from Wikipedia

The Parthenon (ancient Greek: Παρθενών) is a temple of the Greek goddess Athena, built in the 5th century BC on the Athenian Acropolis. It is the most important surviving building of Classical Greece, generally considered to be the culmination of the development of the Doric order. Its decorative sculptures are considered one of the high points of Greek art. The Parthenon is regarded as an enduring symbol of ancient Greece and of Athenian democracy, and is one of the world's greatest cultural monuments. The Greek Ministry of Culture is currently carrying out a program of restoration and reconstruction.[1]

The Parthenon replaced an older temple of Athena, called the Pre-Parthenon or Older Parthenon, that was destroyed in the Persian invasion of 480 BC. Like most Greek temples, the Parthenon was used as a treasury, and for a time served as the treasury of the Delian League, which later became the Athenian Empire. In the 6th century AD, the Parthenon was converted into a Christian church dedicated to the Virgin. After the Ottoman conquest, it was converted into a mosque in the early 1460s, and it even had a minaret. On 28 September 1687 an Ottoman ammunition dump inside the building was ignited by Venetian bombardment. The resulting explosion severely damaged the Parthenon and its sculptures. In 1806, Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin removed some of the surviving sculptures, with Ottoman permission. These sculptures, now known as the Elgin or Parthenon Marbles, were sold in 1816 to the British Museum in London, where they are now displayed. The Greek government is committed to the return of the sculptures to Greece, so far with no success.

In 1975, the Greek government began a concerted effort to restore the Parthenon and other Acropolis structures. The project later attracted funding and technical assistance from the European Union. An archaeological committee thoroughly documented every artifact remaining on the site, and architects assisted with computer models to determine their original locations. In some cases, prior re-construction was found to be incorrect. Particularly important and fragile sculptures were transferred to the Acropolis Museum. A crane was installed for moving marble blocks; the crane was designed to fold away beneath the roofline when not in use. The incorrect reconstructions were dismantled, and a careful process of restoration began. The Parthenon will not be restored to a pre-1687 state, but the explosion damage will be mitigated as much as possible, both in the interest of restoring the structural integrity of the edifice (important in this earthquake-prone region) and to restore the aesthetic integrity by filling in chipped sections of column drums and lintels, using precisely sculpted marble cemented in place. New marble is being used from the original quarry. Ultimately, almost all major pieces of marble will be placed in the structure where they originally would have been, supported as needed by modern materials.

Originally, various blocks were held together by elongated iron H pins that were completely coated in lead, which protected the iron from corrosion. Stabilizing pins added in the 19th century were not so coated and corroded. Since the corrosion product (rust) is expansive, the expansion caused further damage by cracking the marble.[39] All new metalwork uses titanium, a strong, light, and corrosion resistant material.

This is the culmination of a LOT of work. Everything is ready and in place, just waiting for Piper to be born! (End of the July)

Paint is Benjamin Moore Chamelion

Crib is a homemade copy of the Oeuf

Bedding is custom made by my mom

Rugs are Ikea

Chandelier is vintage

Dick and Jane vintage reprints

Villac france donkey pull toy

The new spiritual culmination introduced by Lord Ra Riaz Gohar Shahi

An excerpt: "Zam is Spiritual Infusion. This is new technology in spirituality. In the field of spiritual sciences, it is a new invention. You will not find this word anywhere else."

Read the article here:

www.theawaitedone.com/articles/2016/11/24/spiritual-infus...

A shiny culmination: silver!

This is the last photo of my colour series. I also took a grey one but it was too similar colour-wise and not nearly as good as the silver one, so I decided not to upload it.

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The Scavrat Destroyer is the Union’s first walker, and the culmination of years of effort by the organization’s finest mechanists. Reassembled from the ruined chassis discovered in Arrow Cache A, and reinforced with scavenged Sisterhood tech, the Destroyer finally establishes the Scavrats as a burgeoning military force, and greatly extends their range into the artifact-rich wastes.

Of particular significance, senior mechanists were able to seal and vent the Destroyer’s nuclear power plant, allowing a human pilot to replace the desiccated machine brain. This innovation has not been shared with the Sisterhood, which must still procure revenant Symbiotes to pilot their own radiation-drenched walkers. That being said, the human interface is rudimentary, limiting overall agility and the synchronous use of primary and proximity defence weaponry. In this regard, the Scavrats have a long way to go. For now...

Culmination of a very full and very fulfilling day, returning to one of my favourite French cities and one of the first I ever discovered, more than half a century ago.

Avistar Russia considers the most popular dessert in its country to be a birthday cake. It is the culmination of any celebration. Inspired by de la Prada's "confectionery" collection, on a wave of positive and vivid emotions, Avistar Russia decided to make her own culinary masterpiece using designer finds.

Playing the role of a cake topper in the form of a doll in the LOVE Fashion bodysuit made of sweet fudge, she decorated the outfit with a two-tier SalMoNoF cream skirt. Her playful KUNI hairstyle was crowned with a Lamu Fashion hat made of ice cream with colorful dragees. On her feet were shoes *Epic* made of cream. There are ALB LEONI sugar bears around the neck and **RE** cake decorations on the wrists.

To create a festive atmosphere, Avistar Russia used an arch of bright SuSu balloons. With her culinary masterpiece, she gives everyone present a festive mood.

Hair | KUNI - Fran

Hat | -Lamu Fashion - Funny Ice Cream

Bodysuit | LOVE Fashion - Sweetie

Sleeves | {le fil casse} - Maeve

Skirt | SalMoNoF - TORT

Heels | *Epic* - Lost Sweet

Earrings | Fortuna - Pearl

Necklace | ALB LEONI - bear w sugar

Rings & Bracele | **RE** - Sweety

Nails | [Dreamlight] - "Sweet Candy"

Eyelashes | WarPaint* - Charmed

Eyeshadow | *Eva Store* - Mary

Lipstick | alaskametro<3 - "Cyberspace"

Face stars | Senune - pastel neon

Decoration:

ninety - Popsicle

Happy Bithday - Teddy Bear

[PR] Ground Light Roses & Petals

.:ABEDUL:. Glitter Floor

TIS Hexascan

Pose: *PosESioN* Elruna 5

Place: *VIP Cafe *MaSSoLit*

maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Isola Del Giglio/220/37/3487

See words?

The direction sailors go.

Orion is the culmination of years of research, in the attempt to make more powerful Heroes. The two lines of thought were creating suits around existing Heroes, or physically increasing the size of Heroes (branching off into XL research). The many technological issues with hardsuits have swayed opinions towards XL Heroes, however Lord Furno pushed funding toward this more experimental technology. The result was Orion, a fully weaponized hardsuit capable of seating standard type Heroes. It is capable of repelling fire from handheld weapons, and can protect the user from many types of shrapnel (from optimum frontal angles). It comes with twin Magneto Shock Cannons that can be easily targeted from the suit. However the main draw from the suit is the ability to lift substantially heavier equipment than standard Heroes. The suit is rated to lift around 1 ton, almost twice it's weight. This particular unit is a suit created specifically to Lord Furno's liking.

…… Culmination of a busy Weekend shuttling furniture around London and shoehorning some leftovers to bring back to Shropshire! A repeat performance in a couple of weeks is on the cards too!! So my #331 shot of the day is The Tardis - a Volvo is definitely bigger on the inside than its outside suggests! - A large 2 seater sofa, an Antique 5 foot desk, guitar, percussion bits & bobs, clothes, pots & pans, shoes etc etc….….. And I’ve just realised - a lot of it is going BACK to London in the New Year Alan:-)

For the interested I’m growing my Shutterstock catalogue regularly here, now sold 133 images :- www.shutterstock.com/g/Alan+Foster?rid=223484589&utm_...

©Alan Foster.

©Alan Foster. All rights reserved. Do not use without permission.……

This was the culmination of a great Sunday afternoon road trip with the boys. We headed out for Payson and got side-tracked as we often do. This time we decided to visit Tonto National Monument so the kiddos could pick up another Jr Ranger Badge. The cliff dwellings were closed due to an Africanized bee infestation, but we didn't mind since we were treated to two beautiful sunset scenes, the Roosevelt dam and bridge : )

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This is the culmination of the photo-artistry I've been working on since the beginning of the year. I hope you enjoy it.

slate.adobe.com/cp/QBTVo/

N-Wing Starfighter

A collaborative design project

The culmination or round 2!

Last summer, after many trips to the Adler Planetarium in Chicago, Elliot started to become an expert on space and was particularly interested in the Apollo Missions. We watched Apollo 13 (he had no fear of the space mission, he was most worried about Ken Mattingly getting the "weasels" and Marylin Lovell dropping her ring down the drain). In October we went to the Lego store and picked up a copy of the Saturn V to build together. The skin of the rocket is a fairly repetitive build so he was able to mirror what I was doing. It was one of the first sets we truly built together.

A few weeks later he was playing with the set in his room during "family rest time" and when we opened the door the entire rocket was in pieces! "They had some problems dad, but you can fix it because you're a Lego expert". I did not want to do that, so I told him we would do something else with the parts.

When we started to do his middle name for the alphabet starfighters I realized N for NASA would be a wonderful match. I wanted a way for the ship to look like a rocket, but still open into an "N" shape. Most of the parts in this build are from the Saturn V set, but I also used the 2 x 2 x 5 Lattice Pillars from my old 1682-1 Space Shuttle Launch set from 1990. When I finished the build the mechanics worked perfectly, but I realized I needed a way for the ship to stay in a closed position - magnets!

This is my favorite ship from the "Grayson" series because of the combined use of Lego Space elements across generations.

One cold weekend afternoon, I was looking for something to do with my three year old in the house. We went to our Lego room, "What do you want to build?", "A spaceship," Star Wars obsessive Elliot answered, "an E-Wing!" I knew that the Lego fan site From Bricks to Bothans held a letter based starfighter contest years before, but I was willing to give it our own try.

During the build I developed our own set of self imposed RULES:

1. The ship has to be in the shape of the letter

2. It must be strong enough for a three year old to play with it without breaking

3. The primary color and cockpit location are chosen by Elliot

4. Any piece Elliot finds (that matches the color scheme) MUST be incorporated into the build

5. What Elliot says, goes. So if he wants a play feature or design element, I had find a way to make it happen

As the project progressed the builds became more and more complex and the rules became more flexible. We finished the letters of Elliot's first name and then he wanted his middle name. During the second set of letters I tried to incorporate more complex play features.

