Lowther Castle is owned by Lowther Estate Trust and leased to Lowther Castle & Gardens Trust. It sits at the heart of a 75,000 acre agricultural estate in Cumbria's Lake District National Park, within a 3,000 acre medieval deer park originally laid out by the Lowther family in the 16th and 17th centuries. This was subsequently remodelled by Capability Brown, Richardson and Webb in the 18th and early 19th centuries for the first and second Earls of Lonsdale. The Lowther family is today maintaining and restoring this listed parkland, whilst still farming the estate.

 

This castle stands on a site occupied by the Lowther family for over 800 years. Being the third home on the site in that time, the current castle was completed in 1806 and a beautiful sculpture gallery with decorative plaster ceiling added in 1814; this is the only remaining room of the castle, subsequently restored.

 

The last family resident was the Yellow Earl, the fifth Earl, who left the castle on New Year’s Day 1936. The castle was then requisitioned by the army during the second world war for secret tank weapon testing in the gardens.The sixth Earl sold the castle contents in 1947. After four years of trying to find alternative ways of saving the architectural heritage of the site, the late seventh Earl decided to remove the roof and all the interior structure of the building in 1957, the best solution in the circumstances to keep the building in some form within its landscape; as well as protecting the rest of the estate from a £25 million death duty bill. The gardens were then used to house a large chicken farm and commercial forestry business, who used the military concreting over of the lawns, with timber planted close up to the castle ruins. The remaining gardens and castle ruin were left to run wild and decay for subsequent decades.

 

A partnership was established between the Lowther Estate and English Heritage in 1999, resulting in extensive work to prepare the site for the ensuing project, which included vital repairs to the staircase tower and clearance of most of the army concrete over the lawns.

 

In 2010 the Lowther Estate granted a lease to the new independent charity, the Lowther Castle & Gardens Trust, and £8.9m of funds secured from the North West Development Agency and European Regional Development Fund to develop the castle and gardens into a major visitor attraction, with additional support from the Architectural Heritage Fund and Lowther Estate Trust. Work to reverse 70 years of deterioration of the castle, gardens and stable courtyard started in April 2011, and a veritable army of craftsmen have been busy stabilising arcitectural features, restoring the Stables Courtyard, removing hundreds of tonnes of army concrete, and sympathetically installing modern services. The stable courtyard offers café, shop, heritage toilets, meeting room and a display area where visitors can find out more about the process of restoration.

 

The latest repair work to the castle ruins, funded by English Heritage and Lowther Estate Trust, will open up the ruins and complete nine years' work of stabilising the important central staircase tower, the key to preserving the grand silhouette of Robert Smirke's masterpiece, his first and arguably finest architectural commission. Thus preserving this landmark for the future, and allowing us to move into the next stages of the project.

Claremont, also known historically as 'Clermont', is an 18th-century Palladian mansion less than a mile south of the centre of Esher in Surrey, England. The buildings are now occupied by Claremont Fan Court School, and its landscaped gardens are owned and managed by the National Trust. Claremont House is a Grade I listed building.[1]

 

Claremont estate

The first house on the Claremont estate was built in 1708 by Sir John Vanbrugh, the Restoration playwright and architect of Blenheim Palace and Castle Howard, for his own use. This "very small box", as he described it, stood on the level ground in front of the present mansion. At the same time, he built the stables and the walled gardens, also probably White Cottage, which is now the Sixth Form Centre of Claremont Fan Court School.

 

In 1714, he sold the house to the wealthy Whig politician Thomas Pelham-Holles, Earl of Clare, who later became Duke of Newcastle and served twice as Prime Minister. The earl commissioned Vanbrugh to add two great wings to the house and to build a fortress-like turret on an adjoining knoll. From this so-called "prospect-house", or belvedere, he and his guests could admire the views of the Surrey countryside as they took refreshments and played hazard, a popular dice game.

 

In the clear eighteenth-century air it was apparently possible to see Windsor Castle and St Paul's Cathedral. The Earl of Clare named his country seat Clare-mount, later contracted to Claremont. The two lodges at the Copsem Lane entrance were added at this time.

 

Landscape garden

Main article: Claremont Landscape Garden

Claremont landscape garden is one of the earliest surviving gardens of its kind of landscape design, the English Landscape Garden — still featuring its original 18th century layout. The extensive landscaped grounds of Claremont represents the work of some of the best known landscape gardeners, Charles Bridgeman, Capability Brown, William Kent (with Thomas Greening) and Sir John Vanbrugh.[2]

 

Work on the gardens began around 1715 and, by 1727, they were described as "the noblest of any in Europe". Within the grounds, overlooking the lake, is an unusual turfed amphitheatre.

 

A feature in the grounds is the Belvedere Tower, designed by Vanbrugh for the Duke of Newcastle. The tower is unusual in that, what appear to be windows, are actually bricks painted black and white. It is now owned by Claremont Fan Court School, which is situated alongside the gardens.

 

In 1949, the landscape garden was donated to the National Trust for stewardship and protection. A restoration programme was launched in 1975 following a significant donation by the Slater Foundation. The garden is Grade I listed on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.[3]

 

Capability Brown's mansion, built for Lord Clive of India

The Duke of Newcastle died in 1768 and, in 1769, his widow sold the estate to Robert Clive, 1st Baron Clive, founder of Britain's Indian Empire. Although the great house was then little more than fifty years old, it was aesthetically and politically out of fashion. Lord Clive decided to demolish the house and commissioned Capability Brown to build the present Palladian mansion on higher and dryer ground. Brown, more accomplished as a landscape designer than an architect, took on his future son-in-law Henry Holland as a junior partner owing to the scale of the project. John Soane (later Sir John Soane) was employed in Holland's office at this time and worked on the project as a draftsman and junior designer.[4] Holland's interiors for Claremont owe much to the contemporary work of Robert Adam.

 

Lord Clive, by now fabulously rich Nabob, is reputed to have spent over £100,000 on rebuilding the house and the complete remodelling of the celebrated pleasure ground. However, Lord Clive ended up never living at the property, as he died in 1774—the year that the house was completed. The estate then passed through a rapid succession of owners; first being sold "for not more than one third of what the house and alterations had cost"[5] to Robert Monckton-Arundell, 4th Viscount Galway, and then to George Carpenter, 2nd Earl of Tyrconnell, and finally to Charles Ellis, 1st Baron Seaford.[citation needed]

 

A large map entitled "Claremont Palace", situated in what is called "Clive's room" inside the mansion, shows the mansion and its surrounding grounds; giving a detailed overview of the campus. The map likely dates back to the 1860s, when the mansion was frequently occupied by Queen Victoria (thus it having been christened "palace"). However, the exact date is still unknown. The relief in Claremont's front pediment is of Clive's coat of arms impaled with that of Maskelyne, his wife's family.

 

Royal residence

In 1816, Claremont was bought by the British Nation through an Act of Parliament as a wedding present for George IV's daughter Princess Charlotte and her husband Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg. At that time, the estate was valued to Parliament at £60,000: "Mr Huskisson stated that it had been agreed to purchase the house and demesnes of Clermont... The valuation of the farms, farm-houses, and park, including 350 acres of land, was 36,000/; the mansion, 19,000/; and the furniture, 6,000/; making together 60,000/. The mansion, which is in good repair, could not be built now for less than 91,000/."[6] To the nation's great sorrow, however, Princess Charlotte, who was second in line to the throne, was, after two miscarriages, to die there after giving birth to a stillborn son in November the following year. This sorrow is expressed in Letitia Elizabeth Landon's poem Wikisource-logo.svg Lines on the Mausoleum of the Princess Charlotte, at Claremont., published in Forget Me Not, 1824. Although Leopold retained ownership of Claremont until his death in 1865, he left the house in 1831 when he became the first King of the Belgians.

  

Mausoleum of Princess Charlotte

 

Claremont House, ca. 1860

Queen Victoria was a frequent visitor to Claremont—both as a child and later as an adult—when Leopold, her doting uncle, lent her the house. She, in turn, lent the house to the exiled French King and Queen, Louis-Philippe and Marie-Amelie (the parents-in-law of Leopold I of Belgium), after the Revolutions of 1848. The exiled King died at Claremont in 1850.

 

In 1857, Offenbach and his Bouffes company performed three of his opéras bouffes there for Marie Amelie and her sons during an eight-week tour of England.[7]

 

In 1870, Queen Victoria commissioned Francis John Williamson to sculpt a marble memorial to Charlotte and Leopold which was erected inside the house.[8][9] (The memorial was subsequently moved to St George's Church, Esher.)[9]

 

Victoria bought Claremont for her fourth, and youngest, son Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany, when he married Princess Helena of Waldeck and Pyrmont in 1882. The Duke and Duchess of Albany had two children—Alice and Charles. Charles, who had been born at Claremont in 1884, inherited the title and position of Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha upon the death of his uncle, Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, in 1900. He moved to the duchy in Germany to fulfill the position, becoming a German citizen, and renouncing his claim in the British succession.

 

Claremont should have passed to Charles upon his mother's death in 1922, but because he served as a German general in the First World War, the British government disallowed the inheritance. Claremont was accordingly confiscated and sold by the Public Trustee to shipping magnate Sir William Corry, director of the Cunard Line. Two years after Sir William's death, in 1926, it was bought by Eugen Spier, a wealthy German financier.

 

In 1930, Claremont stood empty and was marked for demolition when it was bought, together with the Belvedere, the stables, and 30 acres (120,000 m2) of parkland, by the Governors of a south London school, later renamed Claremont School and, since 1978, has been known as Claremont Fan Court School.

 

The National Trust

The National Trust acquired 50 acres (0.20 km2) of the Claremont estate in 1949. In 1975, with a grant from the Slater Foundation, it set about restoring the eighteenth-century landscape garden. Now, the Claremont Landscape Garden displays the successive contributions of the great landscape gardeners who worked on it: Sir John Vanbrugh, Charles Bridgeman, William Kent, and Capability Brown.

 

In 1996, the school celebrated the National Trust's centenary by opening a feature of the grounds which had not previously been accessible to the garden's visitors: the 281-year-old Belvedere Tower. Wikipedia

The Postcard

 

A postally unused postcard that was published by Pitkin Pictorials Ltd. of North Way, Andover, Hants. The photography was by Albert Watson, and the card has a divided back.

 

Prince Andrew, Duke of York

 

Prince Andrew, Duke of York, KG, GCVO, CD was born Andrew Albert Christian Edward on the 19th. February 1960.

 

He is a member of the British royal family, and the younger brother of King Charles III and the third child of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

 

Andrew is eighth in the line of succession to the British throne, and the first person in the line who is not a descendant of the reigning monarch.

 

Andrew served in the Royal Navy as a helicopter pilot and instructor, and as the captain of a warship. During the Falklands War, he flew on multiple missions including anti-surface warfare, casualty evacuation, and Exocet missile decoy.

 

In 1986, he married Sarah Ferguson and was made Duke of York. They have two daughters: Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie. Their marriage, separation in 1992, and divorce in 1996 attracted extensive media coverage.

 

Andrew served as the UK's Special Representative for International Trade and Investment for 10 years until July 2011.

 

In 2014, the American-Australian campaigner Virginia Giuffre alleged that, as a 17-year-old, she was sex-trafficked to Andrew by the American financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

 

Andrew denied any wrongdoing. Following criticism for his association with Epstein, Andrew resigned from public roles in May 2020, and his honorary military affiliations and royal charitable patronages were removed by Queen Elizabeth II in January 2022.

 

He was the defendant in a civil lawsuit over sexual assault filed by Giuffre in the State of New York. The lawsuit was settled out of court in February 2022.

 

Prince Andrew - The Early Years

 

Andrew was born in the Belgian Suite of Buckingham Palace on the 19th. February 1960 at 3:30 p.m. He was baptised in the palace's Music Room on the 8th. April 1960.

 

Andrew was the first child born to a reigning British monarch since Princess Beatrice in 1857. As with his siblings, Charles, Anne, and Edward, Andrew was looked after by a governess, who was responsible for his early education at Buckingham Palace.

 

Andrew was sent to Heatherdown School near Ascot in Berkshire. In September 1973, he entered Gordonstoun, in northern Scotland, which his father and elder brother had also attended.

 

He was nicknamed "the Sniggerer" by his schoolmates at Gordonstoun, because of "his penchant for off-colour jokes, at which he laughed inordinately".

 

While there, he spent six months—from January to June 1977—participating in an exchange programme to Lakefield College School in Canada. He left Gordonstoun in July two years later with A-levels in English, History, and Economics.

 

Prince Andrew's Military Service

 

Royal Navy Service

 

The Royal Household announced in November 1978 that Andrew would join the Royal Navy the following year.

 

In December, he underwent various sporting tests and examinations at the Aircrew Selection Centre at RAF Biggin Hill, along with further tests and interviews at HMS Daedalus, and interviews at the Admiralty Interview Board, HMS Sultan.

 

During March and April 1979, he was enrolled at the Royal Naval College Flight, undergoing pilot training, until he was accepted as a trainee helicopter pilot and signed on for 12 years from the 11th. May 1979.

 

On the 1st. September 1979, Andrew was appointed as a midshipman, and entered Britannia Royal Naval College, Dartmouth.

 

During 1979 Andrew also completed the Royal Marines All Arms Commando Course for which he received his Green Beret. He was commissioned as a sub-lieutenant on the 1st. September 1981, and appointed to the Trained Strength on the 22nd. October.

 

After passing out from Dartmouth, Andrew went on to elementary flying training with the Royal Air Force at RAF Leeming, and later, basic flying training with the navy at HMS Seahawk, where he learned to fly the Gazelle helicopter.

 

After being awarded his wings, Andrew moved on to more advanced training on the Sea King helicopter, and conducted operational flying training until 1982. He joined carrier-based squadron, 820 Naval Air Squadron, serving aboard the aircraft carrier, HMS Invincible.

 

The Falklands War

 

On the 2nd. April 1982, Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands, a British overseas territory, leading to the Falklands War.

 

Invincible was one of the two operational aircraft carriers available at the time, and, as such, was to play a major role in the Royal Navy task force assembled to sail south to retake the islands.

 

Andrew's place on board and the possibility of the Queen's son being killed in action made the British government apprehensive, and the cabinet desired that Prince Andrew be moved to a desk job for the duration of the conflict.

 

The Queen, though, insisted that her son be allowed to remain with his ship. Prince Andrew remained on board Invincible to serve as a Sea King helicopter co-pilot, flying on missions that included anti-submarine warfare and anti-surface warfare.

 

Andrew's other roles included acting as an Exocet missile decoy, casualty evacuation, transport, and search and air rescue. He witnessed the Argentinian attack on the SS Atlantic Conveyor.

 

At the end of the war, Invincible returned to Portsmouth, where Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip joined other families of the crew in welcoming the vessel home.

 

The Argentine military government reportedly planned, but did not attempt, to assassinate Andrew on Mustique in July 1982.

 

Though he had brief assignments to HMS Illustrious, RNAS Culdrose, and the Joint Services School of Intelligence, Prince Andrew remained with Invincible until 1983. Commander Nigel Ward's memoir, Sea Harrier Over the Falklands, described Prince Andrew as:

 

"An excellent pilot and a

very promising officer."

 

Prince Andrew's Career as a Naval Officer

 

In late 1983, Andrew transferred to RNAS Portland, and was trained to fly the Lynx helicopter. On the 1st. February 1984 he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant, whereupon Queen Elizabeth II appointed him as her personal aide-de-camp.

 

Prince Andrew served aboard HMS Brazen as a flight pilot until 1986, including deployment to the Mediterranean Sea as part of Standing NRF Maritime Group 2.

 

On the 23rd. October 1986, the Duke of York (as he was by then) transferred to the General List, enrolled in a four-month helicopter warfare instructor's course at RNAS Yeovilton, and, upon graduation, served from February 1987 to April 1988 as a helicopter warfare officer in 702 Naval Air Squadron, RNAS Portland.

 

He also served on HMS Edinburgh as an officer of the watch and Assistant Navigating Officer until 1989, including a six-month deployment to the Far East as part of Exercise Outback 88.

 

The Duke of York served as flight commander and pilot of the Lynx HAS3 on HMS Campbeltown from 1989 to 1991. He also acted as Force Aviation Officer to Standing NRF Maritime Group 1 while Campbeltown was flagship of the NATO force in the North Atlantic from 1990 to 1991.

 

Andrew passed the squadron command examination on the 16th. July 1991, attended the Staff College, Camberley the following year, and completed the Army Staff course. He was promoted to Lieutenant-Commander on the 1st. February 1992, and passed the ship command examination on the 12th. March 1992.

 

From 1993 to 1994, Prince Andrew commanded the Hunt-class minehunter HMS Cottesmore.

 

From 1995 to 1996, Andrew was posted as Senior Pilot of 815 Naval Air Squadron, at the time the largest flying unit in the Fleet Air Arm. His main responsibility was to supervise flying standards and to guarantee an effective operational capability.

 

He was promoted to Commander on the 27th. April 1999, finishing his active naval career at the Ministry of Defence in 2001, as an officer of the Diplomatic Directorate of the Naval Staff.

 

In July 2001, Andrew was retired from the Active List of the Navy. Three years later, he was made an Honorary Captain. On the 19th. February 2010, his 50th. birthday, he was promoted to Rear Admiral.

 

Five years later, he was promoted to Vice Admiral.

 

Andrew ceased using his honorary military titles in January 2022. The action came after more than 150 Royal Navy, RAF and Army veterans signed a letter, requesting that Queen Elizabeth II remove his honorary military appointments in the light of his involvement in a sexual assault civil case.

 

However it was reported that he would still retain his service rank of Vice Admiral.

 

Prince Andrew's Personal Life

 

Personal Interests

 

Andrew is a keen golfer, and has had a low single-figure handicap. He was captain of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews between 2003 and 2004—during the club's 250th. anniversary season.

 

He was also patron of a number of royal golf clubs, and had been elected as an honorary member of many others. In 2004, he was criticised by Labour Co-op MP Ian Davidson, who in a letter to the NAO questioned Andrew's decision to fly to St. Andrews on RAF aircraft for two golfing trips.

 

Andrew resigned his honorary membership of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews when the Queen removed royal patronages at several golf clubs. His honorary membership of the Royal Dornoch Golf Club was revoked in the following month.

 

Andrew is a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Shipwrights, the senior maritime City livery company.

 

Prince Andrew's Relationship with Koo Stark

 

Andrew met the American photographer and actress Koo Stark in February 1981, before his active service in the Falklands War. In October 1982, they took a holiday together on the island of Mustique.

 

Tina Brown said that Stark was Andrew's only serious love interest. In 1983, they split up under pressure from press, paparazzi, and palace.

 

In 1997, Andrew became godfather to Stark's daughter. When Andrew was facing accusations in 2015 over his connection to Jeffrey Epstein, Koo came to his defence.

 

Prince Andrew's Marriage to Sarah Ferguson

 

Andrew had known Sarah Ferguson since childhood; they had met occasionally at polo matches, and became re-acquainted with each other at Royal Ascot in 1985.

 

Andrew married Sarah at Westminster Abbey on the 23rd. July 1986. On the same day, Queen Elizabeth II created him Duke of York, Earl of Inverness, and Baron Killyleagh.

 

The couple appeared to have a happy marriage and had two daughters together, Beatrice and Eugenie, presenting a united outward appearance during the late 1980's. His wife's personal qualities were seen as refreshing in the context of the formal protocol surrounding the royal family.

 

However, Andrew's frequent travel due to his military career, as well as relentless, often critical, media attention focused on the Duchess of York, led to fractures in the marriage.

 

On the 19th. March 1992, the couple announced plans to separate, and did so in an amicable way. Some months later, pictures appeared in the tabloid media of the Duchess in intimate association with John Bryan, her financial advisor at the time, which effectively ended any hopes of a reconciliation between Andrew and Sarah.

 

The marriage ended in divorce on the 30th. May 1996. The Duke of York spoke fondly of his former wife:

 

"We have managed to work together

to bring our children up in a way that

few others have been able to, and I

am extremely grateful to be able to

do that."

 

The couple agreed to share custody of their two daughters, and the family continued to live at Sunninghill Park (built near Windsor Great Park for the couple in 1990) until Andrew moved to the Royal Lodge in 2004.

 

In 2007, Sarah moved into Dolphin House in Englefield Green, less than a mile from the Royal Lodge. In 2008, a fire at Dolphin House resulted in Sarah moving into Royal Lodge, again sharing a house with Andrew.

 

Andrew's lease of Royal Lodge is for 75 years, with the Crown Estate as landlord, at a cost of a single £1 million premium and a commitment to spend £7.5 million on refurbishment.

 

In May 2010, Sarah was filmed by a News of the World reporter saying Andrew had agreed that if she were to receive £500,000, he would meet the donor and pass on useful top-level business contacts.

 

She was filmed receiving, in cash, $40,000 as a down payment. The paper said that Andrew did not know of the situation. In July 2011, Sarah stated that her multi-million pound debts had been cleared due to the intervention of her former husband, whom she compared to a "knight on a white charger".

 

Prince Andrews' Activities and Charitable Work

 

The Duke was patron of the Middle East Association (MEA), the UK's premier organisation for promoting trade and good relations with the Middle East, North Africa, Turkey and Iran.

 

Since his role as Special Representative for International Trade and Investment ended, Andrew continued to support UK enterprise without a special role.

 

Robert Jobson said he did this work well and wrote:

 

"He is particularly passionate when dealing

with young start-up entrepreneurs and

bringing them together with successful

businesses at networking and showcasing

events.

Andrew is direct and to the point, and his

methods seem to work".

 

The Duke was also patron of Fight for Sight, a charity dedicated to research into the prevention and treatment of blindness and eye disease, and was a member of the Scout Association.

 

He toured Canada frequently to undertake duties related to his Canadian military role. Rick Peters, the former Commanding Officer of the Royal Highland Fusiliers of Canada stated that Prince Andrew was "very well informed on Canadian military methods".

 

While touring India as a part of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee in 2012, Andrew became interested in the work of Women's Interlink Foundation (WIF), a charity which helps women acquire skills to earn income.

 

He and his family later initiated Key to Freedom, a project which tries to "find a route to market for products made by WIF".

 

On the 3rd. September 2012, Andrew was among a team of 40 people who abseiled down The Shard (tallest building in Europe) to raise money for educational charities.

 

In 2013, it was announced that Andrew was becoming the patron of London Metropolitan University and the University of Huddersfield. In July 2015, he was installed as Chancellor of the University of Huddersfield.

 

In recognition of Andrew's promotion of entrepreneurship he was elected to an Honorary Fellowship at Hughes Hall in the University of Cambridge on the 1st. May 2018.

 

He became the patron of the charity Attend in 2003, and was a member of the International Advisory Board of the Royal United Services Institute.

 

In 2014, Andrew founded the Pitch@Palace initiative to support entrepreneurs with the amplification and acceleration of their business ideas. Entrepreneurs selected for Pitch@Palace Bootcamp are officially invited by Andrew to attend St. James Palace in order to pitch their ideas and to be connected with potential investors, mentors and business contacts.

 

The Duke also founded The Prince Andrew Charitable Trust which aimed to support young people in different areas such as education and training.

 

He also founded a number of awards including Inspiring Digital Enterprise Award (iDEA), a programme to develop the digital and enterprise skills, the Duke of York Award for Technical Education, given to talented young people in technical education, and the Duke of York Young Entrepreneur Award, which recognised talents of young people in entrepreneurship.

 

The Duke of York lent his support to organisations that focus on science and technology by becoming the patron of Catalyst Inc and TeenTech.

 

In 2014, Andrew visited Geneva, Switzerland, to promote British science at CERN's 60th. anniversary celebrations. In May 2018, he visited China and opened the Pitch@Palace China Bootcamp 2.0 at Peking University.

 

In March 2019, Andrew took over the patronage of the Outward Bound Trust from his father, the Duke of Edinburgh, serving up until his own resignation in November 2019. The charity tries to instil leadership qualities among young people.

 

In May 2019, it was announced that Andrew had succeeded Lord Carrington as patron of the Royal Fine Art Commission Trust.

 

On 13 January 2022, it was announced that his royal patronages had been handed back to the Queen to be distributed among other members of the royal family.

 

Prince Andrew's Health

 

On the 2nd. June 2022, Andrew tested positive for COVID-19, and it was announced that he would not be present at the Platinum Jubilee National Service of Thanksgiving at St. Paul's Cathedral on the 3rd. June.

 

Allegations of Sexual Abuse

 

Andrew was friends with Jeffrey Epstein, an American financier who was convicted of sex trafficking in 2008. BBC News reported in March 2011 that the friendship was producing "a steady stream of criticism", and that there were calls for him to step down from his role as trade envoy.

 

Andrew was also criticised in the media after his former wife, Sarah, disclosed that he helped arrange for Epstein to pay off £15,000 of her debts.

 

Andrew had been photographed in December 2010 strolling with Epstein in Central Park during a visit to New York City. In July 2011, Andrew's role as trade envoy was terminated, and he reportedly cut all ties with Epstein.

