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 P-51 was a relative latecomer to the Pacific Theatre. This was due largely to the need for the aircraft in Europe, although the P-38's twin-engine design was considered a safety advantage for long over-water flights. The first P-51s were deployed in the Far East later in 1944, operating in close-support and escort missions, as well as tactical photo reconnaissance. As the war in Europe wound down, the P-51 became more common: eventually, with the capture of Iwo Jima, it was able to be used as a bomber escort during B-29 missions against the Japanese homeland.

 

Anyway, impressed by the type’s performance, the U. S. Navy requested a navalized version of the able fighter – despite the preference for radial engines. Work on the so-called Sea Mustang began in early 1944 with the intention to provide the U.S. Navy with a long range, high performance successor for the Grumman F6F Hellcat. The specifications called for an aircraft able to operate from the smallest carrier, primarily in the interceptor role.

North American’s F1J idea to modify the proven Mustang to marine needs took a long way – longer and more twisted than expected. A first attempt to navalize the Mustang was done under the “Project Seahorse”: An early-series P-51D-5-NA, serial number 44-14017, was re-designated ETF-51D and sent to Mustin Field, near Philadelphia, for initial carrier utility testing in September 1944. One of the runways at Mustin Field was specially modified in order to test the naval Mustang. Markings simulating the size of an aircraft carrier's deck were realized and arrester cables were installed, as well as a launch catapult.

During the months of September and October 1944, test pilot Lt. Bob Elder made nearly 150 simulated launches and landings with the ETF-51D. Sufficient data concerning the Mustang's low speed handling had to be gathered before carrier trials could begin.

The Mustang's laminar-flow wing made for little drag and high speed but was relatively inefficient at low speed, resulting in a high stall speed. As the arrester cables could not be engaged at more than 90 mph, Elder reported that “from the start, it was obvious to everyone that the margin between the stall speed of the aircraft (82 mph) and the speed imposed by the arrester gear (90 mph) was very limited.”

Rudder control at low speeds and high angles of attack was inadequate. In addition, landing attitude had to be carefully controlled to avoid damaging the airframe upon landing. One of the handling quirks of the Mustang was also potentially dangerous: during a missed approach or a wave-off, power had to be re-applied gently, due to torque. If not, the aircraft could roll rapidly, or even snap-roll. At such low speed and altitude, the result could only be fatal.

Later, the tests went on with live action on board of a carrier, the USS Shangri-La (CV-38). Bob Elder “made all carrier landings at the speed of 85 mph. Luckily, the Mustang reacted well, even in the most delicate situations. One just had to use the throttle wisely.” Elder reported that speed control on the ETF-51D was excellent. He also stated that “the forward visibility was good and never gave me any problems. In fact, fighters with radial engines such as the F4U or F6F were worse than the P-51 in that respect.” The aircraft also behaved well during catapult launches.

The carrier suitability trials were rather short, though: only 25 landings and launches were made. Elder wrote “Although I had ‘premiered’ many US Navy aircraft carrier landings, no such experience had been as interesting as with the Mustang”.

However, North American Aviation did not forget about the ETF-51D experiments. Building on this experience, the company later presented another navalized Mustang project to the Navy: NAA-133. This machine was technically based on the P-51H, the last Mustang model to see production. The airframe of the NAA-133 was strengthened, though, as the P-51H airframe was lighter but not as sturdy as the P-51D’s.

 

While the basic Mustang airframe was retained for the NAA-133, a lot of detail work was done. Most obvious difference was the cockpit, which was slightly moved forward, for a better field of view, with the oil tank moved aft. Additionally, the radiator bath was moved forward in order to keep the area in front of the arrester hook, which was part of a strengthened landing gear, free from potential obstacles.

The wings were modified, too, featuring wing tip tanks for extended range as well as folding joints just outboard of the landing gear wells. All tail surfaces were slightly enlarged in order to improve slow speed agility. A six-bladed contraprop was fitted, too, in order to decrease the propeller’s diameter for easier landing as well as to improve acceleration and handling at low speed, due to the torque problems associated with the original four-bladed propeller. The internal armament was also enhanced, comprising now four 20mm M3 cannons instead of the former 0.5” machine guns.

Structurally the fuselage used flush riveting as well as spot welding, with a heavy gauge 302W aluminum alloy skin. However, the USN’s requested target loaded weight of 8,750 lb/3,969 kg was essentially impossible to achieve as the structure of the new fighter had to be made strong enough for aircraft carrier landings and resilient to high salt and humidity levels – in fact, the reinforced lightweight basic airframe of the P-51H became as heavy as the former P-51D, and performance was only as good as the D’s, despite the stronger engine.

The F1J “Sea Mustang” prototypes, how the type was officially designated, were ordered in August 1944 and first flew on 15 January 1945. By early 1945, though, the islands of Okinawa and Iwo Jima were conquered, and their airfields were immediately taken over by US forces, providing fighter units with bases from which they could escort bombers to mainland Japan. The Navy’s P-51 was no longer needed and the program was cancelled after about a dozen airframes had been completed. These were operational by 21 May, but World War II was over before the aircraft saw serious combat service.

The completed Sea Mustangs were later used as instructional airframes. In service the F1J was superseded by Grumman’s F8F Bearcat and Vought’s F4U Corsair, which had a significant development advance and became the USN’s major piston-engined fighters in the late 40ies.

  

General characteristics

Crew: 1

Length: 32 ft 3 in (9.83 m)

Wingspan: 37 ft 0 in (11.28 m) w. wing tip tanks

Height: 13 ft 4½ in (4.08 m w. 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)

Aspect ratio: 5.83

 

Powerplant:

1× Packard V-1650-9 liquid-cooled supercharged V-12, 1,490 hp (1,111 kW) at 3,000 rpm, 2,220 hp (1,655 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)

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:

4 × 20 mm (.79 in) M3 cannon, 190 rounds per gun

2× hardpoints for up to 2,000 lb (907 kg) of bombs or drop tanks, plus 6× 5” (127 mm) unguided rockets

  

The kit and its assembly

The idea of a navalized Mustang is IMHO a nice and rich whif theme. When I delved into history I was surprised that the idea as such had actually been taken to hardware status – the ETF-51D mentioned above is/was real, as well as the later NAA-133 proposal to the USN. But the latter never got as far as described, and that’s where whifery came to play. Anyway, what sounds like a simple plan became a major surgery, since I wanted more than just a blue P-51 with a hook glued to it.

 

My original plan was to convert a Hobby Boss kit, but when I tried to move both cockpit and radiator bath forward, that kit’s massive (!) fuselage piece prevented any decent modification. Hence, I fell back to an “old school” P-51D kit with two fuselage halves: a Heller Mustang which I still had in my stack. Not a bad kit, but with its raised panel lines it certainly is sub-optimal, esp. when you change many things on the hull.

 

Both cockpit and radiator intake were moved about 5mm forward, a major surgery. The cockpit was taken OOB, just some ribs inside and a pilot figure were added (an old Matchbox figure), and radio equipment simulated behind the seat. The canopy was cut open.

 

The contraprop is new, too, a scratch-built piece, made from, AFAIK an F4U drop tank. It gives the Sea Mustang a sleek, beefy look, but also makes sense from an operational point of view.

 

The landing gear received new/better wheels and extra struts, also for a sturdier look. The new tail wheel was taken from an Airfix A-1 Skyraider, with an added arrester hook and an accordingly modified well with new/longer covers.

 

The tail was completely modified: the horizontal stabilizers were replaced by bigger ones, taken from an F4U, and the original vertical rudder was replaced by a taller construction created from a Ju-87G rudder (!) and a stabilizer from a Bell AH-1, both ancient Matchbox kits.

The Heller kit provides a separate fin fillet piece, but I left it away, in order to pronounce the taller fin and longer back of the F1J.

 

The wings received wing tip tanks (taken from a Grumman F9F Panther) as well as a changed armament with four cannons with longer barrels (from the Airfix A-1) instead of the classic six 0.5” machine guns. New panel lines, where the wing folding joints would be, were engraved. In order to add some realism for display, flaps were opened/lowered - an easy task with the Heller kit.

 

The 250 lbs. bombs were taken straight from the Heller kit, the 5” HVARs come from a Matchbox Grumman F9F Panther, with scratch-built launch rails made from polystyrene profiles (Evergreen).

  

Painting

The old adage that a subtle whif works best with a simple livery is true: the dark blue (FS15042/AN607) suits the slender lines of the Mustang very well, even if it is my hunchback modification! Unfortunately, my favourite paint choice, Humbrol 181, is out of production (Shame on you, Airfix!), so I had to hunt down Testors’ 1718 as a replacement.

All interior surfaces were painted with Humbrol 226 (Interior Green), then dry-brushed with Zinc Chromate (Testors 1734) and Humbrol 80 (Grass Green).

 

Markings were taken from 1:72 a Hobby Boss F4U (leftover from my FAS conversion) and a vintage F6F from Monogram in 1:48. The squadron markings depict a machine from VF-82 "Fighting Fools", based on the carrier USS Bennington (CV-20) in the Pacific theatre in 1945. National insignia had to be puzzled together and improvised with white stars and separate all-white bars. The yellow band behind the propeller rather belongs to machines from VF-84 on board of USS Bunker Hill (CV-17), though, but since this is a whif, the marking is a nice contrast to the all-blue livery. That the machine sports the bort number "82" is a weird conincidence!

 

Some weathering was done with dry-brushing (e. g. Humbrol 77 & 189), rubbed graphite dust and soot stains around cannons and exhausts, and light colour chipping on leading edges and around the cockpit was done. Finally, the kit received a coat with semi-gloss varnish – I did not dare using a 100% gloss coat, because that would IMHO have made the machine look too new and out of scale.

  

In the end, a nice little model/project, realized in less tha a week - despite the major surgeries, but the single colour paint job was simple. A fighter with a twist, and with a really subtle whif factor, even though my interpretation of a Sea Mustang differs in many aspects from the real NAA-133 proposal. But this model is not intended to be a representation of North American’s project, rather a personal and dramatized idea of what might have been. :D

... walking back up and around the valley head from Ranipawa, it is permitted to walk the other side of the valley, which is actually in Mustang. It is a long walk down to Kagbeni (20km from Ranipawa perhaps), but there are some interesting views ... this is Jhonge

I had just walked out of an upstairs ARI (art space) on Oxford Street, like these guys on the left just had. And the trolley there, with them lighting up beside it; I really did think; is this an installation piece or what? Anyway it was a cool looking trolley, nice light pole, a bit of 'street fashion' I made the shot and I like it.

 

Fujifilm X-Pro1

XF18mmF2 R

ƒ/2.0 18.0 mm 1/125 1250

 

www.kentjohnsonphotography.com.au/

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

A pinhole swinga with the wonderful and talented Brendan Comey.

 

We both placed rolls of shot 120 pinhole camera film in a bowl during the Amsterdam WWPD meet up last april and managed to pick each others rolls at random.

 

In theory since we both used Zero 4x5 cameras with horseman 120 roll backs everything should have lined up but they don't . . .

Anyway, we enjoyed a lot the collaboration and really love the results.

 

All rights reserved. © Brendan Comey & Jesús Joglar.

Prohibited the use for commercial purposes without prior written authorization. Don't use this image on websites, blogs or other media without our explicit permission. brendan@awareofthevoid.com or joglar@gmail.com

 

for more info see tags

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.

YURUMÍ SUDAMERICANO (esqueleto de un adulto) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

oso hormiguero grande , oso hormiguero gigante , oso hormiguero mayor , oso hormiguero real , oso hormiguero común , oso hormiguero bandera , oso bandera , gran hormiguero , banderón caballo, oso caballo, yurumí gigante , dyurumí , jurumí , ñurumí , yaquí , tamandúa guasú , tamandúa guazú , jautare , kuarevachú , guanuri , cuchichi , pejichi , pikichy

TAMANDUÁ BANDEIRA SUL-AMERICANO (esqueleto de um adulto) - - - - - - - - - - - -

urso-formigueiro-gigante , papa-formigas-gigante , tamanduá assú , tamanduá-açu , iurumi , jurumim , tamanduá cavalho , tamanduá-cavalo

SOUTH AMERICAN GIANT ANTEATER (skeleton of adult) ...............................................

 

Myrmecophaga tridactyla tridactyla Linnaeus, 1758

Superorden: Xenarthra ... Orden: Pilosa ... Familia: Myrmecophagidae

 

Este es, posiblemente, el mamífero más extraño de cuantos pueblan las Américas, y el único representante del género Myrmecophaga.

En esta raza el cuerpo mide en promedio 131 cm de longitud, y la cola de 60 a 90 cm.

Se ha capturado en el Iguazú una hembra que llegó a 250 centímetros de longitud total.

Pesa de 18 a 25 kilogramos, aunque se han pesado machos de hasta 50.

El hocico es muy alargado y cónico.

La lengua tiene 60 cm de largo y, para capturar los insectos de los que se alimenta, está recubierta por una substancia adherente generada por sus grandes glándulas salivales; pudiendo extenderla más de 60 centímetros fuera de su boca.

Carece de dientes.

El color del pelo en el tronco va de castaño a grisáceo, con un grueso semicollar pectoral en forma "V" negruzco, limitado por líneas blancas.

La longitud del pelo es corta, excepto en el lomo, en el que se observa una crin de 24 centímetros de alto, que se une con el muy abundante pelambre de la cola(con cerdas de hasta 40 centímetros de largo), que presenta bandas plateadas y tonos castaños, negros y grisáceos.

Es fácilmente reconocible por su largo hocico cilíndrico y cola espesa, con cerdas largas y gruesas que mantiene erguidas, de ahí el nombre de oso bandera en Argentina y Brasil.

La curiosa cabeza presenta orejas y ojos pequeños, y el cilíndrico hocico, que lleva en su extremo a la pequeña boca (la más inofensiva entre todos los mamíferos)

Sus extremidades son fuertes.

Las delanteras (en las que se apoya sobre los nudillos) terminan en 5 dedos, de los cuales 4 son visibles, de los que solo tres tienen las características garras, muy fuertes, especialmente la de su tercer dedo que se encuentra curvado hacia atrás cuando el animal camina sobre sus muñecas.

Estos garfios, de hasta 6,5 centímetros son tan lacerantes que con ellos un ejemplar cautivo recientemente han matado a su cuidadora del Zoológico de Florencio Varela, y otro ha hecho lo propio con un cazador de la provincia del Chaco, ambos en la Argentina.

 

En las patas traseras presenta 5 dedos con uñas menores; con ellas apoya la planta entera, dejando una característica huella plantígrada que (junto a los "abrazos" defensivos) le ha valido el injustificado apelativo de "oso".

El macho es mayor que la hembra.

Se lo encuentra en gran variedad de hábitats, como ser: sabanas, pastizales, áreas pantanosas, selvas, bosques húmedos, bosques secos, siendo más frecuentes en áreas abiertas con abundancia de hormigas y termes, que componen esencialmente su dieta (mirmecofagia).

Es diurno en áreas deshabitadas, en invierno y en días lluviosos.

En áreas densamente pobladas se torna nocturno.

Mientras está activo, se mueve continuamente, recorriendo grandes extensiones con el hocico dirigido hacia el suelo en busca de insectos.

A veces galopa para encontrar alimento o huir de los depredadores, a los que, si es el caso, se enfrenta con sus garras.

Incluso el poderoso yaguareté evita luchar con un hormiguero gigante, pues es un adversario temible.

Como no tiene buena vista se guía por su olfato que es muy agudo; gracias a él localiza los hormigueros y termiteros y luego los excava con sus garras.

Su área de vida (superpuesta con la de otros individuos) varía desde 200 hasta 2.500 hectáreas .

Su densidad es de entre 0,18 y 1,3 ejemplares cada 100 hectáreas.

Las marcas que deja cuando rompe los tacurúes en busca de hormigas o termes son muy particulares y pueden ser una eficaz señal que nos permite corroborar la presencia de la especie en una determinada área.

Posee un método de ingesta muy particular, siendo buen ejemplo de cosecha racional, pues come un minuto en cada colonia, e inmediatamente pasa a otra, y otra...

Esto beneficia a otras especies de animales que lo acompañan en su deambular, con el fin de aprovechar las colonias abiertas por él.

Puede comer así, unas 30.000 hormigas por día.

Se han reportado ataques a colmenas productivas de la abeja doméstica.

Es un buen nadador, penetrando en el agua a menudo e incluso es capaz de atravesar a nado ríos de notable anchura.

Aunque está capacitado para excavar, no se construye madrigueras y prefiere refugiarse en un hoyo o cualquier cavidad, donde se dispone para el reposos arrollándose sobre sí mismo con el hocico entre las patas y la gran cola sobre el cuerpo.

Son animales solitarios, salvo en la época del apareamiento que es cuando se los ve en parejas.

El período de gestación es de 190 días, tras los cuales nace una única cría de aproximadamente 1,6 kg, que abre sus ojos recién al sexto día de vida.

Es llevada sobre el lomo de la madre.

En esta etapa es cuando la banda oscura presente en sus lomos cumple entonces su función: la de camuflar la cría en este crucial período, para evitar que esta sea arrancada de allí por alguna gran águila.

La cría es destetada en 4 a 6 semanas.

Alrededor del noveno mes logra su independencia, contando con 14 a 17 kilogramos, época en que llega un nuevo período de apareamiento para la madre.

La madurez sexual se alcanza entre los 2,5 a 4 años.

En cautiverio alcanza hasta 26 años; allí suelen sufrir de problemas cardíacos a causa de la falta de taurina en su alimento.

 

El gran Félix de Azara escribió ya en 1802:

"… desaparecerán del mundo luego de que esto se pueble un poco más, porque esta gente mata todo lo que encuentran, sin utilidad, ni más motivo por la suma facilidad de hacerlo".

Es inofensivo, aunque si es atacado se defiende con mucha peligrosidad por sus potentes y puntiagudas garras.

Aunque su carne es muy dura y grasosa, actualmente integra la dieta de muchos campesinos e indígenas.

Sus huesos son utilizados para medicina alternativa (tratamiento de reuma), el humo de sus pelos se utiliza en inhalaciones para curar bronquitis, además la ceniza del pelo de la cola se utiliza para heridas hemorrágicas y como anticonceptivo.

Con su cuero se realizan lazos por su afamada resistencia a los duros tirones y por no resquebrajarse, aún si no se los engrasa.

Su sebo es utilizado como pomada para prevenir las estrías en el embarazo.

Se utilizó su larga lengua para confeccionar bocados (llamados también frenos) de potros y redomones, ya que una vez secada, estaqueada y sobada, queda muy suave y no lastima la boca de las cabalgaduras.

También se lo mata como trofeo,o por simple curiosidad.

Si se mata alguna madre con cría, esta se la recría colocando el cuero de la madre sobre un caballete, y así se lo mantiene como mascota.

Sufre la destrucción de su hábitat, en especial su reconversión en campos agrícolas, con cifras alarmantes, en los últimos años, en las macroregiones chaqueñas y del cerrado.

Los incendios matan enorme cantidad de ejemplares.

También se lo ultima apenas se lo ve para evitar que, con sus fuertes garras, mate a los perros de las estancias que suelen formar una ronda en su derredor para hostigarlo.

Por su extraño aspecto es capturado como presa viva con el objeto de ser comercializado para colecciones y zoológicos de todo el mundo.

 

Se distribuía antaño, con tres subespecies, por gran parte de América Central y del Sur.

 

Myrmecophaga tridactyla centralis

Lo hace en Belice (posiblemente extinto); en Guatemala (donde ya se encuentra extinto); en Nicaragua, en donde en Junio del 2008 se lo detectó en la Reserva de Bosawás, justo al sur de la frontera con Guatemala; en El Salvador (extinto); en Honduras (situación crítica, reportado en la Reserva de la Biosfera de Río Plátano en 2008); en Costa Rica (situación crítica: reportado en el Parque Nacional Corcovado en los años 80, posiblemente extinto); en Panamá (posiblemente sobrevive algún ejemplar en el Darién);

 

Myrmecophaga tridactyla artata

Lo hace en Colombia (en áreas fragmentadas de la Amazonía); y en el oeste de Venezuela.

 

Myrmecophaga tridactyla tridactyla

Lo hace en Venezuela (en la Amazonía); en Guyana; en Guyana Francesa; en Surinam; en el Brasil (en grandes áreas del Amazonas, el Cerrado y la Mata Atlántica); en Ecuador (en la Amazonía); en Perú (en la Amazonía); en gran parte de Bolivia (en el Chaco, las Yungas y la Amazonía); en el Paraguay (tanto en la Región Occidental o Chaco paraguayo, como en la región Oriental, donde sufre extinciones locales); el Uruguay (hallado en restos arqueológicos en los departamentos de Durazno, y Rocha, ya extinto desde hace siglos); y finalmente las provincias argentinas de Jujuy, Salta, nordeste de Santiago del Estero, Formosa, Chaco, y Misiones (donde cuenta con registros recientes).

Estaba extinto en la provincia de Corrientes probablemente desde hace pocos años, pero una ONG (Conservation Land trust) logró reintroducirlo allí, con ejemplares que ya se reproducen en completa libertad en la Reserva Provincial Iberá.

Habitó también en la provincia de Tucumán, el norte de Córdoba, y el norte de Santa Fe, aunque en todas ellas está extinto por completo (en la última aún podria sobrevivir algún ejemplar en el extremo nordeste).

Es el símbolo de la Fundación Vida Silvestre Argentina, la entidad conservacionista más importante de ese país.

 

( 10 de mayo de 2009 )

Museo de Ciencias Naturales Bernardino Rivadavia, ciudad de Buenos Aires, ARGENTINA.

 

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Durchmesser 13 cm;

Rotring Rapidograph 0,18;

Graphit 2B

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.

+++ 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 British occupation of the Faroe Islands in World War II, also known as Operation Valentine, was implemented immediately following the German invasion of Denmark and Norway.In April 1940, the United Kingdom occupied the strategically important Faroe Islands to preempt a German invasion.

 

At the time of the occupation, the Faroe Islands had the status of an amt (county) of Denmark.

On 12 April, two destroyers of the British Royal Navy arrived in Tórshavn harbour, the Faroe capital. Following a meeting with Carl Aage Hilbert (the Danish Prefect of the Islands) and Kristian Djurhuus (President of the Løgting, the Faroese Parliament), an emergency meeting of the Løgting was convened the same afternoon.

 

Pro-independence members tried to declare the independence of the Faroe Islands from the Kingdom of Denmark but were outvoted. An official announcement was made later, announcing the occupation and ordering a nighttime blackout in Tórshavn and neighboring Argir, the censorship of post and telegraphy and the prohibition of the use of motor vehicles during the night without a permit.

 

On 13 April, the Royal Navy cruiser HMS Suffolk arrived at Tórshavn. Colonel T B W Sandall (the British military commander) and Frederick Mason (the new British Consul to the Faroe Islands) then met with the Danish Prefect. The Prefect responded with what Sandall took to be a formal protest, although Hilbert maintained that owing to the occupation of Denmark he was unable to formally represent the Danish government. He duly accepted the British terms on the basis that the UK would not seek to interfere with the internal affairs of the islands. A formal protest was made by the Løgting, albeit expressing the wish for friendly relations. 250 Royal Marines were disembarked, later to be replaced by other British troops.

 

In practice, cordial relations were maintained between the British forces and the Faroese authorities.

On 25 April 1940 the British authorities recognized the Faroese flag — Merkið — as the civil ensign of the Faroe Islands. The traditional Faroese coat of arms was, however, not reintroduced until the formal introduction of home rule on 23 March 1948. As a consequence and sign of respect, Faroese ships were allowed (and actually had) to hoist the Faroese flag and paint FAROES / FØROYAR on the ships' sides, thus allowing the Royal Navy to identify them as "friendly".