These creations sit in display in his room and he loves playing with them and creating self invented narratives and worlds. Working with him helped stretch my skills and introduced him into the process of design.

All 13 of these ships were on public display at Brickworld Chicago 2019. Please let me know if you saw them there and what you thought!

The Coronation Review of the Royal Air Force by HM Queen Elizabeth II celebrating her coronation which had taken place at the beginning of June.

The event held at RAF Odiham, 15th July 1953 was the culmination of seven month's planning can be seen in this view of the immaculately parked aircraft and their crews as they wait in the afternoon sun for Her Majesty to inspect them. This display was the largest display of military airpower that this country has ever seen (still to this day). Over 300 static aircraft and a fly past of over 600 aircraft.

Aircraft included:

Static Display

Avro Anson (various marks) (7)

Auster AOP6 (6)

Bristol Freighter Mk31E (1)

Canadair Sabre (12)

Canadair Sabre F1(4)

English Electric Canberra B2 (5)

English Electric Canberra PR3 (1)

DHC Chipmunk T10 (58)

DH Devon C1 (2)

NA Harvard T2B (12)

HP Hastings Mk1 (1)

HP Hastings C1 (2)

HP Hastings C2 (2)

HP Hastings C4 (1)

Avro Lancaster GR3 (4)

Avro Lincoln (8)

Gloster Meteor T.7 (17)

Gloster Meteor Mk3 (4)

Gloster Meteor Mk7 (2)

Gloster Meteor F.8 (19)

Gloster Meteor FR9 (4)

Gloster Meteor Mk9 (8)

Gloster Meteor NF11 (20)

Lockheed Neptune MR1 (4)

Airspeed Oxford (9)

Percival Prentice T1 (12)

Percival Provost T1 (4)

Avro Shackleton MR1A (3)

Avro Shackleton MR2 (1)

Bristol Sycamore HR12 (1)

Vickers Valetta T3 (4)

DH Vampire T11 (4)

DH Vampire Mk3 (8)

DH Vampire FB5 (17)

DH Vampire FB9 (14)

DH Vampire NF10 (3)

Vickers Varsity T1 (5)

DH Venom FB1 (4)

Boeing Washington B1 (4)

Tiger Moth G-AHUT

Auster AOP 6

Canberra PR3 (2)

Harvard 2B.6

Hastings C1 (2)

Hastings C2

Meteor T7

Spitfire LF16e.1

Flypast

Bristol Sycamore HC1 (1)

Airspeed Oxford 1 (12)

Avro Anson (21)

Avro Lincoln (45)

Avro Shackleton MR1A and MR2 (18)

Avro Vulcan Prototype (1)

Boeing Washington (12)

BP Balliol T2 (12)

Canadair Sabre F4 (24)

Canadair Sabre (36)

DHC Chipmunk T10 (32)

DH Vampire T10 (12)

Vampire FB5 (12)

DH Vampire FB5 (12)

DH Vampire T11 (1)

DH Venom FB1 (24)

English Electric Canberra (48)

Gloster Meteor F4 (12)

Gloster Meteor (various Marks) (192)

Gloster Meteor NF11 (36)

Gloster Javelin Prototype (1)

Hawker Hunter F1 (1)

HP Hastings (3)

HP Victor Prototype (1)

Lockheed Neptune MR1 (5)

N A Harvard IIB (12)

Short Sunderland MR5 (3)

Supermarine Swift F1/F4 (6)

Vickers Varsity T1 (12)

Vickers Valiant 2nd Prototype (1)

Supermarine Swift F1 (1)

This is the culmination of a studio project my wife and I have been putting together for some time. We gathered fabrics, trim, odds and ends from many different sources to design this costume. It was a fun project.

Strobist:

AB800 in a parabolic umbrella camera left

White reflector camera right to add detail in the shadows

Samburu National Reserve

Kenya

East Africa

In the culmination of the ritual, the male mounts the female while the wings are stretched out and moving in a circular motion. The female is underneath the male, You can see some of her body and neck.

The Somali ostrich (Struthio molybdophanes) is a large flightless bird native to the Horn of Africa. It was previously considered a subspecies of the ostrich, but was identified as a distinct species in 2014.

Though generally similar to other ostriches, the skin of the neck and thighs of the Somali ostrich is grey-blue (rather than pinkish), becoming bright blue on the male during the mating season. The neck lacks a typical broad white ring, and the tail feathers are white. The females are slightly larger than the males and browner in plumage than other female ostriches.

Male ostriches in the wild, or in large domestic flocks, are often seen leading around a small group of females. The males are slightly larger than the females and darker in color. The male performs elaborate dancing displays, during mating season, trying to attract the female birds to mate with him. Mating season for ostriches takes place from April to September, with the chicks hatching during the months of October through December.

Male ostriches undergo a color change at breeding season, when his skin turns bright red, which signals the hens that he's ready to mate. The male attracts as many hens as possible by dancing, fluffing his feathers, flapping his wings and swinging his head around while getting down on his knees. Often the females play hard to get and just walk away but the male doesn't give up and continues until the females succumb to him.

The male ostrich is normally a silent bird. During the breeding season, he finds his voice and makes loud, hollow-sounding booms to attract hens. This vocalizing, along with his strutting and dancing, is what makes the hens become attracted to him rather than to the other males in the area. The loudest voice, and the fanciest dancing technique is what makes him a successful breeder and also attracts more females to his harem.

The female ostrich holds her wings out from her sides, shaking the tips. She bobs her head, holding it low while opening and closing her beak. She crouches, telling the male she's ready. He approaches her with a rapid footwork dance and then mounts her while crouching with one foot on the ground and the other on her back. While mating, the male groans and the female snaps her beak and shakes her head.

Ostrich males are not monogamous during breeding, but do give more careful consideration to the dominant hen who also is called the major hen. This hen gets first choice of nesting grounds, lays her eggs first, then allows the other females in the flock to lay their eggs. The major hen knows which eggs are hers and protects them by pushing away the eggs of other hens so those eggs are more likely to get eaten by predators.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWaV1qsDO38

Wednesday was the culmination of a very difficult decision making process. After 17 months of partner training, Hunter was retired as a service dog and returned to the good people at New Leash on Life in OKC. Hunter is loyal, incredibly intelligent, and fun to be around. He is also super high energy, a little too much so for the job of seizure response dog. Despite his best efforts, my own, and the trainers who worked with us, he ultimately could not fulfill the role I need in a service dog. I struggled mightily with the idea that I should keep him as a non-working dog and forgo a successor seizure response dog altogether, but in the end, the benefits of having such a dog outweighed my profound bond with Hunter. This was heart rending, and I hope I made the right choice.

Hunter is being well cared for by the New Leash folks, and will soon have a home where he gets to be a loving, funny, toy chasing, people loving pet. He has earned it, and I wish him and his new humans the very best. Good luck, Chocolate Drop.

Once a feature of many secondary schools the gymnastics display was the culmination of many months of work and training. If it were brought back, might it mark an end to the obesity issues of this century?

Though labelled as "Good Council College" in our catalogue, Niall McAuley confirmed that this should actually be "Good Counsel College" in New Ross, County Wexford. We have visited the college and its students once or twice before, and B-59 and Niall McAuley remind us that a number of Poole commissions by Fr Conlon (or Conlan; rector of the college in the 1930s) date to the a similar range - likely indicating that this image also dates to the 1930s.

Photographer: A. H. Poole

Collection: Poole Photographic Studio, Waterford

Date: Catalogue range c.1901-1954. Though likely c.1930s

NLI Ref: POOLEWP 3967

You can also view this image, and many thousands of others, on the NLI’s catalogue at catalogue.nli.ie

check the whole set framed and confused

The USS Shogun is a Gagarin class starship and also United Federation Starfleet's newest Ship of the Line launched in February 2023. We have vacancies for crew in all departments.

Current Mission time : Sundays, 0800hrs to 1000hrs.

Contact : Ulrich Bechir or Selina Otsuka in Second Life for more information.

Where : maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/UF%20Starfleet%20Headquart...

Chat : discord.io/ufstarfleet

www.ufstarfleet.org

Most Adepts in the East follow the ancient traditions of the Dragon, and concentrate on the 'Pearl of Great Price', seeing it as the culmination of change and the attainment, immortality and Eternal Bliss. After the Pearl is created, the Body of Light or 'Diamond Body' becomes active, and the Adept is said to be immortal. The ancient Chinese word for Dragon, literally meant 'rising of the Moon,' referring to this Pearl of Great Price and the Body of Light (Star) of the Immortal. At this point, further progress involves learning about the various states of Immortality beyond Enlightenment. Entrance to Eternity involves the 'Wave of Bliss', the 'Divine Carriage to the Immortal Realms', also referred to as 'Riding the Dragon'. Tantra is perhaps the oldest form of Eastern or 'Dragon' Alchemy. According to Tantric philosophy the whole universe is built up of and pervaded by basic forces which are in intimate and intricate union. (The Chinese as well as the Sumerians perceived of two dragon currents, male and female. The Green Dragon and the Red Dragon of the alchemists are the positive and negative energies that compromise the cosmos of our perception, as manifest in the famous Chinese yin-yang/tao symbol.)

In Tantra these forces, named Shiva and Shakti, are personified as male and female deities. Of this divine pair, Shiva is the subordinate one, for it is the Female Principle that ultimately underlies all manifestation. There is a tantric saying, "Shiva without Shakti is a corpse." No significant progress can be made until this is fully realised.

Each seeker must blaze their own trail into the Wilderness of the Spirit, and each must also struggle to overcome the focus of the mind on Consensus Reality.

Initiation into a Circle is a ritual that symbolizes and/or helps to begin an inner transformation of the initiate. Today, all too often, the ritual is merely symbolic and serves only to link the initiate to the group egregore (group energy or thoughtform) and to create a political lineage. The actual transformation of the initiate only takes place if the seeker undertakes to pursue a methodology on his own. Such methodologies are often missing from the body of knowledge passed on to the initiate. Too often, dogma takes the place of the personal mystic experience that is the hallmark of the successful initiate. It is incumbent upon anyone who undergoes such a ritual to pursue knowledge and power until their Initiation becomes effective and they set foot upon the Path.

