THE STORY SO FAR: PART 309:

THE BOEING CH-47 IS A TRULY AMAZING HELICOPTER & IS NOW UP TO THE CH-47F MODEL—AND COOL!

THE SPEC OPS MODEL IS THE MH-47G

The tandem helicopter was first developed by Frank Piasecki. His concept eventually evolved into the Army’s CH-47, which first flew in 1961. The aircraft is now over half a century old. Now that is seriously cool.

But wait, there is more! Just read the following story by Robert Sterling.

Members of the U.S. Army at Fort Riley, Kan., test out the COOLS upgrade to the Chinook, turning over rollers that are used for cargo loading into a flat surface to haul passengers.

Whether responding to natural disasters or flying into the heat of battle, the CH-47 Chinook continues to be one of the most versatile aircraft ever built.

One example of this is the aircraft’s new Cargo On/Off Loading System, or COOLS, which allows Chinook crews to quickly reconfigure the floor of the helicopter to accommodate passengers or carry cargo.

“You can take off on a cargo mission with the rollers installed,” said U.S. Army Lt. Col. Joe Hoecherl, Product Manager, CH-47 Modernization. “If you have a change of mission in route, in 15 minutes or less you can flip over to a flat floor so it’s safe to take passengers.”

“COOLS really gives the Army the flexibility of performing a variety of troop missions and cargo missions without any restrictions,” said Boeing CH-47F Project Manager Greg Solakian.

The Army plans to retrofit its entire CH-47F fleet, as well as some D models, with COOLS. By 2015, COOLS will be standard during production.

THE STORY SO FAR: PART 308: SATURDAY

WHERE WOULD THE WORLD BE WITHOUT TRIVIA…?

This is such an oddball story about FDR, it just might be true. Either way, it is a charming little story.

Hours after Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the Secret Service found themselves in a bind. President Franklin D. Roosevelt was to give his infamy speech to Congress the next day, and although the trip from the White House to Capitol Hill was short, agents weren’t sure how to transport him safely.

At the time, Federal Law prohibited buying any cars that cost more than $750, so they would have to get clearance from Congress to do that, and nobody had time for that.

One of the Secret Service members, however, discovered that the US Treasury had seized the bulletproof car that mobster Al Capone owned when he was sent to jail in 1931. They cleaned it, made sure it was running fine and had it ready for the President the day after.

And run properly it did. Capone's car was a sight to behold. It had been painted black and green so as to look identical to Chicago’s police cars at the time. It also had a specially installed siren and flashing lights hidden behind the grille, along with a police scanner radio. To top it off, the gangster’s 1928 Cadillac 341A Town Sedan had 3,000 pounds of armor and inch-thick bulletproof windows. Mechanics are said to have cleaned and checked each feature of the Caddy well into the night of December 7th, to make sure that it would run properly the next day for the Commander in Chief.

The car was sold at auction for $341,000.00 in 2012.

THE STORY SO FAR: PART 307: FRIDAY

OCCASIONALLY, I FEEL LIKE AN ANT—ENTIRELY INSIGNIFICANT IN THE CONTEXT OF THIS VAST WORLD. BUT THE GOOD NEWS IS THAT ANTS ARE NOTHING IF NOT DETERMINED—AND ARE SURVIVORS

ALSO, I’M AN ANT WHO WRITES, AND LOVES TO WRITE—AND THAT BALANCES THINGS OUT

To be fair, I don’t normally feel like an ant. I’m a little large, for starters, and decidedly shaggier (especially when, as now, I need my hair cut and beard trimmed—more like an anteater) but I shrink to ant mode when I read something like the following. It came from a mailer from a company called HUBSPOT and was written by a talented lady called Jessica Meher.

22 years ago, something remarkable happened. 36-year-old physicist Tim Berners-Lee, changed the world forever using just a few lines of computer code.

That day, the first ever website was born.

While the website was basic at most, it was the just the start to connecting millions of people to endless amounts of information.

