Not to bring a dark cloud to our generally cheerful and enlightened conversation, but I read some troubling news regarding potential developments at one of the largest General Aviation manufacturers this past week. The Machinist union leadership had discussions with HawkerBeech, and afterwards issued a rather alarming press release, to the effect that,"Union officials said Wednesday that HawkerBeechcraft is considering moving work out of Wichita that could shrink its hourly work force 50 to 75 percent over the next two years.".
Ouch. One wonders how that would affect overall production from HawkerBeechcraft. And perhaps on a slightly less dark note, one might also wonder how much of that might be posturing as a prelude to contract negotiations. Donno.
Molly McMillin had an article covering that announcement in the July 15, 2010 Wichita Eagle; Union: Hawker may make massive cuts.
I suppose HawkerBeechcraft was in the awkward position of having to decide who to give the bad news to first, the media or the employees. They did the right thing by discussing it with the union- I suppose the union was obligated to inform the public after it told it's members, and the company issued a public statement following that.
"The company issued a statement in response to Rooney's letter to union members:
"Last September the company initiated a series of meetings to update the union leadership about serious challenges it faces during these unprecedented economic times," the statement said. "These conversations have included a spectrum of possibilities for the company's future footprint and the likely impact on its workforce in all its locations..
(Hmm, a too-common example, Salina, Ks).
"The company values this partnership and believes that there is a great opportunity available to us to work together to influence a positive outcome".
(Ugh- that last line is a press release* reminiscent of the original Eclipse P.R.'s with Vernian subterfuge and spectacular disconsonance).
Alas, sadly "us" will shortly be 130 smaller.
(*S-a-y, didn't Andrew Broom leave Eclipse to go to HawkerBeech? Yup, but he's since continued to move on- and nicely up; Andrew Broom, AOPA vice president of communications).
The rather discouraging news from HawkerBeechcraft was preceded by a couple of weeks by some odd news from Spirit AeroSystems. (Perhaps a new name for some- it's basically what was the commercial side of Boeing-Wichita, plus what was NorthAmerican/Rockwell/McDonnell/Douglas/Boeing-Tulsa. (Maybe somebody can clarify the Tulsa operation; the Wichita operation for Spirit is about 80% of what used to be Boeing Wichita- Boeing still has a couple thousand employees doing Military work in Wichita- including potentially significant KC-X tanker work).
At the end of June, the IAM voted to ratify**- sort of- a 10-year contract with Spirit Aerosystems- Jennifer Michels' June 28 story in Aviation Week:
Spirit AeroSystems Machinists Ratify Pact.
(**Actually, the majority- 57% -voted to reject the contract, but it seems it was set up as a strike vote rather than a ratification vote, and two-thirds majority were needed to authorize a strike. Seems weird that it wasn't set up that way- I can think of numerous instances in other industries where work continued with the expired contract terms in place during continuing negotiations).
Not to be outdone in the cheery press release competition, afterwards the IAM declared:
"On June 24, the IAM referred to the new contract, which covers about 6,000 workers, as a historic accord, providing “unprecedented levels of job security” as well as pay increases linked to company performance and pension improvements. The new contract “stems the tide of outsourcing and job offshoring,” according to the Local 839 Bargaining Committee".
(Buzz is there was a 150 share signing bonus, currently $20/share).
More details from Molly McMillin's June 24 piece in the Wichita Eagle
Spirit offers Machinists 10-year contract.
Spirit Aerosystems management is surely pleased with the stability and price=planning possible with the long-term labor contract, and so was Wall Street.
Interestingly, the Canadian firm Onex owns HawkerBeechcraft (in partnership with Goldman-Sachs), and owns58% of Spirit Aerosystems , and " through its portfolio of companies, is the second largest employer in Canada, after the Federal Government, with 238,000 employees".
I keep thinking things have bottomed out, but it seems every couple months have to lower the elevation on the valley floor. Perhaps there is a bit of encouraging news though, the 2010Q1 GAMA statistics show that although units delivered are down compared to 2009Q1 (390 vs 459), billings are up over 2010 by 7 percent. Hopefully that is translating into jobs somewhere.
524 comments:
«Oldest ‹Older 201 – 400 of 524 Newer› Newest»I suddenly feel like Dorothy saying good-bye to my best friends in Oz.
You are correct Tin Man, (Sir Gadfly) because unfortunately, Eclipse is a microcosm of the world, which is why it was so fascinating. You have the biggest heart of all and can make the most of ANY metal.
You are strong dear Lion (B95). It took great courage to speak the truth as you saw it. You made me laugh and challenged my perspective.
And to you dear Scarecrow (ASM). You have proven to be the most loyal of friends with the smartest of insights, and the biggest brains of all. I think I'll miss you most of all. You helped me to melt the wicked witch and mend a broken soul.
Auntie Em, Auntie Em, Toto... Toto... There's no place like home, there's no place like home....
Apparently I had everything I needed all along.
Farewell friends.
Floating Cloud
Why don't one of you guys start a Future of General Aviation Blog.
Although I don't have the time or disposition to be responsible for one, I'd be more than happy to contribute the occasional post, in typical controversial fashion.
I think a long time ago - like 2 or 3 years back, I started some post on this blogger site just to test it out. I wonder if I can revive it - if anyone wants to keep it up.
I wonder if
Well, some quick updates.
I remain very busy although not on planes below 100,000 lbs unless I am flying.
In fact, my lovely daughter and I will be making a ruyn to Flo's at Chino this weekend and will be making a fun 3-state cross-country weekend trip in a C-182 in a few weeks - I had not flown much in the last few years and this is a nice return.
I hear through the grapevine that new Eclipse is doing OK and I am, for once, happy to have been wrong about the prospects.
The industry is in bad shape, everywhere here in the US at least where our version of corporate welfare pales in comparison to the subsidies enjoyed by nearly all of the companies we have to compete with - Wichita, LA, Mesa, St Louis, etc., all have awful unemployment - and the once promising new programs have slowed significantly - companies that once could do no wrong now seem to be unable to do anything right - despite the heroic efforts of many within and without.
And yet, we now have a multi-page blog posting, even if it is a bit old and even if it seems Phil is otherwise indisposed.
I am critical of many things within the professional aviation world, but I am hopelessly enthusiastic about my own aviation activities. My daughter is now 14 and I suspect will want to join me flying both RC and full-size aircraft soon.
I am participating with two great EAA Chapters, and have a bunch of airshows coming up within easy driving/flying distance.
All in all, the world is good for this cold fish.
There were quite a few renditions...
OZ
Let’s step in, here . . . and start a conversation. What have we learned and observed over the past few years? For my part, I’ll attempt to break the ice, and maybe get something going.
When I first heard of the Eclipse, I was told by someone who has had an impeccable record of aeronautical design about their limited empirical wind tunnel testing (up in Oregon) and their lack of understanding of trans-sonic transitional flow over certain parts of the aircraft wind-screen, etc. That was the beginning of further investigation.
Then there were the “claims” of success, coupled with the funds held in escrow, and released after the first “failed” flight tests . . . and from then on, I knew that we were dealing with a major scam. As someone has said, “This isn’t rocket surgery!” . . . (I love that expression.)
Well, that led to undersized landing gear and “brakes”, with an “obese” gain in GTOW. And then, with contacts with the local shops, who had more enthusiasm to gain a major customer, than their knowledge of simple aerodynamics, etc., I realized that the local economy was in deep doo-doo.
Then, one day, needing a quote on some “waterjet” type machining, I broached a question about “Eclipse”, and learned that for an upcoming “Dog and Pony Show”, the little bird had the bad habit of sitting down on it’s tail feathers, because the engineers hadn’t been able to successfully calculate the center of gravity, of the little bird while sitting on the ground. They needed (in a hurry) some big blocks of aluminum, cut to size by “water jet” to fit discretely in the nose of the little bird . . . we’re talking “big” chunks of aluminum (at what? . . . about .09 pounds per cubic inch?) . . . to get through the public showing, etc., etc. At this point, things are not looking good for the little bird.
Then there was all that discussion about the “stir fried welding” . . . not a bad idea, but not yet proven. In time, I had opportunity to speak with folks from Eclipse . . . and did not like what I heard, from those on the front line. And then there was the “acid etch” to remove weight from areas of the skin . . . now we know that there is big trouble in River City. (For the record, much of the strength of the skin is the work-hardening of the surface of sheet-metal, and when “removed”, the benefits of the skin strength are greatly reduced. There’s a whole fleet of jets out there . . . 261?, with built-in flaws, that are almost guaranteed to fail, at some time in the future.) We discussed, and asked questions, about the long-term inter- and intra-granular corrosion problems of the “stir fried” welding . . . and to this very day, we have not heard so much as a word as to “real life” empirical testing, etc.
And I asked the question that I would still like answered: “When trimmed out, and put into a ‘bad attitude’, will the little jet, without electronic and/or electro-mechanical input, come back to a reasonable straight and level flight?” There are times in the past, when someone at a flight center has told a pilot in panic to “take your hands and feet off the controls”, as the aircraft will come back to a stable attitude . . . and there are many records of disoriented pilots flying “into the ground”, etc. To this date, that question remains unanswered.
Well, here’s an opportunity to review the past . . . and maybe lay the foundation for the future.
gadfly
Sir Gadfly, I'm blessed to work in an environment where I can put my Bluetooth set on and listen to the late Dr. McGee everyday. I have the oneplace app on my phone. I find him quite bold and opinionated, however so tender at times.
Nothing for nothing the EA jet has a great safety record and God willing it will stay that way. Funny how when I just typed God I had to manually capitalize the g when the predictive typing will automatically cap Jew and Christian and Allah.
Well, Bassmaster, this morning as I set up the computer for the day, started the coffee, etc., I was also tuned into KBRT, which broadcasts the program from Avalon, at that hour. Amazing this internet thing!
A long, long time ago, I listened to J. Vernon McGee over KGER in Long Beach, on my lunch hour while a student at Orange Coast College. That was after "Submarine Service" and before my flight and "A&P" training at Moody.
All that . . . and more! No regrets, none!
Some time, soon . . . come by, share a cup of coffee, or let's have lunch . . . whatever. We'll discuss the little jet, the good, the bad, the ugly . . . and maybe other things of greater importance.
gadfly
(My first year at Moody, 1959-60, the students were still talking about McGee's series at Moody Founder's Week from the previous winter, "Ruth, the Romance of Redemption".)
For you “hangar’s on”, in my old age, I just discovered a neat tool in the CAD system that I have been using for many, many years. While designing almost anything possible in a modern machine shop, one of the features is making anything into a material of choice, but almost always for the appearance of the real thing. For instance, plastics (all types), wood . . . any thing, with the wood grain and color in any direction . . . metals, take your choice, and include the finish for a “photo-realistic” image, in any resolution, with lighting/shadows/sunlight/etc., for any condition . . . the stuff that Pixar and Dreamworks is made of. But today, I discovered something that I could have used . . . thirty years ago . . . reflective and refractive indexes. Once, I designed a special lens . . . and it was a success. But figuring all the radii, angles, focal points, etc., was done on an HP hand-held “RPN” calculator. Today, I plugged some simple shapes into the computer (in 3D space), and not only got the “shape” (in accurate 3D), but also got the image that would be transmitted in “real life”, according the refractive and reflective values . . . and I could rotate and examine each and every possible position, etc. The various types of “glass” had certain “assumed” refractive values, but I can “fine tune” the values, and focus in on the exact correct values.
Well, there is an old Swedish saying, “Too late old, too late smart!” I’m not a Swede, but married a Swede . . . and you don’t often argue with a Swede . . . especially if you sleep with her.
Carry on! . . . But you young folks have so many new tools to use in design, etc. But don’t forget, if you don’t understand what you’re doing, all the fancy tools in the world won’t be of much use to you.
And do not forget the moral and spiritual issues . . . all the rest means little in the light of eternity.
gadfly
(In the computer, I made a “board”, and a “sphere”. I changed the board into many different materials, with a myriad of different designs on it. Then I made the sphere into any number of different types of glass, and “looked” at the images on the board, through the sphere . . . changed the refractive values, to impossible extremes, and realized how such a computer program could have saved much time, “back then”. But then, had I had such a program, I would have not fully understood the basics of refractive indexes, etc., and the many types of glass and translucent/transparent plastics . . . and would have been even less knowledgeable, as I approached other projects down through the years. Not everything should come easy . . . God made struggle a necessary part of living.)
Dear Shane:
Blog is dying, if not dead. Are you still reading? I'm ready to let go, and then I saw that Kirkland non descript airplane again this morning, stopped my car, stood out of the door, and cursed myself for not having the binoculers I promised to keep at hand. (It's definetly a twin prop and old.) I am, thanks to all of you, a hopeless armchair enthusiast for aviation.
Just don't feel all warm and fuzzy about how Phil let things go without summation. Is he okay?
FC
"Just don't feel all warm and fuzzy about how Phil let things go without summation. Is he okay?"
FC,
Especially weird since Phil's first post says "...we're back on track for weekly updates."
The above is from "agroth" with a new profile.
From ColdWet:
"I hear through the grapevine that new Eclipse is doing OK and I am, for once, happy to have been wrong about the prospects."
CWM,
Mason is a good and competent guy, so I'm not surprised you're hearing decent things about Eclipse Aerospace.
Mason seems to be setting realistic goals for the company, and maintaining an honest dialog with Eclipse owners. Quite the refreshing change from previous management. :-)
I'm looking forward to seeing where they go in the future!
Andy,
me think, Phil's words still are true: Still gloomy weather - Spectrum is behind schedule (to get more money)....
M&M will run EAI for one year (4. Sep.). What are the goals?
Controller indicates lower prices for the fpjs and less offers.
Is GA hibernating this gloomy weather for some further quarters?
Perhaps engine makers think about other fuel types as 100LL becomes more rare.
Julius
It certainly is gloomy for Boeing and Rolls Royce and the 787 program.
After an uncontained RR engine failure, Boeing pushed back first deliveries to ANA to Feb/2011 from "late 2010".
So that puts the program 3 years late and counting.
And in the - how stupid can our government be category - "Later, the Santa Barbara Police told us that a "private company" had called them and reported that N50545 had been stolen and was on its way to Santa Barbara Airport. In fact, the airplane that had been stolen (8 years ago) was a 1968 C150J and the registration for that airplane had been cancelled by the FAA in September of 2005. The registration number was then re-assigned four years later by the FAA to the airplane we were flying, a 2009 Cessna 172S owned by Cessna Aircraft Corporation. It would have taken less than 60 seconds on the FAA website to reveal these facts."
An Engineering treat for the blog…
My Marketing Manager asked me to explain how a TVS diode could cause the Dassault 7X to lose control as mentioned in an AD summary in BAVW.
Following is my explanation:
TVS = Transient Voltage Suppressor. They are used to suppress voltage surges that occur on a wire due to Lightning Strike or Power Load switching. They act like a switch that turns ON above a voltage set point and then turns OFF when the voltage falls below this set point. They are used to limit the voltage applied to sensitive electronics.
The trick is to properly spec the right TVS for the Voltage Surge Threat. There are infinite TVS choices, so first you must define the Threat which is usually defined in DO-160, for example 80V surge lasting 100mS or 600V lasting 72uS. You must also determine what the Safe Voltage is for your sensitive electronics.
Once the Threat & Safe Voltage is defined then you can chose the correct TVS.
The TVS will fail if presented with a Threat that is beyond its rating. The fail mode is anywhere from a slight leakage to a full short.
Now for your question, loss of control. If the TVS is connected to a 28V BUS that experiences a Threat beyond the TVS rating then it will fail and short out the BUS which will then cause a CB to open. This BUS is now un-useable and if the Threat took out other TVS’s then you could loose multiple BUS’s and loose control.
T2
baron95,
according to
Boeing to use 10 787s for tests there is a good chance that ANA will get the first bird in the second quarter 2011...
(RR is just producing in time...)
All that sounds very strange. By chance one hears that the TIA was late (or later than expected given).
Julius
As a frequent blog contributor of parody and satire with Stan and Shane, and a silent observer now, I hate to see the wheels come off the wagon.
The Eclipse 500 stabilized, for all that it is. I walked by a couple of them on the ramp last week. Not pretty up close - but someone, somewhere owns and operates them.
I urge all here, who can and will, - get out of the armchair and into the cockpit!
All the best... keep 'em flying and keep writing.
Sorry to enter this way into this blog. While carrying out a search on the internet to write a historical paper on Adriano Ducati’s life story and his contribution to the development of plasma propulsion I happened to find on this blog a few posts by Gadfly regarding Adriano. I do not know who Mr. Gadfly is, but he seems to have a wistful remembrance of his acquaintance with Adriano Ducati, and a vivid memory of that period. I would immensely enjoy to get in touch with Gadfly and find out more about those events. A preliminary version of my paper can be found at https://www.alta-space.com/uploads/file/publications/mpd/SPACEPROP-10-Giannini_Ducati.pdf
but I intend to expand this text as I gather more information on the subject. Could Gadfly or anybody else please help me?
Thanks,
Mariano
Eclipse Won!!!!!
The Blog Died and the Eclipse Fleet continues to fly just fine. Now with Avio NG 1.5+ FL410, 20K Hours, etc, etc, etc.
Stan's Blog - Dead
Shane's Blog - Dead
Phil's BLog - Dead (or zombie)
Vern's Eclipse - Dead
M&M's Eclipse - Alive and Well
Eclipse Fleet - Alive and improving.
I'd say it is a pretty convincing win.
Baron95,
Eclipse won!!!!
hmm what does that mean?
Eclipse will meet its design targets? And these are now older than 10 years!
The design concept of the jet will hardly be met. I must not repeat all that.
There is no press release that flights in FL410 are allowed or that the 20k hours are achieved!
The only question was to which extend the fpj owners will have to pay... and there had been some changes and an "AD Notice of Proposed Rulemaking"...
Look at controller... you can get a fpj (with AVIO NG 1.7) for $1.4M... very low price.
You believe M&M intend to be bosses of a MRO shop for another year or even more years?
Maybe...
Most buyers of a fpj will ask if the company (EAI) will exist next year. A hint to the MU-2 will not be very helpful!
Julius
Winners and losers... this sort of thinking really never gets you very far...
If the point is to be around, then the blog IS still here, and so is the EA50 aircraft, for what they are worth… both winners.
I can think of a dozen folks who looked at this site or predecessor critic sites and passed on buying an EA50 - I think they are winners.
Ken too... seems like he got what he wanted, he’s a winner.
Ed and Vern, I am not so sure... they are winners IF they learn and move along and chase their dreams again, in a more enlightened way… I am sure they will.
The customers in general, the ones who have an EA50... perhaps they feel like winners... this would be good for them, and I am sure they do.
Bottom line, the ea50 "air taxi" model failed... as did the ea50 for around $1m, produced at 1,000 or so units per year. THIS revolution, failed, BUT that does not mean the are losers…
Perhaps GA jets took an evolutionary step towards lower cost, and this is a success - but it was not worth $3B, IMO. The investors, well, they lost their money – somehow, I think even they will be better for it, next time.