All efficacious Initiation is really self-initiation, and this refers not to some basically worthless self-dedication ritual at the hands of some 'group' or 'guru' ... but to years (if not lifetimes) of sustained .

The world is full of 'ex-spurts' who seek to dictate to others on how to go about their very personal spiritual quest, but how can another know your Heart? How does another know what moves you.

Follow your own In-Tuition, and you will not err.

Indeed, we have within each of us, male and female, left brain and right brain, dark and light, negative and positive. Reconcilation of these forces requires we put aside all preconceptions and predjudices in order to achieve a more objective 'enlightened' perspective.

The fearful, poisonous attitudes of the patriarchy have resulted in the feminine being ruthlessly exploited abused and suppressed, suffering more bigotry and being demonised more than any other group in history. The feminine has long been the ultimate 'scapegoat'. She has been 'blamed' for all the ills of 'man' since time immemorial - eve tempted 'innocent' adam etc etc etc. ad nauseum. Mountains of guilt have laid on Her by all the earth religions of 'man' - she is relegated in these religions as inferior at best and dark and/or evil at worst. Folk sayings, far too numerous to list here, such as 'never trust a woman" assign negativity in all its froms to the feminine. Rivers of contempt have been aimed at ageless wisdoms, calling them "old wives tales", when in fact they are, more often, "Old Wise Tales". Even the very Earth and Nature Herself have been seen by 'man' as something to be feared, subdued, controlled and exploited.

This is pure folly against Self. I am sure we can all acknowledge that to blame another for all our ills, is pure 'victim' mentality and a denial of personal responsibility - and yet this is what the patriarchy has sought to do - play the 'victim' when it seems expedient and then using this perception of feared 'evil' as a justification for all manner of heinous crimes against humanity and Nature. This is particularly poignant and significant because BOTH polarities reside WITHIN EACH and everyone of us. This toxic attitude divides us against ourselves, setting us up for endless cycles of self hatred and mutual destruction. As Grigori has pointed out so eloquently, the future survival of humanity as a species depends on a rapid comprehension of this imbalance and its profound effects on a personal and global level.

It is said, Masculine reasons - Feminine feels.....patriarchal systems are addicted to division and the notion that one thing must be 'inferior' and one 'superior" - such systems see reason as superior to feeling. This is illusionary. It si only when reason is guided by feeling, that Wisdom is found.....they cannot be separated nor should reason be seen as all important or 'superior'

It is incumbent and imperative that we correct the imbalance that has been foisted upon us by those who benefited from the reversal of ancient truth and learn to respect and honor the feminine in all its forms, BOTH within and without. She is CREATRIX - She is not merely a 'toy' for 'man' to amuse himself nor does She exist to be used by 'man' in his endless pursuit of ego gratification. Humanity and this planet have suffered and continue to suffer appallingly and unnecessarily because of this 'one eyed' view. It is time to wake up and use BOTH eyes.....both "I" 's. (smile)

Tantric Philosophy informs us, that from the eternal dance of Shiva (male) and Shakti (female), all manifestation arises. Of this Divine pair, it is Shiva who is the subordinate one, for it is the Female Principle that ultimately underlies all manifestation. There is a tantric saying, "Shiva without Shakti is a corpse." This must be fully realised if any significant progress is to be made.

..'Each seeker must blaze their own trail into the wilderness of the spirit.'

If this realisation (real-eyes-at-ion) could be achieved and ACTED upon, humanity may yet experience the 'golden age,' - having All become the 'golden child' of Eastern or 'Dragon' Alchemy.........or we can continue to poison the earth, our hearts and minds and die to life and to ourselves.

It is our Choice ...

dragoncourt.net/01.html

"The CC8S was the first production car ever made by Koenigsegg. It was the culmination of 8 years development work that started out with Christian von Koenigsegg wanting to build his own car. Its minimalistic, clean, efficient and elegant styling truly set it apart from the peers of the time. The CC8S laid the foundation for all Koenigsegg car models when it comes to aesthetics, philosophy and functionality.

The CC8S was produced between 2002 and 2003 in 6 examples, making it one of the rarest Koenigsegg models ever. 2 of the 6 cars were right hand drive. The CC8S pre-production car was premiered at the Paris Auto Show in 2000 and this was where the first orders for the car were taken."

Photographed at Goodwood Festival of Speed - the event which offers enthusiasts an unrivalled opportunity to get close to the action, and to meet the great champions who gather at Goodwood each summer.

If you'd like to visit FOS, you can set "2018 Ticket Alert" on website below:

goodwood.com/flagship-events/festival-of-speed

koenigsegg.com/

________________________________________________

www.facebook.com/MarcinWojciechowskiPhotography/

Explored #42 March 5th. The culmination of of my Life Imitating Politics set! I spent so long with this pair last Tuesday that I thought of giving them names – possibly beginning with E – but I decided not to go there!

This shot was taken, handheld and lying at full length, with the Canon 100-400mm set to 235mm - they are ridiculously tame! - and ISO400 for 1/1250th of a second at f5.6. In Lightroom, the main edit was crop to 8x10 format, as well as the usual minor adjustments to for exposure, sharpening and noise reduction.

As a culmination to the training program for our Community-Based Rehabilitation Volunteer/Workers, a mass was held where they will give their oath. It is providential that the gospel for the day would be the one where Jesus "curses" a fig tree for failure to produce fruit. These are my reflections on the homily given by Monsignor Mediarito...

Built in 1903-1905, this Prairie-style mansion was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright for Larkin Company executive Darwin D. Martin, whom built the house as a way to bring his family, which had been scattered in various parts of the United States when his mother had died early in his childhood. The house was the culmination of immense personal wealth and professional success that Martin had enjoyed in his life despite his difficult childhood, starting as a soap seller in New York City, being hired by the Larkin Company in 1878, before moving to Buffalo and becoming the single office assistant to John D. Larkin in 1880, and in 1890, replaced Elbert Hubbard, who was a person that Martin immensely admired, as the Corporate Secretary of the Larkin Company. When the Larkin Company was seeking a designer for a major new office building for the company at the turn of the 20th Century, Martin, whom had witnessed Wright’s work in Chicago and Oak Park, wished to hire the architect as the designer of the new building, but needed to convince the skeptical John D. Larkin and other executives at the company of Wright’s suitability for the project. As a result, Martin decided to have Wright design his family estate. Darwin D. Martin became such a close friend of Wright that he commissioned the family’s summer house, Graycliff, located south of Buffalo on the shores of Lake Erie, to be designed by Wright in 1926, and spearheaded the effort to assist Wright with his finances when his personal residence, Taliesin, was threatened with foreclosure in 1927.

The main house is made up of four structures, those being the house itself, which sits at the prominent southeast corner of the property closest to the intersection of Summit Avenue and Jewett Parkway of any structure on the site, the pergola, which is a long, linear covered porch structure that runs northwards from the center of the house, the conservatory, which sits at the north end of the pergola and features a statue of the Winged Victory of Samothrace, which is visible from the front entrance to the house down the long visual axis created by the pergola, and the carriage house, which sits immediately west of the conservatory and behind the west wing of the house, enclosing the rear of the house’s main garden.

On the grounds of the mansion are two other houses, those being the Barton House, built at the northeast corner of the property along Summit Avenue to house Darwin D. Martin’s sister, Delta Martin Barton, and her husband, George F. Barton, which was the first structure to be built on the property and very visually similar to the main house, using the same type of bricks and incorporating many smaller versions of features found on the main house, and the Gardener’s cottage, built in 1909 to house gardeners who maintained the grounds of the property, which is the smallest and plainest of the three houses, which is sandwiched into a narrow strip of the property between two other houses, fronting Woodward Avenue to the west.

The main house features a buff roman brick exterior with raked horizontal mortar joints and filled in vertical joints, giving the masonry the appearance of being made of a series of solid horizontal bands with recessed joints, accentuating the horizontal emphasis of the house’s design and creating texture with shadows. The roof is hipped with wide overhanging eaves, with the gutters draining into downspouts that drop water into drain basins atop various one-story pillars at the corners of the house, with the roof having a T-shaped footprint above the second floor and three separate sections above the first floor, which wrap around the second floor to the south, west, and north, with the roof soaring above a porte-cochere to the west of the house, as well as a separate roof suspended above a porch to the east. The house’s roof is supported by pillars that sit near, but not at the corners of the building, with windows wrapping the corners. The windows are framed by stone sills and wooden trim, with some windows featuring stone lintels. The front door is obscured inside a recessed porch on the front facade, with the tile walkway to the door turning 90 degrees upon its approach to the doorway, a quite common feature of many of Wright’s houses at the time. The house is surrounded by a series of low brick walls with stone bases and stone caps, with sculptural decorative stone planters atop the pillars at the ends of many of these walls, with some of the planters containing carefully chosen decorative vegetation, and others serving as semi-hidden drainage basins for the adjacent one-story roofs.

Inside, the house features a foyer with a head-on view of the pergola and the conservatory to the north, simple but finely crafted wooden trim elements, the beautiful Wisteria Mosaic Fireplace between the foyer and dining room on the first floor that reflects light in different ways via various types of tile with different types of glazing, rough plaster painted a variety of colors, careful use of shadow to highlight certain elements while obscuring others, art glass windows featuring stained glass and clear glass panes in decorative patterns, wooden built ins and Frank Lloyd Wright-designed furnishings, a large kitchen with lots of white surfaces and wooden cabinets overlooking the garden, a living room with a vaulted ceiling and brick fireplace featuring an arched hearth opening, extensive use of expansion and compression via ceiling height to drive movement through the space, ventilation ducts that can be operated via decorative casement windows at the pillars ringing the various spaces of the house, wooden screens to obscure the staircase and second floor, custom light fixtures, art glass ceiling panels, and five large doors with art glass lights to the eastern porch on the first floor. The second floor of the house has multiple bedrooms with a variety of Frank Lloyd Wright built-in and freestanding furniture, wooden trim, and multiple bathrooms. The house is further decorated with Japanese art pieces procured by Wright in Japan, as well as being heavily inspired by traditional Japanese architecture, with usage of shadow and light to obscure and highlight different features, as well as the general form of the house, with the wide eaves providing ample shade to the interior during the summer months, while still allowing light to easily enter the space during the darker winter months.

