0.18 photos on Flickr

Chiesa di Sant'Antonio Nuovo, Trieste by Vittorio Dell'Aquila

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Qtpfsgui 1.9.3 tonemapping parameters:

Operator: Reinhard02

Parameters:

Key: 0.18

Phi: 1

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PreGamma: 0.758

ROF 12 Oceja 0 (18) by Aurelio Revuelta Sánchez

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isolated by Brian Y.

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The cells were made of concrete with a single glass skylight, representing the "Eye of God", hinting to the prisoners that God was always watching them

Rufous tailed humming bird . . . BK2W0157-EditJuly 21, 2014 by Swaranjeet Singh

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ISO 16000

The rufous-tailed hummingbird (Amazilia tzacatl) is a medium-sized hummingbird that breeds from east-central Mexico, through Central America and Colombia, east to western Venezuela and south through western Ecuador to near the border with Peru. The larger Escudo hummingbird from Isla Escudo de Veraguas in Panama is commonly considered a subspecies of the rufous-tailed hummingbird.

This is a common to abundant bird of open country, river banks, woodland, scrub, forest edge, coffee plantations and gardens up to 1,850 m (6,070 ft).

The adult rufous-tailed hummingbird is 10–12 cm (3.9–4.7 in) long and weighs approximately 5.2 g (0.18 oz). The throat is green (edged whitish in the female), the crown, back and flanks are green tinged golden, the belly is pale greyish, the vent and rump are rufous and the slightly forked tail is rufous with a dusky tip. The almost straight bill is red with a black tip; the black is more extensive on the upper mandible, which may appear all black. Immatures are virtually identical to the female. The call is a low chut, and the male’s song is a whistled tse we ts’ we or tse tse wip tseek tse.

The female rufous-tailed hummingbird is entirely responsible for nest building and incubation. She lays two white eggs in a compact cup nest constructed from plant-fibre and dead leaves and decorated with lichens and mosses 1–6 m (3.3–19.7 ft) high on a thin horizontal twig. Incubation takes 15–19 days, and fledging another 20–26.

The food of this species is nectar, taken from a variety of flowers, including Heliconias and bananas. Like other hummingbirds, it also takes small insects as an essential source of protein. Rufous-tailed hummingbirds are very aggressive, and defend flowers and shrubs in their feeding territories. They are dominant over most other hummingbirds.

by Simone B.

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Durchmesser 13 cm;

Rotring Rapidograph 0,18;

Graphit 2B

Sunset seen from Phoenician wall 1/11 by Muslima2006

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f/9.0 / 18.0mm / 1/100 / ISO200

I tried to photograph the photo as light or dark as I could see it with my eyes. Now, 3.5 years later, I don't know if I had made it. However, I remember that the darker photos were the result of a deliberately chosen different focus.

In the second part of this series you can see the setting sun slowly disappearing behind the clouds on the horizon.

Entfaltung by qnze

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0_0-18 by Fozzie_420

If you've got 'em by tingley

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Xi'an, China, 2004.

There's a story behind this photo. We had just coughed up 1.5 RMB (about $0.18, at the time) to buy soft-serve ice cream at one of the McDonald's ice cream kiosks which were everywhere. This young fellow appeared and put on an elaborate show that consisted of pointing at our ice cream, making sad faces, etc. (Rita speaks Mandarin, but we were obviously tourists.) We were being hustled, but what the heck, it was sort of funny, so I bought him a cone. As soon as he had it, he brandished the partially-smoked cigarette he'd been hiding behind his back, as if to demonstrate how much we'd been fooled. Then he ran back around the corner to this cigarette shop (apparently run by his father), where he sat, smoked, and ate ice cream.

#1437 tunnel by Jesús Joglar

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for my blog of pinhole film photography visit jesusjoglar.net

© Jesús Joglar.

Prohibido el uso para fines comerciales sin previa autorización escrita. No use esta imagen en webs, blogs o cualquier medio de comunicación sin mi permiso explícito.

joglar@gmail.com

__________________________________________________________________________________

Prohibited the use for commercial purposes without prior written authorization. Don't use this image on websites, blogs or other media without my explicit permission.

joglar@gmail.com

ZI45_0276

for more info see tags

Sambiki No Saru by qnze

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P-51 Mustang-Duxford Oct 2010 by Feggy Art

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The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang was an American long-range single-seat World War II fighter aircraft. Designed and built in just 117 days, the Mustang first flew in Royal Air Force (RAF) service as a fighter-bomber and reconnaissance aircraft before conversion to a bomber escort, employed in raids over Germany, helping ensure Allied air superiority from early 1944. The P-51 was in service with Allied air forces in Europe and also saw limited service against the Japanese in the Pacific War. The Mustang began the Korean War as the United Nations' main fighter, but was relegated to a ground attack role when superseded by jet fighters early in the conflict. Nevertheless, it remained in service with some air forces until the early 1980s.

Registrations:

•Mustang 1: Miss Velma, N251RJ, NX251RJ, 44-84847

•Mustang 2: Ferocious Frankie, 413704, G-BTCD

•Mustang 3: Big Beautiful Doll, G-HAEC

General characteristics

•Crew: 1

•Length: 32 ft 3 in (9.83 m)

•Wingspan: 37 ft 0 in (11.28 m)

•Height: 13 ft 4½ in (4.08 m:tail wheel on ground, vertical propeller blade.)

•Wing area: 235 ft² (21.83 m²)

•Empty weight: 7,635 lb (3,465 kg)

•Loaded weight: 9,200 lb (4,175 kg)

•Max takeoff weight: 12,100 lb (5,490 kg)

•Powerplant: 1× Packard V-1650-7 liquid-cooled supercharged V-12, 1,490 hp (1,111 kW) at 3,000 rpm; 1,720 hp (1,282 kW) at WEP

•Zero-lift drag coefficient: 0.0163

•Drag area: 3.80 ft² (0.35 m²)

•Aspect ratio: 5.83

Performance

•Maximum speed: 437 mph (703 km/h) at 25,000 ft (7,600 m)

•Cruise speed: 362 mph (580 km/h)

•Stall speed: 100 mph (160 km/h)

•Range: 1,650 mi (2,755 km) with external tanks

•Service ceiling: 41,900 ft (12,800 m)

•Rate of climb: 3,200 ft/min (16.3 m/s)

•Wing loading: 39 lb/ft² (192 kg/m²)

•Power/mass: 0.18 hp/lb (300 W/kg)

•Lift-to-drag ratio: 14.6

•Recommended Mach limit 0.8

Armament

•6× 0.50 caliber (12.7mm) M2 Browning machine guns with 1,880 total rounds (400 rounds for each on the inner pair, and 270 rounds for each of the outer two pair)

•2× hardpoints for up to 2,000 lb (907 kg) of bombs

•6 or 10× T64 5.0 in (127 mm) H.V.A.R rockets (P-51D-25, P-51K-10 on)

Text and specifications based on Wikipedia article under the Creative Commons License for non-profit use.