Now there are more than 700 million websites on the internet and every 60 seconds more than 5,067 web pages are created.

For most businesses, a website is the Grand Central Station of marketing -- connecting branding, social media, email, lead generation, ecommerce, and more. But not all websites are created equal. Out of the millions of websites we've analyzed through MarketingGrader, 72% received a failing grade of 59 or below (Tweet This Stat). Yikes!

What made me say “yikes!” was the statement that there are 700 million websites on the internet and every 60 seconds more than 5,067 web pages are created.

Given such staggering competition, how presumptuous to believe that anyone would read my output. But, hell, I’m an ant—and since when did ants worry about such things.

We just go about our business regardless—and my business just happens to be writing!

 

THE STORY SO FAR: PART 306: THURSDAY

‘THE ROAD’ IS A THOROUGHLY DISTURBING MOVIE—BUT VIGGO MORTENSEN MAKES IT WORTH WATCHING

I have long enjoyed and admired Viggo Mortensens’s acting, but didn’t realize he was such an interesting man.

Viggo Peter Mortensen, Jr. (Danish: [viɡ̊o ˈmɒːdnsn]; October 20, 1958) is an American actor, poet, musician, photographer and painter. He made his film debut in Peter Weir's 1985 thriller Witness, and subsequently appeared in many notable films of the 1990s, includingThe Indian Runner (1991), Carlito's Way (1993), Crimson Tide (1995), Daylight (1996), The Portrait of a Lady(1996), G.I. Jane (1997), A Perfect Murder (1998), A Walk on the Moon (1999) and 28 Days (2000).

Mortensen's career rose to new heights in the early 2000s with his role as Aragorn in the epic film trilogy The Lord of the Rings. In 2005, Mortensen won critical acclaim for David Cronenberg's crime thriller A History of Violence. Two years later, another Cronenberg film Eastern Promises (2007) earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. A third teaming with Cronenberg in A Dangerous Method (2011) resulted in a Golden Globe Best Supporting Actor nomination. Other well-received films in recent years have included Appaloosa (2008) and the 2009 film adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's novel The Road.

Aside from acting, his other artistic pursuits include fine arts, photography, poetry, and music. In 2002, he founded the Perceval Press to publish the works of little-known artists and authors. Mortensen is politically active. He campaigned for Dennis Kucinich in the 2008 United States presidential election, and later endorsed Barack Obama for President.

A great actor and an admirable man—whose career speaks for itself.

 

 

 

 

THE STORY SO FAR:PART 305: WEDNESDAY

THERE ARE MANY GOOD BLOGS OUT THERE, BUT THE BASELINE SCENARIO IS EXCEPTIONAL

THE BASELINE SCENARIO blog is actually written by both James Kwak and Simon Johnson. Both are excellent writers and thoughtful commentators on the state of the U.S. economy.

Today, I’m going to focus on James Kwak, primarily because he has been featured more recently – and he’s a positive master of the short blog. Here, I am green with envy, because although I believe I write interesting blogs (mostly) I haven’t yet mastered the art of writing a thought provoking and stimulating blog in a couple of paragraphs.

James Kwak clearly has—and I salute him. Of course, he can also write entertainingly at length as well, but he is a positive maestro when being brief. The following is a mid-size example—and yes, he has a delightful sense of humor. He is also a knowledgeable critic of our Big Banks and of Financialization—the increasing dominance of the Real Economy by finance—and I salute him for that too.

'13 Bankers' In 4 Pictures: Why Wall Street Profits Are Out Of Whack

• by James Kwak

My three-year-old daughter, looking at 13 Bankers, said, "It doesn't have any pictures." (She was hoping for a book about yaks.) Actually, it has a few pictures, although they are just pictures of data. But those pictures themselves tell an interesting story.

