Help Oxford, Mass., celebrate its 300th! http://www.oxford300.com/ #history

Oxford, Massachusetts, would love your help to celebrate its 300th anniversary, or Tercentennial. 

The Oxford Tercentennial Committee officially kicked off its Annual Sponsor Program by announcing the names
of two major business contributors and one individual contributor in the annual program.

 

Click here (PDF) to read the story (see page 16)

This little town is in the southern central region of the Bay State, a part of Worcester County. Among other things, it is best known as the birthplace and home of Clara Barton, who was the founder of the American Red Cross. 

My family lived there through much of my adolescent years, from age 4 to 12. So, as you might imagine, this town provides me plenty of memories from my youth that live in me today. (Many of those memories are idealized under the glazing of time, of course. However, as historic as the town was then, much has changed, but so much of the setting and buildings have remained, unchanged. Inf act, I still know folks who live there now who lived there then. That's kinda nice for a guy who's lived in quite a few places over the decades.) 

Visit http://www.oxford300.com/oxford.aspx

- Jon Osterholm

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Goodbye, Piperjet - it's been fun

Today, at about 0830, Piper Aircraft's Piperjet prototype (actually, called a "proof of concept", as it is essentially a test device) took off from the Vero Beach, Fla., airport. This is apparently the last time that she will fly. The program was put on indefinite suspension, due to the market outlook for such a wonderful machine. Few had a chance to ride in her, and while I was not one, I certainly spent considerable time getting a sense of her lines, makeup and had lots of appreciation for the effort they put into it at Piper.

The pilot brought her off the ground, sliding mere feet above the runway, then pulled back and right, in stages of a pleasingly tight turn. Anyone who thinks that that flying vessel was put on hold because of issues with its design and flight capabilities is chasing a false ghost. It took to the air today almost like an acrobatic plane. (Almost!) Impressive! Another time, another, stronger economic setting. Thanks for the view, Piperjet!

You can still catch video of her on YouTube, and I hope someone who took video of this last flight will share it, as, today, that takeoff alone was worth seeing again and again!
- Jon Osterholm

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Former Piper CEO and FAA chief, Lynn Helms passes, age 86

The New York Times wrote on the passing of former FAA administrator J. Lynn Helms. AOPA linked to it the article in their daily Aviation Brief e-newsletter.

Just prior to his stint at the top of the federal air transport regulatory agency, Helms had boosted the position of general aviation manufacturer Piper Aircraft. 

Mr. Helms, a decorated pilot who left the Marine Corps as a lieutenant colonel in 1956, went on to a successful business career in aviation. In 1974, he became president and chief executive of Piper Aircraft — he was later named chairman — and was widely credited with turning around the company’s financial fortunes before Mr. Reagan appointed him to lead the F.A.A.

Helms was the FAA chief during a tense chapter in American aviation business history. He and his boss, the President of the U.S.A., managed a very well-known political scuffle between a federal union and the White House. The air traffic controller union, Patco, went on strike. Helms sought to replace the striking workers with replacements and military controllers, should the strikers not return to their jobs in 48 hours. President Ronald Reagan vowed that the workers would be replaced to avert a serious impact on flights, and his Administration followed through. The strike, due to its potential impact on transportation safety, was illegal. 

Mr. Helms’s contingency plans functioned better than expected, and with flight schedules pared down and supervisors, nonstriking controllers and military controllers staffing airport towers and radar centers, there were no strike-related disasters.

 

Widely seen as an effective manager, Mr. Helms was able to oversee the restoration of air service nearly to prestrike levels by the time he left the agency in January 1984, though problems with air traffic delays continued, and 1985, the year after he left, was among the worst in airline history for accidents and deaths.

Read the entire NY Times piece (written by Bruce Weber): http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/14/us/j-lynn-helms-who-led-the-faa-dies-at-86.html?_r=1

- Jon Osterholm

(Note: Piper Aircraft is my employer. Any of my posts or comments here or anywhere do not reflect views of Piper Aircraft. They have a department for that, and I am not in it.)

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Why Steve Jobs idolized Robert Noyce (CS Monitor)

Robert Noyce was a great engineer. Call him an inventor. Call him a creator, a mentor to the origins of the Digital Age. He influenced Steve Jobs. 

Ms. Berlin writes that Jobs was one of many Silicon Valley entrepreneurs mentored by Noyce after he left daily management at Intel in 1975. He served on the boards of half a dozen startup companies, and invested in many more.

Here's what Steve Jobs told Leslie Berlin, author of "The Man Behind the Microchip" about Noyce:

"Bob Noyce took me under his wing," Apple Computer founder Steve Jobs explains. "I was young, in my twenties. He was in his early fifties. He tried to give me the lay of the land, give me a perspective that I could only partially understand." Jobs continues, "You can't really understand what is going on now unless you understand what came before."

In a 1990 WGBH NOVA mini-series "The Machine That Changed the World," the interviewer notes that Robert Noyce took up hang gliding at age 40. He was an inventor and risk taker. To which Jobs replies:

"My observation is that the doers are the major thinkers. The people that really create the things that change this industry are both the thinker and doer in one person. And if we really go back and we examine, you know did Leonardo have a guy off to the side that was thinking five years out in the future what he would paint or the technology he would use to paint it, of course not. Leonardo was the artist but he also mixed all his own paints. He also was a fairly good chemist. He knew about pigments [and he] knew about human anatomy. [Combining] all of those skills together, the art and the science, the thinking and the doing, was what resulted in the exceptional result." 