Panorama 1470_hdr_pregamma_1_reinhard02_key_0.18_phi_1 small by Bob Bruhin

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Willow Steam

8th and Willow Streets

Philadelphia, PA USA

(via bruhinb.deviantart.com/art/Panorama-1470-hdr-pregamma-1-r...)

Galapagos Islands-19 by Tristan Brown

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A Galapagos Giant Tortoise hiding in his shell on Santa Cruz Island in the Galapagos Islands.

Galapagos Giant Tortoise

The Galápagos tortoise or Galápagos giant tortoise (Geochelone nigra) is the largest living tortoise, native to seven islands of the Galápagos archipelago. The Galápagos tortoise is unique to the Galápagos Islands. Fully grown adults can weigh over 300 kilograms (661 lb) and measure 1.2 meters (4 ft) long. They are long-lived with a life expectancy in the wild estimated to be 100-150 years. Populations fell dramatically because of hunting and the introduction of predators and grazers by humans since the seventeenth century. Now only ten subspecies of the original twelve exist in the wild. However, conservation efforts since the establishment of the Galápagos National Park and the Charles Darwin Foundation have met with success, and hundreds of captive-bred juveniles have been released back onto their home islands. They have become one of the most symbolic animals of the fauna of the Galápagos Islands. The tortoises have very large shells (carapace) made of bone. The bony plates of the shell are integral to the skeleton, fused with the ribs in a rigid protective structure. Naturalist Charles Darwin remarked "These animals grow to an immense size ... several so large that it required six or eight men to lift them from the ground.". This is due to the phenomenon of island gigantism whereby in the absence of natural predation, the largest tortoises had a survival advantage and no disadvantage in fleeing or fending off predators. When threatened, it can withdraw its head, neck and all forelimbs into its shell for protection, presenting a protected shield to a would-be predator. The legs have hard scales that also provide armour when withdrawn. Tortoises keep a characteristic scute pattern on their shell throughout life. These have annual growth bands but are not useful for aging as the outer layers are worn off. There is little variation in the dull-brown colour of the shell or scales. Physical features (including shape of the shell) relate to the habitat of each of the subspecies. These differences were noted by Captain Porter even before Charles Darwin. Larger islands with more wet highlands such as Santa Cruz and the Alcedo Volcano on Isabela have lush vegetation near the ground. Tortoises here tend to have 'dome-back' shells. These animals have restricted upward head movement due to shorter necks, and also have shorter limbs. These are the heaviest and largest of the subspecies.Smaller, drier islands such as Española and Pinta are inhabited by tortoises with 'saddleback' shells comprising a flatter carapace which is elevated above the neck and flared above the hind feet. Along with longer neck and limbs, this allows them to browse taller vegetation. On these drier islands the Galápagos Opuntia cactus (a major source of their fluids) has evolved a taller, tree-like form. This is evidence of an evolutionary arms race between progressively taller tortoises and correspondingly taller cacti. Saddlebacks are smaller in size than domebacks. They tend to have a yellowish color on lower mandible and throat. At one extreme, the Sierra Negra volcano population that inhabits southern Isabela Island has a very flattened "tabletop" shell. However, there is no saddleback/domeback dualism; tortoises can also be of 'intermediate' type with characteristics of both. The tortoises are slow-moving reptiles with an average long-distance walking speed of 0.3 km/h (0.18 mph). Although feeding giant tortoises browse with no apparent direction, when moving to water-holes or nesting grounds, they can move at surprising speeds for their size. Marked individuals have been reported to have traveled 13 km in two days. Being cold-blooded, the tortoises bask for two hours after dawn, absorbing the energy through their shells, then becoming active for 8–9 hours a day. They may sleep for about sixteen hours in a mud wallow partially or submerged in rain-formed pools (sometimes dew ponds formed by garua-moisture dripping off trees). This may be both a thermoregulatory response and a protection from parasites such as mosquitoes and ticks. Some rest in a 'pallet'- a snug depression in soft ground or dense brush- which probably helps to conserve heat and may aid digestion. On the Alcedo Volcano, repeated use of the same sites by the large resident population has resulted in the formation of small sandy pits. Darwin observed that: "The inhabitants believe that these animals are absolutely deaf; certainly they do not overhear a person walking near behind them. I was always amused, when overtaking one of these great monsters as it was quietly pacing along, to see how suddenly, the instant I passed, it would draw in its head and legs, and uttering a deep hiss fall to the ground with a heavy sound, as if struck dead." The tortoises can vocalise in aggressive encounters, whilst righting themselves if turned upside down and, in males, during mating. The latter is described as "rhythmic groans". The tortoises are herbivorous animals with a diet comprising cactus, grasses, leaves, vines, and fruit. Fresh young grass is a favorite food of the tortoises, and others are the 'poison apple' (Hippomane mancinella) (toxic to humans), the endemic guava (Psidium galapageium), the water fern (Azolla microphylla), and the bromeliad (Tillandsia insularis). Tortoises eat a large quantity of food when it is available at the expense of incomplete digestion. Its favorite food is grasses. The tortoise normally eat an average of 70 to 80 pounds a day. Tortoises have a classic example of a mutualistic symbiotic relationship with some species of Galápagos finch. The finch hops in front of the tortoise to show that it is ready and the tortoise then raises itself up high on its legs and stretches out its neck so that the bird can pick off ticks that are hidden in the folds of the skin (especially on the rear legs, cloacal opening, neck, and skin between plastron and carapace), thus freeing the tortoise from harmful parasites and providing the finch with an easy meal. Other birds, including Galápagos Hawk and flycatchers, use tortoises as observation posts from which to sight their prey. Mating occurs at any time of the year, although it does have seasonal peaks between January and August. When two mature males meet in the mating season they will face each other, rise up on their legs and stretch up their necks with their mouths open to assess dominance. Occasionally, head-biting occurs, but usually the shorter loser tortoise will back off, leaving the other to mate with the female. In groups of tortoises from mixed island populations, saddleback males have an advantage over domebacks. Frustrated non-dominant males have been observed attempting to mate with other males and boulders. The male sniffs the air when seeking a female, bellows loudly, and bobs his head. The male then rams the female with the front of his shell and bites her exposed legs until she withdraws them, immobilizing her. Copulation can last several hours with roaring vocalisations from the males. Their concave shell base allows males to mount the females from behind. It brings its tail which houses the penis into the female's cloaca. After mating (June-December), the females journey up to several kilometres to reach nesting areas of dry, sandy ground (often near the coast). Nest digging can last from hours to days and is elaborate and exhausting. It is carried out blindly using only the hind legs to dig a 30 cm deep hole, into which she lays up to sixteen hard-shelled eggs the size of tennis balls. The female makes a muddy plug for the nest hole out of soil mixed with urine and leaves the eggs to incubate. In rocky areas, the eggs are deposited randomly into cracks. The young emerge from the nest after 120 to 140 days gestation later (December-April) and may weigh only 80 grams (2.8 oz) and measure 6 centimetres (2.4 in). Temperature plays a role in the sex of the hatchling: if the nest temperature is lower, more males will hatch; if it is high, more females will hatch. When the young tortoises emerge from their shells, they must dig their way to the surface, which can take up to a month. All have domed carapaces, and subspecies are indistinguishable. Galápagos Hawk used to be the only native predator of the tortoise hatchlings, as Darwin remarked: "The young tortoises, as soon as they are hatched, fall prey in great numbers to buzzards". Sex can be determined only when the tortoise is 15 years old, and sexual maturity is reached at 20 to 25 years old. The tortoises grow slowly for about 40 years until they reach their full size. Reproductive prime is considered to be from the ages of 60–90. The shape of the carapace of some subspecies of the tortoises is said to have reminded the early Spanish explorers of a kind of saddle they called a "galápago," and for these saddle-shaped tortoises they named the archipelago. Up to 250,000 tortoises inhabited the islands when they were discovered. Today only about 15,000 are left.

