jsc2022e062414 (July 29, 2022) - A view of the full Gateway configuration with Orion attached.

Credit: NASA

Company/Owner: Baliwag Transit, Inc.

Fleet/Bus Number: 8927

Classification: Non-Air-conditioned Inter-provincial Bus

Coachbuilder: Santarosa Motor Works, Inc./Columbian Manufacturing Corporation

Body Model: Daewoo/Santarosa BS106

Engine Model: Doosan DE08TIS

Chassis Model: Daewoo BS106 (PL5UM52HDCK)

Transmission: Manual (6-speed forward, 1-speed reverse)

Suspension: Leaf Spring Suspension

Seating Configuration: 3×2

Seating Capacity: 59

Route: Cabanatuan City, Nueva Ecija–Tarlac City, Tarlac via Santa Rosa–Tarlac Road

Municipalities/cities passing: Santa Rosa/Zaragoza/La Paz

Type of Operation: Intra-regional, inter-provincial Operation Public Utility Bus (Ordinary Class)

Area of Operation: Central Luzon (Region III)

Shot Location: Maharlika Highway, Barangay Sumacab Este, Cabanatuan City, Nueva Ecija

Date Taken: January 28, 2016

Notices:

* Please DON'T GRAB A PHOTO WITHOUT A PERMISSION. If you're going to GRAB IT, please give A CREDIT TO THE OWNER. Also, don't PRINT SCREEN my photos.

** If I have mistakes on the specifications, please comment in a good manner so that I can edit it immediately.

*** The specifications and routes (for provincial, inter-provincial, and city operation) mentioned above are subjected for verification and may be changed without prior notice.

**** The vehicle's registration plate(s), conduction sticker(s), and/or persons (if applicable) were pixelated/blurred to prevent any conflict with the photographer, the bus company and/or to the car owner for their security and/or privacy purposes. So, don't use their plate number, conduction sticker, and vehicle tag as an evidence for any incident. And, I have taken this photo for bus fanatics, bus enthusiasts, and bus lovers purposes.

Company/Owner: Pangasinan Five Star Bus Company, Inc.

Fleet/Bus Number: 3556

Classification: Air-conditioned Provincial Bus

Coachbuilder: (Suzhou) Higer Bus Company, Ltd.

Body Model: Higer KLQ6127LA Tourist

Engine Model: Yuchai YC6L330-42 (L62SA)

Chassis Model: Higer KLQ6127 monocoque chassis (LKLR1LSK1**)

Transmission: 6-speed Manual Transmission

Suspension: Air Suspension

Seating Configuration: 2×2

Seating Capacity: 49

Franchise route: unknown

Route: Pasay City [PSY]–San Carlos City, Pangasinan [SCS, PN] via E2 (Skyway Stage 3); N215 (Dau Access Road); E1 (NLEX–SLEX Connector-España; NLEX-Balintawak–NLEX-Dau–SCTEX-Tarlac City – TPLEX-Tarlac–TPLEX-Pura/Gerona) / Gerona–Pura Road; N2 (MacArthur Highway) / N212 (Carmen–Alcala Road and Alcala–Bayambang Road) / N242 (Camiling–Malasiqui–Santa Barbara Road) / N211 (Villasis–Malasiqui Road, Malasiqui–San Carlos Road)

Municipalities/cities passing: Singat (Pura)/Gerona/Paniqui/Moncada/San Manuel/Carmen (Rosales) [CEN]/Santo Tomas/Alcala/Bautista/Bayambang [BMB]/Malasiqui

Type of Operation: Provincial Operation Public Utility Bus (Regular Class with USB charging ports)

Area of Operation: Ilocos Region (Region I)

Shot location: N215, Brgy. Dau, Mabalacat City, Pampanga

Date and time taken: April 9, 2024 (4:18 pm)

Notices:

* Please DON'T GRAB A PHOTO WITHOUT A PERMISSION. If you're going to GRAB IT, please give A CREDIT TO THE OWNER. Also, don't PRINT SCREEN my photos. Do not (re)upload this in any social media platforms (especially in YouTube and TikTok).

** If I have mistakes on the specifications, please comment in a good manner so that I can edit it immediately.

*** The specifications and routes (for provincial, inter-provincial, and city operation) mentioned above are subjected for verification and may be changed without prior notice.

**** The vehicle's registration plate(s), conduction sticker(s), and/or persons (if applicable) were pixelated/blurred to prevent any conflict with the photographer, the bus company and/or to the car owner for their security and/or privacy purposes. So, don't use their plate number, conduction sticker, and vehicle tag as an evidence for any incident. And, I have taken this photo for bus fanatics, bus enthusiasts, and bus lovers purposes.

Company/Owner: Victory Liner, Inc.

Fleet/Bus Number: 7012

Classification: Air-conditioned Provincial Bus

Coachbuilder: Almazora Motors Corporation

Body Model: MAN/Almazora Tourist Star RE Deluxe A85 (in Hyundai Universe headlamps)

Engine Model: MAN D0836LOH40

Chassis Model: MAN 18.280 HOCL (PBMA85)

Transmission: Manual (6-speed forward, 1-speed reverse)

Suspension: Electronically-Controlled Air Suspension (ECAS)

Seating Configuration: 2×2

Seating Capacity: 49

Route: San Fernando City–Monumento, Caloocan City via NLEX-San Fernando–NLEX-Balintawak (extra trip route); Monumento, Caloocan City–Tuguegarao City, Cagayan (regular route)

Municipalities/cities passing: N/A

Type of Operation: Provincial Operation Public Utility Bus (Regular Class)

Area of Operation: Central Luzon (Region III) - extra area of operation; Cagayan Valley (Region II) - regular area of operation

Shot location: Victory Liner Terminal, Barangay Dolores, San Fernando City, Pampanga

Date taken: June 8, 2015

Notices:

* Please DON'T GRAB A PHOTO WITHOUT A PERMISSION. If you're going to GRAB IT, please give A CREDIT TO THE OWNER. Also, don't PRINT SCREEN my photos.

** If I have mistakes on the specifications, please comment in a good manner so that I can edit it immediately.

*** The specifications and routes (for provincial, inter-provincial, and city operation) mentioned above are subjected for verification and may be changed without prior notice.

**** The vehicle's registration plate(s), conduction sticker(s), and/or persons (if applicable) were pixelated/blurred to prevent any conflict with the photographer, the bus company and/or to the car owner for their security and/or privacy purposes. So, don't use their plate number, conduction sticker, and vehicle tag as an evidence for any incident. And, I have taken this photo for bus fanatics, bus enthusiasts, and bus lovers purposes.

Classification: Airconditioned Provincial Operation

Coachbuilder: Xiamen Golden Dragon Tourism Autos

Model: Golden Dragon XML6127 "Marcopolo"

Engine: YuChai YC6G300-20

Chassis: Golden Dragon XML6127D52

Airconditioning unit: Overhead Unit

Suspension: Air-Suspension

Seating Configuration: 2x2

Seating Capacity: 53 Passengers

“SPACE SHUTTLE SYSTEM--Space Shuttle orbiter deploys satellite payload that will be carried to synchronous orbit by command-controlled Space Tug, following delivery of payload to Earth orbit. North American Rockwell’s (NR) Space Division will build multi-billion dollar reusable shuttle space transportation system under contract to National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Space Shuttle will be able to deliver up to 65,000 pounds of varied payload to Earth orbit, then return to Earth for future missions.”

Note the low-mounted & canted/angled OMS pod(s). And of course at this time, the hinged, flip-out forward RCS thrusters.

Thanks to the excellent “SECRET PROJECTS Forum” website, specifically, user flateric’s June 4, 2007 post, the orbiter depicted is “Pre-Phase-C, Configuration E-0401”. As extracted from AIAA paper 78-1469, “Space Shuttle Orbiter Configuration Case History”, presented at the AIAA AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS AND TECHNOLOGY CONFERENCE, Los Angeles, California, August 21-23, 1978. OUTSTANDING! At (account (recommended) required to resolve):

www.secretprojects.co.uk/threads/us-space-shuttle-project...

Artwork possibly by Henry Lozano Jr.? Donald Bester? Or, although I think it’s before his time, Manuel E. Alvarez?

www.autogespot.com/porsche-991-carrera-s-cabriolet-1/2014...

This is for sure the best Porsche 991 Carrera S Cabriolet I've ever seen, and probably it won't be beated. The Exterior in white, the whole interior is red carrera in Natural leather. Also combine with the red hood. And the rims in black are more beautiful than the stock color. Althought I'd choose the 20" Carrera Classic rims.

Company/Owner: Victory Liner, Inc.

Fleet/Bus Number: 232

Classification: Air-conditioned Provincial Bus

Coachbuilder: (Zhengzhou) Yutong Bus Company, Ltd.

Body Model: Yutong C12PRO II ZK6122HD9

Engine Model: Yuchai YC6L310-20 (L32YA)

Chassis Model: Yutong ZK6122CRD9 (LZYTATE60D1)

Transmission: Manual (6-speed forward, 1-speed reverse)

Suspension: Air Suspension

Seating Configuration: 2×2

Seating Capacity: 51

Route: N/A [Baguio City, Benguet–Cubao, Quezon City]

Municipalities/cities passing: N/A

Type of Operation: Provincial Operation Public Utility Bus (Regular Class)

Area of Operation: Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR)

––––––––––

Company/Owner: Victory Liner, Inc.

Fleet/Bus Number: 6028

Classification: Air-conditioned Provincial Bus

Coachbuilder: Santarosa Motor Works, Inc./Columbian Motors Corporation

Body Model: Nissan Diesel/Santarosa EXFOH

Engine Model: Nissan Diesel PF6-TA (PF6-A)

Chassis Model: Nissan Diesel JA450SSN

Transmission: 6-speed Manual Transmission

Suspension: Leaf Spring Suspension

Seating Configuration: 2×2

Seating Capacity: 49

Route: N/A [Baguio City, Benguet–Sampaloc, Manila City]

Municipalities/cities passing: N/A

Type of Operation: Provincial Operation Public Utility Bus (Regular Class)

Area of Operation: Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR)

––––––––––

Company/Owner(s): Victory Liner, Inc.

Fleet/Bus Number(s): 2107 and 2139

Classification(s): Air-conditioned Provincial Bus

Coachbuilder(s): Santarosa Motor Works, Inc./Columbian Motors Corporation

Body Model(s): MAN/Santarosa EXFOH HD A55

Engine Model(s): MAN D2866LOH27

Chassis Model(s): MAN 18.310 HOCL (PBMA55)

Transmission(s): Automatic (6-speed forward, 1-reverse)

Suspension(s): Electronically-Controlled Air Suspension (ECAS)

Seating Configuration(s): 2×2

Seating Capacity(ies): 49

Route(s): N/A [2107: Baguio City, Benguet–Cubao, Quezon City; 2139: Baguio City, Benguet–Sampaloc, Manila City]

Municipalities/cities passing: N/A

Type of Operation: Provincial Operation Public Utility Bus (Regular Class)

Area of Operation(s): Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR)

Shot Location: Victory Liner Baguio Passenger Center, Utility Road corner Marcoville Street, Baguio City, Benguet

Date Taken: June 8, 2015

Notices:

* Please DON'T GRAB A PHOTO WITHOUT A PERMISSION. If you're going to GRAB IT, please give A CREDIT TO THE OWNER. Also, don't PRINT SCREEN my photos.

** If I have mistakes on the specifications, please comment in a good manner so that I can edit it immediately.

*** The specifications and routes (for provincial, inter-provincial, and city operation) mentioned above are subjected for verification and may be changed without prior notice.

**** The vehicle's registration plate(s), conduction sticker(s), and/or persons (if applicable) were pixelated/blurred to prevent any conflict with the photographer, the bus company and/or to the car owner for their security and/or privacy purposes. So, don't use their plate number, conduction sticker, and vehicle tag as an evidence for any incident. And, I have taken this photo for bus fanatics, bus enthusiasts, and bus lovers purposes.

Company/Owner: Baliwag Transit, Inc.

Fleet/Bus Number: 2412 (formerly 2401)

Classification: Air-conditioned Provincial Bus

Coachbuilder: Santarosa Motor Works, Inc./Columbian Motors Corporation

Body Model: Nissan Diesel/Santarosa EXFOH

Engine Model: Nissan Diesel PF6-TA (PF6-A)

Chassis Model: Nissan Diesel JA450SSN

Transmission: Manual (6-speed forward, 1-speed reverse)

Suspension: Leaf Spring Suspension

Seating Configuration: 2×2

Seating Capacity: 49

Route: Baliuag, Bulacan–Grace Park, Caloocan City via Old Cagayan Valley Road / N1 (Doña Remedios Trinidad Highway)

Municipalities/cities passing: Pulilan/Plaridel/Guiguinto

Type of Operation: Provincial Operation Public Utility Bus (Regular Class)

Area of Operation: Central Luzon (Region III)

Shot Location: Doña Remedios Trinidad Highway (Maharlika Highway), Barangay Cut-cot, Pulilan, Bulacan

Date Taken: July 21, 2015

Notices:

* Please DON'T GRAB A PHOTO WITHOUT A PERMISSION. If you're going to GRAB IT, please give A CREDIT TO THE OWNER. Also, don't PRINT SCREEN my photos.

** If I have mistakes on the specifications, please comment in a good manner so that I can edit it immediately.

*** The specifications and routes (for provincial, inter-provincial, and city operation) mentioned above are subjected for verification and may be changed without prior notice.