 

On the 30th. December 2014, a Florida court filing on behalf of lawyers Edwards and Cassell alleged that Andrew was one of several prominent figures, including lawyer Alan Dershowitz and "a former prime minister", to have participated in sexual activities with a minor later identified as Virginia Giuffre (then known by her maiden name Virginia Roberts), who was allegedly trafficked by Epstein.

 

An affidavit from Giuffre was included in an earlier lawsuit from 2008 accusing the US Justice Department of violating the Crime Victims' Rights Act during Epstein's first criminal case by not allowing several of his victims to challenge his plea deal; Andrew was otherwise not a party to the lawsuit.

 

In January 2015, there was renewed media and public pressure for Buckingham Palace to explain Andrew's connection with Epstein. Buckingham Palace stated that:

 

"Any suggestion of impropriety with

underage minors is categorically

untrue."

 

The denial was later repeated.

 

Requests from Giuffre's lawyers for a statement from Andrew about the allegations, under oath, were returned unanswered.

 

Dershowitz denied the allegations in Giuffre's statement and sought disbarment of the lawyers filing the suit. Edwards and Cassell sued Dershowitz for defamation in January 2015; he countersued.

 

The two parties settled in 2016 for an undisclosed financial sum. Epstein sued Edwards for civil racketeering, but later dropped his suit; Edwards countersued for malicious prosecution with the result that Epstein issued a public apology to the lawyer in December 2018.

 

Giuffre asserted that she had sex with Andrew on three occasions, including a trip to London in 2001 when she was 17, and later in New York and on Little Saint James in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

 

She alleged Epstein paid her $15,000 after she had sex with Andrew in London. Flight logs show Andrew and Giuffre were in the places where she alleged their meetings took place.

 

Andrew was also photographed with his arm around Giuffre's waist with an Epstein associate, Ghislaine Maxwell, in the background. Andrew's supporters have repeatedly said the photo is fake and edited.

 

Giuffre stated that she was pressured to have sex with Andrew and "wouldn't have dared object" as Epstein, through contacts, could have her "killed or abducted".

 

On the 7th. April 2015, Judge Kenneth Marra ruled that:

 

"The sex allegations made against

Andrew in court papers filed in Florida

must be struck from the public record".

 

Marra made no ruling as to whether claims by Giuffre are true or false, specifically stating that she may later give evidence when the case comes to court. Giuffre stated that she would not "be bullied back into silence".

 

Tuan "John" Alessi, who was Epstein's butler, stated in a deposition he filed for Giuffre's 2016 defamation case against Maxwell that Andrew's hitherto unremarked visits to the Epstein house in Palm Beach were more frequent than previously thought. He maintained that Andrew "spent weeks with us" and received "daily massages".

 

In August 2019, court documents for a defamation case between Giuffre and Maxwell revealed that a second girl, Johanna Sjoberg, gave evidence alleging that Andrew had placed his hand on her breast while in Epstein's mansion posing for a photo with his Spitting Image puppet.

 

Later that month, Andrew released a statement that said:

 

"At no stage during the limited time I

spent with Epstein did I see, witness

or suspect any behaviour of the sort

that subsequently led to his arrest

and conviction."

 

Andrew did however express regret for meeting him in 2010 after Epstein had already pleaded guilty to sex crimes for the first time.

 

At the end of August 2019, The New Republic published a September 2013 email exchange between John Brockman and Evgeny Morozov, in which Brockman mentioned seeing a British man nicknamed "Andy" receive a foot massage from two Russian women at Epstein's New York residence in 2010. He had realised that:

 

"The recipient of Irina's foot massage

was His Royal Highness, Prince Andrew,

the Duke of York".

 

In July 2020, Caroline Kaufman, an alleged victim of Epstein, said in a federal lawsuit that she had seen Andrew at Epstein's New York mansion in December 2010.

 

In November 2021 Lawrence Visoski, Epstein's pilot, testified in court during Ghislaine Maxwell's trial that Prince Andrew flew in Epstein's private plane along with other prominent individuals, including Bill Clinton, Donald Trump and John Glenn.

 

Visoski stated he did not notice any sexual activity or wrongdoing on the plane.

 

Similarly, Andrew's name was recorded on the 12th. May 2001 by Epstein's pilot David Rodgers in his logbook, and he testified that Andrew flew three times with Epstein and Giuffre in 2001.

 

The following month a picture of Epstein and Maxwell, sitting at a cabin on the Queen's Balmoral estate, around 1999, at the invitation of Andrew, was shown to the jury to establish their status as partners.

 

On the 5th. January 2022, Virginia Giuffre's former boyfriend, Anthony Figueroa, said on Good Morning Britain that Giuffre told him Epstein would take her to meet Prince Andrew. He said:

 

"She called me when she was on the trip

and she was talking about she knew what

they wanted her to do and she was really

nervous and scared because she didn't

know how to react to it".

 

He alleged the meeting had taken place in London. In a court filing, Andrew's lawyers had previously referred to a statement by Figueroa's sister, Crystal Figueroa, who alleged that in her bid to find victims for Epstein, Giuffre had asked her:

 

"Do you know any girls

who are kind of slutty?"

 

The same month, Carolyn Andriano, who as a 14-year-old was introduced by Giuffre to Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein and was a prosecution witness in Maxwell's trial, said in an interview with the Daily Mail that then 17-year-old Giuffre told her in 2001 that she had slept with Prince Andrew. She stated:

 

"Giuffre said, 'I got to sleep with him'.

She didn't seem upset about it. She

thought it was pretty cool."

 

In an ITV documentary, former royal protection officer Paul Page, who was convicted and given a six year sentence following a £3 million property investment scam in 2009, recounted Maxwell's frequent visits to Buckingham Palace, and suggested the two might have had an intimate relationship, while Lady Victoria Hervey added that Andrew was present at social occasions held by Maxwell.

 

The Duke of York's name and contact numbers for Buckingham Palace, Sunninghill Park, Wood Farm and Balmoral also appeared in Maxwell and Epstein's 'Little Black Book', a list of contacts of the duo's powerful and famous friends.

 

In February 2022, The Daily Telegraph published a photograph of Andrew along with Maxwell giving a tour of Buckingham Palace to Andrew's guests Bill Clinton and Kevin Spacey, with a member of the tour party describing Maxwell as:

 

"The one who led us into

Buckingham Palace".

 

Tina Brown, a journalist who edited Vanity Fair, The New Yorker and The Daily Beast, maintains Epstein described Andrew behind his back as an idiot, but found him useful. Brown stated:

 

"Epstein confided to a friend that he used

to fly Andrew to obscure foreign markets,

where governments were obliged to

receive him, and Epstein went along as

HRH's investment adviser.

With Andrew as frontman, Epstein could

negotiate deals with these (often) shady

players".

 

In October 2022, Ghislaine Maxwell was interviewed by a documentary filmmaker while serving her sentence in prison, and when asked about her relationship with Andrew, Maxwell stated that:

 

"I feel bad for him, but I accept our

friendship could not survive my

conviction.

He is paying such a price for the

association.

I consider him a dear friend. I care

about him."

 

She also stated that she now believed the photograph showing her together with Andrew and Virginia Giuffre was not "a true image," and added that in an email to her lawyer in 2015 she was trying to confirm that she recognised her own house, but the whole image cannot be authentic as "the original has never been produced".

 

The Newsnight Interview

 

In November 2019, the BBC's Newsnight arranged an interview between Andrew and presenter Emily Maitlis in which he recounted his friendship with Epstein for the first time.

 

In the interview, Prince Andrew says he met Epstein in 1999 through Maxwell; this contradicts comments made by Andrew's private secretary in 2011, who said the two met in "the early 1990's".

 

The Duke also said he did not regret his friendship with Epstein, saying:

 

"The people that I met and the opportunities

that I was given to learn, either by him or

because of him, were actually very useful".

 

In the interview, Andrew denied having sex with Giuffre on the 10th. March 2001, as she had accused, because he had been at home with his daughters after attending a party at Pizza Express in Woking with his elder daughter Beatrice.

 

Prince Andrew also added that Giuffre's claims about dancing with him at a club in London while he was sweaty were false due to him temporarily losing the ability to sweat after an "adrenaline overdose" during the Falklands War.

 

However, according to physicians consulted by The Times, an adrenaline overdose typically causes excessive sweating in humans.

 

Andrew also said that he does not drink, despite Giuffre's account of him providing alcohol for them both. Accounts from other people have supported his statement that he does not drink.

 

Andrew said that he had stayed in Epstein's mansion for three days in 2010, after Epstein's conviction for sex offences against a minor, describing the location as "a convenient place to stay".

 

The Duke said that he met Epstein for the sole purpose of breaking off any future relationship with him. He also said that he would be willing to testify under oath regarding his associations with Epstein.

 

In the 2019 BBC interview, Andrew told Newsnight that his association with Epstein was derived from his long-standing friendship with Ghislaine Maxwell, who was later convicted of colluding in Epstein's sexual abuse.

 

In July 2022 it was announced that a film would be made of the preparations for the interview and the interview itself. Shooting was planned to start in November 2022. According to Deadline, Scoop is being written by Peter Moffat.

 

The Civil Lawsuit

 

In August 2021, Virginia Giuffre sued Prince Andrew in the federal District Court for the Southern District of New York, accusing him of "sexual assault and intentional infliction of emotional distress."

 

The lawsuit was filed under New York's Child Victims Act, legislation extending the statute of limitations where the plaintiff had been under 18 at the time, 17 in Giuffre's case.

 

On the 29th. October 2021, Andrew's lawyers filed a response, stating that:

 

"Our client unequivocally denies

Giuffre's false allegations".

 

On the 12th. January 2022, Judge Kaplan rejected Andrew's attempts to dismiss the case, allowing the sexual abuse lawsuit to proceed.

 

In February 2022, the case was settled out of court, with Andrew making a donation to Giuffre's charity for victims of abuse.

 

The Guardian reported that:

 

"The Queen's decision to strip Andrew

of his royal patronages, honorary military

titles and any official use of his HRH title,

still stands firm."

 

Criminal proceedings in the United States over Virginia Giuffre's claims are still possible but are now unlikely, as Virginia Giuffre died by her own hand on the 24th. April 2025 at a farm in the Neergabby area outside of Perth, Australia, where she had lived for the previous several years.

 

Repercussions

 

The 2019 Newsnight interview was believed by Maitlis and Newsnight to have been approved by the Queen, although "palace insiders" speaking to The Sunday Telegraph disputed this. One of Prince Andrew's official advisors resigned just prior to the interview being aired.

 

Although Andrew was pleased with the outcome of the interview – reportedly giving Maitlis and the Newsnight team a tour of Buckingham Palace – it received negative reactions from both the media and the public, both in and outside of the UK.

 

The interview was described as a "car crash", "nuclear explosion level bad", and the worst public relations crisis for the royal family since the death of Diana, Princess of Wales.

 

Experts and those with ties to Buckingham Palace said that the interview, its fallout and the abrupt suspension of Andrew's royal duties were unprecedented.

 

On the 18th. November 2019, accountancy firm KPMG announced it would not be renewing its sponsorship of Prince Andrew's entrepreneurial scheme Pitch@Palace, and on the 19th. November Standard Chartered also withdrew its support.

 

Also on the 19th. November 2019, the Students' Union of the University of Huddersfield passed a motion to lobby Andrew to resign as its chancellor, as London Metropolitan University was considering Andrew's role as its patron.

 

On the 20th. November 2019, a statement from Buckingham Palace announced that Andrew was suspending his public duties "for the foreseeable future".

 

The decision, made with the consent of the Queen, was accompanied by the insistence that Andrew sympathised with Epstein's victims. Other working royals took his commitments over in the short term.

 

On the 21st. November, Andrew relinquished his role as chancellor of the University of Huddersfield. Three days later, the palace confirmed that Andrew was to step down from all 230 of his patronages, although he expressed a wish to have some sort of public role at some future time.

 

On the 16th. January 2020, it was reported that the Home Office was recommending "a major downgrade of security" for Andrew, which would put an end to his "round-the-clock armed police protection".

 

It was later reported that he had been allowed to keep his £300,000-a-year security and the recommendation would be reviewed again in the future.

 

On the 28th. January 2020, US Attorney Geoffrey Berman stated that Prince Andrew had provided "zero co-operation" with federal prosecutors and the FBI regarding the ongoing investigations, despite his initial promise in the Newsnight interview when he said he was willing to help the authorities.

 

Buckingham Palace did not comment on the issue, though sources close to Andrew said that he "hasn't been approached" by US authorities and investigators, and his legal team announced that he had offered to be a witness "on at least three occasions" but had been refused by the Department of Justice.

 

The US authorities denied being approached by Andrew for an interview, and labeled his statements as:

 

"A way to falsely portray himself to

the public as eager and willing to

cooperate".

 

Spencer Kuvin, who represented nine of Epstein's victims, said Andrew could be arrested if he ever returns to the United States, saying:

 

"It is highly unlikely an extradition

would ever occur, so the Prince

would have to be here in the US

and be arrested while he's here."

 

In March 2020, Andrew hired crisis-management expert Mark Gallagher, who had helped high-profile clients falsely accused in Operation Midland.

 

In April 2020, it was reported that the Duke of York Young Champions Trophy would not be played anymore, after all activities carried out by the Prince Andrew Charitable Trust were stopped.

 

In May 2020, it was reported that the Prince Andrew Charitable Trust was under investigation by the Charity Commission regarding some regulatory issues about £350,000 of payments to his former private secretary Amanda Thirsk.

 

According to The Times, senior personnel in the navy and army considered Andrew to be an embarrassment for the military, and believed he should be stripped of his military roles.

 

In May 2020 it was announced that Andrew would permanently resign from all public roles over his Epstein ties.

 

In June 2020, it became known that Andrew is a person of interest in a criminal investigation in the United States, and that the United States had filed a mutual legal assistance request to British authorities in order to question Andrew.

 

Newsweek reported that a majority of British citizens believe Andrew should be stripped of his titles and extradited to the United States. Following the arrest of Ghislaine Maxwell in July 2020, Andrew cancelled a planned trip to Spain, reportedly due to fears that he might be arrested and extradited to the United States.

 

In August 2020, anti-child trafficking protesters chanting "Paedophile! Paedophile!" referencing Andrew gathered outside Buckingham Palace, and videos of the protest went viral.

 

In August 2021, royal biographer Penny Junor maintained Prince Andrew's reputation with the public was damaged beyond repair.

 

It was reported in August 2021 that American authorities were pessimistic about being able to interview Andrew.

 

In January 2022, Andrew's social media accounts were deleted, his page on the royal family's website was rewritten in the past tense, and his military affiliations and patronages were removed to put an emphasis on his departure from public life.

 

He also stopped using the style His Royal Highness (HRH) though it was not formally removed. In the same month, York Racecourse announced that it would rename the Duke of York Stakes.

 

Prince Andrew High School in Nova Scotia, which had announced two years earlier that it was considering a name change because the name "no longer reflects the values of the community", stated that it would have a new name at the next academic year.

 

In February 2022, Belfast City Council and the Northern Ireland Assembly decided not to fly a union flag for Andrew's birthday. In the same month, the Mid and East Antrim Borough Council announced that they would hold a debate in June 2022 regarding a motion to rename Prince Andrew Way in Carrickfergus.

 

On the 27th. April 2022 York City Council unanimously voted to remove Andrew's Freedom of the City. Rachael Maskell, York Central MP, said Andrew was the "first to ever have their freedom removed".

 

There have also been calls to remove the Duke of York title.

 

In March 2022, Andrew made his first official appearance in months, helping the Queen to walk into Westminster Abbey for a memorial service for his father, the Duke of Edinburgh. There was a mixed reaction by commentators to his presence, with some saying that:

 

"It would send the wrong message to

victims of sexual abuse about how

powerful men are able to absolve

themselves from their conduct."

 

Others argued that his appearance was required "as a son, in memory of his father".

 

In June 2022, The Telegraph reported that Andrew had asked the Queen to be reinstated as Colonel of the Grenadier Guards, to use his HRH (His Royal Highness) title and to be allowed to appear at official events due to his position as a 'prince of the blood'.

 

In the same month, he took part in private aspects of the Garter Day ceremony, including lunch and investiture of new members, but was excluded from the public procession following an intervention by his brother Charles and his nephew William that banned him from appearing anywhere the public could see him.

 

Andrew's name featured on one of the lists, showing that this was a last-minute decision.

 

In June 2022 Rachael Maskell MP introduced a 'Removal of Titles' bill in the House of Commons. If passed, this bill would enable Andrew to be stripped of his Duke of York title and other titles. Maskell maintains that 80% of York citizens want Andrew to lose all connection with their city.

 

The proposed bill would also enable other people considered unworthy to lose their titles. The bill is due to get its second reading on the 9th. December 2022.

 

In August 2022, it was reported that the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures had assessed the security threat against Andrew and concluded that he should keep his taxpayer-funded police bodyguards, at an annual cost estimated to be between £500,000 and £3 million.

 

In early 2021 there were at least two trespassing incidents reported at his Windsor property, and in December he was verbally abused by a woman as he was driving his car.

 

Following the death of the Queen on the 8th. September 2022, Andrew appeared in civilian clothing at various ceremonial events. As he walked behind his mother's coffin in a funeral procession in Edinburgh on the 12th. September, a 22-year-old man shouted "Andrew, you're a sick old man".

The heckler was arrested and charged with committing a breach of the peace.

 

Andrew wore military uniform for a 15-minute vigil by the Queen's coffin at Westminster Hall on the 16th. September. Lawyer Spencer Kuvin, who represented nine of Epstein's victims, was critical of Andrew's public role in the lead-up to the funeral, and stated that:

 

"He is attempting now to see if he

can rehabilitate his image in the public."

 

New York lawyer Mariann Wang, who represented up to 12 Epstein's victims described Andrew's public profile as "quite outrageous. She went on to say:

 

"It is harmful for any survivor of trauma

to see an abuser or their enablers

continue to reap the benefits of privilege,

status and power."

 

Controversies and Other Incidents

 

Prince Andrew as Special Representative for International Trade and Investment

 

From 2001 until July 2011, Andrew worked with UK Trade & Investment, part of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, as the United Kingdom's Special Representative for International Trade and Investment.

 

The post, previously held by Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, involved representing and promoting the UK at various trade fairs and conferences around the world.

 

Andrew's suitability for the role was challenged in the House of Commons by Shadow Justice Minister Chris Bryant in February 2011, at the time of the 2011 Libyan civil war, on the grounds that he was:

 

"Not only a very close friend of

Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, but also a

close friend of the convicted

Libyan gun smuggler Tarek

Kaituni".

 

Further problems arose as he hosted a lunch for Sakher El Materi, a member of the corrupt Tunisian regime, at the Palace around the time of the Tunisian Revolution.

 

Andrew also formed a friendship with Ilham Aliyev, the president of Azerbaijan who has been criticised for corruption and for abuses of human rights by Amnesty International, and visited him both during and after his tenure as the UK trade envoy.

 

As of November 2014, Andrew had met Aliyev on 12 separate occasions.

 

Andrew did not receive a salary from the UK Trade & Investment for his role as Special Representative, but he went on expenses-paid delegations, and was alleged to have occasionally used trips paid for by the government for his personal leisure, which earned him the nickname "Airmiles Andy" by the press.

 

On the 8th. March 2011, The Daily Telegraph reported:

 

"In 2010, the Prince spent £620,000

as a trade envoy, including £154,000

on hotels, food and hospitality and

£465,000 on travel."

 

The controversies, together with his ties to Jeffrey Epstein, made him step down from the role in 2011.

 

In November 2020, and following reviews of emails, internal documents, and unreported regulatory filings, as well as interviews with 10 former bank insiders, Bloomberg Businessweek reported on Andrew using his royal cachet and role as Special Representative for International Trade and Investment for helping David Rowland and his private bank, Banque Havilland, with securing deals with clients around the world.

 

The Rowland family are among the investment advisers to Andrew, and he was present for the official opening ceremony of their bank in July 2009.

 

Alleged Comments on Corruption and Kazakhstan

 

As the United Kingdom's Special Trade Representative, Andrew travelled the world to promote British businesses.

 

It was revealed in the United States diplomatic cables leak that Andrew had been reported on by Tatiana Gfoeller, the United States Ambassador to Kyrgyzstan, discussing bribery in Kyrgyzstan and the investigation into the Al-Yamamah arms deal.

 

She explained:

 

"The Duke was referencing an investigation,

subsequently closed, into alleged kickbacks

a senior Saudi royal had received in exchange

for the multi-year, lucrative BAE Systems

contract to provide equipment and training to

Saudi security forces."

 

The dispatch continued:

 

"His mother's subjects seated around the

table roared their approval. He then went

on to 'these (expletive) journalists, especially

from the National Guardian [sic], who poke

their noses everywhere' and (presumably)

make it harder for British businessmen to

do business. The crowd practically clapped!"

 

In May 2008, he attended a goose-hunt in Kazakhstan with President Nursultan Nazarbayev.

 

In 2010, it was revealed that the President's billionaire son-in-law Timur Kulibayev paid Andrew's representatives £15 million – £3 million over the asking price – via offshore companies, for Andrew's Surrey mansion, Sunninghill Park.

 

Kulibayev frequently appears in US dispatches as one of the men who have accumulated millions in gas-rich Kazakhstan. It was later revealed that Andrew's office tried to get a crown estate property close to Kensington Palace for Kulibayev at that time.

 

In May 2012, it was reported that Swiss and Italian police investigating "a network of personal and business relationships" allegedly used for "international corruption" were looking at the activities of Enviro Pacific Investments which charges "multi-million pound fees" to energy companies wishing to deal with Kazakhstan.

 

The trust is believed to have paid £6 million towards the purchase of Sunninghill which now appears derelict. In response, a Palace spokesman said:

 

"This was a private sale between

two trusts. There was never any

impropriety on the part of The Duke

of York".

 

Libby Purves wrote in The Times in January 2015:

 

"Prince Andrew dazzles easily when

confronted with immense wealth and

apparent power.

He has fallen for 'friendships' with bad,

corrupt and clever men, not only in the

US but in Libya, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan,

Tunisia, wherever."

 

In May 2016, a fresh controversy broke out when the Daily Mail alleged that Andrew had brokered a deal to assist a Greek and Swiss consortium in securing a £385 million contract to build water and sewerage networks in two of Kazakhstan's largest cities, while working as British trade envoy, and had stood to gain a £4 million payment in commission.

 

The newspaper published an email from Andrew to Kazakh oligarch Kenges Rakishev, (who had allegedly brokered the sale of the Prince's Berkshire mansion Sunninghill Park), and said that Rakishev had arranged meetings for the consortium.

 

After initially saying the email was a forgery, Buckingham Palace sought to block its publication as a privacy breach. The Palace denied the allegation that Andrew had acted as a "fixer," calling the article "untrue, defamatory and a breach of the editor's code of conduct".

 

A former Foreign Office minister, MP Chris Bryant stated:

 

"When I was at the Foreign Office, it was

very difficult to see in whose interests he

[Andrew] was acting. He doesn't exactly

add lustre to the Royal diadem".

 

Arms Sales

 

In March 2011, Kaye Stearman of the Campaign Against the Arms Trade told Channel 4 News that CAAT sees Prince Andrew as part of a bigger problem:

 

"He is the front man for UKTI. Our concerns

are not just Prince Andrew, it's the whole

UKTI set up.

They see arms as just another commodity,

but it has completely disproportionate

resources. At the London office of UKTI the

arms sector has more staff than all the

others put together.

We are concerned that Prince Andrew is

used to sell arms, and where you sell arms

it is likely to be to despotic regimes.

He is the cheerleader in chief for the arms

industry, shaking hands and paving the way

for the salesmen."

 

In January 2014, Prince Andrew took part in a delegation to Bahrain, a close ally of the United Kingdom. Spokesman for CAAT, Andrew Smith said:

 

"We are calling on Prince Andrew and the

UK government to stop selling arms to Bahrain.

By endorsing the Bahraini dictatorship, Prince

Andrew is giving his implicit support to their

oppressive practices.

When our government sells arms, it is giving

moral and practical support to an illegitimate

and authoritarian regime and directly supporting

their systematic crackdown on opposition groups.

We shouldn't allow our international image to be

used as a PR tool for the violent and oppressive

dictatorship in Bahrain."

 

Andrew Smith has also said:

 

"The prince has consistently used his position

to promote arms sales and boost some of the

most unpleasant governments in the world, his

arms sales haven't just given military support to

corrupt and repressive regimes. They've lent

those regimes political and international

legitimacy."

 

Reactions to Prince Andrew's Election to the Royal Society

 

Andrew's election to the Royal Society prompted "Britain's leading scientists" to "revolt" due to Andrew's lack of scientific background, with some noting he had only a secondary school level of education.

 

In an op-ed in The Sunday Times, pharmacologist, Humboldt Prize recipient, and Fellow of the Royal Society, David Colquhoun opined, in references to Andrew's qualifications, that:

 

"If I wanted a tip for the winner of

the 14.30 at Newmarket, I'd ask a

royal. For most other questions,

I wouldn't."