Baron won - he gets to point to dormant or passed blogs that have little to report, because in reality the BS has ceased, and the EA50 took its rightful place in the history books – an over-hyped $3B mess, touted as something it never was, and could not have been…
I think this is the biggest "win"... the bloggers were active in questioning a BS-machine designed to blow smoke up neophyte jet buyers tails, and we helped bring real questions and sometimes answers to light.
IMO, everyone is a winner... unless you need to call other "losers" to feel like a winner, if you get my drift!
The critics blog(s) outliving their usefulness is a REAL win, IMO...
An interesting retrospective. I have a couple of friends that consider themselves Eclipse 'winners'. Not only did they dodge the bullet but they sold their delivery positions for $100-200K each! Both are now in Phenom 100s.
We are reminded of Eclipse most every time we fly. About one ATC controller in ten will identify the Embraer as an Eclipse. The confusion is understandable as the identifier is E50P versus EA50 and the Phenom is a relatively new type.
I noticed that many of the Eclipses listed in Controller have very low total time. I presume this is natural given the history of the aircraft.
Julius said....
Look at controller... you can get a fpj (with AVIO NG 1.7) for $1.4M... very low price.
---------------
Whoa!!!! 200% Increase from a year ago!!! WINNER.
-----------------
ATM Said....Bottom line, the ea50 "air taxi" model failed...
------------------
I'm not so sure - there are charter companies still adding the type to their fleet. If by air taxi, you mean the slight variation in scheduling that Ed tried, you may be right.
------------------
BT Said...Not only did they dodge the bullet but they sold their delivery positions for $100-200K each! Both are now in Phenom 100s
-------------------
Bingo!!! Those were the bigger winners.
------------------
BT said....EA50 vs E50P
------------------
Yep, I have heard that myself in the frequency over NY. Luckily, both planes have the same performance, so, not much harm. :)
-------------------
Meanwhile, in GA, we have lots of lessons to learn from Eclipse - and they were some quite interesting ones. So we win.
ATM & B95,
That's right, we are all winners here -- just like T-Ball :)
Two months without a new headline...
Message flow has stopped...
TERRAIN, TERRAIN!
PULL UP, PULL UP!
"Two months without a new headline..."
BT,
As I mentioned before, it's especially strange since Phil's first post included this:
"What I did over my summer vacation...
Never mind that- we're back on track for weekly updates."
Has anybody here been able to get in touch with him?
No, and this is especially NOT cool for a pilot just to disappear into thin air.
FC
http://www.abqjournal.com/biz/20235421biz09-20-10.htm
Gadfly,
Thanks for the link. Looks like Eclipse Aerospace has done a nice job during the last year. However, I give little chance to a production re-light. Mainly because Avio is to Neanderthal as Garmin is to Homo Sapiens. Also there will be dozens of used Cessna CJs priced less than a new Eclipse. Embraer will make sure of it.
Black Tulip,
Cessna has real problems -
see AIN:
Cessna ‘Readjusting’ Citation Deliveries, Layoffs Loom
A good time to start a new business?
Where is all the money gone - to China?
S&P 500 is struggling to stay above 1100 points...
Julius
"I" can't "make" up "my" mind
"to post" or "Not to" post
has gadfly gone postal?
taximan
Someone with too much free time, and little imagination has "gone postal". 'Let him have his fun.
gadfly
seems the braking problems are not restricted to the "little jet".
gadfly
The NTSB is investigating a September 10 incident in which an Embraer Phenom 100 suffered minor damage upon landing in Brenham, Texas. The light twinjet, owned by South Carolina-based Vader, experienced a runway excursion at Brenham Municipal Airport after its brakes failed and both main gear tires blew. According to the pilot’s statement, the crew received a brake fail warning soon after takeoff from Tucson International Airport, but continued to their destination. After touchdown, the pilot noted “zero” braking and applied the emergency brakes. As the tires blew, directional control of the aircraft was lost and it skidded off the left side of the runway, causing the right main gear to collapse when it reached muddy turf on the east side of Runway 16. The pilot and copilot were uninjured. The incident bears similarities to another dual tire blowout on a Phenom 100 landing at Mammoth Yosemite Airport in Mammoth Lakes, Calif., in early March, though the NTSB told AIN it has not investigated that incident.
Two gadflies making comments is two, too much. So the "old one" herewith bows out to another. And, whomever you are, have your fun.
gadfly (the "old one")
"Seems the braking problems are not restricted to the "little jet""
Gad, thanks for reminding me why I still parse this blog.
We're working with a customer right now that has some choices in brake system architecture.
Your item is a good data point and leads to an important discussion with them-thanks for posting it.
There's a lot of value in this kind of information sharing. That's why this blog (or a successor) needs to stay functioning.
Oh . . . and Thanks! for a good reason and excuse to get off this train.
gadfly (the "ancient one")
Sir Gadfly, aka Tin Man:
YOU have been officially asked by ATM and others and now me to continue this blog. And why not???
YOU have time, the knowledge, and the hands-on experience ( and writing skills) to make it work.
Don't go postal, GO Proactive!!!
Aviation Enthusiats WANT You!
Why not a 4th version of the blog?
OZ had many.
Plus that horrible gloomy weather head line thing REALLY needs to go away. Half the battle is a positive attitude.
If you can make every contraption on earth fly, YOU have the wherewithal to set-up the new blog!
Friends of OZ out there would agree I am sure. Gentlemen....?
Tin Man, BE the Aviation Blog Miester!
FC,
Still wanting to know what's happening in aviation manufacturing...
aka Dorothy,
Lion and Scarecrow would surely agree,
aka Mary Rose,
Cessna Citation is in a tailspin, help, help!
FC
Thanks for the complements, but the " blogsite host" needs to be someone fully knowledgeable of General Aviation, today. And I'm not that person.
Concerning "having the time", between working full time at the shop, and building a new house . . . time is something that I have little to spare.
If and when I have some extra time, I want to get back to my watercolor painting,
enjoy a few sunrises/sunsets over coffee with the wife and be available to spend uninterrupted time with my kids and 19 grandkids, without a schedule.
gadfly
“complements”, compliments, perhaps?
BTW, I come to this site more to learn English (practical one, that is) than to keep my aviation interest from the four decades of bygone aviation career.
Airshogun
Airshogun . . . Thanks for the correction. At first thought, I kicked myself for not using a spelling check, but that would not have mattered . . . compliment/complement . . . 'both good words . . . as the difference between further and farther.
gadfly
"Cessna Citation is in a tailspin, help, help!"
Cessna laying off while moving work to Mexico. Hawker Beech laying off while moving work to Mexico. Piper at death's door; too weak to send work to Mexico.
Embraer doing fine. Not laying off and not sending work to Mexico. Embraer's US completion center in Florida on temporary hold. It will decimate Piper of worker-bees when it does open.
Airshogun
"Four decades" of aviation career is a valuable asset. 'Should you care to share some of your experience(s), there are many of us who would be most interested in hearing your story.
(There's a question in English Rhetoric . . . experience verses experiences . . . related, but distant cousins . . . maybe experience is "what makes the man", and experiences is "what happened to the man".)
Please step in . . . there are many, here, who seldom if ever comment, but can't get enough of aviation from those of us who simply love to be a part of "flying" and/or keeping the mechanincal birds up in the air.
For instance, I have a book on the shelf, "Once to Every Pilot", autographed by the author, Frank Hawks . . . with stories from long ago . . . nothing fancy, but telling what they experienced.
It's not the "big stuff", but the simple experiences, that bring aviation down to our level. For instance, wouldn't it be great to have a "day in the shop", building some ancient thing like . . . say . . . a Fairchild 24, deciding whether to use a Ranger inverted inline 6, or a Warner Scarab 7 cylinder radial? Sure, both were used . . . but why?
gadfly
(The big stories are the result of thousands of little stories . . . often forgotten, but extremely important.)
safetyman . . . Not new "news", but GE Jet Engine Division here in Albuquerque is finally shutting the doors, for "good". Over four hundred workers knew it was coming . . . and since GE began fighting the union a couple decades ago, it was only a matter of time.
Long ago, GE took over the old "ACF" (American Car and Foundry) facilities, that made much of the heavy equipment for the Atomic Bomb stuff. It was here, that much of the investment casting of rotor blades was developed . . . the machining of the intakes of the largest of GE's "fan jets", the development of "plasma spraying" of rotor rings, . . . and many creative developments in tooling for precision grinding, EDM, and inspection fixtures (of which we were most privileged to have been a major, but little known, part).
No one can blame GE for their move . . . it was in the best interest of the company to move out.
Much of that has gone "east", along with the man I trained. He did the right thing.
Albuquerque was once a center for training of bomber crews (WWII) . . . then made much for nuclear bombs . . . and politically, has usually "bombed out". The GE plant is directly down the hill from Eclipse, at ABQ. 'Must be something in the water!
gadfly
(For "FC" . . . driving into the parking lot at the shop, this morning, an "Osprey" was climbing to altitude overhead, turning left and west over the city. I took special notice of the two giant props . . . turning "outward" at the top, like the rotation on the old "Lockheed P-38". "RPM" appeared to be under 300 rpm, but my old brain hasn't been calibrated lately . . . some would say it's been out of calibration for decades.)
Well, look at the time. A few more minutes I can lock up and go home. The machines are all shut down . . . it's almost strange not hearing the EDM or Mill running.
In sixteen hours I'll go out to the property, show where to run the driveway down the hill and over to the well (avoiding the 320 amp underground cable), where to put the solar collector that will power the well, where to put the 2,500 gallon water tank, and where to dig the basement, drain-field, etc.
Sunday, after church, me thinks I'll collapse for a few hours before coming back down here to work on Monday.
There's a rumor being circulated that folks my age "retire" . . . I thought we all did that 'bout sundown.
gadfly
(The wife is having a great time with all her "nurse friends" at their 50th reunion back in the Land of Lincoln, talking Swedish, etc., with a touch of German. So, re-heat a bowl of rice in the microwave . . . and I'm all set. All this has absolutely nothing to do with aviation . . . but gives the semblance of life on the blog.)
Airshogun . . . One last thought for the week: On KWAX (Oregon), over the internet ( http://www.kwax.com/ )
on Saturdays at 9AM Pacific and 3PM on Sundays, these are re-broadcasts of two old BBC programs, "My Word" and "My Music". They're sometimes "corny" in the extreme, but highly educational . . . and a good study in English and Music. I highly recommend them both. I've listened to them for many years . . . usually in the past on KUSC in Southern California, while eating an "IN-N-Out" burger, etc., about sundown on Saturday evenings, while on business trips to Orange County.
'Take a listen (on the internet) . . . good stuff.
gadfly
(Come to think of it: Wasn't it the wind tunnel at the University of Oregon where the early scale model testing was done for the Eclipse? Small world, eh what?)
ASM:
"Cessna laying off while moving work to Mexico. Hawker Beech laying off while moving work to Mexico. Piper at death's door; too weak to send work to Mexico."
Thank you for the update. Huh, I think... before long Americans will be the "illegals" trying to get jobs in Mexico.
Sir Gadfly:
Phil didn't exactly keep the GA blog current either, rather he wrote a lot about the history of aviation and posed questions that were answered with current comments. Well, I tried....still think you could run the blog. (sigh)
On a high note: So glad you spotted the airplane I was trying to identify. I think both you and ASM were correct. I was seeing the Osprey VT-22 (now that I understand that the propellers move from horizontal to vertical for take off, flying, and landing(?). WOW!
I also think I have seen the Lockheed P2 Neptune (now that I saw it more closely) you mentioned flying around ABQ, which would account for my description of something old - a classic form from the 50s.
Voila! I was seeing two different airplanes from a distance! Mystery solved.
FC
Whether or not it now applies, about fifty years ago we (the "A&P" class at Moody) visited "Hartzog-Schneck" (mentioned in an earlier blog) . . . at the time, possibly the leading Lycoming and Continental rebuilder in the US of A. Their leading machinists and mechanics were recruited (legally) from Mexico, not because they were "cheap", but because they had an attitude to be the best at their trade . . . the term "old world craftsmanship" was used.
If that is still true, then who can blame a company for seeking Mexican labor, in Mexico.
'Something to consider.
gadfly
Before all this comes to an end, let’s review a few things . . . at least from the manufacturing and design point of view:
The promises, political aspects, financial things will have to be discussed by others . . . and there is fertile ground for all of that.
However, from the more mundane aspects . . . actually the very substance of the little bird deserves discussion . . . the thing that keeps a person “safe” and secure, while traveling from point A to B, at “x” velocity, and “y” altitude . . . the beast, itself, seems to be the least discussed of all the subjects involved.
Certain goals were put down, and “in theory”, they were achieved . . . not in reality, but on paper, or computer programs. Wind tunnel data, massaged to double the velocity of the model tests confirmed the numbers. It looked good to the “great unwashed” world of investors and politicians. (Who needs to fully understand the data?!)
No need to re-hash the history . . . hundreds (and more) folks hurt by promises un kept . . . taxpayers that even today don’t have a clue the cost to their own incomes, all well hidden in the New Mexican maze of politics.
Some of us could have . . . would have, willingly, provided advice, hard won by decades of techniques in manufacturing . . . and yes, aerodynamic expertise. But “pride” has its costs . . . often in far more than dollars . . . most often ending in human costs.
To suggest the new methods of machining and manufacturing . . . egos would never consider that maybe a single person, or elite group of persons, doesn’t have all the answers . . . and maybe needs “help”.
Well, much knowledge and technology remains “un-tapped”, and almost free for the taking . . . let me re-phrase that, “free” for the asking. You see, some of us have been offering some rather unique, and almost “fool proof” techniques, simply for the time that it takes to “sit down” and hear out the methods.
Some of us have gained much from the past . . . like my own experience from the little Italian, Adriano Ducati, . . . “Make it quick and dirty, . . . but precise!” This is not a joke, but something that moved me on to far greater things, than even Adriano could dream.
That admonition, combined with my own family tradition, going back more than a century, has gone on to provide tools, in design and manufacturing, that assure a new full level of advancement. GE took it, and is presently running with it . . . and will use it in present and future jet engines. Yet it remains, for almost every other discipline, a “mystery”, or a joke . . . something to be ignored. It remains so simple, so straight forward . . . GE, after years of battle, embraced it, to the point that they think they thought of it. What is the system? We’ll discuss it later.
gadfly
delete
The "gadfly" is struggling, at present, with something going on with this website that needs attention . . . but I'll plug on through . . . please bear with me.
This blogsite, through three generations, has been a great learning and communication tool. Someone, of late, has mocked the gadfly . . . but if that person "swats" a gnat . . . what does it matter.
Back to the issues . . . This was begun by a person that cared much for the aircraft industry . . . and taken up by "another", and a third party put his money on the line, and defended some us . . . and we continue to remember "Gunner". And yet another (Phil), of late, continued the discussion . . . and we don't know his "where-a-bouts". Phil . . . we hope you are "OK"! At present, the blogsite seems to be in "auto-pilot" . . . and sometimes, making a simple comment seems to create problems, that some of us, who are not "computer geeks" do not understand, nor know the methods to deal with the problem.
Enough for tonight . . . Well! . . . look at the time, it's early Sunday morning, and in a few hours, I'll go on down the hill (mountain . . . we live at 7,100 feet) to church, and study God's Word, and worship my creator, and savior.
gadfly
('Ain't life great if you know the Creator?)
The problem with gadfly running a “blogsite” is that I see intelligent design, in creation . . . that over-riding theme of intelligent design. DNA with the need not only for a “code”, but the “code” itself, producing precise instructions, and the means to produce the elements needed, writing the code into each and every cell in the living critter/organism that it produces.
In other words, there is no place in the entire universe that can “accidently” come upon the needed conditions to suddenly and without the slightest error, produce life. We're talking ten to the "150th power" and beyond. (It's actually many magnitudes beyond that, but I don't want to explode your minds.)
The old “monkey trick”, typing out Shakespear’s works, if given enough time, overlooks the simple requirement that every time the “monkeys” come down on the keyboard, the entire works must be complete. Their next stroke must begin at “zero”, and achieve complete success “instantly”, without error. Those who know the requirements of the DNA code, know precisely what I am saying . . . the slightest mistake cancels the entire “code”. And don’t give me the excuse of “mutations” . . . they don’t apply here, and you know it.
And, somehow, me thinks that the “Eclipse” was designed and built with the attitude that somehow, it would “evolve” into a wonderful and excellent private jet . . . even in the “eleventh hour”, which came and went . . . with a whole boat-load of excuses of why evolutionary aircraft design didn’t suddenly “darken the skies”.
A long time ago (in “mountain aviation time” . . . daylight or standard, take your pick), there was a contest, of sorts, to determine when the first complete Eclipse would be produced . . . and the “gadfly” held out, declaring that the complete Eclipse would never be produced. Well? Even the new “Eclipse Aerospace” no longer seems to remember the original promises . . . and to their credit, they seem to be only concerned about taking these “incomplete” airframes, and somehow making them something that can fly alongside the “real” corporation jets, with a few bragging rights. And good for them!
But the world still awaits the first private/corporate jet, that will take “SIX” passengers, at thirty-something thousand feet, at what, 300 something knots, well over a thousand miles (nautical or statute, take your pick), with enough fuel on board to go to an alternative destination. So soon, folks forget . . . and I, too, have forgotten all the early promises.
Take it all back to the beginning, . . . and you discover a promise based on a foundation of lies, and people that hadn’t the slightest knowledge of manufacturing techniques, and all the things that go together to produce a reliable product.
Many of us wanted the jet that was promised . . . but the people that promised it didn’t have a clue as to how to perform it. And they actually believed their own promises . . . interesting! The confirmation came on that fateful day . . . the little bird “fluttered around” for an hour . . . the funds were claimed from escrow . . . and for anyone following the events, . . . as Hitler’s aviation general, Goering once declared, so long ago . . . “The jig is up!”
gadfly
(Remember all the early talk about the built-in "potty"? . . . Humans have "real-life needs", and all the wishes in the world won't produce a human without a bladder.)
'Can't let you off that easy . . . my oldest son sent me a "brief" story . . . about a kid that asked his grandfather, "What kind of underware do grandpa's wear . . . 'Jockey' or boxer?"
'Says grandpa, "Depends!"
gadfly
(None of your business . . . but for now, boxers.)
OK . . . one more bit of information that you didn't wish to know!
A couple years ago, I asked a doctor, what is the capacity of a human bladder? The answer, "300 ml!" I asked, "for an adult" . . . a male . . . a female . . . and the Urologist said, "300 ml!" I was most surprised. 'Having been through some extreme procedures, myself, I was interested in this sort of thing. And with one of my inventions, such knowledge is most useful . . . attaching various "tubes" etc., in the human body (and I won't take you down that lane, tonight).
Once, at a medical convention at the UNM Medical School, here in Albuquerque, we received blue and yellow buttons that declared, "Urine is Beautiful" . . . and indeed, it is, especially for those who suffer kidney failure.