The inhabitants...state that they can distinguish the tortoise from different islands; and that they differ not only in size, but in other characters. Captain Porter has described those from Charles and from the nearest island to it, namely Hood Island, as having their shells in front thick and turned up like a Spanish saddle, whilst the tortoises from James Island are rounder, blacker, and have a better taste when cooked.---Charles Darwin 1845

There were probably twelve subspecies of Geochelone nigra in the Galápagos Islands, although some recognise up to 15 subspecies. Now only 11 subspecies remain, five on Isabela Island, and the other six on Santiago, Santa Cruz, San Cristóbal, Pinzón, Española and Pinta. Of these, the Pinta Island subspecies is extinct in the wild and is represented by a single individual (Lonesome George). In the past, zoos took animals without knowing their island of origin. Production of fertile offspring from various pairings of tortoises largely confirmed that they are subspecies and not different species. All the subspecies of giant tortoise evolved in Galápagos from a common ancestor that arrived from the mainland, floating on the ocean currents (the tortoises can drift for long periods of time as they are buoyant and can stretch head upwards to breathe). Only a single pregnant female or breeding pair needed to arrive in this way, and then survive, for Galápagos to be colonised. In the seventeenth century, pirates started to use the Galápagos islands as a base for resupply, restocking on food, water and repairing vessels before attacking Spanish colonies on the South American mainland. The tortoises were collected and stored live on board ships where they could survive for at least a year without food or water, providing valuable fresh meat, whilst their diluted urine and water stored in their neck bags could also be used as drinking water. Of the meat, Darwin wrote: "the breast-plate roasted (as the Gauchos do 'carne con cuero'), with the flesh on it, is very good; and the young tortoises make excellent soup; but otherwise the meat to my taste is indifferent." In the nineteenth century, whaling ships and fur-sealers collected tortoises for food and many more were killed for high grade 'turtle oil' from the late 1800s onward. Darwin described this process thus: "beautifully clear oil is prepared from the fat. When a tortoise is caught, the man makes a slit in the skin near its tail, so as to see inside its body, whether the fat under the dorsal plate is thick. If it is not, the animal is liberated and it is said to recover soon from this strange operation." A total of over 15,000 tortoises is recorded in the logs of 105 whaling ships between 1811 and 1844. As hunters found it easiest to collect the tortoises living round the coastal zones, the least decimated populations tended to be those in the highlands. Population decline accelerated with the early settlement of the islands, when they were hunted for meat, their habitat was cleared for agriculture and alien mammal species were introduced. Feral pigs, dogs, cats and black rats are effective predators of eggs and young tortoises, whilst goats, donkeys and cattle compete for grazing. In the twentieth century, increasing human settlement and urbanisation and collection of tortoises for zoo and museum specimens depleted numbers even more. The Galápagos giant tortoise is now strictly protected. Young tortoises are raised in a programme by the Charles Darwin Research Station in order to bolster the numbers of the extant subspecies. Eggs are collected from places on the islands where they are threatened and when the tortoises hatch they are kept in captivity until they have reached a size that ensures a good chance of survival and are returned to their original ranges. The Galápagos National Park Service systematically culls feral predators and competitors where necessary such as the complete eradication of goats from Pinta. The conservation project begun in the 1970s successfully brought 10 of the 11 endangered subspecies up to guarded population levels. The most significant recovery was that of the Española Tortoise, whose breeding stock comprised 2 males and 11 females brought to the Darwin Station. Fortuitously, a third male was discovered at the San Diego Zoo and joined the others in a captive breeding program. These 13 tortoises gave rise to over 1000 tortoises now released into their home island. In all, 2500 individuals of all breeds have been reintroduced to the islands. However, persecution still continues on a much smaller scale; more than 120 tortoises have been killed by poachers since 1990 and they have been taken hostage as political leverage by local fishermen.

Santa Cruz

With the largest human population in the Galapagos archipelago, Isla Santa Cruz is the most important of the Galapagos Islands. Meaning Holy Cross in Spanish, this island is also known as Indefatigable, after the HMS Indefatigable landed here long ago. The second largest island terms of land area at 986 sq km, Isla Santa Cruz is home to the key town of Puerto Ayora, the Charles Darwin Research Station and the headquarters of the Galapagos National Park Service. With its own airport on Isla Baltra a few miles away, Isla Santa Cruz is where most visitors who come to the Galapagos Islands usually stay. With a number of bars, hotels, restaurants and shops in Puerto Ayora, most tours of the Archipelago also usually begin from here.

Galapagos Islands

The Galápagos Islands (official name: Archipiélago de Colón; other Spanish names: Islas de Colón or Islas Galápagos) are an archipelago of volcanic islands distributed around the equator in the Pacific Ocean, some 900 km west of Ecuador. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site: wildlife is its most notable feature. Because of the only very recent arrival of man the majority of the wildlife has no fear of humans and will allow visitors to walk right up them, often having to step over Iguanas or Sea Lions.The Galápagos islands and its surrounding waters are part of a province, a national park, and a biological marine reserve. The principal language on the islands is Spanish. The islands have a population of around 40,000, which is a 40-fold expansion in 50 years. The islands are geologically young and famed for their vast number of endemic species, which were studied by Charles Darwin during the voyage of the Beagle. His observations and collections contributed to the inception of Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection.

LAFD Merit Scholarships Awarded by Los Angeles Fire Department

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On June 6, 2018 the 12th annual LAFD Merit Scholar Awards Ceremony honored the academic excellence and demonstrated leadership of 11 college-bound students.

The Merit Scholar Awards are cash grants, made possible through the Jean Perkins Foundation, of up to $30,000 ($7,500 per year while the student continues to be enrolled and making normal progress toward a college degree). To be eligible, a student must be the child or stepchild of an active or fallen LAFD sworn employee. The eligible student must be a high school senior or college freshman, who will be enrolled in the fall as a full-time student in an accredited college or university. The scholarships are awarded on the basis of merit. The single most important factor is academic achievement, but the all-civilian Selection Committee considered other relevant criteria, including personal character and extracurricular accomplishments.

This year’s awardees were students who demonstrated excellence in academic studies, good character, high moral standards, leadership, distinction in extra-curricular activities, personal accomplishments and a potential for future success. The LAFD Merit Scholarship Fund Board of Directors had the difficult task of selecting the top candidates from an extremely competitive pool.