Read the article from Christian Science Monitor: http://www.csmonitor.com/Innovation/2011/1212/Robert-Noyce-Why-Steve-Jobs-idolized-Noyce

- Jon Osterholm

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Life after movies: child star of 'It's a Wonderful Life' lost her parents before age 16

Life after a movie career: child star of 'It's a Wonderful Life' lost her mother, father before age 16.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/for-zuzu-of-its-a-wonderful-life-it-wasnt-such-a-wonderful-life-afterward/2011/11/21/gIQAYt3CLO_story_1.html

... after her film work ended, she grew up fast. “My mother died when I was 12, and right after my dad died in a car crash. I was 15 and had no family. The court sent me to live with my uncle and aunt in Missouri,” she said.

“They were kind of nutso religious fanatics who didn’t believe in movies, dancing, singing, that kind of thing,” she remembered. “I don’t think they believed in laughing, either.” ...

Yah, not exactly a happy Christmas-flavored nugget. The entire article is a good read for any fan of this movie, and the tasteful, fanciful movies of hope lost and found. 

- Jon 

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A touch of local history: the Vero naval air station

A touch of local history in my area, on the Treasure Coast of Florida -- the naval station that became the municipal airport, in a series of photos. 

Vero Beach Naval Air Station - TCPalm.com

- Jon Osterholm

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Bobby V to the BoSox - a story of them, him and... the Mets #sports #boston #redsox http://tinyurl.com/c5lrfr5

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/01/sports/baseball/valentine-in-boston-now-thats-entertainment-george-vecsey.html?_r=1

Bobby V to the BoSox - a story of them, him and... the Mets  

http://tinyurl.com/c5lrfr5

- Jon 

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Strange but true:

Missing aircraft found after 22 years

HONIARA, 07 NOVEMBER, 2011 (Solomon Star News) -- 

A United States (US) aircraft that went missing 22 years ago in the Solomon Islands has been found beneath the waters of Santa Ana, Makira/Ulawa.

The Piper Seneca light twin-engine aircraft with registration N8295M, on a delivery flight from the United States to Australia, went missing on 18 January 1989. The aircraft was last sighted on 17 January 1989 when its lone Italian pilot made an over-night stopover in Honiara.

The aircraft departed for Brisbane on the morning of January 18 and was never seen again. Although there were extensive searches made, the aircraft could not be located because of the lack of resources and aircrafts available at that time.

In June this year, Alfred Pita, an employee of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) went to Santa Ana for his holiday and met one of the villagers who had a knife made from one of the parts of the aircraft. As a result, Pita investigated the crash site. He was informed by village elders that the aircraft nose dived into the sea near the coast of Santa Ana around the same time N8295M disappeared. Villagers were afraid to report the incident and remained silent for 22 years.

On his return, Pita alerted his CAA colleague George Satu, who dug out the file on the missing aircraft and discussions led to a team to the crash site in last month.

The team interviewed elders in the village before visiting the crash site. Five local divers assisted the team to look for the missing aircraft.

The remains of N8295M were discovered 50 meters underwater.

Solomon Islands Civil Aviation has contacted the U.S consulate in Honiara as well as Italian authorities of their discovery. A team from US is expected to fly into the country to salvage the remains of the aircraft.

http://www.solomonstarnews.com/news/national/12739-missing-arircraft-found   

You never know what you might discover on an overseas trip.

- Jon Osterholm

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Single-engine VLJ makers see programs stall (Oct 2010 version)

Times change, decisions are revised. 

Realities become clearer. Or, realities become less certain. Or, perhaps, a bit of both condemn good ideas for good products. 

Piper had further ramped up its effort for the jet program after this article, quoted below, was published. But, very nearly a year after the article, the decision was made to indefinitely suspend the Piperjet Altaire program. 

Never say never again. 

This was October 2010... 

Single-engine VLJ makers see programs stall

http://www.ainonline.com/?q=aviation-news/nbaa-convention-news/2010-10-13/single-engine-vlj-makers-see-programs-stall

"Piper Aircraft’s new owner, the Brunei-backed ­investment firm Imprimis, seems to grasp the point. At this year’s EAA AirVenture, Imprimis managing director Geoffrey Berger said the company is committed to fully funding the PiperJet (now the PiperJet Altaire) and is prepared to carry it to certification and beyond, even if Piper’s current revenues could not. A nonconforming prototype made its first flight in July 2008, but the economic downturn forced Piper to move the development schedule to the right and customer deliveries now are not scheduled to commence until mid-2013.

However, the company began cutting metal for a conformal test aircraft this summer and has more than 100 engineers working on the program in-house. Although the company instituted a mandatory shut down the week of August 9 to 13, it excluded those working on the PiperJet and Piper’s payroll in Vero Beach rose from 540 last year to 890 but dropped to 830 this month.

Of all the single-engine VLJ survivors, Piper is perhaps best positioned to ­succeed in the near-term thanks to its parents’ deep pockets and the fact that it has logical “step up” aircraft in its product line en route to the PiperJet Altaire, including the piston Malibu Mirage and the Meridian turboprop. Nevertheless, having a new jet pass muster is a bit more daunting than tweaking an existing airframe and stuffing a PT-6 in the nose, which is what Piper basically did when it launched the Meridian more than a decade ago. 

However, it appears that

none of these programs will succeed without a steady flow of capital, either from well-heeled parents or outside investors. Single-engine VLJs can fly, but not alone."

- Jon Osterholm

http://ringhorne.com 

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QAM channels - what are they and do you need a boat?

Cutting cords, cutting costs, and getting enough with less. That's how I want to do my next "big" home TV and entertainment move. 

I want to spend as little as possible on TV, since it seems I pay to watch a lot of ads that I cannot stand. I appreciate advertising in itself, and the view I have is that ad revenue already pays for most of what you see on TV. The cable fees are small compared to what you're getting for it (I can hear the belly laughs, but seriously, it's not ALL total lame junk. Just around 70% of it.). 