**** The vehicle's registration plate(s), conduction sticker(s), and/or persons (if applicable) were pixelated/blurred to prevent any conflict with the photographer, the bus company and/or to the car owner for their security and/or privacy purposes. So, don't use their plate number, conduction sticker, and vehicle tag as an evidence for any incident. And, I have taken this photo for bus fanatics, bus enthusiasts, and bus lovers purposes.

Model of a mining excavator in front shovel configuration in scale 1:28.5. This 300 tonne machine is a representative of Liebherr's most popular size class and is ideally suited to load a fleet of 100 tonne payload mining trucks.

When LEGO introduced its 42100 Liebherr R 9800, I knew I had to get that set immediately after release. But I also knew from the beginning, that I would not like the official model's Technic design and that I had to build my own version.

Here it is, scaled larger than 42100, but on the other hand representing a much smaller machine than the 9800. About 300 vs. 800 tonnes in real life. This allowed me to use the main components of the official LEGO model to build my R 994 B. I used the clamshell bucket, the Power Functions XL actuators and the tracks and sprockets.

The main difference from 42100 lies in the electric components of my model. The following functions are all powered by two Power Functions rechargeable battery boxes and controlled by three SBricks via bluetooth connection and Brick Controller 2 app:

- Left and right crawler treads each using a Power Functions L motor

- Slewing of the upper structure using two Power Functions M motors

- Boom cylinders: one Power Functions XL motor

- Stick cylinders: one Power Functions L motor

- Bucket cylinders: one Power Functions M motor

- Clamshell bucket: one Brick Engine V1 motor (compatible to Power Functions)

- Access ladder: one Power Functions M motor

- Service flap: one Power Functions M motor

- Lighting: three pairs of Power Functions LEDs

Besides the main drive and digging functions, the model features a retractable access ladder and a lowerable service flap on the underside of the upper structure frame. The service flap is used to refuel and grease the excavator.

While building the Liebherr R 994 B Litronic in 1:28.5 scale, I could refer to a highly detailed diecast model of the very same machine in 1:50 scale.

Company/Owner: Baliwag Transit, Inc.

Fleet/Bus Number: 1527

Classification: Air-conditioned Provincial Bus

Coachbuilder: Santarosa Motor Works, Inc./Columbian Manufacturing Corporation

Body Model: Santarosa Daewoo Bus BS106

Engine Model: Doosan DE08TIS

Chassis Model: Daewoo BS106 (PL5UM52HDEK)

Transmission: Manual (6-speed forward, 1-speed reverse)

Suspension: Leaf Spring Suspension

Seating Configuration: 2×2

Seating Capacity: 49

Route: Grace Park, Caloocan City–San Jose City, Nueva Ecija via N1 (Maharlika Highway)

Municipalities/cities passing: Santa Rita (Guiguinto)/Plaridel/Pulilan/Baliuag/San Rafael/San Ildefonso/San Miguel/Gapan City/San Leonardo/Santa Rosa/Cabanatuan City/Talavera/Santo Domingo/Science City of Muñoz

Type of Operation: Provincial Operation Public Utility Bus (Regular Class)

Area of Operation: Central Luzon (Region III)

Shot Location: Doña Remedios Trinidad Highway (Maharlika Highway), Barangay Cut-cot, Pulilan, Bulacan

Date Taken: July 20, 2015

Notices:

* Please DON'T GRAB A PHOTO WITHOUT A PERMISSION. If you're going to GRAB IT, please give A CREDIT TO THE OWNER. Also, don't PRINT SCREEN my photos.

** If I have mistakes on the specifications, please comment in a good manner so that I can edit it immediately.

*** The specifications and routes (for provincial, inter-provincial, and city operation) mentioned above are subjected for verification and may be changed without prior notice.

**** The vehicle's registration plate(s), conduction sticker(s), and/or persons (if applicable) were pixelated/blurred to prevent any conflict with the photographer, the bus company and/or to the car owner for their security and/or privacy purposes. So, don't use their plate number, conduction sticker, and vehicle tag as an evidence for any incident. And, I have taken this photo for bus fanatics, bus enthusiasts, and bus lovers purposes.

Santrans

He's definitely not: www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwtdhWltSIg

Company/Owner: Victory Liner, Inc.

Fleet/Bus Number: 1134

Classification: Air-conditioned Provincial Bus

Coachbuilder: Santarosa Motor Works, Inc./Columbian Motors Corporation

Body Model: UD Trucks/Santarosa EXFOH PKB212

Engine Model: UD FE6-TA (FE6-D)

Chassis Model: UD PKB212N

Transmission: Manual (6-speed forward, 1-speed reverse)

Suspension: Leaf Spring Suspension

Seating Configuration: 3×2

Seating Capacity: 61

Route: Apalit, Pampanga–Monumento, Caloocan City via MacArthur Highway / NLEX-Tabang–NLEX-Balintawak

Municipalities/cities passing: Calumpit/Malolos City/Tabang (Guiguinto)

Type of Operation: Provincial Operation Public Utility Bus (Economy Class)

Area of Operation: Central Luzon (Region III)

Shot Location: MacArthur Highway (Manila North Road), Barangay Sumapang Matanda, Malolos City, Bulacan

Date Taken: June 29, 2015

Notices:

* Please DON'T GRAB A PHOTO WITHOUT A PERMISSION. If you're going to GRAB IT, please give A CREDIT TO THE OWNER. Also, don't PRINT SCREEN my photos.

** If I have mistakes on the specifications, please comment in a good manner so that I can edit it immediately.

*** The specifications and routes (for provincial, inter-provincial, and city operation) mentioned above are subjected for verification and may be changed without prior notice.

**** The vehicle's registration plate(s), conduction sticker(s), and/or persons (if applicable) were pixelated/blurred to prevent any conflict with the photographer, the bus company and/or to the car owner for their security and/or privacy purposes. So, don't use their plate number, conduction sticker, and vehicle tag as an evidence for any incident. And, I have taken this photo for bus fanatics, bus enthusiasts, and bus lovers purposes.

This is a test configuration of my Takahashi FSQ-106ED, a QHY mini guide 'scope with Starlight Xpress Lodestar X2 guide camera, and a finder 'scope the I plan to install in my small observatory that I am remodeling. My new Paramount MYT mount that will carry the above equipment is in my previous photo. The imaging camera is a Starlight Xpress Trius SX-36 with a "Maxi" filter wheel.

I would like to put both the guide 'scope/camera and the finder 'scope on the top plate, but doing so uses some of the holes that I need to mount the top plate to the OTA rings. I would have to drill some new holes, and I may do that, but I hate to mar that beautifully machined and anodized plate from PrimaLuce Lab. Stay tuned.

Strobist: bare Profoto B1 500 AirTTL bounced from ceiling. Triggered by Profoto AirRemote TTL-C.

Model of a mining excavator in front shovel configuration in scale 1:28.5. This 300 tonne machine is a representative of Liebherr's most popular size class and is ideally suited to load a fleet of 100 tonne payload mining trucks.

When LEGO introduced its 42100 Liebherr R 9800, I knew I had to get that set immediately after release. But I also knew from the beginning, that I would not like the official model's Technic design and that I had to build my own version.

Here it is, scaled larger than 42100, but on the other hand representing a much smaller machine than the 9800. About 300 vs. 800 tonnes in real life. This allowed me to use the main components of the official LEGO model to build my R 994 B. I used the clamshell bucket, the Power Functions XL actuators and the tracks and sprockets.

The main difference from 42100 lies in the electric components of my model. The following functions are all powered by two Power Functions rechargeable battery boxes and controlled by three SBricks via bluetooth connection and Brick Controller 2 app:

- Left and right crawler treads each using a Power Functions L motor

- Slewing of the upper structure using two Power Functions M motors

- Boom cylinders: one Power Functions XL motor

- Stick cylinders: one Power Functions L motor

- Bucket cylinders: one Power Functions M motor

- Clamshell bucket: one Brick Engine V1 motor (compatible to Power Functions)

- Access ladder: one Power Functions M motor

- Service flap: one Power Functions M motor

- Lighting: three pairs of Power Functions LEDs

Besides the main drive and digging functions, the model features a retractable access ladder and a lowerable service flap on the underside of the upper structure frame. The service flap is used to refuel and grease the excavator.

While building the Liebherr R 994 B Litronic in 1:28.5 scale, I could refer to a highly detailed diecast model of the very same machine in 1:50 scale.

From the rear, the economy class section in a comfy 2-3-2 configuration

Aniceto Bus Line Co. Inc.- B1

Bus No: B1

Year released: 2010

Capacity: 45; 2x2 seating configuration

Route: Manila/Sampaloc-Vigan via Dau/Bamban/Capas/Tarlac/Gerona/Paniqui/Moncada/San MAnuel/Carmen/Urdaneta/Pozzorubio/Sison/La Union

Body: Hyundai Motors Korea

Model: 2010 Hyundai Aero Space LS Series

Chassis: Hyundai KMJK

Engine: Hyundai D6AB

Fare: Airconditioned

Transmission System: M/T

Suspension: Air Suspension

Taken on: August 9, 2016

Location: Mabalacat City Bus Terminal, Brgy. Dau, Mabalacat City, Pampanga

This is the Shadowclaw Mk II Prime built in the C6 method. This is an improvement on my first Shadowclaw. It has 1 direct fire system (right arm cannon), 2 hand to hand systems (laser right torso and laser left arm), and 1 yellow system (active radar dome top left torso). This is based on the Shadowcat primary configuration battletech. This is for Mobile Frame Zero (MFZ).

+++ 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 Cessna Model 336 and 337 “Skymaster” were American twin-engine civil utility aircraft built in a unique push-pull configuration. Their engines were mounted in the nose and rear of its pod-style fuselage. Twin booms extended aft of the wings to the vertical stabilizers, with the rear engine between them. The horizontal stabilizer was aft of the pusher propeller, mounted between and connecting the two booms.

The type’s versatility, low noise level, high travel speed and good loitering time in the operational area at low speed proved to be vital assets for these public service operators and justified its relatively high maintenance costs. A handful of the modernized Spectrum SA-550 machines were still in active service after the Millennium, primarily in the USA.

General characteristics:

Crew: 1 + 3 passengers (up to 5 passengers possible in special seat configuration)

Length: 32 ft 6½ in (9.94 m)

Wingspan: 38 ft ¾ in (11.62 m)

Height: 9 ft 2 in (2.79 m)

Wing area: 201 sq ft (18.81 m²)

Aspect ratio: 7.18:1

Airfoil: NACA 2412 at root, NACA 2409 at tip

Empty weight: 2,655 lb (1,204 kg)

Max takeoff weight: 4,400 lb (1,996 kg)

Fuel capacity: 92 US gal (77 imp gal; 350 l) normal,

128 US gal (107 imp gal; 480 l) with auxiliary tank

in the cabin instead of two passenger seats

Powerplant:

1× Pratt & Whitney PT6A-27 turboprop engine, delivering 550 shp (410 kW) and

driving a four-blade McCauley fully-feathering, constant-speed propeller, 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) diameter

Performance:

Maximum speed: 199 mph (320 km/h, 173 kn) at sea level

Cruise speed: 144 mph (232 km/h, 125 kn) at 10,000 ft (3,000 m) (econ cruise)

Stall speed: 69 mph (111 km/h, 60 kn)

Range: 1421 mi (2.288 km, 1.243 nmi) at 10.000 ft (3.050 m) altitude and economy cruise

Service ceiling: 19,500 ft (5,900 m)

Rate of climb: 1,200 ft/min (6.1 m/s)

Takeoff distance to 50 ft (15m): 1,545 ft (471 m)

Landing distance from 50 ft (15m): 1,650 ft (500 m)

The kit and its assembly:

This build is the combination of ingredients that had already been stashed away for a long time, and the “Red Lights” Group Build at whatifmodellers.com in early 2021 was a good motivator and occasion to finally put everything together.

The basis is an ARII 1:72 Cessna T337 model kit – I had purchased it long ago with the expectation to create a military Skymaster from it, but I was confused by a fixed landing gear which would make it a 336? Well, without a further concrete plan the kit preliminarily landed in The Stash™…

However, the ARII model features the optional observation windows in the doors on the starboard side, in the form of a complete(!) fuselage half, so that it lends itself to a police or firefighter aircraft of some sort. This idea was furthermore fueled by a decal sheet that I had been given from a friend, left over from a 1:72 Italeri JetRanger, with three optional police helicopter markings.

The final creative element was the real-world “Pelican” conversion of six O-2As for the US Navy, as mentioned in the background above: the front engine was replaced with a longer nose and the engine configuration changed to a pusher-only aircraft with a single powerful turboprop engine. This looked so odd that I wanted to modify the ARII Cessna in a similar fashion, too, and all these factors came together in this model.

My Arii Cessna 337 kit is a re-boxing from 2009, but its origins date back to Eidai in 1972 and that’s just what you get: a vintage thing with some flash and sinkholes, raised (but fine) surface details and pretty crude seams with bulges and gaps. Some PSR is direly necessary, esp. the fit of the fuselage halves is cringeworthy. The clear parts were no source of joy, either; especially the windscreen turned out to be thick, very streaky (to a degree that I’d almost call it opaque!) and even not fully molded! The side glazing was also not very clear. I tried to improve the situation through polishing, but if the basis is already poor, there’s little you can do about it. Hrmpf.