 

This principle was also adopted for other British equipment under Operation Valentine, underlining the defensive nature of the task and the islands’ special status.

 

In May 1940, the Royal Marines were replaced by soldiers of the Lovat Scouts, a Scottish Regiment, and more military equipment was deployed to the islands, including ships and aircraft. Since it was not before 1943 that an operational airfield on the island of Vágar by the Royal Engineers was established, all aircraft had to be waterborne. The small air force with Faroese markings included three Fairey Seafox reconnaissance aircraft, two Supermarine Walrus flying boats and five Blackburn Bonxie floatplanes (a torpedo bomber based on the Blackburn Skua dive bomber), which were later replaced and augmented by several Fairey Swordfish and Supermarine Spitfire Mk. V on floats.

 

All these aircraft were allocated to the newly established RAF 362 Squadron and piloted by Danish and Norwegian crews in British exile, purely dedicated to the Faroe Islands Defense. The machines kept their original British serial numbers and tactical codes, but the RAF roundels were replaced by Merkið banners on the wings and the fin rudder.

 

On 20 June 1940, five Swedish naval vessels arrived in the Faroe Islands. Four were destroyers bought from Italy, one with civilian passengers; the fifth was a tanker converted to military status. Britain seized all the ships under armed threat, and moved them to the Shetland Islands. Although Sweden was a neutral country and not at war with Britain, the British were afraid that Germany would seize them if they continued to Sweden. After political negotiations, Sweden secured their return. The British Navy had stripped equipment and caused damage to the ships, for which Britain later gave compensation.

 

The Faroe Islands suffered occasional attacks by German Luftwaffe aircraft in the course of the war, but a full-scale invasion was never attempted. Frequently, German long-range reconnaissance aircraft were intercepted and a single Fw 200 Condor was shot down by a Spitfire floatplane of 362 Squadron. Drifting sea mines proved to be a bigger problem and resulted in the loss of numerous fishing boats and their crews.

 

Once the Vágar airfield became operational in early 1943, 362 Squadron exchanged many of its water-based aircraft for more modern, land-based aircraft, even though the Supermarine Walrus floatplanes were kept for SAR duties. From 1944 onwards the British Faroe garrison was considerably reduced, and British troops left shortly after the end of the war.

  

Specifications:

Crew: 2

Length (fuselage only): 35 ft 7 in (10.85 m)

Length (over floats): 38 ft (11.60 m)

Wingspan: 46 ft (14.02 m)

Height: 12 ft 1 in (3.68 m)

Wing area: 310 ft² (28.8 m²)

Empty weight: 6,121 lb (2,782 kg)

Loaded weight: 7,950 lb (3,614 kg)

 

Powerplant:

1 × Bristol Perseus XII radial engine, 890 hp (664 kW)

 

Performance:

Maximum speed: 194 kn (223 mph, 359 km/h) at 10,000 ft (3,050 m)

Cruise speed: 117 knots (135 mph, 217 km/h) [20]

Range: 704 nmi (810 mi, 1,304 km) with 70 imp gal (320 l; 84 US gal) long-range tank

Service ceiling: 18,000 ft (5,500 m)

Rate of climb: 1,500 ft/min (7.6 m/s)

Wing loading: 25.6 lb/ft² (125 kg/m²)

Power/mass: 0.11 hp/lb (0.18 kW/kg)

 

Armament:

2× 0.303 in (7.7 mm) forward-firing Browning machine guns in the outer wings

1× 0.303 in (7.7 mm) Lewis or Vickers K machine gun on flexible mount in rear cockpit

1 × 1,500 lb (680 kg) torpedo under the fuselage, or a single 1.000 lb (454 kg) bomb

alternatively 4× 100 lb (45kg) bombs or 8× 30 lb (14 kg) practice bombs under the wings

  

The kit and its assembly:

Well, this is rather an alternative history whif than a whiffy aircraft – even though it’s a kitbash: a Novo/Frog/Eastern Express Blackburn Skua, slightly modified and mated with floats and a torpedo from a Blackburn Shark from the same moulds.

 

This combo was never realized, but four Blackburn Roc turret fighters were modified this way for trials – and the big floats deteriorated the type’s rather mediocre performance even more… But with the Skua as basis, the result could have been an decent multi-purpose aircraft?

 

Building the thing was rather straightforward, aircraft and floats were taken pretty much OOB.

The only changes are:

- a fuel tank added between the two seats, filling the OOB void

- a light blocker (foamed plastic) between the engine and the cockpit – the kit features no bulkhead

- the outer wing machine guns were deleted

- the landing gear wells were filled, as well as the tail wheel space on the ventral tail fin

- struts for the floats were taken OOB, but tailored to the Skua’s underside and re-arranged so that a torpedo could be carried and dropped

- a new exhaust with flame dampers was installed

 

Painting and markings:

That’s where the original inspiration for this build came from: while researching for the German invasion of Norway in 1940 I came across Operation Valentine on the remote Faroer islands. When I saw the Faroese flag I knew I had to incorporate it somehow in a whif – and the design of choice fell upon a layout similar to the Norwegian solution of the era, just with adapted colors.

 

As a fictional ex RAF aircraft, the Bonxie received a typical Coastal Command/Royal Navy livery in Dark Slate Grey and Dark Sea Grey on the upper surfaces, coupled with Sky Grey undersides and a low waterline. Rather conservative, and suits the aircraft well. Basic colors are Humbrol 224, 164 and 166, respectively, later weathered through a thin black ink wash and panel-shaded with lighter mixed of the basic tones – the latter was direly necessary, because the massive putty work (NO part of the Skua kit would match another one, plus flash, sinkholes, anything you can ask for) rendered almost any of the risen panel line details invisible.

 

The code letters “NY”, as well as 362 Squadron, are fictional – both never existed or were used in WWII.

 

Where the original RAF roundels would have been placed, blotches of slightly different tones were applied, as if the original operator markings had been hastily painted over. Later, the Faroese markings were created with plain-colored decal sheet in white, red and blue from TL Modellbau. The Medium Sea Grey code letters come from a PrintScale sheet, the serials were done with single black letters and numbers, also from TL Modellbau.

 

Love this one! Opening night portrait of Del Kathryn Barton at Roslyn Oxley9 gallery for the her show 'angel dribble'. Reviewed with additional opening night photos on Street Fashion Sydney here, streetfashionsydney.blogspot.com.au/2016/08/the-esoteric-...

 

Fujifilm X-Pro1

XF18mmF2 R

ƒ/2.0 18.0 mm 1/125 1250iso

 

www.kentjohnsonphotography.com.au/

+++ 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 Focke-Wulf Fw 190 Würger (English: Shrike) was a German single-seat, single-engine fighter aircraft designed by Kurt Tank in the late 1930s and widely used during World War II. Powered by a radial engine, the 190 had ample power and was able to lift larger loads than its well-known counterpart, the Messerschmitt Bf 109. The 190 was used by the Luftwaffe in a wide variety of roles, including day fighter, fighter-bomber, ground-attack aircraft and, to a lesser degree, night fighter. It also served with other Axis forces like Hungary, Romania or Italy, and was even tested in Japan.

 

The Italian career of the Fw 190 was unique, as only a small number was employed. After the Italians were forced out of Libya by combined Anglo/French action in early 1941 King Umberto lead a coup d’état against the Government of Mussolini. Forewarned however by a spy in the King’s entourage this was quite easily foiled. Anyway, the excuse it presented enabled Mussolini to strengthen his hold on the Italian government and he stamped his own personal mark even farther on the state and on its armed forces. He even went so far as to modify both the national flag and markings used by the nation’s military.

 

He couldn’t do much to change an industrial setup, though, that was geared more towards war in the 30’s then in the 40’s and even more towards colonial war rather than warfare against other major powers. As a consequence, and as the war progressed, Italy came more and more to rely on equipment provided by their German allies.

 

In July 1943, after the Allied forces had pushed Italy out of North Africa and subsequently invaded Sicily, the Grand Fascist Council, with the support of King Victor Emmanuel III, had overthrown and arrested Mussolini. The new government began secret peace negotiations with the Allied powers. When an armistice was announced in September, Germany was prepared and quickly intervened. Germany seized control of northern Italy, freed Mussolini and brought him to the German-occupied area to establish a puppet regime.

 

The result was the Italian Social Republic (Italian: Repubblica Sociale Italiana, RSI), informally known as the Republic of Salò (Italian: Repubblica di Salò). It was a puppet state of Nazi Germany during the later part of World War II (from 1943 until 1945) and the second and last incarnation of the Fascist Italian state, led by Duce Benito Mussolini and his reformed Republican Fascist Party. The state declared Rome as its capital, but was de facto centered around Salò (hence its colloquial name), a small town on Lake Garda, where Mussolini and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was headquartered. The RSI exercised nominal sovereignty in northern Italy, but was largely dependent on German troops to maintain control.

 

The Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana (ANR) was its official air force. After the 1943 armistice that divided Italy, the ANR received numbers of Italian aircraft, later augmented with their own local production, and further aircraft from Germany. This force was opposed to the Italian Co-Belligerent Air Force (Aviazione Cobelligerante Italiana, or ACI, or Aeronautica Cobelligerante del Sud), the Italian pro-Allied air force, though they never actually met in combat.

 

ANR combat operations began in December 1943, leading, in the following January, to the attack performed by the 1st Squadriglia "Asso di Bastoni", against a formation of US P-38 Lightnings, three of which were shot down.

 

By early 1944 Italian forces in the Eastern Mediterranean and on the southern Turkish front were operating more equipment of German than Italian origin. A lot of this was old and second hand but some items, like the Bf 109 G or the Fw 190 A and F, was relatively new and state-of-the-art.

 

Among those deliveries were about 40 Fw 190 A-5 fighter bombers from the final production batches in 1943. For the ANR a specialized export version, called A-5a (a für ausländisch) was produced. This fighter was armed with two 7,92mm MG 17 above the engine, two 20mm MG 151/20 machine cannons in the wing roots and pair of two 20mm MG FF machine cannons in the outer wings, with provisions for an ETC 501 bomb rack under the fuselage which could also carry a drop tank. The A-5a also featured dust filters and the up-to-date PR 16 radio system with its characteristic ring antenna under the fuselage.

 

The Fw 190 A-5 was originally developed after it was determined that the Fw 190 could easily carry more ordnance. Its engine was moved forward another 15 cm (6 in) as had been tried out earlier on the service test A-3/U1 aircraft, moving the center of gravity forward to allow more weight to be carried aft. New radio gear, including FuG 25a “Erstling” IFF, and an electric artificial horizon found their way into the A-5. The A-5 retained the same basic armament as the former A-4, even though several Umrüst-Bausätze kits were devised for special tasks like night attack (U2, night “Jabo-Rei”) or reconnaissance (U4, with two RB 12.5 cameras and all armament of the basic A-5 with the exception of the MG FF cannon).

 

One of the most unique kits was the U14 Umbausatz, tested on a single Fw 190 A-5, called prototype "V14". It was a torpedo bomber modification which was extensively tested by the Luftwaffe, inofficially called "JaTo" (Jagdbomber Torpedo). The aircraft was able to carry a single LTF5a torpedo under its fuselage, even though the large weapon (length: 5.2 m/17‘ 1”, diameter: 450 mm/18”) required a lengthened tail wheel and a special pylon for safe taxiing. A deeper fin (similar to the version used on the later D-9 variant and the Ta 152) was also added in order to improve directional stability when the torpedo was carried. Test results for the JaTo Fw 190 had been positive, but the concept did not convince RLM officials - twin-engined aircraft like the Ju 88/188 or the He 111 were deemed more appropriate for the task.

 

While initial delivery of the A-5a for the ANR was running in late 1943, ANR officials showed interest in the JaTo conversion kit, as the type’s multi-role potential was seen – being able to carry a torpedo, combined with a small size and the ability to engage in air combat after the ordnance had been dropped, was a promising asset.

 

Finally, Germany agreed to deliver a dozen U14 conversion sets. Beyond the torpedo carrying capability, the aircraft were further modified in order to optimize them: the heavy and rather ineffective MG FF cannons in the outer wings were deleted, saving weight, and the original 7.92mm MG 15 were replaced by a pair of more powerful 13mm MG 131 - a feature that had just been introduced in the German Fw 190 production with the A-7 variant and recognizable by more bulbous fairings in front of the cockpit.

 

The respective aircraft were the last production Fw 190s for Italy and modified at the factory. Upon their delivery in March 1944, a newl auxiliary attack group was formed. This 1ª Gruppo Complementare Assaulto was associated with ANR’s 2nd Squadron and based at Lonate Pozzolo Airfield, near Milan. Their main task was to attack battleships, convoys and coastal traffic that were supporting the Allied advance eastward in the Thyrenian, Ligurian and Adriatic Sea, but they were also supposed to escort and protect S.M. 79 torpedo bombers of the Torpedo Group Faggioni, based at the same airfield.

 

The success of these machines success was limited, though. One limiting factor was a political one: the ANR worked closely with German Luftwaffe in Northern Italy, but the Germans tried – unsuccessfully – to disband the ANR, forcing its pilots to enlist in the German Air Force (Luftwaffe). In 1944, after the withdrawal of all German fighter units in the attempt to stop the increased Allied offensive on the German mainland, ANR fighter groups were finally left alone and heavily outnumbered as they faced the massive Allied air offensive over Northern Italy. As a consequence, all remaining Fw 190s in Italian service were basically bound with air defense and interception tasks against bomber raids, rather than operating in an attack role, esp. against sea targets.

 

Nevertheless, the Italian torpedo bombers saw action. One campaign where the ANR’s torpedo Fw 190s took part in was the German occupation of Dalmatia in summer 1944, when the Allies undertook a major evacuation of civilian population and moved them to the El Shatt refugee camp in Egypt.

 

Another occasion, when the torpedo bombers were used in their intended role and with some success, was during the biggest British-led combined operation in the eastern Adriatic codenamed Operation Antagonise in December 1944. This operation was intended to capture the island of Lošinj, where the Germans kept E-boats and (possibly) midget submarines. A group of destroyers and MTBs shelled the German gun positions and South African Air Force Bristol Beaufighters attacked the naval base installations with Rocket Projectiles.

 

The Fw 190s of ANR’s 1ª Gruppo Complementare Assaulto were immediately sent into the mayhem to drive the forces back, in hope to sink at least one of the destroyers. This did not happen, but as the Allied attacks proved ineffective in stopping German activities in the region they were repeated in the first months of 1945. But by then, all ANR’s torpedo-bearing FW 190 A-5 had already been relegated to the pure fighter role, destroyed or had become unserviceable.

 

General characteristics:

Crew: 1

Length:10.36 m (33 ft 11 in)

Wingspan: 10.51 m (34 ft 5 in)

Height: 3.25 m (10 ft 8 in)

Wing area: 18.30 m² (196.99 ft²)

Empty weight: 3,200 kg (7,060 lb)

Loaded weight: 4,417 kg (9,735 lb)

Max. takeoff weight: 4,900 kg (10,800 lb)

 

Powerplant:

1× BMW 801 D-2 radial engine, rated at 1.250 kW (1.700 PS)

 

Performance:

Maximum speed: 623 km/h (386 mph) at 19,420 ft (5.920 m)

Cruising speed: 465 km/h (288 mph)

Range: 1.200 km (745 mi)

Service ceiling: 8.500 m (27.832 ft)

Rate of climb: 15 m/s (2.953 ft/min)

Wing loading: 241 kg/m² (49.4 lb/ft²)

Power/mass: 0.29-0.33 kW/kg (0.18-0.21 hp/lb)

 

Armament:

2× 13 mm (.51 in) synchronized MG 131 machine guns with 475 rpg in front of the cockpit

2× 20 mm (.8 in) MG 151/20 E cannons with 250 rpg, synchronized in the wing roots

1× LT F5a aerial torpedo with a 250 kg (550 lb) Hexanite warhead or a single 500 kg (1,102 lb) SC 500 bomb under the fuselage, or a 300 l (66 gal) drop tank.

  

The kit and its assembly:

This is an OOB build of MPM’s Fw 190 A-5/V14, the test type of the respective torpedo carrier which actually existed in Germans but never went into production or other use. Anyway, it’s a weird combo, and as this model popped up at whatifmodelers.com in Italian markings (according to the builder, NARSES2, a Revell kit). I was so impressed and inspired by the result that I wanted a similar model, too, as it looked so great in Italian markings and in a very simple grey/light blue livery. So, this is a kind of tribute build.

 

The MPM kit is a bit of a surprise, as it actually is the complete Academy Fw 190 A kit with some extra parts like a new fuselage, the torpedo installation, and some PE and photo film parts. Well, not the worst solution, but I expected a complete, indigenous kit?

 

Anyway, the model was built right out of the box, with only very few detail changes like an added pilot figure. Fit of the Academy and MPM kits is so-so, typical for a short-run kit. Furthermore I have some doubts of the chosen Fw 190 kit is actually "correct", as the wings show the extra bulges for the late 20 mm cannons - which have IMHO to be sanded away.

 

Biggest problem turned out to be that the fuselage is too narrow at the wing roots: I had gaps on both sides, 1 mm on one and more than 2(!) mm on the other! Again, putty helped and you cannot tell the mess after painting, but I'd recommend the MPM kit only for experienced modelers. On the other side, the result is convincing. I am not a hig fan of PE parts, but in this case the torpedo details like its fin arrangement or the stabilizer straps at the pylon are worth this extra.

  

Painting and markings:

I wanted to place the model in late war, mid 1944, and consequently this fell into the era after the Italian Air Force had become divided. Being of German origin, putting the Fw 190 in ANR service was a logical choice and called for respective markings. In order to make the aircraft look “different” from its German roots, but also not to simply copy NARSES2’s simple and elegant grey aircraft, I started digging in the vast pile of Italian cammo options.

 

The Italian STORMO! Online Color Guide turned up a grey, non-standard paint scheme that would be plausible for an aircraft in maritime service. Upper surfaces are painted in “Grigio Mimetico”, with feathered blotches in “Grigio Azzurro Chiaro 1“ on top of that. The undersurfaces were to be in the same tone, separated by a hard and low waterline, but I went for a third color in order to make the aircraft look less grey-in-grey. This paint scheme was carried by some S.M. 79 bombers, even though illustrations I found of such aircraft differ wildly in the paint scheme’s interpretation! Anything goes, it seems, but that’s even better for such a whif build.

 

I used stock colors, though, to paint the model. The base tone for the upper sides is FS 36231(Dark Gull Grey), with the lighter blotches in "Light French Aircraft Blue". For the lower surfaces I used “Italian Light Blue” – all colors are Model Master enamels, applied by brush.

 

A typical Italian feature I incorporated from fighters is that the upper paint scheme has been wrapped around the leading edges and all around the rear lower fuselage. A nice twist, since ANR aircraft of that era would hardly carry any bright ID markings, e. g. a white fuselage band. The only colorful marking I added is the spinner and a fin tip in the same color.

 

A light wash with black ink emphasized the fine panel lines of the Academy kit, which can also be found on the MPM fuselage - you would not suspect the implantation.

 

Markings were puzzled together from the scrap box, primarily from a sheet for a Macchi M.C. 205 from Italeri. The two-colored tactical code was allocated by Italian habits, the “1ª Gruppo Complementare Assaulto” never existed, though, even though auxiliary fighter squadrons existed among the ANR. In added the emblems of the 2ª Squadriglia, though, the famous red devil that survives until today on Italian Tornados (which is where I got them from). This emblem ahd already been in use during WWII!

 

Finally light dry painting with Humbrol 64 and some soot stains around the guns and the exhausts finished the job, before a final coat with acrylic matt varnish was applied.

  

A rather simple build, yet a very conclusive result. The Fw 190 torpedo carrier version is odd enough, but adding Italian markings just takes the model to a different level. Many thanks to NARSES2 for the inspiring idea!

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.

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.

© Todos los derechos reservados.

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.

© All rights reserved.

joglar@gmail.com

 

ZI45_0276

for more info see tags

3-on-Plate Waverly Machines for Slotted Pegheads with Snakewood knobs.

Type

35mm focal-plane shutter multi-mode AF SLR camera

Picture Size 24 x 36 mm

Normal Lens EF 35-135mm f/4-5.6 USM Lens Mount EF mount

AF System TTL phase detection.

AF modes: One-Shot AF and predictive AI Servo AF. When the Full Auto mode is set, subject movement is detected and the AF mode switches automatically between One-Shot AF (for a still subject) and AI Servo AF (for a moving subject). Even in the One-Shot AF mode, focusing is continuous. If the subject starts to move, the Predictive/AI Servo AF mode takes effect automatically. AF operating range at ISO 100: EV 0 – 18. Multi-BASIS (3 focusing points ) for the AF sensor.

Shutter Vertical-travel, focal-plane electronic shutter. 30 sec. – 1/4000 sec., B. X-sync at 1/125 sec. (hot shoe). Shutter speed can be set in half-stop increments. Built-in electronic self-timer (with blinking LED). Built-in interval timer for intervals from 1 sec. to 23 hr. 59 min. 59 sec. for frames 2 to 36.

Viewfinder Fixed eye-level pentaprism. 0.74x magnification and 92% coverage. New Laser Matte screen.

Viewfinder

Information AF points (3 superimposed points, active one lights in red), shutter speed, aperture setting, depth-of-field AE, camera-shake warning, AE lock, exposure compensation, in-focus indicator, flash ready, partial metering circle, manual exposure level, and other indications.

Metering & Exposure Control

Composite SPC for TTL full-aperture metering (8-zone evaluative or 8.5% partial at center) with shutter speed-priority AE, aperture-priority AE, depth-of-field AE, shiftable Intelligent program AE, Programmed Image Control modes, bar code mode, and metered manual. AE lock with partial metering enabled. Exposure compensation and autobracketing range of ±5 EV (in 1/2-stop increments). Metering range at ISO 100 and f/1.4: EV 1 – 20. Film speed range: ISO 6 to 6400. Maximum 9 multiple exposures. 15 Custom Functions.

External LCD Shutter speed, aperture setting, film speed, depth-of-field AE, day, interval timer setting, year, month, AF mode, function indicator, exposure compensation, autobracketing steps, and other indications.

Built-in Flash Located on pentaprism hump. Auto retractable head. TTL autoflash control (fires automatically in backlight and low-light conditions) with off-the-film metering. Guide No. 12 (at ISO 100 in m).

Power Source One 6 V 2CR5 lithium battery

Film Loading & Advance Align film leader at mark, then close the camera back for auto loading. Automatic film advance with built-in motor. Film advance speed: Approx. 5 fps in One-Shot AF and manual modes and approx. 3 fps in AI Servo AF mode. Also single advance.

Film Rewind Automatic with built-in motor. Midroll rewind enabled.

Dimensions & Weight158 x 106 x 70 mm, 625 g

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.

WORK Meister M1 3P

(HPG) Titanium Gold Finish

Optional Glossy Bronze Anodized Barrel

Optional Gold Finish Assembly Bolts

19x10.0 +18 T-Disk

19x11.5 +6 A-Disk

5x114.3

 

Note: shown with WORK Meister Type-B Center Cap (W120176), sold separately.

+++ 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 British occupation of the Faroe Islands in World War II, also known as Operation Valentine, was implemented immediately following the German invasion of Denmark and Norway.In April 1940, the United Kingdom occupied the strategically important Faroe Islands to preempt a German invasion.