It is most interesting how such knowledge can, and does, have direct application to aircraft design . . . And there must be a massive amount of data that should be applied to the simple bodily functions, that most folks don't wish to acknowledge.
gadfly
(Once you have seen the "back side" of someone's "smile", from inside their skull, the rest is easy. Believe me! And bladders, etc., begin to look like something that aeronautical engineers should study in detail, as a requirement for graduation.)
Alright . . . what happens when the bladder fills up, full? The ureters “pinch off”, and stop any more input from the kidneys . . . painful, yes . . . but until the bladder can release its contents, the “kidneys” are refused any more output. Once the bladder empties, the ureter “tubes” open and the kidneys do their job. It’s as simple as “pinching off a hose”.
This sort of thing may not be “pleasant” in “polite company”, but a truly qualified aeronautical engineer should be willing to address the most basic needs of the persons, who are required to fly in their aircraft.
Back to the little jet . . . My first experience aboard a small jet was aboard a Lear 24 . . . we flew at 49,000 feet (dark blue sky, like the time I went swimming under our “sub” in the Pacific, somewhere south of Japan, in mid-ocean) . . . a most excellent experience. I was informed about the location of the “potty”, right behind the co-pilot, etc., . . . and to my knowledge, had never once been used. We flew from ABQ to Lexington (We parked next to Bunker Hunt’s “Canadair”) to Washington DC (I don’t remember the airport . . . but I remember looking at the Statue of Liberty, at “eye level”, with scaffolding in place, at that time . . . and then, after our extended business, a couple hops back to ABQ, etc. No-one needed the “potty”, but then, we were a group of men, etc., and all that had little concern. But had we been aboard an “Eclipse”, that same trip would required far more than the little jet could have provided, going and coming.
Folks that ignore the obvious, are doomed to suffer the full fulfillment of their endeavors. Good designs must always consider all the needs of the "humans" who must use them.
gadfly
For those that see the mistakes in English, my "draft" disappeared and was "published" before I could correct the obvious mistakes. My apologies . . . but please consider, and forgive the source. 'Fair 'nuff?
gadfly
('Time to stop all this nonsense and go to bed . . . in a few days I'll turn 73, but tomorrow is another work day, and I need to be "on time", or my #2 son might "fire me".
All seriousness aside . . . Do what you enjoy, and you'll never work a day in your life! Got it? Great!)
FC
Layoffs at Piper today. 60 according to the Vero Beach fish-wrapper the 'TC Palm'. Also two cheeses in the company, the director of engineering, Dennis Olcott, and an engineering director associated with the PiperJet, Vinny Galioto, left earlier this month according to the sheet. Stay tuned, I fear the fat lady is just warming up.
ASM:
I fear you are correct. Fat lady is going to sing and that is not good for anybody.
TC Palm way confusing -- so many key engineers have left, but Piperjet will remain the same
as it concludes.(?)
Piperjet dude may be in the unenviable postion of being the executioner(and I mean the hatchet type) in the manufacturing department. Not sure though as article still maintains that Piperjet not affected.
FC
"Piperjet dude may be in the unenviable postion of being the executioner(and I mean the hatchet type) in the manufacturing department."
Does he have an'Appointment in Samarra' or should he 'Ask Not For Whom the Bell Tolls'?
It’s been awhile since the “gadfly” got himself into trouble, so as to not disappoint “some”, let’s do a little “catch-up”.
Not so long ago, a dear friend died . . . actually, two very close friends have died in the last few years. Many “acquaintances” have died (especially for someone like myself plowing into the “eighth decade of life) . . . not unusual, but the “two” are special. And in what way? The “one” was one with whom I could discuss anything of technical relevance . . . and since both he and I were inventors/designers, there always was the possibility of the “one” being more correct than the other. But the bottom line was to get a job done, without the slightest concern as to “who got the credit”. (That sort of thing never, once, came up.)
The other close friend that died was “black’, and I’m “white”, etc. We were known, even by his family as being “twin brothers” . . . and had a close friendship, in spiritual matters, especially in Bible study, and teaching. What a privilege when, at the funeral, one of his sons called me "uncle"!
Which brings me to a simple principle, found at the address of Proverbs 27:17 . . . and I’ll quote it right out of the King James Version, “As iron sharpens iron, So a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.”
That shouldn’t offend anyone . . . but expresses a basic principle of all humans: We do well to discuss things, knowing that no single person has all the answers, but we find help and support by sharing our answers, and our questions, with each other . . . not to tear down the “other”, but to mutually understand the created universe, and the laws, and principles, in which we find ourselves.
God didn’t leave us without answers, but many refuse to accept the obvious, and then blame God, or others, for their problems.
As you may guess, I miss my two friends . . . but we’ll “catch up” later. In the mean time, I would encourage you to “buy up the time”, and share with each other the things that you learn, the questions that you discover, without being “confrontational”. Life is far too short to make more enemies . . . they seem to grow faster than weeds. Ask questions, with the attitude of being a student . . . and who knows, maybe something “new” will cross your path. It’s actually “fun” and exciting. Take it from an old guy that learns something new, each and every day.
gadfly
(‘Would that I had the freedom to share with you much more . . . the joy that has only one source.)
(Is the “gadfly” in trouble? . . . Probably! So what else is new?)
‘Interesting discussion, here! One side seems to think some young guy has a “right” to earn $40k, from someone else’s hard won enterprise, and there are those of us who would count it a privilege to earn that sort of money.
There was a time when I, too, wanted to have the lion’s share . . . and set out to achieve that goal. And about that time, we had some of the worst financial conditions imaginable . . . and a raiser of peanuts for president. For the first five years, I paid others the equivalent of the “$40K”, mentioned above . . . actually much more, considering inflation, over the years. For the first five years, I “lost” double that amount, working 80 hours per week, and a wife working full time as an RN . . . raising four kids and building our own house . . . neither of us hardly knowing the difference between night and day. In time, we moved into the black, and beyond. The employees, too, bought their homes, raised their kids, put them through college, etc., . . . but not because of a union, but because we had a common goal.
Hard work wasn’t considered a “right”, but a “privilege”. And we were certainly “privileged”. But sleep was sweet . . . having been earned . . . something those with their “rights” never experience.
Those days are over. The politics of the past ten or fifteen years have changed all that . . . and when things seemed like they couldn’t get much worse, took a deep plunge because those with power were considered “too big to fail”, and have even wiped out our savings, in the past two years.
So now I’m making it on less than half of the young union worker above . . . but I don’t want the government to bail me out, nor do I think someone else “owes me a living”. And there is no way our business will ever hire another employee . . . what government would we trust?
Funny thing, here! When we had lower taxes, we thrived and we paid huge taxes each year. Today, with higher taxes, we don’t pay any . . . there’s nothing being produced on which to pay taxes. This little story is multiplied across the entire nation . . . many times over.
But “dyed-in-the-wool” ideas are not easily changed . . . and those that feel they have a “right” to a certain comfortable lifestyle or income are soon in for a rude awakening.
Take it or leave it . . . that’s where we are (after being in business for over thirty-four years) . . . and the way I see it.
gadfly
Interesting discussion, here! One side seems to think some young guy has a “right” to earn $40k, from someone else’s hard won enterprise, and there are those of us who would count it a privilege to earn that sort of money.
There was a time when I, too, wanted to have the lion’s share . . . and set out to achieve that goal. And about that time, we had some of the worst financial conditions imaginable . . . and a raiser of peanuts for president. For the first five years, I paid others the equivalent of the “$40K”, mentioned above . . . actually much more, considering inflation, over the years. For the first five years, I “lost” double that amount, working 80 hours per week, and a wife working full time as an RN . . . raising four kids and building our own house . . . neither of us hardly knowing the difference between night and day. In time, we moved into the black, and beyond. The employees, too, bought their homes, raised their kids, put them through college, etc., . . . but not because of a union, but because we had a common goal.
Hard work wasn’t considered a “right”, but a “privilege”. And we were certainly “privileged”. But sleep was sweet . . . having been earned . . . something those with their “rights” never experience.
Those days are over. The politics of the past ten or fifteen years have changed all that . . . and when things seemed like they couldn’t get much worse, took a deep plunge because those with power were considered “too big to fail”, and have even wiped out our savings, in the past two years.
So now I’m making it on less than half of the young union worker above . . . but I don’t want the government to bail me out, nor do I think someone else “owes me a living”. And there is no way our business will ever hire another employee . . . what government would we trust?
Funny thing, here! When we had lower taxes, we thrived and we paid huge taxes each year. Today, with higher taxes, we don’t pay any . . . there’s nothing being produced on which to pay taxes. This little story is multiplied across the entire nation . . . many times over.
But “dyed-in-the-wool” ideas are not easily changed . . . and those that feel they have a “right” to a certain comfortable lifestyle or income are soon in for a rude awakening.
Take it or leave it . . . that’s where we are (after being in business for over thirty-four years) . . . and the way I see it.
gadfly
It’s been awhile since the “gadfly” got himself into trouble, so as to not disappoint “some”, let’s do a little “catch-up”.
Not so long ago, a dear friend died . . . actually, two very close friends have died in the last few years. Many “acquaintances” have died (especially for someone like myself plowing into the “eighth decade of life) . . . not unusual, but the “two” are special. And in what way? The “one” was one with whom I could discuss anything of technical relevance . . . and since both he and I were inventors/designers, there always was the possibility of the “one” being more correct than the other. But the bottom line was to get a job done, without the slightest concern as to “who got the credit”. (That sort of thing never, once, came up.)
The other close friend that died was “black’, and I’m “white”, etc. We were known, even by his family as being “twin brothers” . . . and had a close friendship, in spiritual matters, especially in Bible study, and teaching. What a privilege when, at the funeral, one of his sons called me "uncle"!
Which brings me to a simple principle, found at the address of Proverbs 27:17 . . . and I’ll quote it right out of the King James Version, “As iron sharpens iron, So a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.”
That shouldn’t offend anyone . . . but expresses a basic principle of all humans: We do well to discuss things, knowing that no single person has all the answers, but we find help and support by sharing our answers, and our questions, with each other . . . not to tear down the “other”, but to mutually understand the created universe, and the laws, and principles, in which we find ourselves.
God didn’t leave us without answers, but many refuse to accept the obvious, and then blame God, or others, for their problems.
As you may guess, I miss my two friends . . . but we’ll “catch up” later. In the mean time, I would encourage you to “buy up the time”, and share with each other the things that you learn, the questions that you discover, without being “confrontational”. Life is far too short to make more enemies . . . they seem to grow faster than weeds. Ask questions, with the attitude of being a student . . . and who knows, maybe something “new” will cross your path. It’s actually “fun” and exciting. Take it from an old guy that learns something new, each and every day.
gadfly
(‘Would that I had the freedom to share with you much more . . . the joy that has only one source.)
(Is the “gadfly” in trouble? . . . Probably! So what else is new?)
The "gadfly" is struggling, at present, with something going on with this website that needs attention . . . but I'll plug on through . . . please bear with me.
This blogsite, through three generations, has been a great learning and communication tool. Someone, of late, has mocked the gadfly . . . but if that person "swats" a gnat . . . what does it matter.
Back to the issues . . . This was begun by a person that cared much for the aircraft industry . . . and taken up by "another", and a third party put his money on the line, and defended some us . . . and we continue to remember "Gunner". And yet another (Phil), of late, continued the discussion . . . and we don't know his "where-a-bouts". Phil . . . we hope you are "OK"! At present, the blogsite seems to be in "auto-pilot" . . . and sometimes, making a simple comment seems to create problems, that some of us, who are not "computer geeks" do not understand, nor know the methods to deal with the problem.
Enough for tonight . . . Well! . . . look at the time, it's early Sunday morning, and in a few hours, I'll go on down the hill (mountain . . . we live at 7,100 feet) to church, and study God's Word, and worship my creator, and savior.
Let’s step in, here . . . and start a conversation. What have we learned and observed over the past few years? For my part, I’ll attempt to break the ice, and maybe get something going.
When I first heard of the Eclipse, I was told by someone who has had an impeccable record of aeronautical design about their limited empirical wind tunnel testing (up in Oregon) and their lack of understanding of trans-sonic transitional flow over certain parts of the aircraft wind-screen, etc. That was the beginning of further investigation.
Then there were the “claims” of success, coupled with the funds held in escrow, and released after the first “failed” flight tests . . . and from then on, I knew that we were dealing with a major scam. As someone has said, “This isn’t rocket surgery!” . . . (I love that expression.)
Well, that led to undersized landing gear and “brakes”, with an “obese” gain in GTOW. And then, with contacts with the local shops, who had more enthusiasm to gain a major customer, than their knowledge of simple aerodynamics, etc., I realized that the local economy was in deep doo-doo.
Then, one day, needing a quote on some “waterjet” type machining, I broached a question about “Eclipse”, and learned that for an upcoming “Dog and Pony Show”, the little bird had the bad habit of sitting down on it’s tail feathers, because the engineers hadn’t been able to successfully calculate the center of gravity, of the little bird while sitting on the ground. They needed (in a hurry) some big blocks of aluminum, cut to size by “water jet” to fit discretely in the nose of the little bird . . . we’re talking “big” chunks of aluminum (at what? . . . about .09 pounds per cubic inch?) . . . to get through the public showing, etc., etc. At this point, things are not looking good for the little bird.
seems the braking problems are not restricted to the "little jet".
gadfly
The NTSB is investigating a September 10 incident in which an Embraer Phenom 100 suffered minor damage upon landing in Brenham, Texas. The light twinjet, owned by South Carolina-based Vader, experienced a runway excursion at Brenham Municipal Airport after its brakes failed and both main gear tires blew. According to the pilot’s statement, the crew received a brake fail warning soon after takeoff from Tucson International Airport, but continued to their destination. After touchdown, the pilot noted “zero” braking and applied the emergency brakes. As the tires blew, directional control of the aircraft was lost and it skidded off the left side of the runway, causing the right main gear to collapse when it reached muddy turf on the east side of Runway 16. The pilot and copilot were uninjured. The incident bears similarities to another dual tire blowout on a Phenom 100 landing at Mammoth Yosemite Airport in Mammoth Lakes, Calif., in early March, though the NTSB told AIN it has not investigated that incident.
A long time ago (in “mountain aviation time” . . . daylight or standard, take your pick), there was a contest, of sorts, to determine when the first complete Eclipse would be produced . . . and the “gadfly” held out, declaring that the complete Eclipse would never be produced. Well? Even the new “Eclipse Aerospace” no longer seems to remember the original promises . . . and to their credit, they seem to be only concerned about taking these “incomplete” airframes, and somehow making them something that can fly alongside the “real” corporation jets, with a few bragging rights. And good for them!
But the world still awaits the first private/corporate jet, that will take “SIX” passengers, at thirty-something thousand feet, at what, 300 something knots, well over a thousand miles (nautical or statute, take your pick), with enough fuel on board to go to an alternative destination. So soon, folks forget . . . and I, too, have forgotten all the early promises.
Take it all back to the beginning, . . . and you discover a promise based on a foundation of lies, and people that hadn’t the slightest knowledge of manufacturing techniques, and all the things that go together to produce a reliable product.
Many of us wanted the jet that was promised . . . but the people that promised it didn’t have a clue as to how to perform it. And they actually believed their own promises . . . interesting! The confirmation came on that fateful day . . . the little bird “fluttered around” for an hour . . . the funds were claimed from escrow . . . and for anyone following the events, . . . as Hitler’s aviation general, Goering once declared, so long ago . . . “The jig is up!”
gadfly
(Remember all the early talk about the built-in "potty"? . . . Humans have "real-life needs", and all the wishes in the world won't produce a human without a bladder.)
OK . . . one more bit of information that you didn't wish to know!
A couple years ago, I asked a doctor, what is the capacity of a human bladder? The answer, "300 ml!" I asked, "for an adult" . . . a male . . . a female . . . and the Urologist said, "300 ml!" I was most surprised. 'Having been through some extreme procedures, myself, I was interested in this sort of thing. And with one of my inventions, such knowledge is most useful . . . attaching various "tubes" etc., in the human body (and I won't take you down that lane, tonight).
Once, at a medical convention at the UNM Medical School, here in Albuquerque, we received blue and yellow buttons that declared, "Urine is Beautiful" . . . and indeed, it is, especially for those who suffer kidney failure.
It is most interesting how such knowledge can, and does, have direct application to aircraft design . . . And there must be a massive amount of data that should be applied to the simple bodily functions, that most folks don't wish to acknowledge.
gadfly
(Once you have seen the "back side" of someone's "smile", from inside their skull, the rest is easy. Believe me! And bladders, etc., begin to look like something that aeronautical engineers should study in detail, as a requirement for graduation.)
So, let’s pretend that the power supply for the three axis gyroscopes has gone south . . . some “bad guy” has messed up the GPS signal system, there is an overcast right down to sea level . . . and it’s in the middle of the night. The ancient system called “Loran” is not available, nor to be trusted at the moment. And you are a mile or two off the coast of some folks that want you dead. What do you do . . . Oh, and there are serious winds and a North Pacific storm that has been in effect for the past few days . . . and the DRT (“Dead Reckoning Tracer”) puts you somewhere on the chart that looks like an inland lake . . . And did I mention that you’re on a submarine that has been submerged, or in conditions that haven’t allowed a “star fix” in about a week?
Now, if I were home, and disoriented in the middle of the night, I need only to put out a hand, until I touch a wall, etc., and within seconds I can find my way anywhere else in the house. Why? . . . because I designed and built the house, and know within inches each and every feature in the house.
How to apply this to a submarine or an aircraft . . . “lost in space”? What do I need! First, I need to know a map . . . four dimensions, if you will, as “time” must be included . . . of the features of everything in the sphere of my movement. Second, I need some method of “discovery” . . . it’s all there, but not yet fully understood nor how to detect it. Will that discovery be “sound”? . . . like the bat? Will that discovery be some electromagnetic response, like the shark? Will it be a better understanding and sensing of magnetic force fields? Will it be some other sense that we don’t yet understand? It may be some combination of all of the above.
And there is another key element that must be addressed: A reference point “outside” my field of reference, a feature that says, “This is the absolute standard!”
Years ago, I sat in meetings with engineers at GE . . . arguing for CAD files, rather than the huge “D” or “E” size drawings, that had numerous datum points . . . and required a PhD in “Trig” to understand. I argued for a single point of reference. It turned out to be a political argument . . . my protagonist was finally retired, and GE now uses complete “CAD” files . . . all referenced from a single “X-Y-Z” point in space . . . what a relief! (My little HP calculator was overworked to figure all this, from numerous reference points. And my brain was going to mush.)
Back to Baron’s talk about location in space. Funny thing . . . back when I turned sixteen, I got to work on instruments . . . they were “accelerometers”, for early ballistic missiles . . . yes, we had that sort of thing back in the early 1950's. What a great summer job, until I returned to finish out my last year of high-school.