However, the kit was built mostly OOB, including the extra O-2 glazing in the lower doors, but with some mods. One is a (barely visible) extra tank in the cabin’s rear, plus a pilot and an observer figure placed into the tight front seats. The extended “Pelican” nose was a lucky find – I was afraid that I had had to sculpt a nose from scratch with 2C putty. But I found a radome from a Hasegawa RA-5C, left over from a model I built in the Eighties and that has since long fallen apart. However, this nose fitted almost perfectly in size and shape, I just “blunted” the tip a little. Additionally, both the hull in front of the dashboard and the Vigilante radome were filled with as many lead beads as possible to keep the nose down.

The kit’s OOB spatted, fixed landing gear was retained – even though it is dubious for a Cessna 337, because this type had a fully retractable landing gear, and the model has the landing gear covers actually molded into the lower fuselage. On the other side, the Cessna 336’s fixed landing gear looks quite different, too! However, this is a what-if model, and a fixed landing gear might have been a measure to reduce maintenance costs?

The propeller was replaced with a resin four-blade aftermarket piece (from CMK, probably the best-fitting thing on this build!) on my standard metal axis/styrene tube adapter arrangement. The propeller belongs to a Shorts Tucano, but I think that it works well on the converted Cessna and its powerful pusher engine, even though in the real world, the SA-550 is AFAIK driven by a three-blade prop. For the different engine I also enlarged the dorsal air intake with a 1.5 mm piece of styrene sheet added on top of the molded original air scoop and added a pair of ventral exhaust stubs (scratched from sprue material).

Another addition is a pair of winglets, made from 0.5 mm styrene sheet – an upgrade which I found on several late Cessna 337s in various versions. They just add to the modernized look of the aircraft. For the intended observation role, a hemispherical fairing under the nose hides a 180° camera, and I added some antennae around the hull.

However, a final word concerning the model kit itself: nothing fits, be warned! While the kit is a simple affair and looks quite good in the box, assembling it turned out to be a nightmare, with flash, sinkholes, a brittle styrene and gaps everywhere. This includes the clear parts, which are pretty thick and blurry. The worst thing is the windscreen, which is not only EXTRA thick and EXTRA blurry, it was also not completely molded, with gaps on both sides. I tried to get it clearer through manual polishing, but the streaky blurs are integral – no hope for improvement unless you completely replace the parts! If I ever build a Cessna 337/O-2 again, I will give the Airfix kit a try, it can only be better…

Painting and markings:

The choice between the operator options from the JetRanger sheet was hard, it included Sweden and Italy, but I eventually settled for the LAPD because the livery looks cool and this police department not only operates helicopters, but also some fixed-wing aircraft.

I adapted the LAPD’s classic black-and-white police helicopter livery (Gloss White and Black, Humbrol 22 and 21, respectively) to the Cessna and extended it to the wings. At this point – already upset because of the poor fit of the hardware – disaster struck in the form of Humbrol’s 22 turning into a pinkish ivory upon curing! In the tin, the paint and its pigments looked pretty white and “clean”, and I assume that it’s the thinner that caused this change. What a crap! It’s probably the third tin with 22 that causes trouble, even though in different peculiarities!

The result was total rubbish, though, and I tried to rub the paint off as good as possible on the small model with its many windows, the fixed, delicate landing gear and the wing support struts. Then I overpainted the areas with Revell 301 (Semi-matt White). While this enamel yielded the intended pure white tone, the paint itself is rather gooey and not easy to work with, so that the overall finish turned out worse than desired. At least the black paint worked properly. The demarcations were created with black decal stripes (TL Modellbau), because the tiny model left little room for complex masking measures – and I did not risk any more painting accidents.

Since the aircraft would be kept shiny and clean, I just did a light black ink washing to emphasize surface details and did a light panel post-shading on the black areas, not for weathering but rather to accent surface structures. No further weathering was done (and necessary).

The markings/decals come – as mentioned above – from an Italeri 1:72 JetRanger, but they were augmented with some additional markings, e. g. grey walkways on the wings and “L-A-P-D” in large black letters under the wings, to distract from the poor finish of the white paint around them…

Finally, the kit was sealed overall with Italeri semi-gloss acrylic varnish, just with a matt anti-glare shield in front of the windscreen, which received thin white trim lines (generic decal stripes).

A challenging build due to the Arii kit’s rather poor basis, the massive rhinoplasty and the crisp paint scheme. However, I like the result – what-if models do not always have to be armed military vehicles, there’s potential in other genres, too. And this mono-engine “Pelican” Skymaster plays its role as a “flying eye” in police service credibly and well. However, this was my first and last Eidai kit…

The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and many other Allied countries during and after the Second World War. The Spitfire was built in many variants, using several wing configurations, and was produced in greater numbers than any other British aircraft. It was also the only British fighter to be in continuous production throughout the war. The Spitfire continues to be a popular aircraft, with approximately 55 Spitfires being airworthy, while many more are static exhibits in aviation museums all over the world.

The Spitfire was designed as a short-range, high-performance interceptor aircraft by R. J. Mitchell, chief designer at Supermarine Aviation Works (which operated as a subsidiary of Vickers-Armstrong from 1928). In accordance with its role as an interceptor, Mitchell designed the Spitfire's distinctive elliptical wing to have the thinnest possible cross-section; this thin wing enabled the Spitfire to have a higher top speed than several contemporary fighters, including the Hawker Hurricane. Mitchell continued to refine the design until his death from cancer in 1937, whereupon his colleague Joseph Smith took over as chief designer, overseeing the development of the Spitfire through its multitude of variants.

During the Battle of Britain (July–October 1940), the Spitfire was perceived by the public to be the RAF fighter, though the more numerous Hawker Hurricane shouldered a greater proportion of the burden against the Luftwaffe. However, because of its higher performance, Spitfire units had a lower attrition rate and a higher victory-to-loss ratio than those flying Hurricanes.

After the Battle of Britain, the Spitfire superseded the Hurricane to become the backbone of RAF Fighter Command, and saw action in the European, Mediterranean, Pacific and the South-East Asian theatres. Much loved by its pilots, the Spitfire served in several roles, including interceptor, photo-reconnaissance, fighter-bomber and trainer, and it continued to serve in these roles until the 1950s. The Seafire was a carrier-based adaptation of the Spitfire which served in the Fleet Air Arm from 1942 through to the mid-1950s. Although the original airframe was designed to be powered by a Rolls-Royce Merlin engine producing 1,030 hp (768 kW), it was strong enough and adaptable enough to use increasingly powerful Merlin and, in later marks, Rolls-Royce Griffon engines producing up to 2,340 hp (1,745 kW); as a consequence of this the Spitfire's performance and capabilities improved, sometimes dramatically, over the course of its life.

Mk V (Types 331, 349 & 352)

Spitfire LF.Mk VB, BL479, flown by Group Captain M.W.S Robinson, station commander of RAF Northolt, August 1943. This Spitfire has the wide bladed Rotol propeller, the internal armoured windscreen and "clipped" wings.

Late in 1940, the RAF predicted that the advent of the pressurised Junkers Ju 86P bomber series over Britain would be the start of a new sustained high altitude bombing offensive by the Luftwaffe, in which case development was put in hand for a pressurised version of the Spitfire, with a new version of the Merlin (the Mk VI). It would take some time to develop the new fighter and an emergency stop-gap measure was needed as soon as possible: this was the Mk V.

The basic Mk V was a Mk I with the Merlin 45 series engine. This engine delivered 1,440 hp (1,074 kW) at take-off, and incorporated a new single-speed single-stage supercharger design. Improvements to the carburettor also allowed the Spitfire to use zero gravity manoeuvres without any problems with fuel flow. Several Mk I and Mk II airframes were converted to Mk V standard by Supermarine and started equipping fighter units from early 1941. The majority of the Mk Vs were built at Castle Bromwich.

The VB became the main production version of the Mark Vs. Along with the new Merlin 45 series the B wing was fitted as standard. As production progressed changes were incorporated, some of which became standard on all later Spitfires. Production started with several Mk IBs which were converted to Mk VBs by Supermarine. Starting in early 1941 the round section exhaust stacks were changed to a "fishtail" type, marginally increasing exhaust thrust. Some late production VBs and VCs were fitted with six shorter exhaust stacks per side, similar to those of Spitfire IXs and Seafire IIIs; this was originally stipulated as applying specifically to VB(trop)s. After some initial problems with the original Mk I size oil coolers, a bigger oil cooler was fitted under the port wing; this could be recognised by a deeper housing with a circular entry. From mid-1941 alloy covered ailerons became a universal fitting.

Spitfire VC(trop), fitted with Vokes filters and "disc" wheels, of 417 Squadron RCAF in Tunisia in 1943.

A constant flow of modifications were made as production progressed. A "blown" cockpit hood, manufactured by Malcolm, was introduced in an effort to further increase the pilot's head-room and visibility. Many mid to late production VBs - and all VCs - used the modified, improved windscreen assembly with the integral bullet resistant centre panel and flat side screens introduced with the Mk III. Because the rear frame of this windscreen was taller than that of the earlier model the cockpit hoods were not interchangeable and could be distinguished by the wider rear framing on the hood used with the late-style windscreen.

Different propeller types were fitted, according to where the Spitfire V was built: Supermarine and Westland manufactured VBs and VCs used 10 ft 9 in (3.28 m) diameter, 3 bladed de Havilland constant speed units, with narrow metal blades, while Castle Bromwich manufactured VBs and VCs were fitted with a wide bladed Rotol constant speed propeller of either 10 ft 9 in (3.28 m) diameter, with metal blades, or (on late production Spitfires) 10 ft 3 in (3.12 m) diameter, with broader, "Jablo" (compressed wood) blades. The Rotol spinners were longer and more pointed than the de Havilland leading to a 3.5 in (8.9 cm) increase in overall length. The Rotol propellers allowed a modest speed increase over 20,000 ft (6,100 m) and an increase in the service ceiling. A large number of Spitfire VBs were fitted with "gun heater intensifier" systems on the exhaust stacks. These piped additional heated air into the gun bays. There was a short tubular intake on the front of the first stack and a narrow pipe led into the engine cowling from the rear exhaust.

The VB series were the first Spitfires able to carry a range of specially designed "slipper" drop tanks which were fitted underneath the wing centre-section. Small hooks were fitted, just forward of the inboard flaps: when the tank was released these hooks caught the trailing edge of the tank, swinging it clear of the fuselage.

With the advent of the superb Focke Wulf Fw 190 in August 1941 the Spitfire was for the first time truly outclassed, hastening the development of the "interim" Mk IX. In an effort to counter this threat, especially at lower altitudes, the VB was the first production version of the Spitfire to use "clipped" wingtips as an option, reducing the wingspan to 32 ft 2 in (9.8 m).The clipped wings increased the roll rate and airspeed at lower altitudes. Several different versions of the Merlin 45/50 family were used, including the Merlin 45M which had a smaller "cropped" supercharger impeller and boost increased to +18 lb. This engine produced 1,585 hp (1,182 kW) at 2,750 ft (838 m), increasing the L.F VB's maximum rate of climb to 4720 ft/min (21.6 m/s) at 2,000 ft (610 m).

VB Trop of 40 Squadron SAAF fitted with the "streamlined" version of the Aboukir filter, a broad-bladed, 10 ft 3 in (3.12 m) diameter Rotol propeller, and clipped wings.

The Mk VB(trop) (or type 352) could be identified by the large Vokes air filter fitted under the nose; the reduced speed of the air to the supercharger had a detrimental effect on the performance of the aircraft, reducing the top speed by 8 mph (13 km/h) and the climb rate by 600 ft/min (3.04 m/s), but the decreased performance was considered acceptable. This variant was also fitted with a larger oil tank and desert survival gear behind the pilot's seat. A new "desert" camouflage scheme was applied. Many VB(trop)s were modified by 103 MU (Maintenance Unit-RAF depots in which factory fresh aircraft were brought up to service standards before being delivered to squadrons) at Aboukir, Egypt by replacing the Vokes filter with locally manufactured "Aboukir" filters, which were lighter and more streamlined. Two designs of these filters can be identified in photos: one had a bulky, squared off filter housing while the other was more streamlined. These aircraft were usually fitted with the wide blade Rotol propeller and clipped wings.

Triumph Spitfire Mk I Roadster

The Triumph Spitfire is a small English two-seat sports car, introduced at the London Motor Show in 1962.[3] The vehicle was based on a design produced for Standard-Triumph in 1957 by Italian designer Giovanni Michelotti. The platform for the car was largely based upon the chassis, engine, and running gear of the Triumph Herald saloon, and was manufactured at the Standard-Triumph works at Canley, in Coventry. As was typical for cars of this era, the bodywork was fitted onto a separate structural chassis, but for the Spitfire, which was designed as an open top or convertible sports car from the outset, the ladder chassis was reinforced for additional rigidity by the use of structural components within the bodywork. The Spitfire was provided with a manual hood for weather protection, the design improving to a folding hood for later models. Factory-manufactured hard-tops were also available.

The Triumph Spitfire was originally devised by Standard-Triumph to compete in the small sports car market that had opened up with the introduction of the Austin-Healey Sprite. The Sprite had used the basic drive train of the Austin A30/35 in a light body to make up a budget sports car; Triumph's idea was to use the mechanicals from their small saloon, the Herald, to underpin the new project. Triumph had one advantage, however; where the Austin A30 range was of unitary construction, the Herald featured a separate chassis. It was Triumph's intention to cut that chassis down and clothe it in a sports body, saving the costs of developing a completely new chassis / body unit.