The kinda lame headline is: 

Cord-Cutting a Double-Edged Sword for Channel Master

The company offering a recent idea also is a provider of cable, literally, the wiring, for cable and satellite companies. That's the double-edged sword. I think that cable and satellite folks see tech changes as part of their industry, not as something to forcefully resist. 

http://www.cable360.net/ct/48760.html

"QAM channels"

Its new OTT product - Channel Master TV - is a digital video recorder (DVR) with a dual tuner for both digital channels from broadcasters (ATSC) and clear QAM cable. It has a 320GB hard drive for recording up to 150 hours of standard definition programming or 35 hours of high definition content. In addition, the DVR can connect to the Internet via Wi-Fi. The device works with an antenna, which must be purchased separately. It has a suggested retail price of $399 and can be purchased initially at Fry's, Crutchfield, WalMart.com and directly through Channel Master. ...

Follow news about "clear QAM" service (and other tech), from many sources, via Google News:  clear QAM

- Jon Osterholm

Web:      http://ringhorne.com

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45th: Florida's average college tuition well below $8,244 national average (BusinessWeek)

In this ranking, the lower you are -- assuming a good education is gained, obviously -- the better. Any graduate studies in basket-weaving or liberal arts will not count, kids.

I think it is reasonable to encourage students to go for a practical degree, no matter what their interests are. If one has a solid foundation, then it beats an impractical education with no jobs at the other end. Make the msot of the college experience -- classes, activities, and such things as internships and industry connections.

Personality, work ethic, intellectual curiosity, intellectual capabilities, vigor, and a variety of other factors beyond one's educational degrees determine who and what we become. And those things determine who we are far more than the education we receive. Remember that. Don't expect something from college -- demand things from yourself and others while in college. There are plenty of intellectual idiots in the world. don't become one.

The College Board released a report Wednesday ranking Florida 45th nationwide in average cost to attend a public university. The average tuition is $5,626, 11.8 percent higher than last year.

Last year, Florida ranked 48th nationwide. Despite the increase in cost, Florida's average tuition is still below the national average of $8,244, an increase of 8.3 percent.

http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9QKMGP01.htm

Tinyurl: http://tinyurl.com/68v3zdg

- Jon

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Harrison Ford meets with Senate caucus about general aviation (AOPA)

via aopa.org

From the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association site: General aviation and its contributions to the United States are often misunderstood or unknown, and actor, pilot, and GA advocate Harrison Ford told members of the Senate General Aviation Caucus that he is going to do his part to bring the community's efforts to the public's attention.

Caucus co-chairs Sens. Mark Begich (D-Alaska) and Mike Johanns (R-Neb.) kicked off the session explaining that GA isn't a luxury and in some cases is often a necessity. The lack of understanding of the role GA plays in the United States has placed it in jeopardy, they said.

“General aviation is in peril at times,” Begich said, naming threats like the proposed $100-per-flight user fee, a proposal that would hurt business jet depreciation schedules...

Those contributions extend far and wide.

- Jon

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After recent action in Europe, Bimbo comes to terms with Sara Lee, thanks to U.S. Justice Dept.

This acquisition went under review over antitrust concerns, which is DoJ territory. I will not speculate on whether the concerns were legitimate in this case. 

My Friday evening definition of antitrust law: these controls help maintain a balance in the free market of what's known as "economies of scale" (purchasing and operational benefits that come from larger size of an organization) and competition, which, preferably, entices companies to hold prices as low as they can stand it. 

Without the divestitures, the acquisition “would likely lead to millions of Americans paying higher prices for sliced fresh bread,” [Sharis Pozen, the acting assistant attorney general in charge of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division] said. The sales include the associated manufacturing, distribution and marketing assets required to compete effectively, according to the statement.

Not being a follower of baked goods brands, it didn't hit me, until reading this article, just how large the Mexico City-based baked goods giant, Grupo Bimbo, is. This article gives a picture of how large they are, if only by comparison to Sara Lee. They have been very active recently, in acquiring operations. (The Grupo Bimbo baking unit in the U.S. is BBU, Inc.) 

BBU and Sara Lee are respectively the largest and third- largest bakers and sellers of sliced fresh bread in the U.S., the Justice Department said in the statement. BBU sells baked goods under brands including Arnold, Thomas’, Entenmann’s, Freihofer’s and Stroehmann’s.

 

Grupo Bimbo is expanding through acquisitions in the U.S. and Europe, where it bought Sara Lee’s bakery units in Spain and Portugal Oct. 10.

Read more: http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-10-21/bimbo-agrees-with-u-s-to-sell-some-sara-lee-bread-assets.html

It's Friday evening, so sue me if the headline seems to be toying with the names of the companies. 

- Jon Osterholm

(Aside: Anyone recall the NBA player Bimbo Coles? Played for the Miami Heat for several years. I spent nearly two years in his hometown area, in West Virginia, when he was a player.) 

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Founder of Plantronics, a Florida native and Haitian missionary, dies at 88 (via Mercury News)

Keith Larkin, pilot and Plantronics pioneer, dead at 88

(Material abridged; from linked story)

Keith Larkin, a pilot who invented the lightweight headset that launched Plantronics 50 years ago, died on Sept. 28 while celebrating his 88th birthday. 

Born in Palatka, Fla., Mr. Larkin joined the Army Air Corps during World War II and became a B-17 flight instructor. He learned to fly the Globe Master and trained on the P-51 Mustang for air combat in Korea.

Larkin is well-known for starting Plantronics and later ACS Communications, a headset-maker in Scotts Valley, California. His son, Kevin, recalls his father as a man who invested in help for children in need.