Today, I can look at “Google Earth” and see our dog in the driveway of our house, the day the camera car drove by. Scary stuff! But with this sort of technology, which tells me the location and altitude of my front gate, will it be long before we can walk anywhere on the planet, and not know exactly our location.
gadfly
(Back then, when the charts showed us far inland, human judgement prevailed . . . we weren't many miles inland on the Kamchatka Pennisula, nor in Siberia . . . the "DRT" was wrong . . . we listened to the sounds of "fish", and knew where they would be . . . and followed them out into the open North Pacific. My grandkids are thankful.)
So, let’s pretend that the power supply for the three axis gyroscopes has gone south . . . some “bad guy” has messed up the GPS signal system, there is an overcast right down to sea level . . . and it’s in the middle of the night. The ancient system called “Loran” is not available, nor to be trusted at the moment. And you are a mile or two off the coast of some folks that want you dead. What do you do . . . Oh, and there are serious winds and a North Pacific storm that has been in effect for the past few days . . . and the DRT (“Dead Reckoning Tracer”) puts you somewhere on the chart that looks like an inland lake . . . And did I mention that you’re on a submarine that has been submerged, or in conditions that haven’t allowed a “star fix” in about a week?
Now, if I were home, and disoriented in the middle of the night, I need only to put out a hand, until I touch a wall, etc., and within seconds I can find my way anywhere else in the house. Why? . . . because I designed and built the house, and know within inches each and every feature in the house.
How to apply this to a submarine or an aircraft . . . “lost in space”? What do I need! First, I need to know a map . . . four dimensions, if you will, as “time” must be included . . . of the features of everything in the sphere of my movement. Second, I need some method of “discovery” . . . it’s all there, but not yet fully understood nor how to detect it. Will that discovery be “sound”? . . . like the bat? Will that discovery be some electromagnetic response, like the shark? Will it be a better understanding and sensing of magnetic force fields? Will it be some other sense that we don’t yet understand? It may be some combination of all of the above.
And there is another key element that must be addressed: A reference point “outside” my field of reference, a feature that says, “This is the absolute standard!”
Years ago, I sat in meetings with engineers at GE . . . arguing for CAD files, rather than the huge “D” or “E” size drawings, that had numerous datum points . . . and required a PhD in “Trig” to understand. I argued for a single point of reference. It turned out to be a political argument . . . my protagonist was finally retired, and GE now uses complete “CAD” files . . . all referenced from a single “X-Y-Z” point in space . . . what a relief! (My little HP calculator was overworked to figure all this, from numerous reference points. And my brain was going to mush.)
Back to Baron’s talk about location in space. Funny thing . . . back when I turned sixteen, I got to work on instruments . . . they were “accelerometers”, for early ballistic missiles . . . yes, we had that sort of thing back in the early 1950's. What a great summer job, until I returned to finish out my last year of high-school.
Today, I can look at “Google Earth” and see our dog in the driveway of our house, the day the camera car drove by. Scary stuff! But with this sort of technology, which tells me the location and altitude of my front gate, will it be long before we can walk anywhere on the planet, and not know exactly our location.
gadfly
(Back then, when the charts showed us far inland, human judgement prevailed . . . we weren't many miles inland on the Kamchatka Pennisula, nor in Siberia . . . the "DRT" was wrong . . . we listened to the sounds of "fish", and knew where they would be . . . and followed them out into the open North Pacific. My grandkids are thankful.)
The "gadfly" is struggling, at present, with something going on with this website that needs attention . . . but I'll plug on through . . . please bear with me.
This blogsite, through three generations, has been a great learning and communication tool. Someone, of late, has mocked the gadfly . . . but if that person "swats" a gnat . . . what does it matter.
Back to the issues . . . This was begun by a person that cared much for the aircraft industry . . . and taken up by "another", and a third party put his money on the line, and defended some us . . . and we continue to remember "Gunner". And yet another (Phil), of late, continued the discussion . . . and we don't know his "where-a-bouts". Phil . . . we hope you are "OK"! At present, the blogsite seems to be in "auto-pilot" . . . and sometimes, making a simple comment seems to create problems, that some of us, who are not "computer geeks" do not understand, nor know the methods to deal with the problem.
Enough for tonight . . . Well! . . . look at the time, it's early Sunday morning, and in a few hours, I'll go on down the hill (mountain . . . we live at 7,100 feet) to church, and study God's Word, and worship my creator, and savior.
gadfly
('Ain't life great if you know the Creator?)
Someone has "hacked" this blogsite, for whatever reason, and thinks they are funny.
The last "real" comment was by airsafetyman September 27, 2010 7:25 PM
Someone else, with extremely low self esteem wishes to be the "gadfly".
Carry on . . . the stage is yours.
Interesting discussion, here! One side seems to think some young guy has a “right” to earn $40k, from someone else’s hard won enterprise, and there are those of us who would count it a privilege to earn that sort of money.
There was a time when I, too, wanted to have the lion’s share . . . and set out to achieve that goal. And about that time, we had some of the worst financial conditions imaginable . . . and a raiser of peanuts for president. For the first five years, I paid others the equivalent of the “$40K”, mentioned above . . . actually much more, considering inflation, over the years. For the first five years, I “lost” double that amount, working 80 hours per week, and a wife working full time as an RN . . . raising four kids and building our own house . . . neither of us hardly knowing the difference between night and day. In time, we moved into the black, and beyond. The employees, too, bought their homes, raised their kids, put them through college, etc., . . . but not because of a union, but because we had a common goal.
Hard work wasn’t considered a “right”, but a “privilege”. And we were certainly “privileged”. But sleep was sweet . . . having been earned . . . something those with their “rights” never experience.
Those days are over. The politics of the past ten or fifteen years have changed all that . . . and when things seemed like they couldn’t get much worse, took a deep plunge because those with power were considered “too big to fail”, and have even wiped out our savings, in the past two years.
So now I’m making it on less than half of the young union worker above . . . but I don’t want the government to bail me out, nor do I think someone else “owes me a living”. And there is no way our business will ever hire another employee . . . what government would we trust?
Funny thing, here! When we had lower taxes, we thrived and we paid huge taxes each year. Today, with higher taxes, we don’t pay any . . . there’s nothing being produced on which to pay taxes. This little story is multiplied across the entire nation . . . many times over.
But “dyed-in-the-wool” ideas are not easily changed . . . and those that feel they have a “right” to a certain comfortable lifestyle or income are soon in for a rude awakening.
Take it or leave it . . . that’s where we are (after being in business for over thirty-four years) . . . and the way I see it.
gadfly
Interesting discussion, here! One side seems to think some young guy has a “right” to earn $40k, from someone else’s hard won enterprise, and there are those of us who would count it a privilege to earn that sort of money.
There was a time when I, too, wanted to have the lion’s share . . . and set out to achieve that goal. And about that time, we had some of the worst financial conditions imaginable . . . and a raiser of peanuts for president. For the first five years, I paid others the equivalent of the “$40K”, mentioned above . . . actually much more, considering inflation, over the years. For the first five years, I “lost” double that amount, working 80 hours per week, and a wife working full time as an RN . . . raising four kids and building our own house . . . neither of us hardly knowing the difference between night and day. In time, we moved into the black, and beyond. The employees, too, bought their homes, raised their kids, put them through college, etc., . . . but not because of a union, but because we had a common goal.
Hard work wasn’t considered a “right”, but a “privilege”. And we were certainly “privileged”. But sleep was sweet . . . having been earned . . . something those with their “rights” never experience.
Those days are over. The politics of the past ten or fifteen years have changed all that . . . and when things seemed like they couldn’t get much worse, took a deep plunge because those with power were considered “too big to fail”, and have even wiped out our savings, in the past two years.
So now I’m making it on less than half of the young union worker above . . . but I don’t want the government to bail me out, nor do I think someone else “owes me a living”. And there is no way our business will ever hire another employee . . . what government would we trust?
Funny thing, here! When we had lower taxes, we thrived and we paid huge taxes each year. Today, with higher taxes, we don’t pay any . . . there’s nothing being produced on which to pay taxes. This little story is multiplied across the entire nation . . . many times over.
But “dyed-in-the-wool” ideas are not easily changed . . . and those that feel they have a “right” to a certain comfortable lifestyle or income are soon in for a rude awakening.
Take it or leave it . . . that’s where we are (after being in business for over thirty-four years) . . . and the way I see it.
gadfly
So, on a day like today, when there is almost no work coming in through the door, etc., what does the gadfly do, to occupy his time? For one thing, he occupies his time in designing potential things, yet to be constructed . . . answers the phone and brings together the information for a new job . . . thinks of things that might benefit others on the internet, and listens to messages from the distant past, that are as relevant today, as the day they were given, from a man who died back in about 1988, and who had a major impact on my own life:
http://www.oneplace.com/ministries/thru-the-bible-sunday-sermon/listen/where-is-god-and-what-does-he-do-118529.html
That's what a "gadfly" does . . . and would like more than anything else, to share with everyone else what makes life worth the living.
There is not the slightest pressure for anyone to download and listen to the "MP3" message above, but for me, it made my day.
gadfly
(For folks that don't yet know "who's in charge", there remains much discouragement, for the future. And for many, the future does not look good.)
So, on a day like today, when there is almost no work coming in through the door, etc., what does the gadfly do, to occupy his time? For one thing, he occupies his time in designing potential things, yet to be constructed . . . answers the phone and brings together the information for a new job . . . thinks of things that might benefit others on the internet, and listens to messages from the distant past, that are as relevant today, as the day they were given, from a man who died back in about 1988, and who had a major impact on my own life:
http://www.oneplace.com/ministries/thru-the-bible-sunday-sermon/listen/where-is-god-and-what-does-he-do-118529.html
That's what a "gadfly" does . . . and would like more than anything else, to share with everyone else what makes life worth the living.
There is not the slightest pressure for anyone to download and listen to the "MP3" message above, but for me, it made my day.
gadfly
(For folks that don't yet know "who's in charge", there remains much discouragement, for the future. And for many, the future does not look good.)
So, on a day like today, when there is almost no work coming in through the door, etc., what does the gadfly do, to occupy his time? For one thing, he occupies his time in designing potential things, yet to be constructed . . . answers the phone and brings together the information for a new job . . . thinks of things that might benefit others on the internet, and listens to messages from the distant past, that are as relevant today, as the day they were given, from a man who died back in about 1988, and who had a major impact on my own life:
http://www.oneplace.com/ministries/thru-the-bible-sunday-sermon/listen/where-is-god-and-what-does-he-do-118529.html
That's what a "gadfly" does . . . and would like more than anything else, to share with everyone else what makes life worth the living.
There is not the slightest pressure for anyone to download and listen to the "MP3" message above, but for me, it made my day.
gadfly
(For folks that don't yet know "who's in charge", there remains much discouragement, for the future. And for many, the future does not look good.)
Vern?
Will the real Gadfly please stand up, please stand up?
(I suspect the real Gadfly won't understand the Eminem/Slim Shady reference.)
Holly Smoke - I decided to check on you guys and all I see is a running monologue :)
The news from Vero Beach just confirm what I have been saying for a long time is inevitable.
The "old guard" entry level US GA is dying off. The mid-level is about to face real competition. The high end is doing fine.
Piper chose the wrong configuration, the parts-bin (Malibu fuse) approach, the wrong price point (going against Mustang and Phenom), etc, etc, etc. That project is destined for out-right failure or, at best, a painful and fruitless gestation that will kill off the host.
I'm sad to say that Diamond is not doing much better. It has been over 1 year since they sent the last D-Jet Flyer update. I still think they have a chance - but not a big one.
So that leaves refurbished Total Eclipses, Phenom 100s and Mustangs as the only modern entry level personal jets that can be bought. There are about 700 or so of the three types (roughly in equal numbers)in the field/market, plus another 8 or so (each) Phenom 100 and Mustangs entering the market each month.
Every new Phenom 100/Mustang delivery is one more soon-to be used personal jet in the market, closing the door on possible D-Jet, Pipe-dream-Jet, etc sales.
Great time to be a buyer. Not so great to be an owner.
So, let’s pretend that the power supply for the three axis gyroscopes has gone south . . . some “bad guy” has messed up the GPS signal system, there is an overcast right down to sea level . . . and it’s in the middle of the night. The ancient system called “Loran” is not available, nor to be trusted at the moment. And you are a mile or two off the coast of some folks that want you dead. What do you do . . . Oh, and there are serious winds and a North Pacific storm that has been in effect for the past few days . . . and the DRT (“Dead Reckoning Tracer”) puts you somewhere on the chart that looks like an inland lake . . . And did I mention that you’re on a submarine that has been submerged, or in conditions that haven’t allowed a “star fix” in about a week?
Now, if I were home, and disoriented in the middle of the night, I need only to put out a hand, until I touch a wall, etc., and within seconds I can find my way anywhere else in the house. Why? . . . because I designed and built the house, and know within inches each and every feature in the house.
How to apply this to a submarine or an aircraft . . . “lost in space”? What do I need! First, I need to know a map . . . four dimensions, if you will, as “time” must be included . . . of the features of everything in the sphere of my movement. Second, I need some method of “discovery” . . . it’s all there, but not yet fully understood nor how to detect it. Will that discovery be “sound”? . . . like the bat? Will that discovery be some electromagnetic response, like the shark? Will it be a better understanding and sensing of magnetic force fields? Will it be some other sense that we don’t yet understand? It may be some combination of all of the above.
And there is another key element that must be addressed: A reference point “outside” my field of reference, a feature that says, “This is the absolute standard!”
Years ago, I sat in meetings with engineers at GE . . . arguing for CAD files, rather than the huge “D” or “E” size drawings, that had numerous datum points . . . and required a PhD in “Trig” to understand. I argued for a single point of reference. It turned out to be a political argument . . . my protagonist was finally retired, and GE now uses complete “CAD” files . . . all referenced from a single “X-Y-Z” point in space . . . what a relief! (My little HP calculator was overworked to figure all this, from numerous reference points. And my brain was going to mush.)
Back to Baron’s talk about location in space. Funny thing . . . back when I turned sixteen, I got to work on instruments . . . they were “accelerometers”, for early ballistic missiles . . . yes, we had that sort of thing back in the early 1950's. What a great summer job, until I returned to finish out my last year of high-school.
Today, I can look at “Google Earth” and see our dog in the driveway of our house, the day the camera car drove by. Scary stuff! But with this sort of technology, which tells me the location and altitude of my front gate, will it be long before we can walk anywhere on the planet, and not know exactly our location.
gadfly
(Back then, when the charts showed us far inland, human judgement prevailed . . . we weren't many miles inland on the Kamchatka Pennisula, nor in Siberia . . . the "DRT" was wrong . . . we listened to the sounds of "fish", and knew where they would be . . . and followed them out into the open North Pacific. My grandkids are thankful.)
Interesting discussion, here! One side seems to think some young guy has a “right” to earn $40k, from someone else’s hard won enterprise, and there are those of us who would count it a privilege to earn that sort of money.
There was a time when I, too, wanted to have the lion’s share . . . and set out to achieve that goal. And about that time, we had some of the worst financial conditions imaginable . . . and a raiser of peanuts for president. For the first five years, I paid others the equivalent of the “$40K”, mentioned above . . . actually much more, considering inflation, over the years. For the first five years, I “lost” double that amount, working 80 hours per week, and a wife working full time as an RN . . . raising four kids and building our own house . . . neither of us hardly knowing the difference between night and day. In time, we moved into the black, and beyond. The employees, too, bought their homes, raised their kids, put them through college, etc., . . . but not because of a union, but because we had a common goal.
Hard work wasn’t considered a “right”, but a “privilege”. And we were certainly “privileged”. But sleep was sweet . . . having been earned . . . something those with their “rights” never experience.
Those days are over. The politics of the past ten or fifteen years have changed all that . . . and when things seemed like they couldn’t get much worse, took a deep plunge because those with power were considered “too big to fail”, and have even wiped out our savings, in the past two years.
So now I’m making it on less than half of the young union worker above . . . but I don’t want the government to bail me out, nor do I think someone else “owes me a living”. And there is no way our business will ever hire another employee . . . what government would we trust?
Funny thing, here! When we had lower taxes, we thrived and we paid huge taxes each year. Today, with higher taxes, we don’t pay any . . . there’s nothing being produced on which to pay taxes. This little story is multiplied across the entire nation . . . many times over.
But “dyed-in-the-wool” ideas are not easily changed . . . and those that feel they have a “right” to a certain comfortable lifestyle or income are soon in for a rude awakening.
Take it or leave it . . . that’s where we are (after being in business for over thirty-four years) . . . and the way I see it.
gadfly
Interesting discussion, here! One side seems to think some young guy has a “right” to earn $40k, from someone else’s hard won enterprise, and there are those of us who would count it a privilege to earn that sort of money.
There was a time when I, too, wanted to have the lion’s share . . . and set out to achieve that goal. And about that time, we had some of the worst financial conditions imaginable . . . and a raiser of peanuts for president. For the first five years, I paid others the equivalent of the “$40K”, mentioned above . . . actually much more, considering inflation, over the years. For the first five years, I “lost” double that amount, working 80 hours per week, and a wife working full time as an RN . . . raising four kids and building our own house . . . neither of us hardly knowing the difference between night and day. In time, we moved into the black, and beyond. The employees, too, bought their homes, raised their kids, put them through college, etc., . . . but not because of a union, but because we had a common goal.
Hard work wasn’t considered a “right”, but a “privilege”. And we were certainly “privileged”. But sleep was sweet . . . having been earned . . . something those with their “rights” never experience.
Those days are over. The politics of the past ten or fifteen years have changed all that . . . and when things seemed like they couldn’t get much worse, took a deep plunge because those with power were considered “too big to fail”, and have even wiped out our savings, in the past two years.
So now I’m making it on less than half of the young union worker above . . . but I don’t want the government to bail me out, nor do I think someone else “owes me a living”. And there is no way our business will ever hire another employee . . . what government would we trust?
Funny thing, here! When we had lower taxes, we thrived and we paid huge taxes each year. Today, with higher taxes, we don’t pay any . . . there’s nothing being produced on which to pay taxes. This little story is multiplied across the entire nation . . . many times over.
But “dyed-in-the-wool” ideas are not easily changed . . . and those that feel they have a “right” to a certain comfortable lifestyle or income are soon in for a rude awakening.
Take it or leave it . . . that’s where we are (after being in business for over thirty-four years) . . . and the way I see it.
gadfly
Interesting discussion, here! One side seems to think some young guy has a “right” to earn $40k, from someone else’s hard won enterprise, and there are those of us who would count it a privilege to earn that sort of money.
There was a time when I, too, wanted to have the lion’s share . . . and set out to achieve that goal. And about that time, wecollege, etc., . . . but not because of a union, but because we had a common goal.
Hard work wasn’t considered a “right”, but a “privilege”. And we were certainly “privileged”. But sleep was sweet . . . having been earned . . . something those with their “rights” never experience.
Those days are over. The politics of the past ten or fifteen years have changed all that . . . and when things seemed like they couldn’t get much worse, took a deep plunge because those with power were considered “too big to fail”, and have even wiped out our savings, in the past two years.
