From: Chris_McCoy_at_sigmanet.com
Date: 03/03/98
From: Chris_McCoy_at_sigmanet.com Message-ID: <882565BC.0081D99A.00@sweb_notes.sigmanet.com> Date: Tue, 3 Mar 1998 15:44:37 -0800 Subject: Re: subscribe
I do not like to post this stuff, but feel that it is better coming from me
than
elsewhere. Please read it completely. Any concerns you have may be
addressed
to me if you would rather not put them up to public view. I promise they
will remain confidential.
I have left Mr. Walden's text in tact to ensure I am not playing politics.
I have asked Mr. Walden to reconsider, and will inform you of the outcome.
Chris McCoy
So...Chris....
Is this really you or what...
(That E-Mail address doesn't say anything about McCoy....)
***Kamakiriad is my home email. I have been using it so I don't catch any
heat at work.
I have gotten everything that has gone on launch.net.....
however it has been a little dead lately...
is this the "Unreliability" you are talking about..
***Several times the list has gone down for 1-2 weeks at a time. We get all
of our posts, but much later than we should.
1. What "Rendering" have you been passing around of the
ultralight design.
***The one you sent me.
2. My EXACT post on how to do it..(with measurements and configuration
along with the "Rendering" of the ship) I think that this just MIGHT
require some CREDIT being due to me here don't you think ???
***Each person I have sent the rendering to will tell you that I always
give you credit, Mike.
I am using your rendering, but not your calcs.
Instead I am hearing a LOT about YOUR ship.
***My ship as you put it is the one I discussed with Bob. The one I am
building for all of us to use.
And YOUR markets for the CAMBOT.
***I have made no mention of the STRATACAM on a public page in months.
And about how you are going to sic your lawyers on me.
***If you recall, I spoke with Bob and we cleared this up. Let's not start
this over again.
3. Interesting as the "Helios archive" i am reading here says that you
originally set up Helios after the members voted to build one of my
ships.
***In the loosest terms, we are still building one of YOUR ships. It is an
ultra-light, and it is saucer shaped.
It has undergone two years of evolution though. It has no DBC and no firm
outer shell.
The whole group has contributed to this design so it is not entirely yours.
You will get plenty of design
credit though, if that is what you are concerned with.
I have put in lots of research time on materials and methods. Others have
worked with me on
hot-air burner placement, and gondola design. I have contributed a lot of
money.
I was elected president because I can get things done. Sometimes that
requires action.
The ship as you originally intended would have cost $250,000+. Sorry, I am
not
Bill Gates.
Maybe you should get it out and read it.....
You seem to have gone off and spent a lot of $$$ on YOUR project..
just as J)&h has...completely forgetting to "keep your eye on THE
prize..." it has somehow become YOUR prize..
***Exactly, MY MONEY, my decision.
It is my GOAL Mike, to see an entire airship industry created. My GOAL is
to
have an airship demonstrator the ENTIRE industry can use. My GOAL has been
to build this for passion, not for money. My GOAL is to see you, Bob, Josh,
and
anyone else who wishes have the opprotunity to make a lot of airships.
There is no PRIZE.
4. You spent a lot of time making up thet "Inflamatory" post to
"get me to answer...." when you KNOW both my work and home number..
You "didn't have time...to send E-Mail.." just a page long rant..
Where you threatened me with legel action if I was "looking" at the
market you are intending to go into with YOUR ship.
***Yes. I do not deny this. If you have spoken to Bob, you will understand
my reasons. I am sorry that it happened, but from the look of your
posts, I thought something very unethical was going on.
If you don't answer phone messages, I have little choice.
You and Bob came to Burbank, met with individuals, then you
suddenly invent the CAMBOT. WTF?
UNDERSTAND SOMETHING...
I have been ripped off by much better than you or J0&h !!!
HYStar fo one....(I didn't care so much then as it got my designes
into the air and testing done that I couldn't afford at the time...
I still have a written copy of our contract and nondisclosure
agreement...Just as I have one from J0&h....I am not going to be
Nearly so nice in the future..
***I have never "ripped you off". I honestly think you are overly paranoid
Mike.
You have also lied repeatedly. You have overexaggerated, and when caught,
you threaten.
THAT CAMBOT was designed and built before you knew the difference
between a blimp and your ba-ba....
and the only material properties you were worried about was how
absorbent the stuff was that was getting the wetness off your butt.
***Funny Mike, you have used the term CAMBOT 3 times in this letter like
it means something. I have never heard you use it before today.
My project is the STRATACAM. You never had a CAMBOT, and just
because you put camera mounts on something does not mean that you
have what the industry needs. Motion dampening, industry standard mounts,
and many
other things have gone into making my project. Besides, I have put off my
project to build the ultralight. If I intended to make this MY business, I
would
have followed the money, not build something useless to it.
Don't jump on a bandwagon Mike. Every idea isn't yours. I won't dignify the
"ba-ba" comment with a reply.
The XEM-4 RC model had video mounts on board back in the mid 80s.
***The GOODYEAR BLIMP had them in the 70's. The navy had film cameras on
the LOS ANGELES
in the 30's. So what? My point is that you can't work in good faith with
people if you are trying to
take thier one business venture away. I have kept STRATACAM seperate from
Helios, and
even volunteered to contribute profit from it to Helios when it sells.
In the news stories we did on the 30-XB we talked about the full blown
multimedia capability it has...the internet connectiviey and its
ability to transmit and receive broadcast quality picture and sound..
