This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2008, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Consider, for a moment, the most sophisticated piece of technology in your home. You use it. You love it. Perhaps you even feel a bit loyal to its maker.

Now consider whether it will still be around in five years. Or 10.

Or 50.

When the U.S. Air Force announced it would be purchasing its newest line of air tankers from the parent company of France-based Airbus, many Americans reacted with hostility, complaining, as did Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., that the Air Force had led thousands of American jobs "to the guillotine."

But for some in the military, the reaction was less about geography and economy than it was about history and familiarity.

After all, Air Force tanker pilots have been staring at the Boeing logo at the center of the KC-135 Stratotanker's steering controls for more than 50 years. The American-made jet has been used in every military action since the Korean cease-fire. And it's older than the vast majority of the aviators who fly it.

That includes Utah Air National Guard pilot Dan Kemp, 41, who was in the cockpit Monday morning as his Stratotanker crew refueled the Navy's famed Blue Angels on a cross-country trip from California to Florida.

The Airbus-built tanker isn't likely to be moved into a Utah National Guard hangar for more than a decade - and so many of those who currently fly the KC-135 won't ever actually see time at the new jet's controls. But Kemp said there nonetheless was a palpable reaction among his colleagues at the news that Boeing had lost the $35 billion contract.

"This model was first built in 1958 - so it's been around for a while," Kemp said after handing the Angels over to another tanker crew somewhere over Texas and turning back toward Utah. "A lot of our guys are Delta pilots and they've been flying Boeings for a long time, so they're already checked out on that aircraft. So sure, we'd like to keep flying Boeing."

But, Kemp noted, that decision isn't up to him and his colleagues.

Kemp is hardly xenophobic when it comes to such matters - he spent two years pursuing his master's degree in France in the early 1990s. He's happy for Airbus and said he's confident that the Air Force - cognizant that the next generation of tankers may have to last another 50 years - has put plenty of thought into its decision.

But logic isn't all that affects how we feel about what we eat, wear, drive - and fly. In fact, it might not be the half of it.

Ken Bartkus, a professor at the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business at Utah State University, said it's natural for consumers to be a bit skeptical about moving away from products with which they are familiar - particularly if the change is accentuated by factors such as national origin.

"Consumers in general are more comfortable with things they know than things they don't know," he said. "Familiarity is the very first step in brand loyalty."

After that, he said, a brand has to withstand the rigors of consumership, as Japanese automakers did after breaking into the American market with inexpensive cars. "Now, they're viewed as producing very high quality products," and prices reflect that view, Bartkus said.

U.S. consumers eventually acclimate to the idea of foreign products - to the point that sometimes consumers can't differentiate between American and foreign companies. Whether that will happen for those who will fly the Airbus tanker remains to be seen, but unlike some politicians, military members appear to be open to the evaluation.

Stratotanker crew member Doug Cline has been flying the KC-135 for two decades. He acknowledged that he was surprised when the Airbus contract was announced, but said he already knows that Airbus makes a good product. And he said his colleagues are looking forward to putting the new tanker to the test.

That hardly makes him disloyal to the old jet - which he noted is anticipated to remain in U.S. military service even as the newer tankers take to the skies.

"They're going to be flying these until 2040," Cline said as he completed a post-flight checklist after the Blue Angels rendezvous.

Indeed, at the point that the Boeing tankers are finally retired, the jets will be more than 80 years old. And though that alone might not have been enough to have won the Boeing brand the devout loyalty of the Air Force's contract makers, it has certainly won some hearts, up above the clouds.