 

At the time of the occupation, the Faroe Islands had the status of an amt (county) of Denmark.

On 12 April, two destroyers of the British Royal Navy arrived in Tórshavn harbour, the Faroe capital. Following a meeting with Carl Aage Hilbert (the Danish Prefect of the Islands) and Kristian Djurhuus (President of the Løgting, the Faroese Parliament), an emergency meeting of the Løgting was convened the same afternoon.

 

Pro-independence members tried to declare the independence of the Faroe Islands from the Kingdom of Denmark but were outvoted. An official announcement was made later, announcing the occupation and ordering a nighttime blackout in Tórshavn and neighboring Argir, the censorship of post and telegraphy and the prohibition of the use of motor vehicles during the night without a permit.

 

On 13 April, the Royal Navy cruiser HMS Suffolk arrived at Tórshavn. Colonel T B W Sandall (the British military commander) and Frederick Mason (the new British Consul to the Faroe Islands) then met with the Danish Prefect. The Prefect responded with what Sandall took to be a formal protest, although Hilbert maintained that owing to the occupation of Denmark he was unable to formally represent the Danish government. He duly accepted the British terms on the basis that the UK would not seek to interfere with the internal affairs of the islands. A formal protest was made by the Løgting, albeit expressing the wish for friendly relations. 250 Royal Marines were disembarked, later to be replaced by other British troops.

 

In practice, cordial relations were maintained between the British forces and the Faroese authorities.

On 25 April 1940 the British authorities recognized the Faroese flag — Merkið — as the civil ensign of the Faroe Islands. The traditional Faroese coat of arms was, however, not reintroduced until the formal introduction of home rule on 23 March 1948. As a consequence and sign of respect, Faroese ships were allowed (and actually had) to hoist the Faroese flag and paint FAROES / FØROYAR on the ships' sides, thus allowing the Royal Navy to identify them as "friendly".

 

This principle was also adopted for other British equipment under Operation Valentine, underlining the defensive nature of the task and the islands’ special status.

 

In May 1940, the Royal Marines were replaced by soldiers of the Lovat Scouts, a Scottish Regiment, and more military equipment was deployed to the islands, including ships and aircraft. Since it was not before 1943 that an operational airfield on the island of Vágar by the Royal Engineers was established, all aircraft had to be waterborne. The small air force with Faroese markings included three Fairey Seafox reconnaissance aircraft, two Supermarine Walrus flying boats and five Blackburn Bonxie floatplanes (a torpedo bomber based on the Blackburn Skua dive bomber), which were later replaced and augmented by several Fairey Swordfish and Supermarine Spitfire Mk. V on floats.

 

All these aircraft were allocated to the newly established RAF 362 Squadron and piloted by Danish and Norwegian crews in British exile, purely dedicated to the Faroe Islands Defense. The machines kept their original British serial numbers and tactical codes, but the RAF roundels were replaced by Merkið banners on the wings and the fin rudder.

 

On 20 June 1940, five Swedish naval vessels arrived in the Faroe Islands. Four were destroyers bought from Italy, one with civilian passengers; the fifth was a tanker converted to military status. Britain seized all the ships under armed threat, and moved them to the Shetland Islands. Although Sweden was a neutral country and not at war with Britain, the British were afraid that Germany would seize them if they continued to Sweden. After political negotiations, Sweden secured their return. The British Navy had stripped equipment and caused damage to the ships, for which Britain later gave compensation.

 

The Faroe Islands suffered occasional attacks by German Luftwaffe aircraft in the course of the war, but a full-scale invasion was never attempted. Frequently, German long-range reconnaissance aircraft were intercepted and a single Fw 200 Condor was shot down by a Spitfire floatplane of 362 Squadron. Drifting sea mines proved to be a bigger problem and resulted in the loss of numerous fishing boats and their crews.

 

Once the Vágar airfield became operational in early 1943, 362 Squadron exchanged many of its water-based aircraft for more modern, land-based aircraft, even though the Supermarine Walrus floatplanes were kept for SAR duties. From 1944 onwards the British Faroe garrison was considerably reduced, and British troops left shortly after the end of the war.

  

Specifications:

Crew: 2

Length (fuselage only): 35 ft 7 in (10.85 m)

Length (over floats): 38 ft (11.60 m)

Wingspan: 46 ft (14.02 m)

Height: 12 ft 1 in (3.68 m)

Wing area: 310 ft² (28.8 m²)

Empty weight: 6,121 lb (2,782 kg)

Loaded weight: 7,950 lb (3,614 kg)

 

Powerplant:

1 × Bristol Perseus XII radial engine, 890 hp (664 kW)

 

Performance:

Maximum speed: 194 kn (223 mph, 359 km/h) at 10,000 ft (3,050 m)

Cruise speed: 117 knots (135 mph, 217 km/h) [20]

Range: 704 nmi (810 mi, 1,304 km) with 70 imp gal (320 l; 84 US gal) long-range tank

Service ceiling: 18,000 ft (5,500 m)

Rate of climb: 1,500 ft/min (7.6 m/s)

Wing loading: 25.6 lb/ft² (125 kg/m²)

Power/mass: 0.11 hp/lb (0.18 kW/kg)

 

Armament:

2× 0.303 in (7.7 mm) forward-firing Browning machine guns in the outer wings

1× 0.303 in (7.7 mm) Lewis or Vickers K machine gun on flexible mount in rear cockpit

1 × 1,500 lb (680 kg) torpedo under the fuselage, or a single 1.000 lb (454 kg) bomb

alternatively 4× 100 lb (45kg) bombs or 8× 30 lb (14 kg) practice bombs under the wings

  

The kit and its assembly:

Well, this is rather an alternative history whif than a whiffy aircraft – even though it’s a kitbash: a Novo/Frog/Eastern Express Blackburn Skua, slightly modified and mated with floats and a torpedo from a Blackburn Shark from the same moulds.

 

This combo was never realized, but four Blackburn Roc turret fighters were modified this way for trials – and the big floats deteriorated the type’s rather mediocre performance even more… But with the Skua as basis, the result could have been an decent multi-purpose aircraft?

 

Building the thing was rather straightforward, aircraft and floats were taken pretty much OOB.

The only changes are:

- a fuel tank added between the two seats, filling the OOB void

- a light blocker (foamed plastic) between the engine and the cockpit – the kit features no bulkhead

- the outer wing machine guns were deleted

- the landing gear wells were filled, as well as the tail wheel space on the ventral tail fin

- struts for the floats were taken OOB, but tailored to the Skua’s underside and re-arranged so that a torpedo could be carried and dropped

- a new exhaust with flame dampers was installed

 

Painting and markings:

That’s where the original inspiration for this build came from: while researching for the German invasion of Norway in 1940 I came across Operation Valentine on the remote Faroer islands. When I saw the Faroese flag I knew I had to incorporate it somehow in a whif – and the design of choice fell upon a layout similar to the Norwegian solution of the era, just with adapted colors.

 

As a fictional ex RAF aircraft, the Bonxie received a typical Coastal Command/Royal Navy livery in Dark Slate Grey and Dark Sea Grey on the upper surfaces, coupled with Sky Grey undersides and a low waterline. Rather conservative, and suits the aircraft well. Basic colors are Humbrol 224, 164 and 166, respectively, later weathered through a thin black ink wash and panel-shaded with lighter mixed of the basic tones – the latter was direly necessary, because the massive putty work (NO part of the Skua kit would match another one, plus flash, sinkholes, anything you can ask for) rendered almost any of the risen panel line details invisible.

 

The code letters “NY”, as well as 362 Squadron, are fictional – both never existed or were used in WWII.

 

Where the original RAF roundels would have been placed, blotches of slightly different tones were applied, as if the original operator markings had been hastily painted over. Later, the Faroese markings were created with plain-colored decal sheet in white, red and blue from TL Modellbau. The Medium Sea Grey code letters come from a PrintScale sheet, the serials were done with single black letters and numbers, also from TL Modellbau.

+++ 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 British occupation of the Faroe Islands in World War II, also known as Operation Valentine, was implemented immediately following the German invasion of Denmark and Norway.In April 1940, the United Kingdom occupied the strategically important Faroe Islands to preempt a German invasion.

 

At the time of the occupation, the Faroe Islands had the status of an amt (county) of Denmark.

On 12 April, two destroyers of the British Royal Navy arrived in Tórshavn harbour, the Faroe capital. Following a meeting with Carl Aage Hilbert (the Danish Prefect of the Islands) and Kristian Djurhuus (President of the Løgting, the Faroese Parliament), an emergency meeting of the Løgting was convened the same afternoon.

 

Pro-independence members tried to declare the independence of the Faroe Islands from the Kingdom of Denmark but were outvoted. An official announcement was made later, announcing the occupation and ordering a nighttime blackout in Tórshavn and neighboring Argir, the censorship of post and telegraphy and the prohibition of the use of motor vehicles during the night without a permit.

 

On 13 April, the Royal Navy cruiser HMS Suffolk arrived at Tórshavn. Colonel T B W Sandall (the British military commander) and Frederick Mason (the new British Consul to the Faroe Islands) then met with the Danish Prefect. The Prefect responded with what Sandall took to be a formal protest, although Hilbert maintained that owing to the occupation of Denmark he was unable to formally represent the Danish government. He duly accepted the British terms on the basis that the UK would not seek to interfere with the internal affairs of the islands. A formal protest was made by the Løgting, albeit expressing the wish for friendly relations. 250 Royal Marines were disembarked, later to be replaced by other British troops.

 

In practice, cordial relations were maintained between the British forces and the Faroese authorities.

On 25 April 1940 the British authorities recognized the Faroese flag — Merkið — as the civil ensign of the Faroe Islands. The traditional Faroese coat of arms was, however, not reintroduced until the formal introduction of home rule on 23 March 1948. As a consequence and sign of respect, Faroese ships were allowed (and actually had) to hoist the Faroese flag and paint FAROES / FØROYAR on the ships' sides, thus allowing the Royal Navy to identify them as "friendly".

 

This principle was also adopted for other British equipment under Operation Valentine, underlining the defensive nature of the task and the islands’ special status.

 

In May 1940, the Royal Marines were replaced by soldiers of the Lovat Scouts, a Scottish Regiment, and more military equipment was deployed to the islands, including ships and aircraft. Since it was not before 1943 that an operational airfield on the island of Vágar by the Royal Engineers was established, all aircraft had to be waterborne. The small air force with Faroese markings included three Fairey Seafox reconnaissance aircraft, two Supermarine Walrus flying boats and five Blackburn Bonxie floatplanes (a torpedo bomber based on the Blackburn Skua dive bomber), which were later replaced and augmented by several Fairey Swordfish and Supermarine Spitfire Mk. V on floats.

 

All these aircraft were allocated to the newly established RAF 362 Squadron and piloted by Danish and Norwegian crews in British exile, purely dedicated to the Faroe Islands Defense. The machines kept their original British serial numbers and tactical codes, but the RAF roundels were replaced by Merkið banners on the wings and the fin rudder.

 

On 20 June 1940, five Swedish naval vessels arrived in the Faroe Islands. Four were destroyers bought from Italy, one with civilian passengers; the fifth was a tanker converted to military status. Britain seized all the ships under armed threat, and moved them to the Shetland Islands. Although Sweden was a neutral country and not at war with Britain, the British were afraid that Germany would seize them if they continued to Sweden. After political negotiations, Sweden secured their return. The British Navy had stripped equipment and caused damage to the ships, for which Britain later gave compensation.

 

The Faroe Islands suffered occasional attacks by German Luftwaffe aircraft in the course of the war, but a full-scale invasion was never attempted. Frequently, German long-range reconnaissance aircraft were intercepted and a single Fw 200 Condor was shot down by a Spitfire floatplane of 362 Squadron. Drifting sea mines proved to be a bigger problem and resulted in the loss of numerous fishing boats and their crews.

 

Once the Vágar airfield became operational in early 1943, 362 Squadron exchanged many of its water-based aircraft for more modern, land-based aircraft, even though the Supermarine Walrus floatplanes were kept for SAR duties. From 1944 onwards the British Faroe garrison was considerably reduced, and British troops left shortly after the end of the war.

  

Specifications:

Crew: 2

Length (fuselage only): 35 ft 7 in (10.85 m)

Length (over floats): 38 ft (11.60 m)

Wingspan: 46 ft (14.02 m)

Height: 12 ft 1 in (3.68 m)

Wing area: 310 ft² (28.8 m²)

Empty weight: 6,121 lb (2,782 kg)

Loaded weight: 7,950 lb (3,614 kg)

 

Powerplant:

1 × Bristol Perseus XII radial engine, 890 hp (664 kW)

 

Performance:

Maximum speed: 194 kn (223 mph, 359 km/h) at 10,000 ft (3,050 m)

Cruise speed: 117 knots (135 mph, 217 km/h) [20]

Range: 704 nmi (810 mi, 1,304 km) with 70 imp gal (320 l; 84 US gal) long-range tank

Service ceiling: 18,000 ft (5,500 m)

Rate of climb: 1,500 ft/min (7.6 m/s)

Wing loading: 25.6 lb/ft² (125 kg/m²)

Power/mass: 0.11 hp/lb (0.18 kW/kg)

 

Armament:

2× 0.303 in (7.7 mm) forward-firing Browning machine guns in the outer wings

1× 0.303 in (7.7 mm) Lewis or Vickers K machine gun on flexible mount in rear cockpit

1 × 1,500 lb (680 kg) torpedo under the fuselage, or a single 1.000 lb (454 kg) bomb

alternatively 4× 100 lb (45kg) bombs or 8× 30 lb (14 kg) practice bombs under the wings

  

The kit and its assembly:

Well, this is rather an alternative history whif than a whiffy aircraft – even though it’s a kitbash: a Novo/Frog/Eastern Express Blackburn Skua, slightly modified and mated with floats and a torpedo from a Blackburn Shark from the same moulds.

 

This combo was never realized, but four Blackburn Roc turret fighters were modified this way for trials – and the big floats deteriorated the type’s rather mediocre performance even more… But with the Skua as basis, the result could have been an decent multi-purpose aircraft?

 

Building the thing was rather straightforward, aircraft and floats were taken pretty much OOB.

The only changes are:

- a fuel tank added between the two seats, filling the OOB void

- a light blocker (foamed plastic) between the engine and the cockpit – the kit features no bulkhead

- the outer wing machine guns were deleted

- the landing gear wells were filled, as well as the tail wheel space on the ventral tail fin

- struts for the floats were taken OOB, but tailored to the Skua’s underside and re-arranged so that a torpedo could be carried and dropped

- a new exhaust with flame dampers was installed

 

Painting and markings:

That’s where the original inspiration for this build came from: while researching for the German invasion of Norway in 1940 I came across Operation Valentine on the remote Faroer islands. When I saw the Faroese flag I knew I had to incorporate it somehow in a whif – and the design of choice fell upon a layout similar to the Norwegian solution of the era, just with adapted colors.

 

As a fictional ex RAF aircraft, the Bonxie received a typical Coastal Command/Royal Navy livery in Dark Slate Grey and Dark Sea Grey on the upper surfaces, coupled with Sky Grey undersides and a low waterline. Rather conservative, and suits the aircraft well. Basic colors are Humbrol 224, 164 and 166, respectively, later weathered through a thin black ink wash and panel-shaded with lighter mixed of the basic tones – the latter was direly necessary, because the massive putty work (NO part of the Skua kit would match another one, plus flash, sinkholes, anything you can ask for) rendered almost any of the risen panel line details invisible.

 

The code letters “NY”, as well as 362 Squadron, are fictional – both never existed or were used in WWII.

 

Where the original RAF roundels would have been placed, blotches of slightly different tones were applied, as if the original operator markings had been hastily painted over. Later, the Faroese markings were created with plain-colored decal sheet in white, red and blue from TL Modellbau. The Medium Sea Grey code letters come from a PrintScale sheet, the serials were done with single black letters and numbers, also from TL Modellbau.

Manyar, Gianyar, Bali, Indonesia

NIKON D600 + 16.0-35.0 mm f/4.0 @ 18 mm, 0.6 sec at f/11, ISO 100 + Lee 0.6 Hard ND Grad + Heliopan CPL

 

and whilst this isn't a particularly great image (didn't even rate a star in Lightroom) - this is the very last shot I took with my camera before it's untimely demise two minutes later.

 

I was taking some shots of the amazing colour and clouds looking away from the now risen sun (this is looking west now). Behind me however the sun was doing some interesting things behind the clouds on the horizon so I packed my tripod up, turned around and had walked about 10m behind this spot when I slipped and fell and the gear went tumbling over rocks similar to the ones you can see here and so this camera's journey ends... (maybe Nikon would like to set me up with some new gear... I can dream can't I... :))

 

© Rodney Campbell

+++ 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 Focke-Wulf Fw 190 Würger (English: Shrike) was a German single-seat, single-engine fighter aircraft designed by Kurt Tank in the late 1930s and widely used during World War II. Powered by a radial engine, the 190 had ample power and was able to lift larger loads than its well-known counterpart, the Messerschmitt Bf 109. The 190 was used by the Luftwaffe in a wide variety of roles, including day fighter, fighter-bomber, ground-attack aircraft and, to a lesser degree, night fighter. It also served with other Axis forces like Hungary, Romania or Italy, and was even tested in Japan.

 

The Italian career of the Fw 190 was unique, as only a small number was employed. After the Italians were forced out of Libya by combined Anglo/French action in early 1941 King Umberto lead a coup d’état against the Government of Mussolini. Forewarned however by a spy in the King’s entourage this was quite easily foiled. Anyway, the excuse it presented enabled Mussolini to strengthen his hold on the Italian government and he stamped his own personal mark even farther on the state and on its armed forces. He even went so far as to modify both the national flag and markings used by the nation’s military.

 

He couldn’t do much to change an industrial setup, though, that was geared more towards war in the 30’s then in the 40’s and even more towards colonial war rather than warfare against other major powers. As a consequence, and as the war progressed, Italy came more and more to rely on equipment provided by their German allies.

 

In July 1943, after the Allied forces had pushed Italy out of North Africa and subsequently invaded Sicily, the Grand Fascist Council, with the support of King Victor Emmanuel III, had overthrown and arrested Mussolini. The new government began secret peace negotiations with the Allied powers. When an armistice was announced in September, Germany was prepared and quickly intervened. Germany seized control of northern Italy, freed Mussolini and brought him to the German-occupied area to establish a puppet regime.

 

The result was the Italian Social Republic (Italian: Repubblica Sociale Italiana, RSI), informally known as the Republic of Salò (Italian: Repubblica di Salò). It was a puppet state of Nazi Germany during the later part of World War II (from 1943 until 1945) and the second and last incarnation of the Fascist Italian state, led by Duce Benito Mussolini and his reformed Republican Fascist Party. The state declared Rome as its capital, but was de facto centered around Salò (hence its colloquial name), a small town on Lake Garda, where Mussolini and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was headquartered. The RSI exercised nominal sovereignty in northern Italy, but was largely dependent on German troops to maintain control.

 

The Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana (ANR) was its official air force. After the 1943 armistice that divided Italy, the ANR received numbers of Italian aircraft, later augmented with their own local production, and further aircraft from Germany. This force was opposed to the Italian Co-Belligerent Air Force (Aviazione Cobelligerante Italiana, or ACI, or Aeronautica Cobelligerante del Sud), the Italian pro-Allied air force, though they never actually met in combat.

 

ANR combat operations began in December 1943, leading, in the following January, to the attack performed by the 1st Squadriglia "Asso di Bastoni", against a formation of US P-38 Lightnings, three of which were shot down.

 

By early 1944 Italian forces in the Eastern Mediterranean and on the southern Turkish front were operating more equipment of German than Italian origin. A lot of this was old and second hand but some items, like the Bf 109 G or the Fw 190 A and F, was relatively new and state-of-the-art.

 

Among those deliveries were about 40 Fw 190 A-5 fighter bombers from the final production batches in 1943. For the ANR a specialized export version, called A-5a (a für ausländisch) was produced. This fighter was armed with two 7,92mm MG 17 above the engine, two 20mm MG 151/20 machine cannons in the wing roots and pair of two 20mm MG FF machine cannons in the outer wings, with provisions for an ETC 501 bomb rack under the fuselage which could also carry a drop tank. The A-5a also featured dust filters and the up-to-date PR 16 radio system with its characteristic ring antenna under the fuselage.

 

The Fw 190 A-5 was originally developed after it was determined that the Fw 190 could easily carry more ordnance. Its engine was moved forward another 15 cm (6 in) as had been tried out earlier on the service test A-3/U1 aircraft, moving the center of gravity forward to allow more weight to be carried aft. New radio gear, including FuG 25a “Erstling” IFF, and an electric artificial horizon found their way into the A-5. The A-5 retained the same basic armament as the former A-4, even though several Umrüst-Bausätze kits were devised for special tasks like night attack (U2, night “Jabo-Rei”) or reconnaissance (U4, with two RB 12.5 cameras and all armament of the basic A-5 with the exception of the MG FF cannon).

 

One of the most unique kits was the U14 Umbausatz, tested on a single Fw 190 A-5, called prototype "V14". It was a torpedo bomber modification which was extensively tested by the Luftwaffe, inofficially called "JaTo" (Jagdbomber Torpedo). The aircraft was able to carry a single LTF5a torpedo under its fuselage, even though the large weapon (length: 5.2 m/17‘ 1”, diameter: 450 mm/18”) required a lengthened tail wheel and a special pylon for safe taxiing. A deeper fin (similar to the version used on the later D-9 variant and the Ta 152) was also added in order to improve directional stability when the torpedo was carried. Test results for the JaTo Fw 190 had been positive, but the concept did not convince RLM officials - twin-engined aircraft like the Ju 88/188 or the He 111 were deemed more appropriate for the task.

 

While initial delivery of the A-5a for the ANR was running in late 1943, ANR officials showed interest in the JaTo conversion kit, as the type’s multi-role potential was seen – being able to carry a torpedo, combined with a small size and the ability to engage in air combat after the ordnance had been dropped, was a promising asset.

 

Finally, Germany agreed to deliver a dozen U14 conversion sets. Beyond the torpedo carrying capability, the aircraft were further modified in order to optimize them: the heavy and rather ineffective MG FF cannons in the outer wings were deleted, saving weight, and the original 7.92mm MG 15 were replaced by a pair of more powerful 13mm MG 131 - a feature that had just been introduced in the German Fw 190 production with the A-7 variant and recognizable by more bulbous fairings in front of the cockpit.

 

The respective aircraft were the last production Fw 190s for Italy and modified at the factory. Upon their delivery in March 1944, a newl auxiliary attack group was formed. This 1ª Gruppo Complementare Assaulto was associated with ANR’s 2nd Squadron and based at Lonate Pozzolo Airfield, near Milan. Their main task was to attack battleships, convoys and coastal traffic that were supporting the Allied advance eastward in the Thyrenian, Ligurian and Adriatic Sea, but they were also supposed to escort and protect S.M. 79 torpedo bombers of the Torpedo Group Faggioni, based at the same airfield.

 

The success of these machines success was limited, though. One limiting factor was a political one: the ANR worked closely with German Luftwaffe in Northern Italy, but the Germans tried – unsuccessfully – to disband the ANR, forcing its pilots to enlist in the German Air Force (Luftwaffe). In 1944, after the withdrawal of all German fighter units in the attempt to stop the increased Allied offensive on the German mainland, ANR fighter groups were finally left alone and heavily outnumbered as they faced the massive Allied air offensive over Northern Italy. As a consequence, all remaining Fw 190s in Italian service were basically bound with air defense and interception tasks against bomber raids, rather than operating in an attack role, esp. against sea targets.