 

Allegations of Racist Language

 

Rohan Silva, a former Downing Street aide, claimed that, when they met in 2012, Andrew had commented:

 

"Well, if you'll pardon the expression,

that really is the nigger in the woodpile."

 

Former home secretary Jacqui Smith also claims that Andrew made a racist comment about Arabs during a state dinner for the Saudi royal family in 2007.

 

Buckingham Palace denied that Andrew had used racist language on either occasion.

 

Allegations of Ramming Gates in Windsor Great Park

 

In March 2016, Republic CEO Graham Smith filed a formal report to the police, requesting an investigation into allegations that Andrew had damaged sensor-operated gates in Windsor Great Park by forcing them open in his Range Rover to avoid going an extra mile on his way home.

 

The Thames Valley Police dismissed the reports due to lack of details.

 

Treatment of Reporters, Servants and Others

 

During his four-day Southern California tour in 1984, Andrew squirted paint onto American and British journalists and photographers who were reporting on the tour, after which he told Los Angeles county supervisor Kenneth Hahn, "I enjoyed that".

 

The incident damaged the clothes and equipment of reporters and the Los Angeles Herald Examiner submitted a $1,200 bill to the British consulate asking for financial compensation.

 

The Guardian wrote in 2022:

 

"His brusque manner with servants

is well-documented. A senior footman

once told a reporter who worked

undercover at Buckingham Palace that

on waking the prince, 'the response can

easily be "f*** off" as good morning'."

 

Former royal protection officer Paul Page said, in an ITV documentary, that:

 

"Andrew maintained a collection of

50 or 60 stuffed toys, and if they

weren't put back in the right order

by the maids, he would shout and

scream and become verbally abusive."

 

Page later stated in the documentary 'Prince Andrew: Banished' that different women would visit Andrew every day, and when one was denied entry into his residence by the security, Andrew allegedly called one of the officers a "fat, lardy-ass c**t" over the phone.

 

The Duke's former maid, Charlotte Briggs, also recalled setting up the teddy bears on his bed, and told The Sun that when she was bitten by his Norfolk Terrier in 1996, he only laughed and "wasn't bothered".

 

She said that she was reduced to tears by Andrew for not properly closing the heavy curtains in his office, and added that his behaviour was in contrast to that of his brothers Charles and Edward who "weren't anything like him" and his father Philip whom she described as "so nice and gentlemanly".

 

Massage therapist Emma Gruenbaum said Andrew regularly overstepped the mark, making creepy sexual comments when she came to give him a massage. Gruenbaum maintained Andrew talked continually about sex during the first massage, and wanted to know when she last had sex. Gruenbaum said Andrew arranged regular massages for roughly two months, and she believed requests for massages stopped when he realised he would not get more.

 

Finance and Debt Problems

 

It is unclear how Andrew finances his luxury lifestyle; in 2021 The Guardian wrote:

 

"With little in the way of visible support,

questions over how Andrew has been

able to fund his lifestyle have rarely been

answered. In the past he has appeared

to live the jetset life of a multimillionaire,

with holidays aboard luxury yachts,

regular golfing sojourns and ski trips to

exclusive resorts."

 

The Duke of York received a £249,000 annuity from the Queen.

 

In the twelve-month period up to April 2004, he spent £325,000 on flights, and his trade missions as special representative for UKTI cost £75,000 in 2003.

 

The Sunday Times reported in July 2008 that for "the Duke of York's public role,... he last year received £436,000 to cover his expenses".

 

He has a Royal Navy pension of £20,000.

 

The Duke is also a keen skier, and in 2014 bought a skiing chalet in Verbier, Switzerland, for £13 million jointly with his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson.

 

In May 2020, it was reported that they were in a legal dispute over the mortgage. To purchase the chalet, they secured a loan of £13.25 million, and were expected to pay £5 million in cash instalments which, after applying interests, amounted to £6.8 million.

 

Despite claims that the Queen would help pay the debt, a spokesperson for Andrew confirmed that she "will not be stepping in to settle the debt".

 

The Times reported in September 2021 that Andrew and Sarah had reached a legal agreement with the property's previous owner and would sell the house.

 

The owner agreed to receive £3.4 million, half of the amount that she was owed, as she had been under the impression that Andrew and Sarah were dealing with financial troubles. The money from selling the property is reportedly to be used to pay Andrew's legal expenses over the civil lawsuit as well.

 

In June 2022 it was reported in Le Temps, a Swiss newspaper, that the sale of the chalet has been frozen because of a £1.6 million debt that Andrew owes to unnamed people.

 

Law professor Nicolas Jeandin told Le Temps:

 

"A sale is in principle impossible, except

with the agreement of the creditor."

 

In 2021 Bloomberg News reported that a firm connected to David Rowland had been paying off Andrew's debts. In November 2017, Andrew borrowed £250,000 from Banque Havilland, adding to an existing £1.25 million loan that had been "extended or increased 10 times" since 2015.

 

Documents showed that while the "credibility of the applicant" had been questioned, he was given the loan in an attempt to "further business potential with the Royal Family".

 

11 days later and in December 2017, £1.5 million was transferred from an account at Albany Reserves, which was controlled by the Rowland family, to Andrew's account at Banque Havilland, paying off the loan that was due in March 2018.

 

Liberal Democrat politician and staunch republican Norman Baker stated:

 

"This demonstrates yet again that

significant questions need to be

asked about Prince Andrew's

business dealings and his

association with some dubious

characters."

 

Several months after Andrew's controversial 2019 Newsnight interview, his private office established the Urramoor Trust, which owned both Lincelles Unlimited (established 2020) and Urramoor Ltd. (established 2013), and according to The Times was set up to support his family.

 

Lincelles was voluntarily wound up in 2022. Andrew was described as a "settlor but not a beneficiary", and did not own either of the companies, though Companies House listed him and his private banker of 20 years Harry Keogh as people with "significant control".

 

In March 2022 it was reported that on the 15th. November 2019 the wife of the jailed former Turkish politician İlhan İşbilen transferred £750,000 to Andrew in the belief that it would help her secure a passport.

 

The Duke repaid the money 16 months later after being contacted by Mrs İşbilen's lawyers. The Telegraph reported that the money sent to Andrew's account had been described to the bankers "as a wedding gift" for his eldest daughter, Beatrice, though the court documents did not include any suggestions that the princess was aware of the transactions.

 

Mrs İşbilen alleges that a further £350,000 payment was made to Andrew through businessman Selman Turk, who Mrs İşbilen is suing for fraud. Turk had been awarded the People's Choice Award for his business Heyman AI at a Pitch@Palace event held at St. James's Palace days before the £750,000 payment was made by Mrs İşbilen.

 

Even though he won the award through a public vote online and an audience vote on the night of the ceremony, there were concerns raised with a senior member of the royal household that Turk was "gaming the system" and should not have won as "he may have used bots – autonomous internet programs – to boost his vote".

 

Libyan-born convicted gun smuggler, Tarek Kaituni introduced Andrew to Selman Turk in May or June 2019 and held later meetings on at least two occasions. Kaituni, for whom Andrew allegedly lobbied a British company, had reportedly gifted Princess Beatrice with an £18,000 gold and diamond necklace for her 21st. birthday in 2009, and was invited to Princess Eugenie's wedding in 2018.

 

Titles, Styles, Honours and Arms

 

19th. February 1960 – 23rd. July 1986: His Royal Highness The Prince Andrew

 

23rd. July 1986 – present: His Royal Highness The Duke of York

 

As of September 2022, Andrew is eighth in the line of succession to the British throne. On rare occasions, he is known by his secondary titles of Earl of Inverness and Baron Killyleagh, in Scotland and Northern Ireland respectively.

 

In 2019, Inverness residents started a campaign to strip him of that title, stating that "it is inappropriate that Prince Andrew is associated with our beautiful city", in light of his friendship with the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

 

Similar pleas have been made by people affiliated with the village of Killyleagh and the city of York regarding his titles of Baron Killyleagh and Duke of York, with Labour Co-op MP for York Central, Rachael Maskell, stating that she would look for ways to make Andrew give up his ducal title if he did not voluntarily relinquish it.

 

In January 2022, it was reported that, while Andrew retains the style of His Royal Highness, he would no longer use it in a public capacity.

 

In April 2022, several York councillors called for Andrew to lose the title Duke of York. Also in 2022, there was a renewed petition to strip him of the Earl of Inverness title.

 

-- Relinquishing of Titles

 

On the 17th. October 2025, following discussions with King Charles, Andrew agreed to cease using his titles of the Duke of York, Earl of Inverness and Baron Killyleagh, and his honours, including his knighthoods as a Royal Knight Companion of the Order of the Garter and a Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order.

 

Andrew publicly stated:

 

"We have concluded the continued accusations

about me distract from the work of His Majesty

and the Royal Family."

 

Andrew was to remain a prince following the interactions with his older brother, but will cease to be the Duke of York, a title received from his mother, the late Queen Elizabeth.

 

Prince Andrew has been under increasing pressure over his links with late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, and has faced a series of scandals - in the statement he reiterates:

 

"I vigorously deny the accusations

against me."

 

Andrew's former wife will be known as Sarah Ferguson and no longer Duchess of York, but their daughters will continue to have the title of Princess.

 

Sean Coughlan of the BBC commented in relation to the latest development:

 

"Andrew might be seen as having to jump before he

was pushed, as the Palace had seemed increasingly

exasperated at the scandals that kept swirling around

him."

 

On the 30th. October 2025, Buckingham Palace announced that Charles III had started the "formal process" to remove his brother's style, titles, and honours. Andrew's name was removed from the Roll of the Peerage the same day.

 

Although this did not revoke Andrew's peerages, it meant that he was no longer entitled to any place in the orders of precedence derived from them, and would cease to be addressed or referred to by any title derived from his peerages in official documents. Letters patent were issued on the 3rd. November officially removing Andrew of the style "Royal Highness" and title "Prince".

 

Andrew will henceforth be known as Andrew Albert Christian Edward Mountbatten Windsor.

Colas Rail Freight Brush/Mirrlees Class 60 diesel-electric locomotive approaches Carlisle Citadel railway station on the west coast mainline with a portion of 6S36 the BP Dalston Oil terminal to Grangemouth empty oil train.

Sheffield Park Garden is an informal landscape garden five miles east of Haywards Heath, in East Sussex, England. It was originally laid out in the 18th century by Capability Brown, and further developed in the early years of the 20th century's by its then owner, Arthur Gilstrap Soames. It is now owned by the National Trust.

History[edit]

The gardens originally formed part of the estate of the adjacent Sheffield Park House, a gothic country house, which is still in private ownership. It was also firstly owned by the West Family and later by the Soames family until in 1925 the estate was sold by Arthur Granville Soames, who had inherited it from his childless uncle, Arthur Gilstrap Soames.

 

Sheffield Park as an estate is mentioned in the Domesday Book. In August 1538, Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, entertained Henry VIII here. By 1700, the Deer Park had been partially formalised by Lord De La Warr who planted avenues of trees radiating from the house and cleared areas to establish lawns. In the late 1700s, James Wyatt remodelled the house in the fashionable Gothic style and Capability Brown was commissioned to landscape the garden. The original four lakes form the centrepiece. Humphry Repton followed Brown in 1789–1790. In 1796, the estate was sold to John Holroyd, created Baron Sheffield in 1781. It is particularly noted for its plantings of trees selected for autumn colour, including many Black Tupelos.

  

Rhododendron in Sheffield Park Garden

By 1885, an arboretum was being established, consisting of both exotic and native trees. After Arthur Gilstrap Soames purchased the estate in 1910, he continued large-scale planting. During World War II the house and garden became the headquarters for a Canadian armoured division, and Nissen huts were sited in the garden and woods. The estate was split up and sold in lots in 1953. The National Trust purchased approximately 40 ha in 1954, now up to 80 ha with subsequent additions. It is home to the National Collection of Ghent azaleas.

 

In 1876 the third Earl of Sheffield laid out a cricket pitch. It was used on 12 May 1884 for the first cricket match between England and Australia.[1] The Australian team won by an innings and 6 runs

wikipedia

Capability Brown Landscape at Scampston Hall, Yorkshire

The Nikomat (Nikkormat) EL, originally released in 1972, is the first focal plane shutter Nikon SLR camera with aperture priority (Av) automatic exposure capability, in addition to manual exposure setting. In fact, this is one of the first cameras in the world to offer aperture priority exposure control and an electronic shutter. The camera is based on the Nikkormat mechanical body chassis, although its exterior pentaprism design is looks different from the mechanical Nikkormats (the larger prism housing design accommodates the non-flexible circuit board inside). The control interface has been changed, though, to the style of the future FE/FM series of cameras. In other words, the shutter speed and ASA (ISO) are no longer set through rings on the lens mount, but rather with dials on the top of the body. Although the traditional Nikkormat interface worked well, this new layout is easier to see and adjust, and became the standard for future generations of Nikon bodies until the advent of control wheels on the Nikon F-801 and other similar bodies of that later generation.

 

The Nikomat EL is the first of three electronically controlled bodies in the Nikkormat line. Later models included the Nikomat ELW and the Nikon EL2. Nikon made various changes over the lifespan of these three models, leading the way to eventual release of the FE, which was based on a new, more compact and lighter body design. Indeed, the final EL2 version was only in production for a short time, from 1977 to 1798, before it was replaced by the Nikon FM, with its new form factor. All three models feel similar to the user and work great. Differences between the three models will be discussed below, and basically entail gradual improvements in specifications.

 

The Nikomat EL still incorporated CdS exposure meter technology, which had somewhat slower response at lower light levels compared with later SPD meters. The exposure meter gives a 60% weight to the 12mm circle in the center of the viewfinder, which is the Nikon standard for most cameras of this era. The measuring range of the exposure meter is EV 1-18, which remained unchanged on all EL/ELW/EL2 bodies, as well as the future FE/FM series. The electronic shutter has an official range of only 4 sec. to 1/1000 sec. There is no detent position on the shutter speed dial for 8 sec., but if you move the dial to where 8 sec. would be if it were marked, the shutter actually opens for about 8 seconds! I haven't actually used the 8 sec. "setting" so I don't know how accurate it is, or whether the exposure meter can accurately select up to 8 sec. in aperture priority mode. In any event, 8 sec. is not officially supported on the EL. If the battery dies, the EL shoots at a fixed shutter speed of 1/90 second regardless of what speed the shutter speed dial is set to. Film ASA range is limited to 25 - 1600 in this first generation EL, and there is no exposure compensation dial on the ASA setting ring. Of course, if you know how to use the camera, you can easily implement exposure compensation by just changing the selected film speed. The EL is from the same generation as the Nikkormat FT2, and links the lens to the camera's exposure meter by slipping the aperture ring claw on the lens onto the metering pin around the lens mount. For users of Nikon bodies of that generation, attaching lenses to the camera body this way is second nature.

 

The EL is the first Nikon body to use the use the new type of exposure meter display in the viewfinder, which became very popular and continued to be used virtually unchanged all the way through the final body in the later FM line, the FM3A! In manual exposure mode, a green needle points to the selected shutter speed on the left side of the viewfinder; you adjust the aperture ring and/or shutter speed dial until the position of the green needle coincides with the position of the black exposure meter needle. In aperture priority mode, the green needle points to "A" instead of a shutter speed, and the black needle points to the automatically selected shutter speed, including intermediate shutter speeds of course. There are two disadvantages of the EL's viewfinder display. First, it works great when there is sufficient light to see the needles, but the needles can be hard to see when photographing at night or in a dark theater, etc. This weakness continued all the way through the FM3A. Another disadvantage of the EL's viewfinder display, which continues from the mechanical Nikkormats, is that there is no indication of the selected lens aperture. You need to look at the aperture ring on the lens to know our aperture setting. The selected aperture does not show up in the display of these semi-pro Nikon bodies until the FM. The location and type of battery used by the EL, ELW and EL2 as relatively unusual. The camera uses a single, relatively large 6 volt silver oxide battery (e.g., 6.2v 4SR44). The battery is installed at the bottom of the mirror box by using the mirror lock-up lever to raise the mirror and opening the battery compartment cover with your finger. This works OK, although you need to be careful to avoid getting dust, etc. in the mirror box when changing the battery.

 

The EL apparently had at least two types of focusing screens. My EL has a central microprism spot surrounded by a 12mm circle for the central weighted area of the exposure meter. The central microprism circle pops into focus and is quite easy to use. However, the EL user manual describes the standard screen as a central split-image surrounded by a microprism collar. Since my EL is not a particularly early model (The EL starts a serial number 5100001 and mine is 5174881) perhaps my sample was originally a special order. Or possibly it was standard on "Nikomats" like mine that were purchased in Japan. Focusing screens on the EL, ELW and EL2 are not interchangeable. Viewfinder coverage is a rather limited 92%, but this is not unusual for the era.

 

In addition to the just-mentioned mirror lock-up function, the EL also has the usual aperture stop-down button, self-timer lever, etc. The self-timer lever is pushed in towards the lens to provide exposure lock in aperture priority mode. The camera also has a fixed hot shoe on top of the prism. Fastest electronic flash synch speed is 1/125 sec., same as for other Nikkormat bodies.

 

The EL is a really solid professional level camera, which provides state-of-the-art features for a first generation body with an electronic shutter. Sitting here in 2016 as I write this article, my black EL still looks almost new and functions 100% just as it did when it was manufactured. Some years back, it did have a problem with the shutter not always firing as set, but this was easily repaired by my local camera tech.

 

So what improvements were made in the subsequent ELW and EL2 models? The ELW was almost unchanged from the EL. Basically, the ELW adds support for the AW-1 auto winder. It also adds a shutter release button lock (to accommodate the auto winder), although the shutter still locks on the EL when the film advance lever is pressed in against the body. All other features were the same as the EL.

 

The EL2 incorporates a larger number of changes, and is closer in features to the subsequent Nikon FE. The EL2 does away with the exposure meter pin/claw system and moves to the more convenient automatic indexing system that is employed by the Nikkormat FT3 and later cameras. Also, another big change for the EL2 is that it employs a more modern and faster SPD exposure meter technology compared with the CdS meter of prior generations. The shutter for the first time officially supports shutter speeds as long as 8 seconds instead of the previous 4 seconds. The EL2 also includes for the first time an exposure compensation ring and expands the available film ASA range to 12-3200. Finally, Nikon changed their naming convention starting with the EL2. The camera is called the "Nikon EL2" instead of "Nikkormat/Nikomat" which was the name used for the EL and ELW.

 

Considering all of the upgrades available on the EL2, I think that this final model is the most desirable of the EL/ELW/EL2 line for actual picture taking. However, if you only use manual focus Nikon lenses with the aperture claw, and don't care about a slow motor drive (1 frame per second) in today's modern age, the original Nikomat EL works perfectly fine too. Still, since these three bodies are based on the original Nikkormat full-size chassis with a weight of about 780 grams without lens, my preference is to use the next generation FE/FM bodies which are significantly smaller (but not too small, unlike, say the Pentax MX) and lighter (only around 590 grams). On the other hand, the slightly greater weight and size of the EL's Nikkormat-style chassis gives it a more stable feeling, especially with smaller lenses.

 

Copyright © 2016 Timothy A. Rogers. All rights reserved.

 

(DSC_6083fin1)

KORF (Norfolk International Airport) - 16 SEP 2018

 

"Coast Guard Two Thousand Five" from Elizabeth City Regional Airport (KECG) rolling out on RWY 5 after landing.

 

The USCG has been flying HC-130J aircraft since the first aircraft was delivered in 2003 and went into initial operational capability in 2008. There are currently eleven HC-130J aircraft in the USCG inventory with an additional three on order through the manufacturer (at the time of this photo). All operational aircraft are based at the air station in Elizabeth City, NC, and operate primarily off the eastern seaboard. The HC-130J aircraft are worldwide deployable and can often be found supporting counter-narcotics operations in the Eastern Pacific, long range Search and Rescue in the Atlantic, or marine safety missions operating International Ice Patrol from Newfoundland, Canada.

 

The HC-130J aircraft has a unique mission system suite installed on the aircraft. The mission system suite includes a two operator workstation on the flight deck, a nose-mounted EO/IR pod, a belly-mounted surface search radar, as well as other communication and surveillance sensors.

 

The HC-130J is a major upgrade from the legacy C-130’s employed by the USCG since 1959. The cockpit avionics upgrades, coupled with more efficient engine and propeller designs, allow the aircraft to fly higher, get on scene faster, stay on scene longer and fly safer than any other fixed wing aircraft in the USCG inventory. This allows for significant savings in terms of operational and logistical costs.

 

Air Station Elizabeth City has 8 "missionized" HC-130Js in the fleet to meet long-range maritime patrol requirements in areas that cannot be patrolled efficiently by medium range surveillance aircraft or cutters. The Long Range Surveillance (LRS) aircraft also provides heavy air transport for maritime safety and security teams, port security units and the National Strike Force personnel and equipment.

 

The Coast Guard accepted CGNR 2005, an HC-130J Super Hercules long range surveillance aircraft retrofitted with the Minotaur Mission System Suite, at the L3 Technologies Inc. Integrated Systems Platform Integration Division in Waco, Texas, June 14, 2018.

Croome Court, Worcestershire - the Entrance Hall. Both house and gardens at Croome Court were designed by Capability Brown between 1751-2, rebuilding an earlier house from the 1640s. The estate was requisitioned in WW2, but was not used for troops, being offered to the Dutch Royal family, but nearby, and partly within the grounds, RAF Defford was established, an important location for the Telecommunications Research Establishment. They left in 1957 as the runways were too short. The house was sold by the Croome Estate Trust in 1948, and became St Josephs Special School until 1979. Taken over by the Hare Krishna movement, it became known as Chaitanya College with involvement from George Harrison, who created recording studios within the house. They left in 1984 and the house was used for several short-term activities, including a training centre; apartments; a restaurant and conference centre; a hotel and golf course, and a private family home. In 2007, it was purchased by the Croome Heritage Trust, who leased it to the National Trust. Croome Court is grade 1 listed.

 

Croome D'Abitot, near Pershore, Worcestershire, West Midlands, England - Croome Court, High Green

June 2025

and shoots RAW.

 

cory playing with his new canon g9.

the guy always makes me smile.

 

flickr friday lunch

taken: 11/16/2007

Col. Randy Lau, brigade commander of the 79th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, Califonia National Guard, fires a 120mm mortar during a live-fire exercise while visiting Soldiers assigned to the 1-65 IN/1-18 CAV/1-160 IN/1-184 IN, all assigned to the 79th IBCT, June 15, 2021, at Camp Roberts, Califonia. The live-fire was part of an Exportable Combat Training Capability exercise (XCTC21-01). The XCTC program is an instrumented Brigade field training exercise designed to certify platoon proficiency in coordination with First Army. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Walter H. Lowell)

With Kudzu vines and leaves dangling from a power line that it's quickly overtaking, southbound CSX empty coal train C623 slowly reverses its last cut of empty hoppers under the Creech, KY, load-out with the sun quickly yielding to the evening on October 4, 2020.

02 Boeing C-17A Globemaster III

C17 477FF2

NATO Strategic Airlift Capability

08-0002 c/nF-210

BRK Hungarian Air Force

LHPA Papa AB

The USMF's elite pilots (those given the rank of Paladin) are a tough breed whose exploits are well known across the galaxy. Though qualified on a wide array of different craft (including ones not used by the USMF) most Paladins operate solo or in small groups; often great distances from allied bases or capital ships and thus have found great use in one-man fighter craft with FTL capability.

 

Miniaturizing FTL jump drives is a complex and costly process, but the benefits of a faster-than-light starfighter are numerous. For years, the USMF Paladins utilized the AX-20 "Katana" in this role. While a sturdy and fast ship, the Katana's production foundry was completely destroyed in the beginning stages of the Dimension Wars, and as such, it's service numbers dwindled further from the already small amount (in comparison to non-FTL fighters in the fleet).

 

Starcom Solution's answered the call for a "faster-than-light jack of all trades" by introducing the "Tekkan" (a name of Japanese origin inspired by its spiritual predecessor "Katana"). Starcom Solutions, living up to it's name, conquered the complex issue of small FTL jump drives with a unique solution; the drive systems were built at the capital ship shipyards on Saturn and then shipped to Neptune where quantum technology was used to shrink the units down to a smaller size.

 

Impressed by the originality of Starcom Solutions' engineering prowess, the USMF quickly requested a Tekkan for immediate trial runs. The first Tekkan produced (which was painted red with white markings as tribute to the Katana) passed its tests with flying colors (no pun intended) and was assigned to Paladin Kira Janus.

 

The Tekkan features twin heavy repeating lasers (much like those found on Hyperius Industries' "Scorpion"-class heavy fighter) and twin "Mjölnir"-type lightning cannons, which fire thunderous bolts of energy across great distances. These weapons pack quite the punch and require no ammunition, but require a great amount of charge time. If safety protocols are bypassed, the capacitor banks can overcharge and result in a devastating chain reaction.

 

(Pictured above is the AX-20 "Katana" which the "Tekkan" replaces. I paid tribute to the original craft by using a similar layout to it's wings and main thrusters, as a sort of easter egg.)

