- This Too Shall Pass -

Impermanence (one of the essential doctrines or three marks of existence in Buddhism)

 

Once a king called upon all of his wise people and asked them,

 

"Is there a mantra or suggestion, an answer which works in every situation, in every circumstance, in every place, and in every time. Something which can help me when none of you is available to advise me. Tell me is there any such mantra?"

 

All the wise people were puzzled by the king's question. One answer for all questions? Something that works everywhere, in every situation? In every joy, every sorrow, every defeat and every victory? They thought and thought deeply.

 

After lengthy discussions, an old man suggested something which appealed to all of them. Going to the king the wise people gave him a small note written on paper. But the condition was that king was not to see it out of curiosity. They told him - "Oh wise one - only in extreme danger, when you find yourself alone and there seems to be no way to go, only then should you examine this note." The king placed the small rolled up paper in a compartment in his diamond ring.

 

After a brief time, their neighbors attacked the kingdom. It was a collective surprise attack of the king's powerful enemies. The king and his loyal army fought bravely but lost the battle. Then the king fled on his horse. His enemies followed him closely. His horse took him deep into the jungle.

 

Still he could hear many troops of horses following him and their galloping sound was coming closer and closer. Suddenly the king found himself standing at the end of the road - and that road lead no where - it was the end of the line. Underneath there was a rocky valley a thousand feet deep. If he jumped into it, he would be finished… and he could not retreat because it was a single lane. From behind him he heard the sound of his enemy's horses fast approaching. The king felt panicked and trapped. There seemed to be no way of out his present and dire situation.

 

Then suddenly he saw his diamond ring shining in the sun, and he remembered the message hidden in the ring. He opened the diamond and read the message. The message was very small but very great.

 

The message was - "This too will pass."

 

The king read it. And again read it.

 

Suddenly something struck his mind - "Yes! this too will pass. Only a few days ago, I was enjoying my kingdom. I was the mightiest of all the kings. Yet today, the kingdom and all my pleasures have gone. I am here trying to escape from enemies. Those days of luxuries have gone, this day of danger is here and it too will pass."

 

A calmness come to his face. He kept standing there. The place where he was standing was full of natural beauty. He had never realized that such a beautiful place was also a part of his kingdom. The revelation of the calming simple message had a great effect on him. He relaxed and forget about those following him. After a few minutes he realized that the noise of the horses and the enemy coming were receding. They had galloped onto some other part of the mountains and were not on that path.

 

Again time went by, and the king returned to his loyal army. The king was brave -- he reorganized his army and fought again. He defeated the enemy and regained his lost empire. When he returned to his empire after victory, he was received with much fanfare at the gates. The whole capital was rejoicing in the victory. Everyone was in a festive mood. Flowers were thrown on king's path from every house, and on every corner. People were all dancing and singing bursting with happiness.

 

At that moment the king said to himself, "I am one of the bravest and greatest kings. It is not easy to defeat me with my loyal army and great people." With the reception and celebrations he saw his ego begin to re-emerge.

 

Suddenly the diamond of his ring flashed in the sunlight and reminded him of the message. He open it and read it again: "This too will pass."

 

He became silent. His face went through a total change -- from the egoist he moved into an utterly humble state.

 

If this too is going to pass, it is not yours.

 

The defeat was not yours, the victory is not yours.

 

You are just a watcher. Everything passes by.

 

We are the witness of all this. We are the perceiver. Life comes and goes. Happiness comes and goes. Sorrow comes and goes.

 

Now as you have read this story, evaluate your own life. This too will pass. Think of the moments of joy and victory in your life. Think of the moments of sorrow and of defeat. Are they permanent? They have all come and then each pass away. Life just passes away. We can't go back, time travels only one way.

 

There were friends in the past. They all have gone.

 

There are friends today. They too will go.

 

There will be new friends tomorrow. They too will go.

 

There were enemies in the past. They have gone.

 

There may be an enemy in the present. They too will go.

 

There will be new enemies tomorrow and... they too will go.

 

There is nothing permanent in this world. Everything changes except the law of change. Consider this from your own perspective. You have seen all the changes. You have survived all setbacks, all defeats, and all sorrows. All have passed away. If there are problems in the present, they too will pass away. Because nothing remains forever.

 

Joy and sorrow are the two faces of the same coin. They both will pass away. Who are you in reality? Know your real face. Your face is not your true face. It will change with time.

 

However, there is something in you, which will not change. It will remain unchanged. What is that unchangeable? It is nothing but your true self.

 

You are just a witness of change. Experience it, understand it.

 

This Too Shall Pass - from a note given to me by a friend.

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

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

  

Although an air wing for the fledgling Khmer Royal Army (ARK) was first planned in 1952, it wasn't until April 22, 1954, however that the Royal Khmer Aviation (French: Aviation Royale Khmère; AVRK) was officially commissioned by Royal decree. Commanded by Prince Norodom Sihanouk's personal physician, Colonel Dr. Ngo Hou and known sarcastically as the "Royal Flying Club", the AVRK initially operated a small fleet of four Morane-Saulnier MS 500 Criquet liaison aircraft, two Cessna 180 Skywagon light utility aircraft, one Cessna 170 light personal aircraft, and one Douglas DC-3 modified for VIP transport. At this stage, the AVRK was not yet an independent service; since its earlier personnel cadre was drawn from the Engineer Corps, the Ministry of Defense placed the AVRK under the administrative control of the Army Engineer's Inspector-General Department.

 

During the first years of its existence, the AVRK received assistance from France – which under the terms of the November 1953 treaty of independence had the right to keep a military mission in Cambodia –, the United States, Japan, Israel, and West Germany, who provided training programs, technical aid, and additional aircraft. Japan delivered three Fletcher FD-25 Defender single-seater ground-attack aircraft and three Fletcher FD-25B two-seat trainers, whilst deliveries by the United States Military Assistance Advisory Group (US MAAG) aid program – established since June 1955 at Phnom Penh – of fourteen North American T-6G Texan trainers, eight Cessna L-19A Bird Dog observation aircraft, three de Havilland Canada DHC L-20 Beaver liaison aircraft, seven Douglas C-47 Skytrain transports (soon joined by with two additional C-47 transports bought from Israel) and six Curtiss C-46F Commando transports. The French delivered in 1954-55 fifteen Morane-Saulnier MS 733 Alcyon three-seat basic trainers and twenty former Armée de l’Air F8F Bearcat that had been taking part in the French Indochina War.

 

The Grumman F8F (G-58, Grumman Aircraft's design designation) Bearcat was a U.S. Navy/Marine Corps single-engine, fighter aircraft. It was introduced late in World War II as a carrier-based fighter. In replacing the obsolescent F4F Wildcat and F6F Hellcat, climb rate was an important design factor for the F8F, which was faster and lighter than the F6F carrier-based fighter. In late 1943, Grumman began development of the F8F Bearcat and deliveries from Grumman began on 21 May 1945.

In 1946, the F8F set a climb record of 6,383 fpm and held this record until it was broken by a jet fighter in 1956. Early F8Fs first flew in August 1944, followed by production aircraft starting in February 1945, the war ended before the F8F saw combat.

The F8F was Grumman’s last piston engine fighter Production ended in 1949, after Grumman had produced 1,265 F8F Bearcats in total. Directly after the war, the F8F was a key fighter for the U.S. Navy/Marine Corps. Since it was one of the best-handling piston fighters ever, its performance made it the top selection in 1946 for the U.S. Navy’s elite Blue Angels demonstration squadron. When the F8F became obsolete (The last ones in U.S. service were retired in 1952), it was replaced with jet fighter aircraft, the F9F Panther and the F2H Banshee.

From 1946 to 1954, the F8F saw it first combat during the French Indochina War, being used by French forces. Surviving Bearcats from that war were given to the Republic of Vietnam Air Force and to Cambodia. The Royal Thai Air Force also flew a number of Bearcats that were purchased from the U.S. Navy.

 

These deliveries allowed the AVRK to acquire a limited light strike capability, as well as improving its own reconnaissance and transportation capabilities. A small Helicopter force also began to take shape, with the delivery in 1958-59 of three Sikorsky H-34 Choctaws by the US MAAG, followed in 1960 of two Sud Aviation SA 313B Alouette II by the French and of two Sikorsky H-19 Chickasaws by the Americans in 1963.

Although Cambodia was theoretically forbidden of having fighter jets under the terms of the July 1955 Geneva Accords, the AVRK did receive its first jet trainers in September 1961 from France, in the form of four Potez CM.170R Fouga Magisters modified locally in 1962 to accept a pair of AN/M2 7,62mm aircraft guns and under-wing rocket rails. By the end of the year, the AVRK aligned 83 airframes of American, Canadian and French origin, though mostly were World War II-vintage obsolescent types well past their prime – US MAAG advisors often described the AVRK at the time as an "aerial museum" – and training accidents were far from uncommon.

 

The baptism of fire of the AVRK came the following year when its F8F Bearcats, FD-25 Defenders and T-6G Texan armed trainers supported Khmer Royal Army troops in Takéo Province fighting a cross-border incursion by Vietnamese militiamen from the Hòa Hảo militant sect fleeing persecution from the neighboring Republic of Vietnam. The obsolete Texans and Defenders were eventually replaced in August that year by sixteen North American T-28D Trojan trainers converted to the fighter-bomber role. Also under the US MAAG program, the AVRK received in March 1963 four Cessna T-37B Tweet jet trainers; however, unlike the Fougas provided earlier by the French, these airframes had no provision for weapon systems, since the Americans resisted Cambodian requests to arm them.

 

In response to the coup against President Ngô Đình Diệm in South Vietnam, Prince Sihanouk cancelled on November 20, 1963 all American aid, and on January 15, 1964 the US MAAG program was suspended when Cambodia adopted a neutrality policy, so the AVRK continued to rely on French military assistance but at the same time turned to Australia, Yugoslavia, the Soviet Union and China for aircraft and training. In November 1963 the Soviets delivered an initial batch of three MiG-17F fighter jets, one MiG-15UTI jet trainer and one Yakovlev Yak-18 Max light trainer. France continued to deliver aircraft to Cambodia in 1964-65, supplying sixteen night-attack Douglas AD-4N Skyraiders and six Dassault MD 315R Flamant light transports, soon followed by more Alouette II and Sud Aviation SA-316B Alouette III light helicopters and ten Gardan GY-80 Horizon light trainers, which replaced the obsolete MS 733 Alcyons. The Yugoslavians provided at the time four UTVA-60AT1 utility transports, whilst the USSR delivered one Ilyushin Il-14 and eight Antonov An-2 Colt transports, and China sent one Chinese-built FT-5 jet trainer, ten Shenyang J-5 fighter jets, and three Nanchang BT-6/PT-6 light trainers. Not to be outdone, the Soviets delivered in April 1967 a second batch of five MiG-17F jets and two Mil Mi-4 Hound light helicopters.

 

Like the other branches of the then FARK, the Royal Cambodian Aviation's own military capabilities by the late 1960s remained unimpressive, being barely able to accomplish its primary mission which was to defend the national airspace. Due to its low strength and limited flying assets, the AVRK was relegated to a combat support role by providing transportation services to ARK infantry units and occasional low-level close air support (CAS) to ground operations. Apart from two modern tarmacked airstrips located respectively at Pochentong and at a Chinese-built civilian airport in Siem Reap, the other available airfields in the country at the time consisted of rudimentary unpaved runways that lacked permanent rear-echelon support facilities, which were only used temporarily as emergency landing strips but never as secondary airbases.

 

Consequently, and in accordance with Cambodia's neutralist foreign policy, few combat missions were flown. AVRK activities were restricted to air patrols in order to protect Cambodia's airspace from the numerous incursions made by US Air Force (USAF), Republic of Vietnam Air Force (RVNAF) and Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF) aircraft.