To the north of the main house is an approximately 90-foot-long pergola with evenly spaced brick pillars framing the tile walkway, decorative wooden trim on the ceiling at each column, light fixtures at each column, and a glass transom and a door with large glass lights and a narrow frame providing a nearly unobstructed view of the interior of the conservatory at the north end of the pergola, focusing the attention of visitors upon their entrance to the house, as the conservatory and pergola form a continual visual axis from the foyer to the statue of the Winged Victory of Samothrace that stands in the northern end of the conservatory. This entire section of the house was rebuilt during its restoration, having been demolished in the 1960s after falling into disrepair. The pergola features a gabled roof that terminates at the bonnet roof around the perimeter of the conservatory to the north and at the first floor hipped roof of the house to the south.

The conservatory sits at the north end of the pergola, and has a latin cross footprint, with a glass skylight roof with a gabled section running north-south and a pyramidal hipped section at the crossing. The skylight terminates at a parapet that surrounds it on all sides, which features distinctive and decorative “birdhouses” at the north and south ends, apparently intended to house Blue Martins, but were not designed appropriately for the specific needs of the species, and have thus never been occupied. Two of the birdhouses survived the decay and demolition of the original conservatory in the 1960s, and were prominently displayed atop a wall in front of the house until the restoration of the complex in 2007. The interior of the conservatory features only a few concrete planters flanking the walkways and below the large Winged Victory of Samothrace that sits in the northern alcove of the space, with this apparently not having been what the Martin family had in mind, leading to the erection of a prefabricated conventional greenhouse made of metal and glass to the west of the Carriage House shortly after the house’s completion. The conservatory utilizes the same small tile on the floor as other areas of the house, with suspended wooden trim frames breaking up the large void of the space into smaller sections, supporting the space’s light fixtures and carefully framing the planters, fountain, and sculpture.

To the west of the conservatory is the two-story Carriage House, which features a simple pyramidal hipped roof with wide overhanging eaves, recessed corner pillars with central sections featuring wrap-around bands of windows on the second floor, a large carriage door in the center of the south facade, flanked by two smaller pillars and two small windows, and a one-story rear wing with a hipped roof. The interior presently houses a gift shop, but is set up like the original structure, demolished in the 1960s, would have been, with horse stables, red brick walls, a utility sink, and a simple staircase to the upper floor.

The house complex was home to the Martin family until 1937, when, owing to financial difficulties brought on by the loss of the family fortune during the 1929 Black Friday stock market crash and Darwin D. Martin’s death in 1935, the house had become too difficult for the family to maintain, with the family abandoning the house, allowing it to deteriorate. Additionally, Isabelle Reidpath Martin, Darwin’s widow, did not like the house’s interior shadows, which made it difficult for her to see. D.R. Martin, Darwin’s son, tried to donate the house to the City of Buffalo and the State University of New York system for use as a library, but neither entity accepted the offer, and the house remained empty until 1946, when it was taken by the city due to back taxes. In 1951, the house was purchased by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Buffalo, which intended to convert the house into a summer retreat for priests, similar to the contemporaneous sale of Graycliff by the Martin family to the Piarists, a Catholic order. However, the property languished until 1955, when it was sold to architect Sebastian Tauriello, whom worked hard to save the architecturally significant and by-then endangered property, hoping the house would avoid the fate that had befallen the Larkin Administration Building five years prior. The house was subdivided into three apartments, with the carriage house, pergola, and conservatory demolished and the rear yard sold, and two uninspired apartment buildings with slapped-on Colonial Revival-style trim known as Jewett Gardens Apartments, were built to the rear of the house. In 1967, the University at Buffalo purchased the house, utilizing it as the university president’s residence, with the Barton House and Gardener’s Cottage being parceled off, both converted to function as independent single-family houses. The university attempted to repair the damage from years of neglect and did some work to keep the house functioning, modernizing portions of the interior and returning several pieces of original furniture to the house. The house would exist in this condition for the next half-century.

In 1975, the house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and in 1986, was listed as a National Historic Landmark. In 1992, the nonprofit Martin House Restoration Corporation was founded with the goal of eventually restoring the historically and architecturally significant complex, and opening it as a museum. In 1994, the organization purchased the Barton House, and had the Martin House donated by the University of Buffalo in 2002. The restoration of both houses began under the direction of Hamilton Houston Lownie Architects shortly thereafter, and the Jewett Gardens Apartments were demolished upon the acquisition of the site by the nonprofit around the turn of the millennium. In 2006, the Gardener’s cottage was purchased from private ownership, and work began to rebuild the lost Pergola, Conservatory, and Carriage House, which were completed in 2007. Additional work to restore the house continued over the next decade, restoring the various interior spaces, with extensive work being put in to restore the kitchen and bedrooms. Finally, in 2017, the last part of the house was restored, being the beautiful Wisteria Mosaic Fireplace between the dining room and foyer, which had been extensively altered. An addition to the grounds, located on the former rear yard of an adjacent house, is the contemporary, sleek glass and steel-clad Eleanor & Wilson Greatbatch Pavilion Visitor Center, designed by Toshiko Mori, with a cantilevered roof that appears to float and tapers to thin edges, with glass walls on three sides, which houses the visitor information desk, ticket sales, presentation space, a timeline of the Martin House’s history, and restrooms. The restoration of the house marks one of the first full reconstructions of a demolished Frank Lloyd Wright structure, and is one of several significant works by the architect in Buffalo, including three designs that were built posthumously in the early 21st Century - the Fontana Boat House in Front Park, the Tydol Filling Station at the Buffalo Transportation Pierce Arrow Museum, and the Blue Sky Mausoleum at Forest Lawn Cemetery, which was designed for the Martin family in 1928, but not built until 2004.

Today, the restored Darwin D. Martin House complex serves as a museum, allowing visitors to experience one of the largest Prairie-style complexes designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, faithfully restored to its circa 1907 appearance, giving visitors a sense of the genius and design philosophy of Wright.

The Sultan Ahmed Mosque has one main dome, six minarets, and eight secondary domes. The design is the culmination of two centuries of Ottoman mosque development. It incorporates some Byzantine Christian elements of the neighboring Hagia Sophia with traditional Islamic architecture and is considered to be the last great mosque of the classical period.

2015 10 30 185514 Turkey Istanbul Holiday 1PM

The culmination of an architecture buff's pilgrimage--made THAT much more climactic by the fact that storm clouds broke just in time for the sunset light to give the Tower this magnificent tangerine glow.

Built in 1903-1905, this Prairie-style mansion was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright for Larkin Company executive Darwin D. Martin, whom built the house as a way to bring his family, which had been scattered in various parts of the United States when his mother had died early in his childhood. The house was the culmination of immense personal wealth and professional success that Martin had enjoyed in his life despite his difficult childhood, starting as a soap seller in New York City, being hired by the Larkin Company in 1878, before moving to Buffalo and becoming the single office assistant to John D. Larkin in 1880, and in 1890, replaced Elbert Hubbard, who was a person that Martin immensely admired, as the Corporate Secretary of the Larkin Company. When the Larkin Company was seeking a designer for a major new office building for the company at the turn of the 20th Century, Martin, whom had witnessed Wright’s work in Chicago and Oak Park, wished to hire the architect as the designer of the new building, but needed to convince the skeptical John D. Larkin and other executives at the company of Wright’s suitability for the project. As a result, Martin decided to have Wright design his family estate. Darwin D. Martin became such a close friend of Wright that he commissioned the family’s summer house, Graycliff, located south of Buffalo on the shores of Lake Erie, to be designed by Wright in 1926, and spearheaded the effort to assist Wright with his finances when his personal residence, Taliesin, was threatened with foreclosure in 1927.

The main house is made up of four structures, those being the house itself, which sits at the prominent southeast corner of the property closest to the intersection of Summit Avenue and Jewett Parkway of any structure on the site, the pergola, which is a long, linear covered porch structure that runs northwards from the center of the house, the conservatory, which sits at the north end of the pergola and features a statue of the Winged Victory of Samothrace, which is visible from the front entrance to the house down the long visual axis created by the pergola, and the carriage house, which sits immediately west of the conservatory and behind the west wing of the house, enclosing the rear of the house’s main garden.

On the grounds of the mansion are two other houses, those being the Barton House, built at the northeast corner of the property along Summit Avenue to house Darwin D. Martin’s sister, Delta Martin Barton, and her husband, George F. Barton, which was the first structure to be built on the property and very visually similar to the main house, using the same type of bricks and incorporating many smaller versions of features found on the main house, and the Gardener’s cottage, built in 1909 to house gardeners who maintained the grounds of the property, which is the smallest and plainest of the three houses, which is sandwiched into a narrow strip of the property between two other houses, fronting Woodward Avenue to the west.

The main house features a buff roman brick exterior with raked horizontal mortar joints and filled in vertical joints, giving the masonry the appearance of being made of a series of solid horizontal bands with recessed joints, accentuating the horizontal emphasis of the house’s design and creating texture with shadows. The roof is hipped with wide overhanging eaves, with the gutters draining into downspouts that drop water into drain basins atop various one-story pillars at the corners of the house, with the roof having a T-shaped footprint above the second floor and three separate sections above the first floor, which wrap around the second floor to the south, west, and north, with the roof soaring above a porte-cochere to the west of the house, as well as a separate roof suspended above a porch to the east. The house’s roof is supported by pillars that sit near, but not at the corners of the building, with windows wrapping the corners. The windows are framed by stone sills and wooden trim, with some windows featuring stone lintels. The front door is obscured inside a recessed porch on the front facade, with the tile walkway to the door turning 90 degrees upon its approach to the doorway, a quite common feature of many of Wright’s houses at the time. The house is surrounded by a series of low brick walls with stone bases and stone caps, with sculptural decorative stone planters atop the pillars at the ends of many of these walls, with some of the planters containing carefully chosen decorative vegetation, and others serving as semi-hidden drainage basins for the adjacent one-story roofs.