The first part of the story is the "financialization of the economy." There are many ways to describe this phenomenon--looking at the ratio of financial assets to GDP, or the ratio of debt to income, and so on. But we thought this was the best way to show it.*

Those are corporate profits of the financial sector and the nonfinancial sector. It's an index, so the two lines are defined to intersect in 1980. Looking back from 1980, you can see that financial and nonfinancial profits grew at basically the same rate since the Crash of 1929. Then in the 1980s, financial profits took off into the stratosphere, defying even the crash of the stock market in 2000.

Remember that financial services are an intermediate product--that is, we don't eat them, or live in them, or put them on in the morning. They are supposed to enable a more efficient allocation of capital, so that the nonfinancial economy is more productive. But what we saw since the 1980s was the unmooring of the financial sector from the rest of the economy.

The right edge of the figure is also telling. That plunge in financial profits is Q4 2008--the three months right after the collapse of Lehman Brothers, Washington Mutual, and Wachovia. But then in the next three quarters, financial sector profits shot back up to the levels of the boom. That's called business as usual. And it's not what happened to the real economy.

Keep an eye out for the two books he co-wrote with Simon Johnson as well. They are respectively 13 BANKERS and WHITE HOUSE BURNING.

THE STORY SO FAR: PART 304: TUESDAY

GIVEN THE EXTRAORDINARY AMOUNTS OF MONEY SPENT BY THE PENTAGON, YOU MIGHT THINK THEY WOULD PLAN & COORDINATE A LITTLE BETTER…

Actually, if you know anything about the Pentagon at all, you would not be remotely surprised at the lack of planning and coordination. In fact, some would say—with very good reason—that the Pentagon spends far more time and resources on internal warfare, rather than fighting external enemies. They call this ‘inter-service’ rivalry. If you added the adjective ‘vicious’ you would be closer to the mark. And, over a career, trillions of dollars are at stake. That is seen by most as a good enough reason to sacrifice one’s integrity. You just have to go-along-to-get-along—and that general’s star will be yours. In fact, that star (more is better) may well make you a millionaire. Why not indeed! Over 70 percent of your peers are working for defense contractors. This is capitalism in action. 

Indeed, not only are the the services largely preoccupied with fighting each other, but they make the whole business more complicated by squabbling with the Department of Defense’s giant civilian democracy. Add in positive legions of defense contractors—many of dubious reputation—and the differing agendas of retired members of the Club of Generals—and it is positively amazing that anything of military value emerges at all.

Well, occasionally it does, but only after excruciating development times—we are normally talking decades these days—and at a cost which may well be described as grotesque (or do I need a stronger word?). As a consequence, the American Way of War is the costliest in the world—by a wide margin—and it is highly debatable whether it is effective.

Yes, we can destroy things and kill a lot of people—many not necessarily the enemy—but that is not the same as winning wars. Do our generals seem to understand that fact? The evidence is not encouraging. We have great soldiers in the lower ranks, and extraordinary courage is often displayed—but careerism seems to take over at light colonel level.

The above photo shows a Boeing's Phantom Badger vehicle emerging from a V-22 aircraft. The significant point is that it fits. Well, it certainly should since it was specifically designed to do so because the original designers of the Osprey hadn’t considered the possibility that the aircraft might need to carry a military vehicle—so none fitted—not even that staple of military transport, the ubiquitous HMMWV. And, in case you are not clear on the subject, the V-22 was designed, solely and entirely, for war—over two and a half decades at that. You might think that a penny would have dropped during that time..

Given that war has been mechanized since WW I (1914-18), you might well find that a curious omission. Anyway, as a consequence of the military utility of the Osprey not being thought through properly, its fuselage is an awkward size and really not too good even for carrying troops. The thing is unnecessarily and foolishly cramped. As for its other faults, I’m writing a blog, not a book (right now).

Well, perhaps development had to be rushed, and the project was underfunded—or the developers were new at the game?