The Caledonian Vanguard is a behemoth of a supply vessel. She was built in 2005 and is an impressive 93.45 metres long. A platform supply vessel (PSV) is a ship specially designed to supply offshore oil and gas platforms. They move goods, tools, equipment and staff to and from the platforms. The ship is so big because she has to carry huge tanks for things like diesel fuel, water and chemicals that offshore oil platforms need to carry out their day-to-day functions. PSV's also carry chemical waste back to shore for proper recycling or disposal.

 

Platform Supply Vessels are also used to help reduce the extent of oil spillage in the high seas; some of these vessels are equipped with a firefighting capability and fire monitors for fighting potentially catastrophic platform fires.

 

Other vessels are equipped with tools, chemicals and personnel to help increase an oil well's production. [Info: Edinburgh Live]

  

The vessel was renamed GSP PEGASUS (IMO 9329916) in 2020 and appears to be now sailing under the flag of Panama - last located in the Black Sea.

 

Photo: Caledonian Vanguard leaving Aberdeen Harbour in 2009.

The Nikon F3, Nikon's first pro-level camera with an electronic shutter, was in production from 1980 through 2001. The pictured camera is fitted with the HP High-Eyepoint prism.

 

-------------

 

The Nikon F3 was the first professional level Nikon SLR to incorporate an electronic shutter and automatic exposure capability. Of course, the F3 provides the same high-quality materials, refined fit and finish, and durability for professional use as all F-Series cameras. Like its predecessors, the F3 was part of a remarkably broad and advanced professional camera system.

 

When used in the new aperture priority mode, shutter speed range is a stepless 8 sec. to 1/2000 sec. An F3HP is an F3 body with a so-called "High-Eyepoint" DE-3 prism. Compared with the original F3 standard DE-2 eyelevel finder, the F3HP has a larger viewfinder eyepiece. Actually, most of the F3s that I have seen incorporate the HP viewfinder. Of course, the F3HP viewfinder provides a 100% frame coverage, like all F-series cameras, and a large, bright image with 0.8x magnification. Nikon offered 21 interchangeable focusing screens for the F3, but for general photography, the standard K screen (with split image, microprism collar, and matte field) is satisfactory.

 

Back in the day, I waited years to upgrade to the F3HP because I liked my F2AS so much. However, since I, like many, had been using a Nikon FE as my second body together with the F2AS, I eventually succumbed to the desire to have aperture priority auto exposure metering on my main camera body, as well.

 

The F3HP, particularly without the optional MD-4 motor drive attachment, has a perfect shape, body size, and weight for comfortable and stable holding as well as all-day carrying. The F3's built-in handgrip allows a firm grasp.

 

One advantage of the F3 over the F and F2 is that the exposure meter is incorporated into the camera body instead of the prism. As a result, you can now change viewfinders and still keep the exposure meter. The F3HP's easy-to-view High Eyepoint DE-3 prism is perfect for most purposes, but for various specialized professional applications, Nikon offered other types, such as the DW-3 Waist-Level Finder, the DA-2 Action Finder, and the DW-4 6x Magnification Finder. Nikon even produced the DX-1 AF Finder, with an electronic focus-aid indication!

 

The exposure meter on/off switch is a plastic lever that is incorporated around the shutter release button. This is something of a precursor to a similar switch on the future F4 and other newer Nikon camera bodies. However, I find the switch on the F3 quite tight and hard to turn. In fact, my original switch got damaged from long use and became stuck in the off position. I had get the switch replaced at my local repair shop. Fortunately, there is no reason why the switch could not just be left in the on position during periods when the camera is in frequent use. Even with the switch in the on position, the meter circuit does not actually activate unless the film wind crank is pulled slightly away from the body and the shutter release button pushed part way down. The shutter and meter are locked off when the film advance lever is pressed into the lock position. The F3 is the first F-level camera to utilize a standard ISO shutter release thread in the center of the shutter release button, instead of the older AR-2 style connector. The shutter release button is positioned just right, in the middle of the body, and has a silky-smooth feel.

 

As indicated above, the F3 is the first F-series camera body to support aperture priority automatic exposure instead of just manual exposure adjustment. Simply turn the shutter speed dial to "A" to enter this mode, then adjust the aperture ring appropriately. A really cool feature of the F3 is the 80% center-weighted exposure meter, concentrated within the viewfinder's 12 mm outer reference circle area. The 80% central weighting is a great compromise between Nikon's standard 60/40 weighting and a spot meter. The 80% weight allows you to easily meter on the most important section of the image, while still incorporating some exposure information from the remainder of the frame. You can center the 80% central spot on the metering target, then hold down the exposure memory lock button on the front of the body and re-frame. However, since I personally find it uncomfortable to use the exposure lock button in this position, I usually use manual exposure mode in these cases unless I am in a rush to shoot.

 

The F3 viewfinder includes at the top of the frame an ADR readout of the aperture setting on all Nikon F-mount lenses that have an aperture ring (basically any pre-G lens will work on the F3). To the left is an LCD display of the automatically or manually selected shutter speed, in full stop increments. One thing that I don't like about the F3's manual exposure mode is the compact-style manual exposure indicator display in the viewfinder. When in manual exposure mode, correct exposure is shown by small +- indicators to the left of the shutter speed display. You adjust the exposure until both the + and - indicators are visible at the same time. This system, while extremely accurate, is not as clear or quick as the match needle setup in the Nikkormat EL/FE/FE2/FM3A or the three diode (-o+) setup in the F2AS/FM/FM2n system. The F3's viewfinder display is illuminated by ambient light. However, you can push a small button on the prism to electronically illuminate the display in the dark.

 

The F3 is the last F-series body to have manual film wind, unless you attach the optional MD-4 Motor Drive (with up to 6 frames per second performance). Starting from the F4, the F-Series evolved to built-in automatic film advance. This is great if you need to often shoot rapidly. However, if you just want a high-end film camera for slower, more deliberative shooting, manual film advance provides quieter film operation, much better battery life, and a smaller and lighter package compared with the auto-advance F4, F5 and F6. Unlike the semi-pro bodies like the FE and FM, the film advance lever on the F3 may be operated in one complete stroke or a series of shorter strokes. The F3 can be used without a battery in an emergency. Just push the mechanical shutter release lever on the front of the camera, although the mechanical shutter speed is limited to only 1/60 second. That is certainly a far cry from a full range of shutter speeds, but at least flexible enough for many situations, if needed. Nevertheless, lack of power is almost never going to become an issue. My F3HP battery and shutter have never died throughout decades of use, and a single battery seems to last forever with the camera's low power usage.

 

The meter coupling lever on the F3 can be locked up to allow mounting of prehistoric non-AI lenses, although most users probably converted their non-AI lenses to AI decades ago. As a pro-level camera, the F3 has a proper mirror lock-up feature for certain specialized lenses and for slow exposure times. Of course, multiple exposures on a single frame are also supported.

 

Since the camera has an electronic shutter, it also has an electronic self-timer, complete with a flashing red light, just like modern SLRs.

 

The eyepiece has the usual shutter lever, but still no adjustable diopter. This is no problem, however, since Nikon still makes screw-in diopter lenses for the F3. Actually, the F3HP works fine with diopter lenses for the F90X, F100, etc. These diopter lenses have screw-in rings that are slightly thinner than harder to find ones that are actually designed for the F3. The large F3HP viewfinder eyepiece is relatively easy to use with glasses. On the F3 without the HP prism, use diopters that are designed for the FM/FE series of cameras.

 

In order to use an electronic flash unit, just like the earlier generation F and F2 bodies, the F3 still requires that an accessory shoe be mounted over the rewind knob, or that a special Nikon F3 flash unit be mounted directly onto the camera in the same position. (Of course, you could also use a side-bracket flash with a synch terminal cable.) Interestingly, the maximum flash synchronization speed is 1/80 sec., slightly slower than the 1/90 sec. maximum synch speed on the Nikon F2. The new advance is that the F3 offers TTL automatic flash exposure, although the F3 can't simultaneously meter ambient light. The powerful F3-era Nikon SB-16a Speedlight is a perfect match for the camera. Newer Nikon flash units can also provide TTL flash functionality with the F3, when used with the special adapter AS-17, which also allows convenient flash exposure compensation.

 

If you don't have the AS-17, you can do balanced fill flash the old way, as follows. First, set the background exposure manually, with a shutter speed at or below the maximum electronic flash synchronization speed. Then set the appropriate camera distance based on the film ISO, selected aperture and guide number. Finally, fill flash is achieved by further shutting down the aperture by 1-2 stops, and correspondingly adjusting the shutter speed. You can also set the SB-16a to TTL and adjust the flash exposure down by 1-2 stops using the exposure compensation dial. The compensation dial does not adjust the background exposure in this case because both shutter speed and aperture are set manually. All that being said, for fill flash, it would frankly be easier and faster to use a more modern body such as the F90X, F100, F5 or F6, which all provide various forms of 3D matrix automatic balanced fill-flash, Nikon's most advanced flash system. The F4 also has a pretty good flash capability, but it is still one generation older pre-3D technology (i.e., no communication of subject distance from D-type lenses.)

 

The basic Nikon F3 and F3HP were available in black. The Nikon F3 was also available in a few special variants, all of which had the High-Eyepoint viewfinder, such as the Nikon F3/T with a titanium exterior, the Nikon F3 Press, and various limited edition models. The F3/T was produced in both champagne and black colors.

 

As a pro-level camera, the F3 offers the benefits of aperture priority auto exposure, basic TTL flash, and a more compact and elegant design than the prior-generation F and F2 bodies. Compared with its later descendants, the F3 does not provide such benefits as matrix (multi-segment) metering, automatic balanced fill flash, multiple exposure modes, and built-in automatic film advance. On the other hand, the core F3 is significantly smaller and lighter than those later pro-level bodies. And, when used properly, the F3's exposure metering system can be just as effective, or even more so, compared with the early-generation matrix metering systems in some later Nikon cameras. For deliberative photographers who still like to shoot film, the F3 and F3HP provide a highly-refined and relatively compact manual focus platform for the extensive universe of "Pre-G"-type Nikon F-Mount lenses.

 

Copyright © 2015 Timothy A. Rogers. All rights reserved.

 

(DSC_3091)

Chatsworth, Derbyshire

The Nikon F3, Nikon's first pro-level camera with an electronic shutter, was in production from 1980 through 2001. The pictured camera is fitted with the HP High-Eyepoint prism.

 

-------------

 

The Nikon F3 was the first professional level Nikon SLR to incorporate an electronic shutter and automatic exposure capability. Of course, the F3 provides the same high-quality materials, refined fit and finish, and durability for professional use as all F-Series cameras. Like its predecessors, the F3 was part of a remarkably broad and advanced professional camera system.

 

When used in the new aperture priority mode, shutter speed range is a stepless 8 sec. to 1/2000 sec. An F3HP is an F3 body with a so-called "High-Eyepoint" DE-3 prism. Compared with the original F3 standard DE-2 eyelevel finder, the F3HP has a larger viewfinder eyepiece. Actually, most of the F3s that I have seen incorporate the HP viewfinder. Of course, the F3HP viewfinder provides a 100% frame coverage, like all F-series cameras, and a large, bright image with 0.8x magnification. Nikon offered 21 interchangeable focusing screens for the F3, but for general photography, the standard K screen (with split image, microprism collar, and matte field) is satisfactory.

 

Back in the day, I waited years to upgrade to the F3HP because I liked my F2AS so much. However, since I, like many, had been using a Nikon FE as my second body together with the F2AS, I eventually succumbed to the desire to have aperture priority auto exposure metering on my main camera body, as well.

 

The F3HP, particularly without the optional MD-4 motor drive attachment, has a perfect shape, body size, and weight for comfortable and stable holding as well as all-day carrying. The F3's built-in handgrip allows a firm grasp.

 

One advantage of the F3 over the F and F2 is that the exposure meter is incorporated into the camera body instead of the prism. As a result, you can now change viewfinders and still keep the exposure meter. The F3HP's easy-to-view High Eyepoint DE-3 prism is perfect for most purposes, but for various specialized professional applications, Nikon offered other types, such as the DW-3 Waist-Level Finder, the DA-2 Action Finder, and the DW-4 6x Magnification Finder. Nikon even produced the DX-1 AF Finder, with an electronic focus-aid indication!

 

The exposure meter on/off switch is a plastic lever that is incorporated around the shutter release button. This is something of a precursor to a similar switch on the future F4 and other newer Nikon camera bodies. However, I find the switch on the F3 quite tight and hard to turn. In fact, my original switch got damaged from long use and became stuck in the off position. I had get the switch replaced at my local repair shop. Fortunately, there is no reason why the switch could not just be left in the on position during periods when the camera is in frequent use. Even with the switch in the on position, the meter circuit does not actually activate unless the film wind crank is pulled slightly away from the body and the shutter release button pushed part way down. The shutter and meter are locked off when the film advance lever is pressed into the lock position. The F3 is the first F-level camera to utilize a standard ISO shutter release thread in the center of the shutter release button, instead of the older AR-2 style connector. The shutter release button is positioned just right, in the middle of the body, and has a silky-smooth feel.

 

As indicated above, the F3 is the first F-series camera body to support aperture priority automatic exposure instead of just manual exposure adjustment. Simply turn the shutter speed dial to "A" to enter this mode, then adjust the aperture ring appropriately. A really cool feature of the F3 is the 80% center-weighted exposure meter, concentrated within the viewfinder's 12 mm outer reference circle area. The 80% central weighting is a great compromise between Nikon's standard 60/40 weighting and a spot meter. The 80% weight allows you to easily meter on the most important section of the image, while still incorporating some exposure information from the remainder of the frame. You can center the 80% central spot on the metering target, then hold down the exposure memory lock button on the front of the body and re-frame. However, since I personally find it uncomfortable to use the exposure lock button in this position, I usually use manual exposure mode in these cases unless I am in a rush to shoot.

 

The F3 viewfinder includes at the top of the frame an ADR readout of the aperture setting on all Nikon F-mount lenses that have an aperture ring (basically any pre-G lens will work on the F3). To the left is an LCD display of the automatically or manually selected shutter speed, in full stop increments. One thing that I don't like about the F3's manual exposure mode is the compact-style manual exposure indicator display in the viewfinder. When in manual exposure mode, correct exposure is shown by small +- indicators to the left of the shutter speed display. You adjust the exposure until both the + and - indicators are visible at the same time. This system, while extremely accurate, is not as clear or quick as the match needle setup in the Nikkormat EL/FE/FE2/FM3A or the three diode (-o+) setup in the F2AS/FM/FM2n system. The F3's viewfinder display is illuminated by ambient light. However, you can push a small button on the prism to electronically illuminate the display in the dark.

 

The F3 is the last F-series body to have manual film wind, unless you attach the optional MD-4 Motor Drive (with up to 6 frames per second performance). Starting from the F4, the F-Series evolved to built-in automatic film advance. This is great if you need to often shoot rapidly. However, if you just want a high-end film camera for slower, more deliberative shooting, manual film advance provides quieter film operation, much better battery life, and a smaller and lighter package compared with the auto-advance F4, F5 and F6. Unlike the semi-pro bodies like the FE and FM, the film advance lever on the F3 may be operated in one complete stroke or a series of shorter strokes. The F3 can be used without a battery in an emergency. Just push the mechanical shutter release lever on the front of the camera, although the mechanical shutter speed is limited to only 1/60 second. That is certainly a far cry from a full range of shutter speeds, but at least flexible enough for many situations, if needed. Nevertheless, lack of power is almost never going to become an issue. My F3HP battery and shutter have never died throughout decades of use, and a single battery seems to last forever with the camera's low power usage.

 

The meter coupling lever on the F3 can be locked up to allow mounting of prehistoric non-AI lenses, although most users probably converted their non-AI lenses to AI decades ago. As a pro-level camera, the F3 has a proper mirror lock-up feature for certain specialized lenses and for slow exposure times. Of course, multiple exposures on a single frame are also supported.

 

Since the camera has an electronic shutter, it also has an electronic self-timer, complete with a flashing red light, just like modern SLRs.

 

The eyepiece has the usual shutter lever, but still no adjustable diopter. This is no problem, however, since Nikon still makes screw-in diopter lenses for the F3. Actually, the F3HP works fine with diopter lenses for the F90X, F100, etc. These diopter lenses have screw-in rings that are slightly thinner than harder to find ones that are actually designed for the F3. The large F3HP viewfinder eyepiece is relatively easy to use with glasses. On the F3 without the HP prism, use diopters that are designed for the FM/FE series of cameras.

 

In order to use an electronic flash unit, just like the earlier generation F and F2 bodies, the F3 still requires that an accessory shoe be mounted over the rewind knob, or that a special Nikon F3 flash unit be mounted directly onto the camera in the same position. (Of course, you could also use a side-bracket flash with a synch terminal cable.) Interestingly, the maximum flash synchronization speed is 1/80 sec., slightly slower than the 1/90 sec. maximum synch speed on the Nikon F2. The new advance is that the F3 offers TTL automatic flash exposure, although the F3 can't simultaneously meter ambient light. The powerful F3-era Nikon SB-16a Speedlight is a perfect match for the camera. Newer Nikon flash units can also provide TTL flash functionality with the F3, when used with the special adapter AS-17, which also allows convenient flash exposure compensation.

 

If you don't have the AS-17, you can do balanced fill flash the old way, as follows. First, set the background exposure manually, with a shutter speed at or below the maximum electronic flash synchronization speed. Then set the appropriate camera distance based on the film ISO, selected aperture and guide number. Finally, fill flash is achieved by further shutting down the aperture by 1-2 stops, and correspondingly adjusting the shutter speed. You can also set the SB-16a to TTL and adjust the flash exposure down by 1-2 stops using the exposure compensation dial. The compensation dial does not adjust the background exposure in this case because both shutter speed and aperture are set manually. All that being said, for fill flash, it would frankly be easier and faster to use a more modern body such as the F90X, F100, F5 or F6, which all provide various forms of 3D matrix automatic balanced fill-flash, Nikon's most advanced flash system. The F4 also has a pretty good flash capability, but it is still one generation older pre-3D technology (i.e., no communication of subject distance from D-type lenses.)

 

The basic Nikon F3 and F3HP were available in black. The Nikon F3 was also available in a few special variants, all of which had the High-Eyepoint viewfinder, such as the Nikon F3/T with a titanium exterior, the Nikon F3 Press, and various limited edition models. The F3/T was produced in both champagne and black colors.

 

As a pro-level camera, the F3 offers the benefits of aperture priority auto exposure, basic TTL flash, and a more compact and elegant design than the prior-generation F and F2 bodies. Compared with its later descendants, the F3 does not provide such benefits as matrix (multi-segment) metering, automatic balanced fill flash, multiple exposure modes, and built-in automatic film advance. On the other hand, the core F3 is significantly smaller and lighter than those later pro-level bodies. And, when used properly, the F3's exposure metering system can be just as effective, or even more so, compared with the early-generation matrix metering systems in some later Nikon cameras. For deliberative photographers who still like to shoot film, the F3 and F3HP provide a highly-refined and relatively compact manual focus platform for the extensive universe of "Pre-G"-type Nikon F-Mount lenses.

 

Copyright © 2015 Timothy A. Rogers. All rights reserved.

  

(DSC_3111)

Broadway Tower is a folly on Broadway Hill, near the village of Broadway, in the English county of Worcestershire, at the second-highest point of the Cotswolds (after Cleeve Hill). Broadway Tower's base is 1,024 feet (312 metres) above sea level. The tower itself stands 65 feet (20 metres) high.

 

The "Saxon" tower was the brainchild of Capability Brown and designed by James Wyatt in 1794 in the form of a castle, and built for Lady Coventry in 1798–99. The tower was built on a "beacon" hill, where beacons were lit on special occasions. Lady Coventry wondered whether a beacon on this hill could be seen from her house in Worcester — about 22 miles (35 km) away — and sponsored the construction of the folly to find out. Indeed, the beacon could be seen clearly.

 

Over the years, the tower was home to the printing press of Sir Thomas Phillipps, and served as a country retreat for artists including William Morris and Edward Burne-Jones who rented it together in the 1880s. William Morris was so inspired by Broadway Tower and other ancient buildings that he founded the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings in 1877.

 

Today, the tower is a tourist attraction and the centre of a country park with various exhibitions open to the public at a fee, as well as a gift shop and restaurant. The place is on the Cotswold Way and can be reached by following the Cotswold Way from the A44 road at Fish Hill, or by a steep climb out of Broadway village.

 

Near the tower is a memorial to the crew of an A.W.38 Whitley bomber that crashed there during a training mission in June 1943.

CORAL SEA (July 21, 2021) An F-35B Lightning fighter aircraft from the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit lands on the flight deck of the forward-deployed amphibious assault ship USS America (LHA 6) during Exercise Talisman Sabre 21. Talisman Sabre 21, the ninth iteration and conducted since 2005, occurs biennially across Northern Australia. Australian, U.S. and other multinational partner forces use Talisman Sabre to enhance interoperability by training in complex, multi-domain operations scenarios that address the full range of Indo-Pacific security concerts. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Jonathan D. Berlier)

Monument on the north wall of the chancel to Lancelot

"Capability" Brown (1716-1783) the famous landscape gardener, who lies with his family outside the north side of the chancel .

"Ye Sons of Elegance, who truly taste

The Simple charms that genuine Art supplies,

Come from the sylvan Scenes His Genius grac’d,

And offer here your tributary Sigh’s.

But know that more than Genius slumbers here;

Virtues were his which Arts best powers transcend.

Come, ye Superior train, who these revere

And weep the Christian, Husband, Father, Friend".

(Verse by poet Rev William Mason commissioned by eldest son Lance and Brown's friend and patron Lord Coventry)

 

Born in Kirkharle, Kirkwhelpington, Northumberland, Lancelot was the 5th child of William Browne 1729 a land agent by Ursula Hall

Lancelot bought the manor of Fenstanton & Hilton from the Earl of Northampton in 1767 for £1300 after having laid out his grounds at Castle Ashby . (though it is thought he only lived here for no more than a week! ) This came with 2 manor houses, 2 villages and 2,668 acres of land. . Ownership of the property allowed him to stand for and serve as High Sheriff of Huntingdonshire from 1770 to 1771 although his son Lance carried out most of the duties

By the 1760s, he was earning on average £6,000 (equivalent to £753,000 in 2016) a year, usually £500 (equivalent to £62,700 in 2016) for one commission. As an accomplished rider he was able to work fast, taking only an hour or so on horseback to survey an estate and rough out an entire design. In 1764, Brown was also appointed King George III's Master Gardener at Hampton Court where he had his main house which went with the job.

He continued to work and travel until his sudden collapse and death on 6 February 1783, on the doorstep of his daughter Bridget Holland's house in Hertford Street, London while returning after a night out at Lord Coventry's

He left an estate of approximately ₤40,000, which included property in Cambridgeshire, Huntingdonshire and Lincolnshire

The manors remained in the Brown family for 4 generations being sold in lots in 1870s and 1880s

 

Lancelot Brown m Bridget (Biddy) daughter of William Wayet, alderman & landowner of Boston Lincs, and Margaret daughter of John Kelsall and Sarah Parker

Children

1. Lancelot MP for Huntingdon m Frances 1792 www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/7Q1gZ0 daughter of Rev Henry Fuller 1761 : Sister of "Mad Jack" Fuller flic.kr/p/27t5YS

2. William Brown bc1748 (died young)

3 Admiral John Brown b1751

4 George b'd 1754

5. Thomas Brown b1761

1. Bridget b1746 m architect Henry Holland 1806 buried at All Saints Church, Fulham,

2. Anne b'd 1756

2. Margaret Rust (Peggy) b1758

  

. - Church of St Peter & St Paul, Fenstanton, Huntingdonshire / Cambridgeshire

  

Clumber Park is a country park, in part designed by Capability Brown, in the Dukeries near Worksop in Nottinghamshire, England. It was formerly the park of a country house called "Clumber House", which was the principal seat of the Pelham-Clinton Dukes of Newcastle from the early 18th century onwards. It is owned by the National Trust and open to the public.

 

When, in March 1879 a serious fire destroyed much of Clumber House, the 7th Duke of Newcastle had it magnificently rebuilt to designs by the younger Charles Barry.

 

This house was demolished in 1938. Charles Boot of Henry Boot Construction, was contracted to do the demolition and he removed a vast array of statues, facades and fountains to his Derbyshire home, Thornbridge Hall, although the bulk were lost to private buyers through auction. However, many features remain, including an outstanding Gothic Revival Chapel built by the 7th Duke of Newcastle, and walled kitchen garden with glass houses.

 

Clumber Park is over 3,800 acres (15 km²) in extent, including woods, open heath and rolling farmland. It contains a superb, 87 acre (352,000 m²), serpentine lake, and the longest double avenue of lime trees in Europe (pictured). The avenue extends over three miles (5 km), and was created by the 5th Duke of Newcastle in the 19th Century.

 

The park is an excellent place for long walks and also has cycle hire available next to the car park adjacent to the chapel. A variety of bicycles are available for hire including tandems and adult tricycles.