It was not until the late 1960s however, that the AVRK received its first sustained combat experience. In early 1968, its T-28D Trojans, F8F Bearcats, AD-4N Skyraiders and some MiG-17F jets were again sent to Takéo Province, dropping bombs on pre-planned targets in support of Royal Army troops conducting a counter-insurgency sweep against armed elements of the Vietnamese Cao Đài militant sect that had entered the province from neighboring South Vietnam; AVRK combat elements were also deployed in the Samlot district of Battambang Province, where they bombed Khmer Rouge insurgent strongholds. In November 1969, the AVRK supported the Khmer Royal Army in a restrained sweeping operation targeting People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) and Vietcong (VC) sanctuaries at Labang Siek in Ratanakiri Province. Some T-28D and F8F fighter-bombers, L-19A reconnaissance aircraft and Alouette helicopters provided air cover to the ground operation, whilst a few combat sorties were staged by the MiG-17F jets and AD-4N Skyraiders from Pochentong.

 

In the wake of the March 1970 coup, the Royal Cambodian Aviation was re-designated Khmer National Aviation (French: Aviation Nationale Khmère; AVNK), though it remained under Army command. After securing material support from the United States, South Vietnam, and Thailand, the new Khmer National Aviation immediately commenced combat operations, and embarked on an ambitious re-organization and expansion program. Shortly after the coup, however, the French military mission suspended all the cooperation with the Cambodian armed forces, thus depriving the AVNK of vital training and technical assistance. China and the Soviet Union also severed their military assistance programs, which resulted in serious maintenance problems for its Shenyang and MiG fighter jets.

 

With the increase in activity at Pochentong airbase, the AVNK Air Academy (French: École de l'Air; formerly, the Royal Flying School) was moved in August 1970 to quieter and less congested facilities at Battambang airfield. The RVNAF flew numerous combat missions inside Cambodia since March in support of joint FANK/Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) ground operations, and to better coordinate its own missions they established at Pochentong a liaison office, the Direct Air Support Centre (DASC) Zulu. In addition, South Vietnamese O-1D Bird Dog Forward air controllers began regularly staging reconnaissance flights from Pochentong to guide RVNAF airstrikes and artillery fire.

 

An initial expansion of the AVNK inventory in September 1970 under American auspices was accomplished with the delivery of six UH-1 Iroquois helicopter gunships with temporary South Vietnamese crews. To ease maintenance, it was decided upon American suggestion to build the AVNK's strike component around the T-28D Trojan, since both its pilots and ground technicians were already well-acquainted with this aircraft type, and the Americans had plenty of surplus airframes and spare parts available. As a result, the rate of T-28D sorties increased, with 2,016 sorties being recorded between March and October 1970, in contrast to the 360 sorties of the MiG-17F and Shenyang fighter jets, and the 108 strikes of the Fouga Magister jets registered during that same period.

 

On the night of 21–22 January 1971, a hundred or so-strong People’s Army of Vietnam "Sapper" Commando force (Vietnamese: Đặc Công, equivalent of "spec op" in English) managed to pass undetected through the defensive perimeter of the Special Military Region (Région Militaire Speciale – RMS) set by the Cambodian Army around Phnom Penh and carried out a spectacular raid on Pochentong airbase. Broken into six smaller detachments armed mostly with AK-47 assault rifles and RPG-7 anti-tank rocket launchers, the PAVN raiders succeeded in scaling the barbed-wire fence and quickly overwhelmed the poorly armed airmen of the Security Battalion on duty that night. Once inside the facility, the raiders unleashed a furious barrage of small-arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades against any aircraft they found on the parking area adjacent to the runway and nearby buildings; one of the commando teams even scaled the adjoining commercial terminal of the civilian airport and after taking position at the international restaurant located on the roof, they fired a rocket into the napalm supply depot near the RVNAF apron.

 

When the smoke cleared the next morning, the Khmer National Aviation had been virtually annihilated. A total of 69 aircraft stationed at Pochentong at the time were either completely destroyed or severely damaged on the ground, including many T-28D Trojans, virtually all remaining eight F8Fs, nearly all the Shenyang, MiG, T-37B and Fouga Magister jets, all the L-19A Bird Dogs and An-2 transports, the UH-1 helicopter gunships, three VNAF O-1 Bird Dogs and even a VIP transport recently presented to President Lon Nol by the South Vietnamese government. Apart from the aircraft losses, 39 AVNK officers and enlisted men had lost their lives and another 170 were injured. The only airframes that escaped destruction were six T-28D Trojans temporarily deployed to Battambang, ten GY-80 Horizon light trainers (also stationed at Battambang), eight Alouette II and Alouette III helicopters, two Sikorsky H-34 helicopters, one T-37B jet trainer, and a single Fouga Magister jet that had been grounded for repairs. Pochentong airbase was closed for almost a week while the damage was assessed, wreckage removed, the runway repaired, and the stocks of fuel and ammunitions replenished.

 

After this severe blow, The Cambodian Air Force was reborn on June 8, 1971, when it was made a separated command from the Army and thus became the third independent branch of the FANK. This new status was later confirmed on December 15, when the AVNK officially changed its name to Khmer Air Force (French: Armée de l'air Khmère; AAK), or KAF. New airbases were laid down near the provincial capitals of Battambang, Kampong Cham and Kampong Chhnang. However, in 1975, the Cambodian Army was defeated by advancing Khmer Rouge forces. On April 16 KAF T-28D Trojans flew their last combat sortie by bombing the Air Force Control Centre and hangars at Pochentong upon its capture by insurgent units. After virtually expending their entire ordnance reserves, 97 aircraft escaped from Pochentong, Battambang, Kampong Cham, Kampong Thom, Kampong Chhnang and Ream airbases and auxiliary airfields flown by their respective crews (with a small number of civilian dependents on board) to safe haven in neighboring Thailand, and the AVNK ceased to exist.

  

General characteristics:

Crew: 1

Length: 28 ft 3 in (8.61 m)

Wingspan: 35 ft 10 in (10.92 m)

Height: 13 ft 10 in (4.22 m)

Wing area: 244 sq ft (22.7 m²)

Aspect ratio: 5.02

Airfoil: root: NACA 23018; tip: NACA 23009

Empty weight: 7,650 lb (3,470 kg)

Max takeoff weight: 13,460 lb (6,105 kg)

 

Powerplant:

1× Pratt & Whitney Pratt & Whitney R-2800-34W Double Wasp 18-cylinder air-cooled radial piston

engine with 2,100 hp (1,600 kW), driving a 4-bladed constant-speed propeller

 

Performance:

Maximum speed: 455 mph (732 km/h, 395 kn)

Range: 1,105 mi (1,778 km, 960 nmi)

Service ceiling: 40,800 ft (12,400 m)

Rate of climb: 4,465 ft/min (22.68 m/s)

Wing loading: 42 lb/sq ft (210 kg/m²)

Power/mass: 0.22 hp/lb (0.36 kW/kg)

 

Armament:

4× 20 mm (.79 in) AN/M3 cannon in the outer wings

2,000 lb (907 kg) of ordnance on three hardpoints (incl. bombs, rocket pods, napalm tanks

or drop tanks), plus underwing hardpoints for up to four 5” (127 mm) HVAR unguided rockets

  

The kit and its assembly:

This was a submission for the “One Week” Group Build at whatifmodellers.com, and both kit and livery were chosen with a focus on quick/safe realization. The idea had been lingering for some time, though. I originally had the plan to build a real-world AVNK AD-4N some day, after I had found a profile and b/w pictures of these aircraft as well as a set of suitable roundels (see below). However, when I recently dug through The Stash™ I came across a Monogram F8F (in a more recent Revell re-boxing, though) and wondered about a different livery for this small fighter – and the AVNK idea popped up again, also because the outlines of Bearcat and Skyraider are quite similar.

 

The Monogram F8F was basically built OOB, just with some cosmetic changes. Inside, I added a dashboard – the kit comes with one, but it is molded into the fuselage halves with an ugly seam. For the beauty pics I also prepared a more modern pilot figure with a “bone dome” instead of the WWII USN pilot.

A styrene tube was added behind the engine block to take the propeller’s new metal axis. Some antennae were added to the rear fuselage, as an addition to the vintage wire antennae. A small pitot was added under the left wing, made from wire.

The underwing pylons received scratched shackles, because I replaced the OOB vintage 500 lb bombs with box fins with napalm canisters, simulating BLU-1 shapes with shortened/modified drop tanks. HVARs and the ventral drop tank come from the kit, I just added some struts to the tank.

 

The Monogram F8F in 1:72 holds only small surprises. It's a typical vintage Monogram kit (IIRC, the molds are from 1976) with raised (yet fine) details and vague fit - even though nothing fatal. PSR was basically necessary at any seam, esp. the unique wing/fuselage solutions calls for some filling. The cockpit interior is bare, but, except for the (quite nice) seat and the dashboard, nothing can be seen later. The clear parts (two pieces) are very clear but came with lots of flash; the windscreen's attachment point to the sprue (at the front's base) created some wacky gaps on the kit – with more time and effort, this could certainly have become better. The landing gear is simple but O.K., very robust, but the wells are totally bare, and the oil cooler intakes are just holes - I filled them with bits of foamed styrene. There are certainly better F8F kits (e. g. the Art Model kit with resin parts, including a finely detailed landing gear wells interior), but for a "budget build" or a conversion this one is a good starting point.

  

Painting and markings:

I used the AVNK’s AD4Ns as benchmark, which carried a livery similar to the French Skyraiders: overall painted in silver with some colorful trim, just the roundels and tactical markings were different. Being former French aircraft, the AVNK F8Fs might have retained the original all-dark blue paint scheme, but I rather expected them to carry a uniform livery.

 

With this benchmark the scheme was quickly applied, using Humbrol 56 (aluminum dope) enamel paint as a rather greyish basis. As an extra I added a dark olive drab (Humbrol 108) anti-glare panel to the area in front of the windscreen, and I added black anti-soot and probably anti-glare fields for night operations to the fuselage flanks, inspired by the AVNK AD-4Ns. The only colorful markings are small red fin, tailplane and wing tips as well as a matching fuselage band (created with Humbrol 19). The red fuselage bands were created with 5 mm wide generic red decal stripes (TL-Modellbau) which match the enamel paint’s tone well.

As a weathering measure I painted the starboard aileron and elevator as well as a gun cover on the portside wing in Dark Sea Blue (FS 35042), representing replacement parts that were hastily cannibalized from another ex-French F8F that still carried its original livery. Some patches for small firearms bullet holes on the wings and fuselage were created with pieces of grey decal sheet. – all measures to break up the otherwise rather simple and dull livery.

 

The model received some good weathering through a black ink washing and generous post-panel shading with acrylic Revell 99 (a matt but bright aluminum tone) and later some graphite, which emphasizes the kit’s many raised surfaces details. In order to make the livery not look too much like an NMF finish the kit was later sealed with matt acrylic varnish.

 

The cockpit interior became chromate green with a light grey dashboard while the landing gear retained its colors from the former French all-blue livery, with chromate green wells and inner cover surfaces but dark sea blue struts and wheel hubs.

 

The Cambodian roundels came from a limited edition Cutting Edge 1:72 decal set for various MiG-15bis’, the tactical codes on cowling and fin belong to an USAF F-100 (PrintScale sheet).

  

Well, the result is not perfect, but for a project realized from box to beauty pics including an extensive background story in just a single week I am fine with it. I'll admit that the livery is very simple, but there's also some attractiveness to it. And in this rather unusual silver-grey scheme the F8F reminds a lot of the bigger Skyraider!

