Shane
PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 7, 2009
Hawker Beechcraft and Eclipse Owners Group Enter into Letter of Intent
“Eclipse owners will benefit greatly by having Hawker Beechcraft as our service provider,” Green said. “HBC’s reputation across the industry and especially among its customers and suppliers is unsurpassed. This relationship is sure to create tremendous confidence in Eclipse owners that their planes will be flying for many years to come.”
Hawker Beechcraft and Eclipse Owners Group Enter into Letter of Intent
Westlake Village, CA (April 7, 2009)—David Green, Chairman of the Steering Committee for the Eclipse Owners Group (EOG) announced today that the EOG has signed a nonbinding Letter of Intent with Hawker Beechcraft Corporation (HBC). The parties will now begin negotiations for a definitive binding agreement under which HBC would provide maintenance upgrades and other aircraft services to EOG members, consisting of individual Eclipse 500 owners.
“Eclipse owners will benefit greatly by having Hawker Beechcraft as our service provider,” Green said. “HBC’s reputation across the industry and especially among its customers and suppliers is unsurpassed. This relationship is sure to create tremendous confidence in Eclipse owners that their planes will be flying for many years to come.”
In the search for a solution for Eclipse owners, the EOG will negotiate with HBC to provide the needed maintenance and support services to keep the Eclipse 500s flying in the event the EOG purchases the assets of the Eclipse Aviation Corporation (EAC).
HBC will provide services to EOG members through its Global Customer Service and Support operations, which is driven by HBC’s commitment to quality and performance excellence. HBC supports its aircraft with the largest network of trained professionals and the largest factory owned service network in the industry.
“Hawker Beechcraft is pleased to offer Eclipse 500 owners the highest quality service and support in general aviation,” said Bill Brown, HBC President, Global Customer Service and Support. “We look forward to this new relationship and keeping the Eclipse 500s in the air.”
The EOG will own the Type Certificate and be responsible to the FAA and other regulatory agencies for the reporting and compliance required to maintain the Type Certificate. HBC will provide services and support to the EOG so that the EOG can perform its regulatory obligations and keep the Eclipse 500s compliant with FAA and other regulatory rules. In order to support service for the Eclipse 500s, HBC would provide service in designated HBC service centers.
The EOG will own the Type Certificate and be responsible to the FAA and other regulatory agencies for the reporting and compliance required to maintain the Type Certificate. HBC will provide services and support to the EOG so that the EOG can perform its regulatory obligations and keep the Eclipse 500s compliant with FAA and other regulatory rules. In order to support service for the Eclipse 500s, HBC would provide service in designated HBC service centers.
The EOG also hopes that at some future time it will be possible to restart production of the Eclipse 500.
EAC entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy on November 24, 2008 and converted to Chapter 7 on February 24th, 2009. The Chapter 7 Trustee plans to liquidate the EAC assets through an auction to be held in the near future. Several parties have come forward with potential proposals to acquire the EAC assets.
The EOG was formed to protect the assets of EAC necessary for the support, upgrades, and continued airworthiness of the Eclipse fleet on the best economic terms possible for current owners of the Eclipse 500; to evaluate the possibility of, and if appropriate implement, the purchase of EAC’s assets by the EOG or its designee; and to take actions necessary or appropriate in connection with purchasing assets of Eclipse, including forming an entity and negotiating with maintenance and support providers.
The EOG was also formed to evaluate any proposals for the purchase of EAC’s assets by other parties and, if appropriate, support such proposals if they are in the owner’s interests. The EOG will continue to evaluate proposals presented by third parties for the purchase of the EAC assets. The EOG has entered into negotiations with HBC in order to provide a viable and very attractive alternative if the best purchaser for the EAC assets is the EOG, itself.
Eclipse 500 owners who have not yet become members of the EOG should contact the EOG at their earliest convenience at eclipseownersgroup@gmail.com.
For further information, contact Nanette Metz or Randall Sanada at info@JetAlliance.com, or call (805) 409-0426.
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233 comments:
«Oldest ‹Older 201 – 233 of 233Dave,
An idiot and a thief - what a great combination!