 

Route 6 of the National Cycle Network passes through the park linking it to Sherwood Forest and Sherwood Pines with only a few road crossings necessary.

 

DO NOT use my pictures without my written permission, these images are under copyright. Contact me if you want to buy these shots, prints and wallpapers are both available. Wayne Austin © All rights reserved

June 28, 2011: Croome Park, Worcestershire, England

 

Croome is an 18th century landscape park, garden and mansion house in south Worcestershire. Under the guidance of George William, the 6th Earl of Coventry, Croome was designed by Lancelot 'Capability' Brown with some features by Robert Adam. Croome Park has a man made lake and river, statues, temples and other "eye-catcher" buildings and facades with the Court as the central focus.

 

From FACES & PLACES: England

 

+++ 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:

The formation of the Indonesian Air Force came eight months after the former Dutch East Indies unilaterally declared independence from the Netherlands. The Netherlands initially did not recognize this, and a War of Independence ensued, which lasted until 1949. The Indonesian Air Force (Indonesian: Tentara Nasional Indonesia Angkatan Udara (TNI-AU), literally "Indonesian National Military-Air Force") used some machines left behind by the Japanese occupiers, but these were not of decisive importance for the war. Incidentally, the national insignia used until 1949 was only the red "sun" painted white in the lower half.

 

The 1950s were marked by domestic operations. Contrary to the Independence Treaty, which envisaged a federal state, Indonesia quickly became a unitary state. This included the deployment in the Christian-dominated Republic of the South Moluccas, which had unilaterally renounced itself, as well as against Islamic (Darul Islam) and democratic (Permesta) movements. The latter was secretly supported by the CIA, and, in the course of this skirmish, an Indonesian Mustang managed to shoot down a B-26 Invader piloted by a CIA pilot.

The need to prop up to what became Operation Trikora in Netherlands New Guinea, and the rise of the Communist Party of Indonesia, drew Indonesia closer to the Eastern Bloc. Several Soviet-built aircraft began to arrive in the early 1960s including the MiG-15UTI from Czechoslovakia, MiG-17F/PF, MiG-19S and MiG-21F-13, in addition to Ilyushin Il-28, Mil Mi-4, Mil Mi-6, Antonov An-12 and Avia 14 also from Czechoslovakia. Indonesia also received Lavochkin La-11, and some Tupolev Tu-2 from China arrived, too. It was during this period that the Indonesian Air Force became the first Air Force in Southeast Asia which acquired the capability of strategic bombing by acquiring the new Tupolev Tu-16 in 1961. Around 25 Tu-16KS were delivered, complete with AS-1 air-surface missiles.

 

The Sixties also marked the last confrontation with the Dutch in Papua, before the Dutch, again under pressure of the United Nations, left in 1963. Indonesia made territorial claims to the young nation and the Konfrontasi ensued between 1963 and 1966. During this era a coup attempt led by the 30 September Movement in 1965 changed everything and a new anti-communist regime from the Army, led by Major General Suharto, took power. The Chief of Staff of the Air Force, Air Marshall Omar Dani was removed from his position and court-martialed for his purported involvement in the coup. Ties with the Eastern bloc countries were cut, and thus support and spare parts for the planes became short.

By August 1968, the situation was critical and in early 1970, the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, Suwoto Sukandar, said that the spare parts situation meant that only 15–20 percent of aircraft were airworthy. The result was a total re-orientation for the air force material’s procurement, and the considerable Indonesian MiG force already made its farewell flight with a flypast of Jakarta in 1970. The relatively new MiG-19s were sold to Pakistan. By October 1970, only one Tu-16 was still flying, but after an in-flight engine failure, it too was grounded. But despite the problems, the Air Force still served with distinction in fighting militant remnants of the CPI in Java's provinces, particularly in Central and East Java.

 

With Suharto's assumption of the presidency and the office of Commander in Chief in 1967, the focus shifted to fighting the communist PGRS/Paraku insurgency. The Air Force launched Operation Lightning Strike (Indonesian: Operasi Samber Kilat) to support ground troops eradicate Sarawak communists that were present in West Kalimantan and along Indonesia-Malaysia border by dropping troops to the target area, dropping logistical assistance, VIP transportation, medical evacuation and recon flights.

 

The period between 1970 and 1980 saw a rebirth of the TNI-AU. The Air Force began to be re-equipped by receiving refurbished former Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) CAC Sabres – an Australian re-design of the F-86 Sabre with a Rolls-Royce Avon engine – to replace the MiG-21s. Pakistan Air Force took over the responsibility to train Indonesian pilots in the Sabre and in logistical aspects of the Air Force. In 1973, the United States started to supply military assistance including T-33s trainers and UH-34D helicopters in exchange for four old MiG-21F-13s, which were shipped to the US for evaluation. Over the next three years, the US also supplied 16 North American Rockwell OV-10 Broncos counter-insurgency aircraft and F-5E/F Tiger II fighters, in exchange for which the Indonesian Air Force handed over the majority of its remaining airworthy MiG-21F-13s, which were used to form a US Air Force Aggressor squadron. In the late 1970s, Indonesia also purchased BAE Hawk Mk 53s trainers from the United Kingdom.

 

In 1974, after the Portuguese Carnation Revolution, the last major European colonial empire was dissolved. As a result, the until-then Portuguese part of the island of Timor declared itself the independent Republic of Timor-Leste in November 1975. After the defeat in Vietnam and with a view to establishing socialist states in the two large African former Portuguese colonies, the USA and Australia did not want to let another socialist statelet develop in the region. Thus, just a few days after the declaration of independence, the young republic was invaded, with the TNI-AU and the Army Air Force (TNI-AD) dropping parachutists over East Timor, and, as a result, a year-long guerrilla war began.

To combat the rebels and the civilians supporting them, the US supplied more close air support aircraft to the TNI-AU, namely more OV-10 Broncos as well as twenty-five AH-1G attack helicopters, the latter refurbished US Army material left over from the Vietnam War. Beyond the 70 mm “hydra” unguided missiles, which were carried in pods with either seven or nineteen rounds, Indonesia also received several XM35 armament subsystems with a XM195 20 mm cannon – a fixed gatling gun that was carried on the inner left weapon station and was combined with a conformal external ammunition supply. Those roundabout ten machines capable of carrying this weapon were recognizable by additional external armor plates on the cockpit’s left flank, because XM195’s gun blast could damage the airframe.

 

In the early 1980s, the Indonesian Air Force, needing modern strike aircraft, organized “Operation Alpha” to clandestinely acquire ex-Israeli Air Force A-4 Skyhawks. Air Force personnel were sent in secret by different routes and eventually Indonesia received 32 aircraft. To further boost and modernize its air force, Indonesia purchased in 1982 sixteen more Northrop F-5E/F Tiger II from the United States to replace their CAC Sabres under the Peace Komodo I and II procurement program, and the AH-1Gs (21 were still operational) received a MLU program and were upgraded, too. They received new Kaman K-747 composite material main rotor blades and passive countermeasures, like a diffusor for the hot engine efflux (making them less vulnerable to man-portable air-defense systems (MANPADS), which had become a ubiquitous threat) and an improved armor protection for cockpit and the engine. Wire cutters were fitted, and a bigger, more effective oil cooler, too. Since it protruded from the lower fuselage, a unique armored fairing was devised and protected the cooler from arms of up to 23 mm caliber.

The Indonesian Cobras’ armament was improved, too: their original M28 chin turrets were replaced with the M97 system that comprises a three-barrel 20 mm gatling gun, which had more range and firepower against lightly armored targets than the AH-1G’s original 7.62 mm minigun and 40 mm grenade launchers. Since the Indonesian Cobras were still only operated in the daylight CAS role, they did not receive further sensors and avionics, e. g. the M65 TOW/Cobra anti-tank missile subsystem with a Telescopic Sight Unit (TSU) or a laser rangefinder, which had been introduced with the US Army’s AH-1Q in 1975. For the new M97, however a helmet-mounted sight was introduced, and the crews received night vision/low-light goggles, even though these were independent from the helm-mounted sight. After their modifications between 1982 and 1984, the TNI-AD Cobras were unofficially re-designated “AH-1G+”.

 

Even though the Cobras’ firepower and effectiveness were improved, the composite rotors soon turned out to be troublesome. The hot and humid climate in Indonesia weakened the bonding and eventually disrupted the material structure – a weakness that also appeared among retrofitted US Army AH-1s, but not as dramatically. As a result, wear and tear were considerably worse than on the former all-metal blades, even though the helicopters’ handling was better with the new rotors and overall weight was reduced. However, a spectacular and dramatic crash in 1985 showed the imminent risks of the composite blades: three of four AH-1G+s in a tight formation over Aceh in Western Indonesia crashed after a 24 kg rotor balance weight of one machine came loose in flight and hit a sister ship, fatally destroying its engine and the gearbox. Spinning out of control it collided with another Cobra in the same formation, and all three helicopters crashed, with all six crewmen killed. The TNI-AD’s AH-1G+s were immediately grounded, the ongoing rotor conversion was stopped and subsequently all already modified AH-1G+s had their original all-metal rotor blades re-installed – a measure that took almost a year to accomplish and lasted until early 1987.

 

After this troublesome phase, the TNI-AD’s Cobras were kept busy, with frequent deployments during the Aceh Insurgency and the East Timor conflict. They soldiered on into the new millennium, even though some machines were lost in accidents or through small arms ground fire, and less and less machines remained airworthy due to the airframes’ age. In 2003, only six AH-1G+ were still operational, and even these machines had reached the ultimate end of their useful service life after more than 30 years of frequent duty. They were in September of the same year replaced by Mil Mi-35P attack helicopters, directly procured from Russia, of which several batches were acquired throughout the following years.

  

General characteristics:

Crew: 2: one pilot, one co-pilot/gunner (CPG)

Length: 53 ft (16 m) including rotors

Fuselage length: 44 ft 5 in (13.5 m)

Main rotor diameter: 44 ft 0 in (13.4 m)

Main rotor area: 1,520 sq ft (141 m²)

Blade section: NACA 0009.3 mod

Width: 10 ft 4 in (3.15 m) stub wings

Height: 13 ft 6 in (4.11 m)

Empty weight: 5,810 lb (2,635 kg)

Max takeoff weight: 9,500 lb (4,309 kg)

 

Powerplant:

1× Lycoming T53-L-13 turboshaft, 1,400 shp (1,000 kW)

 

Performance:

Maximum speed: 149 kn (171 mph, 276 km/h)

Never exceed speed: 190 kn (220 mph, 350 km/h)

Range: 310 nmi (360 mi, 570 km)

Service ceiling: 11,400 ft (3,500 m)

Rate of climb: 1,230 ft/min (6.2 m/s)

 

Armament:

1× 20 mm (0.707 in) three-barreled M197 20 mm cannon in a chin turret with 750 rounds

4× hardpoints under the stub wings, primarily used for 2.75 in (70 mm) rockets mounted in

M158 seven-round or M200 nineteen-round launchers; alternatively, M14 12.7 mm machine

gun or M18 7.62 mm Minigun pods could be carried or a single XM35 armament subsystem with

a XM195 20 mm gatling cannon

 

The kit and its assembly:

This fictional Bell AH-1 Cobra is the result of a cross-bashing of two Fujimi kits of this helicopter, namely the AH-1S and the AH-1J kit. I had both in The Stash™ and recently came across the Iranian HESA-2091 ‘Tiztak’, an indigenous refurbished AH-1J with flat armor glazing. Since both Fujimi kits could theoretically be combined to build this exotic Cobra derivative, I decided to try this stunt – and it left me with enough surplus parts to build something like an early/standard AH-1G.

 

However, combining the parts from both kits turned out to be more challenging than expected. The biggest problem was to adapt the AH-1J’s standard glazing to the respective opening on the AH-1S hull: the clear part is bigger/longer than the later flat, armored glazing, so that the fuselage area at the canopy’s rear end had to be cut away. Fitting the clear part into this widened opening furthermore called for delicate PSR work to fill gaps and bridge the transition between parts that were never meant to be stuck together – but it worked, somehow.

 

To set the fictional AH-1G+ apart a bit further I made some cosmetic changes: the main rotor was modified to resemble Kaman composite blades (recognizable through the tapered blade tips) that were introduced with the AH-1S (and actually turned out to be not very durable!), and a “Sugar Scoop” thermal diffusor was scratched from a piece of styrene tube. I furthermore added a ventral blade antenna and a fairing for an enlarged oil cooler – it’s actually a H0 scale Euro pallet! The blade cutters were scratched from styrene sheet. The rest was primarily taken from the AH-1J kit, e. g. the simple/early nose tip, the ordnance and the M97 chin turret. The pilot figures came from the Fujimi kit, too.

  

Painting and markings:

Indonesia as fictional operator for this helicopter model was inspired by TNI-AD markings (the standard TNI-AU pentagon with an additional black star in the middle) that were left over on a TL Modellbau sheet with generic national markings. The Seventies/Eighties offered a suitable time frame for the Cobras’ procurement, and from this starting point anything developed quite naturally.

However, I did not want to paint the AH-1 in a simple all-olive drab livery, and found in the Indonesian C-130 Hercules a nice painting option: at some point in time these transporters received a unique three-tone camouflage that consists of a reddish chocolate brown, a bluish dark green and a greyish grass green, combined with very light grey undersides.

 

For the AH-1, the pattern was directly adopted from the C-130s’ fuselage and the colors approximated, since I doubt that the paints conform to FS standards. I used Humbrol 133 (Satin Brown), ModelMaster 2060 (RAF WWII Dark Green) and a 2:1 mix of Humbrol 80 (Grass Green) and Revell 45 (Helloliv). The light grey underside was omitted, for a wraparound scheme.

The cockpit interior became very dark grey (Revell 06, Anthracite), the rotor blades tar black (Revell 09), and a black anti-glare panel was placed in front of the windscreen. For some variety I painted the 19 round rocket launchers in olive drab while the 7 round launchers for the inner stations became very light grey, so that they’d be better visible.

 

The decals were improvised. The TNI-AD roundels and the small Indonesian fin flashes came from the aforementioned TL Modellbau sheet. The tactical codes on the nose and the taglines on the flank consist of single black letters. The serial number on the tail came from an Iranian F-4D Phantom II sheet from Model Scale, it matched the intended time frame well. The only original decals are the small red tail rotor warning arrows.

After a light black ink washing, some post-panel-shading and an overall treatment with graphite to emphasize the kit’s fine, raised panel lines, the model was sealed with matt acrylic varnish and finally assembled.

  

Well, this “kitbashed” AH-1G with some mods is certainly not the best model of this helicopter type, but a good use of leftover parts from the “counter-bashed” project. Compatibility between the Fujimi AH-1S and AH-1J is limited, though, especially the canopy does not fit easily and calls for some delicate bodywork. However, with the garish paint scheme (which, as I found out after the kit had been finished, resembles a lot the livery of the illegal North Korean Hughes 500MD Defenders!) and the exotic TNI-AD markings, this Cobra really stands out und looks quite unusual.

The house is a Grade II* listed building now used as offices. The original house was built between 1765 and 1770, the architect being John Wood the Younger, for Sir Caesar Hawkins who was Serjeant-Surgeon to Kings George II and George III. Sir Caesar commissioned Capability Brown to lay out the park, which is also Grade II* listed, in 1767-68. The house stands overlooking the A4 road, River Avon and railway between Bath and Bristol. The bridge in the bottom left carried the Midland Railway from Bath (Green Park) to Bristol and is now a permissive path.

CORAL SEA (July 21, 2021) An F-35B Lightning fighter aircraft from the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit lands on the flight deck of the forward-deployed amphibious assault ship USS America (LHA 6) during Exercise Talisman Sabre 21. Talisman Sabre 21, the ninth iteration and conducted since 2005, occurs biennially across Northern Australia. Australian, U.S. and other multinational partner forces use Talisman Sabre to enhance interoperability by training in complex, multi-domain operations scenarios that address the full range of Indo-Pacific security concerts. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Jonathan D. Berlier)

Two Lockheed Martin F-35B "Lightning II" fighter jets have successfully landed on board HMS Queen Elizabeth for the first time, laying the foundations for the next 50 years of fixed wing aviation in support of the UK’s Carrier Strike Capability.

 

Royal Navy Commander, Nathan Gray, 41, made history by being the first to land on board HMS Queen Elizabeth, carefully maneuvering his stealth jet onto the thermal coated deck. He was followed by Squadron Leader Andy Edgell, RAF, both of whom are test pilots, operating with the Integrated Test Force (ITF) based at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland.

 

Shortly afterwards, once a deck inspection has been conducted and the all-clear given, Cmdr Gray became the first pilot to take off using the ship’s ski-ramp.

  

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II is a family of single-seat, single-engine, all-weather, stealth, fifth-generation, multirole combat aircraft, designed for ground-attack and air-superiority missions. It is built by Lockheed Martin and many subcontractors, including Northrop Grumman, Pratt & Whitney, and BAE Systems.

 

The F-35 has three main models: the conventional takeoff and landing F-35A (CTOL), the short take-off and vertical-landing F-35B (STOVL), and the catapult-assisted take-off but arrested recovery, carrier-based F-35C (CATOBAR). The F-35 descends from the Lockheed Martin X-35, the design that was awarded the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program over the competing Boeing X-32. The official Lightning II name has proven deeply unpopular and USAF pilots have nicknamed it Panther, instead.

 

The United States principally funds F-35 development, with additional funding from other NATO members and close U.S. allies, including the United Kingdom, Italy, Australia, Canada, Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands, and formerly Turkey. These funders generally receive subcontracts to manufacture components for the aircraft; for example, Turkey was the sole supplier of several F-35 parts until its removal from the program in July 2019. Several other countries have ordered, or are considering ordering, the aircraft.

 

As the largest and most expensive military program ever, the F-35 became the subject of much scrutiny and criticism in the U.S. and in other countries. In 2013 and 2014, critics argued that the plane was "plagued with design flaws", with many blaming the procurement process in which Lockheed was allowed "to design, test, and produce the F-35 all at the same time," instead of identifying and fixing "defects before firing up its production line". By 2014, the program was "$163 billion over budget [and] seven years behind schedule". Critics also contend that the program's high sunk costs and political momentum make it "too big to kill".

 

The F-35 first flew on 15 December 2006. In July 2015, the United States Marines declared its first squadron of F-35B fighters ready for deployment. However, the DOD-based durability testing indicated the service life of early-production F-35B aircraft is well under the expected 8,000 flight hours, and may be as low as 2,100 flight hours. Lot 9 and later aircraft include design changes but service life testing has yet to occur. The U.S. Air Force declared its first squadron of F-35As ready for deployment in August 2016. The U.S. Navy declared its first F-35Cs ready in February 2019. In 2018, the F-35 made its combat debut with the Israeli Air Force.

 

The U.S. stated plan is to buy 2,663 F-35s, which will provide the bulk of the crewed tactical airpower of the U.S. Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps in coming decades. Deliveries of the F-35 for the U.S. military are scheduled until 2037 with a projected service life up to 2070.

 

Development

 

F-35 development started in 1992 with the origins of the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program and was to culminate in full production by 2018. The X-35 first flew on 24 October 2000 and the F-35A on 15 December 2006.

 

The F-35 was developed to replace most US fighter jets with the variants of a single design that would be common to all branches of the military. It was developed in co-operation with a number of foreign partners, and, unlike the F-22 Raptor, intended to be available for export. Three variants were designed: the F-35A (CTOL), the F-35B (STOVL), and the F-35C (CATOBAR). Despite being intended to share most of their parts to reduce costs and improve maintenance logistics, by 2017, the effective commonality was only 20%. The program received considerable criticism for cost overruns during development and for the total projected cost of the program over the lifetime of the jets.

 

By 2017, the program was expected to cost $406.5 billion over its lifetime (i.e. until 2070) for acquisition of the jets, and an additional $1.1 trillion for operations and maintenance. A number of design deficiencies were alleged, such as: carrying a small internal payload; performance inferior to the aircraft being replaced, particularly the F-16; lack of safety in relying on a single engine; and flaws such as the vulnerability of the fuel tank to fire and the propensity for transonic roll-off (wing drop). The possible obsolescence of stealth technology was also criticized.

  

Design

 

Overview

 

Although several experimental designs have been developed since the 1960s, such as the unsuccessful Rockwell XFV-12, the F-35B is to be the first operational supersonic STOVL stealth fighter. The single-engine F-35 resembles the larger twin-engined Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor, drawing design elements from it. The exhaust duct design was inspired by the General Dynamics Model 200, proposed for a 1972 supersonic VTOL fighter requirement for the Sea Control Ship.

 

Lockheed Martin has suggested that the F-35 could replace the USAF's F-15C/D fighters in the air-superiority role and the F-15E Strike Eagle in the ground-attack role. It has also stated the F-35 is intended to have close- and long-range air-to-air capability second only to that of the F-22 Raptor, and that the F-35 has an advantage over the F-22 in basing flexibility and possesses "advanced sensors and information fusion".

 

Testifying before the House Appropriations Committee on 25 March 2009, acquisition deputy to the assistant secretary of the Air Force, Lt. Gen. Mark D. "Shack" Shackelford, stated that the F-35 is designed to be America's "premier surface-to-air missile killer, and is uniquely equipped for this mission with cutting-edge processing power, synthetic aperture radar integration techniques, and advanced target recognition".

 

Improvements

Ostensible improvements over past-generation fighter aircraft include:

 

Durable, low-maintenance stealth technology, using structural fiber mat instead of the high-maintenance coatings of legacy stealth platforms

Integrated avionics and sensor fusion that combine information from off- and on-board sensors to increase the pilot's situational awareness and improve target identification and weapon delivery, and to relay information quickly to other command and control (C2) nodes

High-speed data networking including IEEE 1394b and Fibre Channel (Fibre Channel is also used on Boeing's Super Hornet.

The Autonomic Logistics Global Sustainment, Autonomic Logistics Information System (ALIS), and Computerized maintenance management system to help ensure the aircraft can remain operational with minimal maintenance manpower The Pentagon has moved to open up the competitive bidding by other companies. This was after Lockheed Martin stated that instead of costing 20% less than the F-16 per flight hour, the F-35 would actually cost 12% more. Though the ALGS is intended to reduce maintenance costs, the company disagrees with including the cost of this system in the aircraft ownership calculations. The USMC has implemented a workaround for a cyber vulnerability in the system. The ALIS system currently requires a shipping-container load of servers to run, but Lockheed is working on a more portable version to support the Marines' expeditionary operations.

Electro-hydrostatic actuators run by a power-by-wire flight-control system

A modern and updated flight simulator, which may be used for a greater fraction of pilot training to reduce the costly flight hours of the actual aircraft

Lightweight, powerful lithium-ion batteries to provide power to run the control surfaces in an emergency

Structural composites in the F-35 are 35% of the airframe weight (up from 25% in the F-22). The majority of these are bismaleimide and composite epoxy materials. The F-35 will be the first mass-produced aircraft to include structural nanocomposites, namely carbon nanotube-reinforced epoxy. Experience of the F-22's problems with corrosion led to the F-35 using a gap filler that causes less galvanic corrosion to the airframe's skin, designed with fewer gaps requiring filler and implementing better drainage. The relatively short 35-foot wingspan of the A and B variants is set by the F-35B's requirement to fit inside the Navy's current amphibious assault ship parking area and elevators; the F-35C's longer wing is considered to be more fuel efficient.

 

Costs

A U.S. Navy study found that the F-35 will cost 30 to 40% more to maintain than current jet fighters, not accounting for inflation over the F-35's operational lifetime. A Pentagon study concluded a $1 trillion maintenance cost for the entire fleet over its lifespan, not accounting for inflation. The F-35 program office found that as of January 2014, costs for the F-35 fleet over a 53-year lifecycle was $857 billion. Costs for the fighter have been dropping and accounted for the 22 percent life cycle drop since 2010. Lockheed stated that by 2019, pricing for the fifth-generation aircraft will be less than fourth-generation fighters. An F-35A in 2019 is expected to cost $85 million per unit complete with engines and full mission systems, inflation adjusted from $75 million in December 2013.

  

BR modernised its capability to deal with CWR (Continuously Welded Rail) with the advent in 1983-84 of four dedicated LWRT (Long Welded Rail Train) sets. These were soon supplemented by an order for another 12 sets delivered by two suppliers in 1985 thus making 16 in all. The complete train sets comprised 11 vehicles and unlike previous efforts to deal with CWR these new sets could be self propelled once on site as one vehicle was a power wagon so no need to rely on a diesel locomotive for propulsion. This could be coupled off to stand clear while rails were either dropped or recovered.

