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MAZZALI Contract: “LA STECCA”, residenza universitaria di Imt Alti Studi Lucca
"La Stecca", l'imponente immobile originariamente parte del complesso del convento di San Francesco, è sede dell’ IMT (Istituzioni, Mercati, Tecnologie) Istituto di Alti Studi , un istituto statale di istruzione universitaria, di ricerca e di alta formazione.
Mazzali ha realizzato:
100 camere residenziali per docenti, ricercatori e studenti.
16 spazi ufficio e multimediali.
MAZZALI Contract : “ LA STECCA ” IMT campus, Lucca.
IMT is an Institute for Advanced Studies that aims to push the frontiers of knowledge and to contribute to the formation of international professional elites for business and institutions.
Mazzali made:
N° 100 short to medium term housing bedrooms for professors, students and visitors;
N° 16 office spaces for faculty and staff
The beautifully and painstakingly restored complex includes the San Francesco Church (to be used for major events), the Guinigi Chapel (for seminars and smaller events), the "Sala delle Colonne" (for seminars and meetings), classrooms, residential facilities for students, short- to medium-term housing for visiting faculty, office spaces for faculty and staff, the canteen, and numerous internal and external areas for study and socialization. PhD students who qualify for a scholarship are offered free housing in the San Francesco complex, while all students and faculty have free access to the canteen.
Dennis Trident. - Plaxton President H77F
New to Brighton & Hove ( 845 ) , East Sussex , during March-2001 . Acquired by this Operator during August-2013 .
At Cambridge Railway Station , working on the college contract it is branded up for .
Wednesday afternoon 14th-April-2021 .
Stubbington Green
29 October 2024
The first of the latest batch of StreetDecks transferred to Hoeford has entered service.
First used, on College contract PC2 and University route U1, today was, I believe, its debut on regular public routes
Kara Livingston looks at the contract she signed with the moving company, Vanlines of America. (KOMU photo/Brandon Twichell)
Operational Contract Support Joint Exercise 2016 provides training across the spectrum of OCS readiness from requirements and development of warfighter staff integration and synchronization through contract execution supporting the Joint Force Commander. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Jonathan Snyder/Released)
FIND IT @ graphicriver.net/item/modern-proposal-contract-and-invoic...
This is a complete and professional Template of 12 pages for a Business Proposal, Contract and Invoice.
It will definitely help you visualize in a professional way your business and your proposal to clients.
Included are pages for Project Proposal, Project Timeline, Contract, Packages Plan, Invoice...
The files are created in order to be used by everyone, with just a basic knowledge of the softwares.
The preview images are made by using my Brochure Mock-ups Set
InDesign CS3-4-5 (.INDD, .IDML, .INX)
A4 ISO 297×210 mm (11,7x8,26 inches) + bleeds / US Letter (8,5 x 11 inches) + bleeds
12 beautiful pages easy to edit
300 DPI / Print Ready / CYMK
.PDF documentation
ALL made with FREE Fonts
SUPER EASY to CUSTOMIZE, you can decide how many pages, which order, background colors and so on...
FIND IT @ graphicriver.net/item/modern-proposal-contract-and-invoic...
This little whimsy inspired by the agonies documented in paulclarke.com/honestlyreal/2010/12/oh-christmas-tree/
The Sherry-Netherland
781 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10022
The hotel's Fifth Avenue sidewalk Clock
--------------
The Early Years
The hotel site at the corner of Fifth Avenue and East 59th Street in Manhattan had been occupied by the New Netherland, built by William Waldorf Astor. The chateau like apartment tower facing Fifth Avenue was designed by William H. Hume. Its name came from New Netherland - the name given to a portion of the East Coast of North America by the Dutch Republic. The New Netherland's provincial capital was New Amsterdam which was located at the southern tip of the island of Manhattan.
The New Netherland was completed in 1892. The neo-Romanesque steel-framed building was 17 stories (234 feet) and claimed to be the "tallest hotel structure in the world" when it opened.
Developer Samuel Keller Jacobs began demolition of the New Netherland in 1926. Replacing it was a new tower apartment hotel occupying the same footprint and frontage on Fifth Avenue. Jacobs contracted with the architect firm Schultze & Weaver to work with high-rise specialist Buchman & Kahn.
Originally it was to be a 36-story transient hotel to have the same name - New Netherland. The Grand Army Plaza area was becoming a fashionable area. The Fifth Avenue mansions were giving way to high rise apartment hotels. It was decided to have Schultze & Weaver design a building to insure the wealthy residents of the area could continue their grand life style - but in a high rise apartment. During the construction Jacobs sold the hotel to Louis Sherry, Inc., a subsidiary of Boomer-duPont Properties Corporation. Lucius Boomer was a noted hotel operator and was also affiliated with the Waldorf=Astoria Hotel. Boomer was one of the early endowers to the Cornell Hotel School who made its establishment possible.
Louis Sherry (1855-1926) owned Sherry's an extremely successful and regaled restaurant and caterer located at Forty Third Street and Fifth Avenue. Sherry thought it best to close his restaurant business due to prohibition (which commenced in 1920) and what Sherry described as "war-born Bolshevism". The NY Times quoted Sherry "I am not at the point where I cannot increase my staff of waiters without admitting Bolsheviki, but I will not submit my patrons to have their food thrown at them."
Sherry and Lucius M. Boomer formed a new corporation (Louis Sherry, Inc.) with the intent to continue the ice cream, candy and catering business and also provide catering services for the Waldorf Astoria Hotel. Boomer was the chairman of the board for the original Waldorf-Astoria at Fifth Avenue and was also the original owner of Boston's Lenox Hotel.
Lucius Boomer renamed the hotel - The Sherry-Netherland - in anticipation of cashing in on the Sherry name known for its high standards of food and service. Louis Sherry died shortly before his name became associated with the new venture. An early brochure for the hotel states: "The Sherry tradition of perfection is drilled into every member of the personnel."
Also taking its name from Louis Sherry is the Sherry-Lehmann Wine and Spirits company. Their first store was in the Louis Sherry Building on Madison at 62nd. The store took its name from the name of the building - not the fortified wine of Spain.
During construction the hotel's upper floors suffered a fire that was visible from as far away as Long Island. The $10 million 165 apartment hotel was finished in 1927 and at 38-storys was known for a while as the tallest apartment hotel in New York City and the world.
At the time of the hotel's construction, the Vanderbilt mansion on Fifth Avenue (now the site of Bergdorf Goodman) was being demolished. Two limestone reliefs from that mansion were installed in the Sherry's entrance vestibule. The ornamental friezes by sculptor Karl Bitter depict a group of girls.
Because of Prohibition, the Sherry was designed with smaller public restaurant square footage than other pre-War hotels. Its lobby also designed small - which allowed for maximum street side store rentals. It was reported by the NY Times that a single apartment in 1927 at the Sherry-Netherland rented for a low of $1,600 per month and up to $6,500 per month.
The Architects: Schultz & Weaver together with Buchman and Kahn
Schultz & Weaver were best known for design work on hotels, including the Hotel Lexington, Hotel Pierre and the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. The firm’s first completed hotel was the Los Angeles Biltmore now known as the Millennium Biltmore Hotel Los Angeles.
The hotel's design is noted for its high peaked roof topped with an elaborate Gothic minaret, or fleche. The spire top houses the water tank and even has an observation balcony. Gargoyles protrude from its crown.
According to the 1981 Upper East Side Historic District Designation Report the architecture style contains elements of neo-Romanesque and neo-Gothic styles. It is a 38-story hotel with stone and dark brown brick facing. The first four floors are travertine marble with three two-story monumental arched windows facing Fifth Avenue. The cornice and balustrade sit over the third floor. The building setbacks begin on the seventeenth leading to a slender tower crowned with a fleche. The setbacks allowed for spacious outdoor private terraces beginning on the eighteenth floor. Single apartments occupied the entire floors from the 24th floor to the 37th floor.
The minaret distinguishes the building as one of the most recognized hotel profiles in New York City.
Little of the building's architecture has changed since the Sherry-Netherland opened its doors in 1927. The canopy entrance, adorned with the hotel's famous landmark clock and four Italianate lanterns, is guarded by gargoyles on the 37-story Baroque tower. The recently restored vaulted lobby was modeled after the Vatican library. Striking features include sculptured panels from the Vanderbilt Mansion, Louis XV chairs, lavish chandeliers and elaborately designed marble floors with French carpets.