Inside, the house features a foyer with a head-on view of the pergola and the conservatory to the north, simple but finely crafted wooden trim elements, the beautiful Wisteria Mosaic Fireplace between the foyer and dining room on the first floor that reflects light in different ways via various types of tile with different types of glazing, rough plaster painted a variety of colors, careful use of shadow to highlight certain elements while obscuring others, art glass windows featuring stained glass and clear glass panes in decorative patterns, wooden built ins and Frank Lloyd Wright-designed furnishings, a large kitchen with lots of white surfaces and wooden cabinets overlooking the garden, a living room with a vaulted ceiling and brick fireplace featuring an arched hearth opening, extensive use of expansion and compression via ceiling height to drive movement through the space, ventilation ducts that can be operated via decorative casement windows at the pillars ringing the various spaces of the house, wooden screens to obscure the staircase and second floor, custom light fixtures, art glass ceiling panels, and five large doors with art glass lights to the eastern porch on the first floor. The second floor of the house has multiple bedrooms with a variety of Frank Lloyd Wright built-in and freestanding furniture, wooden trim, and multiple bathrooms. The house is further decorated with Japanese art pieces procured by Wright in Japan, as well as being heavily inspired by traditional Japanese architecture, with usage of shadow and light to obscure and highlight different features, as well as the general form of the house, with the wide eaves providing ample shade to the interior during the summer months, while still allowing light to easily enter the space during the darker winter months.

To the north of the main house is an approximately 90-foot-long pergola with evenly spaced brick pillars framing the tile walkway, decorative wooden trim on the ceiling at each column, light fixtures at each column, and a glass transom and a door with large glass lights and a narrow frame providing a nearly unobstructed view of the interior of the conservatory at the north end of the pergola, focusing the attention of visitors upon their entrance to the house, as the conservatory and pergola form a continual visual axis from the foyer to the statue of the Winged Victory of Samothrace that stands in the northern end of the conservatory. This entire section of the house was rebuilt during its restoration, having been demolished in the 1960s after falling into disrepair. The pergola features a gabled roof that terminates at the bonnet roof around the perimeter of the conservatory to the north and at the first floor hipped roof of the house to the south.

The conservatory sits at the north end of the pergola, and has a latin cross footprint, with a glass skylight roof with a gabled section running north-south and a pyramidal hipped section at the crossing. The skylight terminates at a parapet that surrounds it on all sides, which features distinctive and decorative “birdhouses” at the north and south ends, apparently intended to house Blue Martins, but were not designed appropriately for the specific needs of the species, and have thus never been occupied. Two of the birdhouses survived the decay and demolition of the original conservatory in the 1960s, and were prominently displayed atop a wall in front of the house until the restoration of the complex in 2007. The interior of the conservatory features only a few concrete planters flanking the walkways and below the large Winged Victory of Samothrace that sits in the northern alcove of the space, with this apparently not having been what the Martin family had in mind, leading to the erection of a prefabricated conventional greenhouse made of metal and glass to the west of the Carriage House shortly after the house’s completion. The conservatory utilizes the same small tile on the floor as other areas of the house, with suspended wooden trim frames breaking up the large void of the space into smaller sections, supporting the space’s light fixtures and carefully framing the planters, fountain, and sculpture.

To the west of the conservatory is the two-story Carriage House, which features a simple pyramidal hipped roof with wide overhanging eaves, recessed corner pillars with central sections featuring wrap-around bands of windows on the second floor, a large carriage door in the center of the south facade, flanked by two smaller pillars and two small windows, and a one-story rear wing with a hipped roof. The interior presently houses a gift shop, but is set up like the original structure, demolished in the 1960s, would have been, with horse stables, red brick walls, a utility sink, and a simple staircase to the upper floor.

The house complex was home to the Martin family until 1937, when, owing to financial difficulties brought on by the loss of the family fortune during the 1929 Black Friday stock market crash and Darwin D. Martin’s death in 1935, the house had become too difficult for the family to maintain, with the family abandoning the house, allowing it to deteriorate. Additionally, Isabelle Reidpath Martin, Darwin’s widow, did not like the house’s interior shadows, which made it difficult for her to see. D.R. Martin, Darwin’s son, tried to donate the house to the City of Buffalo and the State University of New York system for use as a library, but neither entity accepted the offer, and the house remained empty until 1946, when it was taken by the city due to back taxes. In 1951, the house was purchased by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Buffalo, which intended to convert the house into a summer retreat for priests, similar to the contemporaneous sale of Graycliff by the Martin family to the Piarists, a Catholic order. However, the property languished until 1955, when it was sold to architect Sebastian Tauriello, whom worked hard to save the architecturally significant and by-then endangered property, hoping the house would avoid the fate that had befallen the Larkin Administration Building five years prior. The house was subdivided into three apartments, with the carriage house, pergola, and conservatory demolished and the rear yard sold, and two uninspired apartment buildings with slapped-on Colonial Revival-style trim known as Jewett Gardens Apartments, were built to the rear of the house. In 1967, the University at Buffalo purchased the house, utilizing it as the university president’s residence, with the Barton House and Gardener’s Cottage being parceled off, both converted to function as independent single-family houses. The university attempted to repair the damage from years of neglect and did some work to keep the house functioning, modernizing portions of the interior and returning several pieces of original furniture to the house. The house would exist in this condition for the next half-century.

In 1975, the house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and in 1986, was listed as a National Historic Landmark. In 1992, the nonprofit Martin House Restoration Corporation was founded with the goal of eventually restoring the historically and architecturally significant complex, and opening it as a museum. In 1994, the organization purchased the Barton House, and had the Martin House donated by the University of Buffalo in 2002. The restoration of both houses began under the direction of Hamilton Houston Lownie Architects shortly thereafter, and the Jewett Gardens Apartments were demolished upon the acquisition of the site by the nonprofit around the turn of the millennium. In 2006, the Gardener’s cottage was purchased from private ownership, and work began to rebuild the lost Pergola, Conservatory, and Carriage House, which were completed in 2007. Additional work to restore the house continued over the next decade, restoring the various interior spaces, with extensive work being put in to restore the kitchen and bedrooms. Finally, in 2017, the last part of the house was restored, being the beautiful Wisteria Mosaic Fireplace between the dining room and foyer, which had been extensively altered. An addition to the grounds, located on the former rear yard of an adjacent house, is the contemporary, sleek glass and steel-clad Eleanor & Wilson Greatbatch Pavilion Visitor Center, designed by Toshiko Mori, with a cantilevered roof that appears to float and tapers to thin edges, with glass walls on three sides, which houses the visitor information desk, ticket sales, presentation space, a timeline of the Martin House’s history, and restrooms. The restoration of the house marks one of the first full reconstructions of a demolished Frank Lloyd Wright structure, and is one of several significant works by the architect in Buffalo, including three designs that were built posthumously in the early 21st Century - the Fontana Boat House in Front Park, the Tydol Filling Station at the Buffalo Transportation Pierce Arrow Museum, and the Blue Sky Mausoleum at Forest Lawn Cemetery, which was designed for the Martin family in 1928, but not built until 2004.

Today, the restored Darwin D. Martin House complex serves as a museum, allowing visitors to experience one of the largest Prairie-style complexes designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, faithfully restored to its circa 1907 appearance, giving visitors a sense of the genius and design philosophy of Wright.

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The culmination of an amazing day touring around Valle de la Muerte and Valle de la Luna was the spectacular views to be had from the top of the massive Grand Duna de la Luna.

After trudging laboriously up and along the ridge of the giant sand dune we waited patiently, among the many others who had also made the climb, for the glorious sunset that was promised as the highlight of the trip by the tour guides.

Unfortunately it was to be a bit of a fizzer as there were no clouds in the sky and the best you could say was that the sky turned a yellow red before setting.

Nevertheless to have been here in the midst of the driest desert in the world at the top of one of the highest sand dunes in the Atacama was a spiritual experience in itself, well worthy of the tour guides praise.

With the setting sun the salt encrusted landscapes below and the gnarly eroded mountainsides took on a surreal appearance which will remain long in our memories.

Our Atacama adventure had only just begun, with some of the most interesting and amazing scenery we had seen anywhere in the world yet to come.

The RT-25 Missile Complex was the culmination of a major Carpathian effort to develop a medium and long range missiles system that can be set up anywhere in no time. Being rail-based, it made for a much more survivable SAM system, as the rail-based missiles could move around the rail network and thus be difficult to detect and track.

A typical missile launch train is composed of one M44-class locomotive (a standard diesel electric locomotive of the period), followed by generating power car (not present in the render), a radar and command car, and a variable amount of missile launch vehicles,.Vehicle stopping to missile firing is four minutes

The first wagon (RT-25A) is the P21 Radar Complex. It houses the target-acquisition and fire-contol radar and the command room.

Target acquisition range

Range: 10 m² - 330 km and 3 m² - 240 km

Altitude: 60 meters – 25 kilometer

Price: 100₪ (Mobile Radar Station)

The second wagon (RT-25B) houses four medium range 9M40 missiles.

Target engagement zone

Aircraft

Altitude: 15 meters – 25 kilometers

Range: 3–44 kilometres

Kill probability: 90–95% (for 1 missile 9M40)

Price: 6₪ (TEL)

The third wagon houses (RT-25C) two 9S32 long-range surface-to-air missiles.

Target engagement zone

Aircraft

Altitude: 25 meters – 28 kilometers

Range: 7–90 kilometres

Kill probability: 90–95% (for 1 missile 9S32)

Price: 6₪ (TEL)

A condominium unlike anything in Palm Beach, The Bristol is the culmination of an esteemed team of developers, architects, designers and brokers, coming together to create the most spectacular residential tower in Florida.

The vision of Al Adelson and Eugene Golub, The Bristol is being developed by Flagler Investors LLC, which is comprised of the renowned Golub & Company LLC, Commercial Financial Management and Elion Partners. Combined, the companies have over a century and a half of experience in real estate investment and development.

International architecture firms Solomon Cordwell Buenz and Revuelta Architecture International (PA) designed the iconic 25-story tower, creating The Bristol’s sparkling glass façade and sweeping flow-through residences. Interiors are by New York-based interior designer Amir Khamneipur. While his distinctly elegant creations have graced residential buildings such as Trump Tower, and magazines including Elle Décor, his impeccable tastes will soon outfit The Bristol’s exquisite lobby, exclusive club lounge, tranquil terrace gardens, and two-story fitness center & spa.

The lush landscaping of The Bristol is being created by the internationally acclaimed EDSA, Inc. With a passion for cultivating inspiring environments, and a portfolio including the world’s most renowned resorts and residential buildings, EDSA will be crafting the serene exterior spaces throughout The Bristol.

