How and why did a retired aerospace engineer design the ultimate custom golf putter?As an avid golfer since age 13 and I have enjoyed many rounds of golf from coast to coast, from Bay Hill to Pebble Beach. I played golf for the University of Florida in the late fifties and early sixties where I got to watch a lot of great college golf by Doug Sanders, Tommy Aaron, Frank Beard, Bob Murphy, Andy North, and Andy Bean.I am a retired Professional Engineer with over thirty years experience in the aerospace, defense communications and environmental clean up industries. (In fact, I even helped put the first men on the moon).Long before the first metal wood was introduced, I began playing golf in 1952. And I have been involved with putter testing since the very beginning. From the early blade putters like the “Bullseye” up through today’s latest Odyssey Two Ball, Titleist Futura and Gurin Rife models. With my aerospace engineering and product manufacturing background I have always experimented with different putter designs trying to find ways to improve.Let me tell you, there have been many changes, additions, and discoveries related to putting since my early golfing days. I have personally tested hundreds of different putters and have hit tens of thousands of test putts. Of course it has helped to have my own personal test putting green in my backyard.With my engineering background I felt that putter designs were not taking full advantage of the physics of motion nor of the design technology available. But, with a full time engineering career and a family, I did not have the time to really pursue my ideas for putter improvements until I retired. When I retired in 1998 I founded Golf Lab, Inc so I could pursue my dream of developing the ultimate game improvement putter. I converted my garage into a Putter Research and Development Lab by adding a variety of machine shop tools and test instruments.The above tools along with a couple of very powerful computers with Computer Aided Design software let me accurately design, weigh, measure, cut, drill, bore, form, machine, polish, and coat metal putter heads and components. Finally, I could actually turn my ideas into prototypes and do comparison testing.My earlier testing had shown that nearly all putters had a number of significant limitations such as:

Improper Fit- Golfer must adapt to available off the shelf putter length, weight and lie angle.

Difficult To Align- Conflicting shapes and markings confuse the visual image.

Poor Putter Head Stability- Head twists easily on off center hits.

Poor Roll- Weighting and face design not optimized for roll.

Poor Feel-Putter head constructed of multiple parts thereby compromising a solid feel.

Poor Balance- Putter head not symmetrical and has curved shaft mounted off center.

Poor Stroke Stability-Putter not properly weighted and balanced for pendulum stroke.

Putter Release Conflict- Hand position even with ball requires precise release timing for square impact.

Excessive Loft- Forces hands ahead of the ball at impact to prevent hopping.

Poor Quality-Inconsistent performance caused by poor manufacturing and assembly quality.

USGA Non-Conformance- Not legal for competitive play.
So my design goals for the ultimate putter became pretty clear:

Proper Fit- Golfer may select desired length and then adjust lie angle and weight as desired.

Easy To Align- Open frame design with centered alignment line for best visual image.

Good Putter Head Stability- High Moment of Inertia to minimize head twisting on off center hits.

Superior Roll- Weight distribution and face design optimized for pure roll and great distance control.

Superior Feel- Machine the putter head from a solid block of metal for excellent feel.

Excellent Balance- Putter head symmetrical and with straight center shaft.

High Stroke Stability- Putter properly weighted and balanced for pendulum stroke.

Automatic Putter Release- Reverse off set for hand position behind the ball minimizes release sensitivity.

Minimal Loft- Eliminates hopping and directional error due to improper hand position at impact.

High Quality-Consistent performance through use of computer controlled machining and finishing methods.

USGA Conformance- Legal for all competitive play.
The Ultimate Putter Design Concept Had Been Born!So, let me guess…You really are wondering how I came up with the final design of my new putter and if it meets all of my design goals for the ultimate putter?For the past several years I had been researching and testing putter designs relative to the golfer’s ability achieve correct alignment and to control the distance the ball rolls.I had concluded that correct alignment is achieved by having parallel elements that frame the ball and indicate the line to the target. Good distance control is achieved by the quality of the putting stroke (force, online, hitting sweet spot, etc) and the physical dynamics of the putter head design!My testing had shown that a putter head design with a high percentage of its weight as far behind the putter face as possible and below the center line of the putter face provides the most consistent distance control.In fact, the proper putter head design can even help a golfer improve the quality of their putting stroke by helping to reduce twisting on off center hits.The Design ChallengeThe design challenge was how to put all of my “good science” into one putter head.I began to experiment with different ways to mount the shaft with all sorts of complex shaft bends in order maintain true face balance and allow a high percentage of weight behind the putter face. It soon proved to be a near impossible task until I began to work exclusively with center shaft configurations.But, a center shaft in the middle of the putter head still did not achieve the one key design goal of an adjustable lie angle while maintaining true face balance and heel/toe balance. Having such an adjustable lie angle was the ONLY WAY to allow all golfers to PERFECTLY FIT themselves. This one area had me stumped for some time.Then late one night (actually early in the morning) a mental light bulb came on and I awoke with the perfect solution—-a shaft mounted in the center of the rear of the putter. This idea was so unique that it actually led to a recently issued U.S. Patent.After the mental light bulb went off, I started with the basic features my testing had shown were essential and then began fabricating and testing a series of prototypes. Each successive prototype was an effort to maintain all of my “good science” while moving to a more and more pleasing appearance for the putter.The unique rear mounted shaft concept was so powerful that it allowed me to meet all of my design goals for the ultimate putter.