The 2018 LAFD Merit Scholar Award Recipients are Simone Decker, daughter of Firefighter III/Paramedic Dieter Decker; Abigail Sedillos and Brady Sedillos, children of Captain I Leonard Sedillos;Teagan Wasserman, daughter of Firefighter III/Paramedic Curt Wasserman (all bio's provided below).

This year’s seven Runner-Up Award winners are to be congratulated for their outstanding merits. Each received a one time grant of $5,000. They are Mia Aguilar, Seth Aguilar, Nina Hernandez, Angelina Maldonado, Delanie McKeon, Derek Rueda, Anna Vidovich and Taylor Wasserman.

The winner of this year’s “Best Essay” award of $2,500, generously sponsored by the LAFD Foundation, is an impressive repeat winner, Nina Hernandez. Nina also received this award in 2017.

We would like to thank Mr. James Carroll III and Mr. Joe Connolly, Executive Board Members of the Jean Perkins Foundation and the LAFD Merit Scholarship Fund’s Board of Directors, Dick Barrett, John Anglin, G. Louis Graziadio III, Vicky Leck, Tom Mizo, Robert Nicholas and Molly Taylor for their dedication and support of our members and their children. We are also grateful to the Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation for their sponsorship of the “Best Essay” award and to the LAFD Sertoma Club, the United Firefighters of Los Angeles City, LAFD Historical Society and the Los Angeles Firefighter’s Association and the Stentorians of City of Los Angeles who sponsored the awards reception.

The announcement for the 2019 competition should be posted early 2019 at www.lafd.org/scholarship.

2017 LAFD MERIT SCHOLAR AWARD RECIPIENT BIOGRAPHIES

Simone Decker is a senior from Quartz Hill High School (QHHS) and is the daughter of Firefighter III Paramedic Dieter Decker, assigned to Fire Station 75 (15 years LAFD). She will be attending George Washington University, majoring in Political Science. Simone has volunteered with the Union Rescue Mission and the Children’s Department at Barnes and Noble. Simone has become involved with the Interfaith Youth Leadership Initiative (IYLI) and serves as the Secretary of the LA County Chapter. IYLI promotes religious tolerance through education and interaction. Simone feels the program allowed her to understand religion in a different light and become friends with people form a huge variety of faiths. The program provides a space for youth to interact with one another, free from societal stereotypes or preconceived notions. Simone has interned for Assemblyman Tom Lackey during 2016-2017 and with Congressman Steve Knight, on Capitol Hill, in 2018. She is very active in on-campus clubs. She is currently Social Media Commissioner for the QHHS ASB, Cheer Squad Captain, Multicultural Club, a Bollywood founding member and dance performer, member of Key Club and author of Blog with The Odyssey Online. Simone is a member of the National Society of High School Scholars (NSHSS) and was selected for the Award of Excellence from the National Academy of Future Scientists and Technologists. Other awards include NSHSS Ambassador Award 2017-2018, Principal’s List Honor Roll 2014-2018, and Academic Excellence Awards 2014-2018 after receiving all “A” grades in honors/advanced courses. Simone graduates with a 4.9 GPA.

Abigail Sedillos is a graduating senior from Palos Verdes Peninsula High School (PVPHS) and the daughter of Captain I Leonard Sedillos, assigned to Fire Station 80 (33 years LAFD). Abbie will be attending Northeastern University, Boston, MA, double majoring in Environmental Studies and Political Science on the Pre-Law track. Abbie has been volunteering since 2012 and believes in the power of service. She is dedicated to commu-nity service and actively volunteers at the National Charity League as a Big Sister/Little Sister coordinator. Abbie also volunteers in Blue Jackets, assisting with discharged patients and making deliveries within the Torrance Memorial Medical Center(TMMC): NOVAs of TMMC, which partners with high school volunteers to fundraise and support patient events. Abbie has received the Gold Presidential Volunteer Service Award for volunteering over 120 hours a year and the National Charity League Ticktocked Service Award for volunteering over 100 hours a year. Abbie has participated in the following PVPHS clubs: Link Crew, PLUS Leadership, Teen Court and Principal’s Advisory Council. She participated as a sprinter on the PVPHS Track and Field Team, competing in the 100 and 400 meter, 4 x 4 and 4 x1 relays from 2014- 2016. Abbie’s awards include National Hispanic Scholar 2017, Sociedad Honoraria Hispanica 2016, National Honor Society 2016-2018, Science National Honor Society 2016-2018, California Scholarship Federation 2015 - 2018, and AP Scholar with Honors 2017-2018. Abbie graduates with a 4.7 GPA.

Brady Sedillos is a graduating senior from Palos Verdes Peninsula High School (PVPHS) and the son of Captain I Leonard Sedillos assigned to Fire Station 80 (33 years LAFD). Brady will be attending Brown University majoring in Biological Sciences on the Pre-Med track. Brady’s inspiration and passion for Biological Sciences is due to his family trips to National Parks. Exploring the natural world and it’s workings while on those trips fueled his curiosity especially in his AP Biology Lab. Brady is a Blue Jacket and a NOVA volunteer at TorranceMemorial Medical Center (TMMC). He served as the Vice President and Social Chair of NOVA at TMMC. Brady is a Youth Leader at Saint John Fisher Catholic Church. He assists with meetings and mentors incoming classes. Brady competed on the PVPHS Swim Team CIF and Bay League, in the 200 meter IM, 2014-2017. He served on the Principal’s Advisory Council as a representative of the student body working to improve the school environment. Brady is a jury member of Teen Court 2014-2018, Peer Leadership Uniting Students (PLUS) 2016-2018, Model United Nations Team Under-Secretary-General of Logistics 2015-2018. Brady is a co-founder/vice president of the Go Toberman School Club, a Game of Thrones fan club. Brady also likes to play the ukulele. Brady’s awards and honors include: Model United Nations Conference Awards; 2016-2018, National Hispanic Scholar; 2017, National Honor Society; 2016-2018; Science and Math National Honor Society; 2016-2018 , and California Scholarship Federation; 2015 - 2018. Brady graduates with a 4.8 GPA.

Tegan Wasserman is a graduating senior from Edison High School (EHS) and the daughter of Firefighter III Paramedic Curt Wasserman assigned to Fire Station 99 (32 years LAFD). Teagan will be attending Wagner College, Staten Island, NY, in the five-year advanced Physician Assistant Program. Teagan is currently the Secretary of EHS’s Make a Wish Club, whose duties include raising money, planning and managing event logistics. In 2015, Teagan won Best Scientific Invention in Edison’s Worlds Fair. She continues to volunteer in EHS’s Innovation Lab, maintaining different projects including aquaponics system, fish breeding, etc. Teagan is a volunteer at Fountain Valley Regional Hospital, helping in multiple areas, including the operating room and the Surgical ICU. Tegan is a water safety instructor at Aquatots Swim School. Teagan teaches kids 0-18 years old and works with kids with disabilities. Teagan has participated in the Modeled United Nations (MUN) 2014-2018. This year she traveled to the MUN conference host nation Greece, where they learned and debated different world topics. Teagan mentors freshman taking MUN Geography course, by counseling and critiquing their papers. Teagan has played Club/Academy Soccer 2007 - 2018 and played EHS Varsity Soccer during 2014-2017. She is a decorated Scholar-Athlete. Teagan was the CIF Sports Conference and the OCAD Women in Sports Conference Representative for Edison Women’s Soccer. Teagan is the recipient of Edison Character Coalition Award Perseverance winner 2017. Teagan graduates with a 4.6 GPA.