“He moved to Florida so he could work with the Haitians,” his son said.

“He was fearless,” said his son, who worked in sales at ACS. “He told me ‘If somebody has already done something, it can’t be that hard.'”

He said his father could sketch out the idea for a product on a paper napkin and bring that product to market.

After selling his interests in ACS in the mid-’80s, Mr. Larkin devoted himself to Christian mission work in Haiti.

He and his wife moved to Florida where they bought a 1,000-ton ship to deliver food, medicine and supplies to the Caribbean. They donated that vessel to Mercy Ships, a Christian organization, then bought a Navy surplus barge to create a floating dental clinic to serve remote areas off the coast of Haiti. 

Read the complete story:  http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_19032809   

- Jon O

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Murdoch's BBJ for Sale: ‘Make Offer’ for Magnate's Biiiig Biz Toy (AIN)

Murdoch's Boeing Bizjet for Sale: ‘Make Offer’ - via AINalerts  

"News Corp./News America chief Rupert Murdoch’s Boeing Business Jet was recently listed for sale, not long after AIN’s page-one story ["WSJ declares war on bizav"] on the sybaritic wanderings of the airplane and the hypocrisy of the proprietor of The Wall Street Journal," states the latest coverage by AINonline.com (Aviation International News) about the Journal's roughing up of corporate jet users. I thought Obama was against corporate jet owners, not the unofficially official daily record of capitalism.  

Why does AIN call it "hypocrisy"? I will let AINonline explain their view (link, end paragraph). 

Here's a quick, broad version of the matter: The Journal, in June, targeted several CEOs for their jet usage. Months earlier, as AIN explains, the WSJ went after NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg. The Mayor happens to be a media magnate in his own right, so perhaps that had something to do with the focus. I really don't know, and I am not sure I care. It's a bit like hearing that Godzilla and Mothra are arguing. I have more important things to do with my reading time. I'm just glad I'm not getting the same unflattering attention from either one's media companies, or AIN, too. 

Bloomberg's silly rich, so is Murdoch, so they have airplanes. Did they steal their money? And Bloomberg is paying for his flights out of his pocket, not NYC coffers, as I understand it. So what gives, WSJ? That's what AINonline wanted to know, in March, after reading the paper's attack on Bloomberg: WSJ swats at Bloomberg's bizjets

The WSJ had "put business aviation in its cross hairs several times this year, beginning with an 'exposé' in its February 14 edition," AINonline explains, of the attack on Bloomberg’s jet travels. The Journal "escalated the campaign as the year progressed, naming names and destinations and putting an airplane-tracking database on its website." 

Here's the original WSJ story: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704657104576142173272460648.html?KEYWORDS=Air+Bloomberg

AIN notes that the Murdock airplane -- BBJ S/N 30070 N889NC -- is shown as being available immediately, “make offer.” Wells Fargo Bank Northwest of Salt Lake City is the registered owner. 

It has LOTS of goodies aboard, seeing as it's almost a 727. Check out the list of goodies in the AIN article.  

- Jon 

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ERAU career expo Oct. 19 at Daytona campus #aviation #jobs

This is a serious job fair. On the 19th, be prepared. Interviews of select candidates are planned for Oct 20th. 

Wednesday, October 19, 2010	Expo Hours: 9am - 4pm	ICI Center
Thursday, October 20, 2010	Interviews for Selected Candidates	ICI Center

http://www.erau.edu/career/expo/jobseekers.html

Jon Osterholm

Gmail:  vikingjro@gmail.com
Email:   jon@ringhorne.com
Web:      http://ringhorne.com

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In #aviation? Looking for employees or #jobs? Check out jsfirm.com

In the aviation industry? Looking for employees or a job? Check out jsfirm.com. Also, the site's biz dev manager says hiring will return in the next three months. Self-serving, or a good outlook? Only time will tell us.

JSFirm.com: Employee Searches Should Start in the Fall (from AINmxReports)
Maintenance technicians can look forward to hiring opportunities this fall as “companies should begin recruiting in October, November and December,” Jeff Richards, JSfirm.com’s business development manager, told AIN. A recent JSFirm.com internal study indicates most people begin job hunting in the last three months of the year and many begin a new job in January. 

JSfirm.com is an aviation-specific job board serving more than 4,000 companies and 425,000 job seekers annually. Richards said about 40 percent of companies looking to hire someone underestimate the two months that the process will take. 

“The company that hires the wrong person in haste gets hit twice economically. There’s the initial hiring and training costs plus the lost productivity, customer dissatisfaction and the need for another employee to do the job over. Overall it can cost a company tens of thousands of dollars,” he said. “As we come out of the recession the available pool of maintenance technicians will be absorbed quickly. OEMs are expecting a strong 2012, and Asian countries, especially China, are really ramping up. The demand for qualified technicians will far outstrip the supply. Now is the time to hire before there’s no one left to be hired,” he said.

Here's another AIN article about the new site: http://www.ainonline.com/?q=aviation-news/ainmxreports/2011-08-10/jsfirmcom-creates-job-distribution-network

Just thought you'd like to know.

- Jon O.

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Scientists win award for study of pee-pee dancing impact on decision-making - the Ig Nobels

There are a many odd, even crazy-seeming, scientific studies occurring in any given year, but we rarely hear much about them unless we specifically seek out news or papers written about such studies. There are also some rather strange practices occurring that inspire "Strange but True" and other lines of news and hit videos. An example of this is how one European mayor solved the obnoxious practice of luxury car owners parking wherever they chose.

Wasabi alarm, beetle sex win Ig Nobel spoof prizes

By Julie Steenhuysen (REUTERS)

Peter Snyder, a professor of Neurology at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, was part of two research teams who won the Medicine Prize for studying how the urge to urinate affects decision-making.