The Sherry Netherland’s frontage is elegant, adorned with griffins holding four hanging lanterns on the façade and a sidewalk clock that is gilded in genuine gold leaf.
Two Big Hotel Hold-ups - 1974 and 1977
On December 9, 1974 a team of five bandits took over the Sherry Netherland hotel for two hours and looted safety deposit boxes of more than $900,000 in cash and valuables. The robbers entered the hotel at 3.25AM and handcuffed 11 employees and 2 hotel guests. General Manager Philip Landau described the heist as "a gentlemen's robbery". The robbers used crowbars and screwdrivers to force open about 40 safe deposit boxes. The police reported the robbers seemed to know which drawers would contain the most bounty.
On October 10, 1977 four men walked into the Sherry Netherland's lobby, pulled guns, handcuffed four employees and made off with cash and gems (some belonging to super star Diana Ross) from the hotel' vaults. The haul could have been worth up to $1 million. The robbery was the second in less than three years at the Sherry Netherland.
No one was injured in the holdup before dawn Monday at the Fifth Avenue hotel, which was the scene of a similar stickup in 1974 that netted some $900,000 from the safe deposit boxes containing valuables of the hotel's wealthy clientele.
According to police reports the hotel lobby was empty when the four heavyset men, dressed in business suits and wearing wigs and false mustaches, entered about 4:30 a.m. They walked up to the desk, pulled handguns and herded night manager Robert Clancey and three other employees into a storage room where they were handcuffed and left inside. As the night security man was "making his rounds on the upper floors, the bandits spent the next 45 minutes prying open more than 100 of the 154 small safety deposit boxes in the vault room.
Hotel general manager Philip Landau said after the robbers finished, they went back to the storage room where Clancey, bellman Steve McPartland, night auditor William Farragher and porter Jay Morton were handcuffed and told them not to move for 10 minutes.
Professional burglars Samuel Nalo and Robert Comfort were the significant ring leaders for several New York City hotel heists in the 1970's.
The Later Years
In 1949 The Sherry Netherland was offered to two financiers, Floyd Odlum and Boyd Hatch at an attractive price. They named Serge Obolensky president of the holding company, hiring him away from Hilton which operated the Plaza across the street at that time.
During the early 1950's Serge Obolensky focused on the Sherry's profitability and the Carnaval Room- the hotel's supper club. As the talent buyer he contracted with night club performers such as Helene Francis and James Symington (a future U.S Senator from Missouri).
Childs Restaurants acquired 90% of the stock in Louis Sherry, Inc. (but not the hotel) from Mrs. Lucius M. Boomer in 1950 for more than $2,000,000.
In 1954 the Sherry Netherland's 165 apartments were converted to cooperatives. Today the hotel has approximately 97 co-op residences and 53 hotel room/suites. Co-op owners have the option of putting their apartment in the hotel rental pool while not in use or, “opt out” and use as full-time home. According to hausfitzgerald.com residents of the Sherry-Netherland over the years include Jack Warner, the head of Warner Brothers, Claire Boothe Luce, Diana Ross, Francis Ford Coppola and more recently Judith Sheindlin (Judge Judy).
The Sherry Netherland shares the block with the luxury cooperative apartment building, Park V at 785 Fifth Avenue. Usually called the Park Cinq, the eighteen-story building was constructed by the Fisher Brothers developers in 1960.
From 1965 to 1972 Jerry Brody (Club Caterers) operated the L’Etoile and the Cafe Bar at the Sherry-Netherland. Jerry Brody was Restaurant Associates founding president and recruited Joe Baum in 1953 to work the Newarker, the white table cloth restaurant at the Newark Airport.
In October 1968, the exclusive disco Raffles opened in the basement of the Sherry-Netherland. Jerry Brody was the club's owner and Earl Blackwell managed the membership. Raffles occupied the space known as the Carnaval Room where Sere Obolensky had presided.
In 1975 real estate developer Joe Norban (a co-op owner) took over the nightclub hidden away in the belly of the Sherry-Netherland hotel. He named it Doubles and envisioned a private club - with backgammon games, dining and dancing. Daughter Wendy Carduner took over in 1982 and has sustained her father’s vision and grown the non-profit private club to 2,500 members. Doubles' longevity is attributed to being consistent, never being snobbish, and having all kinds of members. Doubles' Executive Chef is Steven Mellina who previously served at The Manhattan Ocean Club and The Helmsley Palace Hotel.
In 1985, Lord Charles Forte, with Trusthouse Forte wanted to open a restaurant on the ground floor of New York’s Sherry-Netherland Hotel. Forte and his son, Rocco, thought a Harry’s Bar–style restaurant in the building would persuade the owners to let their company, Trusthouse Forte, take over the management of the hotel. The Fortes flew Arrigo Cipriani to New York to check out the Fifth Avenue location. As soon as Arrigo saw the existing restaurant, called Le Petit Café, with its windows facing Central Park, he knew it was the perfect spot for what would be called Harry Cipriani.
So, at the former site of Le Petit Cafe, Giuseppe Cipriani, who founded Harry's Bar in Venice in 1931, opened the street side Harry's Bar at the Sherry Netherland in 1985. Following a brief eviction the family returned to the hotel in 1987 with the restaurant - Harry Cipriani. This restaurant is almost an exact duplicate of the original Harry's Bar in Venice. It’s the sky-high prices that keep this jet setter’s restaurant so exclusive. In 2011 its house drink, The Bellini, costs $19.95. In 2007 the NY Times food critic Frank Bruni said the only thing compelling about Harry Cipriani's is the prices.
Philip Landau was the general manager of the Sherry Netherland for 35 years - 1957 to 1982.
Louis N. Ventresca was the Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of the Sherry Netherland for over 20 years. He died at the age of 58 in 2003. He joined the Sherry Netherland Hotel in 1980 following stints at with PKF and Princess Hotels International.
In February, 2004 Michael Littler was appointed Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at the Sherry-Netherland. Littler was the General Manager of the Four Seasons Philadelphia and for eleven year the general manager at the Millennium Broadway.
Michael Ullman was appointed Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of the Sherry Netherland Hotel in April, 2010. Previously he was the Managing Director of the La Valencia Hotel in La Jolla, California from 1995 to 2008. Ullman has served as General Manager at the Ihilani in Hawaii and the Beverly Hills Hotel.
Theresa Nocerino has been the Sherry Netherland's Managing Director and Licensed Real Estate Agent from 1985 to present.
Text and photos compiled by Dick Johnson
December 2011
richardlloydjohnson@hotmail.com
MTS' Contract Services division fleet at the South Bay Maintenance Facility in Chula Vista. The bus in front, a 1995 New Flyer C40HF, is one of a large fleet that replaced the other three bus types in this photo, all GMCs.
In 1937 the Reichsluftfahrtministerium (German Air Ministry) issued a contract to the Focke-Wulf Flugzeugbau (Focke-Wulf Airplane Company) for a single-engined fighter to supplement the Messerschmitt Bf 109 then entering service as the standard Luftwaffe day fighter. A team led by Professor Kurt Tank tendered two proposals for the new fighter: one powered by the same Daimler-Benz DB 601 liquid-cooled engine used in the Bf 109 and the other by a BMW 139 fourteen-cylinder, air-cooled, radial engine. With all available DB 601 production allocated to the Bf 109 and the twin-engine Messerschmitt Bf 110, the Air Ministry selected the radial engine proposal for development, despite a distinct preference for liquid-cooled powerplants. Designated Fw 190 officially but called Würger (Butcher Bird) in the field, the new design was the only German fighter of World War II that flew behind a radial engine. It claimed another notable first as the only fighter aircraft of the war equipped with electrically-operated landing gear and flaps.
When the first prototype, designated Fw 190 V1, took to the air on its maiden flight on June 1, 1939, experienced test pilot Flugkapitän Hans Sander was at the controls. Sander reported excellent performance and handling but high engine and cockpit temperatures. The problem stemmed from a very tight cowling design that choked airflow around the BMW 139 engine. A cooling fan geared to the propeller to force air between the engine cylinders did not help and the switch to the more powerful BMW 801 engine only compounded the problem. The configuration did succeed in reducing drag but the overheating problems almost cancelled the entire Fw 190 program. Additional cooling vents aft of the cowling partially solved the problem.