So now I’m making it on less than half of the young union worker above . . . but I don’t want the government to bail me out, nor do I think someone else “owes me a living”. And there is no way our business will ever hire another employee . . . what government would we trust?
Funny thing, here! When we had lower taxes, we thrived and we paid huge taxes each year. Today, with higher taxes, we don’t pay any . . . there’s nothing being produced on which to pay taxes. This little story is multiplied across the entire nation . . . many times over.
But “dyed-in-the-wool” ideas are not easily changed . . . and those that feel they have a “right” to a certain comfortable lifestyle or income are soon in for a rude awakening.
Take it or leave it . . . that’s where we are (after being in business for over thirty-four years) . . . and the way I see it.
gadfly
Well, some quick updates.
I remain very busy although not on planes below 100,000 lbs unless I am flying.
In fact, my lovely daughter and I will be making a ruyn to Flo's at Chino this weekend and will be making a fun 3-state cross-country weekend trip in a C-182 in a few weeks - I had not flown much in the last few years and this is a nice return.
I hear through the grapevine that new Eclipse is doing OK and I am, for once, happy to have been wrong about the prospects.
The industry is in bad shape, everywhere here in the US at least where our version of corporate welfare pales in comparison to the subsidies enjoyed by nearly all of the companies we have to compete with - Wichita, LA, Mesa, St Louis, etc., all have awful unemployment - and the once promising new programs have slowed significantly - companies that once could do no wrong now seem to be unable to do anything right - despite the heroic efforts of many within and without.
And yet, we now have a multi-page blog posting, even if it is a bit old and even if it seems Phil is otherwise indisposed.
I am critical of many things within the professional aviation world, but I am hopelessly enthusiastic about my own aviation activities. My daughter is now 14 and I suspect will want to join me flying both RC and full-size aircraft soon.
Well, that led to undersized landing gear and “brakes”, with an “obese” gain in GTOW. And then, with contacts with the local shops, who had more enthusiasm to gain a major customer, than their knowledge of simple aerodynamics, etc., I realized that the local economy was in deep doo-doo.
Then, one day, needing a quote on some “waterjet” type machining, I broached a question about “Eclipse”, and learned that for an upcoming “Dog and Pony Show”, the little bird had the bad habit of sitting down on it’s tail feathers, because the engineers hadn’t been able to successfully calculate the center of gravity, of the little bird while sitting on the ground. They needed (in a hurry) some big blocks of aluminum, cut to size by “water jet” to fit discretely in the nose of the little bird . . . we’re talking “big” chunks of aluminum (at what? . . . about .09 pounds per cubic inch?) . . . to get through the public showing, etc., etc. At this point, things are not looking good for the little bird.
Then there was all that discussion about the “stir fried welding” . . . not a bad idea, but not yet proven. In time, I had opportunity to speak with folks from Eclipse . . . and did not like what I heard, from those on the front line. And then there was the “acid etch” to remove weight from areas of the skin . . . now we know that there is big trouble in River City. (For the record, much of the strength of the skin is the work-hardening of the surface of sheet-metal, and when “removed”, the benefits of the skin strength are greatly reduced. There’s a whole fleet of jets out there . . . 261?, with built-in flaws, that are almost guaranteed to fail, at some time in the future.) We discussed, and asked questions, about the long-term inter- and intra-granular corrosion problems of the “stir fried” welding . . . and to this very day, we have not heard so much as a word as to “real life” empirical testing, etc.
And I asked the question that I would still like answered: “When trimmed out, and put into a ‘bad attitude’, will the little jet, without electronic and/or electro-mechanical input, come back to a reasonable straight and level flight?” There are times in the past, when someone at a flight center has told a pilot in panic to “take your hands and feet off the controls”, as the aircraft will come back to a stable attitude . . . and there are many records of disoriented pilots flying “into the ground”, etc. To this date, that question remains unanswered.
Well, here’s an opportunity to review the past . . . and maybe lay the foundation for the future.
gadfly
The "gadfly" is struggling, at present, with something going on with this website that needs attention . . . but I'll plug on through . . . please bear with me.
This blogsite, through three generations, has been a great learning and communication tool. Someone, of late, has mocked the gadfly . . . but if that person "swats" a gnat . . . what does it matter.
Back to the issues . . . This was begun by a person that cared much for the aircraft industry . . . and taken up by "another", and a third party put his money on the line, and defended some us . . . and we continue to remember "Gunner". And yet another (Phil), of late, continued the discussion . . . and we don't know his "where-a-bouts". Phil . . . we hope you are "OK"! At present, the blogsite seems to be in "auto-pilot" . . . and sometimes, making a simple comment seems to create problems, that some of us, who are not "computer geeks" do not understand, nor know the methods to deal with the problem.
Enough for tonight . . . Well! . . . look at the time, it's early Sunday morning, and in a few hours, I'll go on down the hill (mountain . . . we live at 7,100 feet) to church, and study God's Word, and worship my creator, and savior.
gadfly
('Ain't life great if you know the Creator?)
Let’s step in, here . . . and start a conversation. What have we learned and observed over the past few years? For my part, I’ll attempt to break the ice, and maybe get something going.
When I first heard of the Eclipse, I was told by someone who has had an impeccable record of aeronautical design about their limited empirical wind tunnel testing (up in Oregon) and their lack of understanding of trans-sonic transitional flow over certain parts of the aircraft wind-screen, etc. That was the beginning of further investigation.
Then there were the “claims” of success, coupled with the funds held in escrow, and released after the first “failed” flight tests . . . and from then on, I knew that we were dealing with a major scam. As someone has said, “This isn’t rocket surgery!” . . . (I love that expression.)
Well, that led to undersized landing gear and “brakes”, with an “obese” gain in GTOW. And then, with contacts with the local shops, who had more enthusiasm to gain a major customer, than their knowledge of simple aerodynamics, etc., I realized that the local economy was in deep doo-doo.
Let’s step in, here . . . and start a conversation. What have we learned and observed over the past few years? For my part, I’ll attempt to break the ice, and maybe get something going.
When I first heard of the Eclipse, I was told by someone who has had an impeccable record of aeronautical design about their limited empirical wind tunnel testing (up in Oregon) and their lack of understanding of trans-sonic transitional flow over certain parts of the aircraft wind-screen, etc. That was the beginning of further investigation.
Then there were the “claims” of success, coupled with the funds held in escrow, and released after the first “failed” flight tests . . . and from then on, I knew that we were dealing with a major scam. As someone has said, “This isn’t rocket surgery!” . . . (I love that expression.)
Well, that led to undersized landing gear and “brakes”, with an “obese” gain in GTOW. And then, with contacts with the local shops, who had more enthusiasm to gain a major customer, than their knowledge of simple aerodynamics, etc., I realized that the local economy was in deep doo-doo.
Let’s step in, here . . . and start a conversation. What have we learned and observed over the past few years? For my part, I’ll attempt to break the ice, and maybe get something going.
When I first heard of the Eclipse, I was told by someone who has had an impeccable record of aeronautical design about their limited empirical wind tunnel testing (up in Oregon) and their lack of understanding of trans-sonic transitional flow over certain parts of the aircraft wind-screen, etc. That was the beginning of further investigation.
Then there were the “claims” of success, coupled with the funds held in escrow, and released after the first “failed” flight tests . . . and from then on, I knew that we were dealing with a major scam. As someone has said, “This isn’t rocket surgery!” . . . (I love that expression.)
Well, that led to undersized landing gear and “brakes”, with an “obese” gain in GTOW. And then, with contacts with the local shops, who had more enthusiasm to gain a major customer, than their knowledge of simple aerodynamics, etc., I realized that the local economy was in deep doo-doo.
From the original gadfly:
Goodbye!
Let’s step in, here . . . and start a conversation. What have we learned and observed over the past few years? For my part, I’ll attempt to break the ice, and maybe get something going.
When I first heard of the Eclipse, I was told by someone who has had an impeccable record of aeronautical design about their limited empirical wind tunnel testing (up in Oregon) and their lack of understanding of trans-sonic transitional flow over certain parts of the aircraft wind-screen, etc. That was the beginning of further investigation.
Then there were the “claims” of success, coupled with the funds held in escrow, and released after the first “failed” flight tests . . . and from then on, I knew that we were dealing with a major scam. As someone has said, “This isn’t rocket surgery!” . . . (I love that expression.)
Well, that led to undersized landing gear and “brakes”, with an “obese” gain in GTOW. And then, with contacts with the local shops, who had more enthusiasm to gain a major customer, than their knowledge of simple aerodynamics, etc., I realized that the local economy was in deep doo-doo.
Let’s step in, here . . . and start a conversation. What have we learned and observed over the past few years? For my part, I’ll attempt to break the ice, and maybe get something going.
When I first heard of the Eclipse, I was told by someone who has had an impeccable record of aeronautical design about their limited empirical wind tunnel testing (up in Oregon) and their lack of understanding of trans-sonic transitional flow over certain parts of the aircraft wind-screen, etc. That was the beginning of further investigation.
Then there were the “claims” of success, coupled with the funds held in escrow, and released after the first “failed” flight tests . . . and from then on, I knew that we were dealing with a major scam. As someone has said, “This isn’t rocket surgery!” . . . (I love that expression.)
Well, that led to undersized landing gear and “brakes”, with an “obese” gain in GTOW. And then, with contacts with the local shops, who had more enthusiasm to gain a major customer, than their knowledge of simple aerodynamics, etc., I realized that the local economy was in deep doo-doo.
Let’s step in, here . . . and start a conversation. What have we learned and observed over the past few years? For my part, I’ll attempt to break the ice, and maybe get something going.
When I first heard of the Eclipse, I was told by someone who has had an impeccable record of aeronautical design about their limited empirical wind tunnel testing (up in Oregon) and their lack of understanding of trans-sonic transitional flow over certain parts of the aircraft wind-screen, etc. That was the beginning of further investigation.
Then there were the “claims” of success, coupled with the funds held in escrow, and released after the first “failed” flight tests . . . and from then on, I knew that we were dealing with a major scam. As someone has said, “This isn’t rocket surgery!” . . . (I love that expression.)
Well, that led to undersized landing gear and “brakes”, with an “obese” gain in GTOW. And then, with contacts with the local shops, who had more enthusiasm to gain a major customer, than their knowledge of simple aerodynamics, etc., I realized that the local economy was in deep doo-doo.
Let’s step in, here . . . and start a conversation. What have we learned and observed over the past few years? For my part, I’ll attempt to break the ice, and maybe get something going.
When I first heard of the Eclipse, I was told by someone who has had an impeccable record of aeronautical design about their limited empirical wind tunnel testing (up in Oregon) and their lack of understanding of trans-sonic transitional flow over certain parts of the aircraft wind-screen, etc. That was the beginning of further investigation.
Then there were the “claims” of success, coupled with the funds held in escrow, and released after the first “failed” flight tests . . . and from then on, I knew that we were dealing with a major scam. As someone has said, “This isn’t rocket surgery!” . . . (I love that expression.)
Well, that led to undersized landing gear and “brakes”, with an “obese” gain in GTOW. And then, with contacts with the local shops, who had more enthusiasm to gain a major customer, than their knowledge of simple aerodynamics, etc., I realized that the local economy was in deep doo-doo.
I suddenly feel like Dorothy saying good-bye to my best friends in Oz.
Flight test: Eclipse 500 starts to fulfil its promise
Posted By Rohit Jaggi, Financial Times
This article was posted at www.atx.com (air taxi).
M&M - or only M? - are trying to revive the fpj production in a more realistic manner? Jaggi set some question marks!
Anyhow Daher-Socata is checking the SPN concept of the former Grob aerospace company. The test planes are in southern France.
But where are the markets for these planes?
Julius
Well, some quick updates.
I remain very busy although not on planes below 100,000 lbs unless I am flying.
In fact, my lovely daughter and I will be making a ruyn to Flo's at Chino this weekend and will be making a fun 3-state cross-country weekend trip in a C-182 in a few weeks - I had not flown much in the last few years and this is a nice return.
I hear through the grapevine that new Eclipse is doing OK and I am, for once, happy to have been wrong about the prospects.
The industry is in bad shape, everywhere here in the US at least where our version of corporate welfare pales in comparison to the subsidies enjoyed by nearly all of the companies we have to compete with - Wichita, LA, Mesa, St Louis, etc., all have awful unemployment - and the once promising new programs have slowed significantly - companies that once could do no wrong now seem to be unable to do anything right - despite the heroic efforts of many within and without.
And yet, we now have a multi-page blog posting, even if it is a bit old and even if it seems Phil is otherwise indisposed.
I am critical of many things within the professional aviation world, but I am hopelessly enthusiastic about my own aviation activities. My daughter is now 14 and I suspect will want to join me flying both RC and full-size aircraft soon.
What I did over my summer vacation...
Never mind that- we're back on track for weekly updates.
I hope everyone is having a nice summer too.
according to the news, there's some stir about whether unemployment benefits will be extended.
Let's hope things turn around soon and that will become a moot point.
Here's best wishes that folks will be back to work soon, either within aviation, as that is most people's preference I believe; or otherwise at some suitable alternative.
A bill to provide medical benefits and compensation for emergency workers who were first on the scene of the September 11, 2001, terror attacks won approval Wednesday from the U.S. House.
The measure passed on a mostly partisan 268-160 vote. The Senate has yet to take up the issue.
Republicans had complained the $7.4 billion price was too high, while Democrats said the government had an obligation to help the first responders to the deadliest terrorism attack in U.S. history.
The James Zadroga 9/11 Health Bill -- named after a deceased New York Police Department detective -- seeks to provide free medical coverage for responders and survivors who were exposed to toxins after the attacks.
A coroner linked Zadroga's death in January 2006 to respiratory failure caused by his work in the toxic plume at ground zero. Zadroga was 34.
A man captured in Afghanistan has tipped off investigators to a potential "Mumbai-style" terror plot in Europe, a German counterterror source said Wednesday.
Investigators believe al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden signed off on a European attack plan, a separate law enforcement source said.
The potential plot is one reason for a dramatic increase in the number of missile strikes by unmanned drones against terrorist targets in Pakistan, according to a U.S. official.
The number of suspected U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan jumped to 20 this month -- more than in any previous month and twice the monthly average, according to a CNN estimate based on information from Pakistani officials.
A federal law enforcement official in the United States, meanwhile, said "the volume seems to be turned up" on the threat information coming out of Europe.
The intelligence indicates there is interest in using people with Western passports in an attack, that official said. The official said the potential operatives may be a mix of Europeans and others, possibly including North Africans, Pakistanis, Turks, Uzbeks, and Tajiks.
The man who described a potential attack, Ahmed Sidiqi, was detained in Kabul, Afghanistan, in July and transferred to U.S. custody, the German official said.
Sidiqi, a German of Afghan descent, attended the same Hamburg mosque as Mohammad Atta -- a leader of the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States -- and was part of Atta's circle, the official said.
The man in custody has "revealed details about the terror plot," said the official, who did not want to be named because he is not authorized to talk to the media.
Germany's Interior Ministry said Wednesday that authorities are aware of recent published reports about planned terror attacks in Europe and are analyzing the intelligence information.
"Presently this has produced no concrete indications of directly imminent attacks in Germany. The current accounts do not lead to a change in [our] assessment of danger," the ministry said.
Janet Napolitano, the U.S. secretary of homeland security, declined to say Wednesday whether there was concrete information about a plan to attack the United States.
"There are constantly threats of all types that we need to be able to be proactive against, and be proactive even when there aren't specific threats," she told CNN's "American Morning."
Sidiqi, the man who was captured, traveled with several other Germans from Hamburg, Germany, to the Afghan-Pakistan border area in 2009, where he joined the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, an extremist group allied with al Qaeda, German intelligence officials said.
One he was captured, Sidiqi "started to talk a lot" and detailed a "Mumbai-style" attack in Europe, the German official said.
Sidiqi is from Hamburg, where he worked for a cleaning company at the Hamburg international airport, the German official said.
He attended the Masjid Taiba mosque, formerly known as the Al-Quds mosque, in Hamburg, which became known as the meeting place of those behind the September 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington.
Some folks at the Hacker publication 2600 decided to compile a list of words that are restricted by Google Instant.
Except in extreme and special cases, Google is known for anything but censorship, but as we've said before, there are some terms the web giant's new instant search feature won't work with.
We understand Google's intentions; the team over there is trying to make sure that no one sees pornographic or violent results they might fight disturbing unless they really mean to search for them. When asked about this feature a few weeks ago, Google's Johanna Wright said the restrictions are in place to protect children.
But Google has opened itself up to a potential PR problem, because some of these omissions will be at best bewildering and at worst offensive to particularly sensitive (or progressive) users who don't understand how Google Instant actually works.
For example, "bisexual" and "lesbian" are among the restricted words. Type them in to Google and the instant search will immediately stop delivering new results. You have to hit enter to confirm, yes, you really do want to know about something in some way related to bisexuals or lesbians.
A teenage boy died and five others were missing in Jamaica after a house was washed away by a storm system that dumped at least 8 inches of rain on portions of the island, authorities said.
At least another two people are believed missing, said Richard Thompson, deputy director general of the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management.
The tropical depression, which moved over central Cuba, became Tropical Storm Nicole Wednesday -- a system that was making its way to Florida, where it may skirt the southeast coast but drop heavy rainfall.
The house collapsed into a gully in Kingston, in the Barbican-Liguanea neighborhood, Thompson said.
Authorities received widespread reports of flooding and damaged roads, homes and bridges.
Officials will get a better assessment when the weather improves, said Thompson, adding this was the worst storm in Jamaica since Hurricane Gustav in 2008.
"The drainage system has been overwhelmed," he said. Some areas have been cut off by landslides, Thompson said.
CNN iReporter Daniel Brown said a couple of houses in Kingston collapsed from all the rain and mudslides.
Brown, 34, said Wednesday it had been raining steadily on Jamaica since Sunday.
A tropical storm warning was in effect for the Cayman Islands, the provinces of Cuba from Matanzas east to Ciego De Avila, and northwestern and central Bahamas, the National Hurricane Center said. Tropical storm warnings and watches for Florida have been discontinued.
Five to 10 inches of rain are expected for the Cayman Islands, Jamaica and Cuba, and isolated amounts of 20 inches are possible in higher elevations in Cuba and Jamaica. The rains could produce "life-threatening flash floods and mudslides," forecasters said.
A teenage boy died and five others were missing in Jamaica after a house was washed away by a storm system that dumped at least 8 inches of rain on portions of the island, authorities said.
At least another two people are believed missing, said Richard Thompson, deputy director general of the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management.
The tropical depression, which moved over central Cuba, became Tropical Storm Nicole Wednesday -- a system that was making its way to Florida, where it may skirt the southeast coast but drop heavy rainfall.
The house collapsed into a gully in Kingston, in the Barbican-Liguanea neighborhood, Thompson said.
Authorities received widespread reports of flooding and damaged roads, homes and bridges.
Officials will get a better assessment when the weather improves, said Thompson, adding this was the worst storm in Jamaica since Hurricane Gustav in 2008.