 

Nevertheless, the Italian torpedo bombers saw action. One campaign where the ANR’s torpedo Fw 190s took part in was the German occupation of Dalmatia in summer 1944, when the Allies undertook a major evacuation of civilian population and moved them to the El Shatt refugee camp in Egypt.

 

Another occasion, when the torpedo bombers were used in their intended role and with some success, was during the biggest British-led combined operation in the eastern Adriatic codenamed Operation Antagonise in December 1944. This operation was intended to capture the island of Lošinj, where the Germans kept E-boats and (possibly) midget submarines. A group of destroyers and MTBs shelled the German gun positions and South African Air Force Bristol Beaufighters attacked the naval base installations with Rocket Projectiles.

 

The Fw 190s of ANR’s 1ª Gruppo Complementare Assaulto were immediately sent into the mayhem to drive the forces back, in hope to sink at least one of the destroyers. This did not happen, but as the Allied attacks proved ineffective in stopping German activities in the region they were repeated in the first months of 1945. But by then, all ANR’s torpedo-bearing FW 190 A-5 had already been relegated to the pure fighter role, destroyed or had become unserviceable.

 

General characteristics:

Crew: 1

Length:10.36 m (33 ft 11 in)

Wingspan: 10.51 m (34 ft 5 in)

Height: 3.25 m (10 ft 8 in)

Wing area: 18.30 m² (196.99 ft²)

Empty weight: 3,200 kg (7,060 lb)

Loaded weight: 4,417 kg (9,735 lb)

Max. takeoff weight: 4,900 kg (10,800 lb)

 

Powerplant:

1× BMW 801 D-2 radial engine, rated at 1.250 kW (1.700 PS)

 

Performance:

Maximum speed: 623 km/h (386 mph) at 19,420 ft (5.920 m)

Cruising speed: 465 km/h (288 mph)

Range: 1.200 km (745 mi)

Service ceiling: 8.500 m (27.832 ft)

Rate of climb: 15 m/s (2.953 ft/min)

Wing loading: 241 kg/m² (49.4 lb/ft²)

Power/mass: 0.29-0.33 kW/kg (0.18-0.21 hp/lb)

 

Armament:

2× 13 mm (.51 in) synchronized MG 131 machine guns with 475 rpg in front of the cockpit

2× 20 mm (.8 in) MG 151/20 E cannons with 250 rpg, synchronized in the wing roots

1× LT F5a aerial torpedo with a 250 kg (550 lb) Hexanite warhead or a single 500 kg (1,102 lb) SC 500 bomb under the fuselage, or a 300 l (66 gal) drop tank.

  

The kit and its assembly:

This is an OOB build of MPM’s Fw 190 A-5/V14, the test type of the respective torpedo carrier which actually existed in Germans but never went into production or other use. Anyway, it’s a weird combo, and as this model popped up at whatifmodelers.com in Italian markings (according to the builder, NARSES2, a Revell kit). I was so impressed and inspired by the result that I wanted a similar model, too, as it looked so great in Italian markings and in a very simple grey/light blue livery. So, this is a kind of tribute build.

 

The MPM kit is a bit of a surprise, as it actually is the complete Academy Fw 190 A kit with some extra parts like a new fuselage, the torpedo installation, and some PE and photo film parts. Well, not the worst solution, but I expected a complete, indigenous kit?

 

Anyway, the model was built right out of the box, with only very few detail changes like an added pilot figure. Fit of the Academy and MPM kits is so-so, typical for a short-run kit. Furthermore I have some doubts of the chosen Fw 190 kit is actually "correct", as the wings show the extra bulges for the late 20 mm cannons - which have IMHO to be sanded away.

 

Biggest problem turned out to be that the fuselage is too narrow at the wing roots: I had gaps on both sides, 1 mm on one and more than 2(!) mm on the other! Again, putty helped and you cannot tell the mess after painting, but I'd recommend the MPM kit only for experienced modelers. On the other side, the result is convincing. I am not a hig fan of PE parts, but in this case the torpedo details like its fin arrangement or the stabilizer straps at the pylon are worth this extra.

  

Painting and markings:

I wanted to place the model in late war, mid 1944, and consequently this fell into the era after the Italian Air Force had become divided. Being of German origin, putting the Fw 190 in ANR service was a logical choice and called for respective markings. In order to make the aircraft look “different” from its German roots, but also not to simply copy NARSES2’s simple and elegant grey aircraft, I started digging in the vast pile of Italian cammo options.

 

The Italian STORMO! Online Color Guide turned up a grey, non-standard paint scheme that would be plausible for an aircraft in maritime service. Upper surfaces are painted in “Grigio Mimetico”, with feathered blotches in “Grigio Azzurro Chiaro 1“ on top of that. The undersurfaces were to be in the same tone, separated by a hard and low waterline, but I went for a third color in order to make the aircraft look less grey-in-grey. This paint scheme was carried by some S.M. 79 bombers, even though illustrations I found of such aircraft differ wildly in the paint scheme’s interpretation! Anything goes, it seems, but that’s even better for such a whif build.

 

I used stock colors, though, to paint the model. The base tone for the upper sides is FS 36231(Dark Gull Grey), with the lighter blotches in "Light French Aircraft Blue". For the lower surfaces I used “Italian Light Blue” – all colors are Model Master enamels, applied by brush.

 

A typical Italian feature I incorporated from fighters is that the upper paint scheme has been wrapped around the leading edges and all around the rear lower fuselage. A nice twist, since ANR aircraft of that era would hardly carry any bright ID markings, e. g. a white fuselage band. The only colorful marking I added is the spinner and a fin tip in the same color.

 

A light wash with black ink emphasized the fine panel lines of the Academy kit, which can also be found on the MPM fuselage - you would not suspect the implantation.

 

Markings were puzzled together from the scrap box, primarily from a sheet for a Macchi M.C. 205 from Italeri. The two-colored tactical code was allocated by Italian habits, the “1ª Gruppo Complementare Assaulto” never existed, though, even though auxiliary fighter squadrons existed among the ANR. In added the emblems of the 2ª Squadriglia, though, the famous red devil that survives until today on Italian Tornados (which is where I got them from). This emblem ahd already been in use during WWII!

 

Finally light dry painting with Humbrol 64 and some soot stains around the guns and the exhausts finished the job, before a final coat with acrylic matt varnish was applied.

  

A rather simple build, yet a very conclusive result. The Fw 190 torpedo carrier version is odd enough, but adding Italian markings just takes the model to a different level. Many thanks to NARSES2 for the inspiring idea!

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

 

Connect with us: LAFD.ORG | News | Facebook | Instagram | Reddit | Twitter: @LAFD @LAFDtalk

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

 

Connect with us: LAFD.ORG | News | Facebook | Instagram | Reddit | Twitter: @LAFD @LAFDtalk

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

 

Connect with us: LAFD.ORG | News | Facebook | Instagram | Reddit | Twitter: @LAFD @LAFDtalk

The is only the second mushroom that I've found in the woods this season. (See this photo for the first.) I'm sure it's an Agaricus species, but I'm not sure what kind. It smells good, and has a white cap that is not at all fibrillose. This one came up after our feeble 0.18 inch of rain a few days ago, so I reckon the mushrooms are ready to pop. It takes a mind-shift to go from insects and spiders to mushrooms, but that time seems to be coming. Now all we need is some real rain... (San Marcos Pass, 6 November 2015)

 

Today was another lovely day, calm winds and just a bit warmer than yesterday.

Sometimes, there is an uninspiring, poor quality photo that you want or need to add to a Set and the only way to get it in there is to upload it. This is one such image, lol. The flowers of the Asparagus plant are very tiny, and I'm not sure if they open any further than this or not. This macro shot was taken on 27 July 2011, at the Erlton/Roxborough Natural Area. No "need" (not that there ever is!) to comment.

 

"The flowers are bell-shaped, greenish-white to yellowish, 4.5–6.5 mm (0.18–0.26 in) long, with six tepals partially fused together at the base; they are produced singly or in clusters of two or three in the junctions of the branchlets. It is usually dioecious, with male and female flowers on separate plants, but sometimes hermaphrodite flowers are found. The fruit is a small red berry 6–10 mm diameter, which is poisonous to humans." From Wikipedia.

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asparagus

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

 

Connect with us: LAFD.ORG | News | Facebook | Instagram | Reddit | Twitter: @LAFD @LAFDtalk

Luminance HDR 2.3.1 tonemapping parameters:

Operator: Reinhard02

Parameters:

Key: 0.18

Phi: 1

------

PreGamma: 1

 

 

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

 

Connect with us: LAFD.ORG | News | Facebook | Instagram | Reddit | Twitter: @LAFD @LAFDtalk

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

 

Connect with us: LAFD.ORG | News | Facebook | Instagram | Reddit | Twitter: @LAFD @LAFDtalk

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

 

Connect with us: LAFD.ORG | News | Facebook | Instagram | Reddit | Twitter: @LAFD @LAFDtalk

Frederic is a village in Polk County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 1,137 at the 2010 census. It was established as a village in 1901.

 

Frederic is located at 45°39′32″N 92°28′1″W (45.658797, -92.466921).

 

According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 1.79 square miles (4.64 km2), of which, 1.72 square miles (4.45 km2) of it is land and 0.07 square miles (0.18 km2) is water.

 

Frederic is along Wisconsin Highways 35 and 48, and Polk County Road W.

 

The Frederic School District consists of Frederic Elementary School and Frederic 6-12 School, which contains Frederic Middle School and Frederic High School.

 

Notable people

Robert M. Dueholm, Wisconsin politician, was born in Frederic.

Rodney Erickson, former president of Pennsylvania State University

Nathan Heffernan, member of the Wisconsin Supreme Court, was born in Frederic.

Erick H. Johnson, Wisconsin politician, lived in Frederic.

Rita Lee, Playboy's Playmate for the Month of November 1977, was born in Frederic.

Carol Merrill, a model for the original television game show Let's Make A Deal, was born in Frederic.

Erin Gloria Ryan, writer and podcaster, was born in Frederic.

Harvey Stower, Wisconsin politician, was born in Frederic.

 

Polk County is a county in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census, the population was 44,977. Its county seat is Balsam Lake. The county was created in 1853 and named for United States President James K. Polk.

 

Wisconsin is a state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by land area and the 20th-most populous.

 

The bulk of Wisconsin's population live in areas situated along the shores of Lake Michigan. The largest city, Milwaukee, anchors its largest metropolitan area, followed by Green Bay and Kenosha, the third- and fourth-most-populated Wisconsin cities, respectively. The state capital, Madison, is currently the second-most-populated and fastest-growing city in the state. Wisconsin is divided into 72 counties and as of the 2020 census had a population of nearly 5.9 million.

 

Wisconsin's geography is diverse, having been greatly impacted by glaciers during the Ice Age with the exception of the Driftless Area. The Northern Highland and Western Upland along with a part of the Central Plain occupy the western part of the state, with lowlands stretching to the shore of Lake Michigan. Wisconsin is third to Ontario and Michigan in the length of its Great Lakes coastline. The northern portion of the state is home to the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest. At the time of European contact, the area was inhabited by Algonquian and Siouan nations, and today it is home to eleven federally recognized tribes. During the 19th and early 20th centuries, many European settlers entered the state, most of whom emigrated from Germany and Scandinavia. Wisconsin remains a center of German American and Scandinavian American culture, particularly in respect to its cuisine, with foods such as bratwurst and kringle. Wisconsin is home to one UNESCO World Heritage Site, comprising two of the most significant buildings designed by Wisconsin-born architect Frank Lloyd Wright: his studio at Taliesin near Spring Green and his Jacobs I House in Madison.

 

The Republican Party was founded in Wisconsin in 1854. In more recent years, Wisconsin has been a battleground state in presidential elections, notably in 2016 and 2020.

 

Wisconsin is one of the nation's leading dairy producers and is known as "America's Dairyland"; it is particularly famous for its cheese. The state is also famous for its beer, particularly and historically in Milwaukee, most notably as the headquarters of the Miller Brewing Company. Wisconsin has some of the most permissive alcohol laws in the country and is well known for its drinking culture. Its economy is dominated by manufacturing, healthcare, information technology, and agriculture—specifically dairy, cranberries, and ginseng. Tourism is also a major contributor to the state's economy. The gross domestic product in 2020 was $348 billion.

 

The history of Wisconsin encompasses the story not only of the people who have lived in Wisconsin since it became a state of the U.S., but also that of the Native American tribes who made their homeland in Wisconsin, the French and British colonists who were the first Europeans to live there, and the American settlers who lived in Wisconsin when it was a territory.

 

Since its admission to the Union on May 29, 1848, as the 30th state, Wisconsin has been ethnically heterogeneous, with Yankees being among the first to arrive from New York and New England. They dominated the state's heavy industry, finance, politics and education. Large numbers of European immigrants followed them, including German Americans, mostly between 1850 and 1900, Scandinavians (the largest group being Norwegian Americans) and smaller groups of Belgian Americans, Dutch Americans, Swiss Americans, Finnish Americans, Irish Americans and others; in the 20th century, large numbers of Polish Americans and African Americans came, settling mainly in Milwaukee.

 

Politically the state was predominantly Republican until recent years, when it became more evenly balanced. The state took a national leadership role in the Progressive Movement, under the aegis of Robert M. "Fighting Bob" La Follette and his family, who fought the old guard bitterly at the state and national levels. The "Wisconsin Idea" called for the use of the higher learning in modernizing government, and the state is notable for its strong network of state universities.

 

The first known inhabitants of what is now Wisconsin were Paleo-Indians, who first arrived in the region in about 10,000 BC at the end of the Ice Age. The retreating glaciers left behind a tundra in Wisconsin inhabited by large animals, such as mammoths, mastodons, bison, giant beaver, and muskox. The Boaz mastodon and the Clovis artifacts discovered in Boaz, Wisconsin show that the Paleo-Indians hunted these large animals. They also gathered plants as conifer forests grew in the glaciers' wake. With the decline and extinction of many large mammals in the Americas, the Paleo-Indian diet shifted toward smaller mammals like deer and bison.

 

During the Archaic Period, from 6000 to 1000 BC, mixed conifer-hardwood forests as well as mixed prairie-forests replaced Wisconsin's conifer forests. People continued to depend on hunting and gathering. Around 4000 BC they developed spear-throwers and copper tools such as axes, adzes, projectile points, knives, perforators, fishhooks and harpoons. Copper ornaments like beaded necklaces also appeared around 1500 BC. These people gathered copper ore at quarries on the Keweenaw Peninsula in Michigan and on Isle Royale in Lake Superior. They may have crafted copper artifacts by hammering and folding the metal and also by heating it to increase its malleability. However it is not certain if these people reached the level of copper smelting. Regardless, the Copper Culture of the Great Lakes region reached a level of sophistication unprecedented in North America. The Late Archaic Period also saw the emergence of cemeteries and ritual burials, such as the one in Oconto.

 

The Early Woodland Period began in 1000 BC as plants became an increasingly important part of the people's diet. Small scale agriculture and pottery arrived in southern Wisconsin at this time. The primary crops were maize, beans and squash. Agriculture, however, could not sufficiently support these people, who also had to hunt and gather. Agriculture at this time was more akin to gardening than to farming. Villages emerged along rivers, streams and lakes, and the earliest earthen burial mounds were constructed. The Havana Hopewell culture arrived in Wisconsin in the Middle Woodland Period, settling along the Mississippi River. The Hopewell people connected Wisconsin to their trade practices, which stretched from Ohio to Yellowstone and from Wisconsin to the Gulf of Mexico. They constructed elaborate mounds, made elaborately decorated pottery and brought a wide range of traded minerals to the area. The Hopewell people may have influenced the other inhabitants of Wisconsin, rather than displacing them. The Late Woodland Period began in about 400 AD, following the disappearance of the Hopewell culture from the area. The people of Wisconsin first used the bow and arrow in the final centuries of the Woodland Period, and agriculture continued to be practiced in the southern part of the state. The effigy mound culture dominated Southern Wisconsin during this time, building earthen burial mounds in the shapes of animals. Examples of effigy mounds still exist at High Cliff State Park and at Lizard Mound County Park. In northern Wisconsin people continued to survive on hunting and gathering, and constructed conical mounds.

 

People of the Mississippian culture expanded into Wisconsin around 1050 AD and established a settlement at Aztalan along the Crawfish River. While begun by the Caddoan people, other cultures began to borrow & adapt the Mississippian cultural structure. This elaborately planned site may have been the northernmost outpost of Cahokia, although it is also now known that some Siouan peoples along the Mississippi River may have taken part in the culture as well. Regardless, the Mississippian site traded with and was clearly influenced in its civic and defensive planning, as well as culturally, by its much larger southern neighbor. A rectangular wood-and-clay stockade surrounded the twenty acre site, which contained two large earthen mounds and a central plaza. One mound may have been used for food storage, as a residence for high-ranking officials, or as a temple, and the other may have been used as a mortuary. The Mississippian culture cultivated maize intensively, and their fields probably stretched far beyond the stockade at Aztalan, although modern agriculture has erased any traces of Mississippian practices in the area. Some rumors also speculate that the people of Aztalan may have experimented slightly with stone architecture in the making of a man-made, stone-line pond, at the very least. While the first settler on the land of what is now the city supposedly reported this, he filled it in and it has yet to be rediscovered.

 

Both Woodland and Mississippian peoples inhabited Aztalan, which was connected to the extensive Mississippian trade network. Shells from the Gulf of Mexico, copper from Lake Superior and Mill Creek chert have been found at the site. Aztalan was abandoned around 1200 AD. The Oneota people later built agriculturally based villages, similar to those of the Mississippians but without the extensive trade networks, in the state.

 

By the time the first Europeans arrived in Wisconsin, the Oneota had disappeared. The historically documented inhabitants, as of the first European incursions, were the Siouan speaking Dakota Oyate to the northwest, the Chiwere speaking Ho-Chunk (Winnebago) and the Algonquian Menominee to the northeast, with their lands beginning approximately north of Green Bay. The Chiwere lands were south of Green Bay and followed rivers to the southwest. Over time, other tribes moved to Wisconsin, including the Ojibwe, the Illinois, the Fauk, the Sauk and the Mahican. The Mahican were one of the last groups to arrived, coming from New York after the U.S. congress passed the Indian Removal Act of 1830.

 

The first European known to have landed in Wisconsin was Jean Nicolet. In 1634, Samuel de Champlain, governor of New France, sent Nicolet to contact the Ho-Chunk people, make peace between them and the Huron and expand the fur trade, and possibly to also find a water route to Asia. Accompanied by seven Huron guides, Nicolet left New France and canoed through Lake Huron and Lake Superior, and then became the first European known to have entered Lake Michigan. Nicolet proceeded into Green Bay, which he named La Baie des Puants (literally "The Stinking Bay"), and probably came ashore near the Red Banks. He made contact with the Ho-Chunk and Menominee living in the area and established peaceful relations. Nicolet remained with the Ho-Chunk the winter before he returned to Quebec.

 

The Beaver Wars fought between the Iroquois and the French prevented French explorers from returning to Wisconsin until 1652–1654, when Pierre Radisson and Médard des Groseilliers arrived at La Baie des Puants to trade furs. They returned to Wisconsin in 1659–1660, this time at Chequamegon Bay on Lake Superior. On their second voyage they found that the Ojibwe had expanded into northern Wisconsin, as they continued to prosper in the fur trade. They also were the first Europeans to contact the Santee Dakota. They built a trading post and wintered near Ashland, before returning to Montreal.

 

In 1665 Claude-Jean Allouez, a Jesuit missionary, built a mission on Lake Superior. Five years later he abandoned the mission, and journeyed to La Baie des Puants. Two years later he built St. Francis Xavier Mission near present-day De Pere. In his journeys through Wisconsin, he encountered groups of Native Americans who had been displaced by Iroquois in the Beaver Wars. He evangelized the Algonquin-speaking Potawatomi, who had settled on the Door Peninsula after fleeing Iroquois attacks in Michigan. He also encountered the Algonquin-speaking Sauk, who had been forced into Michigan by the Iroquois, and then had been forced into central Wisconsin by the Ojibwe and the Huron.

 

The next major expedition into Wisconsin was that of Father Jacques Marquette and Louis Jolliet in 1673. After hearing rumors from Indians telling of the existence of the Mississippi River, Marquette and Joliet set out from St. Ignace, in what is now Michigan, and entered the Fox River at Green Bay. They canoed up the Fox until they reached the river's westernmost point, and then portaged, or carried their boats, to the nearby Wisconsin River, where they resumed canoeing downstream to the Mississippi River. Marquette and Joliet reached the Mississippi near what is now Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin in June, 1673.

 

Nicolas Perrot, French commander of the west, established Fort St. Nicholas at Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin in May, 1685, near the southwest end of the Fox-Wisconsin Waterway. Perrot also built a fort on the shores of Lake Pepin called Fort St. Antoine in 1686, and a second fort, called Fort Perrot, on an island on Lake Peppin shortly after. In 1727, Fort Beauharnois was constructed on what is now the Minnesota side of Lake Pepin to replace the two previous forts. A fort and a Jesuit mission were also built on the shores of Lake Superior at La Pointe, in present-day Wisconsin, in 1693 and operated until 1698. A second fort was built on the same site in 1718 and operated until 1759. These were not military posts, but rather small storehouses for furs.

 

During the French colonial period, the first black people came to Wisconsin. The first record of a black person comes from 1725, when a black slave was killed along with four Frenchmen in a Native American raid on Green Bay. Other French fur traders and military personnel brought slaves with them to Wisconsin later in 1700s.

 

None of the French posts had permanent settlers; fur traders and missionaries simply visited them from time to time to conduct business.

 

In the 1720s, the anti-French Fox tribe, led by war chief Kiala, raided French settlements on the Mississippi River and disrupted French trade on Lake Michigan. From 1728 to 1733, the Fox fought against the French-supported Potawatomi, Ojibwa, Huron and Ottawa tribes. In 1733, Kiala was captured and sold into slavery in the West Indies along with other captured Fox.

 

Before the war, the Fox tribe numbered 1500, but by 1733, only 500 Fox were left. As a result, the Fox joined the Sauk people.

 

The details are unclear, but this war appears to have been part of the conflict that expelled the Dakota & Illinois peoples out onto the Great Plains, causing further displacement of other Chiwere, Caddoan & Algonquian peoples there—including the ancestors of the Ioway, Osage, Pawnee, Arikara, A'ani, Arapaho, Hidatsa, Cheyenne & Blackfoot.

 

The British gradually took over Wisconsin during the French and Indian War, taking control of Green Bay in 1761, gaining control of all of Wisconsin in 1763, and annexing the area to the Province of Quebec in 1774. Like the French, the British were interested in little but the fur trade. One notable event in the fur trading industry in Wisconsin occurred in 1791, when two free African Americans set up a fur trading post among the Menominee at present day Marinette. The first permanent settlers, mostly French Canadians, some Anglo-New Englanders and a few African American freedmen, arrived in Wisconsin while it was under British control. Charles Michel de Langlade is generally recognized as the first settler, establishing a trading post at Green Bay in 1745, and moving there permanently in 1764. In 1766 the Royal Governor of the new territory, Robert Rogers, engaged Jonathan Carver to explore and map the newly acquired territories for the Crown, and to search for a possible Northwest Passage. Carver left Fort Michilimackinac that spring and spent the next three years exploring and mapping what is now Wisconsin and parts of Minnesota.