Even as Tank struggled to control engine heat, the first Fw 190A-1 aircraft entered service with JG 26 (Jagdgeschwader or Fighter Wing) in France during August 1941. In September pilots flying the new Focke-Wulf tangled with Spitfires and the Allied fighter proved inferior to the Würger by almost any measure except turning radius. Until Supermarine introduced the improved Spitfire Mk. IX late in 1942, the Allies had no fighter to equal the Focke-Wulf. The Fw 190A-2 and A-3 entered service shortly thereafter and production grew rapidly at five different Focke-Wulf plants. Ago, Arado, and Fieseler also built the airplane under license.
A BMW 801D-2 engine, capable of producing 2,100 hp for brief periods by using a methanol-water injection system called MW-50, powered the next production variant, the Fw 190A-4. Tank moved the engine forward 15 cm (6 inches) on the next subtype, the A-5. This finally solved the cooling problems that had plagued the earlier variants. Luftwaffe fighter units flying the Fw 190A-5 played a principal role in inflicting heavy losses on unescorted U.S. heavy bombers during 1943. The A-7 and the A-8 (the fighter version produced in the greatest numbers), incorporated heavier armament which proved devastating against Allied bombers but it also added weight. The Fw 190 became more vulnerable to U.S. escort fighters such as the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt and North American P-51 Mustang.
As newer Allied fighters entered service, the Luftwaffe struggled to keep pace by developing improved fighters based on the Fw 190. The Fw 190B and 'C never progressed beyond the prototype stage but the Fw 190D began reaching Luftwaffe units in some numbers beginning in October 1944. It carried a powerful, liquid-cooled, Junkers Jumo 213 engine and it proved an excellent fighter aircraft but arrived too late to compensate for fuel shortages and losses of experienced pilots. The basic Fw 190 design also led to the advanced Ta 152H high-altitude interceptor that entered limited service during the spring of 1945. NASM has preserved the world's last known surviving TA 152H.
On the Eastern Front, the '190's reliable air-cooled engine and wide-track landing gear were ideally suited to operations in the harsh conditions of that theater. Eastern Front operations led to several new variants including the Fw 190F fighter-bomber which Tank designed with special emphasis on ground-attack operations. The airplane carried 360 kg (794 lb) of armor including sections of steel plate behind the pilot's head, on the lower engine cowling and the wheel-well doors. The F-8 model became the most important variant of the entire 'F series. Using kits supplied by the factory, front-line units could adapt these airplanes to carry various combinations of heavy cannons, bombs, rockets, and even torpedoes.
The Fw 190 excelled as both a fighter and ground attack aircraft but the German aircraft industry could not build enough of both types simultaneously. By the fall of 1944, Luftwaffe Schlachtgeschwadern (ground attack wings) operating Fw 190s could muster little more than ineffective pinprick attacks against Allied ground forces closing in from the East and West.
The NASM Fw 190 left the production line in late 1943 as a Fw 190A-7 fighter. After suffering damage during operations it was repaired and remanufactured into an
Fw 190F-8 fighter bomber. The conversion involved fitting a new wing and bomb racks to the original fuselage and adding armor plate around and beneath the cockpit. Reissued to the Luftwaffe, the aircraft flew on the Eastern Front during late 1944, probably on strength with SG 2 (Schlachtgeschwader or Ground Attack Wing 2) based in Hungary. The exact circumstances of its capture remain obscure but it was probably flown, during the war's final days, to an airfield in western Germany and handed over to Allied forces.
After Germany's surrender on May 8, 1945, "Watson's Whizzer's" commanded by U. S. Army Air Forces (AAF) Col. Harold Watson, prepared this Focke-Wulf and a number of other German aircraft for shipment to the United States. In June, the NASM aircraft was loaded aboard the British aircraft carrier HMS Reaper in Cherbourg, France. The carrier sailed for Newark, New Jersey, where eager hands offloaded her war prizes and shipped them to Freeman Field, Indiana, a collection point for captured enemy aircraft. NASM's Fw 190F-8 received the foreign equipment code FE-117 and by September 1945, eleven other Fw 190s had joined it at Freeman Field.
The end of war in Europe rendered further testing unnecessary and technicians at Freeman Field remanufactured FE-117 during 1946 and immediately put the airplane in storage. Unlike many captured German jet aircraft, FE-117 never flew in the United States. By 1949, the Air Force had transferred it to the Smithsonian Institution, joining the collection of other military aircraft in storage at Park Ridge, Illinois. NASM's Fw 190 fortunately escaped the scrap pile when war in Korea forced the Park Ridge facility to close. The airplane arrived at Suitland, Maryland, sometime during the 1950s and Smithsonian personnel placed it in outdoor storage.
Restoration began in 1980 when specialists began sanding through layers of postwar paint applied in the U. S. to uncover the original German Luftwaffe paint and markings. The sanding process exposed something of the rich history of this artifact. It flew first as a Fw 190A-7 fighter but Focke-Wulf later rebuilt it as a F-8 ground-attack fighter-bomber. The aircraft wore at least three different camouflage schemes and a manufacturer's data plate found inside the fuselage indicated that its first Werk-Nummer (serial number) was 640 069. Infrared photographs of the aircraft's vertical stabilizer revealed that after rebuild, Focke-Wulf assigned the airframe a new Werk-Nummer 931 884. Restoration concluded in 1983. The final paint and markings applied were historically accurate for this specific airframe: SG 2 (Schlagtgeschwader or Ground-Attack Squadron 2) during October 1944.
+++ DISCLAIMER +++
Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based historical facts. BEWARE!
Some background:
The Tornado ADV had its origins in an RAF Air Staff Requirement 395 (or ASR.395), which called for a long-range interceptor to replace the Lightning F6 and Phantom FGR2. The requirement for a modern interceptor was driven by the threat posed by the large Soviet long-range bomber fleet, in particular the supersonic Tupolev Tu-22M. From the beginning of the Tornado IDS's development in 1968, the possibility of a variant dedicated to air defence had been quietly considered; several American aircraft had been evaluated, but found to be unsuitable. However, the concept proved unattractive to the other European partners on the Tornado project, thus the UK elected to proceed in its development alone. On 4 March 1976, the development of the Tornado ADV was formally approved.
In 1976, British Aerospace was contracted to provide three prototype aircraft. The first prototype was rolled out at Warton on 9 August 1979, before making its maiden flight on 27 October 1979. During the flight testing, the ADV demonstrated noticeably superior supersonic acceleration to the IDS, even while carrying a full weapons loadout.
The Tornado ADV's differences compared to the IDS include a greater sweep angle on the wing gloves, and the deletion of their kruger flaps, deletion of the port cannon, a longer radome for the Foxhunter radar, slightly longer airbrakes and a fuselage stretch of 1.36 m to allow the carriage of four Skyflash semi-active radar homing missiles. The stretch was applied to the Tornado front fuselage being built by the UK, with a plug being added immediately behind the cockpit, which had the unexpected benefit of reducing drag and making space for an additional fuel tank (Tank '0') carrying 200 imperial gallons (909 l; 240 U.S. gal) of fuel. The artificial feel of the flight controls was lighter on the ADV than on the IDS. Various internal avionics, pilot displays, guidance systems and software also differed; including an automatic wing sweep selector not fitted to the strike aircraft.
Production of the Tornado ADV was performed between 1980 and 1993, the last such aircraft being delivered that same year. A total of 165 Tornado ADVs were ordered by Britain, the majority being the Tornado F3. However, the Tornado ADV’s replacement, the aircraft that is known today as the Eurofighter Typhoon, met several delays – primarily of political nature. Even though the first production contract was already signed on 30 January 1998 between Eurofighter GmbH, Eurojet and NETMA for the procurement of a total of 232 for the UK, the development and eventually the delivery of the new aircraft was a protracted affair. It actually took until 9 August 2007, when the UK's Ministry of Defence reported that No. 11 Squadron RAF, which stood up as a Typhoon squadron on 29 March 2007, had received its first two multi-role Typhoons. Until then, the Tornado F.3 had become more and more obsolete, since the type was only suited to a limited kind of missions, and it became obvious that the Tornado ADV would have to be kept in service for several years in order to keep Great Britain’s aerial defence up.