 

Snyder's team set up an experiment in which volunteers did computer tests and then periodically drank 250 ml (about 8 ounces) of water as the scientists measured the effects of the volunteers' gradually swelling bladders on attention and working memory. The aim was to see who could last the longest before bolting for the toilet.

 

The study found that attention and working memory suffer when you are so focused on having to pee.

 

"When you gotta go, you gotta go," Snyder said.

Another notable winner was the mayor of Vilnius, Lithuania, Arturas Zuokas, who took "the Peace Prize for showing that the problem of illegally parked luxury cars can be solved by running them over with an armored tank." See a video here. 

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/09/30/us-nobel-spoof-idUSTRE78S6VP20110930

- Jon 

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Piper Aircraft seeks engineers at a Wichita job fair Oct. 7

Heads up! Pass it around! Make your plans! Get your tickets or rent your plane! 

If you're an engineer skilled in aspects that are relevant to aviation, and in this engineer-hungry business environment you're looking for a place to launch a new chapter in your career, then Piper Aircraft, in Vero Beach, Florida, might be the direction to look. If you would like to be a part of a vibrant smaller company with a stunning product legacy and an exciting future of both jets and props, and expanding horizons in both products and marketing reach, and if you would like to have a hand in launching the sweetest little jet to come, then Piper is where you want to be. 

There are positions in the PiperJet Altaire program, Piper's single-engine jet, which is soaring toward a product launch in 2014, as well as in sustaining programs. We are already building the parts, with sights set on conforming prototypes, and expanding production structures in anticipation of the finished product of the jet. 

If you're in Wichita, Kansas, or able to head there, even better. Meet folks from Piper on October 7:

VERO BEACH, Fla., Sept. 28, 2011 – Piper Aircraft is conducting a Wichita, KS, career fair from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., Friday, Oct. 7 at Century II. The company seeks a number of qualified and experienced aviation professionals for its ongoing aircraft manufacturing activity.

 

“Most of our open positions are for a variety of engineering disciplines but we also have other positions that are available,” say Piper Director of Human Resources Ellen Sobczak, SPHR. “We ask applicants to submit their resumes online at jobs@piper.com prior to being interviewed by the hiring managers who will be in Wichita.”

 

All of the positions being recruited are located in Vero Beach, Fla., site of Piper’s manufacturing campus and on the Atlantic coast. Money Magazine has called Vero Beach one of the “Top Beach Towns” and one of “The Best Places to Live on the Coast.”

Read more: http://www.amtonline.com/article/article.jsp?siteSection=1&id=14598 (Piper release on AMTOnline.com)

Or, go straight to the Piper site to read more: http://www.piper.com/pages/PiperRecruitingEmployeesinWichita_09272011.cfm

Vero Beach is close to everything from the Kennedy Space Center and Orlando and Daytona Beach to Tampa and Miami. But it is not too close. That's why a lot of people like it, including many retired executives and folks who simply love the beach. It's got culture, a beach, and a nice -- not what you'd call wild -- night life.  

If you know me, or if you would like to get a feel for the area, the company, and other things, you're welcome to contact me. I'd appreciate your using me as an employee referral. Give them my name: Jon Osterholm. I am in the technical communications department, at 772-299-2304 or jon.osterholm@piper.com . Visit http://tinyurl.com/pipercareers to see the jobs available, or click the link above to read the entire career fair press release, including jobs. 

- Jon 

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History of Sweden: War, peace and progress

I have an abiding curiosity with the history of the lands that work their ways inland from the Mediterranean, Black and North Seas, as it affected the Swedish and Danish power and people. 

A curious, little-known fact from the recent history of Swedish society: They opted to no longer drive on the left-hand side of the road, as in Britain, and took to driving on the right-hand side, as in the USA. 

The change happened in 1967, and was recorded for history with photos such as the one below, showing drivers switching sides at the appropriate moment along a city street. 

On September 3, 1967, Sweden switched from driving on the left-hand side of the road to the right. Photo: Leif Engberg/Scanpix

The history of Sweden involves much more. One essential fact about the Swedish Empire was that it was hard to sustain since the Swedes were an agrarian people. 

Learn more about this lesser known part of Europe by reading a brief history of Sweden (from which the above is expanded, "History of Sweden: War, peace and progress") at

 http://www.sweden.se/eng/Home/Lifestyle/Facts/History-of-Sweden/ 

and all around the nation's self-titled Web site http://Sweden.se. 

- Jon 

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Actor Spencer Tracy's life, before Hepburn, is a focus of new biography

A new Spencer Tracy bio sheds new light on an actor's actor - from the LA Times

"Hepburn really kind of inserted herself into Tracy's life," said [biography author James] Curtis. "She fell madly in love with him, though she was never sure that he felt the same way about her. They had some rough times, but she was absolutely devoted to him. I think she's a very interesting person who was, in some ways, completed by Tracy. He was not reluctant to tell her to shut up."

 

Spencer Tracy was a legendary actor when he was working. He had an acting talent that was very human, not heroic as a sort of demigod, but simply as a man. He had demons. Most noted among his troubles was his drinking habit. The book talks about his "guilt", too, regarding his long-running extramarital affairs and a son being born deaf. 

I found Tracy an enthralling choice to be the weary old fisherman in the film adaptation of the Nobel Prize-winning novel, The Old Man and the Sea. I believe I am among others who saw more than a drinking problem connecting Tracy and the novel's author, Ernest Hemingway. They both had powerful presences. 

A thing I recall most about the actor: Of herself and Tracy, Katharine Hepburn had reportedly said, “You know, for me, acting has been so hard and life has been so easy. But for Spencer, acting has been so easy and life has been so hard.”  