I do not believe that RiP is an idiot, although he behaved like an idiot.
He partly knew, what the wedege did
(... ,sales action in december 2007)
He bragged about his rescue of TU EAC with ETIRC's $100M investment.
Then he learnt that EAC lost about $1M per each fpj, that $200M in 2008 and $300M in 2009 were needed to become profitable in 2010!
Then his Ch 11 sales 363 failed: How much money could he get out of this mess ("thief") or why did he play this game which was DOA all the time even with "Russian money" ("idiot" or hubris)?
BTW: Kathy's nice links allow the impression that EAC was actually TU when Peter R. left the company and the wedge and RiP needed more employees...
You mean Roel doesn't comprehend the company that he was Chairman and CEO of? I'm shocked...SHOCKED
Sorry Dave, do you read newspapers?
You heard about AIG, Lehman, Freddie,,, these banks... etc.
Perhaps Roel didn't know anyone who comprendeded the company (EAC) - that was tough and explains everything!
Julius
Oliver Masefield Gets Swiss Bank Account.
Two questions for anyone/everyone:
1. Does anyone expect Eclipse to somehow make a “comeback”?
2. Does anyone expect the existing Eclipse aircraft to ever become “complete”?
gadfly
(Good night!)
Gad,
1 - As a new production plane, no. Beyond that, a comeback like the Twin Commander or Aerostar is certainly in the realm of possibility.
2 - If I have anything to say about it, yes. If not, well, who knows.
Why does Eclipse exist?
Not because of intelligent design!
A little off topic, but I thought some of you would enjoy this reflection of aviation history by Denham S. Scott (North American Aviation, Retirees' Bulletin).
AVIATION HISTORY
How many of you know that in 1910, mighty Martin Marietta got its start in an abandoned California church? That's where Glenn L. Martin with his amazing mother Minta Martin and their mechanic Roy Beal constructed a fragile biplane that Glenn taught himself to fly.
It has often been told how Douglas Aircraft started operations in 1920 in a barbershop's backroom on L.A. 's Pico Boulevard . Interestingly, the barber-shop is still operating.
The Lockheed Company built the first of their famous Vegas ' in 1927 inside a building currently used by Victory Cleaners at 1040 Sycamore in Hollywood .
In 1922, Claude Ryan , a 24 year old military reserve pilot, was getting his hair cut in San Diego , when the barber mentioned that the 'town's aviator' was
in jail for smuggling Chinese illegals up from Mexico . Claude found out that if he replaced the pilot 'sitting in the pokey,' that he would be able to lease the
town's airfield for $50 a month - BUT he also needed to agree to fly North and East - BUT not South!
Northrop 's original location was an obscure So California hotel. It was available because the police had raided the hotel and found that its steady residents were money-minded gals entertaining transitory male hotel guests.
Glenn Martin built his first airplane in a vacant church, before he moved to a vacant apricot cannery in Santa Ana . He was a showman and he traveled the county fair and air meet circuit as an exhibitionist aviator From his exhibition proceeds, Glenn was able to pay his factory workers and purchase the necessary wood, linen and wire. His mother, Minta and two men ran the factory while Glenn risked his neck and gadded about the country. One of his workers was 22-year old Donald Douglas [who WAS the entire engineering department]. A Santa Monica youngster named Larry Bell [later founded Bell Aircraft] ran the shop.
Another part of Glenn Martin 's business was a flying school with several planes based at Griffith Park , and a seaplane operation on the edge of Watts. His instructors taught a rich young man named Bill Boeing to fly. Then, Boeing bought one of Glenn Martin 's seaplanes and had it shipped back to his home in Seattle . At the same time, Bill Boeing hired away Glenn 's personal mechanic. Later, after Boeing's seaplane crashed in Puget Sound , he placed an order to Martin for replacement parts.
Still chafing from having his best mechanic 'swiped,' [a trick he later often used himself] Martin decided to take his sweet time and allowed Bill Boeing to 'stew' for a while. Bill Boeing wasn't one to 'stew' and he began fabricating his own aircraft parts, an activity that morphed into constructing entire airplanes.
