codename: BIGBIRD

copper-plated steel

29”H x 42”W x 27”D / 50 lbs

2018

Gaydon Reserve Collection British Motor Museum

This is a prototype Metro saloon, codenamed AM1 and known as the 'Notchback'. The saloon was aimed at continental Europe where small 'three-box' cars were more popular than in the UK.

It was to compete in the same market as cars such as the Volkswagen Derby (or Polo Classic as it became) and the Vauxhall/Opel Nova saloon. The prototype was developed in-house by the British Leyland design team.

This Notchback saloon remained a unique prototype, as financial constraints in British Leyland together with a less-than-average small saloon car market meant that it would never reach the production line.

codename: BREAKDANCER

brass-plated steel

18"H x 14"W x 12"D / 27 lbs

2017

PA_683 [30 points]

In August 2006 Invader installed Q-Bert at this corner, codenamed PA_683. For years I thought this one has been deleted till Denis invited me to flash this one in the early morning of 11 February 2015. PA_683 hasn't been deleted at all but is hidden behind a marquise of bar restaurant La Dernière Séance which name is quite appropriate for this early morning adventure. Despite of the fact that I just started with the game FlashInvaders I was invited by Denis to join with some fellow space invader hunters, the 'Top 10' scorers of that game to 'flash' the hidden PA_683. My overnight for work in Paris allowed me to gather with the other space invader enthusiasts at 06h30 in the early cold Paris morning. A ladder was arranged with enables the others to scan Q-Bert PA_683 which is normally hidden from view.

FLASHINVADERS

FlashInvaders is a very addictive game by Invader : walk, explore cities in the world, find Space Invaders mosaïcs, shoot them with your Iphone or Andoïd smartphone and score !

Flashinvaders (official game by Invader)

All my photos of PA_683::

PA_683 (Zoom-in, October 2006)

PA_683 (Street view, October 2006)

PA_683 (FlashInvader, February 2015, by Denis)

PA_683 (FlashInvader meet-up, February 2015)

PA_683 (Wide shot, December 2017)

Once again I like to thank Denis and the others for their invitation to share this special occasion to flash this one and to talk to the other pixel fans. I smiled the whole day as an after glow of this early morning space invader adventure.

I'm impressed by the scores of the 'Top 10' of the FlashInvaders game, number one has already scanned 750 space invaders (worth 22,200 points) and the others follow him with already more than 500 space invaders at least. I'm at rank 347 at the moment with 50 space invaders found (in 3 cities) and 1,680 points (13/02/2015).

Diese ehemalige Lagerhalle wurde über dem Stasibunkereingang (Codename Trachtenfest) gebaut um dessen Existens (erfolgreich bis 1990) zu verschleiern.

This former Storagehall was build over the entry to cloud the existens of the top secret nuclear bunker. It works till 1990!

c/n 500AT15.

NATO codename:- Fishbed-K

The SMT was a 1971 third generation upgrade of the SM with increased fuel capacity in an enlarged fuselage spine.

Previously part of the museum collection at the old Khodynka Airport site in Central Moscow, this example is now on display at the Vadim Zadorozhny Technical Museum, Arkhangelskoye, Moscow Oblast, Russia.

26th August 2017

The convoy gets ready to depart.

A further seven people have been arrested in raids as part of an operation to target drug dealing in Oldham.

They were arrested when officers from Greater Manchester Police raided five addresses just after 6am today, Tuesday 7 February 2012.

Officers from Oldham's neighbourhood policing teams launched the operation, codenamed Operation Rescind V, as their response to concerns the community had that drug dealing was a problem and, in turn, increasing crime and antisocial behaviour in the area.

The raids follow on from Operation Rescind I, Operation Rescind II, Operation Rescind III and Operation rescind IV where officers raided 16 addresses in March 2011, 15 addresses in July 2011, seven addresses in November 2011 and 9 addresses in January 2012, to date 60 people have been arrested for drugs offences.

These arrests came after months of investigations by officers from the Oldham division and Serious Crime Division into the distribution of heroin and crack cocaine.

In the latest raids this morning, five men and two women were arrested on suspicion of drugs offences, including possession with intent to supply class A drugs, after officers executed warrants across the Oldham area.

Properties were raided in the, Chadderton and Failsworth areas of Oldham.

More than 100 officers were involved in the raids and included officers from the neighbourhood policing teams, Serious Crime Division, tactical aid units, dog handlers and officers from the Department of Working Pensions.

Extra officers from Oldham's Neighbourhood Policing Teams will be patrolling the area for today and the next few days to provide a visible presence and reassurance to the community. Oldham drugs intervention team and First Choice homes will be involved in the operation to offer support.

Superintendent Catherine Hankinson, from Greater Manchester Police's Oldham Division, said: "Today shows that the desire to rid our communities of the blight of drugs is continuous and we will go back and keep tackling the issue in the same area as many times as necessary until the problem is dealt with.

"Residents told us that class A drug dealing was a worry to them so we have responded robustly to combat this.

"Drugs wreck lives and the crime associated with them causes misery to the whole community - so we do everything possible to find out who is responsible and put them before the courts.

"These arrests are the culmination of hundreds of hours of work by officers and our counterparts at the Crown Prosecution Service. We have used divisional and force resources to gather the intelligence we needed to take this action. It is not a quick process and we thank the community for their patience while we have been building the strongest case possible."

To report crime call police on 101 or for more information about Greater Manchester Police visit www.gmp.police.uk.

You can also call anonymously with information about crime to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111. Crimestoppers is an independent charity who will not want your name, just your information. Your call will not be traced or recorded and you do not have to go to court or give a statement.

Omaha Beach, Fox Green sector, WN 61, Normandy, France

Omaha was divided into ten sectors, codenamed (from west to east): Able, Baker, Charlie, Dog Green, Dog White, Dog Red, Easy Green, Easy Red, Fox Green and Fox Red. On june 6, 1944 -D-Day - the initial assault on Omaha was to be made by two Regimental Combat Teams (RCT), supported by two tank battalions, with two battalions of Rangers also attached. The RCT's were part of the veteran 1st Infantry division ("The Big Red One") and the untested 29th ("Blue and Grey") , a National Guard unit.

The plan was to make frontal assaults at the "draws" (valleys) in the bluffs which dominate the coast in Normandy , codenamed west to east they were called D-1, D-3, E-1, E-3 and F-1 . These draws could then be used to move inland with reserves and vehicles.

The Germans were not stupid; they knew the draws were vital and concentrated their limited resources in defending them. To this end they built "Widerstandsneste" with AT guns, mortars, MG's in Tobrul's, trenches and bunkers, manned by soldiers of the German 716th and - more recently - 352nd Infantry Division, a large portion of whom were teenagers, though they were supplemented by veterans who had fought on the Eastern Front. All in all some 1100 German soldiers defended the entire Omaha beach sector of over 5 miles.

Preliminary bombardments were almost totally ineffective and when the initial waves landed at low tide they met with fiece opposition of an enemy well dug in and prepared.

Casualties were heaviest amongst the troops landing at either end of Omaha. At Fox Green and Easy Red, scattered elements of three companies were reduced to half strength by the time they gained the relative safety of the shingle, many of them having crawled the 300 yards (270 m) of beach just ahead of the incoming tide. Casualties were especially heavy amongst the first waves of soldiers and the gap assault teams - at Omaha these were tasked with blasting channels through the beach obstacles. German gunfire from the bluffs above the beach took a heavy toll on these men. The demolition teams managed to blast only six complete gaps and three partial ones; more than half their engineers were killed in the process.

Situation at Dog Green and on Easy Red on the other end of Omaha by mid morning was so bad with nearly all the troops essentially pinned down on the beach gen. Eisenhower seriously considered to abandon the operation; in "First Wave at OMAHA Beach", S.L.A. Marshall, chief U.S. Army combat historian, called it "an epic human tragedy which in the early hours bordered on total disaster."

As the US first waves assault forces and combat engineers landing directly opposite the "draws" were pinned down it was up to forces landing on the flanks of the strongpoints to penetrate the weaker German defences by climbing the bluffs. Doing this they had to overcome the minefields and barbed wire as well as machinegun fire from German positions but they did and they were able to attack some key strongpoints from the side and the rear, taking them out by early afternoon.

This happened on several spots at Omaha and essentially saved the day: individual acts of initiative by lower ranked officers and courage like that of First Lieutenant Jimmy Monteith, who led a group of men to take one of the key German widerstandsneste and was killed in action, succeeded where a flawed plan failed.

the Defenses

The Easy-3 and Fox-1 exits , or "draws", are basically gaps in the high bluffs that overlook the Normandy beach. They were the only places where tanks and other vehicles could leave the beaches and go inland so they were major targets during D-Day. The Germans knew this also and built the bulk of their defenses around them.