*They started their primordial existence as microscopic lifeforms placed on separate parts of the Earth's Oceans by a dying race of ancients with the hopes of reviving a once great species. Over ions of existence the unpredictable conditions of this planet slowly morphed them into strange and unrecognizable versions of themselves."

 

"Like her sister, was born in water. But unlike her sister she felt cradled by the dark. The depths of the ocean provided solitude. She feared the sun and it's violent rays. Unable to stand even the faint light that peaked through the surface she delved into the darkest depths she could find. A large section of this ocean is an endless expanse of pitch black water or an "abyss" which interconnects with countless maze-like rocky passageways that expand for thousands of miles. This entire area, completely void of sunlight and home to very few lifeforms, provided a shelter for the her. However, while these underwater caverns are mostly void of life, the few that do manage to exist are extremely aggressive and monstrous in appearance. In the abyss she evolved into a silent ambush predator to feed and hide from horrifying creatures that roam the deep dark. Millenniums pass and she can heard the voices of humans in the water. They tell legends of her and call her Sobek. After ions of lonely existence something in the void calls to her and she discovers an ancient life form of unknown origin even older than herself. A sentient orb covered in metallic scales that is able to telepathically communicate with her. The creature reveals ancient cosmic knowledge, telling her she has a sister, and proposes a trade. It will guide her to her brethren and protect her from the sunlight she fears, but only if she allows the scaled orb to bond with her flesh."

 

Sobek is a OOAK Nnaji in Milk skintone and Busty chest option. Her body blushing is lilac and burned turquoise. Her head is covered in hand sculpted scales to enhance her monstrous looks. Her lips and nails are a palest pearl pink and her fanged teeth share the same steel grey as her alien gharial eyes. Sobek wears a hand stitched haute couture armour with a poseable tail, each sequin sewn to a form sculpture that bristles in the back as gharial scales, adorns the shoulders leaving sensuous naked spots and exaggerates the hips for a feminine silhouette. She wears spiky heels painted to match her skintone.

 

This is a commission order for a private collector, not for sale.

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

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

  

Although an air wing for the fledgling Khmer Royal Army (ARK) was first planned in 1952, it wasn't until April 22, 1954, however that the Royal Khmer Aviation (French: Aviation Royale Khmère; AVRK) was officially commissioned by Royal decree. Commanded by Prince Norodom Sihanouk's personal physician, Colonel Dr. Ngo Hou and known sarcastically as the "Royal Flying Club", the AVRK initially operated a small fleet of four Morane-Saulnier MS 500 Criquet liaison aircraft, two Cessna 180 Skywagon light utility aircraft, one Cessna 170 light personal aircraft, and one Douglas DC-3 modified for VIP transport. At this stage, the AVRK was not yet an independent service; since its earlier personnel cadre was drawn from the Engineer Corps, the Ministry of Defense placed the AVRK under the administrative control of the Army Engineer's Inspector-General Department.

 

During the first years of its existence, the AVRK received assistance from France – which under the terms of the November 1953 treaty of independence had the right to keep a military mission in Cambodia –, the United States, Japan, Israel, and West Germany, who provided training programs, technical aid, and additional aircraft. Japan delivered three Fletcher FD-25 Defender single-seater ground-attack aircraft and three Fletcher FD-25B two-seat trainers, whilst deliveries by the United States Military Assistance Advisory Group (US MAAG) aid program – established since June 1955 at Phnom Penh – of fourteen North American T-6G Texan trainers, eight Cessna L-19A Bird Dog observation aircraft, three de Havilland Canada DHC L-20 Beaver liaison aircraft, seven Douglas C-47 Skytrain transports (soon joined by with two additional C-47 transports bought from Israel) and six Curtiss C-46F Commando transports. The French delivered in 1954-55 fifteen Morane-Saulnier MS 733 Alcyon three-seat basic trainers and twenty former Armée de l’Air F8F Bearcat that had been taking part in the French Indochina War.

 

The Grumman F8F (G-58, Grumman Aircraft's design designation) Bearcat was a U.S. Navy/Marine Corps single-engine, fighter aircraft. It was introduced late in World War II as a carrier-based fighter. In replacing the obsolescent F4F Wildcat and F6F Hellcat, climb rate was an important design factor for the F8F, which was faster and lighter than the F6F carrier-based fighter. In late 1943, Grumman began development of the F8F Bearcat and deliveries from Grumman began on 21 May 1945.

In 1946, the F8F set a climb record of 6,383 fpm and held this record until it was broken by a jet fighter in 1956. Early F8Fs first flew in August 1944, followed by production aircraft starting in February 1945, the war ended before the F8F saw combat.

The F8F was Grumman’s last piston engine fighter Production ended in 1949, after Grumman had produced 1,265 F8F Bearcats in total. Directly after the war, the F8F was a key fighter for the U.S. Navy/Marine Corps. Since it was one of the best-handling piston fighters ever, its performance made it the top selection in 1946 for the U.S. Navy’s elite Blue Angels demonstration squadron. When the F8F became obsolete (The last ones in U.S. service were retired in 1952), it was replaced with jet fighter aircraft, the F9F Panther and the F2H Banshee.

From 1946 to 1954, the F8F saw it first combat during the French Indochina War, being used by French forces. Surviving Bearcats from that war were given to the Republic of Vietnam Air Force and to Cambodia. The Royal Thai Air Force also flew a number of Bearcats that were purchased from the U.S. Navy.

 

These deliveries allowed the AVRK to acquire a limited light strike capability, as well as improving its own reconnaissance and transportation capabilities. A small Helicopter force also began to take shape, with the delivery in 1958-59 of three Sikorsky H-34 Choctaws by the US MAAG, followed in 1960 of two Sud Aviation SA 313B Alouette II by the French and of two Sikorsky H-19 Chickasaws by the Americans in 1963.

Although Cambodia was theoretically forbidden of having fighter jets under the terms of the July 1955 Geneva Accords, the AVRK did receive its first jet trainers in September 1961 from France, in the form of four Potez CM.170R Fouga Magisters modified locally in 1962 to accept a pair of AN/M2 7,62mm aircraft guns and under-wing rocket rails. By the end of the year, the AVRK aligned 83 airframes of American, Canadian and French origin, though mostly were World War II-vintage obsolescent types well past their prime – US MAAG advisors often described the AVRK at the time as an "aerial museum" – and training accidents were far from uncommon.

 

The baptism of fire of the AVRK came the following year when its F8F Bearcats, FD-25 Defenders and T-6G Texan armed trainers supported Khmer Royal Army troops in Takéo Province fighting a cross-border incursion by Vietnamese militiamen from the Hòa Hảo militant sect fleeing persecution from the neighboring Republic of Vietnam. The obsolete Texans and Defenders were eventually replaced in August that year by sixteen North American T-28D Trojan trainers converted to the fighter-bomber role. Also under the US MAAG program, the AVRK received in March 1963 four Cessna T-37B Tweet jet trainers; however, unlike the Fougas provided earlier by the French, these airframes had no provision for weapon systems, since the Americans resisted Cambodian requests to arm them.

 

In response to the coup against President Ngô Đình Diệm in South Vietnam, Prince Sihanouk cancelled on November 20, 1963 all American aid, and on January 15, 1964 the US MAAG program was suspended when Cambodia adopted a neutrality policy, so the AVRK continued to rely on French military assistance but at the same time turned to Australia, Yugoslavia, the Soviet Union and China for aircraft and training. In November 1963 the Soviets delivered an initial batch of three MiG-17F fighter jets, one MiG-15UTI jet trainer and one Yakovlev Yak-18 Max light trainer. France continued to deliver aircraft to Cambodia in 1964-65, supplying sixteen night-attack Douglas AD-4N Skyraiders and six Dassault MD 315R Flamant light transports, soon followed by more Alouette II and Sud Aviation SA-316B Alouette III light helicopters and ten Gardan GY-80 Horizon light trainers, which replaced the obsolete MS 733 Alcyons. The Yugoslavians provided at the time four UTVA-60AT1 utility transports, whilst the USSR delivered one Ilyushin Il-14 and eight Antonov An-2 Colt transports, and China sent one Chinese-built FT-5 jet trainer, ten Shenyang J-5 fighter jets, and three Nanchang BT-6/PT-6 light trainers. Not to be outdone, the Soviets delivered in April 1967 a second batch of five MiG-17F jets and two Mil Mi-4 Hound light helicopters.

 

Like the other branches of the then FARK, the Royal Cambodian Aviation's own military capabilities by the late 1960s remained unimpressive, being barely able to accomplish its primary mission which was to defend the national airspace. Due to its low strength and limited flying assets, the AVRK was relegated to a combat support role by providing transportation services to ARK infantry units and occasional low-level close air support (CAS) to ground operations. Apart from two modern tarmacked airstrips located respectively at Pochentong and at a Chinese-built civilian airport in Siem Reap, the other available airfields in the country at the time consisted of rudimentary unpaved runways that lacked permanent rear-echelon support facilities, which were only used temporarily as emergency landing strips but never as secondary airbases.

 

Consequently, and in accordance with Cambodia's neutralist foreign policy, few combat missions were flown. AVRK activities were restricted to air patrols in order to protect Cambodia's airspace from the numerous incursions made by US Air Force (USAF), Republic of Vietnam Air Force (RVNAF) and Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF) aircraft.

It was not until the late 1960s however, that the AVRK received its first sustained combat experience. In early 1968, its T-28D Trojans, F8F Bearcats, AD-4N Skyraiders and some MiG-17F jets were again sent to Takéo Province, dropping bombs on pre-planned targets in support of Royal Army troops conducting a counter-insurgency sweep against armed elements of the Vietnamese Cao Đài militant sect that had entered the province from neighboring South Vietnam; AVRK combat elements were also deployed in the Samlot district of Battambang Province, where they bombed Khmer Rouge insurgent strongholds. In November 1969, the AVRK supported the Khmer Royal Army in a restrained sweeping operation targeting People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) and Vietcong (VC) sanctuaries at Labang Siek in Ratanakiri Province. Some T-28D and F8F fighter-bombers, L-19A reconnaissance aircraft and Alouette helicopters provided air cover to the ground operation, whilst a few combat sorties were staged by the MiG-17F jets and AD-4N Skyraiders from Pochentong.

 

In the wake of the March 1970 coup, the Royal Cambodian Aviation was re-designated Khmer National Aviation (French: Aviation Nationale Khmère; AVNK), though it remained under Army command. After securing material support from the United States, South Vietnam, and Thailand, the new Khmer National Aviation immediately commenced combat operations, and embarked on an ambitious re-organization and expansion program. Shortly after the coup, however, the French military mission suspended all the cooperation with the Cambodian armed forces, thus depriving the AVNK of vital training and technical assistance. China and the Soviet Union also severed their military assistance programs, which resulted in serious maintenance problems for its Shenyang and MiG fighter jets.

 

With the increase in activity at Pochentong airbase, the AVNK Air Academy (French: École de l'Air; formerly, the Royal Flying School) was moved in August 1970 to quieter and less congested facilities at Battambang airfield. The RVNAF flew numerous combat missions inside Cambodia since March in support of joint FANK/Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) ground operations, and to better coordinate its own missions they established at Pochentong a liaison office, the Direct Air Support Centre (DASC) Zulu. In addition, South Vietnamese O-1D Bird Dog Forward air controllers began regularly staging reconnaissance flights from Pochentong to guide RVNAF airstrikes and artillery fire.

 

An initial expansion of the AVNK inventory in September 1970 under American auspices was accomplished with the delivery of six UH-1 Iroquois helicopter gunships with temporary South Vietnamese crews. To ease maintenance, it was decided upon American suggestion to build the AVNK's strike component around the T-28D Trojan, since both its pilots and ground technicians were already well-acquainted with this aircraft type, and the Americans had plenty of surplus airframes and spare parts available. As a result, the rate of T-28D sorties increased, with 2,016 sorties being recorded between March and October 1970, in contrast to the 360 sorties of the MiG-17F and Shenyang fighter jets, and the 108 strikes of the Fouga Magister jets registered during that same period.