Read the whole article: http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-et-classic-hollywood-20110926,0,7885184.story?track=lat-pick

- Jon 

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The 'Dolphin Tale' dolphin rescued from Indian River Lagoon

http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2011/sep/21/what-a-weekend-st-lucie-county-events-sept-22-25/

From TCPalm.com:

Dolphins and other tales

Did you know that "Winter," the dolphin featured in the movie "Dolphin Tale," was rescued from the Indian River Lagoon and first cared for by folks from Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute? 

(If you were here, you could have found) out more stuff you didn't know about the local Florida Atlantic University marine research center during the National Estuaries Day celebration on Sept. 24, 2011, at Harbor Branch, 5600 N. U.S. 1 in Fort Pierce. 

(People were permitted to) tour research labs and meet the scientists studying dolphins, sea turtles and sharks. Also offered: boat tours of the lagoon for $10. 

For information, call 772-242-2293.

--

If I weren't needed at the Vero Beach Theatre Guild in the early afternoon for next to last show of "All My Sons," this would have been my first choice for spending time Saturday. Unfortunately, I'd only first caught something about it last night (Sept. 23), on the radio, and didn't have the inclination to get out there early, after walking the dog, and getting back home to shower in time for 1 pm call at the theater. But: next year!

My wife and I enjoyed visiting another operation rarely open to the public, the Smithsonian Marine Station research center, in Fort Pierce, more than a year ago. We chatted with people doing very fascinating research, including a truly legendary sea life scientist.

Now, I gotta go walk the pooch and get ready... my wife is wondering why I'm still sitting, writing a post on something I did more than a year ago, relating that to another event I cannot go to. I would tell her it's a sickness, this inclination to write, but she would be inclined to believe that it were true. 

- Jon

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Intriguing: 'etched prehistoric bone' found in Vero Beach: http://tinyurl.com/3wbyujr

I am, and have always been, enthralled by prehistory, dinosaurs, the depths of space, depths of the ocean, wildlife, and the practices of unfamiliar cultures, among other things (like writing, aviation, politics, biographies, world history...). I studied business in college, but that was simply what I got a degree in. Throughout my life have had an interest in living things, including long lost living things. That interest in stories, broad or specific, led me to journalism, where I spent -- and do spend -- a good portion of my time. Mostly reading and blogging, there days.

Here is an intriguing local story, in a local weekly, Vero Beach 32963 (that is the zip code for a swath of the beach community), that brings to life the ancient history of this little city by the sea, where I live. 

Vero Beach has an awkward history relating to prehistoric discoveries. Many decades ago, someone discovered what was believed to be a human skeleton. It came to be known as Vero Man. That original, reported ancient evidence of man in Vero Beach, Florida, disappeared somewhere in the midst of it being studied. It was found in 1915, but "the original Vero Man bones have been lost", as the local newspaper (the Scripps-owned Press Journal) explained in a 2008 article. Since, the area has been a site for further archeological digs, and some discoveries, such as the etched bone of an ancient mammal.

 

Ancient Vero bone to get DNA test at Smithsonian lab

Smithsonian [Institution] scientist Thomas Jorstad is headed to Vero Beach Friday [Sept 23, 2011] to pursue still more testing of the now legendary etched prehistoric bone found here, believed to contain the oldest piece of art in the Americas. ...

Scientific furor over the artifact with the elephant image continues unabated since results of research by the University of Florida pointed to authenticity of the carving in June 2009.

Since then, much as been learned about the bone and its faint, distinctive elephant etching.  Last month, Jorstad and others wrote an article in the prestigious Journal of Archaeological Science that combined work done at UF with work at the Smithsonian Institution. ...

Artifact owner, amateur fossil hunter James Kennedy, is unwilling to reveal exactly where in town the bone was found. He will only describe it as private land just north of the center of town. The bone sat in a box under the sink for a year or two before cleaning and closer examination revealed the carving. 

Read more: http://www.verobeach32963.com/STORIES%202011/SEPTEMBER%202011/vb32963_ancient_vero_bone_DNA_issue38_092211.html

Visit SI: http://www.si.edu

- Jon

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Piper Altaire build-up under way (FlightGlobal) http://tinyurl.com/6a27hgh

Conforming PiperJet under way in hangar 20 (FlightGlobal) http://tinyurl.com/6a27hgh

"Along with completing a static test rig and bringing in the first tooling fixtures from Hampson subsidiary Global Tooling Systems, Piper began bonding aft cabin skin sections for the all-metal, six-seat jet this summer...."

http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2011/09/13/361960/conforming-piperjet-under-way-in-hangar-20.html

- Jon O

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This morning, I was on http://thefloridashow.com - Vero Beach - with fellow actors. LOL! 1390 AM, 107.9 FM WAXE, iheartradio

This morning, I was on Rhett Palmer Show in Vero Beach with fellow actors. 1390 AM or 107.9 FM WAXE or iheartradio.

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Vero Beach: Post-WW II ethical drama runs, 'All My Sons', Sept. 15 to 25

The play that brought me out of the woods, back treading the boards (as we theater folks say, ahem), after roughly 17 years, just got its first bit of promotion from the local daily, the Press-Journal (http://TCPalm.com -- site is short for Florida's Treasure Coast & the Palm Beaches). Story goes, they are going to review it soon -- keep an eye out! 

Vero Beach Theatre Guild opens war drama 'All My Sons' on Sept. 15

...The play is based on a true American tragedy and was written in 1945. It examines the ideas of capitalism and its power to corrupt as the story of a successful business man unfolds. Joe Keller, played by local James Anthony Davis, knowingly sells defective airplane parts to the Army during World War II causing the tragic killing of 21 men.