Italian designer Michelotti—who had already penned the Herald—was commissioned for the new project, and came up with a traditional, swooping body. Wind-up windows were provided (in contrast to the Sprite/Midget, which still featured sidescreens, also called curtains, at that time), as well as a single-piece front end which tilted forwards to offer unrivaled access to the engine. At the dawn of the 1960s, however, Standard-Triumph was in deep financial trouble, and unable to put the new car into production; it was not until the company was taken over by the Leyland organization funds became available and the car was launched. Leyland officials, taking stock of their new acquisition, found Michelotti's prototype hiding under a dust sheet in a corner of the factory and rapidly approved it for production.

Spitfire 4 or Mark I (1962-1964)

Overview:

Production1962–1964

45,753 made

Powertrain:

Engine1,147 cc (1.1 l) I4

Transmission4-speed manual with optional overdrive on top and third from 1963 onwards

Dimensions:

Curb weight1,568 lb (711 kg) (unladen U.K.-spec)

The production car changed little from the prototype, although the full-width rear bumper was dropped in favour of two part-bumpers curving round each corner, with overriders. Mechanicals were basically stock Herald. The engine was an 1,147 cc (1.1 l) 4-cylinder with a pushrod OHV cylinder head and 2 valves per cylinder, mildly tuned for the Spitfire, fed by twin SU carburettors. Also from the Herald came the rack and pinion steering and coil-and-wishbone front suspension up front, and at the rear a single transverse-leaf swing axle arrangement. This ended up being the most controversial part of the car: it was known to "tuck in" and cause violent over steer if pushed too hard, even in the staid Herald. In the sportier Spitfire (and later the 6-cylinder Triumph GT6 and Triumph Vitesse) it led to severe criticism. The body was bolted to a much-modified Herald chassis, the outer rails and the rear outriggers having been removed; little of the original Herald chassis design was left, and the Spitfire used structural outer sills to stiffen its body tub.

The Spitfire was an inexpensive small sports car and as such had very basic trim, including rubber mats and a large plastic steering wheel. These early cars were referred to both as "Triumph Spitfire Mark I" and "Spitfire 4", not to be confused with the later Spitfire Mark IV.

In UK specification the in-line four produced 63 bhp (47 kW) at 5750 rpm, and 67 lb·ft (91 N·m)of torque at 3500 rpm. This gave a top speed of 92 mph (148 km/h), and would achieve 0 to 60 mph (97 km/h) in 17.3 seconds. Average fuel consumption was 31mpg.

For 1964 an overdrive option was added to the 4-speed manual gearbox to give more relaxed cruising. Wire wheels and a hard top were also available.

Text regarding the Supermarine Spitfire aeroplane and Triumph Spitfire Roadster has been taken from excerpts of Wikipedia articles on each model.

The Supermarine Spitfire Mk VB aircraft and 1962 Triumph Spitfire Mk I road car have been modelled in Lego miniland-scale for Flickr LUGNuts' 79th Build Challenge, - 'LUGNuts goes Wingnuts, ' - featuring automotive vehicles named after, inspired by, or with some relationship to aircraft.

Three-For-One, eh?

Company/Owner: Pangasinan Five Star Bus Company, Inc.

Fleet/Bus Number: 88164 (former 88149)

Classification: Air-conditioned Provincial Bus

Coachbuilder: Hyundai Motor Company

Body Model: Hyundai New Premium Universe Space Luxury

Engine Model: Hyundai D6AB (Q300)

Chassis Model: Hyundai Universe (KMJKG18BPDC)

Transmission: Manual (5-speed forward, 1-speed reverse)

Suspension: Air Suspension

Seating Configuration: 2×2

Seating Capacity: 49

Route: San Antonio, Nueva Ecija–Cubao, Quezon City via Jose Abad Santos Avenue (Olongapo–Gapan Road) / N1 (Maharlika Highway)

Municipalities/cities passing: Jaen/San Isidro/Gapan City/San Miguel/San Ildefonso/San Rafael/Baliuag/Pulilan/Plaridel/Santa Rita (Guiguinto)

Type of Operation: Provincial Operation Public Utility Bus (Regular Class)

Area of Operation: Central Luzon (Region III)

Shot Location: Doña Remedios Trinidad Highway (Maharlika Highway), Barangay Cut-cot, Pulilan, Bulacan

Date Taken: July 21, 2015

Notices:

* Please DON'T GRAB A PHOTO WITHOUT A PERMISSION. If you're going to GRAB IT, please give A CREDIT TO THE OWNER. Also, don't PRINT SCREEN my photos.

** If I have mistakes on the specifications, please comment in a good manner so that I can edit it immediately.

*** The specifications and routes (for provincial, inter-provincial, and city operation) mentioned above are subjected for verification and may be changed without prior notice.

**** The vehicle's registration plate(s), conduction sticker(s), and/or persons (if applicable) were pixelated/blurred to prevent any conflict with the photographer, the bus company and/or to the car owner for their security and/or privacy purposes. So, don't use their plate number, conduction sticker, and vehicle tag as an evidence for any incident. And, I have taken this photo for bus fanatics, bus enthusiasts, and bus lovers purposes.

Worth it siya dahil naka-Hino ang makina, ngunit ang configuration nito ay naka-3×2 at pamprobinsya pa sinabak.

Company/Owner: Worthy Transport, Inc.

Fleet/Bus Number: A-8404

Classification: Air-conditioned Provincial Bus

Coachbuilder: (Anhui) Ankai Automobile Company, Ltd.

Body Model: Ankai HFC6108H EM-Grand Series

Engine Model: Hino J08E-UT

Chassis Model: Ankai HFC6101KY (LJ16B96G4FB)

Transmission: 6-speed Manual Transmission

Suspension: Leaf Spring Suspension

Seating Configuration: 3×2

Seating Capacity: 61

Franchise route: Santa Cruz (Laguna)–Cubao (Quezon City) via Calamba

Route: Santa Cruz, Laguna [CRU, LA]–Cubao, Quezon City [CUB, QC] via N66 (Calamba–Pagsanjan Road) / E2 (SLEX-Turbina–SLEX-Magallanes)

Municipalities/cities passing: Pila/Victoria/Calauan/Bay/Los Baños/Calamba City [CLM]–Magallanes (Makati City)

Type of Operation: Provincial Operation Public Utility Bus (Regular Class)

Area of Operation: CALABARZON (Region IV-A)

Shot Location: EDSA-Boni, Mandaluyong City

Date and Time Taken: May 14, 2018 (15:10H)

Notices:

* Please DON'T GRAB A PHOTO WITHOUT A PERMISSION. If you're going to GRAB IT, please give A CREDIT TO THE OWNER. Also, don't PRINT SCREEN my photos.

** If I have mistakes on the specifications, please comment in a good manner so that I can edit it immediately.

*** The specifications and routes (for provincial, inter-provincial, and city operation) mentioned above are subjected for verification and may be changed without prior notice.

**** The vehicle's registration plate(s), conduction sticker(s), and/or persons (if applicable) were pixelated/blurred to prevent any conflict with the photographer, the bus company and/or to the car owner for their security and/or privacy purposes. So, don't use their plate number, conduction sticker, and vehicle tag as an evidence for any incident. And, I have taken this photo for bus fanatics, bus enthusiasts, and bus lovers purposes.

Model of a mining excavator in front shovel configuration in scale 1:28.5. This 300 tonne machine is a representative of Liebherr's most popular size class and is ideally suited to load a fleet of 100 tonne payload mining trucks.

When LEGO introduced its 42100 Liebherr R 9800, I knew I had to get that set immediately after release. But I also knew from the beginning, that I would not like the official model's Technic design and that I had to build my own version.

Here it is, scaled larger than 42100, but on the other hand representing a much smaller machine than the 9800. About 300 vs. 800 tonnes in real life. This allowed me to use the main components of the official LEGO model to build my R 994 B. I used the clamshell bucket, the Power Functions XL actuators and the tracks and sprockets.

The main difference from 42100 lies in the electric components of my model. The following functions are all powered by two Power Functions rechargeable battery boxes and controlled by three SBricks via bluetooth connection and Brick Controller 2 app:

- Left and right crawler treads each using a Power Functions L motor

- Slewing of the upper structure using two Power Functions M motors

- Boom cylinders: one Power Functions XL motor

- Stick cylinders: one Power Functions L motor

- Bucket cylinders: one Power Functions M motor

- Clamshell bucket: one Brick Engine V1 motor (compatible to Power Functions)

- Access ladder: one Power Functions M motor

- Service flap: one Power Functions M motor

- Lighting: three pairs of Power Functions LEDs

Besides the main drive and digging functions, the model features a retractable access ladder and a lowerable service flap on the underside of the upper structure frame. The service flap is used to refuel and grease the excavator.

While building the Liebherr R 994 B Litronic in 1:28.5 scale, I could refer to a highly detailed diecast model of the very same machine in 1:50 scale.

+++ 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 Cessna Model 336 and 337 “Skymaster” were American twin-engine civil utility aircraft built in a unique push-pull configuration. Their engines were mounted in the nose and rear of its pod-style fuselage. Twin booms extended aft of the wings to the vertical stabilizers, with the rear engine between them. The horizontal stabilizer was aft of the pusher propeller, mounted between and connecting the two booms.

The type’s versatility, low noise level, high travel speed and good loitering time in the operational area at low speed proved to be vital assets for these public service operators and justified its relatively high maintenance costs. A handful of the modernized Spectrum SA-550 machines were still in active service after the Millennium, primarily in the USA.

General characteristics:

Crew: 1 + 3 passengers (up to 5 passengers possible in special seat configuration)

Length: 32 ft 6½ in (9.94 m)

Wingspan: 38 ft ¾ in (11.62 m)

Height: 9 ft 2 in (2.79 m)

Wing area: 201 sq ft (18.81 m²)

Aspect ratio: 7.18:1

Airfoil: NACA 2412 at root, NACA 2409 at tip

Empty weight: 2,655 lb (1,204 kg)

Max takeoff weight: 4,400 lb (1,996 kg)

Fuel capacity: 92 US gal (77 imp gal; 350 l) normal,

128 US gal (107 imp gal; 480 l) with auxiliary tank

in the cabin instead of two passenger seats

Powerplant:

1× Pratt & Whitney PT6A-27 turboprop engine, delivering 550 shp (410 kW) and

driving a four-blade McCauley fully-feathering, constant-speed propeller, 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) diameter

Performance:

Maximum speed: 199 mph (320 km/h, 173 kn) at sea level

Cruise speed: 144 mph (232 km/h, 125 kn) at 10,000 ft (3,000 m) (econ cruise)

Stall speed: 69 mph (111 km/h, 60 kn)

Range: 1421 mi (2.288 km, 1.243 nmi) at 10.000 ft (3.050 m) altitude and economy cruise

Service ceiling: 19,500 ft (5,900 m)

Rate of climb: 1,200 ft/min (6.1 m/s)

Takeoff distance to 50 ft (15m): 1,545 ft (471 m)

Landing distance from 50 ft (15m): 1,650 ft (500 m)

The kit and its assembly:

This build is the combination of ingredients that had already been stashed away for a long time, and the “Red Lights” Group Build at whatifmodellers.com in early 2021 was a good motivator and occasion to finally put everything together.

The basis is an ARII 1:72 Cessna T337 model kit – I had purchased it long ago with the expectation to create a military Skymaster from it, but I was confused by a fixed landing gear which would make it a 336? Well, without a further concrete plan the kit preliminarily landed in The Stash™…

However, the ARII model features the optional observation windows in the doors on the starboard side, in the form of a complete(!) fuselage half, so that it lends itself to a police or firefighter aircraft of some sort. This idea was furthermore fueled by a decal sheet that I had been given from a friend, left over from a 1:72 Italeri JetRanger, with three optional police helicopter markings.

The final creative element was the real-world “Pelican” conversion of six O-2As for the US Navy, as mentioned in the background above: the front engine was replaced with a longer nose and the engine configuration changed to a pusher-only aircraft with a single powerful turboprop engine. This looked so odd that I wanted to modify the ARII Cessna in a similar fashion, too, and all these factors came together in this model.

My Arii Cessna 337 kit is a re-boxing from 2009, but its origins date back to Eidai in 1972 and that’s just what you get: a vintage thing with some flash and sinkholes, raised (but fine) surface details and pretty crude seams with bulges and gaps. Some PSR is direly necessary, esp. the fit of the fuselage halves is cringeworthy. The clear parts were no source of joy, either; especially the windscreen turned out to be thick, very streaky (to a degree that I’d almost call it opaque!) and even not fully molded! The side glazing was also not very clear. I tried to improve the situation through polishing, but if the basis is already poor, there’s little you can do about it. Hrmpf.

However, the kit was built mostly OOB, including the extra O-2 glazing in the lower doors, but with some mods. One is a (barely visible) extra tank in the cabin’s rear, plus a pilot and an observer figure placed into the tight front seats. The extended “Pelican” nose was a lucky find – I was afraid that I had had to sculpt a nose from scratch with 2C putty. But I found a radome from a Hasegawa RA-5C, left over from a model I built in the Eighties and that has since long fallen apart. However, this nose fitted almost perfectly in size and shape, I just “blunted” the tip a little. Additionally, both the hull in front of the dashboard and the Vigilante radome were filled with as many lead beads as possible to keep the nose down.

The kit’s OOB spatted, fixed landing gear was retained – even though it is dubious for a Cessna 337, because this type had a fully retractable landing gear, and the model has the landing gear covers actually molded into the lower fuselage. On the other side, the Cessna 336’s fixed landing gear looks quite different, too! However, this is a what-if model, and a fixed landing gear might have been a measure to reduce maintenance costs?