 

On the night of 21–22 January 1971, a hundred or so-strong People’s Army of Vietnam "Sapper" Commando force (Vietnamese: Đặc Công, equivalent of "spec op" in English) managed to pass undetected through the defensive perimeter of the Special Military Region (Région Militaire Speciale – RMS) set by the Cambodian Army around Phnom Penh and carried out a spectacular raid on Pochentong airbase. Broken into six smaller detachments armed mostly with AK-47 assault rifles and RPG-7 anti-tank rocket launchers, the PAVN raiders succeeded in scaling the barbed-wire fence and quickly overwhelmed the poorly armed airmen of the Security Battalion on duty that night. Once inside the facility, the raiders unleashed a furious barrage of small-arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades against any aircraft they found on the parking area adjacent to the runway and nearby buildings; one of the commando teams even scaled the adjoining commercial terminal of the civilian airport and after taking position at the international restaurant located on the roof, they fired a rocket into the napalm supply depot near the RVNAF apron.

 

When the smoke cleared the next morning, the Khmer National Aviation had been virtually annihilated. A total of 69 aircraft stationed at Pochentong at the time were either completely destroyed or severely damaged on the ground, including many T-28D Trojans, virtually all remaining eight F8Fs, nearly all the Shenyang, MiG, T-37B and Fouga Magister jets, all the L-19A Bird Dogs and An-2 transports, the UH-1 helicopter gunships, three VNAF O-1 Bird Dogs and even a VIP transport recently presented to President Lon Nol by the South Vietnamese government. Apart from the aircraft losses, 39 AVNK officers and enlisted men had lost their lives and another 170 were injured. The only airframes that escaped destruction were six T-28D Trojans temporarily deployed to Battambang, ten GY-80 Horizon light trainers (also stationed at Battambang), eight Alouette II and Alouette III helicopters, two Sikorsky H-34 helicopters, one T-37B jet trainer, and a single Fouga Magister jet that had been grounded for repairs. Pochentong airbase was closed for almost a week while the damage was assessed, wreckage removed, the runway repaired, and the stocks of fuel and ammunitions replenished.

 

After this severe blow, The Cambodian Air Force was reborn on June 8, 1971, when it was made a separated command from the Army and thus became the third independent branch of the FANK. This new status was later confirmed on December 15, when the AVNK officially changed its name to Khmer Air Force (French: Armée de l'air Khmère; AAK), or KAF. New airbases were laid down near the provincial capitals of Battambang, Kampong Cham and Kampong Chhnang. However, in 1975, the Cambodian Army was defeated by advancing Khmer Rouge forces. On April 16 KAF T-28D Trojans flew their last combat sortie by bombing the Air Force Control Centre and hangars at Pochentong upon its capture by insurgent units. After virtually expending their entire ordnance reserves, 97 aircraft escaped from Pochentong, Battambang, Kampong Cham, Kampong Thom, Kampong Chhnang and Ream airbases and auxiliary airfields flown by their respective crews (with a small number of civilian dependents on board) to safe haven in neighboring Thailand, and the AVNK ceased to exist.

  

General characteristics:

Crew: 1

Length: 28 ft 3 in (8.61 m)

Wingspan: 35 ft 10 in (10.92 m)

Height: 13 ft 10 in (4.22 m)

Wing area: 244 sq ft (22.7 m²)

Aspect ratio: 5.02

Airfoil: root: NACA 23018; tip: NACA 23009

Empty weight: 7,650 lb (3,470 kg)

Max takeoff weight: 13,460 lb (6,105 kg)

 

Powerplant:

1× Pratt & Whitney Pratt & Whitney R-2800-34W Double Wasp 18-cylinder air-cooled radial piston

engine with 2,100 hp (1,600 kW), driving a 4-bladed constant-speed propeller

 

Performance:

Maximum speed: 455 mph (732 km/h, 395 kn)

Range: 1,105 mi (1,778 km, 960 nmi)

Service ceiling: 40,800 ft (12,400 m)

Rate of climb: 4,465 ft/min (22.68 m/s)

Wing loading: 42 lb/sq ft (210 kg/m²)

Power/mass: 0.22 hp/lb (0.36 kW/kg)

 

Armament:

4× 20 mm (.79 in) AN/M3 cannon in the outer wings

2,000 lb (907 kg) of ordnance on three hardpoints (incl. bombs, rocket pods, napalm tanks

or drop tanks), plus underwing hardpoints for up to four 5” (127 mm) HVAR unguided rockets

  

The kit and its assembly:

This was a submission for the “One Week” Group Build at whatifmodellers.com, and both kit and livery were chosen with a focus on quick/safe realization. The idea had been lingering for some time, though. I originally had the plan to build a real-world AVNK AD-4N some day, after I had found a profile and b/w pictures of these aircraft as well as a set of suitable roundels (see below). However, when I recently dug through The Stash™ I came across a Monogram F8F (in a more recent Revell re-boxing, though) and wondered about a different livery for this small fighter – and the AVNK idea popped up again, also because the outlines of Bearcat and Skyraider are quite similar.

 

The Monogram F8F was basically built OOB, just with some cosmetic changes. Inside, I added a dashboard – the kit comes with one, but it is molded into the fuselage halves with an ugly seam. For the beauty pics I also prepared a more modern pilot figure with a “bone dome” instead of the WWII USN pilot.

A styrene tube was added behind the engine block to take the propeller’s new metal axis. Some antennae were added to the rear fuselage, as an addition to the vintage wire antennae. A small pitot was added under the left wing, made from wire.

The underwing pylons received scratched shackles, because I replaced the OOB vintage 500 lb bombs with box fins with napalm canisters, simulating BLU-1 shapes with shortened/modified drop tanks. HVARs and the ventral drop tank come from the kit, I just added some struts to the tank.

 

The Monogram F8F in 1:72 holds only small surprises. It's a typical vintage Monogram kit (IIRC, the molds are from 1976) with raised (yet fine) details and vague fit - even though nothing fatal. PSR was basically necessary at any seam, esp. the unique wing/fuselage solutions calls for some filling. The cockpit interior is bare, but, except for the (quite nice) seat and the dashboard, nothing can be seen later. The clear parts (two pieces) are very clear but came with lots of flash; the windscreen's attachment point to the sprue (at the front's base) created some wacky gaps on the kit – with more time and effort, this could certainly have become better. The landing gear is simple but O.K., very robust, but the wells are totally bare, and the oil cooler intakes are just holes - I filled them with bits of foamed styrene. There are certainly better F8F kits (e. g. the Art Model kit with resin parts, including a finely detailed landing gear wells interior), but for a "budget build" or a conversion this one is a good starting point.

  

Painting and markings:

I used the AVNK’s AD4Ns as benchmark, which carried a livery similar to the French Skyraiders: overall painted in silver with some colorful trim, just the roundels and tactical markings were different. Being former French aircraft, the AVNK F8Fs might have retained the original all-dark blue paint scheme, but I rather expected them to carry a uniform livery.

 

With this benchmark the scheme was quickly applied, using Humbrol 56 (aluminum dope) enamel paint as a rather greyish basis. As an extra I added a dark olive drab (Humbrol 108) anti-glare panel to the area in front of the windscreen, and I added black anti-soot and probably anti-glare fields for night operations to the fuselage flanks, inspired by the AVNK AD-4Ns. The only colorful markings are small red fin, tailplane and wing tips as well as a matching fuselage band (created with Humbrol 19). The red fuselage bands were created with 5 mm wide generic red decal stripes (TL-Modellbau) which match the enamel paint’s tone well.

As a weathering measure I painted the starboard aileron and elevator as well as a gun cover on the portside wing in Dark Sea Blue (FS 35042), representing replacement parts that were hastily cannibalized from another ex-French F8F that still carried its original livery. Some patches for small firearms bullet holes on the wings and fuselage were created with pieces of grey decal sheet. – all measures to break up the otherwise rather simple and dull livery.

 

The model received some good weathering through a black ink washing and generous post-panel shading with acrylic Revell 99 (a matt but bright aluminum tone) and later some graphite, which emphasizes the kit’s many raised surfaces details. In order to make the livery not look too much like an NMF finish the kit was later sealed with matt acrylic varnish.

 

The cockpit interior became chromate green with a light grey dashboard while the landing gear retained its colors from the former French all-blue livery, with chromate green wells and inner cover surfaces but dark sea blue struts and wheel hubs.

 

The Cambodian roundels came from a limited edition Cutting Edge 1:72 decal set for various MiG-15bis’, the tactical codes on cowling and fin belong to an USAF F-100 (PrintScale sheet).

  

Well, the result is not perfect, but for a project realized from box to beauty pics including an extensive background story in just a single week I am fine with it. I'll admit that the livery is very simple, but there's also some attractiveness to it. And in this rather unusual silver-grey scheme the F8F reminds a lot of the bigger Skyraider!

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

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

  

Some background:

The РТАК-30 attack vintoplan (also known as vintokryl) owed its existence to the Mil Mi-30 plane/helicopter project that originated in 1972. The Mil Mi-30 was conceived as a transport aircraft that could hold up to 19 passengers or two tons of cargo, and its purpose was to replace the Mi-8 and Mi-17 Helicopters in both civil and military roles. With vertical takeoff through a pair of tiltrotor engine pods on the wing tips (similar in layout to the later V-22 Osprey) and the ability to fly like a normal plane, the Mil Mi-30 had a clear advantage over the older models.

 

Since the vintoplan concept was a completely new field of research and engineering, a dedicated design bureau was installed in the mid-Seventies at the Rostov-na-Donu helicopter factory, where most helicopters from the Mil design bureau were produced, under the title Ростов Тилт Ротор Авиационная Компания (Rostov Tilt Rotor Aircraft Company), or РТАК (RTRA), for short.

 

The vintoplan project lingered for some time, with basic research being conducted concerning aerodynamics, rotor design and flight control systems. Many findings later found their way into conventional planes and helicopters. At the beginning of the 1980s, the project had progressed far enough that the vintoplan received official backing so that РТАК scientists and Mil helicopter engineers assembled and tested several layouts and components for this complicated aircraft type.

At that time the Mil Mi-30 vintoplan was expected to use a single TV3-117 Turbo Shaft Engine with a four-bladed propeller rotors on each of its two pairs of stub wings of almost equal span. The engine was still installed in the fuselage and the proprotors driven by long shafts.

 

However, while being a very clean design, this original layout revealed several problems concerning aeroelasticity, dynamics of construction, characteristics for the converter apparatuses, aerodynamics and flight dynamics. In the course of further development stages and attempts to rectify the technical issues, the vintoplan layout went through several revisions. The layout shifted consequently from having 4 smaller engines in rotating pods on two pairs of stub wings through three engines with rotating nacelles on the front wings and a fixed, horizontal rotor over the tail and finally back to only 2 engines (much like the initial concept), but this time mounted in rotating nacelles on the wing tips and a canard stabilizer layout.

 

In August 1981 the Commission of the Presidium of the USSR Council of Ministers on weapons eventually issued a decree on the development of a flyworthy Mil Mi-30 vintoplan prototype. Shortly afterwards the military approved of the vintoplan, too, but desired bigger, more powerful engines in order to improve performance and weight capacity. In the course of the ensuing project refinement, the weight capacity was raised to 3-5 tons and the passenger limit to 32. In parallel, the modified type was also foreseen for civil operations as a short range feederliner, potentially replacing Yak-40 and An-24 airliners in Aeroflot service.