 

Settlement began at Prairie du Chien around 1781. The French residents at the trading post in what is now Green Bay, referred to the town as "La Bey", however British fur traders referred to it as "Green Bay", because the water and the shore assumed green tints in early spring. The old French title was gradually dropped, and the British name of "Green Bay" eventually stuck. The region coming under British rule had virtually no adverse effect on the French residents as the British needed the cooperation of the French fur traders and the French fur traders needed the goodwill of the British. During the French occupation of the region licenses for fur trading had been issued scarcely and only to select groups of traders, whereas the British, in an effort to make as much money as possible from the region, issued licenses for fur trading freely, both to British and French residents. The fur trade in what is now Wisconsin reached its height under British rule, and the first self-sustaining farms in the state were established at this time as well. From 1763 to 1780, Green Bay was a prosperous community which produced its own foodstuff, built graceful cottages and held dances and festivities.

 

The United States acquired Wisconsin in the Treaty of Paris (1783). Massachusetts claimed the territory east of the Mississippi River between the present-day Wisconsin-Illinois border and present-day La Crosse, Wisconsin. Virginia claimed the territory north of La Crosse to Lake Superior and all of present-day Minnesota east of the Mississippi River. Shortly afterward, in 1787, the Americans made Wisconsin part of the new Northwest Territory. Later, in 1800, Wisconsin became part of Indiana Territory. Despite the fact that Wisconsin belonged to the United States at this time, the British continued to control the local fur trade and maintain military alliances with Wisconsin Indians in an effort to stall American expansion westward by creating a pro-British Indian barrier state.

 

The United States did not firmly exercise control over Wisconsin until the War of 1812. In 1814, the Americans built Fort Shelby at Prairie du Chien. During the war, the Americans and British fought one battle in Wisconsin, the July, 1814 Siege of Prairie du Chien, which ended as a British victory. The British captured Fort Shelby and renamed it Fort McKay, after Major William McKay, the British commander who led the forces that won the Battle of Prairie du Chien. However, the 1815 Treaty of Ghent reaffirmed American jurisdiction over Wisconsin, which was by then a part of Illinois Territory. Following the treaty, British troops burned Fort McKay, rather than giving it back to the Americans, and departed Wisconsin. To protect Prairie du Chien from future attacks, the United States Army constructed Fort Crawford in 1816, on the same site as Fort Shelby. Fort Howard was also built in 1816 in Green Bay.

 

Significant American settlement in Wisconsin, a part of Michigan Territory beginning in 1818, was delayed by two Indian wars, the minor Winnebago War of 1827 and the larger Black Hawk War of 1832.

 

The Winnebago War started when, in 1826, two Winnebago men were detained at Fort Crawford on charges of murder and then transferred to Fort Snelling in present-day Minnesota. The Winnebago in the area believed that both men had been executed. On June 27, 1827, a Winnebago war band led by Chief Red Bird and the prophet White Cloud (Wabokieshiek) attacked a family of settlers outside of Prairie du Chien, killing two. They then went on to attack two keel-boats on the Mississippi River that were heading toward Fort Snelling, killing two settlers and injuring four more. Seven Winnebago warriors were killed in those attacks. The war band also attacked settlers on the lower Wisconsin River and the lead mines at Galena, Illinois. The war band surrendered at Portage, Wisconsin, rather than fighting the United States Army that was pursuing them.

 

In the Black Hawk War, Sac, Fox, and Kickapoo Native Americans, otherwise known as the British Band, led by Chief Black Hawk, who had been relocated from Illinois to Iowa, attempted to resettle in their Illinois homeland on April 5, 1832, in violation of Treaty. On May 10 Chief Black Hawk decided to go back to Iowa. On May 14, Black Hawk's forces met with a group of militiamen led by Isaiah Stillman. All three members of Black Hawk's parley were shot and one was killed. The Battle of Stillman's Run ensued, leaving twelve militiamen and three to five Sac and Fox warriors dead. Of the fifteen battles of the war, six took place in Wisconsin. The other nine as well as several smaller skirmishes took place in Illinois. The first confrontation to take place in Wisconsin was the first attack on Fort Blue Mounds on June 6, in which one member of the local militia was killed outside of the fort. There was also the Spafford Farm Massacre on June 14, the Battle of Horseshoe Bend on June 16, which was a United States victory, the second attack on Fort Blue Mounds on June 20, and the Sinsinawa Mound raid on June 29. The Native Americans were defeated at the Battle of Wisconsin Heights on July 21, with forty to seventy killed and only one killed on the United States side. The Ho Chunk Nation fought on the side of the United States. The Black Hawk War ended with the Battle of Bad Axe on August 1–2, with over 150 of the British Band dead and 75 captured and only five killed in the United States forces. Those crossing the Mississippi were killed by Lakota, American and Ho Chunk Forces. Many of the British Band survivors were handed over to the United States on August 20 by the Lakota Tribe, with the exception of Black Hawk, who had retreated into Vernon County, Wisconsin and White Cloud, who surrendered on August 27, 1832. Black Hawk was captured by Decorah south of Bangor, Wisconsin, south of the headwaters of the La Crosse River. He was then sold to the U.S. military at Prairie du Chien, accepted by future Confederate president, Stephen Davis, who was a soldier at the time. Black Hawk's tribe had killed his daughter. Black Hawk moved back to Iowa in 1833, after being held prisoner by the United States government.

 

The Francois Vertefeuille House in Prairie du Chien was built in the 1810s by fur traders. A rare example of the pièce-sur-pièce à coulisse technique once common in French-Canadian architecture, it is one of the oldest buildings in the state and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

 

The Cornish immigrants who worked in Wisconsin's lead mines build simple stone cabins from limestone. Six cabins are preserved at the Pendarvis Historic Site in Mineral Point.

The resolution of these Indian conflicts opened the way for Wisconsin's settlement. Many of the region's first settlers were drawn by the prospect of lead mining in southwest Wisconsin. This area had traditionally been mined by Native Americans. However, after a series of treaties removed the Indians, the lead mining region was opened to white miners. Thousands rushed in from across the country to dig for the "gray gold". By 1829, 4,253 miners and 52 licensed smelting works were in the region. Expert miners from Cornwall in Britain informed a large part of the wave of immigrants. Boom towns like Mineral Point, Platteville, Shullsburg, Belmont, and New Diggings sprang up around mines. The first two federal land offices in Wisconsin were opened in 1834 at Green Bay and at Mineral Point. By the 1840s, southwest Wisconsin mines were producing more than half of the nation's lead, which was no small amount, as the United States was producing annually some 31 million pounds of lead. Wisconsin was dubbed the "Badger State" because of the lead miners who first settled there in the 1820s and 1830s. Without shelter in the winter, they had to "live like badgers" in tunnels burrowed into hillsides.

 

Although the lead mining area drew the first major wave of settlers, its population would soon be eclipsed by growth in Milwaukee. Milwaukee, along with Sheboygan, Manitowoc, and Kewaunee, can be traced back to a series of trading posts established by the French trader Jacques Vieau in 1795. Vieau's post at the mouth of the Milwaukee River was purchased in 1820 by Solomon Juneau, who had visited the area as early as 1818. Juneau moved to what is now Milwaukee and took over the trading post's operation in 1825.

 

When the fur trade began to decline, Juneau focused on developing the land around his trading post. In the 1830s, he formed a partnership with Green Bay lawyer Morgan Martin, and the two men bought 160 acres (0.6 km2) of land between Lake Michigan and the Milwaukee River. There they founded the settlement of Juneautown. Meanwhile, an Ohio businessman named Byron Kilbourn began to invest in the land west of the Milwaukee River, forming the settlement of Kilbourntown. South of these two settlements, George H. Walker founded the town of Walker's Point in 1835. Each of these three settlements engaged in a fierce competition to attract the most residents and become the largest of the three towns. In 1840, the Wisconsin State Legislature ordered the construction of a bridge over the Milwaukee River to replace the inadequate ferry system. In 1845, Byron Kilbourn, who had been trying to isolate Juneautown to make it more dependent on Kilbourntown, destroyed a portion of the bridge, which started the Milwaukee Bridge War. For several weeks, skirmishes broke out between the residents of both towns. No one was killed but several people were injured, some seriously. On January 31, 1846, the settlements of Juneautown, Kilbourntown, and Walker's Point merged into the incorporated city of Milwaukee. Solomon Juneau was elected mayor. The new city had a population of about 10,000 people, making it the largest city in the territory. Milwaukee remains the largest city in Wisconsin to this day.

 

Wisconsin Territory was created by an act of the United States Congress on April 20, 1836. By fall of that year, the best prairie groves of the counties surrounding Milwaukee were occupied by New England farmers. The new territory initially included all of the present day states of Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Iowa, as well as parts of North and South Dakota. At the time the Congress called it the "Wiskonsin Territory".

 

The first territorial governor of Wisconsin was Henry Dodge. He and other territorial lawmakers were initially busied by organizing the territory's government and selecting a capital city. The selection of a location to build a capitol caused a heated debate among the territorial politicians. At first, Governor Dodge selected Belmont, located in the heavily populated lead mining district, to be capital. Shortly after the new legislature convened there, however, it became obvious that Wisconsin's first capitol was inadequate. Numerous other suggestions for the location of the capital were given representing nearly every city that existed in the territory at the time, and Governor Dodge left the decision up to the other lawmakers. The legislature accepted a proposal by James Duane Doty to build a new city named Madison on an isthmus between lakes Mendota and Monona and put the territory's permanent capital there. In 1837, while Madison was being built, the capitol was temporarily moved to Burlington. This city was transferred to Iowa Territory in 1838, along with all the lands of Wisconsin Territory west of the Mississippi River.

 

Wyman calls Wisconsin a "palimpsest" of layer upon layer of peoples and forces, each imprinting permanent influences. He identified these layers as multiple "frontiers" over three centuries: Native American frontier, French frontier, English frontier, fur-trade frontier, mining frontier, and the logging frontier. Finally the coming of the railroad brought the end of the frontier.

 

The historian of the frontier, Frederick Jackson Turner, grew up in Wisconsin during its last frontier stage, and in his travels around the state he could see the layers of social and political development. One of Turner's last students, Merle Curti used in-depth analysis of local history in Trempealeau County to test Turner's thesis about democracy. Turner's view was that American democracy, "involved widespread participation in the making of decisions affecting the common life, the development of initiative and self-reliance, and equality of economic and cultural opportunity. It thus also involved Americanization of immigrant." Curti found that from 1840 to 1860 in Wisconsin the poorest groups gained rapidly in land ownership, and often rose to political leadership at the local level. He found that even landless young farm workers were soon able to obtain their own farms. Free land on the frontier therefore created opportunity and democracy, for both European immigrants as well as old stock Yankees.

 

By the mid-1840s, the population of Wisconsin Territory had exceeded 150,000, more than twice the number of people required for Wisconsin to become a state. In 1846, the territorial legislature voted to apply for statehood. That fall, 124 delegates debated the state constitution. The document produced by this convention was considered extremely progressive for its time. It banned commercial banking, granted married women the right to own property, and left the question of African-American suffrage to a popular vote. Most Wisconsinites considered the first constitution to be too radical, however, and voted it down in an April 1847 referendum.

 

In December 1847, a second constitutional convention was called. This convention resulted in a new, more moderate state constitution that Wisconsinites approved in a March 1848 referendum, enabling Wisconsin to become the 30th state on May 29, 1848. Wisconsin was the last state entirely east of the Mississippi River (and by extension the last state formed entirely from territory assigned to the U.S. in the 1783 Treaty of Paris) to be admitted to the Union.

 

With statehood, came the creation of the University of Wisconsin–Madison, which is the state's oldest public university. The creation of this university was set aside in the state charter.

 

In 1847, the Mineral Point Tribune reported that the town's furnaces were producing 43,800 pounds (19,900 kg) of lead each day. Lead mining in southwest Wisconsin began to decline after 1848 and 1849 when the combination of less easily accessible lead ore and the California Gold Rush made miners leave the area. The lead mining industry in mining communities such as Mineral Point managed to survive into the 1860s, but the industry was never as prosperous as it was before the decline.

 

By 1850 Wisconsin's population was 305,000. Roughly a third (103,000) were Yankees from New England and western New York state. The second largest group were the Germans, numbering roughly 38,000, followed by 28,000 British immigrants from England, Scotland and Wales. There were roughly 63,000 Wisconsin-born residents of the state. The Yankee migrants would be the dominant political class in Wisconsin for many years.

 

A railroad frenzy swept Wisconsin shortly after it achieved statehood. The first railroad line in the state was opened between Milwaukee and Waukesha in 1851 by the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad. The railroad pushed on, reaching Milton, Wisconsin in 1852, Stoughton, Wisconsin in 1853, and the capital city of Madison in 1854. The company reached its goal of completing a rail line across the state from Lake Michigan to the Mississippi River when the line to Prairie du Chien was completed in 1857. Shortly after this, other railroad companies completed their own tracks, reaching La Crosse in the west and Superior in the north, spurring development in those cities. By the end of the 1850s, railroads crisscrossed the state, enabling the growth of other industries that could now easily ship products to markets across the country.

 

Nelson Dewey, the first governor of Wisconsin, was a Democrat. Born in Lebanon, Connecticut, Dewey's father's family had lived in New England since 1633, when their ancestor, Thomas Due, had come to America from Kent County, England. Dewey oversaw the transition from the territorial to the new state government. He encouraged the development of the state's infrastructure, particularly the construction of new roads, railroads, canals, and harbors, as well as the improvement of the Fox and Wisconsin Rivers. During his administration, the State Board of Public Works was organized. Dewey was an abolitionist and the first of many Wisconsin governors to advocate against the spread of slavery into new states and territories. The home Dewey built near Cassville is now a state park.

 

Between 1848 and 1862, Wisconsin had three Democratic governors, all of whom were in office prior to 1856, four Republican governors, all of whom were in office after 1856, and one Whig governor, Leonard J. Farwell, who served from 1852 to 1854. Under Farwell's governorship, Wisconsin became the second state to abolish capital punishment.

 

In the presidential elections of 1848 and 1852, the Democratic Party won Wisconsin. In the elections of 1856, 1860, and 1864, the Republican Party won the state.

 

Between the 1840s and 1860s, settlers from New England, New York and Germany arrived in Wisconsin. Some of them brought radical political ideas to the state. In the 1850s, stop-overs on the underground railroad were set up in the state and abolitionist groups were formed. Some abolitionist and free-soil activists left the Whig and Democratic parties, running and in some cases being elected as candidates of the Liberty Party and Free Soil Party. The most successful such group was the Republican Party. On March 20, 1854, the first county meeting of the Republican Party of the United States, consisting of about thirty people, was held in the Little White Schoolhouse in Ripon, Wisconsin. Ripon claims to be the birthplace of the Republican Party, as does Jackson, Michigan, where the first statewide convention was held. The new party absorbed most of the former Free Soil and Liberty Party members.

 

A notable instance of abolitionism in Wisconsin was the rescue of Joshua Glover, an escaped slave from St. Louis who sought refuge in Racine, Wisconsin in 1852. He was caught in 1854 by federal marshals and put in a jail at Cathedral Square in Milwaukee, where he waited to be returned to his owner. A mob of 5,000 people led by Milwaukee abolitionist Sherman Booth, himself a "Yankee" transplant from rural New York, sprung Glover from jail and helped him escape to Canada via the underground railroad.

 

In the 1850s, two-thirds of immigrants to Wisconsin came from the eastern United States, the other one-third being foreign-born. The majority of the foreign born were German immigrants. Many Irish and Norwegian immigrants also came to Wisconsin in the 1850s. Northern Europeans, many of whom were persecuted in their home countries because of their support for the failed bourgeois Revolutions of 1848, often chose Wisconsin because of the liberal constitution of human rights such as the state's unusual recognition of immigrants' right to vote and rights to citizenship.

 

Yankee settlers from New England started arriving in Wisconsin in the 1830s spread throughout the southern half of the territory. They dominated early politics. Most of them started as farmers, but the larger proportion moved to towns and cities as entrepreneurs, businessmen and professionals.

 

Historian John Bunker has examined the worldview of the Yankee settlers in the Wisconsin:

 

Because they arrived first and had a strong sense of community and mission, Yankees were able to transplant New England institutions, values, and mores, altered only by the conditions of frontier life. They established a public culture that emphasized the work ethic, the sanctity of private property, individual responsibility, faith in residential and social mobility, practicality, piety, public order and decorum, reverence for public education, activists, honest, and frugal government, town meeting democracy, and he believed that there was a public interest that transcends particular and stick ambitions. Regarding themselves as the elect and just in a world rife with sin, air, and corruption, they felt a strong moral obligation to define and enforce standards of community and personal behavior....This pietistic worldview was substantially shared by British, Scandinavian, Swiss, English-Canadian and Dutch Reformed immigrants, as well as by German Protestants and many of the "Forty-Niners."

 

The color guard of the Wisconsin 8th Infantry with Old Abe

Wisconsin enrolled 91,379 soldiers in the Union Army during the American Civil War. 272 of enlisted Wisconsin troops were African American, with the rest being white. Of these, 3,794 were killed in action or mortally wounded, 8,022 died of disease, and 400 were killed in accidents. The total mortality was 12,216 men, about 13.4 percent of total enlistments. Many soldiers trained at Camp Randall currently the site of the University of Wisconsin's athletic stadium.

 

The draft implemented by President Lincoln in 1862 was unpopular in some Wisconsin communities, particularly among German and Luxembourgish immigrants. In November 1862, draft riots broke out in Milwaukee, Port Washington, and West Bend, which were quelled by deploying U.S. troops in the cities.

 

Most Wisconsin troops served in the western theater, although several Wisconsin regiments fought in the east, such as the 2nd Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry Regiment, 6th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry Regiment, and 7th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry Regiment, which formed part of the Iron Brigade. These three regiments fought in the Northern Virginia Campaign, the Maryland Campaign, the Battle of Fredericksburg, the Battle of Chancellorsville, the Gettysburg Campaign, the Battle of Mine Run, the Overland Campaign, the Siege of Petersburg, and the Appomattox Campaign.

 

The 8th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry Regiment, which fought in the western theater of war, is also worthy of mention, having fought at the Battle of Iuka, the Siege of Vicksburg, the Red River Campaign, and the Battle of Nashville. The 8th Wisconsin is also known for its mascot, Old Abe.

 

Agriculture was a major component of the Wisconsin economy during the 19th century. Wheat was a primary crop on early Wisconsin farms. In fact, during the mid 19th century, Wisconsin produced about one sixth of the wheat grown in the United States. However, wheat rapidly depleted nutrients in the soil, especially nitrogen, and was vulnerable to insects, bad weather, and wheat leaf rust. In the 1860s, chinch bugs arrived in Wisconsin and damaged wheat across the state. As the soil lost its quality and prices dropped, the practice of wheat farming moved west into Iowa and Minnesota. Some Wisconsin farmers responded by experimenting with crop rotation and other methods to restore the soil's fertility, but a larger number turned to alternatives to wheat.

 

In parts of northern Wisconsin, farmers cultivated cranberries and in a few counties in south central Wisconsin, farmers had success growing tobacco, but the most popular replacement for wheat was dairy farming. As wheat fell out of favor, many Wisconsin farmers started raising dairy cattle and growing feed crops, which were better suited to Wisconsin's climate and soil. One reason for the popularity of dairy farming was that many of Wisconsin's farmers had come to the state from New York, the leading producer of dairy products at the time. In addition, many immigrants from Europe brought an extensive knowledge of cheese making. Dairying was also promoted by the University of Wisconsin–Madison's school of agriculture, which offered education to dairy farmers and researched ways to produce better dairy products. The first test of butterfat content in milk was developed at the university, which allowed for consistency in the quality of butter and cheese. By 1899, over ninety percent of Wisconsin farms raised dairy cows and by 1915, Wisconsin had become the leading producer of dairy products in the United States, a position it held until the 1990s. The term America's Dairyland appeared in newspapers as early as 1913 when the state's butterfat production became first in the nation. In 1939 the state legislature enacted a bill to add the slogan to the state's automobile license plates. It continues to be the nation's largest producer of cheese, no longer focusing on the raw material (milk) but rather the value-added products. Because of this, Wisconsin continues to promote itself as "America's Dairyland", Wisconsinites are referred to as cheeseheads in some parts of the country, including Wisconsin, and foam cheesehead hats are associated with Wisconsin and its NFL team, the Green Bay Packers.

 

The first brewery in Wisconsin was opened in 1835 in Mineral Point by brewer John Phillips. A year later, he opened a second brewery in Elk Grove. In 1840, the first brewery in Milwaukee was opened by Richard G. Owens, William Pawlett, and John Davis, all Welsh immigrants. By 1860, nearly 200 breweries operated in Wisconsin, more than 40 of them in Milwaukee. The huge growth in the brewing industry can be accredited, in part, to the influx of German immigrants to Wisconsin in the 1840s and 1850s. Milwaukee breweries also grew in volume due to the destruction of Chicago's breweries during the great Chicago fire. In the second half of the 19th century, four of the largest breweries in the United States opened in Milwaukee: Miller Brewing Company, Pabst Brewing Company, Valentin Blatz Brewing Company, and Joseph Schlitz Brewing Company. In the 20th century Pabst absorbed Blatz and Schlitz, and moved its brewery and corporate headquarters to California. Miller continues to operate in Milwaukee. The Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Company opened in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin in 1867 and continues to operate there to this day.

 

Agriculture was not viable in the densely forested northern and central parts of Wisconsin. Settlers came to this region for logging. The timber industry first set up along the Wisconsin River. Rivers were used to transport lumber from where the wood was being cut, to the sawmills. Sawmills in cities like Wausau and Stevens Point sawed the lumber into boards that were used for construction. The Wolf River also saw considerable logging by industrious Menominee. The Black and Chippewa Rivers formed a third major logging region. That area was dominated by one company owned by Frederick Weyerhaeuser. The construction of railroads allowed loggers to log year round, after rivers froze, and go deeper into the forests to cut down previously unshippable wood supplies. Wood products from Wisconsin's forests such as doors, furniture, beams, shipping boxes, and ships were made in industrial cities with connects to the Wisconsin lumber industry such as Chicago, Milwaukee, Sheboygan, and Manitowoc. Milwaukee and Manitowoc were centers for commercial ship building in Wisconsin. Many cargo ships built in these communities were used to transport lumber from logging ports to major industrial cities. Later a growing paper industry in the Fox River Valley made use of wood pulp from the state's lumber industry.

 

Logging was a dangerous trade, with high accident rates. On October 8, 1871, the Peshtigo Fire burned 1,875 square miles (4,850 km2) of forest land around the timber industry town of Peshtigo, Wisconsin, killing between 1,200 and 2,500 people. It was the deadliest fire in United States history.

 

From the 1870s to the 1890s, much of the logging in Wisconsin was done by immigrants from Scandinavia.

 

By the beginning of the twentieth century, logging in Wisconsin had gone into decline. Many forests had been cleared and never replanted and large corporations in the Pacific Northwest took business away from the Wisconsin industry. The logging companies sold their land to immigrants and out of work lumberjacks who hoped to turn the acres of pine stumps into farms, but few met with success.

 

Wisconsin is known in the 18th century to have discovered gold deposits in western Wisconsin. Such discoveries occurred around the town of St. Croix Falls where a settler stumbled across a gold nugget valued to be worth lots at the time. It's no surprise Wisconsin's western region was once the site of volcanic eruptions so it makes sense that minerals that weren't commonly found in other parts of the state would be present here.