Here at Easy-1 the draw was defended by two German "widerstandsneste"; WN61 and WN62. Both consisted of several casemates with AT guns, MG's, and Tobruk's with mortars and MG-stands, they were connected by trenches and guarded by barbed wire and minefields, AT ditches were placed between the beach and the bluffs at Easy-3.

D-Day

Preliminary bombardments were almost totally ineffective and when the initial waves - on this sector units of the 1st American Infantry Division "The Big Red One" and engineers of the 299th Combat Engineers - landed during low tide at H-Hour 06.30 they met with fiece opposition of an enemy well dug in and prepared.

1st US Infantry's division's plan was that 3/16th RCT was to land in two waves , break the defenses of the German WN's here and take the high ground. Combat Engineers were to blow gaps in the German defenses under water such as the mined "Rommel's asparagus" (poles in the sand pointing towards the sea) and chech hedgehogs.

On Easy Red, towards the west, and Fox Green casualties amongst the first waves of combat engineers and infantrymen were amongst the highest of D-Day and it would take several hours of fierce fighting before WN 60 (on the photo towards the left on the high ground) and WN61 were taken. WN62 (to the right on the other side of the Easy-3 exit) was not eliminated before the afternoon of june 6.

For a map of the eastern part of Omaha click here. The German WN's are marked as well as the Draws and beach sections.

On the Photo

View from the end of the beach (the shingles bank) towards an H-667 type Casemate of WN61 (Widerstandsnest 61) which guarded the Easy-3 exit with a formidable PAK43/41 88mm antitank gun. The 88mm gun was where the off-white garagedoors are now. The H-667 was built with protection towards the sea so that it could enfillade the beach.

Three (handheld) shots were used for this tonemapped photo using a Nikon D7000 DSLR with a Tokina 12-24mm, Augustus 2012.

See my other Omaha beach photo's for more viewpoints, panorama shots and notes on the fighting

.

The Rover 75 is an executive car produced by British automobile manufacturers Rover Group and later by MG Rover, under the Rover marque. The Rover 75 was available with front-wheel drive in either a saloon or estate body style and latterly, in long-wheelbase form and a rear-wheel drive, V8-engined specification. In 2001, an MG-branded version was launched by MG Rover, called the MG ZT.

Rover 75s were built by the Rover Group at Cowley, Oxfordshire, for just a year. After owner BMW divested its interests in Rover, the 75 was built by the new MG Rover Group at their Longbridge site in Birmingham.

The Rover 75 was unveiled to the public at the 1998 Birmingham Motor Show, with deliveries commencing in February 1999. Production of the Rover and later MG badged models ceased on 8 April 2005 when manufacturer MG Rover Group entered administration.

History

The Rover 75 started life as part of a group of three new designs for the company under the guidance of Richard Woolley; a large saloon codenamed Flagship, a smaller vehicle (with the codename of Eric), and the 75. Of these only the 75 concept progressed. The initial aim was to re-skin the Rover 600 but following the BMW takeover it was quickly decided that this platform would not be re-used but replaced by an entirely new model.

Work on the new model, codenamed R40, progressed well with little operational interference from BMW; the styling received an enthusiastic response from the management and both companies believed the classical look would be the ideal direction for Rover. Revolutionary new design processes were adopted, including the 3D virtual reality assembly simulation "ebuild" techniques, ensuring the car would achieve class leading build quality when series production started.

Under the lauded styling was a range of petrol and diesel engines from 1.8- to 2.5-litre sizes. Petrol engines provided were Rover's 4-cylinder K series in 1.8-litre guise and the quad cam KV6, offered in either short-stroke 2.0 or revised 2.5-litre formats. The 2.0-litre was later dropped on introduction of the 1.8-litre turbo for emissions purposes.

Transmissions on all models were either the Getrag 283 5-speed manual, supplied from the company's new facility in Bari, Italy, or the JATCO 5-speed automatic unit—one of the first transverse engine deployments made with this feature.

Braking was in the form of all-round discs, complemented with a Bosch 5.7 4-channel ABS system and electronic brake force distribution. The parking brake was a cable operated drum integral within the rear discs.

Suspension was a MacPherson strut arrangement at the front, anchored by lower alloy L-arms. The wide spacing of the mounting points, compliant bushings and a perimeter subframe gave the model a cushioned yet precise ride with relaxed handling that could be tuned for different markets or model derivatives such as the later MG ZT. The rear suspension, after a period of uncertainty during development, was eventually a version of BMW's Z-Axle arrangement first featured on the 1988 Z1 sports car.

At the time of the launch there had been speculation within the media that the Rover 75 used the BMW 5-Series platform, perhaps due to the overall size of the model, the apparent presence of a transmission tunnel and the use of the parent company's rear suspension system. This was in fact not the case: Rover engineers had used the concept of incorporating a central tunnel which had been explored by BMW as part of their own research into front-wheel-drive chassis design. As the 75 took shape, this core engineering was passed over to Rover and evolved into the Rover 75 structure. The tunnel concept, along with the rear suspension system, was also used by the Rover engineers for the design of the Mini.

At launch the Rover 75 quickly attracted praise for its styling and design integrity. Some critics of the car labelled its styling too "retro", suggesting it had been designed with an older buyer in mind, and was not sporting enough when compared to the competition. However, the 75 won a series of international awards including various "most beautiful car" awards, including one in Italy.

Assembly originally took place at Cowley but in 2000, following the sale of the company by BMW to Phoenix Venture Holdings, production was moved to Longbridge in Birmingham, England. 2001 saw the introduction of the Rover 75 Tourer (developed alongside the saloon but never authorised for production by BMW), swiftly followed by the MG ZT and MG ZT-T, more sporting interpretations of the model, differentiated by modified, sporting chassis settings and colour and trim derivatives. Between 2000 and 2003, there were few changes to the range: the most significant was the replacement of the 2-litre V6 engine by a low-pressure-turbocharged version of the 1.8-litre 4-cylinder engine. The introduction of the 'greener' 1.8-litre turbo greatly benefited British company car drivers who are taxed on carbon dioxide emissions. A customisation programme, Monogram, was launched, allowing buyers to order their car in a wider range of exterior paint colours and finishes, different interior trims and with optional extras installed during production. Rather surprisingly, it was offered for sale in Mexico, making it the first Rover to be sold in North America since the Sterling.

From June 2002 a factory-approved dual fuel petrol-liquid petroleum gas conversion was available in the UK on 1.8 and 2.5 litre models. The LPG conversion was an after-market undertaking approved by MG Rover. Developed by EcoGas Systems Ltd and Landi Renzo S.R.L. in conjunction with MG Rover Powertrain Limited, the conversion was ordered from Rover dealerships, the cars retaining the three-year factory warranty. The retail price of the conversion was £2,195, but in an effort to encourage LPG use for transport for ecological reasons the UK Government offered a Powershift Rebate of some 60% of the conversion cost. When running on LPG the Rover 75 suffers only a slight reduction in performance compared to running on petrol; LPG fuel consumption is also slightly higher than when running on petrol but this is more than offset by the greatly reduced cost of the fuel.

Chinese production

Production of the Rover 75 and MG ZT ended when MG Rover Group went into administration in April 2005. The Rover 75 design was purchased by Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC) in early 2005, although the new MG Rover Group owner, Nanjing Automobile (Group) Corporation (NAC) acquired the tooling for the car. Both companies launched revised versions of the 75/ZT in China. SAIC's model was named the Roewe 750 (following the purchase of the Rover brand by Ford, the Roewe marque was created by SAIC for use worldwide) and NAC's the MG 7.

The Roewe brand and Roewe 750 were launched at the Beijing Motor Show in November 2006. The 750 is based on the long-wheelbase 75 platform, and engineering was completed by Ricardo 2010.

The MG 7 was launched in March 2007. NAC also introduced a long-wheelbase version of the MG 7, called the MG 7L.

[Text from Wikipedia]

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rover_75

This miniland-scale Lego Rover 75 Saloon (1999) has been created for Flickr LUGNuts' 92nd Build Challenge, - "Stuck in the 90's", - all about vehicles from the decade of the 1990s.

Vesikko is a submarine (the single ship of her class), which was launched on 10 May 1933 at the Crichton-Vulcan dock in Turku, Finland.

Until 1936 it was named by its manufacturing codename CV 707. Vesikko was ordered by a Dutch engineering company Ingenieurskantoor voor Scheepsbouw (a German front company) in 1930 as a commercial submarine prototype.

Purchased by the Finnish before the war, she saw service in the Winter War and World War II, sinking the Soviet merchant ship Vyborg as her only victory. After the cease-fire with the Allies in 1944, Vesikko was retired. Finland was banned from operating submarines after the war and she was kept in storage until she was turned into a museum ship.

Vesikko was one of five submarines to serve in the Finnish Navy. The other four were the three larger Vetehinen-class boats Vetehinen, Vesihiisi, Iku-Turso and the small Saukko. The word "vesikko" is the Finnish name for the European mink.