The propeller was replaced with a resin four-blade aftermarket piece (from CMK, probably the best-fitting thing on this build!) on my standard metal axis/styrene tube adapter arrangement. The propeller belongs to a Shorts Tucano, but I think that it works well on the converted Cessna and its powerful pusher engine, even though in the real world, the SA-550 is AFAIK driven by a three-blade prop. For the different engine I also enlarged the dorsal air intake with a 1.5 mm piece of styrene sheet added on top of the molded original air scoop and added a pair of ventral exhaust stubs (scratched from sprue material).

Another addition is a pair of winglets, made from 0.5 mm styrene sheet – an upgrade which I found on several late Cessna 337s in various versions. They just add to the modernized look of the aircraft. For the intended observation role, a hemispherical fairing under the nose hides a 180° camera, and I added some antennae around the hull.

However, a final word concerning the model kit itself: nothing fits, be warned! While the kit is a simple affair and looks quite good in the box, assembling it turned out to be a nightmare, with flash, sinkholes, a brittle styrene and gaps everywhere. This includes the clear parts, which are pretty thick and blurry. The worst thing is the windscreen, which is not only EXTRA thick and EXTRA blurry, it was also not completely molded, with gaps on both sides. I tried to get it clearer through manual polishing, but the streaky blurs are integral – no hope for improvement unless you completely replace the parts! If I ever build a Cessna 337/O-2 again, I will give the Airfix kit a try, it can only be better…

Painting and markings:

The choice between the operator options from the JetRanger sheet was hard, it included Sweden and Italy, but I eventually settled for the LAPD because the livery looks cool and this police department not only operates helicopters, but also some fixed-wing aircraft.

I adapted the LAPD’s classic black-and-white police helicopter livery (Gloss White and Black, Humbrol 22 and 21, respectively) to the Cessna and extended it to the wings. At this point – already upset because of the poor fit of the hardware – disaster struck in the form of Humbrol’s 22 turning into a pinkish ivory upon curing! In the tin, the paint and its pigments looked pretty white and “clean”, and I assume that it’s the thinner that caused this change. What a crap! It’s probably the third tin with 22 that causes trouble, even though in different peculiarities!

The result was total rubbish, though, and I tried to rub the paint off as good as possible on the small model with its many windows, the fixed, delicate landing gear and the wing support struts. Then I overpainted the areas with Revell 301 (Semi-matt White). While this enamel yielded the intended pure white tone, the paint itself is rather gooey and not easy to work with, so that the overall finish turned out worse than desired. At least the black paint worked properly. The demarcations were created with black decal stripes (TL Modellbau), because the tiny model left little room for complex masking measures – and I did not risk any more painting accidents.

Since the aircraft would be kept shiny and clean, I just did a light black ink washing to emphasize surface details and did a light panel post-shading on the black areas, not for weathering but rather to accent surface structures. No further weathering was done (and necessary).

The markings/decals come – as mentioned above – from an Italeri 1:72 JetRanger, but they were augmented with some additional markings, e. g. grey walkways on the wings and “L-A-P-D” in large black letters under the wings, to distract from the poor finish of the white paint around them…

Finally, the kit was sealed overall with Italeri semi-gloss acrylic varnish, just with a matt anti-glare shield in front of the windscreen, which received thin white trim lines (generic decal stripes).

A challenging build due to the Arii kit’s rather poor basis, the massive rhinoplasty and the crisp paint scheme. However, I like the result – what-if models do not always have to be armed military vehicles, there’s potential in other genres, too. And this mono-engine “Pelican” Skymaster plays its role as a “flying eye” in police service credibly and well. However, this was my first and last Eidai kit…

Artist's view of the two configurations of Ariane 6 using two boosters (A62) or four boosters (A64).

ESA and European industry are currently developing a new-generation launcher: Ariane 6. This follows the decision taken at the ESA Council meeting at Ministerial level in December 2014, to maintain Europe’s leadership in the fast-changing commercial launch service market while responding to the needs of European institutional missions.

This move is associated with a change in the governance of the European launcher sector, based on a sharing of responsibility, cost and risk by ESA and industry.

The participating states are: Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Romania, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.

Credit: ESA–David Ducros, 2016

+++ 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 Cessna Model 336 and 337 “Skymaster” were American twin-engine civil utility aircraft built in a unique push-pull configuration. Their engines were mounted in the nose and rear of its pod-style fuselage. Twin booms extended aft of the wings to the vertical stabilizers, with the rear engine between them. The horizontal stabilizer was aft of the pusher propeller, mounted between and connecting the two booms.

The type’s versatility, low noise level, high travel speed and good loitering time in the operational area at low speed proved to be vital assets for these public service operators and justified its relatively high maintenance costs. A handful of the modernized Spectrum SA-550 machines were still in active service after the Millennium, primarily in the USA.

General characteristics:

Crew: 1 + 3 passengers (up to 5 passengers possible in special seat configuration)

Length: 32 ft 6½ in (9.94 m)

Wingspan: 38 ft ¾ in (11.62 m)

Height: 9 ft 2 in (2.79 m)

Wing area: 201 sq ft (18.81 m²)

Aspect ratio: 7.18:1

Airfoil: NACA 2412 at root, NACA 2409 at tip

Empty weight: 2,655 lb (1,204 kg)

Max takeoff weight: 4,400 lb (1,996 kg)

Fuel capacity: 92 US gal (77 imp gal; 350 l) normal,

128 US gal (107 imp gal; 480 l) with auxiliary tank

in the cabin instead of two passenger seats

Powerplant:

1× Pratt & Whitney PT6A-27 turboprop engine, delivering 550 shp (410 kW) and

driving a four-blade McCauley fully-feathering, constant-speed propeller, 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) diameter

Performance:

Maximum speed: 199 mph (320 km/h, 173 kn) at sea level

Cruise speed: 144 mph (232 km/h, 125 kn) at 10,000 ft (3,000 m) (econ cruise)

Stall speed: 69 mph (111 km/h, 60 kn)

Range: 1421 mi (2.288 km, 1.243 nmi) at 10.000 ft (3.050 m) altitude and economy cruise

Service ceiling: 19,500 ft (5,900 m)

Rate of climb: 1,200 ft/min (6.1 m/s)

Takeoff distance to 50 ft (15m): 1,545 ft (471 m)

Landing distance from 50 ft (15m): 1,650 ft (500 m)

The kit and its assembly:

This build is the combination of ingredients that had already been stashed away for a long time, and the “Red Lights” Group Build at whatifmodellers.com in early 2021 was a good motivator and occasion to finally put everything together.

The basis is an ARII 1:72 Cessna T337 model kit – I had purchased it long ago with the expectation to create a military Skymaster from it, but I was confused by a fixed landing gear which would make it a 336? Well, without a further concrete plan the kit preliminarily landed in The Stash™…

However, the ARII model features the optional observation windows in the doors on the starboard side, in the form of a complete(!) fuselage half, so that it lends itself to a police or firefighter aircraft of some sort. This idea was furthermore fueled by a decal sheet that I had been given from a friend, left over from a 1:72 Italeri JetRanger, with three optional police helicopter markings.

The final creative element was the real-world “Pelican” conversion of six O-2As for the US Navy, as mentioned in the background above: the front engine was replaced with a longer nose and the engine configuration changed to a pusher-only aircraft with a single powerful turboprop engine. This looked so odd that I wanted to modify the ARII Cessna in a similar fashion, too, and all these factors came together in this model.

My Arii Cessna 337 kit is a re-boxing from 2009, but its origins date back to Eidai in 1972 and that’s just what you get: a vintage thing with some flash and sinkholes, raised (but fine) surface details and pretty crude seams with bulges and gaps. Some PSR is direly necessary, esp. the fit of the fuselage halves is cringeworthy. The clear parts were no source of joy, either; especially the windscreen turned out to be thick, very streaky (to a degree that I’d almost call it opaque!) and even not fully molded! The side glazing was also not very clear. I tried to improve the situation through polishing, but if the basis is already poor, there’s little you can do about it. Hrmpf.

However, the kit was built mostly OOB, including the extra O-2 glazing in the lower doors, but with some mods. One is a (barely visible) extra tank in the cabin’s rear, plus a pilot and an observer figure placed into the tight front seats. The extended “Pelican” nose was a lucky find – I was afraid that I had had to sculpt a nose from scratch with 2C putty. But I found a radome from a Hasegawa RA-5C, left over from a model I built in the Eighties and that has since long fallen apart. However, this nose fitted almost perfectly in size and shape, I just “blunted” the tip a little. Additionally, both the hull in front of the dashboard and the Vigilante radome were filled with as many lead beads as possible to keep the nose down.

The kit’s OOB spatted, fixed landing gear was retained – even though it is dubious for a Cessna 337, because this type had a fully retractable landing gear, and the model has the landing gear covers actually molded into the lower fuselage. On the other side, the Cessna 336’s fixed landing gear looks quite different, too! However, this is a what-if model, and a fixed landing gear might have been a measure to reduce maintenance costs?

The propeller was replaced with a resin four-blade aftermarket piece (from CMK, probably the best-fitting thing on this build!) on my standard metal axis/styrene tube adapter arrangement. The propeller belongs to a Shorts Tucano, but I think that it works well on the converted Cessna and its powerful pusher engine, even though in the real world, the SA-550 is AFAIK driven by a three-blade prop. For the different engine I also enlarged the dorsal air intake with a 1.5 mm piece of styrene sheet added on top of the molded original air scoop and added a pair of ventral exhaust stubs (scratched from sprue material).

Another addition is a pair of winglets, made from 0.5 mm styrene sheet – an upgrade which I found on several late Cessna 337s in various versions. They just add to the modernized look of the aircraft. For the intended observation role, a hemispherical fairing under the nose hides a 180° camera, and I added some antennae around the hull.

However, a final word concerning the model kit itself: nothing fits, be warned! While the kit is a simple affair and looks quite good in the box, assembling it turned out to be a nightmare, with flash, sinkholes, a brittle styrene and gaps everywhere. This includes the clear parts, which are pretty thick and blurry. The worst thing is the windscreen, which is not only EXTRA thick and EXTRA blurry, it was also not completely molded, with gaps on both sides. I tried to get it clearer through manual polishing, but the streaky blurs are integral – no hope for improvement unless you completely replace the parts! If I ever build a Cessna 337/O-2 again, I will give the Airfix kit a try, it can only be better…

Painting and markings:

The choice between the operator options from the JetRanger sheet was hard, it included Sweden and Italy, but I eventually settled for the LAPD because the livery looks cool and this police department not only operates helicopters, but also some fixed-wing aircraft.

I adapted the LAPD’s classic black-and-white police helicopter livery (Gloss White and Black, Humbrol 22 and 21, respectively) to the Cessna and extended it to the wings. At this point – already upset because of the poor fit of the hardware – disaster struck in the form of Humbrol’s 22 turning into a pinkish ivory upon curing! In the tin, the paint and its pigments looked pretty white and “clean”, and I assume that it’s the thinner that caused this change. What a crap! It’s probably the third tin with 22 that causes trouble, even though in different peculiarities!

The result was total rubbish, though, and I tried to rub the paint off as good as possible on the small model with its many windows, the fixed, delicate landing gear and the wing support struts. Then I overpainted the areas with Revell 301 (Semi-matt White). While this enamel yielded the intended pure white tone, the paint itself is rather gooey and not easy to work with, so that the overall finish turned out worse than desired. At least the black paint worked properly. The demarcations were created with black decal stripes (TL Modellbau), because the tiny model left little room for complex masking measures – and I did not risk any more painting accidents.

Since the aircraft would be kept shiny and clean, I just did a light black ink washing to emphasize surface details and did a light panel post-shading on the black areas, not for weathering but rather to accent surface structures. No further weathering was done (and necessary).

The markings/decals come – as mentioned above – from an Italeri 1:72 JetRanger, but they were augmented with some additional markings, e. g. grey walkways on the wings and “L-A-P-D” in large black letters under the wings, to distract from the poor finish of the white paint around them…

Finally, the kit was sealed overall with Italeri semi-gloss acrylic varnish, just with a matt anti-glare shield in front of the windscreen, which received thin white trim lines (generic decal stripes).

A challenging build due to the Arii kit’s rather poor basis, the massive rhinoplasty and the crisp paint scheme. However, I like the result – what-if models do not always have to be armed military vehicles, there’s potential in other genres, too. And this mono-engine “Pelican” Skymaster plays its role as a “flying eye” in police service credibly and well. However, this was my first and last Eidai kit…

+++ 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 Cessna Model 336 and 337 “Skymaster” were American twin-engine civil utility aircraft built in a unique push-pull configuration. Their engines were mounted in the nose and rear of its pod-style fuselage. Twin booms extended aft of the wings to the vertical stabilizers, with the rear engine between them. The horizontal stabilizer was aft of the pusher propeller, mounted between and connecting the two booms.

The type’s versatility, low noise level, high travel speed and good loitering time in the operational area at low speed proved to be vital assets for these public service operators and justified its relatively high maintenance costs. A handful of the modernized Spectrum SA-550 machines were still in active service after the Millennium, primarily in the USA.