LAFD Event-060618

Photo Use Permitted via Creative Commons - Credit: LAFD Photo | Gary Apodaca

1:72 McDonnell Douglas AH-64N 'Sea Apache Phase 2+' a.k.a. 'Gray Thunder'; “502” of US Navy HLA-80, on board of USS Bantaan, summer 2001 (Whif/Academy AH-64D conversion) by Dizzyfugu

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+++ DISCLAIMER +++

Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based historical facts. BEWARE!

Some background:

The AH-64 Apache originally started as the Model 77 developed by Hughes Helicopters for the United States Army's Advanced Attack Helicopter program to replace the AH-1 Cobra. The prototype YAH-64 was first flown on 30 September 1975. The U.S. Army selected the YAH-64 over the Bell YAH-63 in 1976, and later approved full production in 1982. After purchasing Hughes Helicopters in 1984, McDonnell Douglas continued AH-64 production and development. The helicopter was introduced to U.S. Army service in April 1986. The first production AH-64D Apache Longbow, an upgraded Apache variant, was delivered to the Army in March 1997. Production has been continued by Boeing Defense, Space & Security, and more than 2,000 AH-64s have been produced to date.

The Boeing AH-64 Apache is a four-blade, twin-turboshaft attack helicopter with a tailwheel-type landing gear arrangement and a tandem cockpit for a two-man crew. It features a nose-mounted sensor suite for target acquisition and night vision systems. It is armed with a 30 mm (1.18 in) M230 chain gun carried between the main landing gear, under the aircraft's forward fuselage. It has four hardpoints mounted on stub-wing pylons, typically carrying a mixture of AGM-114 Hellfire missiles and Hydra 70 rocket pods. The AH-64 has a large amount of systems redundancy to improve combat survivability.

The U.S. Army is the primary operator of the AH-64; it has also become the primary attack helicopter of multiple nations, including Greece, Japan, Israel, the Netherlands, Singapore, and the United Arab Emirates; as well as being produced under license in the United Kingdom as the AgustaWestland Apache. American AH-64s have served in conflicts in Panama, the Persian Gulf, Kosovo, Afghanistan, and Iraq. Israel used the Apache in its military conflicts in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip; British and Dutch Apaches have seen deployments in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Studies for a naval version of the Apache were begun during 1984 and since that time the McDonnell Douglas Helicopter Company has proposed several modified Apaches to both the U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Navy. The navalized Apache was viewed as a replacement for the aging Bell AH-1 Sea Cobras that are in service with the Navy and Marines. With the introduction of a four-blade rotor system to the then current Marine Sea Cobra, the AH-1W, the Bell Cobra was believed to have reached the limit of its development. While older Sea Cobra airframes could be brought up to AH-1W standards, the Marines saw the need for a replacement for the Sea Cobra with some urgency.

The proposed Sea Apache (also known as the ‘Gray Thunder’) was intended for operations from smaller Navy ships such as frigates and cruisers and by the Marines from Amphibious Assault Ships (LHA) and smaller helicopter capable amphibious ships of a Marine Amphibious Ready Group (ARG). These ships would frequently operate outside the air cover of a carrier task group, so that the Sea Apache was also tasked with limited air defense duties and regarded as an offensive surface strike platform, with more capable weapons than the Army's version.

Since 1984, several design studies and formal proposals had evolved, with the Navy requesting changes in the Sea Apache configuration as it refined the aircraft's missions and roles. All in all the project went through no less than three stages, and each of these proposed navalized versions of the Apache differed in several ways from the standard Army AH-64A, although all three proposals had the same powerplants in common, two 1,723shp naval standard General Electric T700-GE-401 engines.
Also in common were increased corrosion preventive measures, improved electro-magnetic interference protection, a Doppler navigation system, upgraded brakes, additional tie down points, and a powered automatic rotor blade fold system.

Some of the missions envisioned by the Navy for the Sea Apache were:
- Escort for amphibious assault craft
- Anti-shipping strike
- Combat Air Patrol (CAP) with up to six Sidewinders
- Over the Horizon (OTH) targeting for surface ships
- Air support for SEAL special warfare teams
- Standoff surveillance
- Long range coastal patrol

Originally (designated “Stage 1”), the Sea Apache was to be a basic AH-64A airframe modified with a folding tail boom, a relocated tail wheel, a mast-mounted radar for surface/air search and attack, and provisions for Harpoon and Sidewinder missiles. Over time, however, the engineering studies and changing roles/missions requirements revealed that the Sea Apache's final configuration would have to be altered drastically.

One of the early problems encountered with navalizing the Apache was the narrow wheel base of the main landing gear. Engineering studies found that the standard Apache main wheel track was too narrow, causing the aircraft to be very unstable on the deck of a small ship. The roll of the deck in heavy seas, coupled with the aircraft's narrow wheel base and a relatively high center of gravity, could easily cause the Sea Apache to tip over. To solve this problem, McDonnell Douglas engineers redesigned the main landing gear, relocating it from the fuselage to the tips of the stub wings. The revised main landing gear was also retractable, with the gear retracting into streamlined housings (although the wheel itself remains uncovered) on the end of each reinforced stub wing. These housings also had provisions for mounting Sidewinder missile launcher rails.

The revised landing gear configuration was put forward in the second proposal (Stage 2) which also deleted the 30mm Chain Gun and its associated ammunition storage system. Furthermore, the Stage 2 Sea Apache featured a revised nose contour and replaced the TADS/PNVS with a nose mounted radar.
Extended fuselage side sponsons carried additional electronics and fuel cells. The sponsons themselves were smoothly faired into the fuselage to lower drag and extended almost to the tip of the nose. This aircraft was to also have provision for carrying two AIM-9L Sidewinder air-to-air missiles on short racks on the fuselage underside, a folding tail assembly and a retractable tail wheel.

This design had been refined still further, and the Stage 3 Sea Apache proposal had the side fuselage sponsons deleted and featured a larger nose radome intended to house an APG-65 Sea Search radar. This radar, developed from the multi-mode radar used on the F/A-18 Hornet fighter/attack aircraft, was compatible for both air-to-surface attack and air-to-air engagements. The forward fuselage was deepened to house additional fuel cells and the relocated avionics bays.

Projected armament included both the Harpoon or Penguin air-to-surface missiles (although the number of stations had been reduced to two) as primary weapons against surface targets, plus two Sidewinder air-to-air missiles for self-defense.
Additional weapons included Stinger, Sidearm, AMRAAM, and Hellfire missiles, as well as 127mm Zuni and 70mm FFAR rockets. Performance goals specified for the Sea Apache by the Navy at this stage included a 370km mission radius, and a four hour endurance on station. To extend the Sea Apache's time on station even further, an extendable in-flight refueling probe would be mounted on the starboard fuselage side below the cockpit. Consideration was also being given to installing the Canadian developed Bear Trap automatic haul-down landing system, which allowed operations during heavy sea states.