"The drainage system has been overwhelmed," he said. Some areas have been cut off by landslides, Thompson said.
CNN iReporter Daniel Brown said a couple of houses in Kingston collapsed from all the rain and mudslides.
Brown, 34, said Wednesday it had been raining steadily on Jamaica since Sunday.
A tropical storm warning was in effect for the Cayman Islands, the provinces of Cuba from Matanzas east to Ciego De Avila, and northwestern and central Bahamas, the National Hurricane Center said. Tropical storm warnings and watches for Florida have been discontinued.
Five to 10 inches of rain are expected for the Cayman Islands, Jamaica and Cuba, and isolated amounts of 20 inches are possible in higher elevations in Cuba and Jamaica. The rains could produce "life-threatening flash floods and mudslides," forecasters said.
I suddenly feel like Dorothy saying good-bye to my best friends in Oz.
I take it the last comment is the real Gad? Is this thing a spambot as opposed to an individual?
Sorry I have been out of touch for some time now. I simply no longer have the time or inclination to proceed further with the blog. Life has taken many twists and turns. Besides, it looks to have lost the need to live on. So, with regrets, I bid you all farewell. It's been a great run, and thanks to all that have tread here.
Phil,
Thank YOU. You've done yeoman work on the blog, even though it is a mostly thankless task. Through your hard work, we've been enlightened and entertained.
Best of luck in all your future endeavors.
Ron
Add my kudos to Phil. He was and is a gentlemen, and gave it a great effort.
I do still think there are things in aviation worth discussing, and the blog has (had) a very diverse group with a wide range of perspectives and experience.
It would be great if someone could pick up the mantle.
Phil,
WTF? Okay, I will be the one to wave my used tampon in the air in protest. Such a 180-degree change of heart is hard to swallow with such a brief post at 4:41am. Dare I say it, but I will: I think you owe all of us a bit more of an explanation.
I hope that all is well with you personally and your family, that nothing on that side of the equation affected your decision. I only wish to understand your decision to abandon and give up this blog....
e.d.t.
"I do still think there are things in aviation worth discussing, and the blog has (had) a very diverse group with a wide range of perspectives and experience."
No_Skids,
I agree. It would be nice to change to more of a user driven forum as opposed to host driven which would take less maintenance for a host.
Some of you know that I'm a longtime COPA member. I like the Community Server format that the site uses (www.cirruspilots.org) because, while I understand the attraction of the free-streaming format that Blogger uses, it tends to really fragment topics. With Community Server, for example, a single forum could be dedicated to industry employment issues like layoffs (which have been a recurring theme here). Six months down the road, the posts/threads are still there for people to easily find and add to.
I say user driven because a major blog post by a host wouldn't kick off a thread. Anybody would be free to start their own topic in the appropriate forum. An example would be a VLJ forum. If some new news pops up about the Diamond D-Jet, post it there. Argue about it for a while ;-), and if some more news comes out whatever amount of time later, it can just be added to that thread if directly relevant, or as a new thread in the VLJ forum.
Gad could even have his own thread in one of the forums ("off-topic?" ;-)) that he adds to on a regular basis (although, IIRC, he's pulling back from posting much). For those that aren't interested in that stuff (just using it as an example), it wouldn't show up in the threads that somebody happened to be interested in. Just an easy way to organize information a bit. People can go directly to what they like to read and talk about.
Anyway, just rambling about a possibility.
Color me embarrassed. My farewell to Phil may have been premature. It seems that the most recent post from "Phil Bell" is actually from an impostor, just as many 'gadfly' posts have of late come from someone other than the real gad.
On many web browsers, if you put the mouse cursor over the poster's name at the top of the post, the browser will show the contents of the link. It should show something like "www.blogger.com/profile/xxxxxx", where "xxxxxx" is a very long number. That number uniquely identifies the poster. Comparing the number from the goodbye post to a known good Phil Bell post shows that the number is not the same.
It would appear that some person or persons is/are trying to undermine this blog by posting under other users' names.
Vern?
In public, Rouse never took any victory laps after playing such a pivotal role in helping to get Obama elected as the nation's first African-American president. He simply went back to work, this time as a senior adviser in the White House, with little fanfare -- a perfect fit with the "No Drama Obama" style we came to know during the campaign.
Drama, of course, is Emanuel's middle name. He's loud and rarely shy about being quoted in the media -- either named or unnamed -- in stories highlighting his vast influence over the Obama agenda.
While there were some people inside the White House who privately chafed at that approach, the fact is there's no denying that Emanuel's efforts have brought Obama major successes in the first two years of the administration.
I remember being in Chicago, Illinois, almost exactly two years ago, right after the 2008 presidential election, and I remember Obama immediately pouncing on the opportunity to try and woo Emanuel into leaving his seat in the House of Representatives to become his chief of staff.
Emanuel confided in me and others at the time that he was severely conflicted because he really wanted to stay in the House and become the first Jewish speaker of the House someday. But Obama was tugging him in the other direction with another piece of history, the opportunity to steer the country back on course with once-in-a-generation policy changes like the $787 billion stimulus and landmark health care reform.
Admittedly the jury is still out on the Obama-Emanuel "Big Bang" approach to governing, that the severity of the financial crisis demanded swift, bold and unprecedented action. There are Republicans who believes they far overstepped their mandate, while there are Democrats who agree with the policies but are privately waiting to see the Nov. 2 midterm election results before they're willing to say whether the approach made sense politically.
Emanuel jumped at the chance to be running the White House at such a pivotal time, and he never looked back much on the decision to bolt the House. And his approach has been at least partly vindicated with a series of legislative victories that most presidents would love to have for the history books.
In public, Rouse never took any victory laps after playing such a pivotal role in helping to get Obama elected as the nation's first African-American president. He simply went back to work, this time as a senior adviser in the White House, with little fanfare -- a perfect fit with the "No Drama Obama" style we came to know during the campaign.
Drama, of course, is Emanuel's middle name. He's loud and rarely shy about being quoted in the media -- either named or unnamed -- in stories highlighting his vast influence over the Obama agenda.
While there were some people inside the White House who privately chafed at that approach, the fact is there's no denying that Emanuel's efforts have brought Obama major successes in the first two years of the administration.
I remember being in Chicago, Illinois, almost exactly two years ago, right after the 2008 presidential election, and I remember Obama immediately pouncing on the opportunity to try and woo Emanuel into leaving his seat in the House of Representatives to become his chief of staff.
Emanuel confided in me and others at the time that he was severely conflicted because he really wanted to stay in the House and become the first Jewish speaker of the House someday. But Obama was tugging him in the other direction with another piece of history, the opportunity to steer the country back on course with once-in-a-generation policy changes like the $787 billion stimulus and landmark health care reform.
Admittedly the jury is still out on the Obama-Emanuel "Big Bang" approach to governing, that the severity of the financial crisis demanded swift, bold and unprecedented action. There are Republicans who believes they far overstepped their mandate, while there are Democrats who agree with the policies but are privately waiting to see the Nov. 2 midterm election results before they're willing to say whether the approach made sense politically.
Emanuel jumped at the chance to be running the White House at such a pivotal time, and he never looked back much on the decision to bolt the House. And his approach has been at least partly vindicated with a series of legislative victories that most presidents would love to have for the history books.
In public, Rouse never took any victory laps after playing such a pivotal role in helping to get Obama elected as the nation's first African-American president. He simply went back to work, this time as a senior adviser in the White House, with little fanfare -- a perfect fit with the "No Drama Obama" style we came to know during the campaign.
Drama, of course, is Emanuel's middle name. He's loud and rarely shy about being quoted in the media -- either named or unnamed -- in stories highlighting his vast influence over the Obama agenda.
While there were some people inside the White House who privately chafed at that approach, the fact is there's no denying that Emanuel's efforts have brought Obama major successes in the first two years of the administration.
I remember being in Chicago, Illinois, almost exactly two years ago, right after the 2008 presidential election, and I remember Obama immediately pouncing on the opportunity to try and woo Emanuel into leaving his seat in the House of Representatives to become his chief of staff.
Emanuel confided in me and others at the time that he was severely conflicted because he really wanted to stay in the House and become the first Jewish speaker of the House someday. But Obama was tugging him in the other direction with another piece of history, the opportunity to steer the country back on course with once-in-a-generation policy changes like the $787 billion stimulus and landmark health care reform.
Admittedly the jury is still out on the Obama-Emanuel "Big Bang" approach to governing, that the severity of the financial crisis demanded swift, bold and unprecedented action. There are Republicans who believes they far overstepped their mandate, while there are Democrats who agree with the policies but are privately waiting to see the Nov. 2 midterm election results before they're willing to say whether the approach made sense politically.
"I think his leadership, his energy has helped us accomplish so much in helping our economy recover," White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said. "In passing landmark Wall Street reform, health care reform, credit card reform, student loan reform ... there is not an important thing that has happened in this administration that we've been able to accomplish for the American people that has not involved heavily his signature."
Nevertheless, there are senior people in the Democratic Party who privately believe that Emanuel's win-at-all-costs mentality is perfect for the rough and tumble world of Chicago politics, but it is not the best long-term approach for the president as he tries to bring the country together heading into his 2012 re-election battle.
That's why there is a feeling among some top Democrats that Rouse may wind up being more than just an interim White House chief of staff.
According to this theory, a couple of months of Rouse on the job may show the president that for all of Emanuel's successes, a more low-key manner may be the best way to approach the next two years with either a Republican Congress or a severely weakened Democratic Congress.
Think of Erskine Bowles, the equally quiet and self-effacing White House chief of staff who helped President Clinton forge some legislative victories, such as a balanced budget, with a hostile Republican Congress.
Rouse's fans note to me that he spent a few decades as a powerful staffer on Capitol Hill, and was known as the "101st Senator" during his days as top aide to then-Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-South Dakota, because of his quiet influence behind the scenes. He became known for sharp political instincts, fierce loyalty and absolute discretion on sensitive matters.
Police across South America have arrested more than 600 people and confiscated goods worth more than $50 million as part of a six-month effort to crack down on trade in counterfeit products, the international police organization Interpol said Friday.
The arrests come from more than 300 raids in 13 countries and the counterfeit goods ranged from soft drinks to car parts, the agency said.
Also seized were counterfeit toys that posed a health hazard to children, Interpol said.
“INTERPOL will continue to work with all of our member countries to target and dismantle the organized crime gangs behind counterfeits and fakes which not only pose a significant threat to the health and safety of consumers, but also effects national economies which during these times of global financial crisis can have even more serious consequences,” said Roberto Manriquez, project manager for Operation Jupiter, which was launched in 2005 by Interpol’s Intellectual Property Rights program. This was the fifth series of raids conducted under Operation Jupiter.
Authorities in Nigeria have recovered 15 schoolchildren who were snatched by kidnappers earlier this week, a police spokesman said Friday.
The children were rescued by police late Thursday in southeastern Nigeria's Abia state, according to Yeni Ajayi, a deputy National Police spokesman. He added that the four gunmen holding them escaped.
The gunmen boarded a school bus carrying the nursery and elementary school children from Abayi International School on Monday and took them away.
There were questions as to whether the children were foreigners because they attended the international school.
The kidnappers contacted the children's school, located near the city of Aba and demanded 20 million naira -- around $130,000.
Just after the incident, authorities said the bus driver and the school teacher who were on board were in police custody and helping security forces.
Abia state is often referred to as the "kidnapping capital" of Nigeria since abductions occur there on a weekly basis.
Schools, banks and businesses have closed in the area because of the rampant insecurity and dangers posed by kidnappers.
Nigeria's President Goodluck Jonathan has condemned what he calls "utterly callous and cruel kidnapping" and ordered the Inspector-General of Police and heads of other security agencies "to take all necessary steps to rescue the abducted children and return them safely to their parents."
But many such promises have been made in the past and insecurity in Abia has only worsened.
Midterm elections are just 32 days away, but many are already talking about the presidential race in 2012.
Former Bush White House chief of staff Andy Card had a few predictions for how the race may shake out - including a possible President Obama-Hillary Clinton ticket.
"[It] wouldn't surprise me if she became the vice presidential nominee. And the vice president [Biden] became the Secretary of State," Card said on CNN's American Morning. "That would shake things up."
Card's prediction came a day after a new Gallup Poll showed Obama would beat Clinton in a Democratic primary rematch. Talk of a potential Obama-Clinton ticket has been floating around political circles over the last several months, though neither Biden or Clinton have suggested they are interested in switching jobs.
What made Rutgers University freshman Tyler Clementi jump off of a bridge to his death?
Was it to escape utter panic and humiliation after his roommate, Dharun Ravi, 18, allegedly set up spy cameras in his dorm room, went to fellow freshman Molly Wei's room and fired up the livestream recording of Clementi making out with another young man, as the Middlesex County prosecutor has charged?
The video was distributed over the social networking site Twitter. A life destroyed after a "prank" that seemed to be seething with homophobia.
Tyler Clementi's story may be high-profile because of the circumstances of the alleged bullying, but the fate of this young man is not a solitary incident. This parents' nightmare is repeated around the country as our society grapples with Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender (LGBT) youth coming out at earlier ages -- and being visible from grade school to college.
Tens of thousands of low-income workers lost their jobs Thursday as a stimulus-subsidized employment program came to an end.
About a quarter of a million people in 37 states were placed in short-term jobs thanks to a $5 billion boost to the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. States used about $1 billion to provide subsidized employment, with the remaining funds going to cash grants, food programs, housing assistance and other aid.
* 90
*
*
* Email
* Print
* Comment
About half the jobs were summer employment for youth and the rest were for disadvantaged parents. Each state configured its initiative differently. Some covered all the workers' wages for a few months, while others paid for a portion of their salary.
With the program expiring, many of the adults have been told not to report to work anymore. And it won't be easy for them to find a new position at time when the unemployment rate continues to hover at 9.6%
"They are just joining the millions of other people looking for permanent work," said Elizabeth Lower-Basch, senior policy analyst at the Center for Law and Social Policy, an advocacy group known as CLASP.
As a young sailor standing helmsman/planesman duties on the Alexander Hamilton, it was my turn to do the morning report. The normal wording of course is,"Good morning Captain, the officer of the deck sends his respects and reports the hour of 0800. All chronometers have been wound and compared and presents the following reports."
The power of suggestion is a powerful weapon and the control room party had been saying part of the report should be "all clocks have been found and wound". That's what I said and the CO's reply was, "Very well son, dismissed."
Back in the control room all was normal. I hadn't said anything and the CO walks in and says to the Diving Officer, "COB, next time the clocks need to be found and wound you will assist the quartermaster!"
The control room was in an uproar and the COB red.
While serving on the USS JALLAO SS-368 (1/58-9/60), I was the bridge phone talker during the maneuvering watch. Sometime in the spring of 1958 while under command of - I think his name was Carnavan (prior to that he was exec on the Skipjack) - we were returning from a month at sea.
As you know everyone is anxious to get home and as we were coming up the river to Groton, Connecticut, we saw three "river boats" i.e. out in the a.m. - back in the p.m - lying to just south of the railroad trestle. There was a train on the bridge so they couldn't raise it to let us pass.
To make a long story short, the Captain continued by the other boats at reduced speed, secured the anchor detail, and sent the engineering officer below to the hydraulic manifold. He then proceeded to cycle the vents repeatedly until the deck was awash. He had all masts lowered, sent the exec to the top of the sail to check the clearance and pretty as you please, we sailed under the bridge with about a foot of clearance. By this time the crews of the other boats and the Fulton (sub-tender) at the state pier were lining the decks in disbelief.
We beat everyone in by at least two hours and needless to say we would have followed that skipper to hell. I never did thank him for making us proud so I hope he sees this.
RonRoe
Thank you, very much, for your information. I did what you said . . . “right click” on a blogger’s “pseudonym”, . . . discovered my own “ID” (ending with ‘9941') and the “ID” of this new blogger, who has far too much time on his hands (ending with ‘9517').
Regardless, the original gadfly has flown . . . someone else will have to deal with the other, who evidently needs professional help.
. . . buzzing off!
gadfly
('Sorry, '9517, but don't have time to read the stories of a sick mind.)
RonRoe,
It would appear that some person or persons is/are trying to undermine this blog by posting under other users' names.
thanks a lot for your hint!
Even if one compares the profile of Phil and that of "Phil Bell": big difference....
Honda made the "power on" step with their bird - just to deliver the first birds for the recovering GA market!
Julius
Bruce J. Schick has done a singular job of writing a personal narrative of his submarine experiences. Two aspects of his book, "Whale's Tales" set it apart from other submarine stories.
1. It is written in a sort-of, submariner's shorthand. When reading "Whale's Tales" one gets the feeling that it's a submarine log or notes from the chief of the boat that have been posted in the crew's mess. Each sentence is as sharp as a 9-H pencil and packed with humor and insight.
2. The narrative is exceptionally revealing. Bruce has pulled no punches in letting his ups and downs in submarines be known to the world. It takes a self-assured man to be so candid about the hidden stresses of serving as an officer in submarines. Not all went well for Bruce in his Navy career, but he comes out swinging in the defense of leadership principles that put the crew ahead of petty politics.
Have you ever wondered what it's like to be the captain of a submarine? Bruce tells it like it was when he refused to compromise his boat for the Navy careers of those above him. Most of us think that a captain enjoys a life of answering to no one, but "Whale's Tales" tells a different story. Being the skipper of Clamagore was a pressure-cooker of keeping everyone happy while ensuring the safety of the crew.
Shenanigans aboard the Irex were about as extreme as they come and Bruce describes some of the better moments such as water skiing from the stern of the submarine doing 27 knots off Naples, Italy while topless ladies cheer and wave. Crazy stuff is a part of every submariner's memories and this book will strike a cord of familiarity in every one of you.
In fairness to all you nuclear power guys it has to be said that Bruce wasn't a nuke. After his interview with Rickover both the Admiral and he decided diesels were better suited to Bruce's free-wheeling attitude toward life.
Every know an admiral's aid? Sometimes they're called flag lieutenants, but the reality is that its a job totally dependent on the whims and good will of the admiral. Luckily for Bruce his boos was one of the good ones who tolerated Bruce's occasional screw-ups.
The man at the center of an alleged al Qaeda plot to bomb cities in Europe has told investigators the conspiracy was directed by one of the organization's most senior figures, according to European intelligence officials.
Ahmed Sidiqi, an Afghan German, was detained in Kabul in July and has since been questioned at the United States' Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan, the officials say. They say he has told interrogators that while in the tribal areas of Pakistan he met with a senior Al Qaeda leader, Younis al Mauretani, who was planning multiple attacks on European countries that would be similar to the attack on Mumbai, India, in 2008.
Little is known about Mauretani, but he is thought to be from North Africa and involved with al Qaeda's "external operations." He is thought to be in the tribal areas on the Pakistan/Afghan border.
German European intelligence officials say Sidiqi has revealed that Mauretani planned to come to Europe with two other Germans to prepare the attacks. The two Germans were part of the group Sidiqi traveled with from Hamburg in the spring of 2009.