In 1982, РТАК took the interest from the military and proposed a dedicated attack vintoplan, based on former research and existing components of the original transport variant. This project was accepted by MAP and received the separate designation РТАК-30. However, despite having some close technical relations to the Mi-30 transport (primarily the engine nacelles, their rotation mechanism and the flight control systems), the РТАК-30 was a completely different aircraft. The timing was good, though, and the proposal was met with much interest, since the innovative vintoplan concept was to compete against traditional helicopters: the design work on the dedicated Mi-28 and Ka-50 attack helicopters had just started at that time, too, so that РТАК received green lights for the construction of five prototypes: four flyworthy machines plus one more for static ground tests.

 

The РТАК-30 was based on one of the early Mi-30 layouts and it combined two pairs of mid-set wings with different wing spans with a tall tail fin that ensured directional stability. Each wing carried a rotating engine nacelle with a so-called proprotor on its tip, each with three high aspect ratio blades. The proprotors were handed (i.e. revolved in opposite directions) in order to minimize torque effects and improve handling, esp. in the hover. The front and back pair of engines were cross-linked among each other on a common driveshaft, eliminating engine-out asymmetric thrust problems during V/STOL operations. In the event of the failure of one engine, it would automatically disconnect through torque spring clutches and both propellers on a pair of wings would be driven by the remaining engine.

Four engines were chosen because, despite the weight and complexity penalty, this extra power was expected to be required in order to achieve a performance that was markedly superior to a conventional helicopter like the Mi-24, the primary Soviet attack helicopter of that era the РТАК-30 was supposed to replace. It was also expected that the rotating nacelles could also be used to improve agility in level flight through a mild form of vectored thrust.

 

The РТАК-30’s streamlined fuselage provided ample space for avionics, fuel, a fully retractable tricycle landing gear and a two man crew in an armored side-by-side cockpit with ejection seats. The windshield was able to withstand 12.7–14.5 mm caliber bullets, the titanium cockpit tub could take hits from 20 mm cannon. An autonomous power unit (APU) was housed in the fuselage, too, making operations of the aircraft independent from ground support.

While the РТАК-30 was not intended for use as a transport, the fuselage was spacious enough to have a small compartment between the front wings spars, capable of carrying up to three people. The purpose of this was the rescue of downed helicopter crews, as a cargo hold esp. for transfer flights and as additional space for future mission equipment or extra fuel.

In vertical flight, the РТАК-30’s tiltrotor system used controls very similar to a twin or tandem-rotor helicopter. Yaw was controlled by tilting its rotors in opposite directions. Roll was provided through differential power or thrust, supported by ailerons on the rear wings. Pitch was provided through rotor cyclic or nacelle tilt and further aerodynamic surfaces on both pairs of wings. Vertical motion was controlled with conventional rotor blade pitch and a control similar to a fixed-wing engine control called a thrust control lever (TCL). The rotor heads had elastomeric bearings and the proprotor blades were made from composite materials, which could sustain 30 mm shells.

 

The РТАК-30 featured a helmet-mounted display for the pilot, a very modern development at its time. The pilot designated targets for the navigator/weapons officer, who proceeded to fire the weapons required to fulfill that particular task. The integrated surveillance and fire control system had two optical channels providing wide and narrow fields of view, a narrow-field-of-view optical television channel, and a laser rangefinder. The system could move within 110 degrees in azimuth and from +13 to −40 degrees in elevation and was placed in a spherical dome on top of the fuselage, just behind the cockpit.

 

The aircraft carried one automatic 2A42 30 mm internal gun, mounted semi-rigidly fixed near the center of the fuselage, movable only slightly in elevation and azimuth. The arrangement was also regarded as being more practical than a classic free-turning turret mount for the aircraft’s considerably higher flight speed than a normal helicopter. As a side effect, the semi-rigid mounting improved the cannon's accuracy, giving the 30 mm a longer practical range and better hit ratio at medium ranges. Ammunition supply was 460 rounds, with separate compartments for high-fragmentation, explosive incendiary, or armor-piercing rounds. The type of ammunition could be selected by the pilot during flight.

The gunner can select one of two rates of full automatic fire, low at 200 to 300 rds/min and high at 550 to 800 rds/min. The effective range when engaging ground targets such as light armored vehicles is 1,500 m, while soft-skinned targets can be engaged out to 4,000 m. Air targets can be engaged flying at low altitudes of up to 2,000 m and up to a slant range of 2,500 m.

 

A substantial range of weapons could be carried on four hardpoints under the front wings, plus three more under the fuselage, for a total ordnance of up to 2,500 kg (with reduced internal fuel). The РТАК-30‘s main armament comprised up to 24 laser-guided Vikhr missiles with a maximum range of some 8 km. These tube-launched missiles could be used against ground and aerial targets. A search and tracking radar was housed in a thimble radome on the РТАК-30’s nose and their laser guidance system (mounted in a separate turret under the radome) was reported to be virtually jam-proof. The system furthermore featured automatic guidance to the target, enabling evasive action immediately after missile launch. Alternatively, the system was also compatible with Ataka laser-guided anti-tank missiles.

Other weapon options included laser- or TV-guided Kh-25 missiles as well as iron bombs and napalm tanks of up to 500 kg (1.100 lb) caliber and several rocket pods, including the S-13 and S-8 rockets. The "dumb" rocket pods could be upgraded to laser guidance with the proposed Ugroza system. Against helicopters and aircraft the РТАК-30 could carry up to four R-60 and/or R-73 IR-guided AAMs. Drop tanks and gun pods could be carried, too.

 

When the РТАК-30's proprotors were perpendicular to the motion in the high-speed portions of the flight regime, the aircraft demonstrated a relatively high maximum speed: over 300 knots/560 km/h top speed were achieved during state acceptance trials in 1987, as well as sustained cruise speeds of 250 knots/460 km/h, which was almost twice as fast as a conventional helicopter. Furthermore, the РТАК-30’s tiltrotors and stub wings provided the aircraft with a substantially greater cruise altitude capability than conventional helicopters: during the prototypes’ tests the machines easily reached 6,000 m / 20,000 ft or more, whereas helicopters typically do not exceed 3,000 m / 10,000 ft altitude.

 

Flight tests in general and flight control system refinement in specific lasted until late 1988, and while the vintoplan concept proved to be sound, the technical and practical problems persisted. The aircraft was complex and heavy, and pilots found the machine to be hazardous to land, due to its low ground clearance. Due to structural limits the machine could also never be brought to its expected agility limits

During that time the Soviet Union’s internal tensions rose and more and more hampered the РТАК-30’s development. During this time, two of the prototypes were lost (the 1st and 4th machine) in accidents, and in 1989 only two machines were left in flightworthy condition (the 5th airframe had been set aside for structural ground tests). Nevertheless, the РТАК-30 made its public debut at the Paris Air Show in June 1989 (the 3rd prototype, coded “33 Yellow”), together with the Mi-28A, but was only shown in static display and did not take part in any flight show. After that, the aircraft received the NATO ASCC code "Hemlock" and caused serious concern in Western military headquarters, since the РТАК-30 had the potential to dominate the European battlefield.

 

And this was just about to happen: Despite the РТАК-30’s development problems, the innovative attack vintoplan was included in the Soviet Union’s 5-year plan for 1989-1995, and the vehicle was eventually expected to enter service in 1996. However, due to the collapse of the Soviet Union and the dwindling economics, neither the РТАК-30 nor its civil Mil Mi-30 sister did soar out in the new age of technology. In 1990 the whole program was stopped and both surviving РТАК-30 prototypes were mothballed – one (the 3rd prototype) was disassembled and its components brought to the Rostov-na-Donu Mil plant, while the other, prototype No. 1, is rumored to be stored at the Central Russian Air Force Museum in Monino, to be restored to a public exhibition piece some day.

  

General characteristics:

Crew: Two (pilot, copilot/WSO) plus space for up to three passengers or cargo

Length: 45 ft 7 1/2 in (13,93 m)

Rotor diameter: 20 ft 9 in (6,33 m)

Wingspan incl. engine nacelles: 42 ft 8 1/4 in (13,03 m)

Total width with rotors: 58 ft 8 1/2 in (17,93 m)

Height: 17 ft (5,18 m) at top of tailfin

Disc area: 4x 297 ft² (27,65 m²)

Wing area: 342.2 ft² (36,72 m²)

Empty weight: 8,500 kg (18,740 lb)

Max. takeoff weight: 12,000 kg (26,500 lb)

 

Powerplant:

4× Klimov VK-2500PS-03 turboshaft turbines, 2,400 hp (1.765 kW) each

 

Performance:

Maximum speed: 275 knots (509 km/h, 316 mph) at sea level

305 kn (565 km/h; 351 mph) at 15,000 ft (4,600 m)

Cruise speed: 241 kn (277 mph, 446 km/h) at sea level

Stall speed: 110 kn (126 mph, 204 km/h) in airplane mode

Range: 879 nmi (1,011 mi, 1,627 km)

Combat radius: 390 nmi (426 mi, 722 km)

Ferry range: 1,940 nmi (2,230 mi, 3,590 km) with auxiliary external fuel tanks

Service ceiling: 25,000 ft (7,620 m)

Rate of climb: 2,320–4,000 ft/min (11.8 m/s)

Glide ratio: 4.5:1

Disc loading: 20.9 lb/ft² at 47,500 lb GW (102.23 kg/m²)

Power/mass: 0.259 hp/lb (427 W/kg)

 

Armament:

1× 30 mm (1.18 in) 2A42 multi-purpose autocannon with 450 rounds

7 external hardpoints for a maximum ordnance of 2.500 kg (5.500 lb)

  

The kit and its assembly:

This exotic, fictional aircraft-thing is a contribution to the “The Flying Machines of Unconventional Means” Group Build at whatifmodelers.com in early 2019. While the propulsion system itself is not that unconventional, I deemed the quadrocopter concept (which had already been on my agenda for a while) to be suitable for a worthy submission.

The Mil Mi-30 tiltrotor aircraft, mentioned in the background above, was a real project – but my alternative combat vintoplan design is purely speculative.

 

I had already stashed away some donor parts, primarily two sets of tiltrotor backpacks for 1:144 Gundam mecha from Bandai, which had been released recently. While these looked a little toy-like, these parts had the charm of coming with handed propellers and stub wings that would allow the engine nacelles to swivel.

The search for a suitable fuselage turned out to be a more complex safari than expected. My initial choice was the spoofy Italeri Mi-28 kit (I initially wanted a staggered tandem cockpit), but it turned out to be much too big for what I wanted to achieve. Then I tested a “real” Mi-28 (Dragon) and a Ka-50 (Italeri), but both failed for different reasons – the Mi-28 was too slender, while the Ka-50 had the right size – but converting it for my build would have been VERY complicated, because the engine nacelles would have to go and the fuselage shape between the cockpit and the fuselage section around the original engines and stub wings would be hard to adapt. I eventually bought an Italeri Ka-52 two-seater as fuselage donor.

 

In order to mount the four engines to the fuselage I’d need two pairs of wings of appropriate span – and I found a pair of 1:100 A-10 wings as well as the wings from an 1:72 PZL Iskra (not perfect, but the most suitable donor parts I could find in the junkyard). On the tips of these wings, the swiveling joints for the engine nacelles from the Bandai set were glued. While mounting the rear wings was not too difficult (just the Ka-52’s OOB stabilizers had to go), the front pair of wings was more complex. The reason: the Ka-52’s engines had to go and their attachment points, which are actually shallow recesses on the kit, had to be faired over first. Instead of filling everything with putty I decided to cover the areas with 0.5mm styrene sheet first, and then do cosmetic PSR work. This worked quite well and also included a cover for the Ka-52’s original rotor mast mount. Onto these new flanks the pair of front wings was attached, in a mid position – a conceptual mistake…

 

The cockpit was taken OOB and the aircraft’s nose received an additional thimble radome, reminiscent of the Mi-28’s arrangement. The radome itself was created from a German 500 kg WWII bomb.