Exclusive sales for The Bristol are being conducted by Douglas Elliman Development Marketing, a branch of Douglas Elliman Real Estate, one of the largest real estate companies in the nation. Broker Chris Leavitt is leading the four-person sales team, which consists of skilled agents with vast experience and expertise. The team includes Samantha Curry, who is among the 1% of agents nationwide to hold designation as a Certified Negotiation Expert; Marisela Cotilla, who has over thirty-five years of experience in luxury residential, commercial real estate and mortgage lending;

and Sonja Stevens, who as a resident and owner in Palm Beach, thoroughly understands the intricacies of the local market.

To learn more about The Bristol and the team behind it, visit

TheBristolPalmBeach.com to schedule your private viewing at the Palm Beach Island Sales Gallery.

Credit for the data above is given to the following website:

www.thebristolpalmbeach.com/uploads/application/files/mee...

© All Rights Reserved - you may not use this image in any form without my prior permission.

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

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

Canadair’s impressive CF-151 ‘Kodiak’ interceptor had a long development story, and the fact that Canada developed an indigenous high-end fighter after the demise of Avro Canada’s CF-105 ‘Arrow’ in the late 50ies was an amazing achievement.

The CF-151 was quickly becoming outdated and an aircraft of very limited use, despite its formidable capabilities as a heavy interceptor. But potential war scenarios had changed, and economical as well as political developments could not justify the expensive (and small) Kodiak fleet anymore. Consequently, the last CAF CF-151 flight took place on August 18th 2000, when the last indigenous Canadian fighter type was replaced by CF-18s, too.

Canadair CF-151A general characteristics

Crew: 2

Length: 21.2 m (69 ft 10 in)

Wingspan: spread (20° sweep): 17.14 m (66 ft 3 in); swept (65° sweep): 11,65 m (38 ft 3 in)

Height: 5.55 m (18 ft 2 in)

Empty weight: 47,200 lb (21,400 kg)

Loaded weight: 82,800 lb (37,600 kg)

Max. takeoff weight: 100,000 lb (45,300 kg)

Powerplant:

2× GE TF30-P-3 turbofan jet engines, rated at 12,000 lbf (53 kN) dry and 18,500 lbf (82 kN) at full afterburner

Performance:

Maximum speed: Mach 2.5 (1,650 mph, 2,655 km/h) at altitude and in clean configuration

Combat radius: 1,330 mi (1,160 nmi, 2,140 km)

Ferry range: 4,200 mi (3,700 nmi, 6,760 km)

Service ceiling: 66,000 ft (20,100 m)

Rate of climb: 25,890 ft/min (131.5 m/s)

Armament:

4× AIM-7E3 'Sparrow' medium-/long-range AAMs, semi-recessed under the fuselage

4× AIM-9M 'Sidewinder' short range AAMs on wing hardpoints

2× drop tanks under the outer fixed wings

Theoretical external ordnance of up to 15.200lb (6.900kg)

The kit and its assembly

A bold and weird project. It all started when I was pondering the idea of a whiffy, large VG fighter in the class of a F-4 or MiG-25. While reading book about OKB Tupolev, when I realized that the Tu-22M had pretty fighter-like lines, even for a bomber. Some math revealed that reducing the aircraft by 50% in any dimension would yield a proper airframe, and so I started out searching for a 1:144 kit which would be turned into a fine 1:72 interceptor!

Strangely, respective kits are rare and expensive. The Dragon kit is 1st choice, but I found a re-boxed Dragon kit from 1985 under the obscure “New Craft” label (supposed to come from Japan) in North Carolina, only for US$12.

Its fuselage and wings would be taken 1:1. Three areas needed modification/donations, though. One issue is the tail fin. The Tu-22M’s fin, with its broad root section and the tail barbette, would not look good on a 1:72 kit, so it was completely replaced with a fin from a Panavia Tornado (Italeri). On the other end of the kit, I decided to implant a new front with a tandem cockpit. At first I just wanted to cut open the fuselage’s upper side, implant some seats and cover it with a TF-104 canopy, but I discarded it as impractical. Additionally, too much of the Tu-22M’s silhouette would be left.

As a surprising solution I found that the forward fuselage from a Su-15 (I had fuselage parts from a PM single-seated version still in the scrap box from my Ha-410 project) could be easily transplanted onto the Tu-22M fuselage, just in front of the air intakes! Dimensions and shape fit VERY well, and since the PM kit is cheap and widely available I ordered a NiB Su-15UM (a two-seater) from PM as a donation kit, for just US$8, instead of fighting with the single-seater.

The rest were rather minor modifications: the cockpit interior was built from scratch, with dashboards from a Tornado IDS, two IAI Kfir ejection seats and side consoles made from styrene strips. Nothing fancy, but the PM kit is totally bleak... Externally, the fairing for the 1:144 AS-6 ‘Kingfisher’ missile was closed (with a piece of styrene, cut to size), jet nozzles from a Tornado IDS added (drilled open and simply glued onto the Tu-22M nozzles), and a spine implanted between the canopy and the fin.

The landing gear is also completely new: the front wheel comes from a F-18 (reversed, though), the tandem bogies for the main landing gear are leftover pieces from a VEB Plasticart Tu-20/95 bomber kit, placed on struts from a F-117 kit and fitted with wheels which actually belong to the dolly in a Amodel X-20M missile kit.

The missiles are leftover pieces from a wrecked Italeri Tornado F.3. The drop tanks belong to a Revell F-16 - I originally wanted to use even bigger ones, from a vintage "box-scale" F-100 from Revell, but these proved to be to bulbous: they'd contact the landing gear.

Painting and markings

While a lot of Soviet design went into this aircraft, the idea of a Canadian alternative/successor to the F-101 and CF-105 prevailed. Additionally, I also organized a complete marking set for CAF CF-101s (from Wintervalley in Canada), so that authentic markings could be applied. While it sounds a bit boring, the simple, all-grey livery of CAF interceptors suits the Kodiak’s elegant lines well. Hence, the whole aircraft was painted in glossy FS16515 (Testors 2039), with a black radome and a blue fin rudder with three black stripes (a 409 Squadron marking) – very simple.

In order to emphasize details and pint out panel lines the model received a wash with thin black ink, as well as some dry-painting with lighter shades of grey on the upper surfaces. Canadian aircraft look rather tidy, so a thorough weathering or true worn look was not intended.

Cockpit interior was painted in medium grey (Humbrol 140), the landing gear as well as the air intakes in white (Humbrol 130). The landing gear interior was painted white, too, everything was kept rather simple. Additionally, some weathering and stains were added with dry-brushed shades of grey.

As mentioned before, all markings come from an aftermarket decal sheet from Wintervalley Model Products from Canada (now Canuck Models). Great stuff - if you search for authentic and high quality markings for ‘something Canadian’, look there!

Finally, everything was sealed under a coat of Tamiya Semi Gloss acryllic varnish, just the glare shield in front of the cockpit became totally matt.

What should I say? An idea that lingered for months finally became hardware, and it is a big and impressive bird. Surely, with the real CF-105 background, this model has a melancholic touch... Who knows what might have been if the CF-105 had not been axed in the late 50ies...? Maybe the Kodiak! ^^

Calgary, AB

The culmination of the Friday night opening of the festival was 'Balloon Glow'. All the balloons were fired up simultaneously for a super colorful display. One of the most fun photo shoots I've done. It was impossible to get them all in one shot. Plainville CT Hot Air Balloon Festival 2010

N-Wing Starfighter

A collaborative design project

The culmination or round 2!

Last summer, after many trips to the Adler Planetarium in Chicago, Elliot started to become an expert on space and was particularly interested in the Apollo Missions. We watched Apollo 13 (he had no fear of the space mission, he was most worried about Ken Mattingly getting the "weasels" and Marylin Lovell dropping her ring down the drain). In October we went to the Lego store and picked up a copy of the Saturn V to build together. The skin of the rocket is a fairly repetitive build so he was able to mirror what I was doing. It was one of the first sets we truly built together.

A few weeks later he was playing with the set in his room during "family rest time" and when we opened the door the entire rocket was in pieces! "They had some problems dad, but you can fix it because you're a Lego expert". I did not want to do that, so I told him we would do something else with the parts.

When we started to do his middle name for the alphabet starfighters I realized N for NASA would be a wonderful match. I wanted a way for the ship to look like a rocket, but still open into an "N" shape. Most of the parts in this build are from the Saturn V set, but I also used the 2 x 2 x 5 Lattice Pillars from my old 1682-1 Space Shuttle Launch set from 1990. When I finished the build the mechanics worked perfectly, but I realized I needed a way for the ship to stay in a closed position - magnets!

This is my favorite ship from the "Grayson" series because of the combined use of Lego Space elements across generations.

One cold weekend afternoon, I was looking for something to do with my three year old in the house. We went to our Lego room, "What do you want to build?", "A spaceship," Star Wars obsessive Elliot answered, "an E-Wing!" I knew that the Lego fan site From Bricks to Bothans held a letter based starfighter contest years before, but I was willing to give it our own try.

During the build I developed our own set of self imposed RULES:

1. The ship has to be in the shape of the letter

2. It must be strong enough for a three year old to play with it without breaking

3. The primary color and cockpit location are chosen by Elliot

4. Any piece Elliot finds (that matches the color scheme) MUST be incorporated into the build

5. What Elliot says, goes. So if he wants a play feature or design element, I had find a way to make it happen

As the project progressed the builds became more and more complex and the rules became more flexible. We finished the letters of Elliot's first name and then he wanted his middle name. During the second set of letters I tried to incorporate more complex play features.

These creations sit in display in his room and he loves playing with them and creating self invented narratives and worlds. Working with him helped stretch my skills and introduced him into the process of design.

All 13 of these ships were on public display at Brickworld Chicago 2019. Please let me know if you saw them there and what you thought!

A culmination of my passion for photography & my partners artistic talents. Jazz Murder is an 'oil on canvas' painting 40" (102cm) x 30" (76cm). Painted by my beautiful partner Jackie DiLosa, of which more can be seen at www.facebook.com/pages/Paintings-by-Jacqulane-DiLosa/4774....