In order to bridge the Typhoon service gap, two update programs had already been launched by the MoD in 2004, which led to the Tornado F.5 and F.6 versions. These were both modified F.3 airframes, catering to different, more specialized roles. The F.5 had a further extended fuselage and modified wings, so that it could operate more effectively in the long range fighter patrol role over the North Sea and the Northern Atlantic. On the other side, the F.6 was tailored to the mainland interceptor role at low and medium altitudes and featured new engines for a better performance in QRA duties. Both fighter variants shared improved avionics and weapons that had already been developed for the Eurofighter Typhoon, or were still under development.
The Tornado F.6’s new engines were a pair of Eurojet EJ200 afterburning turbofans, which offered 30% more dry and 20% more afterburner thrust than the F.3’s original Turbo-Union RB199-34R turbofans. These more modern and fuel-efficient engines allowed prolonged supercruise, and range as well as top speed were improved, too. Furthermore, there was the (theoretical) option to combine the new engine with vectored thrust nozzles, even though this would most probably not take place since the Tornado ADV had never been designed as a true dogfighter, even though it was, for an aircraft of its size, quite an agile aircraft.
However, the integration of the EJ200 into the existing airframe called for major modifications that affected the aircraft’s structure. The tail section had to be modified in order to carry the EJ200’s different afterburner section. Its bigger diameter and longer nozzle precluded the use of the original thrust reverser. This unique feature was retained, though, so that the mechanism had to be modified: the standard deflectors, which used to extend backwards behind the nozzles, now opened inwards into the airflow before the exhaust.
Since the new engines had a considerably higher airflow rate, the air intakes with the respective ducts had to be enlarged and adapted, too. Several layouts were tested, including two dorsal auxiliary air intakes to the original, wedge-shaped orifices, but eventually the whole intake arrangement with horizontal ramps was changed into tall side intakes with vertical splitter plates, reminiscent of the F-4 Phantom. Even though this meant a thorough redesign of the fuselage section under the wing sweep mechanism and a reduction of tank “0”’s volume, the new arrangement improved the aircraft’s aerodynamics further and slightly enlarged the wing area, which resulted in a minor net increase of range.
The F.3’s GEC-Marconi/Ferranti AI.24 Foxhunter radar was retained, but an infrared search and track (IRST) sensor, the Passive Infra-Red Airborne Track Equipment (PIRATE), was mounted in a semispherical housing on the port side of the fuselage in front of the windscreen and linked to the pilot’s helmet-mounted display. By supercooling the sensor, the system was able to detect even small variations in temperature at a long range, and it allowed the detection of both hot exhaust plumes of jet engines and surface heating caused by friction.
PIRATE operated in two IR bands and could be used together with the radar in an air-to-air role, adding visual input to the radar’s readings. Beyond that, PIRATE could also function as an independent infrared search and track system, providing passive target detection and tracking, and the system was also able to provide navigation and landing aid.
In an optional air-to-surface role, PIRATE can also perform target identification and acquisition, up to 200 targets could be simultaneously tracked. Although no definitive ranges had been released, an upper limit of 80 nm has been hinted at; a more typical figure would be 30 to 50 nm.
The Tornado F.3’s Mauser BK-27 revolver cannon was retained and the F.6 was from the start outfitted with the AIM-120 AMRAAM air-to-air missile, with the outlook to switch as soon as possible to the new, ram jet-driven Meteor AAM with higher speed and range. Meteor had been under development since 1994 and was to be carried by the Eurofighter Typhoon as its primary mid-range weapon. With a range of 100+ km (63 mi, 60 km no-escape zone) and a top speed of more than Mach 4, Meteor, with its throttleable ducted rocket engine, offered a considerably improvement above AMRAAM. However, it took until 2016 that Meteor became fully operational and was rolled out to operational RAF fighter units.
A total of 36 Tornado F.3 airframes with relatively low flying hours were brought to F.6 standard in the course of 2006-8 and gradually replaced older F.3s in RAF fighter units until 2009. The Tornado F.3 itself was retired in March 2011 when No. 111 Squadron RAF, located at RAF Leuchars, was disbanded. Both the F.5 and F.6 will at least keep on serving until the Eurofighter Typhoon is in full service, probably until 2020.
General characteristics:
Crew: 2
Length: 18.68 m (61 ft 3½ in)
Wingspan: 13.91 m (45 ft 7½ in) at 25° wing position
8.60 m (28 ft 2½ in) at 67° wing position
Height: 5.95 m (19 ft 6½ in)
Wing area: 27.55 m² (295.5 sq ft)
Empty weight: 14,750 kg (32,490 lb)
Max. takeoff weight: 28,450 kg (62,655 lb)
Powerplant:
2× Eurojet EJ200 afterburning turbofans with 60 kN (13,500 lbf) dry thrust and
90 kN (20,230 lbf) thrust with afterburner each
Performance:
Maximum speed: Mach 2.3 (2,500 km/h, 1,550 mph) at 9,000 m (30,000 ft)
921 mph (800 knots, 1,482 km/h) indicated airspeed limit near sea level
Combat radius: more than 1,990 km (1.100 nmi, 1,236 mi) subsonic,
more than 556 km (300 nmi, 345 mi) supersonic
Ferry range: 4,265 km (2,300 nmi, 2,650 mi) with four external tanks
Endurance: 2 hr combat air patrol at 560-740 km (300-400 nmi, 345-460 mi) from base
Service ceiling: 15,240 m (50,000 ft)
Armament:
1× 27 mm (1.063 in) Mauser BK-27 revolver cannon with 180 RPG under starboard fuselage side
A total of 10 hardpoints (4× semi-recessed under-fuselage, 2× under-fuselage, 4× swivelling
under-wing) holding up to 9000 kg (19,800 lb) of payload; the two inner wing pylons have shoulder
launch rails for 2× Short-Range AAM (SRAAM) each (AIM-9 Sidewinder or AIM-132 ASRAAM)
4× MBDO Meteor or AIM-120 AMRAAM, mounted under the fuselage
The kit and its assembly:
The eight entry for the RAF Centenary Group Build at whatifmodelers.com, and after 100 years of RAF what-if models we have now arrived at the present. This modified Tornado ADV was spawned through the discussions surrounding another modeler’s build of a modified F.3 (and examples of other Tornado conversions, e. g. with fixed wings or twin fins), and I spontaneously wondered what a change of the air intakes would do to the aircraft’s overall impression? Most conversions I have seen so far retain this original detail. An idea was born, and a pair of leftover Academy MiG-23 air intakes, complete with splitter plates, were the suitable conversion basis.
The basic kit is the Italeri Tornado ADV, even though in a later Revell re-boxing. It’s IMHO the kit with the best price-performance ration, and it goes together well. The kit was mostly built OOB, with some cosmetic additions. The biggest changes came through the integration of the completely different air intakes. These were finished at first and, using them as templates, openings were cut into the lower fuselage flanks in front of the landing gear well. Since the MiG-23 intakes have a relatively short upper side, styrene sheet fillers had to be added and blended with the rest of the fuselage via PSR. The gap between the wing root gloves and the intakes had to be bridged, too, with 2C putty. Messier affair than it sounds, but it went well.
In order to make the engine change plausible I modified the Tornado exhaust and added a pair of orifices from an F-18 – they look very similar to those on the Eurofighter Typhoon, and their diameter is perfect for this change. This and the different air intakes stretch the Tonka visually, it looks IMHO even more slender than the F.3.
Another issue was the canopy: the 2nd hand kit came without clear parts, but I was lucky to still have a Tornado F.3 canopy in the spares box – but only the windscreen from a Tornado IDS, which does not fit well onto the ADV variant. A 2mm gap at the front end had to be bridged, and the angles on the side as well as the internal space to the HUD does not match too well. But, somehow, I got it into place, even though it looks a bit shaggy.
The IRST in front of the windscreen is a piece of clear styrene sprue (instead of an opaque piece, painted glossy black), placed on a black background. The depth effect is very good!