A former small shipyard nicknamed 'Red Barn' became Boeing Aircraft's first home. Soon, a couple of airplanes were being built inside, each of them having a remarkable resemblance to Glenn Martin 's airplanes .. that, interestingly, had its own remarkable resemblance to Glenn Curtiss' airplanes.
A few years later, when the Great depression intervened and Boeing couldn't sell enough airplanes to pay his bills, he diversified into custom built speed boats and furniture for his wealthy friends.
After WWI, a bunch of sharpies from Wall Street gained control of the Wright Brothers Co in Dayton and the Ma rtin Company in L.A. and 'stuck them' together as the Wright-Martin Company.
Wright-Martin began building an obsolete biplane design with a foreign Hispano-Suiza engine. Angered because he had been out maneuvered with a bad idea, Martin walked out .. taking Larry Bell and key employees with him.
From the deep wallet of a wealthy baseball mogul, Martin was able to establish a new factory. Then his good luck continued, when the future aviation legend Donald Douglas , who Glenn persuaded to join his team. Quickly emerging from the team's efforts was the Martin Bomber, the Martin MB-1.
Although too late to enter WWI, the Martin bomber showed its superiority when Billy Mitchell made everyone mad at him by sinking several captured German battleships and cruisers.
In Cleveland , a young fellow called 'Dutch' Kindelberger joined Martin as an engineer. Later, as the leader of North American Aviation, Dutch became justifiably well-known.
Flashing back to 1920, Donald Douglas had saved $60,000, returned to L.A. and rented a barbershop's rear room and loft space in a carpenter's shop nearby. There he constructed a classic passenger airplane called the Douglas Cloudster .
A couple of years later, Claude Ryan bought the Cloudster and used it to make daily fli ghts between San Diego and Los Angeles . This gave Ryan the distinction of>being the first owner/operator of Douglas transports. Claude Ryan later custom built Charles Lindbergh 's 'ride' to fame in the flying fuel tankchristened: The Spirit of St. Louis .
In 1922, Donald Douglas won a contract from the Navy to build several torpedo carrying aircraft. While driving through Santa Monica 's wilderness, Douglas noticed an abandoned, barn-like movie studio. He stopped his roadster and prowled around. That abandoned studio became Douglas Aircraft's first real factory.
With the $120,000 contract in his hand, Donald Douglas could afford to hire one or two more engineers. My brother Gordon Scott had been schooled in the little known science of aviation at England 's Fairey Aviation, so he hired Gordon.
My first association with the early aviation pioneers occurred when I paid my brother a visit at his new work place. Gordon was outside on a ladder washing windows. He was the youngest engineer. Windows were dirty. And Douglas Aircraft Company had no money to pay janitors.
Gordon introduced me to a towhead guy called Jack Northrop , and another chap named Jerry Vultee . Jack Northrop had moved over from Lockheed Aircraft. And all of them worked together on the Douglas Aircraft's world cruiser designs. While working in his home after work and on weekends, Jack designed a wonderfully advanced streamlined airplane. When Allan Loughead [Lockheed] found a wealthy investor willing to finance Northrop's new airplane, he linked up with Allan. Together, they leased a Hollywood workshop and constructed the Lockheed Vega. It was sensational with its clean lines andhigh performance. Soon Amelia Earhart and others flew the Vega and broke many of aviation's world records.
I had the distinct pleasure of spending time with Ed Heinemann who later designed the AD, A3D and A4D. He told me how my Dad would fly out to Palmdale with an experimental aircraft they were both working on. They would fly it around for a few hops and come up with some fixes. After having airframe changes fabricated in a nearby machine shop, they would hop it again to see if they had gotten the desired results. If it worked out, Mr. Heinemann would institute the changes on the aircraft's factory assembly line. No money swapped hands!
