Air Force One First Look On-Course
 

Two weeks ago, we invited Golf Lab customers to participate in a free "Donate Your Swing to Science" program. Our goal is to find out, once and for all, whether the PowerBilt Air Force One driver delivers the claimed improved performance. We weren't impressed at first. The idea of building a driver head charged with Nitrogen under pressure sounded preposterous. Why would that work?

If it weren't for the "Iceman" and his playing partners we would have completely ignored the Air Force One. The foursome took a demo driver to the course to hit against their current "gamers". The Air Force One delivered enough improvement that three of the four players went out and bought one the next week. When it comes to new golf clubs, that's the acid test. You play the club and your playing partners play the club. You see the results compared against your gamer on a course where you know your distances. If there's enough improvement, you buy one.

We scheduled "preliminary fittings" to test the Air Force One indoors against customers' current drivers with our launch monitors. Then, knowing the correct "stock" shaft and loft - and trimming to "playing length" - we picked out a demo driver for a few days of on-course testing. The follow-up is to re-shaft the Air Force One drivers with a "custom" shaft - counterweighted and "tweaked" to maximize performance. All this to answer the ultimate question, "is this driver good enough to buy with real money?"

A few players have completed their "First Look" and checked in for the second stage. The results so far are positive. If you haven't signed up for the program, it would be a good idea to make a phone call. 650- 493-1770. Schedule a convenient time. You can't lose, the program is completely free.

 

 Golf Lab On-Course
 

Launch monitor results show small increases in ball speed. Two to three MPH might not sound like much, but that translates into six to ten yards of carry distance. But the key to extra distance for most amateurs is not carry distance. Rather, for any player's ball speed a combination of trajectory - an under 39 degree "angle of descent" - and low spin to promote run out - make the difference.

Clint and I both played the Air Force One last weekend to make sure we had personal experience to help understand our customers' reports.

Clint chose the "Pro" model in 10.5* and shafted it with a 47" Oban Devotion shaft in a very light 55 gram weight. On Monday morning, he was smiling. (Customers who know Clint will know what that means!!) He played with Bob at Spring Valley. Bob noticed the increased distance - estimated at 10-15 yards. Most of the increased distance came from better roll. But the most interesting result was improved accuracy. Clint reported that he never, ever, had a better day keeping it in the fairway. It was clearly better than his current gamer, a 9.5* Taylor Made Burner shafted with a 47", 55 gram Fujikura Z- Com shaft.

I chose the "Geometric" model in 9.5* shortened to 44.5" with the stock shaft in "S" flex. I added six grams of lead tape to the head to adjust the swing weight. Stock shaft length for the Air Force One is 45.5" - too long for the weight of the shaft.

My round was at the San Jose Country Club. SJCC is an old-fashioned course with tree-lined fairways and plenty of out of bounds. I kept my drives inside the tree line all the way around. That's a pretty unusual occurrence - even on a good day. My playing partners included "JS" a player who hits his drives a long way past mine when he catches one. Several times, I found myself just a few steps behind JS and asked him "how did you hit that one". His reply was "OK". I took that as a very good sign for distance. SJCC is not my home course so I had no good independent indicator.

The downside is that I got very little roll. I would rather have tested the "Pro" version of the Air Force One. (The Company opinion is that the Pro version is lower spin and lower "effective loft".) Alas, I didn't have any more Pro heads when it came my turn to choose a driver.

I am definitely ready for a shaft upgrade. My unquestioned conclusion is that the driver is "spooky straight".

 

 The "Tracy Twins"
 

One of the "TT's" walked into the Golf Lab fifteen minutes after we announced the testing program by email. That proves the Twins are avid golfers. They play weekends at the Tracy Country Club.

I set up one of the Pro Series drivers in 10.5* loft with a "regular" flex stock shaft. I trimmed it to 45" and added five grams of weight to the head with lead tape.

On Monday morning, both of the Twins were at the front door of the Golf Lab, reporting that they had found themselves in "places I've never been before". I then re-shafted two 10.5* Pro heads. One took a Mitsubishi Whiteboard in "R" flex, the other a House of Forged "Whup-in" shaft in "stiff". They went out for another week of final, definitive testing on the course.

Both of the Twins would have bought the Air Force One with the stock shaft but I wanted to take the test to the limit. Stay tuned for the results of the test in Tracy.

We have more demo Air Force One drivers on the way. We can handle fifteen testers at a time. Make that call to reserve your fitting appointment.

 

 More Information on the Air Force One
 



When things started to get interesting I figured I'd better get a little more information on the Nitrogen Charged Driver.

The idea goes back ten years. The inventor doesn't even play golf. But, being an inventor and having a nose for opportunity, Al Blowes ran across a little- known fact in 1999. He found out that Taylor Made took back 400,000 cracked titanium drivers that year. He reasoned that solving that problem should be worth a lot of money.

That's when smashing and empty pop can on his head gave him the idea of pressurizing the driver head itself. So the original idea was not about distance or control - it was about durability.

The unintended result was that the Air Force One could be constructed differently from most other drivers. The key is a single thickness, unreinforced titanium face on the driver. The theory is that the single thickness of titanium enlarges the sweet spot.

Most titanium drivers today are made with some kind of "sculptured" face. Some look like little volcanoes. Some are thicker in the middle and taper out toward the edges. A couple of years ago, there was a buzz for "cup face" - presumably a construction technique that allowed a "single thickness face".

The theory about performance is that the single face thickness produces better results on off center hits. That feature was noted by all testers.

 

 Engineering Genius or Pure Luck?
 

It makes you wonder when a product that was designed to solve one problem is presented to solve another. How lucky that a more durable head would also be "longer" or "more forgiving". Could that be true?

It is early to know for sure, but so far, every tester has reported a positive experience. In the end, will the true virtue be distance, control or both? My opinion is that the ultimate benefit is more likely to be control. All players have reported less dispersion on off center hits.

Every week a customer asks the question, "what's the best driver?" The answer is obvious. If there were one best driver - there surely would be only one - and we would all be playing it. That hasn't happened in 400 years so there is not much chance that it will happen this year. We still have a list of favorites that have brought great improvement to players who happened to find their own "Magic Driver" at the Golf Lab.

We would like to complete a testing sequence with at least thirty Golf Lab customers. So far, ten have reserved sessions so we have plenty of room if you want to find out if the Air Force One fits your swing. Call 650-493-1770 to schedule an appointment. See you at the Lab.

 

 Reduced Schedule Next Week
 

Leith will be traveling to Boston from Tuesday through Saturday next week. Clint will be in the shop - along with Michael - to handle all customer needs except fitting. The occasion is to celebrate the graduation of his son, Ryan, from Harvard University where he will receive a PhD in Chemistry with a focus on biotechnology. (Any Golf Lab customers in that industry who could help him make a connection in California would be profusely thanked. He can't stand the Boston winters and wants to return to California.)