More changes pertained to the ordnance: the complete weaponry was exchanged. The OOB Sidewinders were replaced with specimen from a Hasegawa F-4 Phantom (these look just better than the AIM-9 that come with the kit), and I originally planned to mount four AIM-120 from the same source under the fuselage – until I found a Revell Eurofighter kit in my stash that came with four Meteor AAMs, a suitable and more modern as well as British alternative!
All in all, just subtle modifications.
Painting and markings:
Well, the RAF was the creative direction, so I stuck to a classic/conservative livery. However, I did not want a 100% copy of the typical “real world” RAF Tornado F.3, so I sought inspiration in earlier low-visibility schemes. Esp. the Phantom and the Lightning carried in their late days a wide variety of grey-in-grey schemes, and one of the most interesting of them (IMHO) was carried by XS 933: like some other Lightnings, the upper surfaces were painted in Dark Sea Grey (instead of the standard Medium Sea Grey), a considerably murkier tone, but XS933 had a mid-height waterline. I found that scheme to be quite plausible for an aircraft that would mostly operate above open water and in heavier weather, so I adapted it to the Tonka. The fact that XS 933 was operated by RAF 5 Squadron, the same unit as my build depicts with its markings, is just a weird coincidence!
An alternative would have been the same colors, but with a low waterline (e.g. like Lightning XR728) – but I rejected this, because the result would have looked IMHO much too similar to the late Tornado GR.4 fighter bombers, or like a Royal Navy aircraft.
Since the upper color would be wrapped around the wings’ leading edges, I used the lower wing leading edge level as reference for the high waterline on the forward fuselage, Behind the wings’ trailing edge I lowered the waterline down to the stabilizers’ level.
All upper surfaces, including the tall fin, were painted with Tamiya XF-54, a relatively light interpretation of RAF Dark Sea Grey (because I did not want a harsh contrast with the lower colors), while the fuselage undersides and flanks were painted in Medium Sea Grey (Humbrol 165). The same tone was also used for the underwing pylons and the “Hindenburger” drop tanks. The undersides of the wings and the stabilizers were painted in Camouflage Grey (formerly known as Barley Grey, Humbrol 167).
Disaster struck when I applied the Tamiya paint, though. I am not certain why (age of the paint, I guess), but the finish developed a kind of “pigment pelt” which turned out to be VERY sensitive to touch. Even the slightest handling would leave dark, shiny spots!
My initial attempt was to hide most of this problem under post-shading (with Humbrol 126, FS 36270), but that turned the Tonka visually into a Tiger Meet participant – the whole thing looked as if it wore low-viz stripes! Aaargh!
In a desperate move (since more and more paint piled up on the upper surfaces, and I did not want to strip the kit off of all paint right now) I applied another thin coat of highly diluted XF-54 on top of the tiger stripe mess, and that toned everything done enough to call it a day. While the finish is not perfect and still quite shaggy (even streaky here and there…), it looks O.K., just like a worn and bleached Dark Sea Grey.
A little more rescue came with the decals. The markings are naturally low-viz variants and the RAF 5 Sq. markings come from an Xtradecal BAC Lightning sheet (so they differ from the markings applied to the real world Tornado F.3s of this unit). The zillion of stencils come from the OOB sheet, but the walking area warnings came from a Model Decal Tornado F.3 sheet (OOB, Revell only provides you a bunch of generic, thin white lines, printed on a single carrier film, and tells you “Good luck”! WTF?). Took a whole afternoon to apply them, but I used as many of them as possible in order to hide the paint finish problems… Some things, like the tactical letter code or the red bar under the fuselage roundel, had to be improvised.
With many troubles involved (the paint job, but furthermore the wing pylons as well as one stabilizer broke off during the building and painting process…), I must say that the modified Tonka turned out better than expected while I was still working on it. In the end, I am happy with it – it’s very subtle, I wonder how many people actually notice the change of air intakes and jet exhausts, and the Meteor AAMs are, while not overtly visible, a nice update, too.
The paint scheme looks basically also good (if you overlook the not-so-good finish due to the problems with the Tamiya paint), and the darker tones suit the Tonka well, as well as the fake RAF 5 Squadron markings.
+++ DISCLAIMER +++
Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based historical facts. BEWARE!
Some background:
The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress is a long-range, subsonic, jet-powered strategic bomber, designed and built by Boeing, which has continued to provide support and upgrades.
Beginning with the successful contract bid in June 1946, the B-52 design evolved from a straight wing aircraft powered by six turboprop engines to the final prototype YB-52 with eight turbojet engines and swept wings. The B-52 took its maiden flight in April 1952. Built to carry nuclear weapons for Cold War-era deterrence missions by the United States Air Force (USAF), the B-52 Stratofortress replaced the Convair B-36. A veteran of several wars, the B-52 has dropped only conventional munitions in combat, capable of carrying up to 70,000 pounds (32,000 kg) of weapons.
The B-52 has been in active service with the USAF since 1955. The bombers flew under the Strategic Air Command (SAC) until it was inactivated in 1992 and its aircraft absorbed into the Air Combat Command (ACC). In 2010 all B-52 Stratofortresses were transferred from the ACC to the new Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC).
Superior performance at high subsonic speeds and relatively low operating costs have kept the B-52 in service despite the advent of later, more advanced aircraft, including the canceled Mach 3 B-70 Valkyrie, the variable-geometry B-1 Lancer, and the stealth B-2 Spirit. The B-52 has so far completed sixty years of continuous service with its original operator, and after being upgraded between 2013 and 2015, it is expected to serve with the USAF even into the 2040s, maybe even beyond that.
The only foreign operator of the B-52 had been the Royal Air Force in the 1980ies and 19990ies, and just in a small number. After the USAF's retirement of the earlier B-52 types, the remaining G and H models were used for nuclear standby ("alert") duty as part of the United States' nuclear triad. This triad was the combination of nuclear-armed land-based missiles, submarine-based missiles and manned bombers.
After the end of the Falkland War, the Royal Air Force withdrew its final long-range bomber type, the Avro Vulcan - which was to be replaced by the MRCA Tornado which was designed to a totally different tactical profile. Fearing the loss of international influence, the Ministry of Defence decided to fill this gap and leased twelve revamped and heavily modified B-52Gs from the USA. This was a convenient deal for both sides, since these bombers were earmarked to be scrapped per the terms of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START).
These modified aircraft were designated B-52K by Boeing, while the RAF officially called them later in service Stratofortress B.I, even though B-52K was more common. Most obvious change was the introduction of new engines. The B-52K benefited from a Boeing study for the U.S. Air Force in the mid-1970s which investigated replacing the original TF33 engines, changing to a new wing, and other improvements to upgrade B-52G/H aircraft as an alternative to the B-1A, then in development. Boeing had suggested re-engining the complete USAF B-52 fleet with four Rolls-Royce RB211 535E-4 each. The RB211 had originally been developed for the Lockheed L-1011 TriStar in the early 1970ies, but also saw use with several Boeing airliners, the "535" being a special development for the 757 airliner.
This new, bigger engine would not only improve overall weight and power (total thrust 8× 17,000 lb vs .4× 37,400 lb), it would also increase range and reduce fuel consumption and simplify the whole aircraft. Despite these direct benefits the USAF did not opt for this offer: the costs for aircraft modifications, infrastructure, logistics and also for the running operations of the complete fleet would have been prohibitively high, as well as only a partial conversion. For the UK, where the weapon system was to be introduced from scratch and also on a much smaller scale, the update made sense, though.
Boeing supported the British project, since the company expected to present the UK conversion as a field case study for potential later large-scale sales to the USAF. This included extensive wind tunnel testing, in order to optimize the engine pylons. These tests also demonstrated that the new four-engined aircraft may not have enough rudder authority to counter the adverse yaw generated by an outboard engine-out scenario. As a consequence, an enlarged fin was (re-)introduced, even though it was different from the earlier B-52 variants. Actually, as a cost saving measure, fin elements from the Boeing 747 airliner were used - and its integral tank enhanced the overall fuel capacity even further.
The ex-USAF B-52Gs converted into K models were taken from surplus stock that not been modified into cruise missile carriers, they were rather conventional bombers with nuclear capabilities - its main purpose for the RAF. A secondary role were martime operations like mine laying or missile attacks against surface ships over long distances.