Facebook | Flickriver

Due to a culmination of less than ideal circumstances, the latest of many locomotives to the Rockland Branch has spent the past month idling on the Rockland turntable, 24/7. The 3057 is in excess of the height of the roundhouse doors, and with the Maine winters being cold as hell, shutting it down and letting it freeze is not an option either. In addition to which, only a couple of freight runs have been made, as Dragon Cement is currently experiencing a lull in demand, and Bath Iron Works is for the time being unloading their steel in Saco as opposed to Harding's in Brunswick. While prime for the foamer's camera, its EMD prime mover has been much to the chagrin of the local neighborhood.

this is the culmination of all the classroom and swimming pool lessons one takes , an actual video of the final test for scuba diving before one gets their first of several scuba diving license. the first level is "open water license" . in this video the instructor, who is in the middle, is seen giving instructions to the students (kneeling down) on what tests they need to perform. there are several support divers who ensure and secure the safety of the group. tests for new divers are usually done at safe and shallow (usually 20 to 30feet deep) places and during calm conditions. the breathing you hear in the background is mine (sound travels faster and omnidirectional underwater). also in this video one can observe the absence of colours, this is what a diver sees when under water.

At Pashley you will discover 11 acres of beautiful borders and vistas – the culmination of a lifetime of passion for gardening, an appetite for beauty and an admiration of the tradition of the English Country garden. These award winning gardens, on the border of Sussex and Kent, are family owned and maintained – visitors often express delight at the attention to detail displayed throughout and the intimate, peaceful atmosphere.

All the ingredients of the English Country Garden are present – sweeping herbaceous borders, ha-ha, well maintained lawns, box hedges, espaliered rose walk, historic walled garden, inspiring kitchen garden, venerable trees and the Grade I listed house as a backdrop. The gardens are a haven for wildlife – bees, butterflies and small birds as well as moor hens, ducks and a black swan. Then, of course, the plants! Borders overflowing with perennials and annuals – the look changing through the seasons, but always abundantly filled, and each garden ‘room’ planted in a different colour theme.

Pashley is also renowned for fantastic displays of tulips, roses and dahlias. Our annual Tulip Festival features 35,000 tulips. During Special Rose Week over a hundred varieties of rose swathe the walls, climb obelisks and bloom in flower beds. Then in late summer our Dahlia Days event transforms the gardens once more with bountiful, brightly coloured dahlias in every border and pot.

Add to all this a Café and Terrace with excellent garden views, serving delicious homemade lunches, scones and cakes; Sculpture and Art Exhibitions; a Gift Shop with Plant Sales; and a friendly, knowledgeable team waiting to welcome you, and the recipe for a wonderful day out is complete.

www.pashleymanorgardens.com/

The culmination of nine hours in a landrover off -roading, in Namibia...

The Yashica Mat-124G is the culmination of the Yashica TLR line. It was introduced c1971 and continued to be produced until c1986. Features include shutter speeds from 1 to 1/500 sec. (plus B), a built-in self-timer, a crank film advance/shutter cock, and the ability to accept either 120 or 220 film. It also boasts the highly-regarded 80mm Yashinon taking lens (seen here with its accessory hood), capable of producing exceptionally sharp images.

This pristine example came to me through my friend Diane, from her friend Joan.

Many thanks to both of you!

A condominium unlike anything in Palm Beach, The Bristol is the culmination of an esteemed team of developers, architects, designers and brokers, coming together to create the most spectacular residential tower in Florida.

The vision of Al Adelson and Eugene Golub, The Bristol is being developed by Flagler Investors LLC, which is comprised of the renowned Golub & Company LLC, Commercial Financial Management and Elion Partners. Combined, the companies have over a century and a half of experience in real estate investment and development.

International architecture firms Solomon Cordwell Buenz and Revuelta Architecture International (PA) designed the iconic 25-story tower, creating The Bristol’s sparkling glass façade and sweeping flow-through residences. Interiors are by New York-based interior designer Amir Khamneipur. While his distinctly elegant creations have graced residential buildings such as Trump Tower, and magazines including Elle Décor, his impeccable tastes will soon outfit The Bristol’s exquisite lobby, exclusive club lounge, tranquil terrace gardens, and two-story fitness center & spa.

The lush landscaping of The Bristol is being created by the internationally acclaimed EDSA, Inc. With a passion for cultivating inspiring environments, and a portfolio including the world’s most renowned resorts and residential buildings, EDSA will be crafting the serene exterior spaces throughout The Bristol.

Exclusive sales for The Bristol are being conducted by Douglas Elliman Development Marketing, a branch of Douglas Elliman Real Estate, one of the largest real estate companies in the nation. Broker Chris Leavitt is leading the four-person sales team, which consists of skilled agents with vast experience and expertise. The team includes Samantha Curry, who is among the 1% of agents nationwide to hold designation as a Certified Negotiation Expert; Marisela Cotilla, who has over thirty-five years of experience in luxury residential, commercial real estate and mortgage lending;

and Sonja Stevens, who as a resident and owner in Palm Beach, thoroughly understands the intricacies of the local market.

To learn more about The Bristol and the team behind it, visit

TheBristolPalmBeach.com to schedule your private viewing at the Palm Beach Island Sales Gallery.

Credit for the data above is given to the following website:

www.thebristolpalmbeach.com/uploads/application/files/mee...

© All Rights Reserved - you may not use this image in any form without my prior permission.

Half an hour later, and racing north through Lichfield Trent Valley with an intermodal freight from Felixstowe to Trafford Park is veteran AC electric Class 86, 86632 and an unidentified classmate.

For a time it was the flagship of those early days of Electric traction on the Midland Region, but today few remain in nocturnal freight operations. The 100mph Class 86's were by far the most numerous of the original electric traction for British Rail, but their decline has been pronounced as many now languish in silent storage or have met their end at the cutter's torch.

The Class 86 was a culmination of developments pioneered by the original AC electric locomotives that formed the backbone of British Rail's Modernisation Plan in the late 1950's and early 60's. As part of the electrification of the West Coast Mainline, a new fleet of electric locomotives were commissioned to various manufacturers, these being the Class 81, 82, 83, 84 and 85. While the Class 81 and 85 were quite successful, and would see active service in the 1980's and 1990's, the Class 82, 83 and 84 were noted for their unreliability, largely due to their manufacturer's inexperience at building electric locomotives.

The Class 86, originally dubbed the AL6, took elements from each to create the perfect flagship locomotive, including the bodyshape and wheel design. The AL6 however also brought to the table its own innovative design features, including quieter cooling fans, the lack of a second pantograph and the fitting of four AEI 282AZ 900hp Traction Motors, with an overall power output of 3,600hp on the original locomotives.

The Class 86's made their first official appearance on the West Coast in August 1965, and eventually all 100 locomotives would be in service with BR after a 24 month construction run, making it the most numerous class of electric locomotive in the UK, an unbeaten record. However, initial problems came with regard to the AL6, largely due to the position of the axle-hung traction motors, which would cause damage to the tracks due to the additional unsprung mass. To solve this, new flexicoil springs were added in 1969 to help support the traction motors, this eventually being placed onto all members of the class.

By 1970, several variants of the class had been created for various purposes. 86/0 locomotives were unmodified members without flexicoil springs, and were restricted to 80mph; while 86/2 were modified with flexicoil springs, and could operate at the locomotive's top speed of 100mph, putting them in good stead for passenger services. A later variant was the Class 86/1, modified with 5,000hp traction motors as a testbed for the upcoming Class 87's, which would be the flagship electric locomotives for passenger trains out of London Euston.

Even following the introduction of the Class 87's in 1974, the Class 86's still held a prominent role on the West Coast Mainline for both passenger and freight operations. Their influence was widened in time thanks to the electrification of routes out of London Liverpool Street towards Cambridge, Harwich, Norwich and Ipswich. Class 86's began operations there during the mid to late 1980's, and became the prime motive power for express services along the Great Eastern route towards Anglia. This coincided with the addition of TDM or Time-Division Multiplexing, which allowed the locomotives to be controlled by cab-control cars. On the West Coast Mainline, streamlined Class 82 Driving Van Trailers made an appearance after 1988, while on the Great Eastern, converted MkII carriages called DBSO's, or Driving Brake Standard Only, were brought in from Scotland after they were displaced from Edinburgh to Glasgow expresses by Class 158 DMU's.

By the 1990's, a majority of the Class 86's were still in service on freight and passenger workings. Class 86/2's worked express passenger services, whilst Class 86/4's were reclassified into 86/6's for use on freight as part of the new Freightliner and Railfreight Distribution services. For a brief time, several 86/2's were allocated to freight, and these were renumbered 86/5's, but were quickly returned to InterCity. By the mid-1990's, the Class 86's were truly at the peak of their powers, operating InterCity services out of two major London terminals, and being the backbone of both freight and parcels services on the West Coast Mainline north of London, as well as on the Great Eastern to the east.

However, as privatisation began in the late 1990's, new operators were quick to outline their new plan for replacing the nearly 40 year old locomotives with newer stock. The Class 86's were split into several companies, with passenger 86/2's being divided amongst Anglia Railways, Virgin West Coast and Virgin Cross Country. Freight operator EWS inherited 15 locomotives from the Parcels sector, whilst 30 locomotives went to the newly formed Freightliner company.

As mentioned however, commitments to the new franchising system meant that old stock had to be replaced in order to improve service reliability, and the Class 86's were singled out for retirement more than the other classes. Virgin Cross Country were the first to retire the locomotives, their fleet of 19 locomotives used between Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool and Scotland being retired in September 2002 along with all loco-hauled Cross-Country services. Some Class 86's would continue to find service with Virgin's West Coast Mainline arm, but the end was nigh for these locomotives as well, the last being retired in September 2003.

Anglia's Class 86's held on for another year, but as Virgin replaced its loco-hauled stock with new Class 390 Pendolino units, displaced Class 90's, which were much younger and more reliable, began working on Anglia's services out of London Liverpool Street. Coupled with the change in franchise from Anglia to National Express' 'One', and by September 2005 nothing remained of the Class 86, the very last Class 86 hauled intercity train taking place on September 17th, 2005, with 86235 doing the honours.

EWS also quickly retired the Class 86's, due largely to the removal of the Mail Train contract in 2003, but also due to the introduction of Class 66's to operate most freight diagrams.