At one end was the staff vehicle where the operator controlled the power wagon from and this was also the chute wagon while the other end had the mobile Gantry Crane (as above). The Gantry Crane was deemed to be on OTP (On Track Plant) so they got track machine numbers despite the fact the track it ran on was on the outer edge of the wagon decks with bridging sections between vehicles. They were numbered DR 89100 to DR 89115 and were mounted on wagons DB 979600 to DB 979615 respectfully. Here DR 89111 is seen in Tonbridge West Yard mounted on DB 979611 YEA. With the exception of the Power Wagon the vehicles within the set were designated 'Perch' by the BR Civil Engineers Department while the chute and control wagon were 'Porpoise'. DR 89111 was built by Plasser & Theurer Ltd as wks no. 0636 of 1985. The wagon was built by BREL Doncaster Works to lot no. 4052 also in 1985 (covering wagons DB 979610 to DB 979615). The other 10 LWRT sets were built by Cowans Boyd Ltd using wagons manufactured at BREL Shildon Works.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

The SEPECAT "Jaguar" is a British-French jet attack aircraft originally used by the British Royal Air Force and the French Air Force in the close air support and nuclear strike role. It is still in service in significantly upgraded form with the Indian Air Force.

 

Originally conceived in the 1960s as a jet trainer with a light ground attack capability, the requirement for the aircraft soon changed to include supersonic performance, reconnaissance and tactical nuclear strike roles. A carrier-based variant was also planned for French service, but this was cancelled in favour of the cheaper Dassault "Super Étendard". The airframes were manufactured by SEPECAT (Société Européenne de Production de l'avion Ecole de Combat et d'Appui Tactique), a joint venture between Breguet and the British Aircraft Corporation, one of the first major joint-Anglo-French military aircraft programmes.

 

The Jaguar was exported to India, Oman, Ecuador and Nigeria. With various air forces, the "Jaguar" was used in numerous conflicts and military operations in Mauritania, Chad, Iraq, Bosnia, and Pakistan, as well as providing a ready nuclear delivery platform for Britain, France, and India throughout the latter half of the Cold War and beyond. In the Gulf War, the "Jaguar" was praised for its reliability and was a valuable coalition resource. The aircraft served with the French Air Force as the main strike/attack aircraft until 1 July 2005, and with the Royal Air Force until the end of April 2007. It was replaced by the Panavia "Tornado" and the Eurofighter "Typhoon" in the RAF and the Dassault "Rafale" in the French Air Force.

  

Development

 

Background

 

The Jaguar programme began in the early 1960s, in response to a British requirement (Air Staff Target 362) for an advanced supersonic jet trainer to replace the Folland "Gnat" T1 and Hawker "Hunter" T7, and a French requirement (ECAT or École de Combat et d'Appui Tactique, "Tactical Combat Support Trainer") for a cheap, subsonic dual role trainer and light attack aircraft to replace the Fouga "Magister", Lockheed T-33 "Shooting Star" (or T-Bird) and Dassault "Mystère IV". In both countries several companies tendered designs: BAC, Hunting, Hawker Siddeley and Folland in Britain; Breguet, Potez, Sud-Aviation, Nord, and Dassault from France. A Memorandum of Understanding was signed in May 1965 for the two countries to develop two aircraft, a trainer based on the ECAT, and the larger AFVG (Anglo-French Variable Geometry).

 

Cross-channel negotiations led to the formation of SEPECAT (Société Européenne de Production de l'Avion d'École de Combat et d'Appui Tactique – the "European company for the production of a combat trainer and tactical support aircraft") in 1966 as a joint venture between Breguet and the British Aircraft Corporation to produce the airframe. Though based in part on the Breguet Br.121, using the same basic configuration and an innovative French-designed landing gear, the "Jaguar" was built incorporating major elements of design from BAC – notably the wing and high lift devices.

 

Production of components would be split between Breguet and BAC, and the aircraft themselves would be assembled on two production lines; one in the UK and one in France, To avoid any duplication of work, each aircraft component had only one source. The British light strike/tactical support versions were the most demanding design, requiring supersonic performance, superior avionics, a cutting edge nav/attack system of more accuracy and complexity than the French version, moving map display, laser range-finder and marked-target seeker (LRMTS). As a result, the initial Br.121 design needed a thinner wing, redesigned fuselage, a higher rear cockpit, and after-burning engines. While putting on smiling faces for the public, maintaining the illusion of a shared design, the British design departed from the French sub-sonic Breguet 121 to such a degree that it was effectively a new design.

 

A separate partnership was formed between Rolls-Royce and Turbomeca to develop the Adour afterburning turbofan engine. The Br.121 was proposed with Turbomeca's Tourmalet engine for ECAT but Breguet preferred the RR RB.172 and their joint venture would use elements of both. The new engine, which would be used for the AFVG as well, would be built in Derby and Tarnos.

 

Previous collaborative efforts between Britain and France had been complicated – the AFVG programme ended in cancellation, and controversy surrounded the development of the supersonic airliner Concorde. Whilst the technical collaboration between BAC and Breguet went well, when Dassault took over Breguet in 1971 it encouraged acceptance of its own designs, such as the "Super Étendard" naval attack aircraft and the "Mirage F1", for which it would receive more profit, over the Anglo-French "Jaguar".

 

The initial plan was for Britain to buy 150 "Jaguar" B trainers, with its strike requirements being met by the advanced BAC-Dassault AFVG aircraft, with France to buy 75 "E" trainers (école) and 75 "A" single-seat strike attack aircraft (appui). Dassault favoured its own "Mirage" G aircraft above the collaborative AFVG, and in June 1967, France cancelled the AFVG on cost grounds. This left a gap in the RAF's planned strike capabilities for the 1970s; at the same time as France's cancellation of the AFVG, Germany was expressing a serious interest in the "Jaguar", and thus the design became more oriented towards the low-level strike role.

 

The RAF had initially planned on a buy of 150 trainers; however, with both the BAC TSR-2 tactical strike aircraft and Hawker Siddeley P.1154 supersonic V/STOL fighter cancelled, the RAF were looking increasingly hard at their future light strike needs and realizing that they now needed more than just advanced trainers with some secondary counter insurgency capability. The RAF's strike line-up was at this point intended to consist of American General Dynamics F-111s plus the AFVG for lighter strike purposes. There was concern that both F-111 and AFVG were high risk projects and with the French already planning on a strike role for the "Jaguar", there was an opportunity to introduce a serious backup plan for the RAF's future strike needs – the "Jaguar". As a result, by October 1970, the RAF's requirements had changed to 165 single-seat strike aircraft and 35 trainers.

 

The "Jaguar" was to replace the McDonnell Douglas "Phantom" FGR2 in the close air support, tactical reconnaissance and tactical strike roles, freeing the "Phantom" to be used for air defence. Both the French and British trainer requirements had developed significantly, and were eventually fulfilled instead by the "Alpha Jet" and Hawker Siddeley "Hawk" respectively. The French, meanwhile, had chosen the "Jaguar" to replace the Aeronavale's Dassault "Étendard IV", and increased their order to include an initial 40 of a carrier-capable maritime version of the Jaguar, the "Jaguar M", for the Aeronavale. From these apparently disparate aims would come a single and entirely different aircraft: relatively high-tech, supersonic, and optimised for ground-attack in a high-threat environment.

  

Prototypes

 

The first of eight prototypes flew on 8 September 1968, a two-seat design fitted with the first production model Adour engine. This aircraft later went supersonic on its third flight but was lost on landing on 26 March 1970 following an engine fire. The second prototype flew in February 1969; a total of three prototypes appeared in flight at the Paris Air Show that year. The first French "A" prototype flew in March 1969. In October a British "S" conducted its first flight.

 

An "M" prototype flew in November 1969. The "M" had a strengthened airframe, an arrestor hook and different undercarriage: twin nosewheel and single mainwheels. After testing in France it went to RAE at Thurleigh for carrier landing trials from their land based catapult. In July 1970 it made real take offs and landings from the French carrier Clemenceau. From these trials there were doubts about the throttle response in case of an aborted landing; the shipboard testing also revealed problems with the aircraft's handling when flying on one engine, although planned engine improvements were to have rectified these problems. The "M" was considered a suitable replacement for the "Etendard IV" but the Aeronavale would only be able to purchase 60 instead of 100 aircraft.

 

Furthermore, the "Jaguar M" was expensive, limiting the size of the force the French Navy could afford. In 1971, Dassault proposed the "Super Étendard", claiming that it was a simpler and cheap development of the existing "Étendard IV", and in 1973, the French Navy agreed to order it instead of the "Jaguar", although rising costs of the "Super Étendard" meant that only 71 of the planned 100 aircraft were purchased. The M was cancelled by the French government in 1973.

  

Design

 

Overview

 

The "Jaguar" is an orthodox single-seat, swept-wing, twin-engine monoplane design, with tall tricycle-type retractable landing gear. In its original configuration, it had a maximum take-off weight in the 15 tonne class; and could manage a combat radius on internal fuel alone of 850 km (530 mi), giving the Jaguar a greater operational range than competitor aircraft such as the Mikoyan MiG-27. The aircraft had hardpoints fitted for an external weapons load of up to 10,000 lb (4,500 kg), typical weapons fitted included the MATRA LR.F2 rocket pod, BAP 100-mm bombs, MATRA AS37 anti-radar missiles, AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles, and Rockeye cluster bombs. The RAF's "Jaguar's" gained several new weapons during the Gulf War, including CRV7 high-velocity rockets and American CBU-87 cluster bombs. Finally, the Jaguar was equipped with either a pair of French DEFA cannons, or alternatively British ADEN cannons.

 

The Jaguar International had the unusual optional provision for overwing pylons, used for short-range air-to-air missiles, such as the Matra R550 "Magic" or the AIM-9 "Sidewinder". This option frees up the under-wing pylons for other weapons and stores. RAF Jaguars gained overwing pylons in the buildup to Operation Granby in 1990, but French Jaguars were not modified. The RAF's "Jaguar" 97's were intended to be wired for the carriage of ASRAAMs on the overwing launchers, but clearance of this weapon was never completed because of funding cuts.

  

Sheffield Park Garden is an informal landscape garden five miles east of Haywards Heath, in East Sussex, England. It was originally laid out in the 18th century by Capability Brown, and further developed in the early years of the 20th century's by its then owner, Arthur Gilstrap Soames. It is now owned by the National Trust.

History[edit]

The gardens originally formed part of the estate of the adjacent Sheffield Park House, a gothic country house, which is still in private ownership. It was also firstly owned by the West Family and later by the Soames family until in 1925 the estate was sold by Arthur Granville Soames, who had inherited it from his childless uncle, Arthur Gilstrap Soames.

 

Sheffield Park as an estate is mentioned in the Domesday Book. In August 1538, Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, entertained Henry VIII here. By 1700, the Deer Park had been partially formalised by Lord De La Warr who planted avenues of trees radiating from the house and cleared areas to establish lawns. In the late 1700s, James Wyatt remodelled the house in the fashionable Gothic style and Capability Brown was commissioned to landscape the garden. The original four lakes form the centrepiece. Humphry Repton followed Brown in 1789–1790. In 1796, the estate was sold to John Holroyd, created Baron Sheffield in 1781. It is particularly noted for its plantings of trees selected for autumn colour, including many Black Tupelos.

  

Rhododendron in Sheffield Park Garden

By 1885, an arboretum was being established, consisting of both exotic and native trees. After Arthur Gilstrap Soames purchased the estate in 1910, he continued large-scale planting. During World War II the house and garden became the headquarters for a Canadian armoured division, and Nissen huts were sited in the garden and woods. The estate was split up and sold in lots in 1953. The National Trust purchased approximately 40 ha in 1954, now up to 80 ha with subsequent additions. It is home to the National Collection of Ghent azaleas.

 

In 1876 the third Earl of Sheffield laid out a cricket pitch. It was used on 12 May 1884 for the first cricket match between England and Australia.[1] The Australian team won by an innings and 6 runs

wikipedia

Harcourt Arboretum

The University of Oxford Arboretum

 

Acquired by the University in 1947 from the Harcourt family. It is now an integral part of the tree and plant collection of the University of Oxford Botanic Garden.

 

The original Pinetum, which forms the core of the arboretum, was laid out by William Sawrey Gilpin in the 1830s. Gilpin was a leading promoter of the picturesque style of planting and advised the Harcourt family on the establishment and layout of the arboretum. The trees are now mature, with Giant Redwoods and Monkey-Puzzle trees in the collection.

 

The arboretum also contains some of the finest conifer collections in the UK all set within 130 acres of historic Capability Brown landscape. The grounds include a 10-acre typical English woodland and a 37-acre summer flowering meadow.

 

www.obga.ox.ac.uk/visit-arboretum

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harcourt_Arboretum

Broadway Tower is a folly on Broadway Hill, near the village of Broadway, in the English county of Worcestershire, at the second-highest point of the Cotswolds (after Cleeve Hill). Broadway Tower's base is 1,024 feet (312 metres) above sea level. The tower itself stands 65 feet (20 metres) high.

 

The "Saxon" tower was the brainchild of Capability Brown and designed by James Wyatt in 1794 in the form of a castle, and built for Lady Coventry in 1798–99. The tower was built on a "beacon" hill, where beacons were lit on special occasions. Lady Coventry wondered whether a beacon on this hill could be seen from her house in Worcester — about 22 miles (35 km) away — and sponsored the construction of the folly to find out. Indeed, the beacon could be seen clearly.

 

Over the years, the tower was home to the printing press of Sir Thomas Phillipps, and served as a country retreat for artists including William Morris and Edward Burne-Jones who rented it together in the 1880s. William Morris was so inspired by Broadway Tower and other ancient buildings that he founded the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings in 1877.

 

Today, the tower is a tourist attraction and the centre of a country park with various exhibitions open to the public at a fee, as well as a gift shop and restaurant. The place is on the Cotswold Way and can be reached by following the Cotswold Way from the A44 road at Fish Hill, or by a steep climb out of Broadway village.

 

Near the tower is a memorial to the crew of an A.W.38 Whitley bomber that crashed there during a training mission in June 1943.

Tamar class lifeboats are all-weather lifeboats (ALB's) operated by the RNLI. They have replaced the majority of the older Tyne ALB's. The prototype was built in 2000 and 27 production boats were constructed between 2006 and 2013. The class name comes from the 61 miles (98 km) long River Tamar in south west England which forms most of the border between Devon and Cornwall and flows into the sea at Plymouth Sound, a bay of the the English Channel.

Since 1982 the RNLI had deployed Tyne lifeboats at stations which launched their boats down slipways or needed to operate in shallow waters. The organisation desired to increase the speed and range of their operations so introduced faster Severn and Trent boats starting in 1994 at locations where they could be moored afloat. They then needed to produce a boat with similar capabilities but with protected propellers and other modifications that would allow it to be launched on a slipway.

Although nominally the replacement for the Tyne ALB's, only twenty seven Tamar's have been built compared to forty Tyne's. The remaining Tyne's will be replaced by Shannon boats.

The prototype Tamar was built in 2000 and was used for trials until 2006. It was sold in December 2008 to Kent Police, becoming Princess Alexandra III, the force's permanent maritime vessel operating out of Sheerness. The first production boat, Haydn Miller entered service at Tenby in March 2006. A few of the early boats suffered problems such as fuel leaking under the floor of the engine room around hydraulic lines. These boats were recalled and the problems rectified.

The 27th. and last Tamar class lifeboat, allocated to The Mumbles, was launched on 12th. March 2013 in Devonport Dockyard and after sea trials was handed over to the RNLI on 21st. May 2013.

Ten lifeboat stations keep Tamar's moored afloat, thirteen launch them down slipways, and the remaining four form a Relief Fleet to cover when boats are unavailable for service. Most of the slipway stations required entirely new boathouses and slipways to accommodate the Tamar, but at Cromer and Angle the existing fairly modern boathouses were adapted and at Sennen Cove the capacious old boathouse was able to be modified to take the new boat.

The Tamar has a new design of crew workstation with seats that can move up and down 20 centimetres (7.9 in) as the boat passes through rough seas at high speed, and an onboard computer system called Systems and Information Management System (SIMS) allows complex tasks such as engine and navigation management to be displayed on a single flat LCD screen, six of which are positioned around the vessel, to allow crew to operate all the systems without moving from their seats. The coxswain and helmsman have seat-mounted throttles, trackerball and joystick controls of the rudder. Alternatively the boat may be monitored and controlled by two controls on the bridge, dual throttle controls and joystick on the left, dual throttle, wheel and control-screen on the right. All aspects of the vessel may also be controlled from this position.

The lifeboat is completely water-tight allowing it to self-right with 51 people on board. The boat has the potential to carry a maximum of 120 passengers on board, but without self-righting capability. The survivors space has room for 10 sitting and 8 standing. The survivors space is accessed either through the wheelhouse or the fore deck emergency escape hatch.

Each Tamar carries a daughter Y Class inflatable boat in a recessed chamber in the stern section. Access to the inflatable is by means of lowering the transom, and lifting a section of deck. This allows the tender to be launched and recovered at sea onto a ramp provided by the lowered transom section. There is a provision for a PWC (Personal Water Craft, more commonly known as a jet ski) to be specified instead, should it prove more suitable.

All Tamar Class lifeboats have sea water sourced open loop heat pump systems on board to keep the crew comfortable in high or low temperature conditions.

 

RNLB Lester is the ALB lifeboat stationed at Cromer, Norfolk and is the first Tamar class lifeboat to be stationed on the east coast of England. The lifeboats name, Lester, has been created by using parts of the surnames of Derek Clifton Lethern and William Foster, both of whom have been long term supporters and members of the RNLI. Mr. Lethern left £1.23m to the RNLI when he died in 1992 and asked for a new lifeboat to be bought in memory of him and his friend Mr. Foster.

After her launch the Lester underwent a long period of sea trials. Around 30 Cromer crewmen took part in these trials to familiarise themselves with their new lifeboat. On 8th. October 2007 the lifeboat crew took part in a week of training aboard the new lifeboat at the RNLI Lifeboat college in Poole, Dorset. The lifeboat finally arrived at Cromer on 9th. December 2007 and was recovered, for the first time, up her new slipway in to the boathouse. The vessel was officially operational at 3:55 pm on 6th. January 2008.

Lester was launched on her first service on 14th. January 2008. She attended the car carrier The City of Sunderland which had gone aground in the early hours of the morning on the southern edge of Happisburgh Sands. The car carrier had been on passage from Zeebrugge, Belgium to Tees Port near Middlesbrough. When the Lester arrived at the scene, two tugs from Felixstowe, Suffolk were attempting to tow the vessel off the sands. Assisting with the operation the crew of the lifeboat kept a watchful eye on the situation and stood by while the vessel carried out essential checks to her steering and propulsion systems once she was re-floated. The Lifeboat finally left the scene at 23:50 and made her way back to the pier boathouse for recovery.

Lester is seen in the yacht marina at Lowestoft, Suffolk.

 

Name: Lester

Station: Cromer, Norfolk

Class: Tamar

Number: 16-07

Official Number: 1287

MMSI: 235030385

Call Sign: MKHW9

Builders:

Hull: Green Marine, Lymington, Hampshire

Fitting out: DML, Devonport, Plymouth

Construction:

Hull: Fibre-reinforced composite (FRC)

Deck and superstructure: 25 mm foam-cored FRC sandwich.

Launched: 26th. April 2007

In service: 6th. January 2008 to present

Christened: 8th. September 2008 by The Duke of Kent.

Cost: £2.6m

Displacement: 31.5 tons

Length: 16.3 m (53 ft. 4 in.)

Beam: 5.3 m (17 ft. 4 in.)

Draught: 1.4 m (4 ft. 7 in.)

Engine: 2 x Caterpillar C18 diesels

Engine output: 2 x 1,015 hp (757 kW)

Propellers: 2 x fixed pitch 5-blade

Fuel capacity: 4,600 lt. (1,000 gals)

Speed: 25 knots (29 mph/ 46 km/h)

Range: 250 nautical miles (286 miles/460 km)

Endurance: 10 hours at 25 knots

Survivors: 118 (self-righting up to 44)

Crew: 7

 

Class: Y class inflatable

Official Number: Y-207

Length: 3 m (9 ft. 9 in.)

Propulsion: 1 × Mariner outboard engine

Outboard output: 15 hp (11 kW)

Speed: 25 knots (29 mph/ 46 km/h)

Range: Within visual range of ALB

Crew: 2

 

This is XH124, seen on display at the RAF Museum London in Hendon in 1984. Lack of maintenance in the face of British weather led to the deterioration of the airframe and it was scrapped in 1989.

 

The Blackburn B-101 Beverley was a 1950s British heavy transport aircraft built by Blackburn and General Aircraft and flown by squadrons of RAF Transport Command from 1957 until 1967.

 

Designed and built by General Aircraft as the GAL.60 Universal Freighter, the first aircraft had its maiden flight on 20 June 1950 at Brough in Yorkshire. The modified GAL.65 saw clamshell doors replaced a combination of a door and ramp, and the tailplane boom received seating for 36 passengers. The Bristol Hercules engines became Bristol Centaurus with reverse-pitch propellers, a feature that gave it an impressive STOL capability and the ability to reverse under its own power. The take-off run at full load was given as 750m, the landing run at full load, 300m.

 

In 1952 the RAF ordered the Beverley C.1 (Beverley, Cargo Mark 1). The aircraft was a high-wing cantilever monoplane with a fixed undercarriage. The large fuselage had a tailboom fitted with a tailplane with twin fins. The tailboom allowed access to the rear of the fuselage through removable clamshell doors. An 11m main fuselage space was supplemented by passenger accommodation in the tailboom. The main cargo hold could accommodate 94 troops, with another 36 in the tail-boom.

 

The aircraft was designed for carrying large bulk loads and landing them on rough or imperfect runways, or mere dirt strips. It could trace its design back to the GAL49 Hamilcar glider of WWII. At the time of its entry into service, it was the largest aircraft in the RAF. Paratroopers in the upper passenger area jumped through a hatch in the base of the boom just in front of the leading edge of the tailplane. The Beverley was equipped with toilets, which were situated in the tail beyond the paratroop doors located on the floor of the tail boom.

 

In total, 49 of the aircraft were produced, with the last manufactured in 1958, and final retirement from RAF service was in 1967. The longest serving Beverleys were in the Far East. 34 Squadron received its aircraft at RAF Seletar in October 1960 and continued flying them until the end of 1967. Initially, the aircraft were silver overall, but later, those operated by the squadrons based in the Middle East were given an overall sand camouflage finish as seen above. Only one Beverley has survived: XB259 is on display at Fort Paull, just east of Hull.

 

Scanned from a negative.

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

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

  

Some background:

The Douglas A-4 Skyhawk is a single-seat subsonic carrier-capable light attack aircraft developed for the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps in the early 1950s. The delta-winged, single turbojet-engined Skyhawk was designed and produced by Douglas Aircraft Company, and later by McDonnell Douglas. It was originally designated A4D under the U.S. Navy's pre-1962 designation system.

 

Skyhawks played key roles in the Vietnam War, the Yom Kippur War, and the Falklands War. Sixty years after the aircraft's first flight in 1954, some of the 2,960 produced (through February 1979). The Skyhawk found many users all around the world, and some still remain in service with the Argentine Air Force and the Brazilian Naval Aviation. Operators in Asia included Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand.

 

Thailand procured the Skyhawk in 1984, for the Royal Thai Navy air arm to be used for naval and air space surveillance, against sea surface targets and for close air support for the Royal Thai Marine Corps. A total of thirty aircraft were purchased from the USA, twenty-four single seaters and six two-seat TA-4J trainers.

 

The single seaters were refurbished A-4Cs from USN overstock, modernized to a standard that came close to the USN’s A-4L, but with some specific differences and unique features that made them suitable for all-weather strike operations. This modified version was re-designated as A-4LT and featured the late Skyhawk versions’ distinct “Camelback” fairing that house the additional avionics as well as a heat exchanger. The most distinctive external difference to any other Skyhawk version was a unique, pointed radome.

 

The update for Thailand included an AN/APQ-126 terrain following radar in the nose, which was integrated into an ILAAS digital navigation system – a very modern system of its era. The radar also fed a navigation and weapons delivery computer which made possible accurate delivery of bombs from a greater stand-off distance, greatly improving survivability.

Further special equipment for the Thai Skyhawks included, among others, a Hughes AN/ASB-19 Angle Rate Bombing System, a Bendix AN/APN-141 Low altitude radar altimeter, an AN/AVQ-7(V) Head Up display (HUD), air refueling capability (with a fixed but detachable refueling probe), a brake parachute housing below the jet pipe, two additional underwing hardpoints (for a total for five, like the A-4E) and an increased payload. Avionics were modernized and expanded, giving the Thai Skyhawks ability to carry modern AIM-9L Sidewinder AAMs and AGM-65 Maverick AGMs. The latter became, beyond standard iron bombs and pods with unguided missiles, the aircrafts’ main armament against naval targets.

However, despite the modernization of the avionics, the A-4LTs retained the A-4Cs’ Wright J65-W-20 engine with 8,200 lbf (36 kN) of takeoff thrust.

 

The first aircraft were delivered in December 1985 to the Royal Thai Navy (RTN / กองทัพเรือไทย / Kong thap ruea thai), carrying a USN grey/white livery. They served in the No.104 RTN Squadron, distributed among two wings based at U-Tapao near Bangkok and at Songkhla in the south of Thailand, close to the Malaysian border. During regular overhauls (executed at Singapore Aircraft Industries, now ST Aerospace), the RTN Skyhawks soon received a new wraparound camouflage with reduced insignia and markings.