Hence, the RAF aircraft underwent a series of modifications to improve conventional bombing and to adapt them to RAF standards. They were fitted with a new Integrated Conventional Stores Management System (ICSMS) and new underwing pylons that could hold larger bombs or other stores, including up to twelve AGM-84 Harpoon anti-ship missiles. The B-52K also introduced new radios, integrated Global Positioning System into the aircraft's navigation system and replaced. The under-nose FLIR was retained, even though with a modernized system. A fixed refluelling probe for the RAF's drogue system was installed on top of the cockpit section (earn ing the B-52K the nickname "unicorn"), and the tail gun station was deleted and replaced with ECM equipment and flare/chaff dispensers.
Delivery started in 1990, and the B-52K was just too late to become operational during the First Gulf War (Operation Desert Storm), in which RAF Tornados took part in, though, as well as USAF B-52s. In fact, the modified BUFF took three years to become fully operational, despite - or perhaps because of - the small fleet. In parallel, the Tornado was gradually introduced, too.
Eventually, the B-52Ks were baptized with fire: in 1999, when 'Operation Allied Force' began and USAF and RAF bombers bombarded Serb targets throughout the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia - even though with mixed success, since more than 600 of the 1.000 bombs dropped by the RAF during the Kosovo conflict missed their target, the Ministry of Defence admitted in 2000.
In 2003 the B-52Ks also took part in the invasion of Iraq as part of 'Operation Telic'. The Iraqi Forces were unable to mobilize their air force to attempt a defense, and the U.S. Air Force, Marine Corps and Naval Aviation, as well as the Royal Air Force, operated with impunity throughout the country, pinpointing heavily defended resistance targets and destroying them before ground troops arrived.
This success reinstated the B-52K's performance reputation a little, but could not deny the fact that the global political situation had changed since the fall of the Soviet Union, and that the heavy bomber was a concept of the past. Furthermore, the changing character of conflicts and the respective mission profiles made the British MoD in 2004 decide to retire the small, costly B-52K fleet, of which four aircraft had already to be grounded due to the end of their airframe lifetime. Consequently, all B-52Ks were scrapped until 2005.
Besides, the program results did not change the USAF's decision to keep the B-52H with its eight engine layout in service.
General characteristics:
Crew: 5 (pilot, copilot, Weapon Systems Officer, navigator, Electronic Warfare Officer)
Length: 159 ft 4 in (48.5 m)
Wingspan: 185 ft 0 in (56.4 m)
Height: 42 ft (12.8 m)
Wing area: 4,000 sq ft (370 m²)
Airfoil: NACA 63A219.3 mod root, NACA 65A209.5 tip
Zero-lift drag coefficient: ~0,0119
Drag area: 47,60 sq ft (4,42 m²)
Aspect ratio: 8,56
Fuel capacity: 48.630 U.S. gal (40.495 imp gal; 181.090 l)
Empty weight: 185.000 lb (83.250 kg)
Loaded weight: 265.000 lb (120.000 kg)
Max. takeoff weight: 488.000 lb (220.000 kg)
Powerplant:
4× Rolls-Royce RB211 535E-4 turbofan jet engines, rated at 17.000 kp (37.400 lb) each
Performance:
Maximum speed: 560 kn (650 mph, 1.047 km/h)
Cruise speed: 442 kn (525 mph, 844 km/h)
Combat radius: 4.750 mi (4.125 nmi, 7.650 km)
Ferry range: 10.715 mi (9.300 nmi, 17.250 km)
Service ceiling: 50.000 ft (15.000 m)
Rate of climb: 6.270 ft/min (31,85 m/s)
Wing loading: 120 lb/ft² (586 kg/m²)
Thrust/weight: 0.31
Lift-to-drag ratio: 21.5 (estimated)
Armament:
Approximately 70.000 lb (31.500 kg) mixed ordnance; bombs, mines, missiles, in various
configurations in an internal bomb bay and/or on wing pylons
Avionics:
Electro-optical viewing system that uses platinum silicide forward looking infrared and high
resolution low-light-level television sensors
LITENING Advanced Targeting System
Sniper Advanced Targeting Pod
IBM AP-101 computer
The kit and its assembly:
I remember that I read about the re-engine project of the USAF's late B-52 versions when I was in school, many years ago, and the BUFF is still flying - even though in its original eight engine layout. Anyway, I wonder why this topic has not been adopted by modelers more often? O.K., a B-52 is a large aircraft, but there are good small scale version around, like the Dragon kit in 1:200 which I converted.
Work was pretty straightforward, and the basis is/was a B-52G. The kit was built almost OOB, only mods include:
- engine nacelles from a Hasegawa Boeing 747-400
- the upper section of the latter's fin, too
- a scratched refuelling probe
- a modified tail without the four machine guns
Fit is good and surface structure/details are more than satisfactory for a kit of this small scale. Only thing that bugged me was the slightly tinted canopy that is a bit too wide for the fuselage, it's hard to blend it into the rest of the body. Another building horror were the 24 itsy-tiny bombs for the quadruple MERs under the wings.
Integrating the Jumbo nacelles was easier than expected, even though, after finishing the conversion, I'd recommend reducing the height of the outer pyolns by 2-3 mm, so that the engines come higher and closer to the wings. Space to the ground is very little - and to mend this I lengthened the outrigger wheels slightly.
Another issue were the wing parts - the left wing was slightly warped, upwards, and even though I tried to bend and force it into a stright line it somehow move back into its original position, so that a B-52 on the ground was hard to realize. If you build one, tuck the landing gear up and put it on a stand. It looks better, anyway... ;)
Painting and markings
This was the fun part. A B-52 with four bigher jet engines is one thing, and at first I intended to create a contemporary USAF aircraft. But then I remembered the weird Hemp apint scheme for large RAF birds like the Nimrod, VC.10 or Tristar tankers, and I wondered if that could not be applied to a B-52 in "foreign service"...?
Said and done, and from there things unfolded in a straightforward fashion. The only consequence of the RAF as useer was the refuelling probe, and the 340kg iron bombs that came as ordnance with the kit were a welcome option, too.
Even though Hemp is available from Humbrol (168) I rather used a darker tone, 187. Hemp was later used for shading, though. The undersides were painted in Barley Grey (Humbrol 167) and shaded with Light Ghost Grey (FS 36375, Humbrol 127), after a light wash with highly thinned black ink. Radomes and antennae received a yellow-ish, beige finish, the landing gear and the air intakes were painted white, as well as the MERs.
Decals come from several kits, e .g. a Cyber Hobby 1:200 Vulcan, a Matchbox Hawk 200 and a Tornado sheet from the Operation Allied Force era (the nose art was taken from there, as well as the ZA447 code).
A relatively simple whif - the large engine nacelles look strange and demonstrate how slender the B-52's body actually is, compared with an airliner. But the Hemp/Grey livery suits it very well, and the pics taken from above show how effective this scheme is when the aircraft is parked on a concrete airfield - and it is even effective in the air!
Here's a good way to prevent people from parking, as seen in St. Paul, Minnesota: just put drums full of toxic waste in your spot!
4 JBT is a Mercedes-Benz Tourismo coach operated by Johnson Bros Tours of Worksop and carrying National Holidays contract livery.
It is seen visiting Newquay, Cornwall in July 2018.
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I was originally enrolled into the GETTY IMAGES collection as a contributor on April 9th 2012, and when links with FLICKR were terminated in March 2014, I was retained and fortunate enough to be signed up via a second contract, both of which have proved to be successful with sales of my photographs all over the world now handled exclusively by them.
On November 12th 2015 GETTY IMAGES unveiled plans for a new stills upload platform called ESP (Enterprise Submission Platform), to replace the existing 'Moment portal', and on November 13th I was invited to Beta test the new system prior to it being officially rolled out in December. ESP went live on Tuesday December 15th 2015 and has smoothed out the upload process considerably.
These days I take a far more leisurely approach to my photographic exploits, a Nikon D850 FX Pro body as my trusted companion, I travel light with less constraints and more emphasis on the pure capture of the beauty that I see, more akin to my original persuits and goals some five decades previously when starting out. I would like to say a huge and heartfelt 'THANK YOU' to GETTY IMAGES, and the 25.087+ Million visitors to my FLICKR site.
