Studio Hill Farm

Jesse and Cally (Wheeler) McDougall have for two years been the operators of The Pullman Farm in Shaftsbury, Vermont. This lovely horse-boarding farm has been in the family of Cally's mother for several generations, most recently operated by Cally's aunt, who passed away in 2012. Shortly after her death, Jesse and Cally, who had been partners in a successful website development company in White River Junction, closed that business and moved across the state to become farmers. After their first year of intense learning (and of becoming the parents of our grandson Angus), they have become enthusiastic about farming, and are now branching out into food production for human customers, as well as for horses. I think you may enjoy perusing their new web site.  They call it Studio Hill Farm.

HAL Museum

In Bangalore there is a huge aerospace manufacturing complex owned by the government of India called Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, and known to the world as HAL.  Dr. Jeyakar Vendamanickam, Director (i.e., Rector) of XIME, worked there for some forty years.  Jeyakar is a brilliant engineer and manager, as well as a business teacher, guitarist, and fan of American folk music, including the songs of Joan Baez and James Taylor. (The latter being personal facts learned in a jam session, followed by a wonderful dinner at his home. We were also privileged to meet his charming wife, herself a pre-K through 12th grade private school principal.)

Prior to that dinner this past Wednesday, my fellow visiting professor Gerald Groshak and I were taken by Jeyakar to see the HAL Heritage Museum here in Bangalore. Though I was still a bit gimpy, walking and climbing stairs with some difficulty, I enjoyed the museum thoroughly.

In the museum, in the section dealing with HAL's WWII role of helping to maintain and repair myriad Allied aircraft employed in the China-Burma-India Theatre (CBI), I spotted a mislabeled photograph, which Jeyakar later reported to the curator. Here is my e-mail, sent today in an attempt to be helpful to HAL!

__________________________

Dear Jeyakar:

This was the P40: P40 Tomahawk - Google Search

				P40 Tomahawk - Google Search en.wikipedia.org Curtiss P-40E Warhawk 2 USAF. 1699 × 1200 - 250k - jpg warbirdalley.com (Image by Max Haynes 470 × 263 - 51k - jpg en.wikipedia.org Curtiss P...
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 Here is its noble record as a second-tier fighter, and low altitude workhorse in all theaters of the war:

Curtiss P-40 Warhawk: One of WW II's Most Famous Fighters

				Curtiss P-40 Warhawk: One of WW II's Most Famous Fight... Thanks to its sleek looks and its brilliant use by the American Volunteer Group in China, the P-40 was one of World War II's most famous fighters -- but far from th...
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Pictured in the HAL Museum (and mislabeled as a P40) is a plane of this family:

Lockheed Hudson - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

				Lockheed Hudson - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia The Lockheed Hudson was an American-built light bomber and coastal reconnaissance aircraft built initially for the Royal Air Force shortly before the outbreak of th...
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There were several different aircraft that looked similar, all Lockheed designs.  A great many were used by Coastal Command of the RAF, and probably also in the CBI theatre.  For example:

Lockheed Ventura - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

				Lockheed Ventura - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia The Lockheed Ventura was a bomber and patrol aircraft of World War II, used by United States and British Commonwealth forces in several guises.
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A major transport model in the same family was the Lodestar:

Lockheed Model 18 Lodestar - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

				Lockheed Model 18 Lodestar - Wikipedia, the free encyclo... The Lockheed Model 18 Lodestar was a passenger transport aircraft of the World War II era.
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I am sure that the curator at the museum will be interested in this e-mail.  His challenge will be to sort out exactly which Lockheed model is depicted!  

Thank you for all you have done for me as a visitor to XIME.  I am proud to have you as a friend.

Sincerely.

Duncan

Duncan C. McDougall, Visiting Professor Xavier Institute of Management & Entrepreneurship (XIME) 

Electronics City,

Bangalore, INDIA

Home school:

Plymouth State University 

College of Business Administration
17 High Street, MSC #27
Plymouth, New Hampshire, USA 03264 

Killian James McDougall, born 16 February 2015

Killian James McDougall, first photo, post-bath!

Shirl and I are the happy grandparents of our fifth grandchild, born to Amy Larkin McDougall this afternoon (Monday, 16 February, 2015) in Orlando, Florida.  Killian is a big boy, born weighing 8 pounds, 12 oz. (3,96 Kg.), and measuring 22" (55,88 cm.) in length. We will be going to visit him, his sister Brynn, and his parents Jamie and Amy soon after my return from Bangalore, one week from today, Insh'Allah.  We hope to be there for Brynn's second birthday on 7 March.

Thanks be to God for the gift of life. Amin, and Amen.

Great Time to Be in Bangalore!

13 February 2015 Weather Map for New England

HOPE EVERYONE AT HOME HAS A
HAPPY ST. VALENTINE'S DAY!

My Next Thumper?

From Bengaluru, India:

2014 Royal Enfield Bullet 500

My loyal readers will not be surprised to learn that I love motorcycles. Motorcycling has been my preferred form of fair-weather transport since I first owned a scooter in Phoenix, Arizona, in the summer of 1963.  It was a Harley Topper, very much like this one:

1960 Harley Topper

Over the ensuing fifty-two years I have since owned five BMWs, eight Hondas, a Bultaco, a Ducati, a Kawasaki, a Suzuki, two Yamahas, and a Matchless.  That Topper is the only Harley Davidson product I have ever owned.  But the Matchless G80CS that I owned for a few months while at Amherst College, was a 500cc single-cylinder four-stroke, and it had a certain charm.  

Matchless G80CS, circa 1963

Firing only on alternate up-strokes of its single piston, its sound was mellow, a pleasing, relaxed gait, if you will, while it offered gobs of torque.  Such bikes are known to us bikers as "thumpers."  I later owned a Honda FT500 Ascot, also a 500 single, but it had a short-stroke engine that had to be revved much higher to make useful torque than did my old "Matchbox."

So, I have for several years been looking at the Indian-built Royal Enfield Bullets that are still being made in Chennai, and which have a good reputation for quality both here in India, and abroad.  They are sold in New Hampshire by National Powersports, a dealer in Pembroke, near Concord, our state capital.

So, why this subject, today?  See the date on this newspaper article found in our dean's office at XIME, while waiting for lunch to be served:

A lakh is 100,000 of something, be it bikes, or Rupees.  I am tempted to acquire a new thumper, in spite of the fact that a 500cc Bullet costs in the U.S. twice what it does in India.  They are, like Harleys, living dinosaurs in terms of design, but they are, also like Harleys, now benefiting greatly from modern manufacturing technology.

And, they thump.