Freightliner however continue to maintain a sizable fleet of locomotives for their freight operations on the West Coast and Great Eastern Mainlines, with 14 of these 52 year old locomotives still in active service with the company. Today they're quite hard to find in the daytime, but in rare instances you may be lucky enough to catch one running very late or very early.

Other Class 86's include ones exported to Bulgaria, of which 6 have currently been so far together with several Class 87's. Many Class 86's however continue to languish in storage, mostly at Long Marston base in Worcestershire, as well as many having been scrapped or stripped for spares donors.

Class 86's have also had their fair share of accidents, perhaps more so than other UK locomotive classes. The first such accident was in January 1975, when 86209 collided head-on with Class 83, 83003, killing one, though the 86 was eventually recovered and returned to work. Also in 1975, 86006 and 86242 suffered a devastating crash at Nuneaton, when the two electric locomotives entered a temporary speed restriction at high speed causing a derailment that killed 6 and injured 38.

Another very serious incident was the Colwich rail crash of September 19th, 1986, when 86211 and 86429 collided head-on, resulting in the death of one of the drivers and the destruction of both locomotives.

In 1996, 86239, hauling a Mail Train, collided with the rear of a freight train near Stafford and ended up in a back garden, writing off the locomotive and killing two Royal Mail staff aboard the mail train.

The last major crash of the Class 86 was in 2003, when 86631 and 86611 crashed into a stationary freight train at Norton Bridge, the force of the impact snapping the leading locomotive in half. Thankfully there were no fatalities, but both locomotives were written off.

Officially, three locomotives have been preserved here in the UK, but even these still see regular revenue earning work. 86259 'Les Ross' was purchased by the eponymous owner in 2008, and is a regular operator on the mainline working railtours for Vintage Trains. Two other Class 86's, 86101 and 86401, have been returned from preservation to help operate the Caledonian Sleeper service from London to Scotland. Though mostly used for Empty Carriage workings, they do sometimes operate the full route between London and Glasgow/Edinburgh.

Today, the Class 86's, though over 50 years old, still prove themselves reliable and charming electric locomotives, and true pioneers in their own right. A design that may date back to the late 1950's, the flexible nature of these engines has helped them stand the test of time, and one hopes they see continued use well into the future.

I chose this shot of the Raptor for this rant because it does not glorify the technological marvel that it is. It shows the culmination of the 20 year+ path it took to get to this picture. Here it shows a Raptor taxing out for a sortie over the Nellis ranges amongst its operational stablemates. The F-22 has come a LONG way to deliver the goods and now, once its capability is just being understood Secretary Gates and the Obama Administration TERMINATED THE PROJECT in favor of the F-35. Here is my response to a fraternity brother who wrote me in response to today's cuts. He stated he is happy that the money is going more towards the troops on the ground and not these flying overpriced techno-dream machines. To his credit he served heroically 18 months in iraq during the worst of the Shiite uprising. Please take the time to read it and tell me your thoughts on today's events.

______________________________

You are right right, our ground troops need a much higher focus going forward. But Gates has not given them that at the expense of the F-22. No he actually cut our battalions from a goal of 48 to 45 and shelved the badly needed Future Combat System that would give the ground guys "netcentric" 21st century technology. OH but he did increase Pentagon bureaucracy by a HUGE margin.

Why is the F-22 needed.

1.) Although 183 airframes seems like a lot, it is NOT. If we were to go to war tomorrow it would only leave a SUSTAINED force of about 30-40 jets that would be combat ready at any given time. The rest believe it or not are stuck in training, upgrades, depot, systems testing or tactics development. Each raptor carries 8 missiles, 6 of which (beyond visual range AIM-120Cs) would be used if everything goes RIGHT. If it does not the other 2 (AIM-9M) plus the 480rds of 20mm are for self defense. In other words after 6 shots the raptor runs. Further they usually volley 2 AIM-120Cs per target. That leaves a real world potential kill probability of 3 airframes per sortie against a serious threat. Raptors fight in divisions of 4 at a time so that is 12 enemy aircraft destroyed before they have to re-arm. This is NOT ENEOUGH CAPABILITY AGAINST THREATS SUCH AS CHINA OR EVEN LOWER TIER FOES WITH CRUISE MISSILES. Enemies will now know that all they have to do is saturate the Raptor to break through to our high value assets (AWACS, JSTARS, TANKERS, NETWORK RELAY AIRCRAFT, CARRIERS, GARRISONS ETC.) it simply is not enough capability for first day of war scenarios.

2.) The Raptor can do things the F-35 cannot. The F-35 can only carry 4 AIM-120s with no close in heaters like the AIM-9X (Infra Red homing and highly maneuverable). That means the F-35 can only kill 2 targets at beyond visual range with high probability of kill. Further only the USAF version of the F-35 will carry and internal gun for self defense close in.

3.) The Raptor can supercruise (obtain sustained supersonic speed without gas guzzling afterburner) the F-35 cannot. The F-35 is a heavy single engine aircraft that is not even as maneuverable as an F-16 in certain areas of the flight envelope. It has no thrust vectoring for super maneuverability and is not as stealthy nor stealthy in all aspects like the F-22. Simply it is not even close to a replacement for air superiority. They are apples and oranges.

4.) The F-15 is old, if we retain 173 "GOLDEN EAGLES" with the new Electronically Scanned Array Radars (APG-63V3) along with other upgrades it will only be ON PAR with the Suckhoi Su-27 derivatives that are being exported by Russia RIGHT NOW. The upgraded F-15s will rely on the F-22 using its supercomputer listening and targeting technology to forward targets to it to shoot beyond visual range. If you don’t have enough F-22s to maintain battlefield persistence then these upgraded Eagles will have a greater possibility of be destroyed.

5.) THE BIG ONE: WHY DO WE NEED THE F-35 IF WE HAVE ENOUGH RAPTORS????????

WE DONT. It is a handout to industry. If we had enough F-22s we could kick down the door of the enemy in the first hours of war, destroying all their aircraft in the air and on the ground as well as the enemy's air defense networks (yes the F-22 is a FANTASTIC bomber too when paired against modern integrated air defense systems). Instead of buying the F-35 we could buy new block F-16s and F/A-18E/Fs at HALF the cost of an F-35. Once air superiority is obtained, you don’t need stealth, you need reliable proven platforms to SUPPORT THE WARFIGHTER ON THE GROUND.

6.) The F-22 is a "known" weapon system. In other words it is PROVEN to be highly effective, flying today, in production and beating all the goals set out in its genesis. The F-35 has only flown 200 hours in a pre-production prototype configuration, yet the DoD and Lockheed have ALREADY put it into full production!!!! Its insane and unprecedented. The F-22 took 8 years of FLIGHT testing in this stage to be validated and reach initial operational capability. DoD has bypassed TESTING because we need it now and partner export countries need it yesterday. In reality the aircraft will be YEARS over schedule and we are throwing HUGE money away building an invalidated aircraft yet alone a vetted integrated weapons system. Remember the grounding of the F-15s last year leaving the US with its pants down do to cracks in the forward "longeron" structural booms? Well these types of flaws can now be tested for over years of evaluation. This is especially scary for the F-35 because they literally lightened up its structure dramatically so it could meet the weight qualification needed for the vertical takeoff version intended for the marines. The F-15 was originally OVER built in true McDonald Douglas fashion and after 30 years it experienced airframe ending cracks. The F-35 is under built from the get-go and UNTESTED and will need to last 30 years!!!! Good luck.

7.) The F-35 is a one size fits all airframe. The F-22 is a thoroughbred built to KILL ANYTHING. The F-35 is a compromise in every since of the word. I mean do you really think the Marines are going to keep such a fragile aircraft flying in dusty desert environment while keeping up the radar absorbent materials? Have you ever seen a deployed USMC AV-8B harrier? They DO NOT win the housekeeping seal of approval! NO WAY. PIPEDREAM. Its an overcomplicated solution for marines especially that will result in low availability rates and high costs.

8.) The F-35 is made to be exported to tens of allied nations like the F-16 was. We will order over 2500, the partner nations another 1000 or more. We don’t need this weapon system, but our industry does. So DoD, instead of buying enough raptors to gain full air supremacy while SAVING money buy purchasing rugged and cost effective F-16s, AV-8Bs, F/A-18E/Fs decides to purchase a high risk, over complicated one size fits all airframe in order to make Lockheed a little bit more wealthy and ensuring our weapons exports for the next couple of decades. In effect saying, SCREW THE WAR FIGHTER WHILE SLEEPING WITH THE BIGGEST OF ALL DEFENSE CONTRACTORS. Its stupid, expensive and a bad choice for America.

9.) As far as costs go, you site a flyaway cost of over 150million, you are right. But what you don’t mention is that the first HUNDREDS of F-35s will cost the US almost as much money for much less capability! Yes that’s right the F-35 will cost well over 125million for first decade of lots! Only after hundreds and hundreds have been built will cost come down to almost twice that of a well equipped F-16!!!!! This is NOT a cost effective piece of machinery. No, very much the opposite! It is a poster child for the DoD’s “capability creep” that is PARALYZING good weapon systems by making them too expensive to field in appropriate numbers.

10.) Does it really make sense to have a stealth techno marvel giving air support to grunts months after the aerial opposition has been dismantled? NO! Why pay the huge premium of an all stealth force when the Raptor, B-2, UCAVs, and cruise missiles can do the job more cost effectively? We need to go back to the classic Hi-lo mix of airframes. The high end to kick down the door, the low end to make sure the forward air controllers always have something with weapons ready to deliver above troops in contact’s heads.

In essence this is not an argument about redistributing funds from the air to the ground but what to BUY for the air! The answer is F-22s AND reliable, tried and trusted platforms that are cheap to build and operate. Instead, we have a one size fits all force for very NOT ONE SIZE FITS ALL threat profiles which we face around the world. Its dangerous, near sighted, distracting, expensive, biased toward corporate America and not the war fighter and its just plane WRONG.

Remember you don’t need an F-22 until you really need an F-22!

My thoughts.

Ty

***NOTE: READ THROUH THIS BLOG, AN AMZING SERIES OF EVENTS THAT HAVE PRETTY MUCH COME TO PASS EXACTLY AS STATED.

The Three Castles of Haut-Eguisheim.The end of the three castles of Haut-Eguisheim is linked to a dispute between a miller boy Mulhouse, Hermann Klee, claiming six full and final settlement of funds and Mulhouse who spurned the worker.