General characteristics:

Crew: 1 + 3 passengers (up to 5 passengers possible in special seat configuration)

Length: 32 ft 6½ in (9.94 m)

Wingspan: 38 ft ¾ in (11.62 m)

Height: 9 ft 2 in (2.79 m)

Wing area: 201 sq ft (18.81 m²)

Aspect ratio: 7.18:1

Airfoil: NACA 2412 at root, NACA 2409 at tip

Empty weight: 2,655 lb (1,204 kg)

Max takeoff weight: 4,400 lb (1,996 kg)

Fuel capacity: 92 US gal (77 imp gal; 350 l) normal,

128 US gal (107 imp gal; 480 l) with auxiliary tank

in the cabin instead of two passenger seats

Powerplant:

1× Pratt & Whitney PT6A-27 turboprop engine, delivering 550 shp (410 kW) and

driving a four-blade McCauley fully-feathering, constant-speed propeller, 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) diameter

Performance:

Maximum speed: 199 mph (320 km/h, 173 kn) at sea level

Cruise speed: 144 mph (232 km/h, 125 kn) at 10,000 ft (3,000 m) (econ cruise)

Stall speed: 69 mph (111 km/h, 60 kn)

Range: 1421 mi (2.288 km, 1.243 nmi) at 10.000 ft (3.050 m) altitude and economy cruise

Service ceiling: 19,500 ft (5,900 m)

Rate of climb: 1,200 ft/min (6.1 m/s)

Takeoff distance to 50 ft (15m): 1,545 ft (471 m)

Landing distance from 50 ft (15m): 1,650 ft (500 m)

The kit and its assembly:

This build is the combination of ingredients that had already been stashed away for a long time, and the “Red Lights” Group Build at whatifmodellers.com in early 2021 was a good motivator and occasion to finally put everything together.

The basis is an ARII 1:72 Cessna T337 model kit – I had purchased it long ago with the expectation to create a military Skymaster from it, but I was confused by a fixed landing gear which would make it a 336? Well, without a further concrete plan the kit preliminarily landed in The Stash™…

However, the ARII model features the optional observation windows in the doors on the starboard side, in the form of a complete(!) fuselage half, so that it lends itself to a police or firefighter aircraft of some sort. This idea was furthermore fueled by a decal sheet that I had been given from a friend, left over from a 1:72 Italeri JetRanger, with three optional police helicopter markings.

The final creative element was the real-world “Pelican” conversion of six O-2As for the US Navy, as mentioned in the background above: the front engine was replaced with a longer nose and the engine configuration changed to a pusher-only aircraft with a single powerful turboprop engine. This looked so odd that I wanted to modify the ARII Cessna in a similar fashion, too, and all these factors came together in this model.

My Arii Cessna 337 kit is a re-boxing from 2009, but its origins date back to Eidai in 1972 and that’s just what you get: a vintage thing with some flash and sinkholes, raised (but fine) surface details and pretty crude seams with bulges and gaps. Some PSR is direly necessary, esp. the fit of the fuselage halves is cringeworthy. The clear parts were no source of joy, either; especially the windscreen turned out to be thick, very streaky (to a degree that I’d almost call it opaque!) and even not fully molded! The side glazing was also not very clear. I tried to improve the situation through polishing, but if the basis is already poor, there’s little you can do about it. Hrmpf.

However, the kit was built mostly OOB, including the extra O-2 glazing in the lower doors, but with some mods. One is a (barely visible) extra tank in the cabin’s rear, plus a pilot and an observer figure placed into the tight front seats. The extended “Pelican” nose was a lucky find – I was afraid that I had had to sculpt a nose from scratch with 2C putty. But I found a radome from a Hasegawa RA-5C, left over from a model I built in the Eighties and that has since long fallen apart. However, this nose fitted almost perfectly in size and shape, I just “blunted” the tip a little. Additionally, both the hull in front of the dashboard and the Vigilante radome were filled with as many lead beads as possible to keep the nose down.

The kit’s OOB spatted, fixed landing gear was retained – even though it is dubious for a Cessna 337, because this type had a fully retractable landing gear, and the model has the landing gear covers actually molded into the lower fuselage. On the other side, the Cessna 336’s fixed landing gear looks quite different, too! However, this is a what-if model, and a fixed landing gear might have been a measure to reduce maintenance costs?

The propeller was replaced with a resin four-blade aftermarket piece (from CMK, probably the best-fitting thing on this build!) on my standard metal axis/styrene tube adapter arrangement. The propeller belongs to a Shorts Tucano, but I think that it works well on the converted Cessna and its powerful pusher engine, even though in the real world, the SA-550 is AFAIK driven by a three-blade prop. For the different engine I also enlarged the dorsal air intake with a 1.5 mm piece of styrene sheet added on top of the molded original air scoop and added a pair of ventral exhaust stubs (scratched from sprue material).

Another addition is a pair of winglets, made from 0.5 mm styrene sheet – an upgrade which I found on several late Cessna 337s in various versions. They just add to the modernized look of the aircraft. For the intended observation role, a hemispherical fairing under the nose hides a 180° camera, and I added some antennae around the hull.

However, a final word concerning the model kit itself: nothing fits, be warned! While the kit is a simple affair and looks quite good in the box, assembling it turned out to be a nightmare, with flash, sinkholes, a brittle styrene and gaps everywhere. This includes the clear parts, which are pretty thick and blurry. The worst thing is the windscreen, which is not only EXTRA thick and EXTRA blurry, it was also not completely molded, with gaps on both sides. I tried to get it clearer through manual polishing, but the streaky blurs are integral – no hope for improvement unless you completely replace the parts! If I ever build a Cessna 337/O-2 again, I will give the Airfix kit a try, it can only be better…

Painting and markings:

The choice between the operator options from the JetRanger sheet was hard, it included Sweden and Italy, but I eventually settled for the LAPD because the livery looks cool and this police department not only operates helicopters, but also some fixed-wing aircraft.

I adapted the LAPD’s classic black-and-white police helicopter livery (Gloss White and Black, Humbrol 22 and 21, respectively) to the Cessna and extended it to the wings. At this point – already upset because of the poor fit of the hardware – disaster struck in the form of Humbrol’s 22 turning into a pinkish ivory upon curing! In the tin, the paint and its pigments looked pretty white and “clean”, and I assume that it’s the thinner that caused this change. What a crap! It’s probably the third tin with 22 that causes trouble, even though in different peculiarities!

The result was total rubbish, though, and I tried to rub the paint off as good as possible on the small model with its many windows, the fixed, delicate landing gear and the wing support struts. Then I overpainted the areas with Revell 301 (Semi-matt White). While this enamel yielded the intended pure white tone, the paint itself is rather gooey and not easy to work with, so that the overall finish turned out worse than desired. At least the black paint worked properly. The demarcations were created with black decal stripes (TL Modellbau), because the tiny model left little room for complex masking measures – and I did not risk any more painting accidents.

Since the aircraft would be kept shiny and clean, I just did a light black ink washing to emphasize surface details and did a light panel post-shading on the black areas, not for weathering but rather to accent surface structures. No further weathering was done (and necessary).

The markings/decals come – as mentioned above – from an Italeri 1:72 JetRanger, but they were augmented with some additional markings, e. g. grey walkways on the wings and “L-A-P-D” in large black letters under the wings, to distract from the poor finish of the white paint around them…

Finally, the kit was sealed overall with Italeri semi-gloss acrylic varnish, just with a matt anti-glare shield in front of the windscreen, which received thin white trim lines (generic decal stripes).

A challenging build due to the Arii kit’s rather poor basis, the massive rhinoplasty and the crisp paint scheme. However, I like the result – what-if models do not always have to be armed military vehicles, there’s potential in other genres, too. And this mono-engine “Pelican” Skymaster plays its role as a “flying eye” in police service credibly and well. However, this was my first and last Eidai kit…

Company/Owner: Maria De Leon Transit, Inc/Bataan Transit Company, Inc.

Fleet/Bus Number: 2311

Classification: Air-conditioned Provincial Bus

Coachbuilder: (Suzhou) Higer Bus Company, Ltd.

Body Model: Higer A80 KLQ6128LQ U-Tour

Engine Model: Yuchai YC6L330-42 (L62YB)

Chassis Model: Higer KLQ6128 monocoque chassis

Transmission: 6-speed Manual Transmission

Suspension: Air Suspension

Seating Configuration: 2×2

Seating Capacity: 49

Franchise route: Laoag (Ilocos Norte)–Manila via NLEX

Route: Sampaloc, Manila City [SMP, MN]–Laoag City, Ilocos Norte [LAO, IN] via E1 (NLEX–SLEX Connector-España–NLEX-Dau; SCTEX-Mabalacat–SCTEX-Amucao–TPLEX-Carmen) / N215 (Dau Access Road) / N2 (MacArthur Highway)

Municipalities/cities passing: Dau (Mabalacat City)–Carmen (Rosales) [CEN]/Villasis/Urdaneta City/Binalonan/Pozorrubio/Sison/Rosario/Santo Tomas/Agoo/Aringay/Caba/Bauang/San Fernando City [SFE]/San Juan (La Union)/Bacnotan/Balaoan/Luna/Bangar/Sudipen/Tagudin/Santa Cruz/Santa Lucia/Candon City [DON]/Santiago/San Esteban/Santa Maria/Narvacan/Santa/Bantay/San Ildefonso/Santo Domingo/Magsingal/San Juan (Ilocos Sur)/Cabugao/Sinait/Badoc/Pinili/Currimao/Paoay or Batac City/San Nicolas

Type of Operation: Provincial Operation Public Utility Bus (Regular Deluxe Class with USB charging ports)

Area of Operation: Ilocos Region (Region I)

Shot location: N215, Brgy. Dau, Mabalacat City, Pampanga

Date and time taken: April 9, 2024 (4:11 pm)

Notices:

* Please DON'T GRAB A PHOTO WITHOUT A PERMISSION. If you're going to GRAB IT, please give A CREDIT TO THE OWNER. Also, don't PRINT SCREEN my photos. Do not (re)upload this in any social media platforms (especially in YouTube and TikTok).

** If I have mistakes on the specifications, please comment in a good manner so that I can edit it immediately.

*** The specifications and routes (for provincial, inter-provincial, and city operation) mentioned above are subjected for verification and may be changed without prior notice.

**** The vehicle's registration plate(s), conduction sticker(s), and/or persons (if applicable) were pixelated/blurred to prevent any conflict with the photographer, the bus company and/or to the car owner for their security and/or privacy purposes. So, don't use their plate number, conduction sticker, and vehicle tag as an evidence for any incident. And, I have taken this photo for bus fanatics, bus enthusiasts, and bus lovers purposes.

+++ 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 Cessna Model 336 and 337 “Skymaster” were American twin-engine civil utility aircraft built in a unique push-pull configuration. Their engines were mounted in the nose and rear of its pod-style fuselage. Twin booms extended aft of the wings to the vertical stabilizers, with the rear engine between them. The horizontal stabilizer was aft of the pusher propeller, mounted between and connecting the two booms.

The type’s versatility, low noise level, high travel speed and good loitering time in the operational area at low speed proved to be vital assets for these public service operators and justified its relatively high maintenance costs. A handful of the modernized Spectrum SA-550 machines were still in active service after the Millennium, primarily in the USA.

General characteristics:

Crew: 1 + 3 passengers (up to 5 passengers possible in special seat configuration)

Length: 32 ft 6½ in (9.94 m)

Wingspan: 38 ft ¾ in (11.62 m)

Height: 9 ft 2 in (2.79 m)

Wing area: 201 sq ft (18.81 m²)

Aspect ratio: 7.18:1

Airfoil: NACA 2412 at root, NACA 2409 at tip

Empty weight: 2,655 lb (1,204 kg)

Max takeoff weight: 4,400 lb (1,996 kg)

Fuel capacity: 92 US gal (77 imp gal; 350 l) normal,

128 US gal (107 imp gal; 480 l) with auxiliary tank

in the cabin instead of two passenger seats

Powerplant:

1× Pratt & Whitney PT6A-27 turboprop engine, delivering 550 shp (410 kW) and

driving a four-blade McCauley fully-feathering, constant-speed propeller, 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) diameter

Performance:

Maximum speed: 199 mph (320 km/h, 173 kn) at sea level

Cruise speed: 144 mph (232 km/h, 125 kn) at 10,000 ft (3,000 m) (econ cruise)

Stall speed: 69 mph (111 km/h, 60 kn)

Range: 1421 mi (2.288 km, 1.243 nmi) at 10.000 ft (3.050 m) altitude and economy cruise

Service ceiling: 19,500 ft (5,900 m)

Rate of climb: 1,200 ft/min (6.1 m/s)

Takeoff distance to 50 ft (15m): 1,545 ft (471 m)

Landing distance from 50 ft (15m): 1,650 ft (500 m)

The kit and its assembly:

This build is the combination of ingredients that had already been stashed away for a long time, and the “Red Lights” Group Build at whatifmodellers.com in early 2021 was a good motivator and occasion to finally put everything together.

The basis is an ARII 1:72 Cessna T337 model kit – I had purchased it long ago with the expectation to create a military Skymaster from it, but I was confused by a fixed landing gear which would make it a 336? Well, without a further concrete plan the kit preliminarily landed in The Stash™…

However, the ARII model features the optional observation windows in the doors on the starboard side, in the form of a complete(!) fuselage half, so that it lends itself to a police or firefighter aircraft of some sort. This idea was furthermore fueled by a decal sheet that I had been given from a friend, left over from a 1:72 Italeri JetRanger, with three optional police helicopter markings.

The final creative element was the real-world “Pelican” conversion of six O-2As for the US Navy, as mentioned in the background above: the front engine was replaced with a longer nose and the engine configuration changed to a pusher-only aircraft with a single powerful turboprop engine. This looked so odd that I wanted to modify the ARII Cessna in a similar fashion, too, and all these factors came together in this model.