In May 1927, Lindbergh flew to Paris and triggered a bedlam where everyone was trying to fly everywhere. Before the first Lockheed Vega was built, William Randolph Hearst had already paid for it and had it entered in an air race from the California Coast to Honolulu . In June 1927, my brother Gordon left Douglas Aircraft to become Jack Northrop 's assistant at Lockheed. While there, he mana ged to get himself hired as the navigator on Hearst 's Vega . The race was a disaster and ten lives were lost. The Vega and my brother vanished. A black cloud hung heavily over the little shop. However, Hubert Wilkins , later to become Sir Hubert Wilkins , took Vega #2 and made a successful polar flight from Alaska to Norway . A string of successful flights after that placed Lockheed in aviation's forefront.
I went to work for Lockheed as it 26th employee shortly after the disaster and I worked on the Vega . It was made almost entirely of wood and I quickly become a half-assed carpenter.
At this time, General Motors had acquired North American consisting of Fokker Aircraft, Pitcairn Aviation [later Eastern Airlines] and Sperry Gyroscope and hired Dutch Kindelberger away from Douglas to run it Dutch moved the entire operation to L.A. where Dutch and his engineers came up with the P-51 Mustang.
Interestingly, just a handful of young men played roles affecting the lives of all Americans .... as it initiated the So California metamorphosis, from a semi-desert with orange groves and celluloid, into a dynamic complex, supporting millions.
Although this technological explosion had startling humble beginnings, taking root as acorns in - a barber shop's back room - a vacant church - and an abandoned cannery - but came to fruition as mighty oaks.
FT,
!!??
Wow !!
Welcome to the blog-
I hope you keep 'em coming !!
Flight Test
Those bits of history are "right on" topic. It is that sort of knowledge that could have greatly helped those at Eclipse, to understand the things needed for the manufacture of a successful aircraft.
gadfly
(Not that it matters, but I, too, was "launched" in Santa Ana . . . but twenty seven years later than Glen Martin's first enterprise. And like the mighty oak, I was once just another nut.)
Gadfly: if you're seriously comparing Obama to Hitler, you're even more of an old twit than your previous dull and pointless postings have revealed. Get a grip. This is the Eclipse Aviation Critic NG blog, maintained by an Irishman with contributors and readers from all over the world. The sort of drivel you (and a few others) spout about Obama just makes you look like nutters to anyone who isn't a deranged Republican nutbag. Or anyone from any foreign country.
You'll be amazed to hear that most of us readers really aren't interested in your political opinions.
Gadfly wrote:
(At one time, “Uncle Adolf” seemed far out. He was! . . . and he was truly evil . . . but by comparison, we’ve elected someone even “further out”.)
Gad - didn't you get the memo?
That guy's two terms are up - Joe Biden's the VP now...
DI
Gadfly: if you're seriously comparing Obama to Hitler, you're even more of an old twit than your previous dull and pointless postings have revealed.
It's Godwin's Law in action.
Dave I.,
.)
Dave,
I think Uncle A., looks pretty snappy when he's polished* up, Much like Wedge.
Well, he's somebody's nutty uncle
(* er, I guess it was sort of the "Polish" thing that brought him down though).
-----------------------------------
Speaking of deranged despots (no, not Wedge this time:), I believe Gadfly is not comparing Wacky Uncle Adolph and The Prez in terms of evil, but rather in terms of socialism. Which, perhaps, as a political philosophy Gadfly considers evil- but not by me. Although there have been many evil people masquerading as Socialists. (Or Republicans. Or Democrats. :)
After all...
"There is disagreement over the extent that National Socialism is socialist; although Adolf Hitler's party program included socialist elements, the Nazis did not nationalize industry, but instead created a highly regulated economy with state-led economic planning."
Socialism (Wikipedia)
FWIW...
Hi Gadfly,
"1. Does anyone expect Eclipse to somehow make a "comeback"?
"2. Does anyone expect the existing Eclipse aircraft to ever become "complete"?
Well, Yes (1), and No (2).
:)
-----------------------------------
Actually, I'm going to get all gushy here- I really DO think it's a great airplane. And I think the Eclipse infrastructure was great. It's just Eclipse Electronics Inc., was a failure. Does getting things 90% right make a company a failure? Well, in this case, it did.
The going-forward advantages now:
1) The debt is written off.
2) The warranty liability is gone.
3) 260 "captive customers" to help amortize upgrade development costs.