In 1989 the Navy gave serious consideration to the purchase of the Sea Apache once adequate funding was made available to finance prototype construction. The Navy desires the Sea Apache not only for its capabilities, but also because the aircraft would cost far less to acquire than to undertake the design of a totally new aircraft to replace the AH-1W in service.

It took until 1992 that the AH-64N, how the Sea Apache was now officially called, was given green lights and a total of seven prototypes were ordered (five for flight tests and in different configurations from Stage 2 and 3, plus two static airframes), and trials took another four years. During this time, one prototype was lost in a fatal crash and the overall budget for the new helicopter was slimmed down, so that the service aircraft became less drastically changed from the Army helicopter, and was eventually designated “Stage 2+”. It carried the Stage 3 avionics suite, but the performance goals became less ambitious, so that the deepened fuselage was not necessary anymore, improving aerodynamics and compensating a little for the reduced internal fuel capacity.

The first production AH-64Ns were delivered in 1998 and entered service on board of US Navy Wasp-class amphibious assault ships, e. g. the newly built USS Bataan (LHD-5), in 1999. Bataan was also one of many vessels in the Middle East region at the beginning of the Iraq war on or about 20 March 2003. After delivering her attack and transport helicopters, troops and vehicles she was employed as a "Harrier Carrier" with primary duties supporting two Marine AV-8B Harrier II squadrons along with USS Bonhomme Richard. USN AH-64Ns of the newly formed HLA-80 light attack helicopter squadron served successfully in the Combat Air Patrol (CAP) role, armed with AIM-120 AMRAAM and AIM-9L Sidewinders, as well as in the escort role for emergency medical care transports in the conflict region.

Until 2003, a total of 80 AH-64Ns were built, exclusively for the US Navy. The US Marines showed interest in the new helicopter, but budget restrictions forced the USMC to stay with its AH-1W helicopters and the AV-8B fleet. A proposed Marine Corps variant would retain the TADS/PNVS and Hellfire missile system, for use in the close air support role and for anti-shipping duties while escorting amphibious vessels. This variant would also relocate the radar dome back to the top of the rotor mast. Another option favored by the Marines was the capability to use the four tube TOW missile system as a back-up to the Hellfire missile system. But due to further budget restrictions, this variant that resembled the initial Stage 1 design of the AH-64N, never left the drawing board.

Further export ambitions received a blow when the British Army successfully deployed license-built AgustaWestland Apaches in 2003 upon the Royal Navy's HMS Ocean, a Landing Platform Helicopter, demonstrating that the land-based Army helicopter was quite capable of naval operations.

General characteristics:

Crew: 2 (pilot, and co-pilot/WSO)

Length: 58.17 ft (17.73 m) (with both rotors turning)

Fuselage length: 49 ft 5 in (15.06 m)

Rotor diameter: 48 ft 0 in (14.63 m)

Height: 12.7 ft (3.87 m)

Disc area: 1,809.5 ft² (168.11 m²)

Empty weight: 11,387 lb (5,165 kg)

Loaded weight: 17,650 lb (8,000 kg)

Max. takeoff weight: 23,000 lb (10,433 kg)

Powerplant:

2× General Electric T700-GE-701C turboshaft engines, delivering 1,890 shp (1,409 kW) each,

driving a foldable 4 blade main rotor and a 4 blade tail rotor in non-orthogonal alignment

Performance:

Never exceed speed: 197 knots (227 mph, 365 km/h)

Maximum speed in level flight: 165 knots (190 mph, 306 km/h)

Cruise speed: 143 knots (165 mph, 265 km/h)

Range: 290 nmi (332 mi, 535 km) with two AGMs and four AAMs

Combat radius with two hours loitering time: 162 nmi (186 mi, 300 km)

Ferry range: 1,080 nmi (1,242 mi, 2,000 km)

Service ceiling: 21,000 ft (6,400 m) minimum loaded

Rate of climb: 2,500 ft/min (12.7 m/s)

Disc loading: 9.80 lb/ft² (47.9 kg/m²)

Power/mass: 0.18 hp/lb (0.31 kW/kg)

Armament:

No internal gun;

Four pylon stations on the stub wings; the inner pair under the wings can carry a wide range of

AGMs and AAMs, including AGM-84 Harpoon and AGM-119 Penguin against surface targets.

Alternatively, up to eight AGM-114 Hellfire missiles or pods with Hydra 70 70 mm, CRV7 70 mm,

and APKWS 70 mm air-to-ground rockets can be carried

Stations on each wingtip and under the fuselage can carry launch rails for up to four

AIM-120 AMRAAM and/or AIM-9 Sidewinder AAMs.

The kit and its assembly:

Another entry for the 2016 “In the Navy” group build at whatifmodellers.com, and to my surprise I was so far the only builder of this interesting “real” what-if project – even though the navalized Apache had been tackled by other modelers several times before.

The three design stages, plus USMC options, offer a wide range of potential builds – but I did not want to build a 1:1 copy of any of these. I wanted a sleek helicopter, purely armed with guided missiles, so I settled for “something between Stage 2 and 3”, or rather something that combines design elements from these:

- Nose radome (Stage 2)

- Recontoured upper fuselage (Stage 2 onwards)

- Retractable landing gear in wing tip pods & relocated tail wheel (Stage 2 onwards)

- Deleted sponsons (Stage 3), but also no deepened Stage 3 fuselage

A nice basis for my plan was Academy’s new AH-64 kit – it’s selling point in my case was the fact that it is the only kit that comes with separate sponson parts. Any other kit I know has them as integral part of the fuselage halves, so that Stage 1 would be fairly easy to build, Stage 2 challenging and Stage 3 a total re-sculpting of the forward fuselage. But in this case, the sponsons can simply be left away and a floor panel needs some modifications.

The thimble radome is an aftermarket resin piece, actually for a WWII FuG 240 Morgenstern radar on board of a Ju 88G night fighter. It simply replaces the original nose and it was blended into the fuselage through a 2C putty “plug”.

Stage 2 and 3 of the navalized Apache feature a higher upper deck around the rotor gear cover. On a 1:72 kit it’s not much, maybe 2mm, but recognizable to keen eyes. I scratched it through donation parts (including an air brake from an Airfix A-1 Skyraider…), styrene strips and some putty. The rotor mast was also extended by the same amount, compensating for the higher dorsal line. Subtle, but worked out fine.

I was a little uncertain concerning the stub wings. Stage 3 had a reduced span, and I found the OOB wings a little too small for the wingtip pods (scratched from styrene profiles and some 2C putty) with the landing gear. I eventually added 3mm depth to the wings through inserted styrene profiles – probably hard to recognize at all when hidden under paint, but proportions look IMHO more balanced, also with the missile ordnance on board and the longer nose. Any means to move the landing gear forward is helpful!

Work on struts and wheels started once the wings and the pods were in place, for a proper ground clearance. The struts are modified parts from the Academy kit, I just replaced the fat low-pressure main wheels for the land-based version with donations from a Hobby Boss MiG-15: similar diameter, but less wide and an interesting wheel hub cover.