Ingenieurskantoor voor Scheepsbouw (IvS), was a German front company in the Netherlands, established to secretly design a new German submarine fleet.

According to the terms of the Versailles Peace Treaty after World War I, Germany was banned from building and operating submarines among other "offensive" weaponry. This resulted in moving the armaments' research to foreign countries. For example, German tanks and aircraft were tested and developed in the Soviet Union.

Therefore, unlike the other submarines in the Finnish Navy, Vesikko was not part of the Naval Act. Instead, it was part of the secret rebuilding of the German Navy, the Reichsmarine.

The objective of Germans was to design a modern submarine type to be used during general mobilization; technology and standards were to be new and not based on World War I designs.

For this purpose two prototypes were built, E1 in Spain and CV 707 in Finland. The latter was later chosen as a first submarine type for the new fleet. Construction of both of these experimental submarines was funded by the Reichsmarine.

Commander Karl Bartenbach, who had retired from active service in the Reichsmarine, worked as secret liaison officer in Finland.

His official title was Naval Expert of the Finnish Defence Forces, and it was under his leadership that the 496-ton Vetehinen class and the 100-ton Saukko were built in Finland. Both submarine types were designed by IvS. For the German Navy, his mission was to oversee the developing and construction of a 200–250 ton submarine, which would still equal the combat effectiveness of the Vetehinen class. The whole task was named The Lilliput Project.

The official decision allowing Vesikko to be constructed in Finland was made in 1930 after several meetings with the Finnish Government.

Since The Liliput Project broke the terms of the Versailles Peace Treaty, there was no mention of Germany in the agreement, and it was decided that the new submarine could only be sold to nations belonging to the League of Nations.

The would-be buyers also had to have the rights to own such a weapon. The Finnish Government gained primary rights to purchase the submarine.

The construction of CV 707 begun in 1931 at the Crichton-Vulcan dock in Turku. At the time of its construction, CV 707 was one of the most advanced submarine designs.

For example, the maximum depth was over twice that of earlier German submarines, and its hull could be built completely by electric welding. By eliminating rivets there was increased resistance to water pressure, decreased oil leakages, and the construction process was faster. Germans tested CV 707 in the Archipelago of Turku during 1933–34.

Vesikko was a prototype for the German Type II submarines. Six Type IIA submarines (U-1 to U-6) which were almost identical to Vesikko were built in the Deutsche Werke dock in Kiel, and after these, 44 Type IIB, IIC, and IID submarines were built before and during World War II.

According to the agreement between the Finnish Ministry of Defence and the Crichton-Vulcan company, Finland had the primary purchase option until 1937, and the Finnish Government took over the submarine during August 1934. After the Finnish Parliament had approved the acquisition in 1936, the submarine joined the Finnish Navy under the name of Vesikko.

Vesikko was deployed with Vesihiisi to the Hanko region on 30 November 1939 as several Soviet surface combatants were headed towards the area. However the submarine failed to arrive in time to intercept the Kirov and its escorts. Vesikko was able to get close enough to see the cruiser but was unable to reach firing position as it had to evade shellfire.

When on 17 December and on two following days the Soviets sent the battleship Oktyabrskaya Revolyutsiya to bombard Finnish positions at Koivisto, the Finnish Navy decided to send out Vesikko to hunt for it.

However, by the time the submarine reached the area a day later the Soviet battleship Marat which bombarded on that day had already departed and temperature had dropped to −15 °C (5 °F) which prevented the submarine from diving.

In summer 1941 all Finnish submarines were once again readied for combat operations and they sailed to the staging area in the Gulf of Finland.

Vesikko's base of operations was to be Vahterpää island near the town of Loviisa.

When the Continuation War started on 25 June, all submarines were ordered to patrol the eastern part of the Gulf of Finland.

On 3 July 1941 Vesikko sank a Soviet merchant ship named Vyborg east of Gogland island.

The attack was made 700 metres (770 yd) from the target; first one torpedo was launched at 13:25 which hit the stern of the target. The target stopped but did not appear to be sinking so Vesikko fired another torpedo which failed to explode. Very soon after the strike, three Soviet patrol boats started to chase Vesikko and tried to destroy it with depth charges and salvage the damaged ship but failed to accomplish either task. Vyborg sank on 3 July at 14:15.

Soviet historiography later downplayed the sinking of Vyborg, insisting that several submarines and German naval bombers had assaulted the ship simultaneously, and that over twenty torpedoes had been launched against it.

During fall 1941 Vesikko operated from Helsinki and made three patrols to the coast of Estonia. In 1942, equipped with depth charge rack, she acted as an escort to convoys in the Sea of Åland, and hunted suspected hostile submarines near Helsinki.

In the beginning of June 1944, Vesikko escorted the convoys which were evacuating people from the Karelian Isthmus. Due to the armistice between Finland and the Soviet Union, Vesikko was ordered to return to port on 19 September 1944. Vesikko sailed the last time as a combat vessel of the Finnish Navy in December 1944.

During wartime, several officers were commanders of the submarine: Ltn. Kauko Pekkanen (1939), Capt. Ltn. Olavi Aittola (1940 and 1941), Capt. Ltn. Antti Leino (1942), Capt. Ltn. Pentti Airaksinen (1942), Capt. Ltn. Eero Pakkala (1943), Capt. Ltn. Olavi Syrjänen (1943), and Capt. Ltn. Lauri Parma (1944).

In January 1945, the Allies' Commission responsible for monitoring the observance of the Peace treaty ordered the Finnish submarines to be disarmed, and in 1947 according to the terms of the Paris Peace Treaty, the Finnish Defence Forces were forbidden to have any submarines.

The Finnish submarines Vetehinen, Vesihiisi, Iku-Turso, and Saukko were sold to Belgium to be scrapped in 1953. Vesikko was spared because the Finnish Defence Forces hoped that Finland could in future gain permission to use submarines again, and Vesikko was then meant to be used for training purposes. Vesikko was stored at the Valmet Oy dock in Katajanokka district in Helsinki.

In 1959, the Finnish Navy decided to sell Vesikko because Finland had not managed to obtain the right to use submarines again, and because Valmet Oy complained that the old submarine hampered the work in the dock.

Thanks to the Institute of Military History and the former submarine officers, the sale was cancelled and Vesikko was conveyed to the Military Museum.

The Military Museum moved Vesikko to Susisaari island in Suomenlinna, on the shores of Artillery Bay, and restored the submarine. The restoration process lasted over a decade and was very difficult; most of the equipment had been removed after the war and put to other use. In addition, Vesikko had been subject to vandalism in the dock. However, with donations and voluntary work, the restoration was completed, and Vesikko opened as a museum on the anniversary of the Finnish Navy 9 July 1973.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finnish_submarine_Vesikko

Suomenlinna Sea Fortress, Helsinki, Finland.

Access Vesikko virtually here: www.thinglink.com/video/913675598549745665

c/n 54211399.

NATO codename:- Fresco-A

Previously coded ’39 red’

Since my previous visit in 2012 this is one of many exhibits which have been moved from their previous location under a covered pavilion and are now on display in a new ‘Cold War’ area of ‘Victory Park’.

Museum of the Great Patriotic War, Poklonnaya Hill, Moscow, Russia.

26th August 2017

Kobra / Heft-Reihe

Gevacur AG / Schweiz 1976

ex libris MTP

www.comics.org/issue/656707/?

de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kobra_%28Magazin%29

A total of 13 raids have been carried out in two weeks by officers in the City of Manchester division as part of an operation to crackdown on sophisticated cannabis farms.

The operation, codenamed 'Operation Download', was launched at the start of the month after a number of violent disputes believed to be involving criminal groups and cannabis farms in recent months.

Yesterday (24 June 2021), three further warrants were executed in the Strangeways and Moston areas of the city. Last week, on 15 June 2021, the team of officers recovered over 170 plants on Eadington Street in Crumpsall and over 70kilos were found at other addresses on Haversham Road and Huntley Road.

Today's action follows a number of warrants already executed by the team in the Crumpsall, Blackley, Prestwich and Moston. A total of nine suspected cannabis farms have been dismantled and seized.

Seven men have been charged and one has been released under investigation pending further enquiries.

Police are set to continue with the action in the coming weeks and appeal to any members of the public with concerns or information to contact them.

Detective Inspector Paul Crompton, of GMP's City of Manchester North division, said: "This targeted action comes after an increase in violent disputes between rival groups that we believe concerns cannabis farms in north Manchester.

"We are aiming to take out as many of these cannabis farms as we possibly can. Part of our crackdown is about us working with Manchester City Council and relevant local partners to develop an understanding of how these groups are managing to use properties in the city to carry out this alleged activity.

"The local community understandably has strong concerns about such activity and this operation is also to reassure them that we are listening and that we are taking robust action.

"Not only is the production of illegal drugs a criminal offence, but the mechanics of producing such substances pose a really dangerous threat to neighbouring addresses and it is vital we continue this work and seize assets."