4) 260 "captive customers" to support factory service efforts.
5) Did I mention there are 260 "captive customers" :)
6) A sales force that already has the names and addresses of ~400 potential owners-in-waiting (whether these are customers-waiting-with-checkbooks-in-their-hands, remains to be seen...)
The two (well, now, three, or four) challenges are:
1) Getting overhead costs down
2) Finding someone to outsource the avionics to.
3) Reacquiring an experienced workforce, who are drifting away week by week.
4) Stabilizing a supply chain.
The plane itself is in pretty good shape I think, structurally, systems-wise, and aerodynamically- we just don't hear many problems in those areas. (Okay, tires, yes. Landing lights, yes. And apparently some customers got "lemons", but overall, it seems to be pretty good for the first year production (or so) from a new company (or so- 10 years is pushing it :). Getting rid of Eclipse Electronics/Avionics/Ant Algorithms is the biggest hurdle- too big to do in house, without sinking a fortune (er, again). Better to outsource it.
So, who's this Engels guy??
"Friedrich Engels (28 November 1820 – 5 August 1895) was a German social scientist and philosopher, who is one of the fathers of communist theory alongside Karl Marx, co-authoring The Communist Manifesto (1848)."
The introduction begins with the notable comparison of communism to a "spectre," claiming that across Europe communism is feared, but not understood, and thus communists ought to make their views known with a manifesto."
(Hmmm, 1848 eh ?? Sounds like things haven't changed much...)
"It goes on to defend communism from various objections, such as the claim that communists advocate "free love," and the claim that people will not perform labor in a communist society because they have no incentive to work.
(Hmmm, 1848 eh ?? Again- it sounds like things haven't changed much...)
Quoting, from Wikipedia, from "The Communist Manifesto"
10 Conditions For Transition To Communism:
1) Abolition of property in land and application of all rents of land to public purposes.
2) A heavy progressive or graduated income tax.
3) Abolition of all right of inheritance.
4) Confiscation of the property of all emigrants and rebels.
5) Centralisation of credit in the hands of the State, by means of a ational bank with State capital and an exclusive monopoly.
6) Centralisation of the means of communication and transport in the hands of the State.
7) Extension of factories and instruments of production owned by the State; the bringing into cultivation of waste-lands, and the improvement of the soil generally in accordance with a common plan.
8) Equal liability of all to labour. Establishment of industrial armies, especially for agriculture.
9) Combination of agriculture with manufacturing industries; gradual abolition of the distinction between town and country, by a more equal distribution of the population over the country.
10) Free education for all children in public schools. Abolition of children's factory labour in its present form. Combination of education with industrial production"
Interesting- I have heard about "The Communist Manifesto" all my life, but didn't have any idea what it was- which is EXACTLY what Engel's proposition is- people don't understand communism. Reading the "10 steps to communism"_- it sounds to me like the American Grainger/Populist/Farmers movement in the late 1800's ("The Farmers movement was the beginning of widespread, effective protest against the menace of privilege in the United States.").
Funny how that wasn't considered "evil". ("observing the great mass of farmer radicalism that has, since about 1896, become an accepted Democratic and Republican principle over the whole country". In fact, I rather endorse it). Probably not many folks on the blog remember "Granger Halls". Pity.
.
Friedrich Engels
The Communist Manifesto
Farmer's Movement
So, now I'm confused.
I don't know if I'm a socialist, or communist, or granger, or progressive.
Or all of the above !
:)
Howard Hughes says: "Gadfly: if you're seriously comparing Obama to Hitler, you're even more of an old twit than your previous dull and pointless postings have revealed. Get a grip. This is the Eclipse Aviation Critic NG blog, maintained by an Irishman with contributors and readers from all over the world. The sort of drivel you (and a few others) spout about Obama just makes you look like nutters to anyone who isn't a deranged Republican nutbag. Or anyone from any foreign country.
You'll be amazed to hear that most of us readers really aren't interested in your political opinions."
sorry douchebag hughes, you don't speak for me
Oops- bad link above to
Well, he's somebody's nutty uncle
Acting even nuttier
He Can't Touch This
I don't think ANYONE can touch this !!