A Texas judge is set to consider whether a man who was executed for setting a fire that killed his children was wrongly convicted on what his supporters call "junk science."
State District Judge Charles Baird granted a request from Cameron Todd Willingham's family for a hearing to investigate whether he was wrongfully convicted using flawed science. The family's petition, filed September 24 in Travis County, also asks the court to examine whether the state failed to adequately consider potentially exculpatory evidence before putting Willingham to death in 2004.
The lawsuit asks the court to repair Willingham's reputation by issuing a declaration that he was wrongfully convicted and to examine whether state officials committed official oppression in their handling of his appeals.
"Mr. Willingham's case, though tragic, is not unique. Rather, it exemplifies the systematic flaws in Texas' clemency process and habeas procedures that is proper for the Court of Inquiry to investigate," the petition states.
The closely watched case has been the subject of three independent reviews that have concluded the fire should not have been ruled arson. The most recent one, which was ordered by the Texas Forensic Science Commission, ruled in July that investigators used science available to them at the time, even though it was flawed.
Baird set the hearing for Wednesday and Thursday in 299th District Court in Austin, but a motion seeking the judge's recusal may postpone the proceeding.
After deliberating for about four hours over two days, a jury Tuesday convicted a 47-year-old man of capital murder in the deaths of three members of a Connecticut family in a 2007 home invasion.
Steven Hayes was convicted on 16 of the 17 charges against him in connection with the deaths of Jennifer Hawke-Petit and her two daughters, including nine counts of murder and capital murder and four counts of kidnapping. The jurors acquitted him of an arson charge in the burning of the family's home.
As the verdicts were read, Hayes stood at the defense table, looking down. Some members of the Petit family embraced, while others seemed close to tears.
The killings took place in the New Haven suburb of Cheshire early on July 23, 2007. The home of Dr. William Petit, his wife, Hawke-Petit, and their two daughters was invaded in the middle of the night by Hayes and co-defendant Joshua Komisarjevsky, prosecutors say. Komisarjevsky will be tried separately.
"There is some relief, but my family is still gone," Petit told reporters after the verdict. "It doesn't bring them back. It doesn't bring back the home that we had."
From BA Weekly
ECLIPSE AEROSPACE EA500 airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2010-0691; Directorate Identifier 2010-CE-027-AD; Amendment 39-16459; AD 2010-20-24] – Modify the electronic flight information system and the airplane flight manuals. This AD was issued to correct faulty integration of hardware and software, which could result in unannunciated, uncommanded changes in communications radio frequency, transponder codes and altitude preselect settings. These uncommanded changes could result in loss of communication with air traffic control, autopilot level off at the incorrect altitude, or air traffic control loss of proper tracking of the aircraft. FAA estimates that this AD will affect 168 airplanes on the U.S. Registry and cost U.S. operators up to $1,670 to perform the electronic flight instrument system software update to Version 1.3, and $249,950 to upgrade the avionics to the AVIO NG + 1.5 configuration. This directive is effective Nov. 9. For more information, contact Eric Kinney, Aerospace Engineer, Fort Worth Aircraft Certification Office, FAA, 2601 Meacham Blvd., Fort Worth, 76137; phone: (817) 222-5459; fax: (817) 222-5960; e-mail: eric.kinney@faa.gov.
and...
Former Eclipse Aviation executive Michael McConnell has joined Raisbeck Engineering as president. McConnell formerly held a number of executive positions with Eclipse, including vice president of customer experience, vice president of marketing and sales, and president and general manager of the Customer Division. He also has served as senior vice president of strategic planning for Mooney Aircraft and formerly served with Dell Computers. “Mike is a proven aerospace industry veteran who has helped companies realize their full potential through his leadership of sales, marketing and customer relationships,” says Raisbeck founder and CEO James Raisbeck. “He will lead our company’s continued growth with a focus on our customers, our dealers, our OEMs and our products.”
Steel tubing has begun to be placed to reinforce the path that connects the 33 miners trapped in Chile to the surface, the final step before the extraction of the miners can begin, Mining Minister Laurence Golborne said Sunday.
Three of the tubes are already in place, he said. About 15 or 16 tubes will be placed in total.
"We are expecting no major problems," Golborne said
If all goes according to plan, the first of the miners could be pulled from the mine by Wednesday, he said. But the health and safety of the miners remained the top priority, he added.
Given their circumstances, the miners, who have been trapped since August 5, are in "very good" health, Health Minister Jaime Manalich said. Their spirits also remain high, he said.
When he told the miners through video conference that they would have to choose an order to be rescued in, there was no shortage of volunteers to go last, Manalich said.
"They continue to have an admirable attitude," he said.
The last six hours before the rescue starts, the miners will be switched over to a liquid diet and vitamins ahead of their trip to the surface.
Residents were evacuated and soldiers were on standby Sunday as authorities believe a damaged reservoir wall may unleash a second wave of toxic sludge onto a Hungarian village, an official said.
The cracked wall is expected to collapse, Gyorgi Tottos, spokeswoman for Hungary's Catastrophe Protection Directorate, told CNN Sunday. "We know that it will happen," she said, although when is unknown.
Some 8,000 people have been evacuated from the village of Kolontar, leaving it essentially empty, she said. Hundreds of soldiers were at the ready to rescue inhabitants of a nearby village when the wall collapses.
A 50-cm (19-inch) crack has developed in the wall of the aluminum plant reservoir. If the wall collapses, 500,000 cubic meters of toxic red sludge could spill out. That's about half the amount that spilled on Monday, inundating Kolontar and two other villages. Seven people were killed and more than 100 injured.
Video: Toxic sludge coats neighborhood
Video: How to clean up toxic sludge
Video: Toxic sludge reaches the Danube River
Video: Toxic mud sweeps away cars
Map: Danube in danger's path
RELATED TOPICS
* Hungary
* Nature and the Environment
Hungary's state-owned MTI news agency quoted Zoltan Illes, state secretary of environment, as saying the damaged wall could not be saved. Specialists had tried to reinforce the wall on Saturday.
Attempting to advance his nation's peace progress with insurgents, Afghan President Hamid Karzai said unofficial negotiations with the Taliban have been taking place and hopes the formation of a peace council will further those efforts.
"We have been talking to the Taliban as countryman to countryman, talk in that manner," Karzai told CNN's "Larry King Live" in an interview scheduled to air Monday night. "Not as a regular official contact with the Taliban with a fixed address, but rather unofficial personal contacts have been going on for quite some time."
In excerpts of the interview released Sunday, Karzai also spoke on the High Peace Council, an initiative headed by former Afghan President Buhanuddin Rabbani and tasked with boosting negotiations with Taliban insurgents.
"The Taliban, those of whom who are Afghans and the sons of Afghan soil, who have been driven to violence by various factors beyond their control and beyond ours caused by circumstances in Afghanistan, we want them to come back to their country," Karzai said. "They are like kids who have run away ... from the family. The family should try to bring them back and give them better discipline and incorporate them back into their family and society. President Rabbani assuming chairmanship today of the peace council is exactly in that spirit."
However, the Afghan government will work against groups like al Qaeda, he said. "But those who are a part of al Qaeda and the other terrorist networks who are ideologically against us or who are working against Afghanistan knowingly and out of the purpose of hatred and enmity -- those of course we have to work against. Whether they are against Afghanistan or whether they are al Qaeda and the terrorist war against the United States or our neighbors in Pakistan, those of course cannot be accepted."
Video: Talking with the Taliban
RELATED TOPICS
* Afghan Politics
* Hamid Karzai
* The Taliban
* Terrorism
Karzai's remarks about the unofficial contacts with the Taliban came when the president was asked about a Washington Post report that secret high-level talks between the government and the Taliban were underway.
"Now that the peace council has come into existence, these talks will go on, and will go on officially and more rigorously, I hope," Karzai said.
The Afghan president denied a report that he has been diagnosed as manic-depressive in a book by veteran Washington journalist Bob Woodward. In his book "Obama's Wars," Woodward cited U.S. intelligence reports. "He's on his meds; he's off his meds," Woodward quoted U.S. Ambassador Karl Eikenberry as saying about Karzai.
"The only medication that I have taken is an antibiotic called Augmentin," when suffering from a cold two years ago, Karzai told King. He said from time to time, he also takes vitamin C, multivitamins and Tylenol, "when I have a headache or when I'm tired."
He denied being manic-depressive, calling the story "rather funny."
Asked about the planned drawdown of U.S. troops in Afghanistan next summer, and relations with President Barack Obama, Karzai said, "Relations with President Obama are very good" and the two are in regular contact and had a video conference about five days ago.
"The relation with the U.S. government is generally good," he said. "There is a strategic relationship between us, partnerships toward an objective -- that's security for us and security for the United States and the rest of the world."
Attempting to advance his nation's peace progress with insurgents, Afghan President Hamid Karzai said unofficial negotiations with the Taliban have been taking place and hopes the formation of a peace council will further those efforts.
"We have been talking to the Taliban as countryman to countryman, talk in that manner," Karzai told CNN's "Larry King Live" in an interview scheduled to air Monday night. "Not as a regular official contact with the Taliban with a fixed address, but rather unofficial personal contacts have been going on for quite some time."
In excerpts of the interview released Sunday, Karzai also spoke on the High Peace Council, an initiative headed by former Afghan President Buhanuddin Rabbani and tasked with boosting negotiations with Taliban insurgents.
"The Taliban, those of whom who are Afghans and the sons of Afghan soil, who have been driven to violence by various factors beyond their control and beyond ours caused by circumstances in Afghanistan, we want them to come back to their country," Karzai said. "They are like kids who have run away ... from the family. The family should try to bring them back and give them better discipline and incorporate them back into their family and society. President Rabbani assuming chairmanship today of the peace council is exactly in that spirit."
However, the Afghan government will work against groups like al Qaeda, he said. "But those who are a part of al Qaeda and the other terrorist networks who are ideologically against us or who are working against Afghanistan knowingly and out of the purpose of hatred and enmity -- those of course we have to work against. Whether they are against Afghanistan or whether they are al Qaeda and the terrorist war against the United States or our neighbors in Pakistan, those of course cannot be accepted."
Video: Talking with the Taliban
RELATED TOPICS
* Afghan Politics
* Hamid Karzai
* The Taliban
* Terrorism
Karzai's remarks about the unofficial contacts with the Taliban came when the president was asked about a Washington Post report that secret high-level talks between the government and the Taliban were underway.
"Now that the peace council has come into existence, these talks will go on, and will go on officially and more rigorously, I hope," Karzai said.
The Afghan president denied a report that he has been diagnosed as manic-depressive in a book by veteran Washington journalist Bob Woodward. In his book "Obama's Wars," Woodward cited U.S. intelligence reports. "He's on his meds; he's off his meds," Woodward quoted U.S. Ambassador Karl Eikenberry as saying about Karzai.
"The only medication that I have taken is an antibiotic called Augmentin," when suffering from a cold two years ago, Karzai told King. He said from time to time, he also takes vitamin C, multivitamins and Tylenol, "when I have a headache or when I'm tired."
He denied being manic-depressive, calling the story "rather funny."
Asked about the planned drawdown of U.S. troops in Afghanistan next summer, and relations with President Barack Obama, Karzai said, "Relations with President Obama are very good" and the two are in regular contact and had a video conference about five days ago.
Attempting to advance his nation's peace progress with insurgents, Afghan President Hamid Karzai said unofficial negotiations with the Taliban have been taking place and hopes the formation of a peace council will further those efforts.
"We have been talking to the Taliban as countryman to countryman, talk in that manner," Karzai told CNN's "Larry King Live" in an interview scheduled to air Monday night. "Not as a regular official contact with the Taliban with a fixed address, but rather unofficial personal contacts have been going on for quite some time."
In excerpts of the interview released Sunday, Karzai also spoke on the High Peace Council, an initiative headed by former Afghan President Buhanuddin Rabbani and tasked with boosting negotiations with Taliban insurgents.
"The Taliban, those of whom who are Afghans and the sons of Afghan soil, who have been driven to violence by various factors beyond their control and beyond ours caused by circumstances in Afghanistan, we want them to come back to their country," Karzai said. "They are like kids who have run away ... from the family. The family should try to bring them back and give them better discipline and incorporate them back into their family and society. President Rabbani assuming chairmanship today of the peace council is exactly in that spirit."
However, the Afghan government will work against groups like al Qaeda, he said. "But those who are a part of al Qaeda and the other terrorist networks who are ideologically against us or who are working against Afghanistan knowingly and out of the purpose of hatred and enmity -- those of course we have to work against. Whether they are against Afghanistan or whether they are al Qaeda and the terrorist war against the United States or our neighbors in Pakistan, those of course cannot be accepted."
Video: Talking with the Taliban
RELATED TOPICS
* Afghan Politics
* Hamid Karzai
* The Taliban
* Terrorism
Karzai's remarks about the unofficial contacts with the Taliban came when the president was asked about a Washington Post report that secret high-level talks between the government and the Taliban were underway.
"Now that the peace council has come into existence, these talks will go on, and will go on officially and more rigorously, I hope," Karzai said.
The Afghan president denied a report that he has been diagnosed as manic-depressive in a book by veteran Washington journalist Bob Woodward. In his book "Obama's Wars," Woodward cited U.S. intelligence reports. "He's on his meds; he's off his meds," Woodward quoted U.S. Ambassador Karl Eikenberry as saying about Karzai.
Attempting to advance his nation's peace progress with insurgents, Afghan President Hamid Karzai said unofficial negotiations with the Taliban have been taking place and hopes the formation of a peace council will further those efforts.
"We have been talking to the Taliban as countryman to countryman, talk in that manner," Karzai told CNN's "Larry King Live" in an interview scheduled to air Monday night. "Not as a regular official contact with the Taliban with a fixed address, but rather unofficial personal contacts have been going on for quite some time."
In excerpts of the interview released Sunday, Karzai also spoke on the High Peace Council, an initiative headed by former Afghan President Buhanuddin Rabbani and tasked with boosting negotiations with Taliban insurgents.
"The Taliban, those of whom who are Afghans and the sons of Afghan soil, who have been driven to violence by various factors beyond their control and beyond ours caused by circumstances in Afghanistan, we want them to come back to their country," Karzai said. "They are like kids who have run away ... from the family. The family should try to bring them back and give them better discipline and incorporate them back into their family and society. President Rabbani assuming chairmanship today of the peace council is exactly in that spirit."
However, the Afghan government will work against groups like al Qaeda, he said. "But those who are a part of al Qaeda and the other terrorist networks who are ideologically against us or who are working against Afghanistan knowingly and out of the purpose of hatred and enmity -- those of course we have to work against. Whether they are against Afghanistan or whether they are al Qaeda and the terrorist war against the United States or our neighbors in Pakistan, those of course cannot be accepted."
Video: Talking with the Taliban
RELATED TOPICS
* Afghan Politics
* Hamid Karzai
* The Taliban
* Terrorism
Karzai's remarks about the unofficial contacts with the Taliban came when the president was asked about a Washington Post report that secret high-level talks between the government and the Taliban were underway.
"Now that the peace council has come into existence, these talks will go on, and will go on officially and more rigorously, I hope," Karzai said.
Despite being allowed to tell her husband he won the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize, the wife of Liu Xiaobo was detained in her apartment in Beijing, China, according to a human rights group and her attorney.
Liu Xia has not been charged with a crime, but "appears to be under a de facto house arrest," said Beth Schwanke, legislative counsel for the U.S.-based group Freedom Now.
She was taken to see Liu Xiaobo in a prison several hundred miles northeast of Beijing, Schwanke said, and tell him of the honor.
Upon hearing he had received the peace prize, Schwanke said, Liu Xiaobo began to cry, and said, "This is for the martyrs of Tiananmen Square."
But upon return to Beijing, Liu Xia was not allowed to leave her apartment, Schwanke said. No one is allowed in, and her telephone is believed to be "destroyed," Schwanke said. Liu Xia has been able to post to some Twitter accounts, said Schwanke, who called the action "absolutely outrageous."
"Brothers, I have come back," said a Twitter post purportedly from Liu Xia. "I have been under house arrest since the 8th and don't know when I'll get to see everyone again. They broke my mobile phone so I can no longer make or receive calls."
T2,
this latest AD is quite - hmmm - interesting:
- AVIO is not involved (unless someone needs FIKI and moving map on AVIO displays: approx $0.25 M for an upgrade to AVIO NG 1.5 as a first number).
- AVIO NG (up to 1.3) must be upgraded for less than §2k.
But why does the FAA AD include the price tag for the AVIO NG 1.5 upgrade?
What about Raisbeck? The new CEO MMC has a proven experience in administrating dreams and promises! He didn't know that EAC was TU, that the business scheme would ended up in or already was a ponzi scheme?
Was there no better person for Raisbeck?
BTW: The next GAMA statistic?
Julius
Despite being allowed to tell her husband he won the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize, the wife of Liu Xiaobo was detained in her apartment in Beijing, China, according to a human rights group and her attorney.
Liu Xia has not been charged with a crime, but "appears to be under a de facto house arrest," said Beth Schwanke, legislative counsel for the U.S.-based group Freedom Now.
She was taken to see Liu Xiaobo in a prison several hundred miles northeast of Beijing, Schwanke said, and tell him of the honor.
Upon hearing he had received the peace prize, Schwanke said, Liu Xiaobo began to cry, and said, "This is for the martyrs of Tiananmen Square."
But upon return to Beijing, Liu Xia was not allowed to leave her apartment, Schwanke said. No one is allowed in, and her telephone is believed to be "destroyed," Schwanke said. Liu Xia has been able to post to some Twitter accounts, said Schwanke, who called the action "absolutely outrageous."
"Brothers, I have come back," said a Twitter post purportedly from Liu Xia. "I have been under house arrest since the 8th and don't know when I'll get to see everyone again. They broke my mobile phone so I can no longer make or receive calls."
Federal authorities arrested more than 50 suspects Wednesday and smashed what they describe as an Armenian-American organized crime enterprise engaged in a nationwide scheme to defraud the Medicare program.
The Justice Department indicted 73 individuals in New York and four other states for allegedly defrauding Medicare and other health care programs of an estimated $163 million.
The government said 44 defendants were indicted in New York, along with 10 in California, seven in New Mexico, six in Ohio and six in Georgia.
Indictments said the schemes included billing Medicare from phantom clinics for unnecessary medical services, or services never performed.
"The emergence of international organized crime in domestic health care fraud schemes signals a dangerous expansion that poses a serious threat to consumers as these syndicates are willing to exploit almost any program, business, or individual to earn an illegal profit," said Acting Deputy Attorney General Gary Grindler.
By midday Wednesday, federal agents had taken at least 52 of the suspects into custody.
According to a multiple-agency announcement, the charges ranged from fraud and conspiracy to money laundering, identity theft and immigration fraud.
Maximum penalties upon conviction range from 10 years to life in prison.
Bank repossessions and foreclosure auctions hit record levels in the third quarter, RealtyTrac said on Thursday.
372,445 foreclosure auctions were scheduled in July, August and September, while 288,345 properties were repossessed by lenders over the same time period.