Anyone with concerns or information can contact GMP's City of Manchester CID on 0161 856 3548. Details can also be passed to the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

You should call 101, the national non-emergency number, to report crime and other concerns that do not require an emergency response.

Always call 999 in an emergency, such as when a crime is in progress, violence is being used or threatened or where there is danger to life.

You can access many of our services online at www.gmp.police.uk

c/n 96742.

Built 2010.

NATO codename:- Hip-H

The Mi17V-5 is the export version of the Mi-8MTV-5 armed transport variant. This is a demonstrator with Vertolyoty Rossii (Russian Helicopters) and is seen on static display as part of the ARMY 2017 exhibition.

Park Patriot, Kubinka, Moscow Oblast, Russia.

25th August 2017

codename: BIGBIRD

copper-plated steel

29”H x 42”W x 27”D / 50 lbs

2018

c/n 0200001

NATO codename:- Foxbat-E

The PD was an improved interceptor variant with a ‘look-down shoot-down’ capability.

On display at the Central Air Force museum, Monino, Moscow Oblast, Russia.

27th August 2017

c/n 8350705 (visible on base of fin)

NATO codename:- Camel

The Tu-104 was the worlds second jet airliner to enter service, following the British DH106 Comet. Due to the Comet being grounded following accidents, the Tu-104 therefore became the worlds first properly successful jet airliner.

A total of 201 were built and they saw service in Russia, the Czech Republic and Mongolia.

This particular Tu-104 was built in 1958 and saw military special flight service, but in Aeroflot colours and wearing a civil registration (CCCP-42390). It was later converted for Zero-G cosmonaut training and based at nearby Chkalovski, arriving at Monino in 1979.

Central Air Force museum, Monino, Moscow Oblast, Russia.

27th August 2017

Early morning raids saw four arrested as officers executed several drug warrants across Tameside.

Today (Wednesday 19 June 2019) warrants were executed across seven addresses as part of a crackdown on the supply of Class A and B drugs – codenamed Operation Leporine.

Following today’s action, two men – aged 21 and 27 – and two women – aged 21 and 52 - have been arrested on suspicion of possession with intent to supply Class A and B drugs.

Sergeant Stephanie O’Brien, of GMP’s Tameside district, said: “At present we have four people in custody and as part of this morning’s operation we have been able to seize a significant quantity of drugs.

“I would like to thank the team here in Tameside who, as part of Operation Leporine, have worked tirelessly in order to bring a sophisticated and audacious group of offenders to justice.

“The supply of illegal drugs blights communities and destroys people’s livelihoods; and I hope that today’s very direct and visible action demonstrates to the local community that we are doing all that we to make the streets of Tameside a safer place.

“It will remain a top priority for us to continue to tackle the influx of drugs in the area, however we cannot do this alone and I would appeal directly to the community and those most affected to please come forward with any information that could assist us in what continues to be an ongoing operation.”

Anyone with information should contact police on 101, or alternatively reports can be made to the independent charity Crimestoppers, anonymously on 0800 555 111.

To find out more about Greater Manchester Police please visit our website. www.gmp.police.uk

You should call 101, the national non-emergency number, to report crime and other concerns that do not require an emergency response.

Always call 999 in an emergency, such as when a crime is in progress, violence is being used or threatened or where there is danger to life.

Eighteen suspects were arrested, cash, drugs and vehicles were seized, and over 100 motorists were summonsed for driving offences as part of our blitz on crime across the city of Salford on Tuesday 26 October 2021.

The action was part of our new force-wide initiative - codenamed Operation AVRO - which will run each month in a different district, and began this October in Salford.

Over 200 officers were involved in the operation - maximising resources from across our districts and specialist units - and flooded the city with a surge of activity, including warrants, arrests, community engagement, traffic enforcement, and crime-prevention advice.

The day was bookended with two public street briefings; one of which was led by Chief Constable Stephen Watson in Walkden town centre - moments after a shoplifting suspect was arrested in a nearby superstore - before over 30 neighbourhood officers embarked on anti-social behaviour patrols in the area.

A total of 13 warrants were executed during the day which saw 18 people arrested - including a teenager found in his attic in possession of four stolen phones and car keys believed to have been stolen overnight in Pendleton.

One of the more unique arrests was in Weaste alongside partners in the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) as a man was taken to custody to be questioned for the illegal trade of birds; over 20 exotic birds were taken to safety by RSPCA officers who later questioned the suspect.

Our traffic cops underwent a day of intensified traffic enforcement on A57 Regent Road which resulted in 19 uninsured vehicles seized, 104 motorists reported for traffic offences, and 10 unsafe vehicles prohibited from the road.

Community officers dropped leaflets through the doors of hundreds of local residents to let them know about the AVRO activity taking place through the day, and councillors and other local community members joined our local patrols in engaging with the public and discussing ways of tackling crime.

Multi-agency visits to 26 addresses took place through the afternoon with Salford City council where officers from our Salford Connect safeguarding team spoke to a number of suspected victims of 'cuckooing' where criminals target and criminally exploit vulnerable adults.

The day's action has been pledged to be more than a one-off; instead an exemplification of the new era GMP has launched itself into, where more criminals are arrested, more assets are seized, and more police are in our neighbourhoods.

Assistant Chief Constable Scott Green, GMP's joint-lead on local policing, said: "I hope that yesterday was a reminder to all of our communities that GMP is very much here and able to show a really visible presence on our streets.

"It has served as a reminder to the criminals that are causing harm to our communities, to families, that GMP is on its front foot and we will - based on intelligence - conduct enforcement activity.

"This is what a new and resurgent GMP looks like and we have shown - and are committed to continuing to show - that we are really capable of putting on these key enforcement activities.

"GMP is a big team and we should have our head held high. We should be out there, engaging with the public, conducting enforcement and reminding the criminals that are causing harm that this is what we're here to do.

"This is the start of a new era of policing in Greater Manchester and the people of Salford experienced just the start of this yesterday; we hope communities in the city should start to feel closer to their neighbourhood teams and reporting the issues that matter to them.

"For the rest of the region: Operation AVRO will be coming to a town near you soon where you can expect to see something just as big, if not bigger. This will only enhance - not detract - from our day-to-day work as we pledge to bring more criminals to book and make our streets a safer place."

Praising GMP's Operation AVRO, Salford City Mayor Paul Dennett said: “Yesterday was a successful operation with drugs, cash and stolen property recovered from warrants and uninsured drivers caught on the roads.

"I’d like to thank local people for their support. Their information is vital so that the enforcement agencies can take action. I’d encourage anybody with information that may be useful to authorities to make contact."

Thought it was time again to pay homage to the folks on flickr who inspire, move, challenge, or even shock me. This isn't an exhaustive list, but these are the 40 people whose images i've "faved" most often. (And Atila swears he doesn't believe he's my one of my inspirations; but the numbers don't lie. LOL!)

Some of them are here because i felt a personal connection to their images, others because i saw things i'd love to emulate. I encourage you to check out ttheir photostreams. You may find a few new favorites of your own. And if you can't see as many images as i can, it may be that some of those "shocking" images are ... private. ;-)

----------

PS Check the notes for links to all the photographers and extra explanations on a few.

c/n 52350047121816, l/n 79-11.

NATO codename:- Helix-B

The Ka-29 was an assault helicopter with accommodation for 2 pilots and sixteen troops.

This example was previously coded ’10 red’. It was refurbished at Kubinka (121ARZ) in early 2016 and is now on display in Area 1 of the Patriot Museum Complex.

Park Patriot, Kubinka, Moscow Oblast, Russia.

25th August 2017

c/n unknown.

NATO codename ‘Helix-A’

The ‘M‘ is the latest variant of the Ka-27 and is an upgraded and reworked Ka-27PL, the existing anti-submarine variant. Very few are in service as yet, with this one being reported as being operated by 859th Centre for Combat Application and Crew Training for Naval Aviation (TsBP I PLS MA VMF) Russian Navy, based at Yeysk.

On static display at the Aviation cluster of the ARMY 2017 event.

Kubinka Airbase, Moscow Oblast, Russia.

23rd August 2017

this is a vax 11/780 (codename "star"), the first vax in IT history - AD 1977. sexy, isn't it?

Urbex Thuringia Crew Shot!

On tour with: blackcat, Ronny Welscher, RNEP, MartinaR and JeannetteF.

The original Rover 200 (sometimes referred to by the codename SD3) was the replacement for the earlier Triumph Acclaim, and was the second product of the alliance between British Leyland (BL) and Honda. Only available as a four-door saloon, the 200 series was intended to be more upmarket than the company's Maestro and Montego models, which the 200 Series came in between in terms of size. It was launched on 19 June 1984, at which time there was still a high demand for small family saloons, with many manufacturers selling this type of car under a different nameplate to similar-sized hatchbacks. For example, Ford was selling the saloon version of the Escort as the Orion, the saloon version of the Volkswagen Golf was called the Jetta, and Vauxhall would soon launch an Astra-based saloon called the Belmont. The Rover 200 Series, however, was not based on a hatchback.

