If it hadn't been for a throw away line from Sir John Rose, the chief executive of Rolls-Royce the imminent meeting of the Conquistadores del Cielo might have taken place under its customary cloak of secrecy.
But Sir John, one of the lowest profile personalities in aerospace, uncharacteristically mentioned his industry's most publicity shy gathering of leaders in an interview in a British newspaper.
Now the little town of Encampment, Wyoming is braced for the arrival of the much feared British paparazzo, intent on recording the goings-on at the sprawling 140,000 acre A-Bar-A dude ranch.
Will they turn up? No one is really sure, but the self styled "conquerors of the sky" will, and they have much to be quiet about this year.
They are going broke.
In terms of collective losses the major airlines are down more than US$10 billion this year and there are decidedly mixed results for the makers of jets, whether civil or military or private, and jet engines, where Sir John's enterprise has dazzled the market with profits his competitors would envy.
Macho, macho men
The macho men of the Conquista-dores del Cielo rarely break their vows of silence. Outside the US, where airline and aerospace chief executive officers declare their membership to investors, it is almost impossible to get other airways' partners to acknowledge their participation.
Perhaps it is embarrassment at the thought of being exposed in pink frocks on horse back, or dressed up like the Village People singing the order's song:
"We're Conquistadores, gay Conquistadores; We're birds of a very fine feather, We're happy amigos."
The evidence of such shenanigans is archived in a little known collection of the society's papers in the Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio.
In an exceedingly rare interview on the meetings published by Fortune magazine, Gordon Bethune, chairman of Continental Airlines, says "It's a boy's club. You fly fish, play tennis. They do rodeos, ride horses, drink too much, ride horses, drink too much. Did I mention drinking? It's kind of fun."
Top brass
Conquistadores del Cielo was founded in 1937, and its ranks include the top brass in the US Air Force, men who have walked on the moon and living heroes from the ranks of test pilots and combat veterans.
Until a few years ago it had been assumed it was essentially a trans-Atlantic club. Not only did it not admit women but, conspicuously, there was no evidence of much representation from Asia, Africa, or the former eastern bloc.
However, in September last year the chairman of Korean Air, Cho Yang-ho broke all the rules by issuing a press release saying he was attending.
In fact he said the participants "will discuss recent trends and developments in the international aviation industry at the meeting."
This misunderstanding of the purely social agenda of the Conquistadores did not go down especially well in the US industry.
American Conquistadores are mindful of avoiding any conceivable hint that they might turn a perfectly brotherly bonding session of fishing, hunting, drinking, singing, drinking and horse riding under frontier skies into anything that could remotely offend any of the provisions of the Sherman anti-trust act, or several library shelves of related law on anti-competitive activity.
It is a mere 18 years since the Paul Thayer "scandal."
Thayer, a long standing member, was the first pilot to break the sound barrier in a production US Navy fighter, and survivor of seven crashes, four in combat and three as a test pilot. But according to documents filed by the US Securities and Exchange Commission in 1984, it is alleged that he discussed at Conquistadores 1982 a takeover battle for Bendix Corp which was eventually won by Allied Corp, of which he was a director.
The pentagon connection
Thayer subsequently became former president Ronald Reagan's No. 2 man in the Pentagon as deputy defense secretary, but was forced to resign in 1984 in advance of a threatened prosecution for insider trading.
In 1985 he began serving 19 months of a four-year sentence negotiated through plea bargaining. According to the documents, two Conquistadores who attended the 1982 meeting and were members of companies who unsuccessfully tried to buy Bendix were prepared to testify to the insider information given by Thayer.
Since that withering encounter with the spotlight of publicity, the Conquistadores have returned to the anonymity and brotherhood of the Wyoming wilderness. Thayer even flew a vintage aircraft over the gathering in 2000, the year before diminishing eye sight forced him to hang up his goggles.
Even if this year's party is raucous, the participants will be hoping they don't attract much attention.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-Wong tomorrow, which it said would possibly make landfall near central Taiwan. As of 2am yesterday, Fung-Wong was about 1,760km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving west-northwest at 26kph. It is forecast to reach Luzon in the northern Philippines by tomorrow, the CWA said. After entering the South China Sea, Typhoon Fung-Wong is likely to turn northward toward Taiwan, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張峻堯) said, adding that it would likely make landfall near central Taiwan. The CWA expects to issue a land
Taiwan’s exports soared to an all-time high of US$61.8 billion last month, surging 49.7 percent from a year earlier, as the global frenzy for artificial intelligence (AI) applications and new consumer electronics powered shipments of high-tech goods, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. It was the first time exports had exceeded the US$60 billion mark, fueled by the global boom in AI development that has significantly boosted Taiwanese companies across the international supply chain, Department of Statistics Director-General Beatrice Tsai (蔡美娜) told a media briefing. “There is a consensus among major AI players that the upcycle is still in its early stage,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it is expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong this afternoon and a land warning tomorrow. As of 1pm, the storm was about 1,070km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, and was moving west-northwest at 28 to 32kph, according to CWA data. The storm had a radius of 250km, with maximum sustained winds of 173kph and gusts reaching 209kph, the CWA added. The storm is forecast to pass near Luzon in the Philippines before entering the South China Sea and potentially turning northward toward Taiwan, the CWA said. CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張峻堯) said
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi yesterday said that China using armed force against Taiwan could constitute a "survival-threatening situation" for Japan, allowing the country to mobilize the Japanese armed forces under its security laws. Takaichi made the remarks during a parliamentary session while responding to a question about whether a "Taiwan contingency" involving a Chinese naval blockade would qualify as a "survival-threatening situation" for Japan, according to a report by Japan’s Asahi Shimbun. "If warships are used and other armed actions are involved, I believe this could constitute a survival-threatening situation," Takaichi was quoted as saying in the report. Under Japan’s security legislation,
RSS