My Arii Cessna 337 kit is a re-boxing from 2009, but its origins date back to Eidai in 1972 and that’s just what you get: a vintage thing with some flash and sinkholes, raised (but fine) surface details and pretty crude seams with bulges and gaps. Some PSR is direly necessary, esp. the fit of the fuselage halves is cringeworthy. The clear parts were no source of joy, either; especially the windscreen turned out to be thick, very streaky (to a degree that I’d almost call it opaque!) and even not fully molded! The side glazing was also not very clear. I tried to improve the situation through polishing, but if the basis is already poor, there’s little you can do about it. Hrmpf.

However, the kit was built mostly OOB, including the extra O-2 glazing in the lower doors, but with some mods. One is a (barely visible) extra tank in the cabin’s rear, plus a pilot and an observer figure placed into the tight front seats. The extended “Pelican” nose was a lucky find – I was afraid that I had had to sculpt a nose from scratch with 2C putty. But I found a radome from a Hasegawa RA-5C, left over from a model I built in the Eighties and that has since long fallen apart. However, this nose fitted almost perfectly in size and shape, I just “blunted” the tip a little. Additionally, both the hull in front of the dashboard and the Vigilante radome were filled with as many lead beads as possible to keep the nose down.

The kit’s OOB spatted, fixed landing gear was retained – even though it is dubious for a Cessna 337, because this type had a fully retractable landing gear, and the model has the landing gear covers actually molded into the lower fuselage. On the other side, the Cessna 336’s fixed landing gear looks quite different, too! However, this is a what-if model, and a fixed landing gear might have been a measure to reduce maintenance costs?

The propeller was replaced with a resin four-blade aftermarket piece (from CMK, probably the best-fitting thing on this build!) on my standard metal axis/styrene tube adapter arrangement. The propeller belongs to a Shorts Tucano, but I think that it works well on the converted Cessna and its powerful pusher engine, even though in the real world, the SA-550 is AFAIK driven by a three-blade prop. For the different engine I also enlarged the dorsal air intake with a 1.5 mm piece of styrene sheet added on top of the molded original air scoop and added a pair of ventral exhaust stubs (scratched from sprue material).

Another addition is a pair of winglets, made from 0.5 mm styrene sheet – an upgrade which I found on several late Cessna 337s in various versions. They just add to the modernized look of the aircraft. For the intended observation role, a hemispherical fairing under the nose hides a 180° camera, and I added some antennae around the hull.

However, a final word concerning the model kit itself: nothing fits, be warned! While the kit is a simple affair and looks quite good in the box, assembling it turned out to be a nightmare, with flash, sinkholes, a brittle styrene and gaps everywhere. This includes the clear parts, which are pretty thick and blurry. The worst thing is the windscreen, which is not only EXTRA thick and EXTRA blurry, it was also not completely molded, with gaps on both sides. I tried to get it clearer through manual polishing, but the streaky blurs are integral – no hope for improvement unless you completely replace the parts! If I ever build a Cessna 337/O-2 again, I will give the Airfix kit a try, it can only be better…

Painting and markings:

The choice between the operator options from the JetRanger sheet was hard, it included Sweden and Italy, but I eventually settled for the LAPD because the livery looks cool and this police department not only operates helicopters, but also some fixed-wing aircraft.

I adapted the LAPD’s classic black-and-white police helicopter livery (Gloss White and Black, Humbrol 22 and 21, respectively) to the Cessna and extended it to the wings. At this point – already upset because of the poor fit of the hardware – disaster struck in the form of Humbrol’s 22 turning into a pinkish ivory upon curing! In the tin, the paint and its pigments looked pretty white and “clean”, and I assume that it’s the thinner that caused this change. What a crap! It’s probably the third tin with 22 that causes trouble, even though in different peculiarities!

The result was total rubbish, though, and I tried to rub the paint off as good as possible on the small model with its many windows, the fixed, delicate landing gear and the wing support struts. Then I overpainted the areas with Revell 301 (Semi-matt White). While this enamel yielded the intended pure white tone, the paint itself is rather gooey and not easy to work with, so that the overall finish turned out worse than desired. At least the black paint worked properly. The demarcations were created with black decal stripes (TL Modellbau), because the tiny model left little room for complex masking measures – and I did not risk any more painting accidents.

Since the aircraft would be kept shiny and clean, I just did a light black ink washing to emphasize surface details and did a light panel post-shading on the black areas, not for weathering but rather to accent surface structures. No further weathering was done (and necessary).

The markings/decals come – as mentioned above – from an Italeri 1:72 JetRanger, but they were augmented with some additional markings, e. g. grey walkways on the wings and “L-A-P-D” in large black letters under the wings, to distract from the poor finish of the white paint around them…

Finally, the kit was sealed overall with Italeri semi-gloss acrylic varnish, just with a matt anti-glare shield in front of the windscreen, which received thin white trim lines (generic decal stripes).

A challenging build due to the Arii kit’s rather poor basis, the massive rhinoplasty and the crisp paint scheme. However, I like the result – what-if models do not always have to be armed military vehicles, there’s potential in other genres, too. And this mono-engine “Pelican” Skymaster plays its role as a “flying eye” in police service credibly and well. However, this was my first and last Eidai kit…

Victory Liner Inc.

Since designing my "Medium" switch element, I've been exploring various track configurations using BlueBrick.

One feature that I wanted to explore was the possibility of making an "On Grid" yard ladder. Due to the geometry of the 22.5º crossing angle and the desired 16-stud centreline grid, it requires a new straight track element measuring 1.810 studs. Rather than fabricating such an unusual and small section of track, I would propose that the Medium switch could have interchangeable end connectors for either the straight or diverging routes. These end connectors would serve to make the switch either 40 or 41.810 studs long. By doing so, the switch can be staggered along a 22.5º path with the diverging routes all aligned to 16-stud spacing. Slight adjustments would be required on each siding using both 2/5 and 1/4 straight elements in order to laterally align each road.

It is interesting to see all of the potential configurations and geometric relationships with this switch design! BlueBrick is a superb tool to rapidly prototype these ideas. However, I am curious about the "real world" mechanical tolerances that would realistically be exploited in order to build these configurations. I have tried to keep mechanical alignment within 0.1-0.2 mm (0.3 mm max). Larger track configurations will be more forgiving; allowing the mechanical offsets to be spread out over a large space.

Still, all of this speculation is purely theoretical--until someone actually builds these elements--its just fantasy! ;)

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After a bit of recreational experimentation in BlueBrick with track configurations, I came up with a few ideas which may prove useful.

These track configurations are loosely based on the concept of transition curves or easements. Real railways will transition straight running lines into a curve using a progressive and gradual change in curvature. This is to reduce the impact loading on both the track and the wheel sets and reduce peak centrifugal forces as a train enters a curve.

Although we have many new options for track configurations using the new ME Models curves, there are still few configurations which yield the desired characteristics of aligning track centres to 16-stud intervals and having track interval spacing to a minimum of 4 studs (using 1/4 straights).

Shown above are three different track configurations using easements:

1) A 1/4 curve with 96-stud effective radius

2) Asymmetric easement

3) Symmetric easement

Strictly speaking, I've only exploited the concept of easements at the extents of each track configuration. The interior straight sections do not transition as smoothly as the extents. Nonetheless, these track configurations should add some additional variety to layout planning.

I'm sure there are many more potential configurations yet to be discovered and soon we'll have a large repertoire of track planning options.

Operator: First North Luzon Transit Inc/Bataan Transit Co Inc

Fleet no# 8037

Classification: Air Condtioned Provincial Bus

Route: Balanga Bataan-Cubao Quezon City

Seats configuration: 2x2

Type of operation: Provincial Operation (Regular)

Area of operation: Region 3 (Central Luzon)

Unit: 2012-2014 Xiamen Golden Dragon Co., Ltd (XML6103)

Coachbuilder: Trans Oriental

Chassis: XML6103J92

Engine: YC6A240-20 (A3515) or YC6A240-30 (A68SA) engine

Shot Location: SM Robinsons Pampanga Gapan-Olongapo Rd City of San Fernando Pampanga

Operator: Genesis Transport Service Inc

Fleet no#818547

Classification: Air Conditioned Provincial Bus

Route: Balanga Bataan-Avenida Manila

Seats configuration: 2x2

Type of operation: Provincial Operation (Regular)

Area of operation: Region 3 (Central Luzon)

Unit: 2015-2016 Yutong ZK6107H

Coachbuilder: Zhengzhou Yutong Co., Ltd

Chassis: Yutong ZK6107CRA (LZYTBTD6).

Engine: Yuchai YC6G270-30 (G65QA/G52YA) or Yuchai YC6G240-20 (G52MA/G5AYA)

Shot Location: SM Robinsons Pampanga Gapan-Olongapo Rd City of San Fernando Pampanga

C’est la configuration de la tourelle, située à l'avant droit qui a donné le surnom « Priest » -prêtre- au char M7 B1. Destinée à recevoir une mitrailleuse 12,7 mm, sa forme faisait penser à une chaire d'église.

Constructeur : Pressed Steel Car USA

N° de série : #4217#

FORD GAA 450 chevaux

Canon HOWITZER calibre 105 mm, capacité 69 obus, N° de série : #17231#

1 mitrailleuse 12,7 mm

the.shadock.free.fr/Surviving_M7_Priest.pdf

www.tank-rent.com/materiel/m7_b1_priest_colorado/23.html

M7 at St Mère Eglise by me ; www.youtube.com/watch?v=bn2oGSq_IJU&t=

Company/Owner: Pangasinan Five Star Bus Company, Inc.

Fleet/Bus Number: 9496

Classification: Non-Air-conditioned Provincial Bus

Coachbuilder: Pilipinas Hino Auto Body, Inc.

Body Model: Pilipinas Hino MR60 Series 2 RK

Engine Model: Hino J08C-TK

Chassis Model: Hino RK1JST (Long Wheelbase version)

Transmission: 6-speed Manual Transmission

Suspension: Leaf Spring Suspension

Seating Configuration: 3×2

Seating Capacity: 61

Franchise Route: San Nicolas (Pangasinan)–Cubao (Quezon City) via Tayug

Route: Cubao, Quezon City [CUB, QC]–Tayug, Pangasinan [TAY, PN] via E1 [NLEX-Balintawak–NLEX-Dau; NLEX-SCTEX Connector–SCTEX-Concepcion]; N215 (Dau Access Road) / N213 (Magalang–Concepcion Road) / N2 (MacArthur Highway) / N56 (Umingan–Rosales Road) / Nueva Vizcaya–Pangasinan Road

Municipalities/cities passing: Dau (Mabalacat City) [DAU]–Concepcion/Capas/Tarlac City [TRL]/Gerona/Paniqui/Moncada/San Manuel/Rosales/Santa Maria

Type of Operation: Provincial Operation Public Utility Bus (Ordinary Class)

Area of Operation: Ilocos Region (Region I)

Shot Location: NLEX-Dau Interchange, Barangay Dau, Mabalacat City, Pampanga

Date Taken: May 17, 2018 (7:06H)

Notices:

* Please DON'T GRAB A PHOTO WITHOUT A PERMISSION. If you're going to GRAB IT, please give A CREDIT TO THE OWNER. Also, don't PRINT SCREEN my photos.

** If I have mistakes on the specifications, please comment in a good manner so that I can edit it immediately.

*** The specifications and routes (for provincial, inter-provincial, and city operation) mentioned above are subjected for verification and may be changed without prior notice.

**** The vehicle's registration plate(s), conduction sticker(s), and/or persons (if applicable) were pixelated/blurred to prevent any conflict with the photographer, the bus company and/or to the car owner for their security and/or privacy purposes. So, don't use their plate number, conduction sticker, and vehicle tag as an evidence for any incident. And, I have taken this photo for bus fanatics, bus enthusiasts, and bus lovers purposes.

255 - Boeing B-707-3H7C / EC-707 Re'em - Israeli Air Force

c/n 20.629 - built in 1972 for Cameroon Airlines -

acquired in 1987 by IAI and cvt to EC-707 (electronic warfare configuration) -

also using the reg's 4X-BYR and 4X-JYB -

wfu and std TLV 2008

scanned from Kodachrome-slide

Company/Owner: Dagupan Bus Company, Inc.

Fleet/Bus Number: 71727

Classification: Air-conditioned Provincial Bus

Coachbuilder: (Zhengzhou) Yutong Bus Company, Ltd.

Body Model: Yutong ZK6107HA

Engine Model: Yuchai YC6G240-20(G52MA/G52YA)

Chassis Model: Yutong ZK6107CRA (LZYTBTD64A1)

Transmission: Manual (6-speed forward, 1-speed reverse)

Suspension: Air Suspension

Seating Configuration: 2×2

Seating Capacity: 45

Route: N/A [Cubao, Quezon City–Manaoag, Pangasinan]

Municipalities/cities passing: N/A

Type of Operation: Provincial Operation Public Utility Bus (Regular Class)

Area of Operation: Ilocos Region (Region I)

Shot Location: MacArthur Highway (Manila North Road), Barangay Sampaloc, Apalit, Pampanga

Date Taken: July 18, 2015

Notices:

* Please DON'T GRAB A PHOTO WITHOUT A PERMISSION. If you're going to GRAB IT, please give A CREDIT TO THE OWNER. Also, don't PRINT SCREEN my photos.

** If I have mistakes on the specifications, please comment in a good manner so that I can edit it immediately.

*** The specifications and routes (for provincial, inter-provincial, and city operation) mentioned above are subjected for verification and may be changed without prior notice.