 

While in service, the Thai Skyhawks soon suffered from frequent maintenance issues and a low availability rate, since replacement parts for the reliable yet old J65 engine became more and more difficult to obtain. At times, half of the A-4LT fleet had to remain grounded because of engine problems. In consequence, the Thai Skyhawks were in the mid-Nineties supplemented by fourteen Vought A-7E Corsairs (plus four two-seaters) in the coastal defense, sea patrol and anti-shipping role. In 1999, they were retired and replaced by Royal Thai Air Force F-16s.

  

General characteristics:

Crew: one

Length: 40 ft 3 in (12.29 m)

Wingspan: 26 ft 6 in (8.38 m)

Height: 15 ft (4.57 m)

Wing area: 259 ft² (24.15 m²)

Airfoil: NACA 0008-1.1-25 root, NACA 0005-0.825-50 tip

Empty weight: 9,146 lb (4,152 kg)

Loaded weight: 18,300 lb (8,318 kg)

Max. takeoff weight: 24,500 lb (11,136 kg)

 

Powerplant:

1× Curtiss-Wright J65-W-20 turbojet with 8,200 lbf (36 kN)

 

Performance:

Maximum speed: 575 kn (661 mph, 1,064 km/h)

Range: 1,700 nmi (2,000 mi, 3,220 km)

Combat radius: 625 nmi, 1,158 km

Service ceiling: 42,250 ft (12,880 m)

Rate of climb: 8,440 ft/min (43 m/s)

Wing loading: 70.7 lb/ft² (344.4 kg/m²)

Thrust/weight: 0.51

g-limit: +8/-3 g

 

Armament:

2× 20 mm (0.79 in) Colt Mk. 12 cannons in the wing roots, 100 RPG

Total effective payload of up to 7,700 lb (3,500 kg) on five hardpoints

- 1× Centerline: 3,500 lb capability

- 2× Inboard wing: 2,200 lb capability each

- 2× Outboard wing: 1,000 lb capability each

  

The kit and its assembly:

I originally had this project stashed away for the upcoming "1 Week Group Build" at whatifmodelers.com in June 2020, but since the current "In the Navy" GB had some days to go (and even received a two week extension) I decided to tackle this build on short notice.

 

The original idea was simply to build an A-4L, a modernized A-4C for the USN Reserve units, but similar machines had also been exported to Malaysia. For the naval theme I came across the Royal Thai Navy and its A-7E Corsairs - and from that the idea of a Skyhawk predecessor from the Eighties was born.

 

Instead of an A-4C (Fujimi does one in 1:72, but it's a rare kit) I based my build upon the nice Airfix A-4B/Q kit. Its biggest difference is the shorter nose, so that I decided to modify this "flaw" first and added a pointed radome instead of the usual blunt Skyhawk nose; not certain where it came from – it looks very Sea-Harrier-ish, but it’s actually the tip of a large drop tank (Italeri Tornado?). Nevertheless, this small change created a weird look, even more so with the black paint added to it later.

 

Further additions and mods are a dorsal avionics bulge from an Italeri A-4M, a scratched kinked refueling probe (made from wire and white glue, the early Skyhawks had straight probes but this would certainly interfere with the new radar in the nose), a brake parachute fairing under the tail (scratched, too, from sprue material) and additional antennae under the nose and behind the cockpit. Nothing fancy, rather details from more modern Skyhawk versions.

The AGM-65 Maverick missiles and their respective launch rails came from an Italeri Saab 39 Gripen, the drop tank on the ventral pylon is OOB.

  

Painting and markings:

This was a tough decision. The Thai Corsairs as primary (and historically later) benchmark carried a standard USN grey/white high-viz livery, even though with small roundels. There were also VTOL Harriers (former Spanish Matadors) operated for a short period by the Thai navy on board of the multi-purpose carrier HTMS Chakri Naruebet, which wore a darker two-tone grey livery, pretty boring, too. I rather wanted something more exciting (if not exotic), a more modern wraparound scheme, suited for both overwater and high-altitude duties. That brought me to the Thai F-5Ts (a.k.a. Tigris), which carried - among others - a quite unique US export/aggressor scheme in three shades of light grey, including FS 35414, which looked like a pale turquoise on these machines. I furthermore took inspiration by early Indonesian A-4s, which also carried an US export scheme, nicknamed "Grape", which included darker shades of blue, blue-gray and the bright FS 35414, too.

 

I eventually settled upon a compromise between these two liveries and tried to adapt the standard F-5 aggressor camouflage pattern for the A-4, made up from FS 36440 (Light Gull Grey), 35164 (Intermediate Blue) and 35414 (Light Blue). Current Thai L-39 Albatros trainers seem to carry a similar livery, even though I am not certain about the tones that are actually used.

The basic enamel paints I used are Humbrol 129 and 144, and for the greenish Light Blue I used "Fulcrum Grey Green" from Modelmaster (#2134), a tone that is quite greenish but markedly darker and more dull than e.g. Humbrol 65, so that the color would not stand out brightly from the other greys and better fit between them. Worked quite well.

 

The inside of the slats as well as of the air brakes on the flanks were painted in bright red (Humbrol 19), while the landing gear and the interior of the air intake were painted in white (Humbrol 130). The cockpit was painted in a bluish mid grey (Revell 57).

 

After basic overall painting, the model received the usual light black ink washing and some post-panel-shading, for a lightly used/weathered look.

Most decals/markings come from a Thai Harrier (from an Italeri AV-8A kit), some other markings and stencils were puzzled together from the scrap box, e.g. from a USN F-5E aggressor and from a Peruvian Mirage 2000. Some additional details like the black gun soot areas on the wing roots or the fine white lines on the radome were created with generic decal sheet material.

Finally, the kit received an overall coat of matt acrylic varnish, except for the radome, which became semi-gloss.

  

As intended, this build was realized in just a couple of days - and I am positively surprised how good the Skyhawk looks in its unusual, if not exotic colors! This fictional livery certainly looks different from a potential standard USN grey/white outfit, and more exciting than a dull grey-in-grey livery. And it’s so weird that it even adds some credibility to this whiffy aircraft model. 😉

Claremont estate

The first house on the Claremont estate was built in 1708 by Sir John Vanbrugh, the Restoration playwright and architect of Blenheim Palace and Castle Howard, for his own use. This "very small box", as he described it, stood on the level ground in front of the present mansion. At the same time, he built the stables and the walled gardens, also probably White Cottage, which is now the Sixth Form Centre of Claremont Fan Court School.

 

In 1714, he sold the house to the wealthy Whig politician Thomas Pelham-Holles, Earl of Clare, who later became Duke of Newcastle and served twice as Prime Minister. The earl commissioned Vanbrugh to add two great wings to the house and to build a fortress-like turret on an adjoining knoll. From this so-called "prospect-house", or belvedere, he and his guests could admire the views of the Surrey countryside as they took refreshments and played hazard, a popular dice game.

 

In the clear eighteenth-century air it was apparently possible to see Windsor Castle and St Paul's Cathedral. The Earl of Clare named his country seat Clare-mount, later contracted to Claremont. The two lodges at the Copsem Lane entrance were added at this time.

 

Landscape garden

Main article: Claremont Landscape Garden

Claremont landscape garden is one of the earliest surviving gardens of its kind of landscape design, the English Landscape Garden — still featuring its original 18th century layout. The extensive landscaped grounds of Claremont represents the work of some of the best known landscape gardeners, Charles Bridgeman, Capability Brown, William Kent (with Thomas Greening) and Sir John Vanbrugh.[2]

 

Work on the gardens began around 1715 and, by 1727, they were described as "the noblest of any in Europe". Within the grounds, overlooking the lake, is an unusual turfed amphitheatre.

 

A feature in the grounds is the Belvedere Tower, designed by Vanbrugh for the Duke of Newcastle. The tower is unusual in that, what appear to be windows, are actually bricks painted black and white. It is now owned by Claremont Fan Court School, which is situated alongside the gardens.

 

In 1949, the landscape garden was donated to the National Trust for stewardship and protection. A restoration programme was launched in 1975 following a significant donation by the Slater Foundation. The garden is Grade I listed on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.[3]

 

Capability Brown's mansion, built for Lord Clive of India

The Duke of Newcastle died in 1768 and, in 1769, his widow sold the estate to Robert Clive, 1st Baron Clive, founder of Britain's Indian Empire. Although the great house was then little more than fifty years old, it was aesthetically and politically out of fashion. Lord Clive decided to demolish the house and commissioned Capability Brown to build the present Palladian mansion on higher and dryer ground. Brown, more accomplished as a landscape designer than an architect, took on his future son-in-law Henry Holland as a junior partner owing to the scale of the project. John Soane (later Sir John Soane) was employed in Holland's office at this time and worked on the project as a draftsman and junior designer.[4] Holland's interiors for Claremont owe much to the contemporary work of Robert Adam.

 

Lord Clive, by now a rich Nabob, is reputed to have spent over £100,000 on rebuilding the house and the complete remodelling of the celebrated pleasure ground. However, Lord Clive ended up never living at the property, as he died in 1774—the year that the house was completed. The estate then passed through a rapid succession of owners; first being sold "for not more than one third of what the house and alterations had cost"[5] to Robert Monckton-Arundell, 4th Viscount Galway, and then to George Carpenter, 2nd Earl of Tyrconnell, and finally to Charles Ellis, 1st Baron Seaford.[6]

 

A large map entitled "Claremont Palace", situated in what is called "Clive's room" inside the mansion, shows the mansion and its surrounding grounds; giving a detailed overview of the campus. The map likely dates back to the 1860s, when the mansion was frequently occupied by Queen Victoria (thus it having been christened "palace"). However, the exact date is still unknown. The relief in Claremont's front pediment is of Clive's coat of arms impaled with that of Maskelyne, his wife's family.

Harcourt Arboretum

The University of Oxford Arboretum

 

Acquired by the University in 1947 from the Harcourt family. It is now an integral part of the tree and plant collection of the University of Oxford Botanic Garden.

 

The original Pinetum, which forms the core of the arboretum, was laid out by William Sawrey Gilpin in the 1830s. Gilpin was a leading promoter of the picturesque style of planting and advised the Harcourt family on the establishment and layout of the arboretum. The trees are now mature, with Giant Redwoods and Monkey-Puzzle trees in the collection.

 

The arboretum also contains some of the finest conifer collections in the UK all set within 130 acres of historic Capability Brown landscape. The grounds include a 10-acre typical English woodland and a 37-acre summer flowering meadow.

 

www.obga.ox.ac.uk/visit-arboretum

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harcourt_Arboretum

The Citroën 2CV (French: "deux chevaux" i.e. "deux chevaux-vapeur" (lit. "two steam horses", "two tax horsepower") is an air-cooled front-engine, front-wheel-drive economy car introduced at the 1948 Paris Mondial de l'Automobile and manufactured by Citroën for model years 1948–1990.

 

Conceived by Citroën Vice-President Pierre Boulanger to help motorise the large number of farmers still using horses and carts in 1930s France, the 2CV has a combination of innovative engineering and utilitarian, straightforward metal bodywork — initially corrugated for added strength without added weight. The 2CV featured low cost; simplicity of overall maintenance; an easily serviced air-cooled engine (originally offering 9 hp); low fuel consumption; and an extremely long-travel suspension offering a soft ride and light off-road capability. Often called "an umbrella on wheels", the fixed-profile convertible bodywork featured a full-width, canvas, roll-back sunroof, which accommodated oversized loads and until 1955 reached almost to the car's rear bumper.

 

Manufactured in France between 1948 and 1989 (and in Portugal from 1989 to 1990), over 3.8 million 2CVs were produced, along with over 1.2 million small 2CV-based delivery vans known as Fourgonnettes. Citroën ultimately offered several mechanically identical variants including the Ami (over 1.8 million); the Dyane (over 1.4 million); the Acadiane (over 250,000); and the Mehari (over 140,000). In total, Citroën manufactured almost 7 million 2CV variants.

 

A 1953 technical review in Autocar described "the extraordinary ingenuity of this design, which is undoubtedly the most original since the Model T Ford". In 2011, The Globe and Mail called it a "car like no other". The motoring writer L. J. K. Setright described the 2CV as "the most intelligent application of minimalism ever to succeed as a car", and a car of "remorseless rationality".]

 

HISTORY

DEVELOPMENT

In 1934, family-owned Michelin, being the largest creditor, took over the bankrupt Citroën company. The new management ordered a new market survey, conducted by Jacques Duclos. France at that time had a large rural population which could not yet afford cars; Citroën used the survey results to prepare a design brief for a low-priced, rugged "umbrella on four wheels" that would enable four people to transport 50 kg of farm goods to market at 50 km/h, if necessary across muddy, unpaved roads. In fuel economy, the car would use no more than 3 l/100 km (95 mpg-imp). One design requirement was that the customer be able to drive eggs across a freshly ploughed field without breaking them.

 

In 1936, Pierre-Jules Boulanger, vice-president of Citroën and chief of engineering and design, sent the brief to his design team at the engineering department. The TPV (Toute Petite Voiture — "Very Small Car") was to be developed in secrecy at Michelin facilities at Clermont-Ferrand and at Citroën in Paris, by the design team who had created the Traction Avant.

 

Boulanger was closely involved with all decisions relating to the TPV, and was determined to reduce the weight to targets that his engineers thought impossible. He set up a department to weigh every component and then redesign it, to make it lighter while still doing its job.

 

Boulanger placed engineer André Lefèbvre in charge of the TPV project. Lefèbvre had designed and raced Grand Prix cars; his speciality was chassis design and he was particularly interested in maintaining contact between tyres and the road surface.

 

The first prototypes were bare chassis with rudimentary controls, seating and roof; test drivers wore leather flying suits, of the type used in contemporary open biplanes. By the end of 1937 20 TPV experimental prototypes had been built and tested. The prototypes had only one headlight, all that was required by French law at the time. At the end of 1937 Pierre Michelin was killed in a car crash; Boulanger became president of Citroën.

 

By 1939 the TPV was deemed ready, after 47 technically different and incrementally improved experimental prototypes had been built and tested. These prototypes used aluminium and magnesium parts and had water-cooled flat twin engines with front-wheel drive. The seats were hammocks hung from the roof by wires. The suspension system, designed by Alphonse Forceau, used front leading arms and rear trailing arms, connected to eight torsion bars beneath the rear seat: a bar for the front axle, one for the rear axle, an intermediate bar for each side, and an overload bar for each side. The front axle was connected to its torsion bars by cable. The overload bar came into play when the car had three people on board, two in the front and one in the rear, to support the extra load of a fourth passenger and fifty kilograms of luggage.

 

In mid-1939 a pilot run of 250 cars was produced and on 28 August 1939 the car received approval for the French market. Brochures were printed and preparations made to present the car, renamed the Citroën 2CV, at the forthcoming Paris Motor Show in October 1939.

 

WORLD WAR II

On 3 September 1939, France declared war on Germany following that country's invasion of Poland. An atmosphere of impending disaster led to the cancellation of the 1939 motor show less than a month before it was scheduled to open. The launch of the 2CV was abandoned.

 

During the German occupation of France in World War II Boulanger personally refused to collaborate with German authorities to the point where the Gestapo listed him as an "enemy of the Reich", under constant threat of arrest and deportation to Germany.

 

Michelin (Citroën's main shareholder) and Citroën managers decided to hide the TPV project from the Nazis, fearing some military application as in the case of the future Volkswagen Beetle, manufactured during the war as the military Kübelwagen. Several TPVs were buried at secret locations; one was disguised as a pickup, the others were destroyed, and Boulanger spent the next six years thinking about further improvements. Until 1994, when three TPVs were discovered in a barn, it was believed that only two prototypes had survived. As of 2003 there were five known TPVs.

 

By 1941, after an increase in aluminium prices of forty percent, an internal report at Citroën showed that producing the TPV post-war would not be economically viable, given the projected further increasing cost of aluminium. Boulanger decided to redesign the car to use mostly steel with flat panels, instead of aluminium. The Nazis had attempted to loot Citroën's press tools; this was frustrated after Boulanger got the French Resistance to re-label the rail cars containing them in the Paris marshalling yard. They ended up all over Europe, and Citroën was by no means sure they would all be returned after the war. In early 1944 Boulanger made the decision to abandon the water-cooled two-cylinder engine developed for the car and installed in the 1939 versions. Walter Becchia was now briefed to design an air-cooled unit, still of two cylinders, and still of 375 cc. Becchia was also supposed to design a three-speed gearbox, but managed to design a four-speed for the same space at little extra cost. At this time small French cars like the Renault Juvaquatre and Peugeot 202 usually featured three-speed transmissions, as did Citroën's own mid-size Traction Avant - but the 1936 Italian Fiat 500 "Topolino" "people's car" did have a four-speed gearbox. Becchia persuaded Boulanger that the fourth gear was an overdrive. The increased number of gear ratios also helped to pull the extra weight of changing from light alloys to steel for the body and chassis. Other changes included seats with tubular steel frames with rubber band springing and a restyling of the body by the Italian Flaminio Bertoni. Also, in 1944 the first studies of the Citroën hydro-pneumatic suspension were conducted using the TPV/2CV.

 

The development and production of what was to become the 2CV was also delayed by the incoming 1944 Socialist French government, after the liberation by the Allies from the Germans. The five-year "Plan Pons" to rationalise car production and husband scarce resources, named after economist and former French motor industry executive Paul-Marie Pons, only allowed Citroën the upper middle range of the car market, with the Traction Avant. The French government allocated the economy car market, US Marshall Plan aid, US production equipment and supplies of steel, to newly nationalised Renault to produce their Renault 4CV. The "Plan Pons" came to an end in 1949. Postwar French roads were very different from pre-war ones. Horse-drawn vehicles had re-appeared in large numbers. The few internal combustion-engined vehicles present often ran on town gas stored in gasbags on roofs or wood/charcoal gas from gasifiers on trailers. Only one hundred thousand of the two million pre-war cars were still on the road. The time was known as "Les années grises" or "the grey years" in France.

 

PRODUCTION

Citroën unveiled the car at the Paris Salon on 7 October 1948. The car on display was nearly identical to the 2CV type A that would be sold the next year, but it lacked an electric starter, the addition of which was decided the day before the opening of the Salon, replacing the pull cord starter. The canvas roof could be rolled completely open. The Type A had one stop light, and was only available in grey. The fuel level was checked with a dip stick/measuring rod, and the speedometer was attached to the windscreen pillar. The only other instrument was an ammeter.In 1949 the first delivered 2CV type A was 375 cc, 9 hp, with a 65 km/h top speed, only one tail light and windscreen wiper with speed shaft drive; the wiper speed was dependent on the driving speed. The car was heavily criticised by the motoring press and became the butt of French comedians for a short while. One American motoring journalist quipped, "Does it come with a can opener?" The British Autocar correspondent wrote that the 2CV "is the work of a designer who has kissed the lash of austerity with almost masochistic fervour".

 

Despite critics, Citroën was flooded with customer orders at the show. The car had a great impact on the lives of the low-income segment of the population in France. The 2CV was a commercial success: within months of it going on sale, there was a three-year waiting list, which soon increased to five years. At the time a second-hand 2CV was more expensive than a new one because the buyer did not have to wait. Production was increased from 876 units in 1949 to 6,196 units in 1950.

 

Grudging respect began to emanate from the international press: towards the end of 1951 the opinion appeared in Germany's recently launched Auto, Motor und Sport magazine that, despite its "ugliness and primitiveness" ("Häßlichkeit und Primitivität"), the 2CV was a "highly interesting" ("hochinteressantes") car.

 

In 1950, Pierre-Jules Boulanger was killed in a car crash on the main road from Clermont-Ferrand (the home of Michelin) to Paris.

 

In 1951 the 2CV received an ignition lock and a lockable driver's door. Production reached 100 cars a week. By the end of 1951 production totalled 16,288. Citroën introduced the 2CV Fourgonnette van. The "Weekend" version of the van had collapsible, removable rear seating and rear side windows, enabling a tradesman to use it as a family vehicle on the weekend as well as for business in the week.

 

By 1952, production had reached more than 21,000 with export markets earning foreign currency taking precedence. Boulanger's policy, which continued after his death, was: "Priority is given to those who have to travel by car because of their work, and for whom ordinary cars are too expensive to buy." Cars were sold preferentially to country vets, doctors, midwives, priests and small farmers. In 1954 the speedometer got a light for night driving. In 1955 the 2CV side repeaters were added above and behind the rear doors. It was now also available with 425 cc (AZ), 12.5 hp and a top speed of 80 km/h. In 1957 a heating and ventilation system was installed. The colour of the steering wheel changed from black to grey. The mirrors and the rear window were enlarged. The bonnet was decorated with a longitudinal strip of aluminium (AZL). In September 1957, the model AZLP (P for porte de malle, "boot lid"), appeared with a boot lid panel; previously the soft top had to be opened at the bottom to get to the boot. In 1958 a Belgian Citroën plant produced a higher quality version of the car (AZL3). It had a third side window, not available in the normal version, and improved details.

 

In 1960 the production of the 375 cc engine ended. The corrugated metal bonnet was replaced by a 5-rib glossy cover.

 

The 2 CV 4 × 4 2CV Sahara appeared in December 1960. This had an additional engine-transmission unit in the rear, mounted the other way around and driving the rear wheels. For the second engine there was a separate push-button starter and choke. With a gear stick between the front seats, both transmissions were operated simultaneously. For the two engines, there were separate petrol tanks under the front seats. The filler neck sat in the front doors. Both engines (and hence axles) could be operated independently. The spare wheel was mounted on the bonnet. 693 were produced until 1968 and one more in 1971. Many were used by the Swiss Post as a delivery vehicle. Today they are highly collectable.

 

From the mid-1950s economy car competition had increased — internationally in the form of the 1957 Fiat 500 and 1955 Fiat 600, and 1959 Austin Mini. By 1952, Germany produced a price-competitive car - the Messerschmitt KR175, followed in 1955 by the Isetta - these were microcars, not complete four-door cars like the 2CV. On the French home market, from 1961, the small Simca 1000 using licensed Fiat technology, and the larger Renault 4 hatchback had become available. The R4 was the biggest threat to the 2CV, eventually outselling it.

 

1960s

In 1960 the corrugated Citroën H Van style "ripple bonnet" of convex swages was replaced (except for the Sahara), with one using six larger concave swages and looked similar until the end of production. The 2CV had suicide doors in front from 1948 to 1964, replaced with front hinged doors from 1965 to 1990.

 

In 1961 Citroën launched a new model based on the 2CV chassis, with a 4-door sedan body, and a reverse rake rear window: the Citroën Ami. In 1962 the engine power was increased to 14 hp and top speed to 85 km/h. A sun roof was installed. In 1963 the engine power was increased to 16 hp. An electric wiper motor replaced the drive on the speedo. The ammeter was replaced by a charging indicator light. The speedometer was moved from the window frame into the dash. Instead of a dip stick/measuring rod, a fuel gauge was introduced.

 

Director of publicity Claude Puech came up with humorous and inventive marketing campaigns. Robert Delpire of the Delpire Agency was responsible for the brochures. Ad copy came from Jacques Wolgensinger Director of PR at Citroën. Wolgensinger was responsible for the youth orientated "Raids", 2CV Cross, rallies, the use of "Tin-Tin", and the slogan "More than just a car — a way of life". A range of colours was introduced, starting with Glacier Blue in 1959, then yellow in 1960. In the 1960s 2CV production caught up with demand. In 1966 the 2CV got a third side window. From September 1966 a Belgian-produced variant was sold in Germany with the 602 cc engine and 21 hp Ami6, the 3 CV (AZAM6). This version was only sold until 1968 in some export markets.

 

In 1967 Citroën launched a new model based on the 2CV chassis, with an updated but still utilitarian body, with a hatchback (a hatchback kit was available from Citroën dealers for the 2CV, and aftermarket kits are available) that boosted practicality: the Citroën Dyane. The exterior is more modern and distinguished by the recessed lights in the fenders and bodywork. Between 1967 and 1983 about 1.4 million were built. This was in response to competition by the Renault 4. The Dyane was originally planned as an upmarket version of the 2CV and was supposed to supersede it, but ultimately the 2CV outlived the Dyane by seven years. Citroën also developed the Méhari off-roader.

 

From 1961, the car was offered, at extra cost, with the flat-2 engine size increased to 602 cc, although for many years the smaller 425 cc engine continued to be available in France and export markets where engine size determined car tax levels. This was replaced by an updated 435 cc engine in 1968.

 

1970s

In 1970 the car gained rear light units from the Citroën Ami 6, and also standardised a third side window in the rear pillar on 2CV6 (602 cc) models. From 1970, only two series were produced: the 2CV 4 (AZKB) with 435 cc and the 2CV 6 (Azka) with 602 cc displacement. All 2CVs from this date can run on unleaded fuel. 1970s cars featured rectangular headlights, except the Spécial model. In 1971 the front bench seat was replaced with two individual seats. In 1972 2CVs were fitted with standard three-point seat belts. In 1973 new seat covers, a padded single-spoke steering wheel and ashtrays were introduced.