* 38
*
*
* Email
* Print
* Comment
Overall foreclosure filings edged up to 930,437 in the third quarter, a 4% increase from the previous quarter. One in every 139 homeowners received a foreclosure filing during those three months.
Bank repossessions, or REOs, also are on the rise. In September, a record 102,134 homes were taken back by banks. It's the first time repos have topped 100,000 in a single month.
The uptick is not expected to last, RealtyTrac CEO James Saccacio said in a statement, because several major loan servicers have halted foreclosure sales pending a review
A court hearing Thursday for Umar Farouk AbdulMutallab will be the first one since the suspect, accused of a Christmas attempted terror attack, decided to fire his lawyers and represent himself.
The morning pretrial hearing in Michigan comes after a federal judge delayed court proceedings for about a month to give AbdulMutallab time to prepare his legal defense.
In September, AbdulMutallab decided that he no longer wanted to be represented by federal defenders and would act as his own attorney.
Judge Nancy Edmunds granted his request and appointed standby counsel for him.
AbdulMutallab, the British-educated son of a Nigerian bank executive, is accused of trying to set off a bomb hidden in his underwear aboard a plane from Amsterdam, Netherlands, to Detroit, Michigan, on December 25.
At the hearing in September, he spoke softly but clearly about what he wanted.
A lesbian couple have applied to adopt a child after Florida's child advocacy agency announced it won't fight a court ruling that found the state's ban on such adoptions unconstitutional.
Jennifer Haseman and Hillary Jovi, who were unaware of Tuesday's announcement by the state, called Family Services of Metro Orlando, central Florida's child protective contractor, to begin the process of adoption.
The couple believed they could make their dream a reality after a September decision by the Third District Court of Appeal that lifted Florida's three-decade ban on gay adoption.
"We've wanted to adopt ever since we discussed wanting a family," said Jovi, who said she has had a 12-year relationship with Haseman. "We always wanted to have our own children and adopt."
The couple, formerly from New York, had considered moving back there just for the opportunity to adopt a child. Both women have battled infertility.
The Florida Department of Children and Families said any appeal by the state agency was likely to be unsuccessful following opinions from the appeal court and a circuit court judge in Miami, Florida. Gov. Charlie Crist ordered the department to stop enforcing the ban after the circuit court ruling.
"I don't think for us it is about sexual orientation so much as it is about a kid that deserves a second chance with a good parent or parents," said DCF spokeswoman Carrie Hoeppner.
The ACLU of Florida represented licensed foster parent Frank Martin Gill, who wanted to adopt two boys who had been placed in his care after the Department of Children and Families removed them from their home for neglect.
He sued to have the adoption ban overturned.
"We are happy to hear that DCF wants to bring this case to an end and allow the Gill family to get on with their lives," said Howard Simon, ACLU of Florida executive director.
But, the director says, the case is not yet final.
Rapper T.I. helped police persuade a man not to jump off the roof of high-rise hotel roof in Midtown Atlanta on Wednesday afternoon, police said.
T.I., whose real name is Clifford Harris, talked to the man about how a person "can make it through anything," Atlanta Police spokesman James Polite said.
"T.I. just happened to be in the right place at the right time," Polite said.
Harris faces his own life crisis this week when he appears before a federal judge, who is considering revoking his probation on a weapons conviction.
Police were trying to talk the man, who appeared to be about 25 years old, from jumping from the 22-story Colony Square Hotel when Harris "appeared out of nowhere," Polite said.
Harris offered to help convince the man that "life's not that bad," a proposal that police accepted, he said.
The man, who was not identified by police, agreed to leave the roof to meet with the rapper.
After several minutes of conversation, he was taken into custody and transported to Atlanta's Grady Memorial Hospital for a psychological evaluation, he said. He was not charged with a crime, he said.
Harris and his wife, Tameka "Tiny" Cottle, were arrested on drug charges during a traffic stop on Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood, California, last month. The charges triggered Friday's probation revocation hearing in Atlanta.
In 2008, Harris was sentenced on charges of unlawfully possessing firearms as a convicted felon. The charges came after an arrest by federal agents a year earlier while Harris was buying three machine guns in the parking lot of an Atlanta grocery store.
Harris was released after serving nine months in prison and three months in a halfway house.
The center of a weakened Hurricane Paula neared Cuba early Thursday, threatening to spread heavy rain across the Caribbean island, forecasters said.
As of Thursday morning, the center of Paula was about 30 miles (48 kilometers) north of the western tip of Cuba, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami, Florida.
The Category 1 hurricane carried maximum sustained winds of about 75 mph (120 kph). It was moving northeast at 5 mph (7 kph).
A hurricane warning is in effect for Cuba's westernmost province, Pinar del Rio.
"Paula will be passing very near or over western Cuba" later Thursday, the hurricane center said. "Weakening is expected during the next day or two as the center moves over Cuba."
Forecasters expect Paula to weaken into a tropical storm later Thursday.
Paula could drop a total of 3 to 6 inches of rain over parts of western and central Cuba, and as much as 10 inches in isolated areas.
"In areas of mountainous terrain, these rainfall amounts could cause life-threatening flash floods and mudslides," the weather agency said.
Forecasters say a storm surge will raise water levels by as much as 2 to 4 feet above normal tide levels near western Cuba. "The surge will be accompanied by large and destructive waves," the hurricane center said.
dud,
if you want folks to think you are gadfly... throw in a submarine or Wire EDM here and there...
The sensations of entering the submarine were overwhelming. The sinister shape, the black and dark gray colors of the deck and the sail, the general silence of the deck of a submarine tied to a pier, all these signals told me very clearly that I was entering a strikingly different world. But the most striking sensation of this new home of mine was the fragrance, the peculiar, pungent aroma that clearly, uniquely identified this as a conventional submarine.
Everyone who knew anything about these old fleet submarines, in any of their variations of their later years, knew about the smell. The odor was not something that we were proud of, but we made no apologies for it. We just accepted that it was our lot to endure an intensity of fragrances that was not acceptable in any other environment.
Over the years many writers, both knowledgeable and otherwise, have written of the mystique of submarines. But they have said relatively little about the quality of life aboard the pigboats. And almost nothing has been said about hygiene.
A Diesel-electric submarine lacks one important feature of a steamship, whether that steamship is a submarine or a skimmer, nuclear or fossil-fueled, oil or coal. (Oh, yeah, "skimmer" is the term that submariners use to describe surface ships, and surface sailors. You know, the people who skim around on the surface of the ocean and never really get down into it.)
What all those ships have, and what conventional submarines lack, is the ability to distill sea water into (reasonably) fresh water. Almost all surface ships, and all nuclear powered submarines, use large stills, euphemistically known as evaporators, to "make water" for use in the steam plant. A side benefit of these stills is the ability to make water for showers for those lucky crews.
All of our hundreds of conventional submarines, on the other hand, used electric powered stills to make fresh water for the needs of the boat and its crew. But the boat itself had first priority on the water that was available. Some of the fresh water was used in the water seals on some of our pumps, centrifuges, and other equipment. And sometimes we took fresh water and we ran it through the stills again, to get the water pure enough that we could add it to our huge lead-acid battery, just as you probably used to do for your car battery.
Even the water that was left over for use of the crew was first used for cooking and drinking, for washing dishes, and for providing showers for the cooks and the mess cooks. So hygiene on the part of the rest of the crew was the lowest priority for any use of fresh water aboard the boat. The officers were no different from the enlisted submariners in this regard.
And our electric stills were very small. We did not have enough energy stored in the main batteries to operate the stills for very long. The stills also required a full-time attendant, and we did not have enough extra staff to run them as much as we might want, even if the power was available for making water.
These old boats had originally put to sea with a crew of sixty good men. By the time I got aboard thirty years later, there were eighty people in the crew, because so many additional specialists were required to operate and repair the modern electronics and other equipment that had been added to the boat over the years.
We developed many techniques to help us tolerate the environment. After a month or so at sea, most of these civilizing touches had lost their effectiveness. But we tried to maintain a sense of dignity. It was not uncommon to smell someone enter the compartment, before hearing them or seeing them. We did not comment on such things.
Did I mention that, of course, we did not have a boat's laundry?
We first saw the handwriting on the wall when our skipper received a message that included the phrase "ODAX to act as camel for" a nuclear-powered submarine. USS Odax (SS- 484) was the name of our boat, as we referred to it, our Diesel-powered submarine with an honored history of service that extended back to 1944. Our boat had established a significant first early in its career, when it became the first GUPPY. Guppy was an acronym for Greater Underwater Propulsion Power. The "Y" never stood for anything. Such was the state of the art in acronyms in the late 1940s, I guess.
In any case, the Guppy conversion was an experiment in streamlining the older fleet submarines and in modifying the battery installations, for greater underwater power and speed. This experimental conversion of our boat worked so well that all of the hundreds of such boats that were still in service during the 1960s had received the Guppy conversion within a few years.
But now it was 1970, twenty years or more after our boat had represented the state of the art in delivering death and destruction from beneath the sea. This was a new era. The quiet skill and competence of our officers and crew no longer mattered much. Our honored history of always being in good repair, of always being ready to go to sea to fulfill our own commitments or to fill in for the less reliable sister ships in the squadron, was just quaint, and not valuable. Our boat was now old-fashioned, out of style, and it was OK to treat us with such contempt as to ask us to act as a camel.
A camel is a narrow, sturdy raft that is placed between a ship and a pier to minimize damage to the ship's hull from rubbing against the pier. Camels are especially important to submarines, since the shape of a submarine hull leaves it quite vulnerable to damage by sharp features on the pilings that support the pier. Without a camel, a submarine can slide up under the top deck of the pier and rub against all manner of underwater hazards on the pilings. So here we were, a ship of the line, with honored assignments still in our future and commendations to be received that were as yet unimagined. And yet headquarters was equating our once-glorious name and capabilities with those of a camel, an inert lump of wood.
That was the way it was between us and our counterparts ashore. It was ironic. All of my training as a line officer and as a submariner was focused on keeping our boat fit and trim, smooth-running, reliable, efficient and effective. Our biggest obstacle in accomplishing our assignment was the "shore establishment" of our own Navy.
Every Navy office, or shop, or storeroom ashore has a mot-to that is a variation on the following:
The Best Support for Our Forces Afloat
Such a slogan appears over the front door to the supply center at the Navy base. Another version appears on the letterhead of the payroll office at the Navy base. The electrical repair shop at the ship-repair facility ashore typically has a version of the slogan painted in huge letters on one wall of the building. It is an article of faith that the huge bureaucracy of the shore Navy exists to support those who are out at sea.
Seeking CNC sinker and CNC Wire EDM operators / setup operators / Lead men – day shift.
Responsibilities will range from operating only, to programming and set-up (from blueprints), and operation of CNC sinker, CNC Wire EDM or Fast-hole EDM machinery. We are looking for ‘self-starting’ individuals with the desire and motivation to learn all aspects of our EDM operations.
Job Requirements:
High school diploma or equivalent, 5 – 10 years experience in precision machining,
including 1 – 3 years EDM experience.
U.S. Citizenship required for security clearances
Desired:
· CNC Wire EDM experience – Sodick / Fanuc
· CNC EDM Sinker experience – Sodick
· Manual Sinker EDM experience
· Fast hole drilling experience
· General machining experience
· Ability to work independently and / or supervise others
· Experience with gas-turbine hardware
· Good communication skills, ability to manage others
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
· Starting salary $45,000 - $65,000 commensurate with experience
· Liberal accident, health, disability and life insurance benefits
· Profit sharing/401k plan with company match
· Equal Opportunity Employer
· Pre-employment drug test required
'taximan . . . Aside from this "pseudo gadfly" that clearly needs professional help, if you wish to carry on an intelligent conversation, contact me at cec@swcp.com . . . it's no problem, since everyone must "sign in" or be "allowed in" by me. Either way, the sender is completely identified, and may be blocked (by me) at any time.
For the record,right click on "gadfly said" (the "underlined" part) . . . compare the ID number with one from the past, that you trust, and you can confirm whether or not a person is whom they claim to be.
gadfly (the "ancient one")
(We've had some great times over the past three years or so . . . and it's been a great education, eh what!? 'Don't let this "mental case" destroy what you've gained. And for what it's worth, this nutcase wouldn't know a submarine from a submarine sandwich, nor has the slightest idea about a Wirecut-EDM . . . absolutely pathetic.)
My grandfather came to this country circa 1895 from Montella, Italy. Around 1910, he started his grocery store, called Dominic Conti's Grocery Store, on Mill Street in Paterson, New Jersey where he was selling the traditional Italian sandwiches. His sandwiches were made from a recipe he brought with him from Italy which consisted of a long crust roll, filled with cold cuts, topped with lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, onions, oil, vinegar, Italian spices, salt, and pepper. The sandwich started with a layer of cheese and ended with a layer was cheese (this was so the bread wouldn’t get soggy).
My mother often told me about how my grandfather came to name his sandwich the Submarine. She remembered the incident very well, as she was 16 years old at the time. She related that when grandfather went to see the Holland I* in 1927, the raised submarine hull that was put on display in Westside Park, he said, “It looks like the sandwich I sell at my store.” From that day on, he called his sandwich the “submarine.” People came from miles around to buy one of my Grandfather’s subs.
Submarine Sandwich
Photo from WAMU 88.5 FM.
Subway SandwichIt is a king-sized sandwich on an Italian loaf of bread approximately 12 inches long an 3 inches wide, filled with boiled ham, hard salami, cheeses, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, and sometimes flavored with garlic and oregano. It is thought that the original concept of these sandwiches came from the Italians who immigrated to New York in the late 1800s and brought with them their favorite Italian Sandwich recipes.
1910 - The family of Dominic Conti (1874-1954) claims he was the first to use the name, submarine sandwich. Angela Zuccaro, granddaughter of Dominic, related the following information:
Dagwood Sandwiches
It is a multi-layered sandwich with a variety of fillings. Used to denote a sandwich put together so as to attain such a tremendous size and infinite variety of contents as to stun the imagination, sight, and stomach of all but the original maker.
A term that originated in the comic strips in the 1930s after a comic strip character named Dagwood Bumstead. According to the creator of the comic, Murat Bernard “Chic” Young (1901-1973), the only thing that Dagwood could prepare in the kitchen was a mountainous pile of dissimilar leftovers precariously arranged between two slices of bread. Dagwood became know for his huge sandwiches he created on evening forays to the refrigerator.
Hoagie Sandwiches
Hoagie SandwichHoagies are built-to-order sandwiches filled with meat and cheese, as well as lettuce, tomatoes, and onions, topped off with a dash of oregano-vinegar dressing on an Italian roll. A true Italian Hoagie is made with Italian ham, prosciutto, salami, and provolone cheese, along with all the works. It was declared the “Official Sandwich of Philadelphia” in 1992.
The Hoagie was originally created in Philadelphia. There are a number of different versions to how the Hoagie got its name, but no matter what version is right (historians cannot seem to agree on the correct version), all agree that it started in Philadelphia or the towns' suburbs.
Italian Sandwiches
Italian SandwichIn a world of hoagies, heroes, grinders and submarines, Portland, Maine is known as the birthplace of the Italian sandwich. It is considered Maine’s signature sandwich. Simply known as “Italians” to the people living in Maine.
During the beginning of the 20th century, Italians were emigrating to New England in large numbers to lay paving stones on streets, extend railway lines, and work as longshoremen on the waterfront. Giovanni Amato, an Italian immigrant, started selling fresh baked rolls from a pushcart to his fellow Italian immigrants working on the docks of Portland, Maine. At the workers' request, Giovanni added a little meat, cheese, and fresh vegetables, and the "Italian Sandwich" was born. Nobody knows the precise date of the first Italian Sandwich, but Amato's sandwich historians say it had happened by 1903. By the 1920s, Amato had opened a sandwich shop on India Street. In the 1950s, people would line up outside the shop to get their Italians, and Amato's would sell 5,000 sandwiches on Sundays.
Others may lay claim to inventing the Italian Sandwich, and there are now dozens of imitators selling them. Today, almost every corner grocery store in Southern Maine make their own version of this regional delight. According to most Italian Sandwich aficionados, the best Italian's in Maine are ALWAYS made in little Mom & Pop grocery stores. And the size of the sandwich making area relative to the rest of the store is a very good indication of the quality of product.
Po' Boy (Poor-Boy) Sandwich
Po Boy, Poor Boy Sandwich
Photo from Po' Boys Creole Cafe in Gainsville, Fl.
Also know as Oyster Loaves. Po' Boy is the generic name for the standard New Orleans sandwich made with French bread. They are considered a New Orleans institution. Also called poor boy. Always made with French bread, Po' boys can be filled with fried oysters, shrimp, fish, soft-shelled crabs, crawfish, roast beef and gravy, roast pork, meatballs, smoked sausage and more. They are served either "dressed" with a full range of condiments (usually mayonnaise, lettuce, and tomatoes) or "undressed" (plain). This sandwich is purely American in its variety of sauces and condiments. It is uniquely New Orleans because the oysters are local, as is the crisp and airy bread. cook
Po Boy SandwichA predecessor was the Peacemaker Sandwich (La Mediatrice), a loaf of French bread, split and buttered and filled with fried oysters. The poetic name derives from the fact that 19th-century husbands, coming in late from a carouse or spree, would carry one home to cushion a possible rough reception from the lady of the house.
1838 - The first recorded American recipe for Oyster Loaves was in Mrs. Mary Randolph’s cookbook called The Virginia Housewife or Methodical Cook. This cookbook is considered the first truly American cookbook and the first regional American cookbook cookbook:
To Make Oyster Loaves - Take little round loaves, cut off the top, scrape out all the crumbs, then out the oysters into a stew pan with the crumbs that came out of the loaves, a little water, and a good lump of butter; stew them together ten or fifteen minutes, then put in a spoonful of good cream, fill your loaves, lay the bit of crust carefully on again, set them in the oven to crisp. Three are enough for a side dish.
Submarine Sandwich
Photo from WAMU 88.5 FM.
Subway SandwichIt is a king-sized sandwich on an Italian loaf of bread approximately 12 inches long an 3 inches wide, filled with boiled ham, hard salami, cheeses, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, and sometimes flavored with garlic and oregano. It is thought that the original concept of these sandwiches came from the Italians who immigrated to New York in the late 1800s and brought with them their favorite Italian Sandwich recipes.
1910 - The family of Dominic Conti (1874-1954) claims he was the first to use the name, submarine sandwich. Angela Zuccaro, granddaughter of Dominic, related the following information:
"My grandfather came to this country circa 1895 from Montella, Italy. Around 1910, he started his grocery store, called Dominic Conti's Grocery Store, on Mill Street in Paterson, New Jersey where he was selling the traditional Italian sandwiches. His sandwiches were made from a recipe he brought with him from Italy which consisted of a long crust roll, filled with cold cuts, topped with lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, onions, oil, vinegar, Italian spices, salt, and pepper. The sandwich started with a layer of cheese and ended with a layer was cheese (this was so the bread wouldn’t get soggy).
Post a Comment