Wedge's Anthem??
I think...NOT !!
:)
"You Got to Pray"
The customer's anthem?
- A good one for all of us - REALLY !!
Vanilla Wedge ??
"Go Fly'n in my Five Oh Oh"
(Goofy as he seemed, er, Wedge and Ice; one of them actually was an accomplished motocross racer- hint: NOT Wedge :)
-----------------------------------
Revisionist history (??)
Peppy Uncle Adolph
The name is (A), and I'm back in command...
"Stopped burning people; started burning CD's"...and Franklin's too !!
ake, HowardH, Goat (?),
"You'll be amazed to hear that most of us readers really aren't interested in your political opinions."
W-e-l-l...to be honest...I think human nature is such that we really aren't that interested in other's opinions- on ANY topic- unless it coincides with our own !!
:0)
But- we usually indulge each other on occasion- on politics, and many other things.
...More socialism, anyone ??
.)
(I think Gad would not endorse the "D" word)
Blog Notice
Later today, the promised 'Special Treat' will magically appear.
I won't be able to put my usual 'new post' comment up at the appropriate time, so I suggest you check yourselves.
This blog software has a natty feature that allows 'timing' of headline posts. Timing, in this case, is important.
Shane
bill e.goat,
perhaps I digress!
In Germany we have the position that you must look at politicians as a total. Everything such a 100% politician does is instrumental to his ideas. The so-called good parts are part of the total picture.
Look at Chavez: His dressing is part of his political system (I do not compare!!!). One cannot say "Chavez is a good guy and I dislike how members of his family clan rule the country"!
If I use the word "uncle" in context of certain politicians I am very careful and must prevent any misunderstanding!
Some years a ago I think the president of the parliament held a well prepared speech - but he failed do make clear, when speaking, what was in quotation marks. He had to resign although readers of the speech didn't see any wrong doing...(there were quotation marks!).
Julius
You'll be amazed to hear that most of us readers really aren't interested in your political opinions."
sorry douchebag hughes, you don't speak for me
Nor me! Obama's willingness to allow Iran to develop nuclear technology will be the biggest mistake of this millennia! He's another smooth talking Clintonite. The only question remaining is, "Who will be his Monica?"
But we digress...Haven't you heard the news? Cirrus has delayed further development of The Jet. It won't be certified until 2012 and won't be certified at all unless the venture capital boys can raise a bunch of money.
Nor me!
Actually it's not just wanting to hear someone's opinions because you agree with them or don't want to hear them because you don't agree with them. Being able to talk and listen to those you don't agree with is a good thing.
Hi Julius,
My good friend- I apologize for the lack of parenthesis in referring to "uncle" A. By mentioning he was someone's uncle- I didn't mean to infer all German's are related to him. Just the opposite- I meant to infer we all have kooks in our families, and society (all societies) have nuts running about.
And, ahem, I confess to being guilty of "US cultural imperialism". Since A.H. is a figure of public interest, and a cultural icon- the US mindset has "imported him", and for all practical purposes, he is largely viewed as a nutty dude from Detroit or Miami- nobody is quite sure where- and is a behavioral metaphor for extremism and bad taste in general. Rather than a German wacko- he's just a wacko.
I'm sorry I was insensitive to what are undoubtedly different perceptions of him elsewhere.
Over the years, I have had a few close German friends*, some ultra conservative, and some (to this day) that hold to the policies of the Germany of the 1930's and early ‘40's. We’re still close friends . . . one, no two in particular, were/are excellent machinists. We accept each other, differences and all, and have taught each other many things while working side by side in the “model/prototype machine shops”. And, to my knowledge, even in heated discussions, have never called each other “names”, nor in any way were demeaning in our conversations. To separate them, or me, from political or spiritual opinions and beliefs is not possible . . . with the technical shared help comes the “whole person” . . . warts and all. Our mutual openness only enhanced our understanding of the business at hand. Name-calling would shut off important avenues of friendship.