 

Wisconsin was a regional and national model for innovation and organization in the Progressive Era in the early 20th century. The direct primary law of 1904 made it possible to mobilize voters against the previously dominant political machines. The first factors involved the La Follette family going back and forth between trying control of the Republican Party and third-party activity. Secondly the Wisconsin idea, of intellectuals and planners based at the University of Wisconsin shaping government policy. LaFollette started as a traditional Republican in the 1890s, where he fought against populism and other radical movements. He broke decisively with the state Republican leadership, and took control of the party by 1900, all the time quarrelling endlessly with ex-allies.

 

Wisconsin at this time was a de facto one party state, as the Democratic Party was then a minor conservative group in the state. Serious opposition more often than not came from the Socialist Party, with a strong German and union constituency in Milwaukee. The socialists often collaborated with the progressive Republicans in statewide politics. Senator Robert M. La Follette tried to use his national reputation to challenge President Taft for the Republican nomination in 1912. However, as soon as Roosevelt declared his candidacy, most of La Follette's supporters switched to the former president. During the Wilson administration he supported many of Wilson's domestic programs in Congress, however he strongly opposed Wilson's foreign policy, and mobilized the large German and Scandinavian populations in Wisconsin to demand neutrality during World War I. During the final years of his career, he split with the Republican Party and ran an independent campaign for president in 1924. In his bid for the presidency he won 1/6 of the national popular vote, but was only able to win his home state.

 

Following his death, his two sons assumed control of the Wisconsin Republican Party after a brief period of intraparty factional disputes. Following in their father's footsteps they helped form the Wisconsin Progressive Party, in many ways a spiritual successor to the party La Follette had founded in 1924. The party surged to popularity during the mid-1930s off of the inaction of the moderately conservative Schmedeman administration, and were able to gain the support of then president Franklin D. Roosevelt. Much of the new party's support could be owed to the personalities leading it, and the support of Roosevelt and progressive Democrats. The party saw success across Wisconsin's elected offices in the state and congress. Despite its popularity the party eventually declined as Philip, engulfed in scandal and accusations of authoritarianism and fiscal responsibility, lost re-election for the final time in 1938. Following this defeat Philip left electoral politics and joined World War II in the Pacific Theater. Due to joining the war, the National Progressives of America, an organization the La Follettes had hoped would precede a national realignment, faltered. Both organizations began to tear themselves apart as La Follette's absence led to vicious intraparty fighting which ultimately led to a vote to dissolve itself, which Philip was told to stay away from.

 

The Wisconsin Idea was the commitment of the University of Wisconsin under President Charles R. Van Hise, with LaFollette support, to use the university's powerful intellectual resources to develop practical progressive reforms for the state and indeed for the nation.

 

Between 1901 and 1911, Progressive Republicans in Wisconsin created the nation's first comprehensive statewide primary election system, the first effective workplace injury compensation law, and the first state income tax, making taxation proportional to actual earnings. The key leaders were Robert M. La Follette and (in 1910) Governor Francis E. McGovern. However, in 1912 McGovern supported Roosevelt for president and LaFollette was outraged. He made sure the next legislature defeated the governor's programs, and that McGovern was defeated in his bid for the Senate in 1914. The Progressive movement split into hostile factions. Some was based on personalities—especially La Follette's style of violent personal attacks against other Progressives, and some was based on who should pay, with the division between farmers (who paid property taxes) and the urban element (which paid income taxes). This disarray enabled the conservatives (called "Stalwarts") to elect Emanuel Philipp as governor in 1914. The Stalwart counterattack said the Progressives were too haughty, too beholden to experts, too eager to regulate, and too expensive. Economy and budget cutting was their formula.

 

During World War I, due to the neutrality of Wisconsin and many Wisconsin Republicans, progressives, and German immigrants which made up 30 to 40 percent of the state population, Wisconsin would gain the nickname "Traitor State" which was used by many "hyper patriots".

 

As the war raged on in Europe, Robert M. La Follette, leader of the anti-war movement in Wisconsin, led a group of progressive senators in blocking a bill by president Woodrow Wilson which would have armed merchant ships with guns. Many Wisconsin politicians such as Governor Phillipp and senator Irvine Lernroot were accused of having divided loyalties. Even with outspoken opponents to the war, at the onset of the war many Wisconsinites would abandon neutrality. Businesses, labor and farms all enjoyed prosperity from the war. With over 118,000 going into military service, Wisconsin was the first state to report for four national drafts conducted by the U.S. military.

 

The progressive Wisconsin Idea promoted the use of the University of Wisconsin faculty as intellectual resources for state government, and as guides for local government. It promoted expansion of the university through the UW-Extension system to reach all the state's farming communities. University economics professors John R. Commons and Harold Groves enabled Wisconsin to create the first unemployment compensation program in the United States in 1932. Other Wisconsin Idea scholars at the university generated the plan that became the New Deal's Social Security Act of 1935, with Wisconsin expert Arthur J. Altmeyer playing the key role. The Stalwarts counterattacked by arguing if the university became embedded in the state, then its internal affairs became fair game, especially the faculty preference for advanced research over undergraduate teaching. The Stalwarts controlled the Regents, and their interference in academic freedom outraged the faculty. Historian Frederick Jackson Turner, the most famous professor, quit and went to Harvard.

 

Wisconsin took part in several political extremes in the mid to late 20th century, ranging from the anti-communist crusades of Senator Joseph McCarthy in the 1950s to the radical antiwar protests at UW-Madison that culminated in the Sterling Hall bombing in August 1970. The state became a leader in welfare reform under Republican Governor Tommy Thompson during the 1990s. The state's economy also underwent further transformations towards the close of the 20th century, as heavy industry and manufacturing declined in favor of a service economy based on medicine, education, agribusiness, and tourism.

 

In 2011, Wisconsin became the focus of some controversy when newly elected governor Scott Walker proposed and then successfully passed and enacted 2011 Wisconsin Act 10, which made large changes in the areas of collective bargaining, compensation, retirement, health insurance, and sick leave of public sector employees, among other changes. A series of major protests by union supporters took place that year in protest to the changes, and Walker survived a recall election held the next year, becoming the first governor in United States history to do so. Walker enacted other bills promoting conservative governance, such as a right-to-work law, abortion restrictions, and legislation removing certain gun controls. Walker's administration also made critical changes to Wisconsin's election process, enacting one of the most aggressive legislative gerrymanders in the country and replacing Wisconsin's nonpartisan state elections board with a commission of political appointees. When Walker lost re-election in 2018, he collaborated with the gerrymandered Republican legislature to strip powers from the incoming Governor and Attorney General. Since 2011, Wisconsin has seen increasing governmental dysfunction and paralysis, as the durable gerrymander insulated the legislature from electoral consequences.

 

Following the election of Tony Evers as governor in 2018, Wisconsin has seen a string of liberal victories at every level of government which have slowly chipped away at the conservative dominance within the state. This eventually led to the Wisconsin supreme court overturning the Walker-era legislative gerrymander in Clarke v. Wisconsin Elections Commission.

+++ 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 Focke-Wulf Fw 190 Würger (English: Shrike) was a German single-seat, single-engine fighter aircraft designed by Kurt Tank in the late 1930s and widely used during World War II. Along with its well-known counterpart, the Messerschmitt Bf 109, the Fw 190 became the backbone of the Luftwaffe's Jagdwaffe (Fighter Force). The twin-row BMW 801 radial engine that powered most operational versions enabled the Fw 190 to lift larger loads than the Bf 109, allowing its use as a day fighter, fighter-bomber, ground-attack aircraft and, to a lesser degree, night fighter.

 

The Fw 190A started flying operationally over France in August 1941, and quickly proved superior in all but turn radius to the Royal Air Force's main front-line fighter, the Spitfire Mk. V, particularly at low and medium altitudes. The 190 maintained superiority over Allied fighters until the introduction of the improved Spitfire Mk. IX. In November/December 1942, the Fw 190 made its air combat debut on the Eastern Front, finding much success in fighter wings and specialized ground attack units called Schlachtgeschwader (Battle Wings or Strike Wings) from October 1943 onwards. The Fw 190 provided greater firepower than the Bf 109 and, at low to medium altitude, superior manoeuvrability, in the opinion of German pilots who flew both fighters.

 

The Fw 190A series' performance decreased at high altitudes (usually 6,000 m (20,000 ft) and above), which reduced its effectiveness as a high-altitude interceptor. From the Fw 190's inception, there had been ongoing efforts to address this with a turbo-supercharged BMW 801 in the B model, the much longer-nosed C model with efforts to also turbocharge its chosen Daimler-Benz DB 603 inverted V12 powerplant, and the similarly long-nosed D model with the Junkers Jumo 213. Problems with the turbocharger installations on the -B and -C subtypes meant only the D model would enter service, doing so in September 1944. While these "long nose" versions gave the Germans parity with Allied opponents, they arrived far too late in the war to have any real effect. The situation became more and more dire, so that, by early 1945, an emergency fighter variant, the Fw 190E, was rushed into production and service.

 

The Fw 190E was based on the extended D model airframe, and actually surplus airframes from the type’s production lines were converted, because its Jumo 213 inline engine was short in supply. Instead, a conversion kit for the DB 605D powerplant (the engine for the Bf 109 K) was devised in the course of just six weeks, which included a modified engine frame and a radiator bath with its respective plumbing, which would be installed under the cockpit. The rationale behind this decision was that developing a new annular radiator and engine cover would have taken too much time – and while the ventral radiator was not the aerodynamically most efficient solution, it was the most simple way to create an urgently needed high-performance fighter.

 

The DB 605D, with its Single-stage variable-speed centrifugal type supercharger and a methanol-water injection system, created an impressive performance: Using MW 50 and maximum boost, the Fw 190E was able to reach a maximum level speed of 710 km/h (440 mph) at 7,500 m (24,600 ft) altitude. Without MW 50 and using 1.80 ata, the E model still reached 670 km/h (416 mph) at 9,000 m (30,000 ft). The Initial Rate of climb was 850 m (2,790 ft)/min without MW 50 and 1,080 m (3,540 ft)/min, using MW 50. While the E model’s top speed was slightly higher than the D-9’s with its Jumo 213, it could only be achieved at lower altitudes.

 

The Fw 190E’s radio equipment was the FuG 16ZY, and the FuG 25a Erstling IFF system, as well as the FuG 125 Hermine D/F equipment, were also fitted. Internally, the oxygen bottles were relocated from the rear fuselage to the right wing.

Armament of the Fw 190E consisted of two, synchronized 13 mm (0.51 in) MG 131s in the nose with 475 RPG, firing though the propeller disc, and two more synchronized 20mm (0.78 in) MG 151/20 machine cannon with 250 RPG were mounted in the wing roots. Theoretically, a 30 mm (1.2 in) MK 108 engine-mounted cannon (Motorkanone) with 65 rounds was mounted (in the initial E-1 variant), too, but this weapon was hardly available at all (almost the complete production of the MK 108 was allocated to Me 262 and other jet fighters’ production) and it often jammed while the aircraft was manoeuvring in battle – so it was frequently removed in order to save weight, or replaced by an MK 151/20 with 100 rounds from the start (in the E-2 variant see below).

This impressive basic weaponry could even be augmented: two more cannons could be installed in the outer wings with the help of modification kits (either MG 151/20 or MK 108 with Rüstsatz R2 or R3, respectively), but this rarely happened because the weapons were not available at all. A more typical and very common modification, applied at the factory, was the Rüstsatz R1, which included racks and fusing equipment for fitting a 250 kg (550 lb) bomb or a 300l drop tank under each wing. An underfuselage hardpoint was not possible to fit, due to the ventral radiator fairing.

 

Production of the E-1 model started hastily at Fock Wulf’s Soltau plant in February 1945, and the first machines, which were immediately transferred, suffered from severe integration problems and poor manufacturing quality, even resulting in fatal losses as aircraft disintegrated in flight. After just 26 completed aircraft, production was stopped and switched to the E-2 variant in April, which, beyond a simplified gun armament, also incorporated technical improvements that eventually improved reliability to a normal level. Until the end of hostilities, probably 120 Fw 190E-2 were produced, with 50 more in various states of assembly in several factories, and probably 80 machines were operationally used at the Western front and for the defence of Berlin. A handful of these machines were also modified with a pair of vertical Rb 50/30 cameras (Rüstsatz R6) in the rear fuselage for low and medium altitude reconnaissance duties.

A planned high performance E-3 with a 2.250 hp DB 605 engine and a reduced armament (only three MG 1515/20) as well as a high altitude E-4 with a DB 603 engine, a pressurized cockpit and extended wings never materialized..

  

General characteristics:

Crew: 1

Length: 10.20 m (33 ft 5½ in)

Wingspan: 10.50 m (34 ft 5 in)

Height: 3.35 m (11 ft 0 in)

Wing area: 18.30 m² (196.99 ft²)

Empty weight: 3,490 kg (7,694 lb)

Loaded weight: 4,270 kg (9,413 lb)

Max. takeoff weight: 4,840 kg (10,670 lb)

 

Powerplant:

1× Daimler Benz DB 605 12-cylinder inverted-Vee piston engine rated at 1.800 PS (1.295 kW)

and a temporary emergency output of 2.050 HP (1.475 kW) with MW 50 injection

 

Performance:

Maximum speed: 710 km/h (440 mph) at 7,500 m (24,600 ft) altitude

Range: 835 km (519 mi)

Service ceiling: 11,410 m (37,430 ft)

Rate of climb: 18 m/s (3,540 ft/min)

Wing loading: 233 kg/m² (47.7 lb/ft²)

Power/mass: 0.30–0.35 kW/kg (0.18–0.22 hp/lb)

 

Armament:

1× 30 mm (1.2 in) engine-mounted MK 108 cannon with 65 rounds (rarely mounted)

2× 13 mm (.51 in) MG 131 machine guns with 475 RPG above the engine

2× 20 mm (.78 in) MG 151/20 cannons with 250 RPG in the wing root

Optional: 2× 250 kg (550 lb) SC 250 bombs or 300 l drop tanks under the wings

 

The kit and its assembly:

A popular what-if/Luft ‘46 topic: a Fw 190 with a late Bf 109 nose, and sometimes other transplants, too. This one was triggered by a fictional profile created by fellow user ysi_maniac at whatifmodelers.com, but it’s rather a personal interpretation of the idea than a hardware recreation of the artwork. The reason is simple: virtually putting together 2D profiles is an easy task, but when the 3rd dimension comes to play, things become more complicated.

One of the consequences is that such an aircraft would have been very unlikely in real life. Another factor against the idea is that the Daimler Benz engines were primarily earmarked for Messerschmitt products, esp. the late Bf 109. Even Kurt Tank’s Ta 152, powered by his favored DB 603, was hard to realize – and the RLM’s unwillingness to provide him with this engine delayed this high potential aircraft so far that the Fw 190 D-9, with its Jumo 213 as a fallback option, was realized as an interim/second best solution.

 

However, whifworld offers the freedom of creativity, and I have never seen a hardware realization of a Fw 190/Bf 109 hybrid, so I created the Fw 190E through the mating of a Fw 190D (Academy kit) with the engine/front end of a Bf 109K (Heller).

 

The transplantation was basically straightforward, starting with the Bf 109 engine cut off of the fuselage. Then a matching section from the Fw 190 nose was cut away, too. While the diameters of both sections (in a side view) match each other quite well, the fuselage diameter shapes are to tally different, and the Bf 109 engine is MUCH too narrow for the Fw 190. That’s the problem the CG whiffers can simply ignore.

The eventual solution concerned both donor parts: the DB 605 was widened by ~2mm through the insertion of wedge-shaped pieces of styrene between the halves. As an unwanted side effect, the Bf 109’s machine guns on the cowling would squint now, so they had to be erased with putty and re-drilled, once the body work was finished.

The fuselage section in front of the Fw 190’s cockpit was, on the other side, narrowed through wedges taken out, and some force – again narrowing the fuselage width by another ~2mm. That does not sound much, but at 1:72 these 4mm mean a major disparity! This modification also created a gap between the fuselage and the wing roots towards their front end, which had to be filled, too, and the wing roots themselves had to be re-shaped in order to match the much more narrow DB 605’s underside.

 

Furthermore, the engine internally received a styrene tube adapter for the propeller’s new metal axis, and the oil cooler intake was filled with foamed styrene (it would normally remain empty). Once the engine had dried and the fuselage halves with the OOB cockpit closed, both elements were mated and the cowling gap filled and re-sculpted with 2C putty, since the OOB part with the Fw 190’s engine-mounted machine guns would not fit anymore.

 

As a result, the profile view of the aircraft is O.K., it looks slender and quite plausible, but when you take a look from above, the (still) wide section in front of the cockpit looks odd, as well as the widened rear section of the BD 605 cowling.

 

Another central issue was the radiator installation for the DB 605. In real life, I’d expect that an annular radiator would have been the most probable solution, and the aircraft wouldn’t have differed much outwardly from the Dora. But for the sake of a different look, and following the idea of a rushed emergency conversion program that would use as many stock elements as possible, I rather went for the complete Bf 109K nose, coupled with a separate ventral radiator under the fuselage. Wing coolers (as used on board of the Bf 109) were ruled out, since I expected them to be too complicated to be quickly added to the Fw 190’s airframe and wing structure.

The radiator fairing was scratched from leftover ship hull parts – thanks to its wide and relatively flat shape, the arrangement looks quite aerodynamic and plausible.

 

The propeller had to be modified, too: I retained the Bf 109’s spinner, but rather used the Fw 190’s slightly bigger propeller blades, for a balanced look.

 

The canopy became another issue. While the Academy kit is very nice and goes together well, the clear parts, esp. the sliding part of the canopy, has a major flaw: the headrest is to be glued into it, and in order to give the builder some help with the proper position, Academy added some locator slots to the clear part. This could be nice, and the rear pair will later be covered under paint, but the front pair is plainly visible and reaches up very high into the side windows! WTF?

You can hardly sand them away, and so I dediced outright to replace the canopy altogether - I was lucky to have a Rob Tauris vacu canopy, actually for the Hasegawa Fw 190A/F in the donor bank. This does naturally not fit 100% onto the (modified) Academy fuselage, but with some (more) PSR work the vacu parts blend in quite well, and the thin material is an additional bonus.

 

Apart from the engine and the canopy, not much was changed. The landing gear is OOB, I just replaced the wing root gun barrels with hollow steel needles.

  

Painting and markings:

I did not go for anything spectacular, rather a slightly improvised look of many late-production German fighters which were painted with whatever was at hand, if at all. The overall pattern is based on the typical Fw 190D-9 scheme, with two shades of green, RLM 82 and 83 on the upper surfaces (Humbrol 102 and 75). The fuselage was painted in a greenish variant of RLM 76 (a mix of Humbrol 90 with a little 247), frequently referred to as RLM 84, but this color never officially existed. Some light mottles of the upper tones, plus an underlying layer of RLM02 mottles, were added to the flanks, too.

The wings’ undersides were left in bare metal (Revello 99), with their leading edge kept in grey primer (RLM 75, I used Humbrol 123). The undersides of the ailerons and stabilizers, as well as the vertical rudder, were painted in RLM 76 (Humbrol 247) – both a frequent late WWII practice, when the parts were manufactured in separate, outsourced factories. The mottled landing gear covers are an unusual detail, but this appreared quite frequently on late-war Fw 190s, esp. on Doras.

 

The cockpit interior was painted in dark grey (RLM 66, I used Humbrol 67), while the interior of the landing gear was painted with RLM 02 (Revell 45).

 

The tactical markings were improvised; the blue fuselage ID band for the JG 54 was created with generic decal sheet material, other markings come from various sheets, e. g. from an Academy Fw 190A/F. The black dot as a squadron marking is unusual - but as a sqaudron of a (rare) fifth group, no standard symbols were typically assigned, so this is within historic limits.

 

The kit received some light weathering thorugh dry.brushing and grinded graphite, and finally a coat with matt acrylic varnish (Italeri).

  

A more complex conversion stunt than it might seem at first glance – and proof that a virtual 2D whif is not easily transferred into hardware. The 3rd dimension still exists, and in this case it posed severe problems that could eventually be overcome with the help of (lots of) PSR. The flawed OOB canopy is another issue. However, the result does not look bad at all, even though the DB 605-powered Fw 190 somehow reminds me of the British Fairey Fulmar naval fighter, and also somewhat of the Ju 87?

Evelina Š.

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

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

  

Some background:

On 27th November 1940, Moldova followed closely behind its neighbor and protector, Romania, and joined the Axis Powers. Now eligible for German military equipment, the Royal Moldovan Air Force sought to update its inventory with German types and gain access to German training. In January 1941 an agreement was reached that enabled both; by then, German troops had already entered Moldova to “secure the border [with the Socialist Union] from Red aggression.”

 

Moldovan air and ground crews were soon sent for training with the Luftwaffe and the first (second-hand) Messerschmitt Bf 109E-3s to enter Moldovan service arrived in May 1941. This first batch of 14 planes was allocated to the 1st Fighter Squadron, where they replaced Romanian-built PZL P.11fs. They were in combat from the first day of Operation Barbarossa, crossing the border into the Transnistrian and Ukrainian republics of the Socialist Union to conduct escort, strafing and fighter sweep missions on 22 June 1941.

 

Soon thereafter, more and more modern (but still mostly second hand) equipment of German origin was provided. Beyond the Bf 109 E, several Bf 109F and early G fighters were delivered, some Fw 190A and F, a handful of Ju 87 and Hs 123 dive bombers as well as some Ju 52 transporters and Junkers Ju 88 bombers.

 

Most of these aircraft had formerly taken part in the North Africa campaign or the Mediterranean TO. As a consequence, many Moldovan aircraft were outfitted with special equipment like dust filters, and a high number of machines still carried desert camouflage upon their arrival at the Russian Front. The latter was quickly modified in the field workshops, with whatever alternative paints at hand, but due to the aircrafts’ immediate use in combat, only hasty and minimal adaptations were made.

 

During its peak in June 1943, the Royal Moldovan Air Force had grown to a total of 150 aircraft. However, its contribution to the Axis forces was not significant, even though some individual Moldovan fighter pilots scored considerable air victory counts.

 

With the advance of Soviet Forces by late 1944 and the liberation of the Crimean peninsula, most Moldovan aircraft had been severely damaged or destroyed. Through the withdrawal of the Axis forces the Moldovan machines became unserviceable, so that the small air arm effectively ceased to exist. The few remaining, airworthy machines were retired to the west and absorbed in Romanian units.

It would take until 1991 that the Moldovan Air Force would be re-formed, after the country’s newly gained independence from the dissolved Soviet Union as Republic of Moldova.

 

(Background and model inspired by fellow modeler comrade harps at whatifmodelers.com)

  

General characteristics:

Crew: 1

Length: 9.00 m (29 ft 5 in)

Wingspan: 10.51 m (34 ft 5 in)

Height: 3.95 m (12 ft 12 in)

Wing area: 18.30 m² (196.99 ft²)

Empty weight: 3,200 kg (7,060 lb)

Loaded weight: 4,417 kg (9,735 lb)

Max. takeoff weight: 4,900 kg (10,800 lb)

 

Powerplant:

1× BMW 801 D-2 radial engine, 1,250 kW (1,700 PS, 1,677 hp)

 

Performance:

Maximum speed: 656 km/h (408 mph) at 19,420 ft (5,920 m)

Range: 800 km (500 mi)

Service ceiling: 11,410 m (37,430 ft)

Rate of climb: 15 m/s (2,953 ft/min)

Wing loading: 241 kg/m² (49.4 lb/ft²)

Power/mass: 0.29–0.33 kW/kg (0.18–0.21 hp/lb)

 

Armament:

2× 7.92 mm (.312 in) synchronized MG 17 machine guns with 900 RPG

4× 20 mm MG 151/20 E cannon, two of them with 250 RPG, synchronized in the wing roots,

and two more with 125 RPG outboard in mid-wing mounts

A retrofitted centre-line ETC 501 rack, typically holding a 250 kg (550 lb) bomb or a 300 L drop tank

Some machines also carried Luftwaffe Rüstsätze, e .g. R1 with a pair of WB 151 weapon

containers, each holding 2× 20-mm-MG 151/20 with 125 RPG under the wings

 

The kit and its assembly:

A remake of an inspiration. This build is a follow-up, and a further interpretation of another modeler’s idea, comrade harps from whatifmodelers.com, who came up with a Moldovan Bf 109E and a respective background story some time ago. After all, the Russian Liberation Army (ROA) also operated German aircraft like the Bf 109G, so the idea was not as weird as it might seem at first. I liked the idea of an overlooked Moldovan operator very much, and my first build within this fictional framework was a Heller Bf 109 F trop (a horrible kit, BTW).

