and the more stuff a vehicle has, the greater the chances that something will break. A vehicle that's more complicated isn't necessarily safer and it sure as hell won't be cheaper.

When aviation legend Bill Lear was developing his first Learjet (the Model 23), he told his engineers to the effect, "If you don't absolutely need it, don't put it in the design. Not only will we save the weight and expense of that item, we'll save on the backup, too."

British engineer Geoffery DeHavilland said it even better, "Simplificate and build in lightness."

In aerospace vehicles, complexity, like expense and weight, tends to snowball.