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      Every now and then there appears something written in this pot luck of
thoughts which causes the urge to write to emerge in even those most stalwart
of we "reader-only" types.  For me, we celebrated such an occasion in issue
#218 when Doug & Susan Pohl (typing tandem from the same keyboard I must
assume) offered up a mildly acrimonious little tidbit concerning the American
Eagle 540 engine.  After reviewing briefly a sad little footnote in the
history of aircraft engine development and then posing for what was probably
the ten thousandth time in history the obvious set of questions anyone would
ask about a new aircraft engine they (he, she?) come to the big punch line,
"Betcha ya don't even got one flyin'!" (my paraphrase in quotes) thereby
scoring below the random guessing score in reading comprehension.  
     Marshall clearly states in the last paragraph of his little epistle that
all of the parts for the production engines and the installation kits are not
yet available even to the investors in the project.  Also stated is that
flight testing will not begin until sometime in 1999.  Makes that "Betcha"
look like pretty safe money.
      Though I have nothing personal against Doug & Susan (Doug or Susan?), I
am very familiar with the engine program about which they (he, she?) have
chosen to voice their (etc.) skepticism and must therefore wonder what
combination of lack of information and deep seated technophobia would cause
such a response to a non-soliciting announcement.  I think questioning the
intellegence of the child while it is yet to be born may be a case of
premature exclamation.  As to the question of a crap shoot, it remains to be
seen just who is shooting the crap.  

               Love 'n' Kisses to you all,
                          Patrick