 

The truth behind Keller's choice begins to unravel as his son plans to wed the daughter of his former business partner, the man who Keller blamed for the faulty aircraft parts.

 

Although the theatre guild hasn't produced a drama such as "All My Sons" in quite a few years, Strauss and the 10-member cast is hoping this will be the start of something new.

 

"We thought it was time to put in a drama, and if we were going to do a drama, we wanted to do one of the very best," Strauss said. "We're hoping that when we show our audience base the richness of a really good drama that they will decide that they indeed enjoy having that, and we can add drama to our repertoire more often."

I am playing "George Deever", the son of a jailed business partner whose fate proves to not be all it's cracked up to be by the accuser's family. It poses issues of human and business ethics, personal versus common interests, cowardice, trust, blind self-interest, and more. Ooooo! It's an intense one that'll cause you to appreciate Arthur Miller.  

Personally, I respect Miller far more for this work than "Death of a Salesman". Give it a look! 

- Jon 

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Little Pipers to F-16s: Pilots who flew on September 11

Give the story a read. It creates a good image of some Sept. 11, 2001, experiences. The segment below is engaging. 

‘Something you never forget’: Pilots who flew on 9/11 tell their stories

http://www.grandforksherald.com/event/article/id/213806/group/homepage/

 

After fumbling to put on his headset, the Piper pilot heard the warning that by then had been beaming out on radios for hours: Land or you’ll be shot down. As soon as he heard that, he reached for the switch to deploy his landing gear.

 

It was a moment of levity on an otherwise tragic and anxious day, one in which pilots from the North Dakota Air National Guard’s Fargo-based 119th Wing for hours defended Washington as another pilot from the unit flew across the U.S. through empty skies.

 

“When you look down and see the Pentagon burning, you know something tragic has happened. You know people have died and are suffering below you,” Eckmann said. “It’s something you never forget.”

My recollection of the emptiness of the skies immediately after the tragedies of Sept. 11 are an integral part of my memories of that day. I was in Middle Tennessee at the time, living in Goodlettsville, and working at the new daily paper, The City Paper, then in Green Hills.  

The silence of the skies represented the impact of those events on the entire country: The skies were silent even hundreds of miles from the trouble. 

- Jon 

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Best-selling author says she's a victim of fortune teller family's $40 million fraud

Hard lessons are not often learned the easy way. Just because you can tell a good story -- as in, write best-selling novels -- it doesn't mean that you can tell a good story -- as in, recognize that someone's conning you. 

Belief is a powerful thing. Hope is a powerful thing. Talent is an elusive thing. The ability to control fears and emotions with common sense and rational thinking is elusive, too. A successful novelist learned this, having been caught up in a psychic scam. She reportedly lost around $20 million while trying to relieve her thoughts about a young son, lost in a motorcycle accident, and other things. She was scammed over a period of 20 years, it seems. 

Best-selling romance novelist Jude Deveraux has confirmed she is one of the alleged victims of a Fort Lauderdale family of fortune tellers accused of defrauding clients of $40 million.

"This is an ongoing federal investigation and I am not allowed to say anything to anyone. However, I am allowed to tell you that I wrote about the way the gypsies work — without mentioning that they were gypsies — in my book Scarlet Nights," Deveraux wrote in an email to the Sun-Sentinel. She declined further comment and referred questions to federal authorities.

Deveraux, who writes under a pseudonym, is referred to by her real initials "J.M." in the indictment. Federal investigators said in court Friday that a successful author – who they declined to identify – had lost about $20 million in the scam.

Federal prosecutors accuse the family and its associates, led by matriarch Rose Marks, of preying on vulnerable people during times of personal crisis.

READ MORE: http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2011/aug/23/romance-novelist-jude-deveraux-lost-millions-to/

One's intelligence does not encompass all things, only some things. We are not all wise; no one is wise about everything. This is one among many reasons why people need each other.


- Jon

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Acting again, after 18 years off the boards

I began live theater acting when I was 12 years old. I was involved in a variety of shows, mostly spoken and some musicals, until 1994.

I gave it up for a long time, and finally managed to try out and win a role at the Vero Beach Theater Guild.

I will be in Arthur Miller's 'All My Sons', playing the climactic character 'George Deever.' You might recall this play from it's recent Broadway return, with John Lithgow and Katie Holmes, from a short time ago. It made the news primarily over Mrs. Tom Cruise's -- Holmes' -- first appearance on Broadway.

The show runs from Sep 15-25th. Come see it! Go to http://www.verobeachtheatreguild.com/ - and get tickets online, or call in. ALL MY SONS is the season's first show.

It is an intense drama, with powerful twists and turns, and even has a bit of an aviation angle.

- Jon

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9/11 MEMORIAL, WTC SITE to open just after 10th anniversary: http://www.911memorial.org/visitor-passes

It's been nearly ten years since four passenger aircraft were used in the most infamous terrorist assault in the United States. Ten years ago, on a sunny Tuesday morning, the Twin Towers in New York fell, the Pentagon was hit, and passengers averted terrorist's plans, striking a field in Pennsylvania. At last, the formal Manhattan memorial to those we lost, and for the world's reflection on that event, will be opened this September. 

To visit the September 11 Memorial, set to open just after the tenth anniversary, get tickets here: http://www.911memorial.org/visitor-passes

I created a personal page reflecting on that day, in a broad yet personal way. The page includes links to some sites worthy of a visit, such as a web cam site that has been watching the WTC site since that fateful day in the fall of 2001, and has archives from prior to that sad day. Reflection on Tragedy: http://web.me.com/jonosterholm1/Personal/sept_11.html

- Jon O. 

