A few short years ago, the Airbus A380 was the object of an extraordinary amount of excitement. During its years of development the A380 was the talk of the industry.  I recall my first sighting of the whale-like A380. It appeared to float in the sky as it made its first landing at Chicago O’Hare. A few short months afterwards, I watched as the A380 landed in Sydney, Australia after completing the first commercial flight from Singapore. In both cases, I was a lucky camper to be able to capture these moments on digital film.
| Fast forward a few years and the object of excitement is changed. On Monday December 14th I arrive at the office about 7AM and open an email message telling me that the Boeing 787 Dreamliner is about to make its first flight the next day from Paine Field. During preceding months I had been planning to witness this event, but its date was postponed several times. To put it mildly, I am totally unprepared for Tuesday’s event and start to panic. |
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admin, December 12th 2009 |
Tags: 'Boeing 787', 787, Boeing, Dreamliner
Posted in Aviation, Photography
When I heard that the government-sponsored “Cash for Clunkers” program was so successful that it was on the verge of running out of funds after only one week, I had to grab a calculator. There are just too many zeros in one billion dollars to do the math in my head.
Let’s see. At $3,500 per vehicle, auto dealers sold more 285,700 cars last week. Of course this is just an estimate since some buyers received $4,500 credit for their gas-guzzling clunker.
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admin, August 4th 2009 |
Posted in Personal
Our company is located in West Michigan. The city of Grand Rapids is about 150 miles or so from Detroit, the place that everyone understands is the center of the struggling automobile industry. Being in the proximity of Detroit is a curse to our area’s economy thanks to the closing of assembly plants at GM, Ford and Chrysler and the ricochet side-effect on hundreds of other independent companies that supply both the American and Japanese auto manufacturers.
Over the last year, Michigan has been taking it on the ear and now has an enormous unemployment rate of 11+ Â percent, thousands of owners facing foreclosure on their homes, small and large businesses alike slashing expenses, retailers shuttering their doors amid meager retail sales, residents scrambling to receive health and other social services, cities and towns facing severe budget shortfalls, and the list of similar problems goes on.
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admin, April 16th 2009 |
Posted in Personal
I sometimes shudder when I hear the daily news reporting the latest epitaph in our pathetic, crippled economy. With so many negative and so few positive messages, it’s not surprising that consumer confidence remains in the toilet. Households, afraid of what the foggy future may portend, are keeping a tight lid on outlays and the end result is that businesses that depend on reliable consumer spending are feeling an enormous squeeze. To stay competitive these businesses are forced to cut expenses including valued employees as the circle of economic recession tears its way through our social fabric.
Two weeks ago we had an enjoyable visit from Rita and her fiancée William Holstein here in Grand Rapids. Rita and I grew up in New Rochelle, a small suburban community in New York City’s shadow. She was along for the ride with Bill, a well-respected business writer who was on tour. In his just-published book “Why GM Matters” he argues that General Motors has undoubtedly reinvented itself over the past ten or so years and is on the verge of emerging as a formidable competitor.
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admin, March 23rd 2009 |
Posted in Personal
The really huge news is that due to the slowdown in the global economy, Microsoft has started to reduce their staffing level by some 5000 employees. For those of us who are fans and followers of Microsoft Flight Simulator, the upsetting part of this is that the first wave of layoffs affects 1400 employees including the entire ACES Studio excepting six staffers.Â
Most of you know that Microsoft’s ACES Studio is responsible for the development and marketing of Microsoft Flight Simulator. As upsetting as this news is to us, it’s infinitely more upsetting to the ACES staff. Over the years, we at Abacus have worked with many of the members of ACES. So we are saddened to see them lose their jobs. Our best wishes now go out to them as they begin their journey to find new employment and thank them all for their contributions to the Flight Simulator community and more specificailly to our ability to build a business making add-ons for their flagship gaming product. Here we can clearly see how the downturn in the world’s business climate often takes a big toll on creativity and dedication.
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admin, January 26th 2009 |
Posted in Add-Ons, Flight Simulation
Congress has refused to pass a bill to prop up the ailing American-based automobile industry. What’s more, they’ve considered the pros and cons of an aid package not just once, but twice. That’s a strong message. It’s clear that our elected legislators lack the confidence that Chrysler, Ford and General Motors can pull themselves out of the tailspin that they’ve put themselves in over the past few years.
Now it’s up to the executive branch to provide the financial backing that both Chrysler and General Motors claim is essential to meet their immediate cash-flow needs. These funds are necessary to cover the bets they’ve already ante’d up for – but only until March 31st. Details to be filled in when the full news is broadcast later, we’re told.
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admin, December 24th 2008 |
Posted in Personal
Back in April we called it The “R” Word. Now after six more difficult months, the popular media has come out of the closet and started using the real word – recession.
The election of President-Elect Obama is a mandate from the electorate that our government needs to act quickly to fix our sick economy. It’s no wonder. For months the daily news has been littered with downbeat stories about housing repossessions, business bankruptcies, plant closings, job layoffs. On the economic front, there has been mighty little to cheer about.
For now, I’ll stick to a subject that is close to my heart by restricting my comments to the aviation industry.
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admin, November 28th 2008 |
Posted in Aviation, Flight Simulation, Personal
Many know that one of my passions (besides Abacus) is training and racing in triathlons (swim bike run athletic events). Over the past few years I’ve been fortunate to participate in dozens of organized runs and marathons, century rides, duathlons, sprint, Olympic and Ironman distance triathlons. During these races, professional sports photographers that contract with race organizers throughout the US have photographed me.
One of the cool ‘extras’ with most of these sanctioned races is getting your photo taken during the race. This could be during your run or for triathletes, your swim, bike and run. Most importantly, you will have a photo at the finish of your race. It’s the hope that you’ll purchase copies for yourself, family and friends.
I’m not an expert photographer, but these people have it down to a science. Each strategically positioned photographer is equipped with at least one digital SLR camera and more likely monopod to hold the camera’s view to a particular area that you’ll be passing through. As runners and/or cyclists come towards the photographers, they snap the pictures. You can usually see them so that you can give them that ‘just right’ pose as you go by.
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jimoldfield, September 3rd 2008 |
Posted in Personal, Photography
For us mere mortals, the run up in the cost of fuel is having major effects on our driving behavior. I’ve changed my habits. At $4.89 a gallon, my diesel pickup sits idley in driveway; I use it only if I have something large or heavy to transport. Now, my vehicle of choice is an older Toyota Camry that gets 25 miles per gallon in town and I’m grateful to Mom who handed it down to me when she bought a new one! My wife and I now plan our trips to the grocery instead of the usual hop-in-the car visits. At least we have a few ways to maneuver around our increased fuel bills.
Unfortunately, the opportunities for savings are not as easy to implement for the airlines and air cargo businesses. They are all scrambling to find ways to deal with skyrocketing fuel costs.
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admin, August 20th 2008 |
Posted in Uncategorized