 

This time I wanted to tackle an early Fw 190 A fighter, and also finish it in winter camouflage. The kit I used is the Academy Fw 190 A-6/8 model. It is certainly not the most detailed and up-to-date model of the aircraft, but it is a solid model, goes together well and is IMHO a priceworthy offering.

 

Building-wise, I did not change much about the kit, it was built OOB with some minor mods. The pitot, OOB mounted close to the wing tip for an A-8 version, had to be relocated towards a mid-wing position for an earlier A-6 variant. As an extra I lowered the flaps and cut away the lower sections from the wheel covers; this was a common practice on Fw 190s operated at the Eastern front during wintertime, because snow would clog up between the wheels and the covers, freeze and eventually make the aircraft inoperable.

As another extra I used the WB 151 gun packs which come with the kit – resulting in the massive firepower of eight(!) 20mm cannon, plus a pair of machine guns that would operationally fire tracer bullets, so that the pilot knew when he could unleash the cannons! The optional tropical sand filters came with the kit, too.

  

Painting and markings:

To a certain degree quite conservative, since this was supposed to be a former Luftwaffe aircraft, transferred to the Moldovan air force from the Mediterranean TO. As such I gave the aircraft a standard Luftwaffe camouflage with RLM 74/75/76 (using a mix of Modelmaster enamels). As a side note, this does not speak against the aircraft’s potential former use in North Africa – many Fw 190s operated there did not carry any desert camouflage at all.

 

However, I wanted to present the aircraft in a temporary/worn winter camouflage on the upper surfaces with washable white paint, overpainted former Luftwaffe insignia and additional new Moldovan markings. I also wanted to visualize the short period of time between the aircraft’s arrival at the Russian Front from Northern Africa and its immediate employment in Moldovan hands, including tactical markings of the Axis forces in the Eastern TO from around late 1941 onwards. Sounds complicated – but it’s the logical translation of the made-up background, and I think that such a concept, literally telling a story, makes a what-if model more convincing than just putting some obscure markings on an off-the-rack kit.

 

After the original German scheme had been painted, the next step was to paint over the former German and African TO markings. I used a light olive green and a light blue tone, as if the machine had been modified in a Moldovan field workshop with Romanian paints (or whatever else) at hand. The new yellow ID markings (lower wing tips, engine front (both painted with Humbrol 69) and fuselage band (decal) were added at this stage, too. Then came a black ink wash, emphasizing the model's engraved panel lines.

Once dry and cleaned-up, the new Moldovan markings were added. They come from a Begemot MiG-29 sheet. The flag on the rudder was improvised with a mix of paint (blue and red) and a ~2.5mm yellow decal stripe. The tactical code, the red "26", comes from a Soviet lend-lease P-40.

 

But the Fw 190 was till not finished - now the whitewash was added. This was simply created with Humbrol 34 (Matt White) and a soft, flat brush, in streaks which were made from the back to the front. This creates an IMHO quite plausible look of the worn, washable paint, and in some areas (around the cockpit, on the wings) I thinned the whitewash layer down even more, simulating wear.

 

Once dry, the decals received a light tratement with sandpaper, in order to match their look to the worn surroundings, and exhaust stains and gun soot were added with grinded graphite. Some dry-brushing with light grey was done on some areas, too. The wheels and the landing gear received a layer of "snow cake", created with white tile grout.

 

Finally, the model received a coat of matt acrylic varnish and finishing touches like a wire antenna (made with heated black sprue material).

 

Even though it's almost an OOB build, except for the markings, the result looks quite convincing. The result cannot be called “pretty”, but I think the extra work with the whitewash paid out. The fictional Moldovan Fw 190 looks really …different, especially in the BW beauty shots, the aircraft looks pretty convincing, and now it can join its Bf 109F stablemate in the collection.

+++ 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 Focke-Wulf Fw 190 Würger (English: Shrike) was a German single-seat, single-engine fighter aircraft designed by Kurt Tank in the late 1930s and widely used during World War II. Along with its well-known counterpart, the Messerschmitt Bf 109, the Fw 190 became the backbone of the Luftwaffe's Jagdwaffe (Fighter Force). The twin-row BMW 801 radial engine that powered most operational versions enabled the Fw 190 to lift larger loads than the Bf 109, allowing its use as a day fighter, fighter-bomber, ground-attack aircraft and, to a lesser degree, night fighter.

 

The Fw 190A started flying operationally over France in August 1941, and quickly proved superior in all but turn radius to the Royal Air Force's main front-line fighter, the Spitfire Mk. V, particularly at low and medium altitudes. The 190 maintained superiority over Allied fighters until the introduction of the improved Spitfire Mk. IX. In November/December 1942, the Fw 190 made its air combat debut on the Eastern Front, finding much success in fighter wings and specialized ground attack units called Schlachtgeschwader (Battle Wings or Strike Wings) from October 1943 onwards. The Fw 190 provided greater firepower than the Bf 109 and, at low to medium altitude, superior manoeuvrability, in the opinion of German pilots who flew both fighters.

 

The Fw 190A series' performance decreased at high altitudes (usually 6,000 m (20,000 ft) and above), which reduced its effectiveness as a high-altitude interceptor. From the Fw 190's inception, there had been ongoing efforts to address this with a turbo-supercharged BMW 801 in the B model, the much longer-nosed C model with efforts to also turbocharge its chosen Daimler-Benz DB 603 inverted V12 powerplant, and the similarly long-nosed D model with the Junkers Jumo 213. Problems with the turbocharger installations on the -B and -C subtypes meant only the D model would enter service, doing so in September 1944. While these "long nose" versions gave the Germans parity with Allied opponents, they arrived far too late in the war to have any real effect. The situation became more and more dire, so that, by early 1945, an emergency fighter variant, the Fw 190E, was rushed into production and service.

 

The Fw 190E was based on the extended D model airframe, and actually surplus airframes from the type’s production lines were converted, because its Jumo 213 inline engine was short in supply. Instead, a conversion kit for the DB 605D powerplant (the engine for the Bf 109 K) was devised in the course of just six weeks, which included a modified engine frame and a radiator bath with its respective plumbing, which would be installed under the cockpit. The rationale behind this decision was that developing a new annular radiator and engine cover would have taken too much time – and while the ventral radiator was not the aerodynamically most efficient solution, it was the most simple way to create an urgently needed high-performance fighter.

 

The DB 605D, with its Single-stage variable-speed centrifugal type supercharger and a methanol-water injection system, created an impressive performance: Using MW 50 and maximum boost, the Fw 190E was able to reach a maximum level speed of 710 km/h (440 mph) at 7,500 m (24,600 ft) altitude. Without MW 50 and using 1.80 ata, the E model still reached 670 km/h (416 mph) at 9,000 m (30,000 ft). The Initial Rate of climb was 850 m (2,790 ft)/min without MW 50 and 1,080 m (3,540 ft)/min, using MW 50. While the E model’s top speed was slightly higher than the D-9’s with its Jumo 213, it could only be achieved at lower altitudes.

 

The Fw 190E’s radio equipment was the FuG 16ZY, and the FuG 25a Erstling IFF system, as well as the FuG 125 Hermine D/F equipment, were also fitted. Internally, the oxygen bottles were relocated from the rear fuselage to the right wing.

Armament of the Fw 190E consisted of two, synchronized 13 mm (0.51 in) MG 131s in the nose with 475 RPG, firing though the propeller disc, and two more synchronized 20mm (0.78 in) MG 151/20 machine cannon with 250 RPG were mounted in the wing roots. Theoretically, a 30 mm (1.2 in) MK 108 engine-mounted cannon (Motorkanone) with 65 rounds was mounted (in the initial E-1 variant), too, but this weapon was hardly available at all (almost the complete production of the MK 108 was allocated to Me 262 and other jet fighters’ production) and it often jammed while the aircraft was manoeuvring in battle – so it was frequently removed in order to save weight, or replaced by an MK 151/20 with 100 rounds from the start (in the E-2 variant see below).

This impressive basic weaponry could even be augmented: two more cannons could be installed in the outer wings with the help of modification kits (either MG 151/20 or MK 108 with Rüstsatz R2 or R3, respectively), but this rarely happened because the weapons were not available at all. A more typical and very common modification, applied at the factory, was the Rüstsatz R1, which included racks and fusing equipment for fitting a 250 kg (550 lb) bomb or a 300l drop tank under each wing. An underfuselage hardpoint was not possible to fit, due to the ventral radiator fairing.

 

Production of the E-1 model started hastily at Fock Wulf’s Soltau plant in February 1945, and the first machines, which were immediately transferred, suffered from severe integration problems and poor manufacturing quality, even resulting in fatal losses as aircraft disintegrated in flight. After just 26 completed aircraft, production was stopped and switched to the E-2 variant in April, which, beyond a simplified gun armament, also incorporated technical improvements that eventually improved reliability to a normal level. Until the end of hostilities, probably 120 Fw 190E-2 were produced, with 50 more in various states of assembly in several factories, and probably 80 machines were operationally used at the Western front and for the defence of Berlin. A handful of these machines were also modified with a pair of vertical Rb 50/30 cameras (Rüstsatz R6) in the rear fuselage for low and medium altitude reconnaissance duties.

A planned high performance E-3 with a 2.250 hp DB 605 engine and a reduced armament (only three MG 1515/20) as well as a high altitude E-4 with a DB 603 engine, a pressurized cockpit and extended wings never materialized..

  

General characteristics:

Crew: 1

Length: 10.20 m (33 ft 5½ in)

Wingspan: 10.50 m (34 ft 5 in)

Height: 3.35 m (11 ft 0 in)

Wing area: 18.30 m² (196.99 ft²)

Empty weight: 3,490 kg (7,694 lb)

Loaded weight: 4,270 kg (9,413 lb)

Max. takeoff weight: 4,840 kg (10,670 lb)

 

Powerplant:

1× Daimler Benz DB 605 12-cylinder inverted-Vee piston engine rated at 1.800 PS (1.295 kW)

and a temporary emergency output of 2.050 HP (1.475 kW) with MW 50 injection

 

Performance:

Maximum speed: 710 km/h (440 mph) at 7,500 m (24,600 ft) altitude

Range: 835 km (519 mi)

Service ceiling: 11,410 m (37,430 ft)

Rate of climb: 18 m/s (3,540 ft/min)

Wing loading: 233 kg/m² (47.7 lb/ft²)

Power/mass: 0.30–0.35 kW/kg (0.18–0.22 hp/lb)

 

Armament:

1× 30 mm (1.2 in) engine-mounted MK 108 cannon with 65 rounds (rarely mounted)

2× 13 mm (.51 in) MG 131 machine guns with 475 RPG above the engine

2× 20 mm (.78 in) MG 151/20 cannons with 250 RPG in the wing root

Optional: 2× 250 kg (550 lb) SC 250 bombs or 300 l drop tanks under the wings

 

The kit and its assembly:

A popular what-if/Luft ‘46 topic: a Fw 190 with a late Bf 109 nose, and sometimes other transplants, too. This one was triggered by a fictional profile created by fellow user ysi_maniac at whatifmodelers.com, but it’s rather a personal interpretation of the idea than a hardware recreation of the artwork. The reason is simple: virtually putting together 2D profiles is an easy task, but when the 3rd dimension comes to play, things become more complicated.

One of the consequences is that such an aircraft would have been very unlikely in real life. Another factor against the idea is that the Daimler Benz engines were primarily earmarked for Messerschmitt products, esp. the late Bf 109. Even Kurt Tank’s Ta 152, powered by his favored DB 603, was hard to realize – and the RLM’s unwillingness to provide him with this engine delayed this high potential aircraft so far that the Fw 190 D-9, with its Jumo 213 as a fallback option, was realized as an interim/second best solution.

 

However, whifworld offers the freedom of creativity, and I have never seen a hardware realization of a Fw 190/Bf 109 hybrid, so I created the Fw 190E through the mating of a Fw 190D (Academy kit) with the engine/front end of a Bf 109K (Heller).

 

The transplantation was basically straightforward, starting with the Bf 109 engine cut off of the fuselage. Then a matching section from the Fw 190 nose was cut away, too. While the diameters of both sections (in a side view) match each other quite well, the fuselage diameter shapes are to tally different, and the Bf 109 engine is MUCH too narrow for the Fw 190. That’s the problem the CG whiffers can simply ignore.

The eventual solution concerned both donor parts: the DB 605 was widened by ~2mm through the insertion of wedge-shaped pieces of styrene between the halves. As an unwanted side effect, the Bf 109’s machine guns on the cowling would squint now, so they had to be erased with putty and re-drilled, once the body work was finished.

The fuselage section in front of the Fw 190’s cockpit was, on the other side, narrowed through wedges taken out, and some force – again narrowing the fuselage width by another ~2mm. That does not sound much, but at 1:72 these 4mm mean a major disparity! This modification also created a gap between the fuselage and the wing roots towards their front end, which had to be filled, too, and the wing roots themselves had to be re-shaped in order to match the much more narrow DB 605’s underside.

 

Furthermore, the engine internally received a styrene tube adapter for the propeller’s new metal axis, and the oil cooler intake was filled with foamed styrene (it would normally remain empty). Once the engine had dried and the fuselage halves with the OOB cockpit closed, both elements were mated and the cowling gap filled and re-sculpted with 2C putty, since the OOB part with the Fw 190’s engine-mounted machine guns would not fit anymore.

 

As a result, the profile view of the aircraft is O.K., it looks slender and quite plausible, but when you take a look from above, the (still) wide section in front of the cockpit looks odd, as well as the widened rear section of the BD 605 cowling.

 

Another central issue was the radiator installation for the DB 605. In real life, I’d expect that an annular radiator would have been the most probable solution, and the aircraft wouldn’t have differed much outwardly from the Dora. But for the sake of a different look, and following the idea of a rushed emergency conversion program that would use as many stock elements as possible, I rather went for the complete Bf 109K nose, coupled with a separate ventral radiator under the fuselage. Wing coolers (as used on board of the Bf 109) were ruled out, since I expected them to be too complicated to be quickly added to the Fw 190’s airframe and wing structure.

The radiator fairing was scratched from leftover ship hull parts – thanks to its wide and relatively flat shape, the arrangement looks quite aerodynamic and plausible.

 

The propeller had to be modified, too: I retained the Bf 109’s spinner, but rather used the Fw 190’s slightly bigger propeller blades, for a balanced look.

 

The canopy became another issue. While the Academy kit is very nice and goes together well, the clear parts, esp. the sliding part of the canopy, has a major flaw: the headrest is to be glued into it, and in order to give the builder some help with the proper position, Academy added some locator slots to the clear part. This could be nice, and the rear pair will later be covered under paint, but the front pair is plainly visible and reaches up very high into the side windows! WTF?

You can hardly sand them away, and so I dediced outright to replace the canopy altogether - I was lucky to have a Rob Tauris vacu canopy, actually for the Hasegawa Fw 190A/F in the donor bank. This does naturally not fit 100% onto the (modified) Academy fuselage, but with some (more) PSR work the vacu parts blend in quite well, and the thin material is an additional bonus.

 

Apart from the engine and the canopy, not much was changed. The landing gear is OOB, I just replaced the wing root gun barrels with hollow steel needles.

  

Painting and markings:

I did not go for anything spectacular, rather a slightly improvised look of many late-production German fighters which were painted with whatever was at hand, if at all. The overall pattern is based on the typical Fw 190D-9 scheme, with two shades of green, RLM 82 and 83 on the upper surfaces (Humbrol 102 and 75). The fuselage was painted in a greenish variant of RLM 76 (a mix of Humbrol 90 with a little 247), frequently referred to as RLM 84, but this color never officially existed. Some light mottles of the upper tones, plus an underlying layer of RLM02 mottles, were added to the flanks, too.

The wings’ undersides were left in bare metal (Revello 99), with their leading edge kept in grey primer (RLM 75, I used Humbrol 123). The undersides of the ailerons and stabilizers, as well as the vertical rudder, were painted in RLM 76 (Humbrol 247) – both a frequent late WWII practice, when the parts were manufactured in separate, outsourced factories. The mottled landing gear covers are an unusual detail, but this appreared quite frequently on late-war Fw 190s, esp. on Doras.

 

The cockpit interior was painted in dark grey (RLM 66, I used Humbrol 67), while the interior of the landing gear was painted with RLM 02 (Revell 45).

 

The tactical markings were improvised; the blue fuselage ID band for the JG 54 was created with generic decal sheet material, other markings come from various sheets, e. g. from an Academy Fw 190A/F. The black dot as a squadron marking is unusual - but as a sqaudron of a (rare) fifth group, no standard symbols were typically assigned, so this is within historic limits.

 

The kit received some light weathering thorugh dry.brushing and grinded graphite, and finally a coat with matt acrylic varnish (Italeri).

  

A more complex conversion stunt than it might seem at first glance – and proof that a virtual 2D whif is not easily transferred into hardware. The 3rd dimension still exists, and in this case it posed severe problems that could eventually be overcome with the help of (lots of) PSR. The flawed OOB canopy is another issue. However, the result does not look bad at all, even though the DB 605-powered Fw 190 somehow reminds me of the British Fairey Fulmar naval fighter, and also somewhat of the Ju 87?

Poll Merino Breed .........................................................

OVEJA POLL MERINA ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ovelha Poll merino - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

 

Ovis orientalis aries Linnaeus, 1758 (= Ovis aries Linnaeus, 1758)

Orden: Artiodactyla Owen, 1848 (Artiodáctilos) ....

Familia: Bovidae Gray, 1821 (Bóvidos = Bovinos) ..... subfamilia: Caprinae Gray, 1821

 

El Poll Merino es un subtipo sin cuernos de la raza de ovejas domésticas Merino Australiano, que se desarrolló en Australia.

Estas ovejas son de maduración temprana, y de gran frame, produciendo un vellón suave y de buen color, por lo que retiene los atributos de la Merino española.

Si bien se caracterizaron primero dentro del biotipo australiano, Merinos Mocho se encuentran también en las distintas cepas de Merinos.

Un solo gen, con tres posibles alelos, controlan la heredabilidad de las astas en el Merino australiano.

Los carneros Merino mochos no son susceptibles de gusanos detrás de los cuernos, que suelen ser el resultado de la lucha entre los astados y lo que les puede provocar infertilidad temporal.

También tienen menos probabilidades de quedar atrapados en las vallas o arbustos, y son más fáciles de manejar.

Los capones no desarrollan los "cuernos de ciervo" que regularmente se observan crecer en los carneros Merino si no son castrados a temprana edad.

 

En 1825 Alexander Riley fue el primer criador de Australia en obtener un carnero mocho con la idea de establecer un rebaño Poll Merino.

El carnero fue importado por él desde Alemania, junto con las ovejas sajonas.

Se ofrecían Merinos mochos a la venta en la década de 1880.

Durante la década de 1880 el primer intento serio para crear una raza mocha de Merinos del tipo moderno lo hizo la cabaña Munros en Webollabolla, Moree, Nueva Gales del Sur.

Esta cabaña es la más antigua de la raza Poll Merino en Australia.

La cabaña de Poll Merino Kirkby (Success y Reno) se inició en Moree durante 1932, Boonoke Poll en 1934, y Merryville Poll en 1938.

Las primeras cabañas de Australia Occidental (Cranmore Park 1947, Belmore Park 1957) compraron carneros Boonoke mochos.

Otway Falkiner inició la Cabaña Poll Boonoke, en 1934.

La primera oferta de carneros Poll Boonoke al público fue en 1937. La contribución de Otway Falkiner fue reconocida mediante el registro de su rebaño Poll Boonoke, otorgándole el ejemplar N º 1, en la primera sección separada para Poll Merinos en el Registro Australiano de Cabañas de Majadas Merino.

Muchas cabañas están criando Poll Merinos para atender la creciente demanda de estas ovejas, por ser más fáciles de cuidar.

 

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

 

La Oveja Merina es, probablemente, la raza ovina más extendida por el mundo, ocupando además el primer puesto en importancia, desde el punto de vista censal.

En este sentido, la población mundial merina es de más de 220 millones de cabezas, representando alrededor del 20% del censo ovino total.

Si a esta cantidad se le suman los efectivos correspondientes a las razas derivadas, en las que el Merino interviene en su formación: Corriedale, Ile de France, Polwart, Columbia, Targnee, Panamá, Merilin, Ideal, etc. resulta que entre merinos y afines, representan más del 30% del censo ovino mundial.

 

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HISTORIA:

Existieron en España dos agrupaciones ovinas fundamentales: una, difundida por la parte superior del litoral mediterráneo (Ovis aries studery), del cual después se formaría la Raza de los Pirineos (Ovis aries iberica), y que habría legado como representantes más modernos a las poblaciones Churra y Lacha.

La otra agrupación estaría representada por los descendientes de la Oveja de las estepas, u Oveja del Caspio (Ovis aries vignei), que poblaron la zona meridional, occidental y central de la península ibérica, y se extendieron también por Turquía, Grecia, Italia y la zona africana ribereña del Mediterráneo.

La Oveja de las estepas, u Oveja del Caspio (Ovis aries vignei), se cree que fue el primitivo tronco ovino de una serie importante de razas lanares actuales.

Su base eran dos grupos de ovejas: unas, de cola gruesa; y otras de cola larga y vellón apretado, de filamentos sin médula, cortos y finos (entre los que figuraría el merino).

Entonces, de un complejo proceso, que comienza con el O.a. vignei de Asia Menor, y que culmina en la península ibérica, desciende la actual raza Merino.

El desarrollo de ese proceso es desconocido en gran medida, tanto en el tiempo como en el espacio.

Es en esta etapa durante la cual las generaciones de ovinos que se sucedieron en el dilatado período de migraciones e influjos geográficos, ecológicos y culturales fueron modelando su morfología y fisiología a través de mutaciones que propiciaron la conformación de una población de ovejas en la Iberia prerromana, y que constituyó el soporte de la que posteriormente sería la raza Merino.

Una historia tradicional hace proceder su nombre de los benimerines (banu marin) de Marruecos que invadieron la provincia de Cádiz en el siglo XIV hasta su derrota por Alfonso XI en la Batalla del Salado.

Pero ya se tenía noticia de la raza, antes de la llegada del los benimerines.

Quizá venga entonces de los Merinos o cobradores de impuestos del Reino de León; que cobrarían los diezmos en lana, cecina y queso...

Según esta idea, la oveja merina se habría originado en el norte de África, pasado a la Península Ibérica, donde fue adoptada con rapidez por el poderoso Concejo de la Mesta, llegando a ostentar su monopolio durante algunos siglos, en detrimento de la hasta entonces omnipresente oveja manchega.

