asking which flavor of ice cream is better, as pointed out in a post above. Competition stimulates advancement and hopefully benefits all of the people who fly. You have your choice of airlines, but I don't think the flying public really cares whether it is a FOKKER, BOEING, BAC, ILYUSHIN, AIRBUS, ANTONOV, or EMBRAER aircraft as long as they get safely to their destination.For sim addicts ... I think having variety is both good and bad ... my tired old brain spent many hours with the DF737 and PIC 767 FMC, only to be hit with an AIRBUS MCDU ... but now I understand and appreciate both ... variety is the spice of life, it is said ... so I am thankful for AIRBUS, and I hope for the lives of all the employees working for BOEING and AIRBUS, the business picks up again so these people can continue to have jobs.We all certainly will continue to have fun with the sims... tha's for certain.

IMHO it's a pretty juvenile argument that is at least partly rooted in nationalism.Neither manufacturer is inherently better than the other. Different customers pick the aircraft that is right for them. Some have decided that Airbus is the way to go, others have gone for Boeing.I like both! The pic in my sig is an A319, so you can probably guess I'm a fan of the A320 family, but I'm also partial to the 747-200, 757 and 777.Anyway, both pale in comparison to the mighty Concorde! :-)

Well said. Anything other than metric is an abomination. Even the Brits are starting to understand that :-)That said, there is merit in both Airbus AND Boeing. If there weren't, one or the other wouldn't sell so well (if at all).Personally, I like the shape of Boeings better, but that doesn't mean Airbusses are poor aircraft...