 

At this stage, the mid-wing mistake reared its ugly head – it had two painful consequences which I had not fully thought through. Problem #1: the engine nacelles turned out to be too long. When rotated into a vertical position, they’d potentially hit the ground! Furthermore, the ground clearance was very low – and I decided to skip the Ka-52’s OOB landing gear in favor of a heavier and esp. longer alternative, a full landing gear set from an Italeri MiG-37 “Ferret E” stealth fighter, which itself resembles a MiG-23/27 landing gear. Due to the expected higher speeds of the vintoplan I gave the landing gear full covers (partly scratched, plus some donor parts from an Academy MiG-27). It took some trials to get the new landing gear into the right position and a suitable stance – but it worked. With this benchmark I was also able to modify the engine nacelles, shortening their rear ends. They were still very (too!) close to the ground, but at least the model would not sit on them!

However, the more complete the model became, the more design flaws turned up. Another mistake is that the front and rear rotors slightly overlap when in vertical position – something that would be unthinkable in real life…

 

With all major components in place, however, detail work could proceed. This included the completion of the cockpit and the sensor turrets, the Ka-52 cannon and finally the ordnance. Due to the large rotors, any armament had to be concentrated around the fuselage, outside of the propeller discs. For this reason (and in order to prevent the rear engines to ingest exhaust gases from the front engines in level flight), I gave the front wings a slightly larger span, so that four underwing pylons could be fitted, plus a pair of underfuselage hardpoints.

The ordnance was puzzled together from the Italeri Ka-52 and from an ESCI Ka-34 (the fake Ka-50) kit.

  

Painting and markings:

With such an exotic aircraft, I rather wanted a conservative livery and opted for a typical Soviet tactical four-tone scheme from the Eighties – the idea was to build a prototype aircraft from the state acceptance trials period, not a flashy demonstrator. The scheme and the (guesstimated) colors were transferred from a Soviet air force MiG-21bis of that era, and it consists of a reddish light brown (Humbrol 119, Light Earth), a light, yellowish green (Humbrol 159, Khaki Drab), a bluish dark green (Humbrol 195, Dark Satin Green, a.k.a. RAL 6020 Chromdioxidgrün) and a dark brown (Humbrol 170, Brown Bess). For the undersides’ typical bluish grey I chose Humbrol 145 (FS 35237, Gray Blue), which is slightly lighter and less greenish than the typical Soviet tones. A light black ink wash was applied and some light post-shading was done in order to create panels that are structurally not there, augmented by some pencil lines.

 

The cockpit became light blue (Humbrol 89), with medium gray dashboard and consoles. The ejection seats received bright yellow seatbelts and bright blue pads – a detail seen on a Mi-28 cockpit picture.

Some dielectric fairings like the fin tip were painted in bright medium green (Humbrol 101), while some other antenna fairings were painted in pale yellow (Humbrol 71).

The landing gear struts and the interior of the wells became Aluminum Metalic (Humbrol 56), the wheels dark green discs (Humbrol 30).

 

The decals were puzzled together from various sources, including some Begemot sheets. Most of the stencils came from the Ka-52 OOB sheet, and generic decal sheet material was used to mark the walkways or the rotor tips and leading edges.

 

Only some light weathering was done to the leading edges of the wings, and then the kit was sealed with matt acrylic varnish.

  

A complex kitbashing project, and it revealed some pitfalls in the course of making. However, the result looks menacing and still convincing, esp. in flight – even though the picture editing, with four artificially rotating proprotors, was probably more tedious than building the model itself!

Zora of Co-Existence stirs a reaction in some young fans at the Busker Festival in downtown Windsor.

 

If you like this shot, you should check out what my friends post in MiRea's Realm

 

In the vast area between Lindong and Chabuga a lonely crossing was still guarded by this old man. Middle of nowhere doesn't even describe the area.

A little girl trying to balance on rope in order to maintain her existence

Sakharibazar, Old Dhaka, 2011

 

Normal people with extraordinary lifestyles

Along with smile and the gloomy, here life has its own rhyme, has its own colour.

Time passed by, humanity changed along with its history...

But these people remained here tolerating the hardest truth of existences

..........its their story of extraordinary existences.

 

Sakharibazar, Old Dhaka. A very interesting place for all of us to visit. Culture and customs of old Dhaka are the tribute to the ancient history of Bangladesh. Peoples still living in 100 years old building from generations after generations. With the reflection of their religious beauty Old Dhaka attracts peoples from here and abroad.

 

Shakhari Bazaar is one of the oldest mohallas (a traditional neighbourhood) in Puran Dhaka (Old Dhaka), located near the intersection of Islampur Road and Nawabpur Road;the two main arteries of the old city and only a block away from the Buriganga River. Shakhari Bazaar stretches along a narrow lane, lined with thin slices of richly decorated brick buildings, built during the late Mughal or Colonial period. Despite rampant modifications, accretion, extension over time, even redevelopment, many still bear the testimony of a rich tradition.

 

Shakhari Bazaar is the manifestation of the irrational policies, lack of adequate development control rules and distorted legal framework, all of which have left their indelible mark on this precious little mohalla that shares a long history of more than 400 years with Dhaka city itself.The history of Shakhari Bazaar goes back to the pre-Mughal days if not earlier. The first mention of Puran Dhaka can be found in the writings of Mirza Nathan, the general turned historian, who traveled with Subahdar Islam Khan. He mentioned Puran Dhaka, as the area between Dholai Khal and Buriganga river covering Shakhari Bazaar, Tanti Bazaar, Bangla Bazaar, Lakhsmi Bazaar, Bangla Bazaar, Kamar Nagar, Sutar Nagar, Goala Nagar, etc. Each mohalla belonged to separate communities depending on their craft and trade. The influences of the Mughal vocabulary in the planning of the spaces are literally evident in the use of Persian names to identify different spaces..

Highway 684

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

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

  

Some background:

The Bell XP-68A owed its existence to the manufacturer’s rather disappointing outcome of its first jet fighter design, the XP-59A Airacomet. The Airacomet was a twin jet-engined fighter aircraft, designed and built during World War II after Major General Henry H. "Hap" Arnold became aware of the United Kingdom's jet program when he attended a demonstration of the Gloster E.28/39 in April 1941. He requested, and was given, the plans for the aircraft's powerplant, the Power Jets W.1, which he took back to the U.S. He also arranged for an example of the engine, the Whittle W.1X turbojet, to be flown to the U.S., along with drawings for the more powerful W.2B/23 engine and a small team of Power Jets engineers. On 4 September 1941, he offered the U.S. company General Electric a contract to produce an American version of the engine, which subsequently became the General Electric I-A. On the following day, he approached Lawrence Dale Bell, head of Bell Aircraft Corporation, to build a fighter to utilize it. As a disinformation tactic, the USAAF gave the project the designation "P-59A", to suggest it was a development of the unrelated, canceled Bell XP-59 fighter project. The P-59A was the first design fighter to have its turbojet engine and air inlet nacelles integrated within the main fuselage. The jet aircraft’s design was finalized on 9 January 1942 and the first prototype flew in October of the same year.

 

The following 13 service test YP-59As had a more powerful engine than their predecessor, the General Electric J31, but the improvement in performance was negligible, with top speed increased by only 5 mph and a slight reduction in the time they could be used before an overhaul was needed. One of these aircraft, the third YP-59A, was supplied to the Royal Air Force, in exchange for the first production Gloster Meteor I for evaluation and flight-offs with domestic alternatives.

British pilots found that the YP-59A compared very unfavorably with the jets that they were already flying. The United States Army Air Forces were not impressed by its performance either and cancelled the contract when fewer than half of the originally ordered aircraft had been produced. No P-59s entered combat, but the type paved the way for the next design generation of U.S. turbojet-powered aircraft and helped to develop appropriate maintenance structures and procedures.

 

In the meantime, a new, more powerful jet engine had been developed in Great Britain, the Halford H-1, which became later better known as the De Havilland Goblin. It was another centrifugal compressor design, but it produced almost twice as much thrust as the XP-59A’s J31 engines. Impressed by the British Gloster Meteor during the USAAF tests at Muroc Dry Lake - performance-wise as well as by the aircraft’s simplicity and ruggedness - Bell reacted promptly and proposed an alternative fighter with wing-mounted engine nacelles, since the XP-59A’s layout had proven to be aerodynamically sub-optimal and unsuited for the installation of H-1 engines. In order to save development time and because the aircraft was rather regarded as a proof-of-concept demonstrator instead of a true fighter prototype, the new aircraft was structurally based on Bell’s current piston-engine P-63 “Kingcobra”. The proposal was accepted and, in order to maintain secrecy, the new jet aircraft inherited once more a designation of a recently cancelled project, this time from the Vultee XP-68 “Tornado” fighter. Similar to the Airacomet two years before, just a simple “A” suffix was added.

 

Bell’s development contract covered only three XP-68A aircraft. The H-1 units were directly imported from Great Britain in secrecy, suspended in the bomb bays of B-24 Liberator bombers. A pair of these engines was mounted in mid-wing nacelles, very similar to the Gloster Meteor’s arrangement. The tailplane was given a 5° dihedral to move it out of the engine exhaust. In order to bear the new engines and their power, the wing main spars were strengthened and the main landing gear wells were moved towards the aircraft’s centerline, effectively narrowing track width. The landing gear wells now occupied the space of the former radiator ducts for the P-63’s omitted Allison V-1710 liquid-cooled V12 engine. Its former compartment behind the cockpit was used for a new fuel tank and test equipment. Having lost the propeller and its long drive shaft, the nose section was also redesigned: the front fuselage became deeper and the additional space there was used for another fuel tank in front of the cockpit and a bigger weapon bay. Different armament arrangements were envisioned, one of each was to be tested on the three prototypes: one machine would be armed with six 0.5” machine guns, another with four 20mm Hispano M2 cannon, and the third with two 37mm M10 cannon and two 0.5” machine guns. Provisions for a ventral hardpoint for a single drop tank or a 1.000 lb (550 kg) bomb were made, but this was never fitted on any of the prototypes. Additional hardpoints under the outer wings for smaller bombs or unguided missiles followed the same fate.

 

The three XP-68As were built at Bell’s Atlanta plant in the course of early 1944 and semi-officially christened “Airagator”. After their clandestine transfer to Muroc Dry Lake for flight tests and evaluations, the machines were quickly nicknamed “Barrelcobra” by the test staff – not only because of the characteristic shape of the engine nacelles, but also due to the sheer weight of the machines and their resulting sluggish handling on the ground and in the air. “Cadillac” was another nickname, due to the very soft acceleration through the new jet engines and the lack of vibrations that were typical for piston-engine- and propeller-driven aircraft.

 

Due to the structural reinforcements and modifications, the XP-68A had become a heavy aircraft with an empty weight of 4 tons and a MTOW of almost 8 tons – the same as the big P-47 Thunderbolt piston fighter, while the P-63 had an MTOW of only 10,700 lb (4,900 kg). The result was, among other flaws, a very long take-off distance, especially in the hot desert climate of the Mojave Desert (which precluded any external ordnance) and an inherent unwillingness to change direction, its turning radius was immense. More than once the brakes overheated during landing, so that extra water cooling for the main landing gear was retrofitted.

Once in the air, the aircraft proved to be quite fast – as long as it was flying in a straight line, though. Only the roll characteristics were acceptable, but flying the XP-68A remained hazardous, esp. after the loss of one of the H-1s engines: This resulted in heavily asymmetrical propulsion, making the XP-68A hard to control at all and prone to spin in level flight.