(one of my earliest designs is a fiberoptic light sign that allows
me to put anything on the bottom of one of my ships that I can get
into a video format...)
*** If you want to make a camera platform, go ahead, I will have that
much less respect for you.
Airships have been "Camera platforms" long before I and certainly
you had ever thought about it...as you said "You can't claim stuff
that was here before you were and isn't yours to claim..."
***Exactly, but this frustration you are feeling is how everyone else feels
when you claim all airship ideas as your own. Make a platform, sell it, I
only ask that you consult with me before you steal my legitimate contacts.
You asked the same of us, and we respected it.
In its 20 year history L.T.A.S. has talked to a number of people.
Some of whom have recontacted us since seeing our new web site...
http://www.nevada.edu/home/8/walden/NEWHOME.HTML
Some of them are lawfirms and promotions firms connected with
major studios...
If someone asks me to build a camera platform for them....I WILL..
Maybe it will be as much of a surprise as your "Announcement" of
YOUR camera platform project was to the rest of Helios.
***Good for you Mike. You stood up to evil me. The point is, not one
contact you have made has bought something from you. That is
because you have nothing to show them. That is why we are making the
ultralight.
If I do....
I Will build a superior product..
I will NOT be threatened.
***Why do you assume that your products will always be superior to anyone
elses?
You are not a god Mike. Sometimes other people are better than you.
I am sending this to YOU as I ASKED BOB to tell you I was considering
this when you were supposed to "call him on thursday...to keep us (As
Helios board members) informed..."
YOU didn't..so I guess I am writing you because you couldn't bother to
use a phone either.
***I called Bob a day late. I am sorry.
Surprises...Threats..Ranting, Raving, and starting your own thing.....
Now a lack of promised communication...
You say I should not compare you with J0&h..
"If it walks like a duck....talks like a duck...."
He has said that "He will not have anything to do with a project that
Bob and I are associated with..."
***I have had my own thing before I met you Mike. When I regret
starting Helios, it's usually due to the fact that I have to deal with
this childish bullshit.
FINE.
I now wish I had felt that way when I allowed him to become associated
with the Stanford "Canopy Trek airship" project that he is now
"claiming" on his web page....We both know how he managed to mess that
up and accomplish NOTHING (I am NOT counting some thrown together 2x4s
as 6 months work...) We will not even discuss his supposed "Buoyancy
controller" that he is afraid to show me even with the nondisclosure
statment we have signed.
As I told you I was giving you the chance to reform the board and do
something about it...I even called for a vote...
the feeling is more than mutual.
***Mike, I am the President of the Helios board. I will act in the best
interest
of Helios, not for your personal comfort. Settle your vendettas yourself.
You note that I did not go off on you as a response to your
"Inflamatory Post"...I have thought about this for a week or so...
(Longer if you count the other situations listed above....)
***Considering that I apologised, I see no reason why.
--------------------------------
February 22, 1998 11.05 PM....
I (Michael K. Walden) AM AS OF NOW OFFICIALLY RESIGNING
FROM HELIOS AND ITS BOARD.
I NO LONGER BEAR ANY RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY ACTIONS OR DECISIONS
MADE BY HELIOS.
I HEREBY GIVE PUBLIC NOTICE OF THE TERMINATION OF ALL AGREEMENTS
REAL OR IMPLIED BETWEEN MYSELF, MY COMPANY (L.T.A.S. Corp.) AND HELIOS.
I will be putting this on the Helios list and the lta builders list...
along with an attached file of the source documents for all of the above
quotes.
*** I will post this for you. I don't intend to let you scare the
membership with your bulling.
Some of the members are really starting to get involved. I don't want you
to ruin this.
I don't know if Bob will continue either I will ask him (or you can IF
you bother to call....) tomorrow...
Helios was a great idea....
***Still is. I regret that you feel that we are all "ripping you off"
Mabey, now that the last of the profit mongers has left, we can worry about
building a ship,
instead of who gets what cut.
an internet company to build the BEST airship designs in the market...
They picked L.T.A.S. designs.
***Since there has been no testbed, and no evidence, Mike, we don't know
what the BEST design is. I will say that many folks on this page have an
opinion
of what the best design is, they just don't call thiers the "best". They
don't
know for sure. Neither do you. I back up what I say with research. No one
on
this list can say that I don't. I am not an engineer, but I sometimes act
more like
one than a real engineer.
Too bad two of the board of directors decided to go off and promote
their own projects using vast amounts of my design recomendations and
claiming them and the markets as their own...
instead of "Keeping their eye on the REAL prize.."
***Two of the board members have continued to move towards building a ship.
You claim all ideas as your own and demand our scarce MONEY for the
priveledge to
use them. This is humorous considering that the ship we intended to build
was mostly yours. I am still building a ship, one Helios can AFFORD. Josh
is doing his own
thing, but he is doing what he can afford. You seem to be running out of
friends to alienate.
***I recommend that you consider these things now, before you decide.
When we finish this ship, the Helios board will loan it to whoever needs to
demo it.
If you choose to leave, the board members replacing you may not see any
reason to
lend it to you. Further, I have been personally attacked by you continually
since Josh
left. In the future, I will throw out any mail I receive from you, without
reading it
completely, the first sign of insult I see.
***I think the people on this list know that I am goal oriented. What they
don't know is that
I have spent waayyy too much time babysitting board members who are
contributing less and
less as we get closer to completion. I sincerely hope you decide to stay
Mike, but if you do,
you will contribute, and stop being a nusiance. I no longer have time to
keep a job, build this
thing, and soothe your emotions.
Chris