For the retractable tail wheel, a well opening was cut of the tail boom and an interior plus covers added.

The whole tail wheel comes OOB from the kit, the struts were just re-arranged for a more vertical position in the well.

The ordnance comes from a Hasegawa US weapon set and encompasses a pair of AGM-119 Penguins, a pair of AIM-120 AMRAAM and a pair of AIM-9 Sidewinder, plus the missiles’ respective launch rails.

Anyway, nothing goes without trouble. In this case, disaster struck in the form of a cracked canopy while trying to dry-fit the clear part over the finished cockpit and fuselage. Sh!t.

I was lucky to have a spare AH-64A canopy at hand, from an early Italeri kit. While not as sharp in detail as the Academy part, the shape and outline of both pieces was almost identical, the Italeri part only turned out to be 2-3mm too short at its rear end, a gap that could be bridged with styrene strips, though.

Overall, the implantation called for some modifications around the cockpit opening, but for a donor part solution the result is thankfully pretty good, phew! When painting started, I was even more happier, because the putty work associated with the implantation turned out to be better than expected. On the downside, the donor part seems to bear a lot of micro-cracks – they are only visible from certain angles and in direct light, though, and once I discovered them the piece had already been blended into the fuselage, so I stuck with the solution.

Another final modification was a little rhinoplasty – I did not assess the amount of putty correctly that was needed to blend the radome with the rest of the fuselage, it added 4-5mm in length. The result, once the fuselage was completed and overall proportions clearer, looked a littel Pinocchio-esque, though. So, with a bleeding heart and shaky hands, I cut a 5mm disc out of the massive resin nose and fitted the two remaining parts together again, blending the cut and the differences in diameter with putty. This worked out fine, too, and I also used the opportunity to re-shape the radome’s underside a little, so that the whole outline would come closer to the Stage 2 sketches. Looks better, in the end.

Painting and markings:

I stuck to the livery many illustrations of this fictional helicopter show: a typical, all-gray low-viz scheme, similar to the USMC’s late AH-1 helicopters. Everything very straightforward and based on contemporary USN benchmarks.

Basic colors are FS 35237 for all upper surfaces and FS 36375 for the undersides – as a personal twist I added a third tone, FS 36320, to the flanks – after all, it’s a whif kit.

A light black ink wash and some dry-brushing on panels were used for weathering, as well as some grinded graphite around the engines and the stabilizers for exhaust soot stains.

The cockpit and visible parts of the rotor system became very dark gray (a mix of black and FS 36081), while the blades became neutral gray (FS 36173). The landing gear and its wells standard all-white in order to reveal leaks in the hydraulic system, as well as all six launch rails. The ordnance was painted according to the real world, I just chose a medium grey finish for the Penguins.

The decals were puzzled together from various sources, HLA-80 as a unit and its markings are purely fictional. The grey walkways are grey decal strips (TL Modellbau stuff).

Despite the canopy and nose trouble on the way, the result looks pretty good. O.K., my build does not match any of the three proposed design stages, but many characteristic details are there – and who knows how a real navalized AH-64 might finally have looked like?

1:72 North American P-51D Mustang; ‘F-319' (ex 44-13045); 3 Skuadron, Angatan Udara Republik Indonesia (AURI); probably Padang Air Field, mid 1958, during CIA operation “Haik” by Dizzyfugu

1 1

Some Background:

Operation Haik was officially never undertaken by the CIA. Until today the Agency never admitted it took place. The background of the operation might look strange at the first view: it was that the CIA obviously "felt", that President Sukarno's Indonesia was turning communist, and that something had to be done about that, with the best apparent solution being to bring him to fight the communists.

For the operation the CIA decided to use some existing oppositional forces - of which there was a plethora in Indonesia - as a front for the activity. In late 1956, for example, two Army colonels - founders of the organization later better known under the name PERMESTA - declared that they now control the central and northern Sumatra. While central Indonesian authorities did almost nothing against them – at least not immediately – the officers were swift to contact the USA and ask for help.

Washington was not interested to do anything or to get involved, however, until additional problems with Dutch were caused by Sukarno, because of which the Indonesian communists sided with him. After this development, some military supplies were shipped, and the CIA - after a considerable amount of research and planning - decided to use PERMESTA - which, under the aegis of PRRI controlled also the northern Sulawesi - as a front. A decision was taken to organize an air arm, and in February 1958, the first three B-26s were taken out of a bone yard at Clark Field AB, Philippines, and prepared for combat operations and delivery to Sulawesi, while several American pilots were recruited to fly them, together with a number of Polish pilots and navigators (most of which soon left, however).
In early 1958, the Indonesian Air Force (Angatan Udara Republik Indonesia or AURI) was was only a small asset with only three small squadrons of combat aircraft, including the 1st Skadron, equipped with 13 operational B-25Js, for which there were only five qualified crews, and the 3rd Skadron, equipped with 13 operational F-51Ds, for which there were only ten qualified pilots (only three of which have ever got any air-to-air combat training). Ready or not, both the AUREV (Angkatan Udara Revolusioner – a kind of PERMESTA Air Force) and the AURI were soon to clash in a series of sharp attacks and counterattacks.

When he finally decided to do something against the PERMESTA & PRRI, on 21 March 1958 Sukarno first ordered the AURI to attack the radio stations at Padang and Bukittiniggi on Sumatra. The attack prompted the CIA to move its aircraft into the area as well, and on 12 April first three B-26s were flown to Sulawesi. Hardly 24 hours later, one of them flew the first combat mission of the AUREV, attacking the AURI Makassar air base, on southern Sulawesi. On 17th April another strike followed, in which an oil tanker was sunk near Balikpapan, and oil storage tanks of Royal Dutch/Shell damaged. Three days later the AUREV flew also its first counter-air missions, starting a series of strikes against AURI air base at Halmahera.

However, most of the AURI was not to be found there any way, as the Indonesian Air Force was away, fighting rebels at Sumatra, and supporting a successful operation, initiated on 18 April, which was to force the rebels away from Sumatra.

The AUREV thus used the time to fly the first two F-51Ds to Sulawesi as well. The AURI returned to the area only in mid-May, and on 16th of the month three B-25s, escorted by two F-51s, attacked Manado airfield, claiming a destruction of three AUREV Mustangs and one Catalina. While the AUREV certainly haven't had as many F-51Ds on Sulawesi, at least that part of Indonesian claims remains disputable, but the story of the Catalina very likely destroyed in that attack is highly probable, as it is known that the Philippine AF used Catalinas to fly supplies and spare parts to AUREV.

The CIA now had to reinforce not only because of losses suffered during the AURI strikes to its airfields. Namely, it was known that the Indonesians were short of getting the first batches of MiG-17s, MiG-19s, MiG-21s, as well as a small number of Tu-16 bombers from the USSR (not a single AURI unit became operational on the Soviet jets in 1958, however, as all were busy training additional pilots and technicians).

(Much of this information was gathered and re-edited from www.acig.info/CMS/index.php?option=com_content&task=v...)