 

After trials and direct comparison, the XP-68A turned out not to be as fast and, even worse, much less agile than the Meteor Mk III (the RAF’s then current, operational fighter version), which even had weaker Derwent engines. The operational range was insufficient, too, esp. in regard of the planned Pacific theatre of operations, and the high overall weight precluded any considerable external load like drop tanks.

However, compared with the XP-59A, the XP-68A was a considerable step forward, but it had become quickly clear that the XP-68A and its outfit-a-propeller-design-with jet-engines approach did not bear the potential for any service fighter development: it was already outdated when the prototypes were starting their test program. No further XP-68A was ordered or built, and the three prototypes fulfilled their test and evaluation program until May 1945. During these tests, the first prototype was lost on the ground due to an engine fire. After the program’s completion, the two remaining machines were handed over to the US Navy and used for research at the NATC Patuxent River Test Centre, where they were operated until 1949 and finally scrapped.

  

General characteristics.

Crew: 1

Length: 33 ft 9 in (10.36 m)

Wingspan: 38 ft 4 in (11.7 m)

Height: 13 ft (3.96 m)

Wing area: 248 sq ft (23 m²)

Empty weight: 8,799 lb (3,995 kg)

Loaded weight: 15,138 lb (6,873 kg)

Max. take-off weight: 17,246 lb (7,830 kg)

 

Powerplant:

2× Halford H-1 (De Havilland Goblin) turbojets, rated at 3,500 lbf (15.6 kN) each

 

Performance:

Maximum speed: 559 mph (900 km/h)

Range: 500 mi (444 nmi, 805 km)

Service ceiling: 37,565 ft (11,450 m)

Rate of climb: 3.930 ft/min (20 m/s)

Wing loading: 44.9 lb/ft² (218.97 kg/m²)

Thrust/weight: 0.45

Time to altitude: 5.0 min to 30,000 ft (9,145 m)

 

Armament:

4× Hispano M2 20 mm cannon with 150 rounds

One ventral hardpoint for a single drop tank or a 1.000 lb (550 kg) bomb

6× 60 lb (30 kg) rockets or 2× 500 lb (227 kg) bombs under the outer wings

  

The kit and its assembly:

This whiffy Kingcobra conversion was spawned by a post by fellow user nighthunter in January 2019 at whatifmodelers.com about a potential jet-powered variant. In found the idea charming, since the XP-59 had turned out to be a dud and the Gloster Meteor had been tested by the USAAF. Why not combine both into a fictional, late WWII Bell prototype?

The basic idea was simple: take a P-63 and add a Meteor’s engine nacelles, while keeping the Kingcobra’s original proportions. This sounds pretty easy but was more challenging than the first look at the outcome might suggest.

 

The donor kits are a vintage Airfix 1:72 Gloster Meteor Mk.III, since it has the proper, small nacelles, and an Eastern Express P-63 Kingcobra. The latter looked promising, since this kit comes with very good surface and cockpit details (even with a clear dashboard) as well as parts for several P-63 variants, including the A, C and even the exotic “pinball” manned target version. However, anything comes at a price, and the kit’s low price point is compensated by soft plastic (which turned out to be hard to sand), some flash and mediocre fit of any of the major components like fuselage halves, the wings or the clear parts. It feels a lot like a typical short-run kit. Nevertheless, I feel inclined to build another one in a more conventional fashion some day.

 

Work started with the H-1 nacelles, which had to be cut out from the Meteor wings. Since they come OOB only with a well-visible vertical plate and a main wing spar dummy in the air intake, I added some fine mesh to the plate – normally, you can see directly onto the engine behind the wing spar. Another issue was the fact that the Meteor’s wings are much thicker and deeper than the P-63s, so that lots of PSR work was necessary.

 

Simply cutting the P-63 OOB wings up and inserting the Meteor nacelles was also not possible: the P-63 has a very wide main landing gear, due to the ventral radiators and oil coolers, which were originally buried in the wing roots and under the piston engine. The only solution: move the complete landing gear (including the wells) inward, so that the nacelles could be placed as close as possible to the fuselage in a mid-span position. Furthermore, the - now useless - radiator openings had to disappear, resulting in a major redesign of the wing root sections. All of this became a major surgery task, followed by similarly messy work on the outer wings during the integration of the Meteor nacelles. LOTS of PSR, even though the outcome looks surprisingly plausible and balanced.

 

Work on the fuselage started in parallel. It was built mainly OOB, using the optional ventral fin for a P-63C. The exhaust stubs as well as the dorsal carburetor intake had to disappear (the latter made easy thanks to suitable optional parts for the manned target version). Since the P-63 had a conventional low stabilizer arrangement (unlike the Meteor with its cruciform tail), I gave them a slight dihedral to move them out of the engine efflux, a trick Sukhoi engineers did on the Su-11 prototype with afterburner engines in 1947, too.

 

Furthermore, the whole nose ahead of the cockpit was heavily re-designed, because I wanted the “new” aircraft to lose its propeller heritage and the P-63’s round and rather pointed nose. Somewhat inspired by the P-59 and the P-80, I omitted the propeller parts altogether and re-sculpted the nose with 2C putty, creating a deeper shape with a tall, oval diameter, so that the lower fuselage line was horizontally extended forward. In a profile view the aircraft now looks much more massive and P-80esque. The front landing gear was retained, just its side walls were extended downwards with the help of 0.5mm styrene sheet material, so that the original stance could be kept. Lots of lead in the nose ensured that the model would properly stand on its three wheels.

 

Once the rhinoplasty was done I drilled four holes into the nose and used hollow steel needles as gun barrels, with a look reminiscent of the Douglas A-20G.

Adding the (perfectly) clear parts of the canopy as a final assembly step also turned out to be a major fight against the elements.

  

Painting and markings:

With an USAAF WWII prototype in mind, there were only two options: either an NMF machine, or a camouflage in Olive Drab and Neutral Grey. I went for the latter and used Tamiya XF-62 for the upper surfaces and Humbrol 156 (Dark Camouflage Grey) underneath. The kit received a light black ink wash and some post shading in order to emphasize panels. A little dry-brushing with silver around the leading edges and the cockpit was done, too.

 

The cockpit interior became chromate green (I used Humbrol 150, Forest Green) while the landing gear wells were painted with zinc chromate yellow (Humbrol 81). The landing gear itself was painted in aluminum (Humbrol 56).

Markings/decals became minimal, puzzled together from various sources – only some “Stars and Bars” insignia and the serial number.

  

Somehow this conversion ended up looking a lot like the contemporary Soviet Sukhoi Su-9 and -11 (Samolyet K and LK) jet fighter prototype – unintentionally, though. But I am happy with the outcome – the P-63 ancestry is there, and the Meteor engines are recognizable, too. But everything blends into each other well, the whole affair looks very balanced and believable. This is IMHO furthermore emphasized by the simple paint scheme. A jet-powered Kingcobra? Why not…?

maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Sol%20Existence/215/130/42

Welcome to the Village on ::Sol Existence::. The quaint village was created for all to visit and explore. There are quite a few places that might make a great backdrop for photos including beach, pond, gardens, shops or just a spot to relax for a bit.

✰ This photo was featured on The Epic Global Showcase here: bit.ly/1qslers

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

Existence // Edit for #pixiteweekly by @pixitesource _ OP #digital_cities_ffa by the amazing @jamesmgrote, stock #alienskyapp @alienskyapp & #pixlr @pixlr _

by @praketh.in on Instagram.

 

Existence is no more than the precarious attainment of relevance in an intensely mobile flux of past, present, and future.

 

Susan Sontag

    

Leazes Park is an urban park in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. Grade II listed, it is the city's oldest park, opened in 1873, and lies to the west of the city centre. The park contains a lake above the course of the Lort Burn. It is next to St James' Park and the Royal Victoria Infirmary.

 

Leazes Park is separated from Spital Tongues by Castle Leazes, an area of common land similar to the Town Moor.

 

History

The creation of Leazes Park was a drawn out process. In September 1857 3,000 working men petitioned Newcastle Council for ‘ready access to some open ground for the purpose of health and recreation’ and a year later a special committee was set up to try to find a location for a park. Aldermen Harle and Hamond took up the challenge and campaigned for a park and eventually succeeded in having Leazes Park created on a part of the Leazes Town Moor.

 

On 23 December 1873, Leazes Park was officially opened by Alderman Sir Charles Hamond. It became the first public park created on Tyneside.

 

John Fulton, the Town Surveyor, laid out Leazes Park similar to other parks being built in Britain at that time. The layout centres on the lake. The Bandstand was added in 1875 and a balustrade stone terrace in 1879. Later, the whole park was surrounded with metal railings. A second lake was created in 1893 but this was filled in by 1949 and the area used for a bowling green and tennis courts.

 

The grand Jubilee Gates were added in 1896 to commemorate the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria and a Palm House was built. In 1908 a bust of Alderman Sir Charles Hamond was erected (which is also grade II listed) as the centrepiece to the terrace and the park was then complete.

 

The park continued to develop with deer, aviaries, tennis, and croquet until the 1980s when it was in need of refurbishment. The refurbishment became possible when the park was awarded £3.7 million from the Heritage Lottery Fund in 2001. The restoration project was completed in 2004.

 

Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle is a cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is located on the River Tyne's northern bank, opposite Gateshead to the south. It is the most populous settlement in the Tyneside conurbation and North East England.

 

Newcastle developed around a Roman settlement called Pons Aelius, the settlement became known as Monkchester before taking on the name of a castle built in 1080 by William the Conqueror's eldest son, Robert Curthose. It was one of the world's largest ship building and repair centres during the industrial revolution. Newcastle was part of the county of Northumberland until 1400, when it separated and formed a county of itself. In 1974, Newcastle became part of Tyne and Wear. Since 2018, the city council has been part of the North of Tyne Combined Authority.

 

The history of Newcastle upon Tyne dates back almost 2,000 years, during which it has been controlled by the Romans, the Angles and the Norsemen amongst others. Newcastle upon Tyne was originally known by its Roman name Pons Aelius. The name "Newcastle" has been used since the Norman conquest of England. Due to its prime location on the River Tyne, the town developed greatly during the Middle Ages and it was to play a major role in the Industrial Revolution, being granted city status in 1882. Today, the city is a major retail, commercial and cultural centre.

 

Roman settlement

The history of Newcastle dates from AD 122, when the Romans built the first bridge to cross the River Tyne at that point. The bridge was called Pons Aelius or 'Bridge of Aelius', Aelius being the family name of Roman Emperor Hadrian, who was responsible for the Roman wall built across northern England along the Tyne–Solway gap. Hadrian's Wall ran through present-day Newcastle, with stretches of wall and turrets visible along the West Road, and at a temple in Benwell. Traces of a milecastle were found on Westgate Road, midway between Clayton Street and Grainger Street, and it is likely that the course of the wall corresponded to present-day Westgate Road. The course of the wall can be traced eastwards to the Segedunum Roman fort at Wallsend, with the fort of Arbeia down-river at the mouth of the Tyne, on the south bank in what is now South Shields. The Tyne was then a wider, shallower river at this point and it is thought that the bridge was probably about 700 feet (210 m) long, made of wood and supported on stone piers. It is probable that it was sited near the current Swing Bridge, due to the fact that Roman artefacts were found there during the building of the latter bridge. Hadrian himself probably visited the site in 122. A shrine was set up on the completed bridge in 123 by the 6th Legion, with two altars to Neptune and Oceanus respectively. The two altars were subsequently found in the river and are on display in the Great North Museum in Newcastle.