***** Selected for sale in the GETTY IMAGES COLLECTION on August 30th 2018
CREATIVE RF gty.im/1027246016 MOMENT OPEN COLLECTION**
This photograph became my 3,252nd frame to be selected for sale in the Getty Images collection and I am very grateful to them for this wonderful opportunity.
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Photograph taken at an altitude of One hundred and sixteen metres at 07:48pm on Thursday 23rd August 2018, off Rue Foyatler, having taken the Funiculaire up to Sacre-Coeur located at 35 Rue du Chevalier de la Barre, 75018 Paris, France.
The Basiica of the Sacred Heart of Paris (Sacre-Coeur Basilica) is a Roman Catholic church dedicated to the sacred heart o9f Jesus, located on the summit of the butte Montmartre, the highest point in the city of Paris. Designed by Paul Abadie, the church was built between 1875-1914 and stands 83 metres high. Entrance fees in August 2018 are 9 euros for adults.
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Nikon D850 40mm. Hand held with Nikkor VR Vibration reduction enabled in Normal mode). 1/100s f/8.0 iso64 RAW (14 bit uncompressed) Image size L 8256 x 5504 FX). Colour space. Adobe RGB. AF-C focus 51 point with 3-D tracking. Manual exposure. Matrix metering. Auto 0 white balance (8030K). Nikon Distortion control on. Vignette control Normal.
Nikkor AF-S 24-120mm f/4G ED VR. Phot-R ultra slim 77mm UV filter. Nikon EN-EL15a battery. Matin quick release neckstrap. My Memory 128GB Class 10 SDXC. Lowepro Flipside 400 AW camera bag. Nikon GP-1 GPS module.
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LATITUDE: N 48d 53m 9.20s
LONGITUDE: E 2d 20m 34.90s
ALTITUDE: 116.0m
RAW (TIFF) FILE: 130.00MB NEF: 89.8MB
PROCESSED (JPeg) FILE: 54.40MB
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PROCESSING POWER:
Nikon D850 Firmware versions C 1.01 (16/01/2018) LD Distortion Data 2.017 (20/3/18)
HP 110-352na Desktop PC with AMD Quad-Core A6-5200 APU 64Bit processor. Radeon HD8400 graphics. 8 GB DDR3 Memory with 1TB SATA storage. 64-bit Windows 10. Verbatim USB 2.0 1TB desktop hard drive. WD My Passport Ultra 1tb USB3 Portable hard drive. Nikon ViewNX-1 64bit (Version 1.2.11 15/03/2018). Nikon Capture NX-D 64bit (Version 1.4.7 15/03/2018). Nikon Picture Control Utility 2 (Version 1.3.2 15/03/2018). Adobe photoshop Elements 8 Version 8.0 64bit.
+++ DISCLAIMER +++
Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based historical facts. BEWARE!
Some background:
The P-74 "Charger" was a fighter aircraft built by Lockheed for the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF). Its configuration was unusual as it was designed as a twin boom pusher configuration, where the propeller is mounted in the rear of the fuselage, pushing the aircraft forward.
The P-74 entered service with the USAAF in late 1944, its conception dated back to 1939 when the U.S. Army Air Corps requested with the Circular Proposal R40C domestic manufacturers to develop high performance fighter types, allowing (even demanding) unusual configurations. Lockheed did not respond immediately and missed the chance to sign a development contract in mid-1940 until early 1941. Twenty-three proposals were submitted to R40C, and after a fist selection of ideas three companies, Vultee with the large XP-54 Swoose Goose, Curtiss with its XP-55 Ascender and Northrop's XP-56 Black Bullet were able to secure prototype contracts.
Vultee eventually won the competition, but all these innovative new aircraft suffered from various flaws or development delays, missing various performance goals, so that none ever entered service.
In the meantime, Lockheed had been working on the 1939 request in the background on a private venture basis, as it was clear that by 1944 a successor to the company's own P-38 Lightning had to be offered to the USAAC.
The new North American P-51 Mustang was also a sharp competitor, esp. for the Pacific conflict theatre where long range was needed. This role was filled out very well by the P-38, but it was a relatively large and complicated aircraft, so an alternative with a single engine was strived for. Even though jet engines already showed their potential, it was clear that the requested range for the new type could only be achieved through a piston engine.
This aircraft became the XP-74, originally christened “Laelaps”, following Lockheed’s tradition, after a female Greek mythological dog who never failed to catch what she was hunting. It was presented as a mock-up to USAAC officials on August 8th 1942 and immediately found sponsorship: with the disappointing results from the XP-54,55 and 56 was immediately ushered into the prototype stage. Its name, though, was rejected, and the more common name “Charger” was adopted.
Just like Lockheed’s successful P-38 the XP-74 Charger was designed as a twin-boom aircraft, but it was driven by only a single Packard (License-built Rolls Royce Merlin) V-1650 pusher engine in the aft part of the fuselage. The tail was mounted rearward between two mid-wing booms, with a four-bladed 12-ft propeller between them. The design also included a "ducted wing section" developed by the NACA that enabled installation of cooling radiators and intercoolers in the wing root section.
The advantages of a pusher design are that the view forward is unobstructed and armament can be concentrated in the nose, while a major drawback is difficulty in escaping from the aircraft in an emergency, as the pilot could get drawn into the propeller blades. Lockheed deliberated between systems that would eject the pilot, or jettison the propeller or the engine, via a system of explosive bolts. Lockheed eventually installed an early ejector seat which was driven by pressurized air, combined with a mechanism that would blow the canopy off. The system was successfully tested in summer 1943, even though skepticism remained among pilots.
Initial armament comprised one 20mm Hispano cannon and four 12.7mm Browning machine guns, the same as in the P-38, but two machine guns were relocated from the nose into the front ends of the tail booms because of the new aircraft’s smaller overall dimensions.
The first prototype was ready in October 1943, with a different engine and heavier armor fitted. The second prototype was built to this specification from the start, which would become the serial production standard, the P-74A.
The P-74A used the new V-1650-9 engine, a version of the Merlin that included Simmons automatic supercharger boost control with water injection, allowing War Emergency Power as high as 2,218 hp (1,500 kW). Another change concerned the armament: a longer weapon range was deemed necessary, so the gun armament was changed into four 20mm Hispano cannons, two of the placed in the fuselage nose and one in each tail boom front end. Each gun was supplied with 250 RPG.
Alternatively, a nose installment with a single 37mm cannon and two 12.7mm Browning MGs was tested on the first prototype, but this arrangement was found to be less effective than the four 20mm cannons. Another factor that turned this option down was the more complicated logistics demands for three different calibers in one aircraft.
The P-74A was ready for service in summer 1944, but its deployment into the Pacific region took until December – the 5th Air Force first units replaced most of its P-38 and also early P-47Ds with the P-74A.These new aircraft had their first clashes with Japanese forces in January 1945.
The P-74 was used in a variety of roles. It was designed as an intreceptor against bombers, but its good range and handling at all altitudes made it suitable for tasks like fighter sweeps against enemy airfields, support for U.S. ground forces and protection of sea convoys and transport routes.
While the P-74 could not out-turn the A6M Zero and most other Japanese fighters when flying below 200 mph (320 km/h), its superior speed coupled with a good rate of climb meant that it could utilize energy tactics, making multiple high-speed passes at its target. Also, its focused firepower was deadly to lightly armored Japanese warplanes.
Because of its late service introduction, only 305 P-74s were ever produced until the end of hostilities, and they were exclusively used in the Pacific theatre. The P-74's service record shows mixed results, but usually because of misinformation. P-74s have been described as being harder to fly than traditional, single-engined aircraft, but this was because of inadequate training in the first few months of service.
Another drawback was the ejection seat system – it worked basically well, but the tank for the pressurized air turned out to be very vulnerable to enemy fire. Several P-74s literally exploded in midair after cannon fire hits, and this poeblem could only be cured when the tank section behind the cockpit received a more rigid structure and additional armor. Anyway, the P-74 was quickly retired after WWII, as the USAAF focussed on P-47 and P-51.