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Entrepreneurs: read how to make your idea happen, from 'Birth to Buyout' (a book)

"Birth to Buyout" tells a story of a business creation, life and sale, meant for the entrepreneur who is not already well-off. That is, it's a story that conveys the trials of business, based on the experiences of a business lawyer that, just maybe, many entrepreneurs cannot afford as they get their business rolling. It tells the story of some haphazard entrepreneurs, named Hap and Hazard.  

Introducing Birth to Buyout

Author Coco Soodek explains on Profit and Laws:

I’m a business lawyer who loves business and law.  I wrote down nearly everything I know in a book named Birth to Buyout: Law for the Life Cycle of Your Business. Why would anyone do that? Because I got tired of having knowledge that most people can’t afford. And, because I love the entrepreneurs who cannot afford me. And, because I love, love, love America and America needs new businesses to create jobs and I wanted to try and help.

 

A recent press release from Profit and Laws was issued upon its availability in print. I found it, via Google News, on the San Francisco Chronicle site:

 

New Book Makes Business Law Real by Adding Dose of Fiction

Birth to Buyout frames its narrative around Hap and Hazard, two men stuck in middle management, who seek to build a green tech company with the help of their corporate lawyer, Gravity. The story follows Hap and Hazard from a conglomerate cubicle farm to entrepreneurial daring and success. The book's author, business lawyer and blogger Coco Soodek, said, "I wanted to write business law the way I see it: as a necessary partner to people trying to create something. I drew on the dozens of people I've worked with over the years who help make the American economy hum."

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2011/07/11/prweb8632123.DTL#ixzz1RogIygpp

 

 

- Jon O.

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Today & Sat., Wichita, check out Piper Aircraft ( @flypiperair ) jobs! http://tinyurl.com/pipercareers #jobs #aviation

Are you in aviation? Are you an engineer looking for a sunny opportunity?

 

Today and Saturday in Wichita, Kansas, check out Piper Aircraft's (twitter: http://www.twitter.com/flypiperair) jobs and interview at a local Hyatt! Visit Piper's Web site -- http://tinyurl.com/pipercareers shortcut -- for more information on these jobs in aviation. Look at the job listings on the Web site, and send your resume to wichitajobfair@piper.com to be reviewed and to be able to get an interview. 

 

You don't have to be in Wichita to submit your resume, of course, you can reach the HR dept. at headquarters in Florida. The information is on the Piper site. There are many engineering jobs, as the jet program is ramping up for the next stage. There is even a tech writer/illustrator job available, which is my department, and other jobs.

 

(Note that this is an unofficial communication: I am not a part of the HR department, I am just taking it upon myself to be doing a bit to promote Piper Aircraft and its available jobs.)

 

 

- Jon O

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Young and Crippen's STS-1 flew in 1981: 30 years later, I sense that we accomplished plenty

'It was pure excitement'

Beaumont native Bob Crippen was a pilot on the first manned shuttle flight 30 years ago, an experience he likened to being catapulted off the deck of an aircraft carrier

 

July 7, 2011 (from the HOUSTON CHRONICLE) --

 

Columbia's crew compartment was pretty bare bones for the early test flights. [Robert] Crippen has compared it to "camping out" in space. He got a chance to go up on the shuttle three more times, logging a total of 565 hours in space. Those missions had full crews and a different purpose, giving him the opportunity to really look around and enjoy the experience.

 

To no one's surprise, Crippen is an unapologetic space shuttle fan and promoter.

 

For all the system's problems and unexpected costs, he has not a dollop of doubt that the investment of so many billions on it was money well spen

"If you look back at the 130-plus flights, it was phenomenal," he said. "We wouldn't have been able to repair the Hubble Space Telescope or build the International Space Station without it. Yes, people were overly optimistic about how often you could fly or how much it would cost. And yes, we lost some people, some dear friends, along the way. But I have no doubt it was worth it. None at all."

 

Read more: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/space/7643968.html#ixzz1RWLfAl6w

 

 

Like many kids in the early 1980s, I remember well the first Space Shuttle launch. I was barely a teenager in April of 1981. Growing up only 60 miles away from the Kennedy Space Center, in Ormond Beach, Fla. I was a fortunate boy, I felt, since I got to see the Shuttle go up from my neighborhood.

 

I wasn't born in Florida, but in Massachusetts, and we had moved to Florida in January of 1980, barely more than a year prior to the first launch, so I felt especially fortunate that I would be able to see the launch with nothing but sky between it and my two eyes.

 

I've been able to see many more launches since then, though I moved out of Florida for nine years. I moved back in early 2003, and had not even settled in a home the day that the Shuttle Columbia exploded on entry.

 

I visited KSC in May 2011, and toured the Visitor's Center's own Space Shuttle, the Explorer (it never flew, it is the static exhibit). I came to a realization that, while the program did not meet the goals that were intially proposed, it was not coming to a close without a clear sense of conclusion.

 

The Space Shuttle Program had assured the completion of a very significant long-term mission in 2011: that of the finishing of the construction of the International Space Station. So was it "Mission Accomplished"? Sure. It was revised, embattled, hit by tragedies, and cut back, but not a tragic program. 

 

As astronaut Bob Crippen reflected (quoted above), on the program he saw the beggining of, along with thousands of engineers, researchers, and workers of many kinds, it was worth it, it did things that we could not have managed to do ithout it.

 

The ISS is completed, and as I wandered with my wife at KSC Visitor's Center, I had a sense of a fitting conclusion. Perfection is rarely the result of a massive, long-range program such as the NASA goals with the Space Shuttle.

 

I hope we get back up there soon with the next phase from the shores of the United States!

 

 

- Jon O

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