Essentially, the 200 series was a British-built Honda Ballade, the original design of which had been collaborated upon by both companies. Engines employed were either the Honda Civic derived E series 'EV2' 71 PS (52 kW; 70 bhp) 1.3 litre 12 valve engine, or BL's own S-Series engine in 1.6 litre format (both in 86 PS (63 kW; 85 bhp) carburettor and 103 PS (76 kW; 102 bhp) Lucas EFi form). The resulting cars were badged as either Rover 213 or Rover 216.

The 213 used either a Honda five-speed manual gearbox or a Honda three-speed automatic transmission. The British-engined 216 also employed a Honda five-speed manual gearbox, unlike the S-Series engine when fitted in the Maestro and Montego. There was also the option of a German ZF four-speed automatic on some 216 models as well.

The Honda-badged version was the first Honda car to be built in the United Kingdom (the Honda equivalent of the 200 Series' predecessor, the Triumph Acclaim, was never sold in the UK). Ballade bodyshells, and later complete cars, were made in the Longbridge plant alongside the Rover equivalent, with the Ballade models then going to Honda's new Swindon plant for quality-control checks.

This model of car is well known as Richard and Hyacinth Bucket's car in the BBC Television sitcom Keeping up Appearances (1990–1995). A blue 213 model was also used in the Series 2 episode "Think Fast, Father Ted" of comedy series Father Ted.

c/n 5235003720214, l/n 14-10.

NATO codename:- Helix-A

The ‘PL’ is the basic Anti-submarine warfare variant.

This example was previously coded ’15 yellow’. It was refurbished at Kubinka (121ARZ) in early 2016 and is now on display in Area 1 of the Patriot Museum Complex.

Park Patriot, Kubinka, Moscow Oblast, Russia.

25th August 2017

codename: LILFUCKER

nickel-plated steel

23”H x 9”W x 7”D / 13 lbs

2019

c/n 9110117.

NATO codename:- Codling

Built as a standard Yak-40, this aircraft was later converted into the prototype Yak-40K.

Since at least 2002 it has been on display at the Central Air Force museum, Monino, Moscow Oblast, Russia.

27th August 2017

c/n 2960710039.

NATO codename:- Fulcrum-C

Originally retired to the adjacent Zhukovski Engineering Academy, this sad looking MiG has made its way to the grounds of the nearby museum, but with several other similar airframes already present it may not be here long-term. It is currently stored behind the Tu-144 and sometime during 2017 the starboard main undercarriage has collapsed which is not going to help!

Central Air Force museum, Monino, Moscow Oblast, Russia.

27th August 2017

Codename Shark31 Departing 30L early morning at MSP

In the first quarter of 1987, development began on a redesign codenamed EN53. The Ford Crown Victoria was unveiled on November 28, 1990, and began production in January 1991 as a 1992 model, launching on March 21, 1991. Fleet sales of the vehicle were postponed for 14 months to maximize availability for buyers at launch. In line with the redesign of the 1991 Chevrolet Caprice (its chief competitor), the 1992 Crown Victoria featured a major exterior redesign, while retaining the previous-generation chassis. Ford reduced the coefficient of drag of the exterior from 0.42 to 0.34 (nearly matching the 0.32 of the Ford Taurus) to enhance aerodynamics and fuel efficiency, giving the first generation Crown Victoria its sleek, wedge-shaped design that came to be known as the "aero" look.

Due to a market shift in family-oriented vehicles, the Crown Victoria was offered exclusively as a four-door sedan, with the wood-trimmed LTD Country Squire station wagon discontinued. While the Ford Taurus and Mercury Sable continued in production with optional three-row seating, the Country Squire was essentially replaced by the Ford Aerostar, Ford Econoline/Club Wagon, and Ford Explorer.

Ford benefitted from a unique loophole in CAFE standards when the 1992 Crown Victoria and its Grand Marquis twin were launched. To avoid paying gas-guzzler taxes, Ford modified its supplier network so that the two vehicles could be classified as imports from Canada, effectively removing the full-size sedans from the Ford domestic CAFE fleet (alongside the Ford Mustang V8) and placing them in its imported fleet (alongside the Ford Festiva).

Nan Red sector - Juno Beach

Saint Aubin-Sur-Mer, Normandy, France

This was the easternmost part of the Canadian assigned Juno Beach on June 6, 1944, codenamed "Nan Red".

Juno or Juno Beach was one of five sectors of the Allied invasion of German-occupied France in the Normandy landings on 6 June 1944, during the Second World War. The sector spanned from Saint-Aubin, a village just east of the British Gold sector, to Courseulles, just west of the British Sword sector. The Juno landings were judged necessary to provide flanking support to the British drive on Caen from Sword, as well as to capture the German airfield at Carpiquet west of Caen. Taking Juno was the responsibility of the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division and commandos of the Royal Marines, with support from Naval Force J, the Juno contingent of the invasion fleet, including the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN). The beach was defended by two battalions of the German 716th Infantry Division, with elements of the 21st Panzer Division held in reserve near Caen.

The first units of the North Shore Regiment's "A" and "B" companies touched down on Nan Red at 08:10 in chest-deep water. They were tasked with securing Saint-Aubin and clearing defences in the village. "B" Company landed to find that the Saint-Aubin strongpoint "appeared not to have been touched" by preliminary naval bombardment. The two assault companies faced a 100-yard (91 m) sprint across open beach in the face of fire from Saint-Aubin. "A" Company suffered the heaviest casualties, incurring many fatalities from beach mines.

"B" Company faced stronger opposition at the strongpoint, yet managed to breach the seawall and barbed wire. The strongpoint's 50 mm antitank gun was still active, and the thick concrete casemates protected it from infantry fire. By 08:10 Sherman tanks of the Fort Garry Horse and Armoured Vehicle Royal Engineers (AVRE) tanks of the 80th Assault Squadron, Royal Engineers, had landed at Nan Red, and began to assist "B" Company in clearing the gun emplacement. The 50 mm gun knocked out four of the squadron's tanks, while the North Shore's machine-gun platoon flanked the position. The right section of the strongpoint was eliminated by antitank guns and combat engineers, while the central antitank gun was silenced by petard shells from the British AVREs. When the North Shore captured the strongpoint, approximately half the defenders were killed; 48 German soldiers surrendered. (source: Wikipedia)

For a photo of the same beach after the invasion click here

A link to my other photos of the British and Canadian invasion sectors

A link to my set of photo's and notes of Omaha beach, one of two American sectors

Nikon D70 with Tokina AT-X 124 12-24 f/4. Photo taken at dusk , july 2010.

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

In October 1933, Hermann Göring sent out a letter requesting aircraft companies consider the design of a "high speed courier aircraft" - a thinly veiled request for a new fighter. In May 1934, this was made official and the Technisches Amt sent out a request for a single-seat interceptor for the Rüstungsflugzeug IV role, this time under the guise of a "sports aircraft". The specification was first sent to the most experienced fighter designers, Heinkel, Arado, and Focke-Wulf.

Total A7He2 production reached roundabout 300 aircraft and ceased in 1944, when IJN officials recognized that the A7He2 was a dead end and the resources devoted to its production would be better spent in more capable aircraft. Anyway, due to material shortages, the "Jerry" remained in service, even though most machines were gradually replaced by A6M in frontline units until early 1945.

General characteristics:

Crew: 1

Length: 9.22 m (30 ft 11 7/8 in)

Wingspan: 9.09 m (29 ft 9¾ in)

Height: 3.82 m (12 ft 6¾ in)

Wing area: 17 m² (183 ft²)

Empty weight: 1,617 kg (3,565 lb)

Max. takeoff weight: 2,248 kg (4,957 lb)

Performance:

Maximum speed: 580 km/h (360 mph; 313 kn) at 5,000 m (16,000 ft)

Range: 1.150 km (715 mi)

Service ceiling: 9,500 m (31,200 ft)

Rate of climb: 17.0 m/s (3,345 ft/min)

Wing loading: 132 kg/m² (27.1 lb/ft²)

Powerplant:

1× Kawasaki Ha40 inverted liquid-cooled V-12 piston engine, 864 kW (1,159 hp)

Armament:

2× 20 mm Type 99-1 cannon with 100 RPG in the outer wings

2× 7.7 mm (0.303 in) Type 97 aircraft machine guns with 500 RPG

or 13mm Type 2 heavy machine with 250 RPG guns on top of the engine

2× 120 kg (265 lb) bombs or 2× 200l drop tanks under the inner wings

The kit and its assembly:

Another converted Heller He 112 B-0/B-1 in disguise, and this time I spun the type's potential career in/with Japan further. In real life the story ended with the delivery of a dozen He 112 B-0s, which were relegated to training duties and not much liked at all.