General characteristics
Crew: 1
Length: 10.45 m (34 ft 3 in)
Wingspan: 11.6 m (38 ft 0 in)
Height: 3.97 (13 ft 0 in)
Wing area: 22.2 m² (238.87 ft²)
Empty weight: 3,250 kg (7,165 lb)
Loaded weight: 4,150 kg (9,149 lb)
Max. take-off weight: 4,413 kg (9,730 lb)
Powerplant:
1× Packard (License-built Rolls Royce Merlin) V-1650-9 ,
rated at 1,380 hp (1,030 kW) and 2,218 hp (1,500 kW) w. water injection
Performance
Maximum speed: 640 km/h (343 knots, 398 mph)
Cruise speed: 495 km/h (265 knots, 308 mph)
Range: 1,105 mi (1,778 km)
Ferry range: 1,330 nmi (1,530 mi, 2,460 km)
Service ceiling: 11,000 m (36,090 ft)
Rate of climb: 15 m/s (2,950 ft/min)
Armament
4× 20 mm (0.79 in) Hispano-Suiza HS.404 cannons with 250 RPG
2× hardpoints for up to 2,000 lb (907 kg) of bombs, 6 or 10× T64 5.0 in (127 mm) H.V.A.R rockets
The kit and its assembly:
This whif was inspired by a CG rendition of a Saab J21 in a natural metal finish and with (spurious) USAAF markings, probably a skin for a flight simulator. Anyway, I was more or less enchanted by the NMF on the Saab – I had to build one, and it would become the P-74, the only USAF fighter code that had never been used.
The kit is the venerable Heller Saab J21A, an “old style” design with raised panel lines. But it is still around and affordable. No big mods were made to the kit during its transition into a USAAF fighter, even though I changed some minor things:
● Main landing gear was completely exchanged through struts from an Airfix A-1 Skyraider and the wheels from a Hasegawa P-51D; thin wire was added as hydraulic tubes
● New propeller blades: instead of the three-bladed original I added four much broader blades with square tips (from a Heller P-51D) to the original spinner
● Different exhaust stubs, which actually belong to a Spitfire Merlin (Special Hobby kit)
● Underfuselage flap was slightly opened
● A pilot figure was added to the nice cockpit
● The gun barrels were replaced with hollow styrene tubes
Painting and markings:
NMF was certain, but the rest…? I wanted to have a colorful aircraft, and eventually settled for a machine in the Pacific theatre of operations. When I browsed for options I eventually decided to apply broad black stripes on wings and fuselage, typical 5th Air Force markings that were used e. g. on P-47Ds and P-51Ds.
Overall design benchmark for my aircraft is a P-47D-28 of 310th FS/58th FG. The tail would be all white, and the rudder sported red and white stripes, early war insignia. The red nose trim and the deep yellow spinner were taken over from this aircraft, too. The blue individual code number is a personal addition, as well as the nose art, which was puzzled together from a Czech 'Perdubice' Meeting MiG-21 and leftover bits from a Pacific use P-51.
The aircraft was basically painted with Aluminum Metallizer (Humbrol 27002) and Polished Steel Metallizer (Modelmaster), and some panels were contrasted with Aluminum (Humbrol 56).
The anti-glare panel in front of the cockpit was painted in Olive Drab (Humbrol 66), the red nose trim with Humbrol 19. The tail was painted with a mix of Humbrol 34 & 196, for a very light grey, and later dry-painted with pure white.
The black ID stripes as well as the red and blue rudder trim were not painted, but rather created through decal sheet material (from TL Modellbau), cut to size and shape to fit into their respective places. The tail was a PITA, but for the black stripes this turned out to be very effective and convenient - an experiment that willcertainly see more future use.
Cockpit interior was painted in Humbrol 226 (Cockpit Green) and Zinc Chromate Green from Model Master, the landing gear wells received a chrome yellow primer (Humbrol 225) finish.
The landing gear struts were kept in bare Aluminum.
For weathering the kit received a rubbing treatment with grinded graphite, which adds a dark, metallic shine and emphasizes the kit’s raised panel lines. Some dry painting with Aluminum was added, too, simulating chipped paint on the leading edges, and on the black ID stripes some dark grey shading was added.
A relatively simple whif, but I love how the Saab 21 looks in the unusual, shiny NMF finish - and the USAAF markings with the prominent ID stripes suit it well, even though it looks a bit like a circus attraction now?
For more and various confidentiality contracts visit: www.samplecontracts.org/confidentiality-contracts.html
Before graduating on Saturday, December 15th with their MA in Culturally Responsive Leadership and Instruction from Drake University, the second cohort of DMPS BLUE contract teachers showcased their classroom-based research projects at the Drake University Collier Scripps building on December 14th.
Hwy.62/102 Interchange Improvements.& 8th Street Widening (Bentonville)
49
d9 District 9
County:
Benton County
Length:
1 Miles
Location:
Log Mile 85.85 - 86.85
Work Began:
March 2017
Est. Completion:
Mid 2019
ARDOT Job Number:
090376
RE Office:
94
Contractor:
Crossland Construction Co., Inc.
Contract Amount:
$28.8 Million
Description:
The purpose of this project is to extend 8th Street and construct a new interchange at 8th Street on I-49, make improvements to the interchange at Hwy. 62/102, and add auxiliary lanes on the I-49 between the two interchanges in Benton County.
The maritime patrol version of Boeing's best-selling single-aisle airliner, shortly to be contracted by MOD for a short squadron - well, Bomber Command would have called it a flight, not a fleet - for the RAF.
Contract faller felling hazard tress ahead of a burn operation;
Ferguson Fire, Sierra NF, CA, 2018
Photo by Kari Greer/ USFS
contract note on board. You are allowed to use this image on your website. If you do, please link back to my site as the source: creditscoregeek.com/
Example: Photo by Credit Score Geek
Thank you!
Mike Cohen
When it comes to addictions of any form it's as if you're singing a contract in blood. There are unhealthy habits that I have tried to escape from and it definitely feels like I have signed a lifetime contract with my habits. We all have something that we are trying to deal with or change, but the journey of doing so is definitely not an easy one. Sometimes the trials the journey holds keeps us from pursuing our desire to change, which sucks.
Life. . .
Wembley Stadium De-Coded
Wembley Stadium – built for the British Empire Exhibition – 1924 to 1925.
The original stadium incorporated the ‘Twin Towers’ and the ’39 Steps’ to the Royal Box allowing the winners to collect their medals and trophies from ‘Your HIGHness’ the Sovereign King or Queen of the Empire.
The stadium's first turf was cut by King George V – monARCH of Great Britain.
The demolition of Wembley’s Twin Towers commenced in December 2002 – a year after the US WTC 911 disaster (Sept 2001).
Wembley’s old Twin Towers would be replaced by a new stadium incorporating a grand ILLUMINATED ARCH spanning the hallowed turf of the Wembley playing field.
The present day stadium was opened in 2007 – symbolically a new SOLOMON’S TEMPLE of WORSHIP for the EMPIRE complete with a metaphorical ‘ARK of the COVENANT’ – the ILLUMINATED ARCH.
Oddly, the new Wembley Stadium in London, England appears to symbolize the progressive AMERICA of the 21st Century – PACIFIC CRESCENT on the WEST and ATLANTIC CRESCENT to the EAST.
The ‘GRAND ILLUMINATED ARCH’ spanning COAST to COAST….
21st Century AMERICA now firmly under CONTRACT with the monARCHy…?
(The original stadium's distinctive Twin Towers became its trademark and nickname. Also well known were the 39 steps needed to be climbed to reach the Royal box and collect a trophy (and winners'/losers' medals). Wembley was the first pitch to be referred to as "Hallowed Turf", with many stadia around the world borrowing this phrase).
pubastrology.files.wordpress.com/2021/10/noahs-ark-of-the...
_https://pubastrology.files.wordpress.com/2021/10/noahs-ark-of-the-covenant-revision-6.pdf
On a biblical narrative, SAMSON (Hebrew: "MAN of the SUN") was the last of the judges of the ancient Israelites mentioned in the Book of Judges (chapters 13 to 16) and one of the last leaders who "judged" Israel before the institution of the monARCHy.
SAMSON collapsed the PHILISTINES’ Temple by bringing down the COLUMNS.
The suggested metaphor for Wembley Stadium being that the PHILISTINES’ Temple of DAGON was replaced by the new Temple of SOLOMON resplendent with the ARK of the COVENANT.