**** The vehicle's registration plate(s), conduction sticker(s), and/or persons (if applicable) were pixelated/blurred to prevent any conflict with the photographer, the bus company and/or to the car owner for their security and/or privacy purposes. So, don't use their plate number, conduction sticker, and vehicle tag as an evidence for any incident. And, I have taken this photo for bus fanatics, bus enthusiasts, and bus lovers purposes.

Drift!

(cont.) ...MDOT has altered the configuration of this interchange, for the major benefit of this one specific off-ramp to boot. There are now three lanes here, and the traffic signal controls two. There's still the one lane that turns left (302 west, to Horn Lake), but there's also a dedicated right-turn lane at the stoplight, which takes you to the northern portion of Southcrest Parkway (leading to the hospital, hence the blue “H” tacked atop the sign here. Personally, I believe the “H” ought to have been made a permanent part of the sign itself, or MDOT could even have had the sign read “Hospital” in addition to the relatively lesser-known “Southcrest Pkwy,” but I digress.). Then, you've also got the existing “country,” non-signalized right-turn lane that has also been allowed to remain intact.

Why the two right-turn lanes? Well, to solve the issue of the drivers sweeping across mulitple lanes of traffic, of course! On Goodman Road itself – which we'll see momentarily – the large center median has been removed, in favor of new, parking-lot-bumper-style barricades. These barricades serve to essentially “trap” drivers in the lanes they are in. That sounds like it's a bad thing, but I promise, it's not! (cont.)

(c) 2018 Retail Retell

These places are public so these photos are too, but just as I tell where they came from, I'd appreciate if you'd say who :)

The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and many other Allied countries during and after the Second World War. The Spitfire was built in many variants, using several wing configurations, and was produced in greater numbers than any other British aircraft. It was also the only British fighter to be in continuous production throughout the war. The Spitfire continues to be a popular aircraft, with approximately 55 Spitfires being airworthy, while many more are static exhibits in aviation museums all over the world.

The Spitfire was designed as a short-range, high-performance interceptor aircraft by R. J. Mitchell, chief designer at Supermarine Aviation Works (which operated as a subsidiary of Vickers-Armstrong from 1928). In accordance with its role as an interceptor, Mitchell designed the Spitfire's distinctive elliptical wing to have the thinnest possible cross-section; this thin wing enabled the Spitfire to have a higher top speed than several contemporary fighters, including the Hawker Hurricane. Mitchell continued to refine the design until his death from cancer in 1937, whereupon his colleague Joseph Smith took over as chief designer, overseeing the development of the Spitfire through its multitude of variants.

During the Battle of Britain (July–October 1940), the Spitfire was perceived by the public to be the RAF fighter, though the more numerous Hawker Hurricane shouldered a greater proportion of the burden against the Luftwaffe. However, because of its higher performance, Spitfire units had a lower attrition rate and a higher victory-to-loss ratio than those flying Hurricanes.

After the Battle of Britain, the Spitfire superseded the Hurricane to become the backbone of RAF Fighter Command, and saw action in the European, Mediterranean, Pacific and the South-East Asian theatres. Much loved by its pilots, the Spitfire served in several roles, including interceptor, photo-reconnaissance, fighter-bomber and trainer, and it continued to serve in these roles until the 1950s. The Seafire was a carrier-based adaptation of the Spitfire which served in the Fleet Air Arm from 1942 through to the mid-1950s. Although the original airframe was designed to be powered by a Rolls-Royce Merlin engine producing 1,030 hp (768 kW), it was strong enough and adaptable enough to use increasingly powerful Merlin and, in later marks, Rolls-Royce Griffon engines producing up to 2,340 hp (1,745 kW); as a consequence of this the Spitfire's performance and capabilities improved, sometimes dramatically, over the course of its life.

Mk V (Types 331, 349 & 352)

Spitfire LF.Mk VB, BL479, flown by Group Captain M.W.S Robinson, station commander of RAF Northolt, August 1943. This Spitfire has the wide bladed Rotol propeller, the internal armoured windscreen and "clipped" wings.

Late in 1940, the RAF predicted that the advent of the pressurised Junkers Ju 86P bomber series over Britain would be the start of a new sustained high altitude bombing offensive by the Luftwaffe, in which case development was put in hand for a pressurised version of the Spitfire, with a new version of the Merlin (the Mk VI). It would take some time to develop the new fighter and an emergency stop-gap measure was needed as soon as possible: this was the Mk V.

The basic Mk V was a Mk I with the Merlin 45 series engine. This engine delivered 1,440 hp (1,074 kW) at take-off, and incorporated a new single-speed single-stage supercharger design. Improvements to the carburettor also allowed the Spitfire to use zero gravity manoeuvres without any problems with fuel flow. Several Mk I and Mk II airframes were converted to Mk V standard by Supermarine and started equipping fighter units from early 1941. The majority of the Mk Vs were built at Castle Bromwich.

The VB became the main production version of the Mark Vs. Along with the new Merlin 45 series the B wing was fitted as standard. As production progressed changes were incorporated, some of which became standard on all later Spitfires. Production started with several Mk IBs which were converted to Mk VBs by Supermarine. Starting in early 1941 the round section exhaust stacks were changed to a "fishtail" type, marginally increasing exhaust thrust. Some late production VBs and VCs were fitted with six shorter exhaust stacks per side, similar to those of Spitfire IXs and Seafire IIIs; this was originally stipulated as applying specifically to VB(trop)s. After some initial problems with the original Mk I size oil coolers, a bigger oil cooler was fitted under the port wing; this could be recognised by a deeper housing with a circular entry. From mid-1941 alloy covered ailerons became a universal fitting.

Spitfire VC(trop), fitted with Vokes filters and "disc" wheels, of 417 Squadron RCAF in Tunisia in 1943.

A constant flow of modifications were made as production progressed. A "blown" cockpit hood, manufactured by Malcolm, was introduced in an effort to further increase the pilot's head-room and visibility. Many mid to late production VBs - and all VCs - used the modified, improved windscreen assembly with the integral bullet resistant centre panel and flat side screens introduced with the Mk III. Because the rear frame of this windscreen was taller than that of the earlier model the cockpit hoods were not interchangeable and could be distinguished by the wider rear framing on the hood used with the late-style windscreen.

Different propeller types were fitted, according to where the Spitfire V was built: Supermarine and Westland manufactured VBs and VCs used 10 ft 9 in (3.28 m) diameter, 3 bladed de Havilland constant speed units, with narrow metal blades, while Castle Bromwich manufactured VBs and VCs were fitted with a wide bladed Rotol constant speed propeller of either 10 ft 9 in (3.28 m) diameter, with metal blades, or (on late production Spitfires) 10 ft 3 in (3.12 m) diameter, with broader, "Jablo" (compressed wood) blades. The Rotol spinners were longer and more pointed than the de Havilland leading to a 3.5 in (8.9 cm) increase in overall length. The Rotol propellers allowed a modest speed increase over 20,000 ft (6,100 m) and an increase in the service ceiling. A large number of Spitfire VBs were fitted with "gun heater intensifier" systems on the exhaust stacks. These piped additional heated air into the gun bays. There was a short tubular intake on the front of the first stack and a narrow pipe led into the engine cowling from the rear exhaust.

The VB series were the first Spitfires able to carry a range of specially designed "slipper" drop tanks which were fitted underneath the wing centre-section. Small hooks were fitted, just forward of the inboard flaps: when the tank was released these hooks caught the trailing edge of the tank, swinging it clear of the fuselage.

With the advent of the superb Focke Wulf Fw 190 in August 1941 the Spitfire was for the first time truly outclassed, hastening the development of the "interim" Mk IX. In an effort to counter this threat, especially at lower altitudes, the VB was the first production version of the Spitfire to use "clipped" wingtips as an option, reducing the wingspan to 32 ft 2 in (9.8 m).The clipped wings increased the roll rate and airspeed at lower altitudes. Several different versions of the Merlin 45/50 family were used, including the Merlin 45M which had a smaller "cropped" supercharger impeller and boost increased to +18 lb. This engine produced 1,585 hp (1,182 kW) at 2,750 ft (838 m), increasing the L.F VB's maximum rate of climb to 4720 ft/min (21.6 m/s) at 2,000 ft (610 m).

VB Trop of 40 Squadron SAAF fitted with the "streamlined" version of the Aboukir filter, a broad-bladed, 10 ft 3 in (3.12 m) diameter Rotol propeller, and clipped wings.

The Mk VB(trop) (or type 352) could be identified by the large Vokes air filter fitted under the nose; the reduced speed of the air to the supercharger had a detrimental effect on the performance of the aircraft, reducing the top speed by 8 mph (13 km/h) and the climb rate by 600 ft/min (3.04 m/s), but the decreased performance was considered acceptable. This variant was also fitted with a larger oil tank and desert survival gear behind the pilot's seat. A new "desert" camouflage scheme was applied. Many VB(trop)s were modified by 103 MU (Maintenance Unit-RAF depots in which factory fresh aircraft were brought up to service standards before being delivered to squadrons) at Aboukir, Egypt by replacing the Vokes filter with locally manufactured "Aboukir" filters, which were lighter and more streamlined. Two designs of these filters can be identified in photos: one had a bulky, squared off filter housing while the other was more streamlined. These aircraft were usually fitted with the wide blade Rotol propeller and clipped wings.

Triumph Spitfire Mk I Roadster

The Triumph Spitfire is a small English two-seat sports car, introduced at the London Motor Show in 1962.[3] The vehicle was based on a design produced for Standard-Triumph in 1957 by Italian designer Giovanni Michelotti. The platform for the car was largely based upon the chassis, engine, and running gear of the Triumph Herald saloon, and was manufactured at the Standard-Triumph works at Canley, in Coventry. As was typical for cars of this era, the bodywork was fitted onto a separate structural chassis, but for the Spitfire, which was designed as an open top or convertible sports car from the outset, the ladder chassis was reinforced for additional rigidity by the use of structural components within the bodywork. The Spitfire was provided with a manual hood for weather protection, the design improving to a folding hood for later models. Factory-manufactured hard-tops were also available.

The Triumph Spitfire was originally devised by Standard-Triumph to compete in the small sports car market that had opened up with the introduction of the Austin-Healey Sprite. The Sprite had used the basic drive train of the Austin A30/35 in a light body to make up a budget sports car; Triumph's idea was to use the mechanicals from their small saloon, the Herald, to underpin the new project. Triumph had one advantage, however; where the Austin A30 range was of unitary construction, the Herald featured a separate chassis. It was Triumph's intention to cut that chassis down and clothe it in a sports body, saving the costs of developing a completely new chassis / body unit.

Italian designer Michelotti—who had already penned the Herald—was commissioned for the new project, and came up with a traditional, swooping body. Wind-up windows were provided (in contrast to the Sprite/Midget, which still featured sidescreens, also called curtains, at that time), as well as a single-piece front end which tilted forwards to offer unrivaled access to the engine. At the dawn of the 1960s, however, Standard-Triumph was in deep financial trouble, and unable to put the new car into production; it was not until the company was taken over by the Leyland organization funds became available and the car was launched. Leyland officials, taking stock of their new acquisition, found Michelotti's prototype hiding under a dust sheet in a corner of the factory and rapidly approved it for production.

Spitfire 4 or Mark I (1962-1964)

Overview:

Production1962–1964

45,753 made

Powertrain:

Engine1,147 cc (1.1 l) I4

Transmission4-speed manual with optional overdrive on top and third from 1963 onwards

Dimensions:

Curb weight1,568 lb (711 kg) (unladen U.K.-spec)

The production car changed little from the prototype, although the full-width rear bumper was dropped in favour of two part-bumpers curving round each corner, with overriders. Mechanicals were basically stock Herald. The engine was an 1,147 cc (1.1 l) 4-cylinder with a pushrod OHV cylinder head and 2 valves per cylinder, mildly tuned for the Spitfire, fed by twin SU carburettors. Also from the Herald came the rack and pinion steering and coil-and-wishbone front suspension up front, and at the rear a single transverse-leaf swing axle arrangement. This ended up being the most controversial part of the car: it was known to "tuck in" and cause violent over steer if pushed too hard, even in the staid Herald. In the sportier Spitfire (and later the 6-cylinder Triumph GT6 and Triumph Vitesse) it led to severe criticism. The body was bolted to a much-modified Herald chassis, the outer rails and the rear outriggers having been removed; little of the original Herald chassis design was left, and the Spitfire used structural outer sills to stiffen its body tub.

The Spitfire was an inexpensive small sports car and as such had very basic trim, including rubber mats and a large plastic steering wheel. These early cars were referred to both as "Triumph Spitfire Mark I" and "Spitfire 4", not to be confused with the later Spitfire Mark IV.

In UK specification the in-line four produced 63 bhp (47 kW) at 5750 rpm, and 67 lb·ft (91 N·m)of torque at 3500 rpm. This gave a top speed of 92 mph (148 km/h), and would achieve 0 to 60 mph (97 km/h) in 17.3 seconds. Average fuel consumption was 31mpg.

For 1964 an overdrive option was added to the 4-speed manual gearbox to give more relaxed cruising. Wire wheels and a hard top were also available.

Text regarding the Supermarine Spitfire aeroplane and Triumph Spitfire Roadster has been taken from excerpts of Wikipedia articles on each model.

The Supermarine Spitfire Mk VB aircraft and 1962 Triumph Spitfire Mk I road car have been modelled in Lego miniland-scale for Flickr LUGNuts' 79th Build Challenge, - 'LUGNuts goes Wingnuts, ' - featuring automotive vehicles named after, inspired by, or with some relationship to aircraft.