What charitable thoughts! In fact, development took over a quarter of a century, the corporations concerned were those novices, Bell and Boeing—and if I told you the cost in billions of dollars, I would be putting your heart at risk. But, I’m prepared to gamble. How would $39 billion grab you? And no, that is not close to the full program cost. I’m merely talking about development. But, where does development stop and fly-away cost step in? Well, that is a little hard to answer, you understand. Further development is always required. The costs? Develoment is about exploring the unknown. Besides, why should we know when the Pentagon can't even be audited?

Yes, it us entirely true that the Pentagon can suck money in, fail to account for it, and suffer no consequences. Yes, that is illegal. Yes, Congress does nothing.

So what are the costs of reinventing the jeep—a task which should have been entirely unnecessary—and what are the costs per unit of the Badger? I don’t know as yet, but I am sure they are exorbitantly high—and that you, the American taxpayer, will be—once again—paying the bill.

Will you check it carefully? No, you will not—and therein lies the real tragedy. Far too many Americans know too little, and don’t seem to care.

Meanwhile the MICC—the Military Industrial Congressional Complex—gnaws away at our standard of living, the quality of our lives, and any faint remnants of probity.

Frankly, it is pretty damn evil. Frankly, the fact that you don’t care is no better.

THE STORY SO FAR: PART 303: MONDAY

A WHOLE NEW APPROACH TO COMMUTING—YOUR VERY OWN JETPACK

As you know, I love aviation developments, but I am somewhat undecided about this class of transport. But let me quote from the press release issued by Martin Aircraft, and you can make up your own mind.

The Auckland-based company has conducted initial manned test flights of the latest prototype of its ducted-fan Jetpack after receiving a permit to fly from New Zealand's Civil Aviation Authority. The single-pilot machine is being developed to comply at first with rules governing microlights, but new CEO Peter Coker acknowledges Martin will have to work with individual regulators around the world if the Jetpack is to fulfill its promise as a “motorbike in the sky.”

Designed for a cruise speed of 30 kt., range of 30 km (19 mi.) and endurance of 30 min., the vertical-takeoff-and-landing Jetpack is attracting interest for uses as disparate as search and rescue, pipeline inspection, corporate events, flying displays and a “jetpack experience” for thrill seekers. As an unmanned heavy lifter, with the ability to carry a 150-kg (330-lb.) payload, the machine is being looked at by the agricultural and film industries, Coker says.

Flight tests of the company's 12th and latest prototype are underway. After initial manned hops, prototype P12 is being flown unmanned to expand the low-altitude envelope as Martin modifies the engine, after which manned flights are planned to resume. The modification adds a balance shaft to reduce vibration inherent in the 200-hp. V4 two-stroke, designed and built by Martin itself after it could not find an engine powerful, light or compact enough.

Mounted behind the pilot, the engine powers a pair of ducted fans that provide both vertical thrust and flight control. Compared with P11—the previous prototype that had center-of-gravity challenges, says Coker—the ducts have been moved down and increased in size, and a “robust” fly-by-wire system added to increase flight performance. Martin is aiming for a maximum speed of 40 kt. Empty weight manned is 180 kg and maximum takeoff weight 330 kg, for a payload with full fuel of 100 kg.

Altitude is limited to 3,000 ft. by microlight rules but, in May 2011, P11 was flown unmanned to 5,000 ft. to show the machine could fly out of ground effect and “prove this is an aircraft,” Coker says. That flight ended with the first deployment of the ballistic recovery parachute, a standard safety feature of the Jetpack. “The parachute is part of the system, and is connected to the engine so that, if it is not performing correctly, it will deploy automatically,” he says.

“We are developing an active parachute to get the dead-man's curve down to a very low level,” he adds. Normally associated with helicopters, the dead-man's curve is the lower corner of the height/velocity chart where a power failure can be fatal. “We'd like the parachute to be usable down to 6 meters or so.” Below that, the carbon-fiber landing gear would absorb the impact. “The undercarriage can withstand a fairly reasonable arrival, and the pilot is enclosed in carbon fiber for safety,” Coker says. A flotation collar will provide buoyancy in a water ditching.