However, I had a spare He 112 in the stash and also a surplus Ki-61 fuselage at hand, and wouldn't a combination of the sleek He 112 airframe with a better engine (even of German origin!) be a plausible evolution? Well, said and done...

The He 112 remained close to the original, I just swapped the front end and the propeller (taken completely from a Fine Molds Ki-61 II, which is actually the Hasegawa Ki-61 I with extra parts) and replaced the large OOB stabilizers with more delicate parts from a Hobby Boss A6M5 - IMHO an overall improvement concerning the aircraft's proportions.

Small additions are the protruding gun barrels (hollow steel needles) and the pair of small bombs under the inner wings, inside of the landing gear.

The radiator bath was also enlarged, reflecting the engine’s higher output level, but it basically remained in the original position.

Painting and markings:

A slightly more tricky part - choosing a unit and a scheme were not easy, and I eventually ended up with a mash of styles for a machine of the IJN’s Tainan Air Group based on Formosa.

In 1943, most Japanese aircraft wore toned-down camouflage, the days of an overall light grey livery with flashy unit markings were over. However, I wanted to incorporate some old-school elements and eventually ended up with a basically all-grey aircraft (all-over Tamiya XF-12), onto which green makeshift camouflage (thinned acrylic Revell 363) had been added later in the field, applied around the original hinomaru and tactical markings.

Another unique design element, somewhat lent from the A6M, is a black engine cowling that elegantly merges with an anti glare panel in front of the windscreen. It gives the aircraft almost a racy look, and it underlines the He 112’s elegant lines, too, even with the bigger engine grafted onto it.

Being an aircraft of Japanese manufacture, the cockpit was painted in greenish yellow (“Bamboo”) and the landing gear wells, as well as the flaps’ interior, became Aodake Iro, a home-made mix of acrylic Revell 99 (Aluminum) and a teal clear window painting color. The effect is pretty good.

The markings were improvised and gathered from several sources. The hinomaru originally belong to an Airfix Ki-46, the blue stripes were manually cut from generic blue decal sheet (TL Modellbau); the tacticla code on the fin is of uncertain origin - very old, decals which ,unfortunately, partly desintegrated in the course of the build and had to be repainted manually.

The grey coat received a black ink wash and some panel shading; once the decals and the green camouflage had been applied, the surface was wet-sanded carefully, revealing again some of the grey basic paint and the risen surface details of the Heller kit.

Finally, some soot and exhaust stains were created with grinded graphite, and the kit finally sealed with matt acrylic varnish; the lower part of the black cowling received a sheen finish, though.

The third and last iteration of the Heller He 112 kit, at least for the moment. The engine change is not highly visible, and the paint scheme makes you think that it's rather an A6M with an inline engine than anything else? The wing shape also suggests a beefed-up A5M, it's really weird how a paint scheme can play tricks with your expectations and perception. The whole thing looks very elegant, though, and for a moment I was even tempted to leave the green camouflage away, because in its all-grey livery and with the black engine, the A7He2 looked almost like a race aircraft - and also very German!

Utah Beach - Normandy, France.

Utah beach is the codename for the westernmost of the 5 Allied landing zones during D-day. It is the only beach on the Cotentin peninsula and closest to the vital harbour city of Cherbourg. Together with Omaha beach it is the sector where the American forces were disembarked. The amphibious assault, primarily by the US 4th Infantry Division and 70th Tank Battalion, was supported by airborne landings of the 82nd and 101st Airborne Division. These Airborne troops were dropped on the Cotentin penisula.

In stark contrast with Omaha beach where the landing turned into a near disaster with most of the troops pinned down for hours with heavy losses in both men and material the landings at Utah went relatively smooth. This does not mean the GI's came ashore unopposed: some 200 casualties were suffered by the 4th division.

One of the factors that contributed to this success was that the preliminary bombing of the target areas here was accurate and the German forces - in contrast with what happened at Omaha beach - were in disarray at H-hour, 06:30, when the first wave of 20 landing craft approached the beach. The GI's of the 2nd Battalion, 8th Infantry landed on Uncle Red and Tare Green sectors. What they didn't know initially was that pushed to the south by strong currents they landed some 1.8 kilometres south of their designated landing spot!

Brigadier General Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. was the first high ranking officer that landed and , not discouraged by the dviation, he decided to "start the war from right here". He ordered further landings to be re-routed. As it was this was a good decision because the Americans landed on a relative weak spot in the German defenses. Only one "Widerstandsnest" (WN5) opposed them and it was severely affected by the preliminary bombardments. It took the GI's about an hour to clear the defenses. Today the remains of this German widestandsnest can still be seen and are partly incorporated into the Utah beach museum. Well worth a visit.

After the succesful landings the real difficulties started because of the inundated areas behind the beach and the increasing German resistance which lead to weeks of fighting on the Cotentin peninsula.

On the Photo:

Uncle Red sector - view towards the south and the area west of the village of Grandcamp-Maisy in the far distance.

Tonemapped using three (handheld) shots made with a Fuji X-T3 and Fujinon 16mm f/1.4 lens, september 2019.

A set of photo's with notes of Utah Beach and the Cotentin peninsula with the Airborne sectors.">

While Barnes Wallis was busy perfecting his "Upkeep" bombs, teams swarmed over Avro Lancasters to modify them for one of the war's most daring missions.

Codenamed "Operation Chastise," Avro Lancasters from No. 617 Squadron flew at treetop height deep into Germany and struck the Mohne and Eder dam on the night of May 16-17, 1943.

By using cylindrical bombs, similar to a naval depth charge, the Lancasters flew at approximately 220 miles per hour at a height of roughly 200 feet and released the bombs so that they skipped past anti-torpedo nets, impacted the side of the dam wall, sank and then burst.

The damage from the resulting raid went far beyond Hollywood movies and decorations for the pilots involved; it dealt Hitler and Nazy Germany a crushing blow at a time when they could scarcely afford to spend money, time, manpower and materials to repair the damage done by the "Dambusters."

c/n 4831328, l/n 31-02.

NATO codename:- Backfire-C

This is the most familiar Tu-22M variant, the M3 with the wedge-shaped intakes. This ex-service aircraft was originally retired to the adjacent Zhukovski Engineering Academy but has now made the short journey to the museum. Getting it from its current location near the Tu-144 to the line with the other Tu-22 variants, at the opposite end of the outdoor display area, is not going to be easy!

On display at the Central Air Force museum, Monino, Moscow Oblast, Russia.

27th August 2017

c/n 36911027514.

NATO codename:- Flanker-B

Previously flew as ’03 blue’ with the Russian Knights formation team.

Refurbished by the 121st Aircraft Repair Plant at Kubinka in early 2016 and repainted in standard camouflage with a false bort code.

Now on display in Area 1 of the Patriot Museum Complex.

Park Patriot, Kubinka, Moscow Oblast, Russia.

25th August 2017

somewhat inspired by Infinityward's Ghost.

c/n 0402406 (visible at the base of the fin)

NATO codename:- Cat

The An-10 was a four-engined passenger airliner based on the twin-engined An-8. Named ‘Ukraina’ by Antonov, a total of 109 was built. The later An-10A could seat a maximum of 132 passengers, roughly the same as a Boeing 737-200.

In passenger service with Aeroflot from July 1959, they remained in service until a fatal crash in 1972 was found to have been caused by fatigue cracks in the wings, after which the entire fleet was grounded. 25 aircraft flew a further two years service with the military before the type was finally retired permanently in 1974. Very few now survive.

This example was built in 1961 and retired in August 1973.

Central Air Force museum, Monino, Moscow Oblast, Russia.

27th August 2017

DB993217 is a 24-ton vacuum-braked Ballast Hopper Wagon to diagram 1/587, designed by British Railways and codenamed 'Dogfish'. The wagon was designed specifically for the use of the Civil Engineering Departments to carry new track ballast from quarry to worksite and to drop it at a controlled rate over track which was to be machine-packed or 'tamped'. It has three independently controlled chutes, one on each side and one in the centre. These are operated by large handwheels mounted at one end of the hopper, a platform with guardrails being provided for the operator. All Dogfish wagons were built with vacuum brakes and carried the 'DB' prefix to their numbers from new.

DB 993217 is one of 161 vehicles built between February and April 1957 under lot 2822 by Charles Roberts and Company Ltd. at their Horbury Works, near Wakefield in Yorkshire. Initially it was allocated to the Eastern Region and was based at Santon slag heap near Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire. Blast furnace slag is a waste product of the iron and steel industry and was sometimes used as a lightweight ballast for sidings and yards.

But why a Dogfish?

The exact origin of the BR practice of allocating 'fish' names to civil engineering vehicles is unknown. When railway operations messages were conveyed by morse telegraph or teleprinter, if the number of words in a message could be reduced, it could be transmitted more quickly. There were lists of code words for certain regular instructions and also for wagon type and capacity. The Great Western Railway favoured fish names for engineering wagons, and this may have been the origin. However, whatever the reason, if one refers to a 'dogfish', any railwayman will know that one is not referring to the similar 'catfish' or 'trout'!