To ignore the political climate while discussing a business, such as “Eclipse”, is to miss an important part of a full understanding of why it has failed, among many other factors. We do not live in a vacuum.
gadfly
*One lost his older brother on the Russian front (politically and in “religious” matters we remain world’s apart), another’s father worked on the “V” weapons at Peenemünde . . . another was a Nazi in political views (I made a point of being his friend, and he taught me machinist techniques that are a part of my work to this day).
bill e.goat,
it's ok.
Political discussions always are a little bit difficult if they are across culture borders and in written form! One resp. I hasn't/haven't the immediate feed back to draw a line.
There are still some people in Germany who did not learn the lessons of the history and I do not want to be mixed up with these people!
I think in this special case the Germans are or perhaps should be more sensible.
Thanks for the American view!
Julius
Dave,
Well said.
HowardHughes,
In general, well said, in my book.
Except not being interested in Gadfly's opinions. (Which, I took not so much as dismissing Gad's opinions, as trying to steer the blog away from political discussions *, which is understandable).
And I think Gadfly was referring to his take on "the evils of socialism" rather than personal evils.
-----------------------------------
(* I appologize to those not interested or who disagree, for my own digressions into political and economic theory during slow EAC news times. There are so many smart people here, I enjoy learning from them on aerospace, as well as other topics).
Gad, Julius,
My family was scarred by WW2. With the statistics on the war, I can only try to imagine the horror Europe suffered, on both sides.
I have a close friend whose father was in the German army, and was wounded on the Russian front- five times. He survived, and moved to a major city in the US, which has a large German immigrant community. I have been blessed to be invited to many of that community's family celebrations.
And btw, I learned to much prefer Polka music over Jazz !! (And am rather exasperated with the giddy enthusiasm over the "richness" of jazz- it's just noise to me; but perhaps that's how we view political differences as well, so I try to politely listen, in both cases !! :)
Turbo Polka !!
----------------------------------
Over the past few years, I have run into a lot of Russian immigrates, and they don't seem much different from US folks either. But Fred- no offense, I still prefer Polka over "rousing" Stalinist march songs!
(Let the youtube play list cycle through a few Atomik Harmonika songs, and I think even the staunchest "communist" (ahem!?!) will be converted as well !! :)
Gadfly,
Two questions for anyone/everyone:
1. Does anyone expect Eclipse to somehow make a “comeback”?
2. Does anyone expect the existing Eclipse aircraft to ever become “complete”?
1. No!
2. No! (Perhaps as an experimental!)
Julius
maybe someone cares to explain, but was there really a comparison between Hitler and Obama? or am I mistaken?
Does someone here really think it was OK to be a Nazi? Did I misinterpret that?
How does all this have to do with EAC?
Is this a long lost Star Trek episode or the eclipse critics blog?
ATM,
It's getting pretty weird.
First, I erroneously accused Julius of having unsavory family connections. Then, I stereotyped him as a Polka enthusiast. Next thing, I'll be accusing him of owning an Eclipse.
"...a common genre in Swedish, Lithuanian, Czech, Polish, German, Hungarian, Austrian, Russian, Slovenian and Slovakian folk music."
Hmmm. That about covered the European theatre of WW2. Maybe it was all about trying to control the Polka movement?
Good thing the Japanese never acquired Polka- that might have tipped the balance, and we'd be listening to Polka music instead of rap and heavy metal.
I was a little embarrassed by my generalization of Polka, given the musical artistry that has come from Germany. Then, whatdaya know- turns out there really ARE a lot of talented high-brow type Polka composers out there!
The Strauss Family
("In light classical music, many polkas were composed by both Johann Strauss I and his son Johann Strauss II; a couple of well-known ones were composed by Bedřich Smetana, and Jaromír Vejvoda, the author of "Škoda lásky" ("Roll Out the Barrel").
(Hmmm...Liberace, Las Vegas, Polka- how, eclectic !! :)
I thought there was some great paintings attributed to luminaries, but I was slightly mistaken, my search for Dogs Playing Polka was slightly in error.
However, I must say- it was a serendipitous discovery that this is a collection of SIXTEEN masterpieces- not just one.
Ah, politics, music, art, what a sophisticated bunch we are !!
.)
Surprise new post promised by Shane is up!
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