No obstante, es más probable que la raza se originara en el sur de la penísula en esa época o quizá un siglo antes, aunque también se ha señalado su primer origen en el Cartago e incluso en Oriente Próximo.

En el siglo XVIII se introdujo por primera vez en Francia.

Con el tiempo su cría se extendió por Europa y América, y en el siglo XIX Gran Bretaña la exportó en gran número a sus colonias de ultramar.

En la actualidad la mayor parte de las cabezas se concentran en Estados Unidos, Argentina, Uruguay, Sudáfrica, Nueva Zelanda y, sobre todo, en Australia, donde superan a los humanos a razón de casi un centenar de ovejas por cada australiano.

En España, la Merina también es la más numerosa, con un total próximo a los 4,5 millones de cabezas, representando el 18,6% del total de sus ovinos.

En solo cuatro comunidades autónomas se concentra más del 98% de los merinos: Extremadura con el 50%, Andalucía el 26%, Castilla y León con el 12%, y Castilla La Mancha (Valle de Alcudia) el 10%.

En Portugal son solo 9000 los animales inscriptos en el Libro Genealógico, con un total de 22 criadores.

En Chile, el Merino Australiano solo suma el 0,7% del total de su majada ovina, pero el Merino Precoz es una de las principales razas, llegando a representar el 14% del total.

 

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LANA:

El vellón es el elemento que mejor define a esta raza, tanto por su extensión y densidad de fibras como por las peculiares características de éstas, relacionadas con la finura, ondulaciones y uniformidad.

 

Mechón compacto, mechas en bloques.

Clasificación da su lana: Merino Extra a Merino Fuerte

Peso del velo en hembras: 2.5 - 3.0 kg;

Peso del velo en Machos: 4.5 - 5.0 kg

Diámetro de las fibras (μ):

fina -Peppin- (18-21 micrones),

medio -Medium- (21-22,5 micrones),

y fuerte -Strong- (22,5-25 micrones).

Largo de las fibras: 6 - 8 cm

Rendimento LAF: 50 - 52 %

 

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CARACTERÍSTICAS:

La raza Merina se caracteriza, fundamentalmente, por su alta especialización para la producción de lana.

También es reconocida por su elevada rusticidad y capacidad de adaptación a distintos medios.

Otra de sus cualidades, es un interesante desempeño reproductivo.

Todas éstas características han permitido su asentamiento en los cinco continentes.

 

Se trata de una raza compacta, de cuello y patas cortas, impresión que se ve reforzada debido a su lana larga, fina y rizada.

Ésta es de mejor calidad en los animales que se crían en ambientes soleados y ligeramente arenosos.

El color del manto es blanquecino, sin manchas.

Es de grupa caída, cobertura no muy amplia (falta en extremidades y cara), regiones mucosas visibles despigmentadas, al igual que las pezuñas.

En el fenotipo "Merino Australiano" (fotografía), los machos presentan unos cuernos en espiral, en otros fenotipos son mochos.

Las merinas han dado lugar a algunas variedades, entre las que cabe destacar la Rambouillet, la Negretti, la merina americana, la Vermont, la Delaine, la merina australiana, etc.

 

El peso de los machos va de 75 a 100 kg.

El peso de las hembras va de 45 a 60 kg.

Tasa de Fertilidad: 80 - 90 %

Tasa de Prolificidad: 110 - 140 %

Tasa de Fecundidad: 90 - 130 %.

Peso al Nacimento: 3.0 - 4.0 kg

Peso a los 30 dias: 8.5 - 10.3 kg

Peso a los 60 dias: 13.0 - 18.0 kg

Peso a los 90 dias: 18.0 - 26.0 kg

Ganancia de peso -media diaria- intensivo: 300 - 350 gr

Peso de faena tradicional: 22 - 30 kg

Edad de faena tradicional: 90 - 120 dias

Época principal de faena: Navidad y Pascua.

 

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DESARROLLO EN LA ARGENTINA:

La fusión de sangres Merino de distintos tipos introducidos desde España, Alemania, Austria, Hungría, y Francia, a principios del siglo pasado, originó en la República Argentina una nueva raza especializada en la producción de lana muy fina.

Su período de formación fue muy prolongado, ocurriendo durante el mismo algunas variantes en las modalidades que rigieron su orientación hacia la producción de lana fina.

La raza Merino Argentino logró una difusión notable en todo el país, especialmente en zonas de campos pobres, demostrando su adaptabilidad y rusticidad.

La historia de la formación de esta raza tiene conexiones íntimas con el progreso de la especie ovina en la Argentina, dado que el ganado primitivo que en gran número poblaba el país, introducido en la época del descubrimiento y conquista de América experimentaron una mejora notable con las importaciones iniciales.

 

La formación del Merino Argentino se divide en tres épocas:

a) Antes de 1838

comprende las importaciones iniciales de distintos Merinos Europeos, y la instalación de cabañas precursoras.

b) desde 1838 hasta 1912

fue el período preparatorio en la creación de la raza.

c) A partir de 1912

en que la Sociedad Rural Argentina abre con carácter definitivo el FLOCK BOOK de la raza.

Los primeros antecedentes que se conocen sobre importaciones de "Merino Español" al Río de la Plata datan de 1794 por Manuel Labardén.

Luego, en 1813 , Thomas LLoyd Halsey importa 100 reproductores Merino traídos de España, los que forman la primera cabaña ovina argentina, en Morón, la cual sucumbió por un incendio en 1821 cuando contaba con 900 ejemplares puros.

En 1824, durante el gobierno de Rivadavia, se importan otros 100, los que formarán la cabaña "Los Galpones", de San Vicente, la que en 1826 importa otros 150, los cuales, por su calidad, generaron entre los ganaderos locales una "merinomanía"...

La introducción de "Merinos Alemanes" aconteció en 1830, eran de Sajonia, pero descendian de los "negretes" españoles.

Dos importaciones más, en1836, y en 1938 llevaron a un total de 7850 las cabezas puras importadas, algunas de las cuales, lamentablemente, propagaron la sarna ovina, hasta ese momento desconocida en el Plata.

Hasta aquí la orientación exclusiva fue la de producir lana muy fina, sin tener en cuenta la carne.

Se considera que en esa época Sheridan y Harrat fueron los precursores en la orientación de un animal de esqueleto fuerte, de carne abundante, vellón compacto y lana con mucho "carácter", sin la finura exagerada del Merino Electoral, en resumen mejor conformación, cantidad y calidad de lana.

Es imposible establecer con precisión que clase de Merino predominó en la formación del Argentino, ya que los Sajones, Negretes y Rambouillets intervinieron y se cruzaron entre sí, llegando a un animal de cuerpo más robusto y un vellón más pesado, que es el Merino Argentino a principio de este siglo.

Esta es la época de oro del ovino en la Argentina.

Así, durante más de cuarenta años la lana ocupó el primer lugar entre las exportaciones argentinas, hasta llegar a ocupar el 3º lugar mundial como país productor-exportador de lanas, a fines del siglo XIX.

La Patagonia, que para 1888 tenía apenas 300.000 lanares, incrementa sus majadas (fundamentalmente Merinas) a 11,2 millones en solo 20 años, hasta alcanzar en 1930 las 16 millones de cabezas.

Luego y hasta 1943, en que se registra el mayor volumen histórico de producción de lanas, con 243.000 toneladas, el sector experimentó un crecimiento constante, hasta llegar a las 51,2 millones de cabezas.

Sin embargo, la década del '50 marcó la declinación de la actividad.

La población ovina disminuyó entre 1950 y 1980, en 35,2 millones de cabezas (31 %), mientras que la producción de lana lo hizo en un 34,5 %

 

A partir de la década del 40 con la intención del mejoramiento de su lana, comienza una serie de importaciones de carneros Merino Australiano, que tiene una calidad de lana insuperable (largo, suavidad, color, elasticidad y rendimiento) aliada a una rusticidad apreciable, hacen del producto de este cruzamiento un animal moderno, productor de lana fina , de una gran adaptabilidad para la explotación de campos con escasa vegetación y clima severo, como son predominantes en la Patagonia, al ser desplazadas de la Pampa Húmeda por la introducción de otras razas ovinas más adaptadas a suelos húmedos que le ocasionan problemas en las pezuñas, y por el vacuno y la agricultura, como alternativas de mayor rentabilidad.

Estas condiciones hicieron que el Merino Argentino fuera absorbido totalmente por el Merino Australiano, logrando un animal sin arrugas, con mejor conformación y mayor calidad de lana.

 

Hoy en día, la población de Merino está radicada principalmente en la Patagonia: Río Negro, Chubut y Santa Cruz, con núcleos menores en las provincias de Buenos Aires, La Pampa y Neuquén.

El stock actual es aproximadamente de 7.000.000 de Merinos en la Argentina (el 60% del total de ovinos del país), encontrándose el 55% solo en la provincia del Chubut.

 

En enero de 1948, en la ciudad de Comodoro Rivadavia, un grupo de criadores decide formar una Asociación que los nuclee con el fin de promocionar y guiar a la Raza Merino Australiano en nuestro país.

 

Los criadores de Merino están nucleados en la:

"Asociación Argentina Criadores de Merino", su sede se encuentra en la calle Viamonte 332 5° 44, C.P. 1053, de la ciudad de Buenos Aires.

Cuenta con delegaciones en las provincias de Buenos Aires, Río Negro, Chubut y Santa Cruz.

Podemos decir que los principales ejes de acción son:

1) GENÉTICA:

a) Pruebas de Progenie (Argentina y Perú).

b) Programa de Merino Puro.

c) Provino.

2) SOCIOS:

a) Reuniones a campo.

b) Auspicios a Remates particulares.

c) Ciclos de conferencias.

3) DIFUSIÓN:

a) Boletín.

b) Informe anual Pruebas de Progenie.

4) INSTITUCIONALES:

a) Miembro de la Federación Internacional de Merino.

b) Miembro del Consejo Consultivo SRA.

c) Integrante de del Comité de Ovinos SRA.

d) Miembro de la Federación de Asociaciones de Criadores de Ovinos de la Argentina.

e) Auspicio de Muestras Rurales.

 

(27 de julio de 2009)

Exposición Rural de la ciudad de Buenos Aires, ARGENTINA

 

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+++ DISCLAIMER +++

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

  

Some background:

Reims Aviation Industries was a French aircraft manufacturer located in the city of Reims. Max Holste, the company founder, built his first aircraft in 1931, a light two-seater aircraft called the SHB1. In 1946 he started his own aircraft company in downtown Reims. In the 1950s two new models were designed, in 1950 the Broussard MH.1521 and in 1959 the Super Broussard MH.260, both military utility monoplanes. Additionally, Max Holste (later renamed into Reims Aviation) developed in 1956 the Bastang MH.351, and its evolution, the MH.352.

 

In 1954, when France had just emerged from the Indochina war, the country was again involved in a conflict: that of the Algerian war. The General Staff was aware of the need to have a specialized aircraft in the fight against guerrilla warfare, known as the "Overseas support aircraft". The resulting requirements brochure called for a two-engine aircraft with a crew of two or three, which, in addition to the anti-guerrilla warfare, had to be capable of ground attack, air support, reconnaissance and observation.

 

The project was submitted to industrialists in August 1955 with the following demands: a cruising speed greater than 400 km/h, loitering time of 5 hours on an observation mission, conveying distance of 2000 km and a 300 m takeoff distance on rough terrain. The aircraft had to weigh less than 5 tons, approximately 4800 kg. The armament had to be composed of at least 2 guns against lightly armored ground targets, plus bombs and rockets. Finally, a secondary capacity of transport and liaison was added.

 

No less than seven aircraft manufacturers submitted their projects in early 1956, which included Fouga (CM-220), Latécoère (Laté 820/821), Nord-Aviation (North 3300), Potez (TOE or 75), SIPA (S-1100), South-East (SE- 116) and Max Holste with the MH.351.

 

Unlike the other projects, which were designed from scratch, Reims Aviation decided to use an existing and proven airframe as basis for a conversion - the North American P-51D from WWII, which was at that time available at low costs and in considerable numbers, and the type had already been in use with the Armée de l'Air in recent years.

 

The initial MH.351 was a simple but thorough conversion of the warbird: the original Merlin engine and its ventral radiator bath were omitted and the cowling replaced with a new, solid nose section that contained two 30mm DEFA cannon and four 7.62 mm FN Browning machine guns. The new engines, a pair of light Bastan turboprops, were mounted in small nacelles on the wings' leading edges, more or less in the position of the P-51’s former machine gun bays. The original tailsitter landing gear was retained, including the Mustang’s inward-retracting landing gear. Inside of the cockpit, a second seat replaced the original radio equipment bay, so that an observer or a passenger could be carried. Four underwing hardpoints outside of the propeller arc could carry light ordnance like bombs of up to 227 kg (500 lb) caliber, unguided rockets/rocket pods or wire-guided AS.12 anti- tank missiles. No defensive armament was mounted.

 

Two prototypes were built and presented in March 1957, but the MF.351 was, like all other contenders, rejected and remained at the draft stage. Eventually, this whole contest did not lead to any serial construction, and in March 1960 the French Air Force preferred to buy off-the-shelf A-1 Skyraider and T-28 Trojan from the USA.

 

However, this was not the end of Reims' ambitions, since the idea of converting a P-51 into a cheap but effective COIN/reconnaissance aircraft was appealing to many small air forces around the world In 1958, when the failure of the French design contest was already to be expected, Reims started an evolutionary development of the MH.351 Bastang as a private venture, leading to the MH.352 Bastang II.

 

While the MH.352 was still a modified P-51D airframe, it had a totally different look and was effectively a total reconstruction of the WWII aircraft. The nose section had been lengthened, so that it could now, beyond the gun armament, hold a well for a front wheel, effectively changing the MH.351’s tail sitter layout into a tricycle aircraft. In order to shift the center of gravity backwards and ensure a proper stance, the wings were moved back 75cm (3’ 5 ½”) and the cockpit was moved forward by 50 cm (1’ 7 ½ “) and lengthened, giving the crew of up to three more space and the pilot a better field of view forward.

The wing span was slightly extended and new, more aerodynamic tip tanks introduced. In order to improve stability, especially at low speed, the fin the stabilizers were enlarged.

 

The main landing gear was also modified: the main struts, equipped with low pressure tires for operations from semi-prepared airstrips, were re-located into the engine nacelles. They were attached to the wings’ rear spar and now retracted forwards into fairings behind the Bastan engines, rotating 90° to lie flat next to the Bastans’ exhausts. The space inside of the inner wings was used for additional tanks, and fixed wing tip tanks were added, too. The gun armament was not changed, but three heavy duty hardpoints were added under the inner wings and the fuselage (all plumbed for drop tanks), which allowed the carriage of bombs of up to 1.000 lb caliber each. The Bastang I’s overall ordnance capacity of maximum 3,300 lb was not improved, though.

 

Around the same time, a cooperative agreement was signed with Cessna to produce light aircraft for the European market. The Max Holste company was officially reborn as Reims Aviation in 1962, mainly producing the FR172 Reims Rocket, a more powerful version of the Cessna 172, and the Cessna 337 Skymaster, which was developed into the armed Reims Milirôle.

 

The MH.352 was met with mixed interest – while there was serious sales potential in Africa, Asia and South/Middle America, the costs for a converted, now twenty years old WWII aircraft scared off many potential buyers. Another factor was that the USA pushed their own products into the 3rd world markets with Cold War military support program and attractive products like the A-1 or the A-37. As a consequence, in the course of the MH.352’s production from 1961–1972 only 32 aircraft were built.

 

Major operators included Guatemala (8), (Southern) Rhodesia (6), Myanmar (4), El Salvador (3) and Honduras (3). Some machines were involved in hot conflicts in which they demonstrated their tactical worth, despite the aircraft basis’ age, especially the Rhodesian aircraft were heavily involved in several campaigns during the early Seventies. The last MH.352, in the service of the Gabon Air Force, was retired in 1982.

 

General characteristics:

Crew: 2-3

Length: 33 ft (10,08 m)

Wingspan (incl. tip tanks): 40 ft 11 in (12,50 m)

Height: 15 ft 11 in (4.86 m)

Wing area: 260 sq ft (24.2 m²)

Airfoil: NAA/NACA 45-100 / NAA/NACA 45-100

Empty weight: 8,535 lb (3,875 kg)

Gross weight: 9,962 lb (4,523 kg)

Max takeoff weight: 13,788 lb (6,260 kg)

Fuel capacity (incl. wing tip tanks): 470 US gal (391 imp gal; 1,780 l)

 

Powerplant:

2× Turbomeca Bastan turboprops, 570 kW (760 hp) each, driving 4-bladed constant-speed,

variable-pitch propellers, 9 ft (2.75 m) diameter

 

Performance:

Maximum speed: 500 km/h (311 mph; 270 kn) at 3,000 m (9,800 ft)

Cruise speed: 430 km/h (267 mph; 232 kn) at 6,000 ft (1,800 m)

Stall speed: 143 km/h (89 mph; 77 kn, with flaps and undercarriage down)

Recommended Mach limit 0.8

Range: 1,650 mi (1,434 nmi; 2,655 km)

Combat radius: 350 km (217 mi; 189 nmi) with 1,500 kg (3,300 lb) weapons, High-low-high profile)

Ferry range: 3,710 km (2,305 mi; 2,003 nmi, max internal and external fuel)

Service ceiling: 10,000 m (33,000 ft)

Rate of climb: 18 m/s (3,500 ft/min)

Wing loading: 39 lb/sq ft (190 kg/m2)

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

Lift-to-drag ratio: 14.6

 

Armament:

4× 7.62 mm (0.3”) FN Browning machine guns with 380 RPG

2× 30mm (1.18”) DEFA cannon with 150 RPG

7× hardpoints for a total of 3,300 lb (1.500 kg) ordnance, including bombs, unguided missiles,

gun pods and drop tanks

 

The kit and its assembly:

The origins of this weird build date back to 2016 – the initial spark was a discussion around the P-82 Twin Mustang at whatifmodelers.com, and what “mutations” could be created from it. One idea was a single fuselage layout with two engines in classic, wing-mounted pods, and fellow user Tophe even created a profile for this idea. The idea stuck to my mind, and the recent “More or less engines” group build at the forum was a welcome spark to tackle this project in hardware form.

 

However, when I dug out the ingredients, I wondered if the original idea could be taken further? I remembered some Lockheed 18 Lodestar conversions (into business aircraft) that changed the aircraft from a tail sitter to a tricycle landing gear – could this be done with a two-engine Mustang, too? Another influential factor became the real French search for an "overseas support aircraft" in the late Fifties, and a modified Mustang could well fit into the specification profile.

 

Said and done, I used an Italeri P-51D as a starting point, and I had a pair of 1:144 resin NK-12 turpoprops (actually for a Tu-95!) left in my aftermarket set bank, which vaguely resemble the French Bastan engines (but still turned out to be quite massive for my plans).

 

Even though a lot of the P-51D basis went into this build, hardly any part of the kit remained untouched or was glued into the place where it was originally planned to be. Furthermore, lots of PSR went into the construction. Major modification include:

- The windscreen was moved 5mm forward for a bigger cockpit (with 3 seats), and the sliding part of the canopy was replaced by a clear part from an 1:72 Matchbox Blackburn Buccaneer. This also necessitated a new dorsal spine as a matching rear fairing. The cockpit received a new, extended floor and two additional bucket seats

- The original landing gear wells were closed (using the OOB covers and some putty), the ventral radiator disappeared and the nose slightly trimmed down in order to make room for the elongated, narrower new front end

- A new nose section with an integral front landing gear well (made from 0.5mm styrene sheet) and lots of lead beads hidden inside was created with 2C putty, integrating a nose tip from an Airfix Westland Whirlwind

- The wings were moved backwards by 5mm, the wing span was slightly extended (each side by roughly 5mm) and finally received customized tip tanks (originally belonging to a Heller Saab J29)

- The stabilizers were replaced by larger alternatives (from a Heller He 112) and the fin was extended in order to balance the overall proportions of the airframe

- The resin engines were mounted to nacelles, scratched from 1:48 drop tanks (IIRC from an F6F). The nacelles were later cut open to provide new main landing gear wells

- The main landing gear consists of the P-51’s OOB struts and wheels, while a front leg from a Matchbox A-4M Skyhawk was used. The result is quite stalky, but the low propeller position called for this layout

- Pylons from a Matchbox Hawker Harrier were attached under the wings with an external load of a pair of drop tanks and missile launchers

 

This sounds simpler than it actually was to create – I can hardly remember a model kit that I modified that much and thoroughly, even though most of the original substance remained!

 

As a side note, concerning the Italeri kit, I must say that the kit’s material is very thin and therefore the whole structure, especially the fuselage, is rather wobbly. The kit itself is not bad at all and comes with fine, engraved panel lines and a nice range of ordnance (including six HVARs, two bombs and drop tanks), but it was not the best choice for such a thorough conversion – the Academy kit, for instance, would have been easier to work with, and even the old Match box and Heller kits had made many things easier.

  

Painting and markings:

Finding a suitable paint scheme or an operator caused some headaches. The initial plan was an operational Armée de l’Air aircraft, but I soon rejected this because France eventually procured US aircraft, and there was no attractive paint scheme to be found. Then I changed my plans to an exotic operator, a smaller air force e.g. in Southern/Middle America or Africa, maybe a former French colony. After long consideration I eventually settled for Southern Rhodesia in the early Seventies – the country was rather affiliated with Great Britain, but since its air force operated the Reims Milirôle around the same time, why should the procurement not encompass the Bastang II, too? This was also a nice opportunity to apply the contemporary and very unique paint scheme of many RRAF aircraft: a wraparound scheme in RAF Dark Green and Dark Earth, with the brown tone applied uniformly to the lower sides. A very strange scheme, but, after consulting landscape pictures and aerials, apparently very effective at low level. The low-viz effect was further emphasized through minimal markings, just roundels on the fuselage, a small fin flash and small/minimal tactical codes or registrations.

 

I adopted this design to the Bastang, an easy task with a typical RAF pattern as benchmark for the upper surfaces. The basic tones were Humbrol 163 (which has a dull, olive drab touch) and 29, the latter mixed with a little 72 for a sun-bleached, more yellow-ish look. After basic painting, I added some new panel lines with a pencil and gave the kit a light black ink wash. Then the virtual panels were further emphasized through post-shading with slightly lighter mixes of the basic tones.

 

Internally, things remained very conservative. I gave the landing gear wells and their covers a zinc yellow primer finish, while the struts became aluminum. The cockpit was painted in Dark Gull Grey (Humbrol 140).

 

The Rhodesian markings come from an Xtradecal Hawker Hunter sheet, the tactical code was slightly changed and I added a yellow, RAF-style code letter on the fin for individual identification. Some stencils were added from the scrap box, but, just like in real life, the aircraft remained pretty devoid of any markings.

  

A very tough project, more ambitious and riddled with realization problems than the first look might reveal. It is also amazing that, even though roughly 80% of the original P-51D kit were used and donor parts are few, the whole thing looks so different from its WWII ancestor – like a crossbreed between a Shorts Tucano and a Grumman F7F? The dull Rhodesian paint scheme adds IMHO credibility to the exotic and somewhat purposeful-looking aircraft, only the stalky landing gear looks a little out of place – my fault, though, I should have placed the engines higher, above the wings, but it was already too late before I realized this mistake. Nevertheless, considering the effort and the risks that went into the build, I am happy with the outcome: A Mustang with more engines than usual, and a further evolutionary step from the original mono-fuselage P-82 idea from 2016. I am also amazed how well the simple paint scheme works over the real landscapes of Rhodesia/Zimbabwe!