And what is a dogfish?

The term 'dogfish' usually refers to a type of shark belonging to the order Squaliformes or to one of its constituent families; one of these families, the Squalidae, being known as 'dogfish sharks'. The Spiny Dogfish (Squalus acanthias) is found in many parts of the world, especially in shallower, temperate waters. The males mature at around 11 years of age, growing up to a metre in length; females mature in 18-21 years and are slightly larger than males, reaching up to 1.6 metres (about 5' 2"). In Britain this and other dogfish are sold in fish and chip shops as 'rock salmon' or 'huss'.

Omaha Beach, Fox Red sector, Normandy , France

Omaha Beach

Omaha was divided into ten sectors, codenamed (from west to east): Able, Baker, Charlie, Dog Green, Dog White, Dog Red, Easy Green, Easy Red, Fox Green and Fox Red. On june 6, 1944 -D-Day - the initial assault on Omaha was to be made by two Regimental Combat Teams (RCT), supported by two tank battalions, with two battalions of Rangers also attached. The RCT's were part of the veteran 1st Infantry division ("The Big Red One") and the untested 29th ("Blue and Grey") , a National Guard unit.

The plan was to make frontal assaults at the "draws" (valleys) in the bluffs which dominate the coast in Normandy , codenamed west to east they were called D-1, D-3, E-1, E-3 and F-1 . These draws could then be used to move inland with reserves and vehicles.

The Germans were not stupid; they knew the draws were vital and concentrated their limited resources in defending them. To this end they built "Widerstandsneste" with AT guns, mortars, MG's in Tobrul's, trenches and bunkers, manned by soldiers of the German 716th and - more recently - 352nd Infantry Division, a large portion of whom were teenagers, though they were supplemented by veterans who had fought on the Eastern Front. All in all some 1100 German soldiers defended the entire Omaha beach sector of over 5 miles.

Preliminary bombardments were almost totally ineffective and when the initial waves - on this sector units of the 1st American division "The Big Red One" and combat engineers of the 299th - landed on low tide they met with fiece opposition of an enemy well dug in and prepared.

Casualties were heaviest amongst the troops landing at either end of Omaha. At Fox Green and Easy Red, scattered elements of three companies were reduced to half strength by the time they gained the relative safety of the shingle, many of them having crawled the 300 yards (270 m) of beach just ahead of the incoming tide. Casualties on this spot were especially heavy amongst the first waves of soldiers and the demolition teams - at Omaha these were tasked with blasting 16 channels through the beach obstacles, each 70 meters wide. German gunfire from the bluffs above the beach took a heavy toll on these men. The demolition teams managed to blast only six complete gaps and three partial ones; more than half their engineers were killed in the process.

Situation here, on Easy Red and at Dog Green on the other end of Omaha by mid morning was so bad with nearly all the troops essentially pinned down on the beach gen. Eisenhower seriously considered to abandon the operation.

As the US first waves assault forces and combat engineers landing directly opposite the "draws" were pinned down it was up to forces landing on the flanks of the strongpoints to penetrate the weaker German defences by climbing the bluffs. Doing this they had to overcome the minefields and barbed wire as well as machinegun fire from German positions but they did and they were able to attack some key strongpoints from the side and the rear, taking them out by early afternoon.

This happened on several spots at Omaha and essentially saved the day: individual acts of initiative by lower ranked officers and courage like that of First Lieutenant Jimmy Monteith, who led a group of men to take one of the key German widerstandsneste and was killed in action, succeeded where a flawed plan failed.

On the Photo:

Fox Red is the easternmost sector of Omaha Beach. I was facing towards the east with St. Honorine des Pertes in the far distance. Fox Red was the only sector on Omaha with this kind of natural protection so close to the water. On june 6 men of the 3/16th RCT used the cliffs here as a natural protection against the relentless MG fire from the German Widerstandsnests WN-60 and WN-61 guarding the Easy-3 exit near Colleville; one of the "draws" in the terrain which would allow heavy weapons and tanks to go inland.

Shot with a Nikon D7000 and Tokina AT-X Pro SD 12-24mm F4 lens, august 2012. Tonemapped using three differently exposed (handheld) shots.

Some of the iconic pictures of d-day were taken here in the early hours of june 6 when the first assault waves of the 1st infantry division attacking the Colleville draw were pretty much pinned down on the beach. Check this photo.

As it was a smaller exit, code named Fox-1 near here was used to breach the german defenses and eventually take the strong WN's to the west.

Official US Army history:

"Four sections of Company L had landed and reorganized on the western end of Fox Red sector, where the bluff, merging here into a partial cliff just beyond the highwater shingle, afforded good cover. The company commander was killed as he exposed himself to direct the fire of some nearby tanks, and 1st Lt. Robert R. Cutler, Jr., took command. The sections were moved west, out of the shelter of the cliff and to a position where they were just below the strongpoint commanding F-1 draw. Two tanks were called on for fire support. As a scheme of maneuver, Lieutenant Cutler sent three sections and headquarters, 2d and 3d Sections leading, up the draw a little to the west of the strongpoint. There were no hostile prepared positions at the head or the west side of the draw. The heavy brush gave good cover from enemy small-arms fire, and the 2d and 3d Sections worked to the top in squad columns without serious losses, despite crossing enemy minefields. Here the 2d Section moved left and got in position to take the strongpoint from behind; a little to the right, the 3d and 5th Sections moved a short distance inland and organized a hasty defensive position. The three sections kept in contact with each other and with the beach." ("Omaha Beachhead", AMERICAN FORCES IN ACTION official US War department series)

"Private Steve Kellman's story:

"In the pre-dawn darkness aboard the HMS Empire Anvil, 21-year-old Private Steve Kellman, a rifleman in L Company, 16th Infantry, felt the crushing weight of the moment: "In the hours before the invasion, while we were below decks, a buddy of mine, Bill Lanaghan said to me, ‘Steve, I’m scared.’ And I said, ‘I’m scared, too.’"

Then, about three or three-thirty that morning, an officer gave the order and Kellman and Lanaghan and the nearly 200 men in L Company began to climb awkwardly over the gunwales of their transport and descend the unsteady "scramble nets," just as they had done in training so many times before.

"The nets were flapping against the side of the vessel, and the little landing craft were bouncing up and down," said Kellman.

"It was critical that you tried to get into the landing craft when it was on the rise because there was a gap ­ the nets didn't quite reach and you had to jump down. That was something we hadn¹t practiced before. We had practiced going down the nets, but the sea was calm. This was a whole new experience."

"We circled in our landing craft for what seemed like an eternity," recalled Steve Kellman. "The battleships opened up and the bombers were going over.

Every once in a while, I looked over the side and I could see the smoke and the fire, and I thought to myself, ‘we're pounding the hell out of them and there isn¹t going to be much opposition.’

As we got in closer, we passed some yellow life rafts and I had the impression that they must have been from a plane that went down, or maybe they were from the

amphibious tanks that might have sunk; I don’t know.

These guys were floating in these rafts and, as we went by, they gave us the ‘thumbs up’ sign. We thought, ‘they don't seem very worried ­ what the hell do we have to be worried about?’ But, as we got in closer, we could hear the machine-gun bullets hitting the sides of the vessel and the ramp in front." "While in training, we were told of all the things that would be done in order," recalled Harley Reynolds. "But to see it all come together was mind-boggling." What Reynolds saw was a heavily fortified, enemy-held beachhead that had barely been touched by Allied bombs and shells. (..) All but five of the 32 amphibious Sherman tanks had sunk, carrying their crewmen to their deaths.

There was not so much as a single bomb crater on the beach in which to hide, and the German gunners were all alert and zeroed in on the narrow strip of beach, five miles long, code-named "Omaha."

(The Battle for Easy Red, Fox Green By Flint Whitlock)

See my other Omaha beach photo's for more viewpoints, panorama shots and notes on the fighting

For a map of the eastern part of Omaha click here. The German WN's are marked as well as the Draws and beach sections.

Police have launched a 48 hour crackdown on offenders wanted for incidents of domestic abuse.

Hundreds of officers will take to the streets ahead of Valentine’s weekend to look for wanted offenders.

The operation – codenamed Olympus – will see local officers working alongside Force resources such as tactical aid unit and ANPR Intercept officers to locate culprits.

Superintendent Craig Thompson said: “Our priority is to protect victims and we will be out in force over the next two days to ensure offenders are brought in and locked up before they cause any further misery.

“We will leave no stone unturned and do all we can to locate those trying to evade capture. Anybody with information on somebody who may be wanted should do the right thing and contact police before they cause more harm.”

Detective Chief Inspector Nicky Porter said: “Valentine’s Day should be a celebration of love and romance but unfortunately for many it will serve as a reminder that their relationship is far from happy and is instead masked by fear, control and violence.