Marshall Business Aviation Centre.Marshall Aerospace have just redisignated the airport at Cambridge the Marshall Airport Cambridge, set up a new Business Aviation Centre, offering business aviation and corporate aircraft maintenance to London and the East of England. This is an addition to their traditional business of aircraft modification and maintenance across the range from large military aircraft to Cessna Citations.Executive jet electronics and datainthesky. Today’s “state of the art” in executive jet data systems equals hardware and features that aren’t too much more advanced than what’s already available on the ground. Bigger classes of business jets, such as Boeing Business Jets and Airbus ACJs, have always had better in-flight system options because they have more space, can take on more weight and generally require larger budgets to complete.For example, real-time television and high-speed Internet access have been available in very large jets VLJs for several years. High-speed internet access is only now arriving in smaller business aircraft, and the technology for real-time TV is still a little way off. But those highly capable systems for large private jets aren’t cheap. A top-end cabin management and entertainment system for a BBJ or ACJ can run between $1 and $2 million.The good news is, the latest in-flight systems are beginning to catch up with home entertainment technology-in all sizes of private jets. The two biggest changes, are the advent of digital, high-definition, home-theatre-type technology for in-flight entertainment systems, and connectivity, both within the cabin and between the cabin and the outside world.Next generation systems will allow customers to integrate a wide variety of digital media into cabin entertainment systems that include digital, high-definition monitors. Control of that media, as well as all other cabin functions, will be possible through software-programmable touch-screen seat and remote controls. In other words, an owner will be able to sit in his or her seat-or walk around with a wireless remote control-and select media sources for the cabin’s monitors, speakers and headset sound systems, while also adjusting the cabin’s lighting, temperature, and window shade positions.And because the newest CMS/IFE systems incorporate connections and docking stations for a variety of portable devices, those media sources could include CDs, standard and Blu-Ray DVDs,iPods, MP3 players, Playstations, selections from an on-board media library, views from forward-mounted cameras, 3-D, GPS-based moving-map displays, and real-time news and sports text updates.Satellite technology.But what about connecting to the world outside the aircraft? Currently, satellite phone technology offers voice and text data transfer (hence the ability to get text scrolls of CNN and sports updates in flight). But internet access is coming. A satellite based system (using the INMAR SAT network) called Swift Broadband has now given jet customers in most mid-sized and larger jets the first access to global high-speed internet. Other high-speed internet options for aircraft owners operating within the US are ground-based systems created by Aircell.

In the nineteenth century, the discovery of gold of commercial quantity took place in certain areas. Workers from almost all over the west rushed towards the areas of gold discovery. This period was known as gold-rush. It took place in many countries of the world like Australia, Brazil, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa and United states. Gold rush caused the individuals to become wealthy instantly. As gold is one of the most precious metals on the earth. Those who got gold during gold rush period became abundantly rich this way.When we talk about gold rush in the United States, it was mainly centred at the California state. California is the third largest state of the United States. In California, gold rush took place in 1848. Thousands of men and women migrated through sea and land to get benefit from the treasures. They used simple techniques like panning to retrieve gold from the streams and gold beds. Later on, with the advancement in technology, they devised latest procedures for retrieving gold.Gold discovery changed the whole picture of the region. California, which was a small unknown town, got the status of a free state in 1850. It transformed into the economic centre. The golden period revolutionized every department. The population of California grew to 2, 65000. Thus, it became the focal point of the whole United States.In United States, the first business that flourished was obviously business of gold. The merchants made maximum amount of money. They extracted gold, exported it to the rest of the world and earned substantial amount of money that they used in their upcoming and present projects. They channelized their income to flourish their economy. Initially, gold was used to buy food and accommodation for the miners.Advanced sources of transportation were introduced. They built steamships and railroads. The rail roads linked California to the rest of the country through transcontinental rail lines. They invested a lot in the field of agriculture. They made complete use of their land to grow economically important plants. They introduced latest instruments of the time to enhance the yield.The discovery of gold in California also brought industrial revolution in United States. They flourished in aerospace and petroleum industry. According to a survey, it has given above forty two thousand aerospace companies to the state, which made it one of the largest aerospace centres of the west. Many people joined this sector to offer their services.Similarly, United States grew in the sector of information technology. The progress in this sector led to the formation of Silicon Valley. It is referred to as the area of silicon chip innovators and High tech product manufacturers. Utilising all their resources, they made the provision of advanced education possible for everybody.So, gold bars rush was the boom period in the United States. Farmers, oil drillers, merchants, miners and entrepreneurs had their culmination times in this period. It broadened the horizon for them, and they started looking for new ways. It made them see the dreams for a better and prosperous future.