P-51D General characteristics::

Crew: 1

Length: 32 ft 3 in (9.83 m)

Wingspan: 37 ft 0 in (11.28 m)

Height: 13 ft 4½ in (4.08 m:tail wheel on ground, vertical propeller blade.)

Wing area: 235 sq ft (21.83 m²)

Empty weight: 7,635 lb (3,465 kg

Loaded weight: 9,200 lb (4,175 kg)

Max. take-off weight: 12,100 lb (5,490 kg)

Zero-lift drag coefficient: 0.0163

Drag area: 3.80 sqft (0.35 m²)

Aspect ratio: 5.83

Powerplant: :

1 × Packard V-1650-7 liquid-cooled supercharged V-12, 1,490 hp (1,111 kW) at 3,000 rpm;1,720 hp (1,282 kW) at WEP

Performance::

Maximum speed: 437 mph (703 km/h) at 25,000 ft (7,600 m)

Cruise speed: 362 mph (580 km/h)

Stall speed: 100 mph (160 km/h)

Range: 1,650 mi (2,755 km) with external tanks

Service ceiling: 41,900 ft (12,800 m)

Rate of climb: 3,200 ft/min (16.3 m/s)

Wing loading: 39 lb/sqft (192 kg/m²)

Power/mass: 0.18 hp/lb (300 W/kg)

Lift-to-drag ratio: 14.6

Recommended Mach limit 0.8

Armament:

6× 0.50 caliber (12.7mm) M2 Browning machine guns with 1,880 total rounds (400 rounds for each on the inner pair, and 270 rounds for each of the outer two pair)

2× hardpoints for up to 2,000 lb (907 kg) of bombs

The model and its assembly:

Believe it or not, but this is a real life background and also the model of a real P-51D. I came across this specific airplane rather accidently, but found its unique, improvised camouflage rather challenging – esp. when you build kits with enamels and brush like me. I still had a Hobby Boss P-51D in my vast kit pile, and so I decided to tackle this aircraft as a side project while waiting for parts for another project, since the kit could be built almost OOB, just the decals had to be puzzled together.

I only did minor changes to the kit. One addition is a pilot figure in order to cover the cockpit "bathtub", and a dashboard cover under the windshield inside of the cockpit was added, too. A pitot (made from a piece of wire) was added under the port wing, as well as a retractable landing light inside of the starboard main gear well.

Despite being of simple construction, the Hobby Boss kit shows good surface details, including engraved panel lines. It’s quickly built – the fuselage and the wings are both just single, massive(!) pieces. Due this construction, though, the kit is not a good choice for conversions. And one major flaw is the fact that the canopy frame is a fixed part of the fuselage, even though two canopies are supplies – a single piece for closed position, and separate windshield and hatch for a potentially open cockpit. But the latter can actually not be built, and separating the canopy frame from the massive fuselage is IMHO a messy task, and that’s the reason why I left the cockpit closed… Anyway, it is IMO still a good kit for the money, and a good choice as a basis for a simple livery alternative.

Beyond that, this model comes “clean” without any ordnance. Since I could not find any reference that would show or mention external loads under AURI Mustangs (not even drop tanks), I left the model this way, what underlines the Mustang's clean lines.

Painting and markings

Here, things become more interesting. My model depicts Angatan Udara Republik Indonesia’s F-51D “F-319” and is based (only) on aircraft profiles and sketches, which were themselves only prepared on the basis of poor photographs of AURI Mustangs during late operations against AUREV.

AURI Mustang F-319 (44-13045) took, according to an article in Air Enthusiast No.82, actively part in the fighting of 1958, and it is one of the few (maybe even the only) Mustang to sport a cammo scheme. In general, the AURI P-51Ds were left in a bare metal finish, with colored spinners and a black anti glare panel, sometimes decorated with huge shark teeth. Actually, these aircraft were inherited from Dutch forces after Indonesia' independence, and the national insignia just replaced with the AURI pentagon. Even the tactical codes were kept.

F-319 was obviously hastily camouflaged, and only on the upper sides and wrapped around the lower fuselage, probably in two shades of green, or in green and brown. The exact colors remain unknown, but any profile I found depicts F-319 in two shades of green, so I stuck with it, and it’s a nice color combo. F-319 was reportedly damaged during the attack against Amahai on 10 May 1958, after that the track is lost.

Anyway, key objective of this kit was to replicate that improvised cammo and weathered look that one might expect under harsh climate conditions and frequent use with poor maintenance in front line service.

All interior surfaces were painted in a zinc chromate green finish. I used Humbrol 150 as a basis color and added dry-brushed Testors 1715 on top of that. The landing gear was kept in Aluminum (HUmbrol 56). Everything "standard".

The model's lower sides were painted with 'Polished Aluminum' Metallizer from Testors. The upper surfaces, which would later be concealed by camouflage, were painted with acrylic paint, 'Aluminum' from Revell. The same color was also used for some contrast panels on the lower surfaces. Onto this basic finish, the decals were applied as a next step. AURI F-319 appears to have had its cammo scheme painted around its original markings and some access hatches, and simulating this would be IMHO achieved the easiest way by simply duplicating the process on the kit!

The decals themselves were puzzled together from several aftermarket sheets. The AURI insignia/national markings come from a generic TL Modellbau sheet, the tactical code and the “AURI” letters under the wing were cut and re-arranged from "USAF" letters in 1:72 scale. Improvisation rules, and the frugal modeler.

After the decals had been applied ans secured under a thin coat of clear, acryllic varnish, I used water and salt to mask panel lines and leading edges with tiny mottles and irregular "spot clusters". It’s actually a method that works well when you simulate rust and flaking paint on 1:35 tanks and such with an air brush, but I thought that it might also work here, too, since I wanted to let a lot of bare metal shine through the rather thin cammo paint.

After having thoroughly dried, the camouflage scheme was applied with a broad but flat, soft brush, with slightly thinned enamel paint and only with gentle strokes. An air brush would have been better suited, not to stir the masks on the metal paint below, but on the other side a brush allows a more tattered, uneven look, enhancing the flaked and worn effect and the realism of the finish.

The basic camouflage colors are Humbrol 120 (FS 34227, Light Green) and Humbrol 91 (Black Green). They create a good contrast - but BW pictures are hard to interprete. After this basic cammo paint had dried up, the salt masks were rubbed away, supported by hard brushes and even fine sand paper. Surely, some repair and additions had to be made, e .g. around the insignia and the tactical codes. In some areas, the chipping effect was enhanced with some dry brushing, e .g. with Humbrol 78, 75, and 116. A wash with thin black ink was applied in order to emphasize the kit’s engraved panel lines and the many surface details. Further additions are the red spinner and the black anti-glare panel in front of the cockpit.

Finally, everything was sealed under clear varnish – the lower sides with an acrylic Tamiya spray varnish, the upper sides with a matt coat. On top of that, some overall dry painting with olive drab and medium grey was done, and exhaust and soot stains around the guns added through dry painting.

To sum it up, a small real-life project of a classic aircraft in a rather exotic, non-fancy but pretty challenging livery – it was more work than one might expect at first glance, esp. with brushes. Improvised and tattered looks are bigger challenges than “fresh from the factory” finishes.