 

The highest annual production was in 1974. Sales of the 2CV were reinvigorated by the 1974 oil crisis. The 2CV after this time became as much a youth lifestyle statement as a basic functional form of transport. This renewed popularity was encouraged by the Citroën "Raid" intercontinental endurance rallies of the 1970s where customers could participate by buying a new 2CV, fitted with a "P.O." kit (Pays d'Outre-mer — overseas countries), to cope with thousands of miles of very poor or off-road routes.

 

1970: Paris–Kabul: 1,300 young people, 500 2CVs, 16,500 km to Afghanistan and back.

1971: Paris–Persepolis: 500 2CVs 13,500 km to Iran and back.

1973: Raid Afrique, 60 2CVs 8000 km from Abidjan to Tunis, the Atlantic capital of Ivory Coast through the Sahara, (the Ténéré desert section was unmapped and had previously been barred to cars), to the Mediterranean capital of Tunisia.

 

The Paris to Persepolis rally was the most famous. The Citroën "2CV Cross" circuit/off-road races were very popular in Europe.

 

Because of new emission standards, in 1975 power was reduced from 28 hp to 25 hp. The round headlights were replaced by square ones, adjustable in height. A new plastic grille was fitted.

 

In July 1975, a base model called the 2CV Spécial was introduced with the 435 cc engine. Between 1975 and 1990 under the name of AZKB "2CV Spécial" a drastically reduced trim basic version was sold, at first only in yellow. The small, square speedometer (which dates back to the Traction Avant), and the narrow rear bumper was installed. Citroën removed the third side window, the ashtray, and virtually all trim from the car. It also had the earlier round headlights. From the 1978 Paris Motor Show the Spécial regained third side windows, and was available in red and white; beginning in mid-1979 the 602 cc engine was installed. In June 1981 the Spécial E arrived; this model had a standard centrifugal clutch and particularly low urban fuel consumption.

 

1980s

In 1981 a yellow 2CV6 was driven by James Bond (Roger Moore) in the 1981 film For Your Eyes Only. The car in the film was fitted with the flat-4 engine from a Citroën GS which more than doubled the power. In one scene the ultra light 2CV tips over and is quickly righted by hand. Citroën launched a special edition 2CV "007" to coincide with the film; it was fitted with the standard engine and painted yellow with "007" on the front doors and fake bullet hole stickers.

 

In 1982 all 2CV models got inboard front disc brakes.

 

In 1988, production ended in France after 40 years but continued at the Mangualde plant in Portugal. This lasted until 1990, when production of the 2CV ended. The 2CV outlasted the Visa, another of the cars which might have been expected to replace it, and was produced for four years after the start of Citroën AX production.

 

Portuguese-built cars, especially those from when production was winding down, have a reputation in the UK for being much less well made and more prone to corrosion than those made in France. According to Citroën, the Portuguese plant was more up-to-date than the one in Levallois near Paris, and Portuguese 2CV manufacturing was to higher quality standards.

 

As of October 2016, 3,025 remained in service in the UK.

 

SPECIAL EDITION SALOON MODELS

The special edition models began with the 1976 SPOT model and continued in the with the 1980 Charleston, inspired by Art-Deco two colour styles 1920s Citroën model colour schemes. In 1981 the 007 arrived. In 1983 the 2CV Beachcomber arrived in the United Kingdom; it was known as "France 3" in France or "Transat" in other continental European markets — Citroën sponsored the French America's Cup yacht entry of that year. In 1985 the two-coloured Dolly appeared, using the "Spécial" model's basic trim rather than the slightly better-appointed "Club" as was the case with the other special editions. In 1986 there was the Cocorico. This means "cock-a-doodle-doo" and tied in with France's entry in the 1986 World Cup. "Le Coq Gaulois" or Gallic rooster is an unofficial national symbol of France. In 1987 came the Bamboo, followed by the 1988 Perrier in association with the mineral water company.

 

The Charleston, having been presented in October 1980 as a one-season "special edition" was incorporated into the regular range in July 1981 in response to its "extraordinary success". By changing the carburetor to achieve 29 hp a top speed of 115 km/h was achieved. Other changes were a new rear-view mirror and inboard disc brakes at the front wheels. In the 1980s there was a range of four full models:

 

Spécial

Dolly (an improved version of the Spécial)

Club (discontinued in the early 1980s)

Charleston (an improved version of the Club)

 

In Germany and Switzerland a special edition called, "I Fly Bleifrei" — "I Fly Lead Free" was launched in 1986, that could use unleaded, instead of then normal leaded petrol and super unleaded. It was introduced mainly because of stricter emissions standards. In 1987 it was replaced by the "Sausss-duck" special edition.

 

EXPORT MARKETS

The 2CV was originally sold in France and some European markets, and went on to enjoy strong sales in Asia, South America, and Africa. During the post-war years Citroën was very focused on the home market, which had some unusual quirks, like puissance fiscale. The management of Michelin was supportive of Citroën up to a point, and with a suspension designed to use Michelin's new radial tyres the Citroën cars clearly demonstrated their superiority over their competitors' tyres. But they were not prepared to initiate the investment needed for the 2CV (or the Citroën DS for that matter) to truly compete on the global stage. Citroën was always under-capitalised until the 1970s Peugeot takeover. The 2CV sold 8,830,679 vehicles; the Volkswagen Beetle, which was available worldwide, sold 21 million units.

 

CONSTRUCTION

The level of technology in the 1948 2CV was remarkable for the era. While colours and detail specifications were modified in the ensuing 42 years, the biggest mechanical change was the addition of front disc brakes (by then already fitted for several years in the mechanically similar Citroën Dyane 6), in October 1981 (for the 1982 model year). The reliability of the car was enhanced by the minimalist simplification of the designers, being air-cooled (with an oil cooler), it had no coolant, radiator, water pump or thermostat. It had no distributor either, just a contact breaker system. Except for the brakes, there were no hydraulic parts on original models; damping was by tuned mass dampers and friction dampers.

 

The 1948 car featured radial tyres, which had just been commercialised; front-wheel drive; rack and pinion steering mounted inside the front suspension cross-tube, away from a frontal impact; rear fender skirts (the suspension design allowed wheel changes without removing the skirts); bolt-on detachable front and rear wings; detachable doors, bonnet (and boot lid after 1960), by "slide out" P-profile sheet metal hinges; flap-up windows, as roll up windows were considered too heavy and expensive.; and detachable full length fabric sunroof and boot lid, for almost pickup-like load-carrying versatility. Ventilation in addition to the sunroof and front flap windows was provided by an opening flap under the windscreen. The car had load adjustable headlights and a heater (heaters were standardised on British economy cars in the 1960s).

 

BODY

The body was constructed of a dual H-frame platform chassis and aircraft-style tube framework, and a very thin steel shell that was bolted to the chassis. Because the original design brief called for a low speed car, little or no attention was paid to aerodynamics; the body had a drag coefficient of Cd=0.51, high by today's standards but typical for the era.

 

The 2CV used the fixed-profile convertible, where the doors and upper side elements of its bodywork remain fixed, while its fabric soft top can be opened. This reduces weight and lowers the centre of gravity, and allows the carrying of long or irregularly shaped items, but the key reason was that fabric was cheaper than steel which was in short supply and expensive after the war. The fixed-profile concept was quite popular in this period.

 

SUSPENSION

The suspension of the 2CV was very soft; a person could easily rock the car side to side dramatically. The swinging arm, fore-aft linked suspension system with inboard front brakes had a much smaller unsprung mass than existing coil spring or leaf spring designs. The design was modified by Marcel Chinon.

 

The system comprises two suspension cylinders mounted horizontally on each side of the platform chassis. Inside the cylinders are two springs, one for each wheel, mounted at each end of the cylinder. The springs are connected to the front leading swinging arm and rear trailing swinging arm, that act like bellcranks by pull rods (tie rods). These are connected to spring seating cups in the middle of the cylinder, each spring being compressed independently, against the ends of the cylinder. Each cylinder is mounted using an additional set of springs, originally made from steel, called "volute" springs, on later models made from rubber. These allow the front and rear suspension to interconnect. When the front wheel is deflected up over a bump, the front pull rod compresses the front spring inside the cylinder, against the front of the cylinder. This also compresses the front "volute" spring pulling the whole cylinder forwards. That action pulls the rear wheel down on the same side via the rear spring assembly and pull rod. When the rear wheel meets that bump a moment later, it does the same in reverse, keeping the car level front to rear. When both springs are compressed on one side when travelling around a bend, or front and rear wheels hit bumps simultaneously, the equal and opposite forces applied to the front and rear spring assemblies reduce the interconnection. It reduces pitching, which is a particular problem of soft car suspension.

 

The swinging arms are mounted with large bearings to "cross tubes" that run side to side across the chassis; combined with the effects of all-independent soft springing and excellent damping, keeps the road wheels in contact with the road surface and parallel to each other across the axles at high angles of body roll. A larger than conventional steering castor angle, ensures that the front wheels are closer to vertical than the rears, when cornering hard with a lot of body roll. The soft springing, long suspension travel and the use of leading and trailing arms means that as the body rolls during cornering the wheelbase on the inside of the corner increases while the wheelbase on the outside of the corner decreases. As the corning forces put more of the car's weight on the inside pair of wheels the wheelbase extends in proportion, keeping the car's weight balance and centre of grip constant. promoting excellent road holding. The other key factor in the quality of its road holding is the very low and forward centre of gravity, provided by the position of the engine and transmission.

 

The suspension also automatically accommodates differing payloads in the car- with four people and cargo on board the wheelbase increases by around 4 cm as the suspension deflects, and the castor angle of the front wheels increases by as much as 8 degrees thus ensuring that ride quality, handling and road holding are almost unaffected by the additional weight. On early cars friction dampers (like a dry version of a multi-plate clutch design) were fitted at the mountings of the front and rear swinging arms to the cross-tubes. Because the rear brakes were outboard, they had extra tuned mass dampers to damp wheel bounce from the extra unsprung mass. Later models had tuned mass dampers ("batteurs") at the front (because the leading arm had more inertia and "bump/thump" than the trailing arm), with hydraulic telescopic dampers / shock absorbers front and rear. The uprated hydraulic damping obviated the need for the rear inertia dampers. It was designed to be a comfortable ride by matching the frequencies encountered in human bipedal motion.

 

This suspension design ensured the road wheels followed ground contours underneath them closely, while insulating the vehicle from shocks, enabling the 2CV to be driven over a ploughed field without breaking any eggs, as its design brief required. More importantly it could comfortably and safely drive at reasonable speed, along the ill-maintained and war-damaged post-war French Routes Nationales. It was commonly driven "Pied au Plancher" — "foot to the floor" by their peasant owners.

 

FRONT-WHEEL DRIVE AND GEARBOX

Citroën had developed expertise with front-wheel drive due to the pioneering Traction Avant, which was the first mass-produced steel monocoque front-wheel-drive car in the world. The 2CV was originally equipped with a sliding splined joint, and twin Hookes type universal joints on its driveshafts; later models used constant velocity joints and a sliding splined joint.

 

The gearbox was a four-speed manual transmission, an advanced feature on an inexpensive car at the time. The gear stick came horizontally out of the dashboard with the handle curved upwards. It had a strange shift pattern: the first was back on the left, the second and third were inline, and the fourth (or the S) could be engaged only by turning the lever to the right from the third. Reverse was opposite first. The idea was to put the most used gears opposite each other — for parking, first and reverse; for normal driving, second and third. This layout was adopted from the H-van's three-speed gearbox.

 

OTHER

The windscreen wipers were powered by a purely mechanical system: a cable connected to the transmission; to reduce cost, this cable also powered the speedometer. The wipers' speed was therefore dependent on car speed. When the car was waiting at a crossroad, the wipers were not powered; thus, a handle under the speedometer allowed them to be operated by hand. From 1962, the wipers were powered by a single-speed electric motor. The car came with only a speedometer and an ammeter.

 

The 2CV design predates the invention of disc brake, so 1948–1981 cars have drum brakes on all four wheels. In October 1981, front disc brakes were fitted. Disc brake cars use green LHM fluid – a mineral oil – which is not compatible with standard glycol brake fluid.

 

ENGINES

The engine was designed by Walter Becchia and Lucien Gerard, with a nod to the classic BMW boxer motorcycle engine. It was an air-cooled, flat-twin, four-stroke, 375 cc engine with pushrod operated overhead valves and a hemispherical combustion chamber. The earliest model developed 9 PS (6.6 kW) DIN (6.5 kW). A 425 cc engine was introduced in 1955, followed in 1968 by a 602 cc one giving 28 bhp (21 kW) at 7000 rpm. With the 602 cc engine, the tax classification of the car changed so that it became a 3CV, but the name remained unchanged. A 435 cc engine was introduced at the same time to replace the 425 cc; the 435 cc engine car was named 2CV 4 while the 602 cc took the name 2CV 6 (a variant in Argentina took the name 3CV). The 602 cc engine evolved to the M28 33 bhp (25 kW) in 1970; this was the most powerful engine fitted to the 2CV. A new 602 cc giving 29 bhp (22 kW) at a slower 5,750 rpm was introduced in 1979. This engine was less powerful, and more efficient, allowing lower fuel consumption and better top speed, but decreased acceleration. All 2CVs with the M28 engine can run on unleaded petrol.

 

The 2CV used the wasted spark ignition system for simplicity and reliability and had only speed-controlled ignition timing, no vacuum advance taking account of engine load.

 

Unlike other air-cooled cars (such as the Volkswagen Beetle and the Fiat 500) the 2CV's engine had no thermostat valve in its oil system. The engine needed more time for oil to reach normal operating temperature in cold weather. All the oil passed through an oil cooler behind the fan and received the full cooling effect regardless of the ambient temperature. This removes the risk of overheating from a jammed thermostat that can afflict water- and air-cooled engines and the engine can withstand many hours of running under heavy load at high engine speeds even in hot weather. To prevent the engine running cool in cold weather (and to improve the output of the cabin heater) all 2CVs were supplied with a grille blind (canvas on early cars and a clip-on plastic item called a "muff" in the owner's handbook, on later ones) which blocked around half the aperture to reduce the flow of air to the engine.

 

The engine's design concentrated on the reduction of moving parts. The cooling fan and dynamo were built integrally with the one-piece crankshaft, removing the need for drive belts. The use of gaskets, seen as another potential weak point for failure and leaks, was also kept to a minimum. The cylinder heads are mated to the cylinder barrels by lapped joints with extremely fine tolerances, as are the two halves of the crankcase and other surface-to-surface joints.

 

As well as the close tolerances between parts, the engine's lack of gaskets was made possible by a unique crankcase ventilation system. On any 2-cylinder boxer engine such as the 2CV's, the volume of the crankcase reduces by the cubic capacity of the engine when the pistons move together. This, combined with the inevitable small amount of "leakage" of combustion gases past the pistons leads to a positive pressure in the crankcase which must be removed in the interests of engine efficiency and to prevent oil and gas leaks. The 2CV's engine has a combined engine "breather" and oil filler assembly which contains a series of rubber reed valves. These allow positive pressure to escape the crankcase (to the engine air intake to be recirculated) but close when the pressure in the crankcase drops as the pistons move apart. Because gases are expelled but not admitted this creates a slight vacuum in the crankcase so that any weak joint or failed seal causes air to be sucked in rather than allowing oil to leak out.

 

These design features made the 2CV engine highly reliable; test engines were run at full speed for 1000 hours at a time, equivalent to driving 80,000 km at full throttle. They also meant that the engine was "sealed for life" — for example, replacing the big-end bearings required specialised equipment to dismantle and reassemble the built-up crankshaft, and as this was often not available the entire crankshaft had to be replaced. The engine is very under-stressed and long-lived, so this is not a major issue.

 

If the starter motor or battery failed, the 2CV had the option of hand-cranking, the jack handle serving as starting handle through dogs on the front of the crankshaft at the centre of the fan. This feature, once universal on cars and still common in 1948 when the 2CV was introduced, was kept until the end of production in 1990.

 

PERFORMANCE

In relation to the 2CV's performance and acceleration, it was joked that it went "from 0–60 km/h in one day". The original 1948 model that produced 9 hp had a 0–40 time of 42.4 seconds and a top speed of 64 km/h, far below the speeds necessary for North American highways or the German Autobahns of the day. The top speed increased with engine size to 80 km/h in 1955, 84 km/h in 1962, 100 km/h in 1970, and 115 km/h in 1981.

 

The last evolution of the 2CV engine was the Citroën Visa flat-2, a 652 cc featuring electronic ignition. Citroën never sold this engine in the 2CV, but some enthusiasts have converted their 2CVs to 652 engines, or even transplanted Citroën GS or GSA flat-four engines and gearboxes.

 

In the mid-1980s Car magazine editor Steve Cropley ran and reported on a turbocharged 602 cc 2CV that was developed by engineer Richard Wilsher.

 

END OF PRODUCTION

The 2CV was produced for 42 years, the model finally succumbing to customer demands for speed, in which this ancient design had fallen significantly behind modern cars, and safety. Although the front of the chassis was designed to fold up, to form a crumple zone according to a 1984 Citroën brochure, in common with other small cars of its era its crashworhiness was very poor by modern standards. (The drive for improved safety in Europe happened from the 1990s onwards, and accelerated with the 1997 advent of Euro NCAP.) Its advanced underlying engineering was ignored or misunderstood by the public, being clothed in an anachronistic body. It was the butt of many a joke, especially by Jasper Carrott in the UK.

 

Citroën had attempted to replace the ultra-utilitarian 2CV several times (with the Dyane, Visa, and the AX). Its comically antiquated appearance became an advantage to the car, and it became a niche product which sold because it was different from anything else on sale. Because of its down-to-earth economy car style, it became popular with people who wanted to distance themselves from mainstream consumerism — "hippies" — and also with environmentalists.

 

Although not a replacement for the 2CV, the AX supermini, a conventional urban runabout, unremarkable apart from its exceptional lightness, seemed to address the car makers' requirements at the entry level in the early 1990s. Officially, the last 2CV, a Charleston, which was reserved for Mangualde's plant manager, rolled off the Portuguese production line on 27 July 1990, although five additional 2CV Spécials were produced afterwards.[citation needed]

 

In all a total of 3,867,932 2CVs were produced. Including the commercial versions of the 2CV, Dyane, Méhari, FAF, and Ami variants, the 2CV's underpinnings spawned 8,830,679 vehicles.

 

The 2CV was outlived by contemporaries such as the Mini (out of production in 2000), Volkswagen Beetle (2003), Renault 4 (1992), Volkswagen Type 2 (2013) and Hindustan Ambassador (originally a 1950s Morris Oxford), (2014).

 

CONTINUED POPULARITY

The Chrysler CCV or Composite Concept Vehicle developed in the mid-1990s is a concept car designed to illustrate new manufacturing methods suitable for developing countries. The car is a tall, roomy four-door sedan of small dimensions. The designers at Chrysler said they were inspired to create a modernised 2CV.

 

The company Sorevie of Lodève was building 2CVs until 2002. The cars were built from scratch using mostly new parts. But as the 2CV no longer complied with safety regulations, the cars were sold as second-hand cars using chassis and engine numbers from old 2CVs.

 

The long-running 2CV circuit racing series organized by The Classic 2CV Racing Club continues to be popular in the UK.

 

English nicknames include "Flying Dustbin", "Tin Snail", "Dolly", "Tortoise"

 

WIKIPEDIA

View of the lake that is the centerpiece in Capability Brown's landscape garden at Blenheim Palace in Woodstock, Oxfordshire

Man-made by Capability Brown.

 

Croome Court, Worcestershire. [?]

 

See more of Croome Court here

A huge country house with 187 rooms, located in the market town of Woodstock, Oxfordshire. Construction was completed in 1722, and designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987. The palace is famous for being the birthplace and ancestral home of Winston Churchill.

In 1764, Capability Brown was commissioned to landscape the 150 acre park, woodlands, and gardens. This also included damming the River Glyme to create a large lake.

 

PHILIPPINE SEA (Nov. 20, 2022) Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Justin Stack, from Grand Rapids, Mich., takes a photograph aboard the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Chancellorsville (CG 62) as Carrier Strike Group (CSG) 5 units conduct tri-lateral operations with JS Setogiri (DD 156) of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) and HMAS Stalwart (A304) of the Royal Australian Navy, to focus on allied interoperability training in the areas of sustainment capability and high end warfighting in the Philippine Sea. Chancellorsville is forward-deployed to U.S. 7th Fleet in support of security and stability in the Indo-Pacific and is assigned to Commander, Task Force (CTF) 70, a combat-ready force that protects and defends the collective maritime interest of its allies and partners in the region. (U.S. Navy photo by Fire Controlman 1st Class Jeremy Scott)

A serendipitous moment at Capability Green in Luton.

On the flight path for Luton Airport.

As part of MOD’s full-spectrum military capability, the Defence Secretary, Philip Hammond, has announced that the department is set to recruit hundreds of computer experts as cyber reservists to help defend the UK’s national security, working at the cutting-edge of the nation’s cyber defences.

 

Mr Hammond confirmed the creation of a new Joint Cyber Reserve which will see reservists working alongside regular forces to protect critical computer networks and safeguard vital data.

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on the river walk by Hammersmith Bridge

An experimental air-launched rocket-powered aircraft that demonstrated sub-orbital spaceflight capability at speeds of up to 900 m/s, using a hybrid rocket motor. The design features a unique "feathering" atmospheric re-entry system where the rear half of the wing and the twin tail booms folds upward along a hinge running the length of the wing, increasing drag while remaining stable.

 

SpaceShipOne completed the first manned private spaceflight in 2004. That same year, it won the $10 million Ansari X Prize and was immediately retired from active service. Its mother ship was named "White Knight".

 

Both craft were developed and flown by Mojave Aerospace Ventures, which was a joint venture between Paul Allen and Scaled Composites, Burt Rutan's aviation company. Allen provided the funding of approximately $25 million.

 

Rutan has indicated that ideas about the project began as early as 1994 and the full-time development cycle time to the 2004 accomplishments was about three years. The vehicle first achieved supersonic flight on 17 December 2003, which was also the 100th anniversary of the Wright Brothers' historic first powered flight.

 

SpaceShipOne's first official spaceflight, known as flight 15P, was piloted by Mike Melvill. A few days before that flight, the Mojave Air and Space Port was the first commercial spaceport licensed in the United States. A few hours after that flight, Melvill became the first licensed US commercial astronaut. The overall project name was "Tier One" which has evolved into Tier 1b with a goal of taking a successor ship's first passengers into space within the next few days.

 

The achievements of SpaceShipOne are more comparable to the X-15 than orbiting spacecraft like the Space Shuttle. Accelerating a spacecraft to orbital speed requires more than 60 times as much energy as accelerating it to Mach 3. It would also require an elaborate heat shield to safely dissipate that energy during re-entry.

 

SpaceShipOne's official model designation is Scaled Composites Model 316.

 

Its three record-setting flights were:

 

* 100 kilometres altitude*; Mike Melvill, pilot; 21 June 2004

 

* 102 kilometres altitude; Mike Melvill, pilot: 29 September 2004

 

* 112 kilometres altitude; Brian Binnie, pilot; 4 October 2004

 

With SpaceShipOne, private enterprise crossed the threshold into human spaceflight, previously the domain of only government programmes.

 

The success of SpaceShipOne inspired the creation of Virgin Galactic, a company founded to add private sub-orbital tourist flights to the existing world of commercial spaceflight business. It also helped clear the way for NASA’s public-private partnerships to develop new spacecraft to carry crews and cargo.

 

An interesting juxtaposition here is that SpaceShipOne is displayed between Charles Lindbergh's Spirit of St Louis (top left), and Chuck Yeager's Glamorous Glennis Bell X-1 (top right). Seen in the Milestones of Flight Hall at the National Air & Space Museum on the Mall in Washington DC.

There are four main types of rockets: small lift, which can orbit payloads of up to 2,000 kilograms; medium lift, 2,000 to 20,000 kg; heavy lift, 20,000 to 50,000 kg; and super-heavy, anything above 50,000 kg.

 

“I think there is some concern at the large end of the launch market that, well, maybe there aren't that many providers. Maybe we are getting to the point we're a little too dependent on SpaceX. It would be nice to see some of these other companies make a little more progress, a little faster, and be cost-competitive,” Harrison said.

 

The Space Force does want a bigger pool for medium and heavy vehicles, Thompson said: “More is always better.”

  

Pentagon leaders have set up their next competition for satellite launches to usher new entrants into the heavy-lift market. In February, the Space Force announced that it would split the bidding for dozens of launches into two groups. “Lane 1” will include the “more risk tolerant” missions, “Lane 2” the more challenging and “critical” ones.

 

By separating a pool of easier missions to bid for, Thompson and other Space Force leaders aim to help emerging companies better compete against industry leaders like SpaceX and ULA.

 

“I think now, the way they have set it up with two assured providers and a lane for additional ones, we would love to have more and I think the strategy that is developed now allows for that and I think we would be excited to bring on more of those commercial providers,” the general said.