“Domestic abuse comes in many guises and can be emotional as well as physical. In December we welcomed a change in legislation which means for the first time perpetrators who control their partners through threats or by restricting their personal or financial freedom could face prison in the same way as those who are violent towards them.

“Taking these abusers off our streets is a huge part of what we do but we also want to stop this type of crime happening in the first place. I urge people to take a step back and consider the relationship they are in – if their partner is controlling, threatening or violent, it’s time to ask for help. Whether it be a relative, friend, charity or the police, we are here to support people to live safely and without fear.”

Victims of domestic abuse are urged not to suffer in silence - call the Women’s Domestic Abuse Helpline on 0161 636 7525 or report incidents to Greater Manchester Police on 101 or 999 in an emergency. Visit gmp.police.uk or endthefear.co.uk for information on how to stop the abuse.

Anybody with information on somebody who is wanted by police should call 101 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Follow #OpOlympus on Twitter for live updates from the operation.

c/n 30218

NATO codename:- Coach

First flying in 1945, the IL-12 was a passenger airliner and military transport designed to replace the Li-2. 663 were built between 1946 and 1949. The 'T' version was a military transport for Arctic operations and had a larger cargo door.

This is believed to be the only example of an Il-12 remaining in Russia. Central Air Force museum, Monino, Moscow Oblast, Russia.

27th August 2017

The Sukhoi Su-27 heavy air superiority fighter - codenamed 'Flanker' by NATO - was designed during the Cold War as a Soviet counter to potential Western opponents such as the US Air Force's F-15 Eagle. It first flew in 1977. Service entry began during 1985, and when the 'Flanker' started appearing at Western air displays in the hands of Sukhoi test pilots, starting at Paris in 1989, it astounded spectators with its manoeuvrability. In the post-Soviet era, the original Su-27 series has continued to equip the Russian armed forces, and carried on serving with the Ukrainian Air Force as well as other former Soviet states and several export customers. The design has continued to be developed for both Russia and overseas markets, some of the latest derivatives incorporating thrust vectoring. This Ukrainian Su-27 is on the strength of the 831st Tactical Aviation Brigade, based at Myrhorod in central Ukraine.

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

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

Some background:

In the aftermath of the Second World War, Sweden required a strong air defense, utilizing the newly developed jet propulsion technology. This led to a pair of proposals being issued by the Saab design team, led by Lars Brising. The first of these, codenamed R101, was a cigar-shaped aircraft, which bore a resemblance to the American Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star. The second design, which would later be picked as the winner, was a barrel-shaped design, codenamed R 1001, which proved to be both faster and more agile upon closer study.

Nevertheless, the J 29D soldiered on, together with the rest of the J 29F and S 29C fleet, until 1970, even though not in front line duties anymore.

General characteristics:

Crew: 1

Length: 10.80 m (35 ft 4 1/2 in)

Wingspan: 11.0 m (36 ft 1 in)

Height: 3.75 m (12 ft 4 in)

Wing area: 24.15 m² (260.0 ft²)

Empty weight: 4,845 kg (10,680 lb)

Max. takeoff weight: 8,375 kg (18,465 lb)

Powerplant:

1× Svenska Flygmotor RM2B afterburner turbojet, rated at 6,070 lbf (27 kN)

Performance:

Maximum speed: 1,060 km/h (660 mph)

Range: 1,100 km (685 mi)

Service ceiling: 15,500 m (50,850 ft)

Rate of climb: 32.1 m/s (6,320 ft/min)

Armament:

4x 20mm Hispano Mark V autocannon in the lower front fuselage

Typically, a pair of 400-liter (106 US gallon) or 500-liter (132 US gallon) drop tanks was carried on the outer “wet” pylons

Further air-to-air ordnance initially consisted of 75 mm (3 in) air-to-air rockets, from 1963 onwards the J 29D could also carry up to 4x Rb 24 (AIM-9B Sidewinder) IR-guided air-to-air missiles.

Optionally (but never carried in service), the J 29D could also deploy a wide range of bombs and unguided missiles, including 145 mm (5.8 in) anti-armor rockets, 150 mm (6 in) HE (high-explosive) rockets or 180 mm (7.2 in) HE anti-ship rockets

The kit and its assembly:

Sweden is a prolific whiffing territory, and the Saab 29 offers some interesting options. The all-weather Tunnan was a real Saab project, and things actually got as far as the aforementioned radome shape test stage. But eventually the project was fully dropped, since Saab had been busy with standard J 29 production and conversions, so that this aircraft never materialized, just as the projected side-by-side trainer Sk 29 of the same era.

However, I recently came across a nice Saab 29 book which also covers some projects – including drawings of the radar-equipped Tunnan that never was. My converted model with the thimble radome and the raked air intake is based on these drawings.

The basic kit is the Heller Saab 29, which I deem superior to the Matchbox Tunnan, with its mix of raised and engraved panel lines and overall rather soft detail (despite the surprisingly nice cockpit). Anyway,, the Heller kit has its flaws, too, e. g. a generally weak material thickness, lack of locator pins or other stabilizing aids and some sinkholes here and there.

The kit was built mostly OOB, with as much lead in the gun tray as possible - and it actually stands on its own three feet/wheels! The only major change is the modified nose section. It sounds simple to graft a radome onto the Tunnan's nose, but the rhinoplasty was challenging. The whole front end had to be renewed, based on the profile drawings and sketches at hand.

The thimble radome is actually a recycled drop tank front end from a Hasegawa F6F Hellcat. The raked, lower aitr intake lip comes from a Matchbox Mystère IVA - but it lost its splitter, was reshaped and had the OOB air intake duct glued into place from behind. Once the intake was glued into its place, a wedge opeing was cut into the area in front of the canopy and the drop tank radome adapted to the gap, a step-by-step approach, since I wanted to have the radome slightly protrude into the airtake, but also keep a staright line in front of the windscreen.

Additional details include new pitots on the wing tips and some additional antennae. The heat shield for the afterburner engine is OOB, as well as the streamlined drop tanks and their pylons. I just added an additional pair of pylons (from an Acedamy MiG-23) to the inner wing, holding a pair of AIM-9Bs.

Painting and markings:

Finding a suitable, yet “different” scheme for the J 29 night fighter was not easy; most J 29 were left in bare metal, some carried dark green upper surfaces and some S 29C wore a paint scheme in olive green and dark blue. I eventually settled for the RAF style paint scheme that had been adopted with the J 30 Mosquito and J 33 Venom night fighters – not spectacular, but different from the Swedish early Sixties norm, and it subtly underlines the J 29D’s role.

The scheme was lent from RAF Venom night fighters (which was used on the Swedish J 33, too), and of the upper surfaces I used RAF tones, too: Humbrol 163 (Dark Green) and 165 (Medium Sea Grey). However, I did not want to use the grey on the lower surfaces, since I found that scheme a bit too uniform and British, so I painted the lower surfaces in NMF, with a waterline at medium height - higher than the camouflaged S 29C’s and lower than the early, camouflaged J 29A fighters (with an experimental all-green upper surface).

The bare metal finish was created with acrylic Aluminum (Revell 99) and Polished and Matt Aluminum Metallizer (Humbrol) added on top, highlighting single panels. Around the engine bay and the exhaust, a base with Iron (Revell 91) was laid down, with Steel Metallizer (Modelmaster) on top.

Under the wing tips, green formation markings (again Humbrol 163) were added, as well as black ID stripes (cut from generic decal sheet material). Other, Swedish adornment, like the roundels, codes or squadron markings, was taken from the OOB sheet, a PrintScale sheet for the J 29 and leftover decals from a Heller J 21.

Interior details were painted according to Swedish standard, thankfully there are many good pictures available. The cockpit interior became grey-green (Revell 67 comes very close to the real thing) with light grey dashboard and side consoles. The landing gear wells medium (Revell 57) grey with some dry-brushed Aluminum, while the wheel discs became grey-green, too.

An interesting result, through relatively little effort: the dog nose changes the look of the tubby J 29 a lot, it looks much sleeker and somewhat German now – but somehow also more retro than the original aircraft? The different paint scheme looks unusual, too, despite being relatively down-to-earth. This will certainly not be my last modified J 29, a two-seat trainer would certainly be another cool and reality based Tunnan whif?

NATO gave codenames for all Warsaw Pact aircraft. All the fighters began with F, hence Fishbed, Flogger, Foxbat, Fulcrum etc. Bombers started with B - Bear, Badger, Bison, Blackjack etc. The MiG-21 was the mainstay of the Warsaw Pact air forces for years.

The Volkswagen Golf Mk5 (codenamed Typ 1K) is a compact car, the fifth generation of the Volkswagen Golf and the successor to the Volkswagen Golf Mk4. Built on the Volkswagen Group A5 (PQ35) platform, it was unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show in October 2003 and went on sale in Europe one month later.