 

The Romans built a stone-walled fort in 150 to protect the river crossing which was at the foot of the Tyne Gorge, and this took the name of the bridge so that the whole settlement was known as Pons Aelius. The fort was situated on a rocky outcrop overlooking the new bridge, on the site of the present Castle Keep. Pons Aelius is last mentioned in 400, in a Roman document listing all of the Roman military outposts. It is likely that nestling in the shadow of the fort would have been a small vicus, or village. Unfortunately, no buildings have been detected; only a few pieces of flagging. It is clear that there was a Roman cemetery near Clavering Place, behind the Central station, as a number of Roman coffins and sarcophagi have been unearthed there.

 

Despite the presence of the bridge, the settlement of Pons Aelius was not particularly important among the northern Roman settlements. The most important stations were those on the highway of Dere Street running from Eboracum (York) through Corstopitum (Corbridge) and to the lands north of the Wall. Corstopitum, being a major arsenal and supply centre, was much larger and more populous than Pons Aelius.

 

Anglo-Saxon development

The Angles arrived in the North-East of England in about 500 and may have landed on the Tyne. There is no evidence of an Anglo-Saxon settlement on or near the site of Pons Aelius during the Anglo-Saxon age. The bridge probably survived and there may well have been a small village at the northern end, but no evidence survives. At that time the region was dominated by two kingdoms, Bernicia, north of the Tees and ruled from Bamburgh, and Deira, south of the Tees and ruled from York. Bernicia and Deira combined to form the kingdom of Northanhymbra (Northumbria) early in the 7th century. There were three local kings who held the title of Bretwalda – 'Lord of Britain', Edwin of Deira (627–632), Oswald of Bernicia (633–641) and Oswy of Northumbria (641–658). The 7th century became known as the 'Golden Age of Northumbria', when the area was a beacon of culture and learning in Europe. The greatness of this period was based on its generally Christian culture and resulted in the Lindisfarne Gospels amongst other treasures. The Tyne valley was dotted with monasteries, with those at Monkwearmouth, Hexham and Jarrow being the most famous. Bede, who was based at Jarrow, wrote of a royal estate, known as Ad Murum, 'at the Wall', 12 miles (19 km) from the sea. It is thought that this estate may have been in what is now Newcastle. At some unknown time, the site of Newcastle came to be known as Monkchester. The reason for this title is unknown, as we are unaware of any specific monasteries at the site, and Bede made no reference to it. In 875 Halfdan Ragnarsson, the Danish Viking conqueror of York, led an army that attacked and pillaged various monasteries in the area, and it is thought that Monkchester was also pillaged at this time. Little more was heard of it until the coming of the Normans.

 

Norman period

After the arrival of William the Conqueror in England in 1066, the whole of England was quickly subjected to Norman rule. However, in Northumbria there was great resistance to the Normans, and in 1069 the newly appointed Norman Earl of Northumbria, Robert de Comines and 700 of his men were killed by the local population at Durham. The Northumbrians then marched on York, but William was able to suppress the uprising. That same year, a second uprising occurred when a Danish fleet landed in the Humber. The Northumbrians again attacked York and destroyed the garrison there. William was again able to suppress the uprising, but this time he took revenge. He laid waste to the whole of the Midlands and the land from York to the Tees. In 1080, William Walcher, the Norman bishop of Durham and his followers were brutally murdered at Gateshead. This time Odo, bishop of Bayeux, William's half brother, devastated the land between the Tees and the Tweed. This was known as the 'Harrying of the North'. This devastation is reflected in the Domesday Book. The destruction had such an effect that the North remained poor and backward at least until Tudor times and perhaps until the Industrial Revolution. Newcastle suffered in this respect with the rest of the North.

 

In 1080 William sent his eldest son, Robert Curthose, north to defend the kingdom against the Scots. After his campaign, he moved to Monkchester and began the building of a 'New Castle'. This was of the "motte-and-bailey" type of construction, a wooden tower on top of an earthen mound (motte), surrounded by a moat and wooden stockade (bailey). It was this castle that gave Newcastle its name. In 1095 the Earl of Northumbria, Robert de Mowbray, rose up against the king, William Rufus, and Rufus sent an army north to recapture the castle. From then on the castle became crown property and was an important base from which the king could control the northern barons. The Northumbrian earldom was abolished and a Sheriff of Northumberland was appointed to administer the region. In 1091 the parish church of St Nicholas was consecrated on the site of the present Anglican cathedral, close by the bailey of the new castle. The church is believed to have been a wooden building on stone footings.

 

Not a trace of the tower or mound of the motte and bailey castle remains now. Henry II replaced it with a rectangular stone keep, which was built between 1172 and 1177 at a cost of £1,444. A stone bailey, in the form of a triangle, replaced the previous wooden one. The great outer gateway to the castle, called 'the Black Gate', was built later, between 1247 and 1250, in the reign of Henry III. There were at that time no town walls and when attacked by the Scots, the townspeople had to crowd into the bailey for safety. It is probable that the new castle acted as a magnet for local merchants because of the safety it provided. This in turn would help to expand trade in the town. At this time wool, skins and lead were being exported, whilst alum, pepper and ginger were being imported from France and Flanders.

 

Middle Ages

Throughout the Middle Ages, Newcastle was England's northern fortress, the centre for assembled armies. The Border war against Scotland lasted intermittently for several centuries – possibly the longest border war ever waged. During the civil war between Stephen and Matilda, David 1st of Scotland and his son were granted Cumbria and Northumberland respectively, so that for a period from 1139 to 1157, Newcastle was effectively in Scottish hands. It is believed that during this period, King David may have built the church of St Andrew and the Benedictine nunnery in Newcastle. However, King Stephen's successor, Henry II was strong enough to take back the Earldom of Northumbria from Malcolm IV.

 

The Scots king William the Lion was imprisoned in Newcastle, in 1174, after being captured at the Battle of Alnwick. Edward I brought the Stone of Scone and William Wallace south through the town and Newcastle was successfully defended against the Scots three times during the 14th century.

 

Around 1200, stone-faced, clay-filled jetties were starting to project into the river, an indication that trade was increasing in Newcastle. As the Roman roads continued to deteriorate, sea travel was gaining in importance. By 1275 Newcastle was the sixth largest wool exporting port in England. The principal exports at this time were wool, timber, coal, millstones, dairy produce, fish, salt and hides. Much of the developing trade was with the Baltic countries and Germany. Most of the Newcastle merchants were situated near the river, below the Castle. The earliest known charter was dated 1175 in the reign of Henry II, giving the townspeople some control over their town. In 1216 King John granted Newcastle a mayor[8] and also allowed the formation of guilds (known as Mysteries). These were cartels formed within different trades, which restricted trade to guild members. There were initially twelve guilds. Coal was being exported from Newcastle by 1250, and by 1350 the burgesses received a royal licence to export coal. This licence to export coal was jealously guarded by the Newcastle burgesses, and they tried to prevent any one else on the Tyne from exporting coal except through Newcastle. The burgesses similarly tried to prevent fish from being sold anywhere else on the Tyne except Newcastle. This led to conflicts with Gateshead and South Shields.

 

In 1265, the town was granted permission to impose a 'Wall Tax' or Murage, to pay for the construction of a fortified wall to enclose the town and protect it from Scottish invaders. The town walls were not completed until early in the 14th century. They were two miles (3 km) long, 9 feet (2.7 m) thick and 25 feet (7.6 m) high. They had six main gates, as well as some smaller gates, and had 17 towers. The land within the walls was divided almost equally by the Lort Burn, which flowed southwards and joined the Tyne to the east of the Castle. The town began to expand north of the Castle and west of the Lort Burn with various markets being set up within the walls.

 

In 1400 Henry IV granted a new charter, creating a County corporate which separated the town, but not the Castle, from the county of Northumberland and recognised it as a "county of itself" with a right to have a sheriff of its own. The burgesses were now allowed to choose six aldermen who, with the mayor would be justices of the peace. The mayor and sheriff were allowed to hold borough courts in the Guildhall.

 

Religious houses

During the Middle Ages a number of religious houses were established within the walls: the first of these was the Benedictine nunnery of St Bartholomew founded in 1086 near the present-day Nun Street. Both David I of Scotland and Henry I of England were benefactors of the religious house. Nothing of the nunnery remains now.

 

The friary of Blackfriars, Newcastle (Dominican) was established in 1239. These were also known as the Preaching Friars or Shod Friars, because they wore sandals, as opposed to other orders. The friary was situated in the present-day Friars Street. In 1280 the order was granted royal permission to make a postern in the town walls to communicate with their gardens outside the walls. On 19 June 1334, Edward Balliol, claimant to be King of Scotland, did homage to King Edward III, on behalf of the kingdom of Scotland, in the church of the friary. Much of the original buildings of the friary still exist, mainly because, after the Dissolution of the Monasteries the friary of Blackfriars was rented out by the corporation to nine of the local trade guilds.

 

The friary of Whitefriars (Carmelite) was established in 1262. The order was originally housed on the Wall Knoll in Pandon, but in 1307 it took over the buildings of another order, which went out of existence, the Friars of the Sac. The land, which had originally been given by Robert the Bruce, was situated in the present-day Hanover Square, behind the Central station. Nothing of the friary remains now.

 

The friary of Austinfriars (Augustinian) was established in 1290. The friary was on the site where the Holy Jesus Hospital was built in 1682. The friary was traditionally the lodging place of English kings whenever they visited or passed through Newcastle. In 1503 Princess Margaret, eldest daughter of Henry VII of England, stayed two days at the friary on her way to join her new husband James IV of Scotland.

 

The friary of Greyfriars (Franciscans) was established in 1274. The friary was in the present-day area between Pilgrim Street, Grey Street, Market Street and High Chare. Nothing of the original buildings remains.

 

The friary of the Order of the Holy Trinity, also known as the Trinitarians, was established in 1360. The order devoted a third of its income to buying back captives of the Saracens, during the Crusades. Their house was on the Wall Knoll, in Pandon, to the east of the city, but within the walls. Wall Knoll had previously been occupied by the White Friars until they moved to new premises in 1307.

 

All of the above religious houses were closed in about 1540, when Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries.

 

An important street running through Newcastle at the time was Pilgrim Street, running northwards inside the walls and leading to the Pilgrim Gate on the north wall. The street still exists today as arguably Newcastle's main shopping street.

 

Tudor period

The Scottish border wars continued for much of the 16th century, so that during that time, Newcastle was often threatened with invasion by the Scots, but also remained important as a border stronghold against them.

 

During the Reformation begun by Henry VIII in 1536, the five Newcastle friaries and the single nunnery were dissolved and the land was sold to the Corporation and to rich merchants. At this time there were fewer than 60 inmates of the religious houses in Newcastle. The convent of Blackfriars was leased to nine craft guilds to be used as their headquarters. This probably explains why it is the only one of the religious houses whose building survives to the present day. The priories at Tynemouth and Durham were also dissolved, thus ending the long-running rivalry between Newcastle and the church for control of trade on the Tyne. A little later, the property of the nunnery of St Bartholomew and of Grey Friars were bought by Robert Anderson, who had the buildings demolished to build his grand Newe House (also known as Anderson Place).

 

With the gradual decline of the Scottish border wars the town walls were allowed to decline as well as the castle. By 1547, about 10,000 people were living in Newcastle. At the beginning of the 16th century exports of wool from Newcastle were more than twice the value of exports of coal, but during the century coal exports continued to increase.

 

Under Edward VI, John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, sponsored an act allowing Newcastle to annexe Gateshead as its suburb. The main reason for this was to allow the Newcastle Hostmen, who controlled the export of Tyne coal, to get their hands on the Gateshead coal mines, previously controlled by the Bishop of Durham. However, when Mary I came to power, Dudley met his downfall and the decision was reversed. The Reformation allowed private access to coal mines previously owned by Tynemouth and Durham priories and as a result coal exports increase dramatically, from 15,000 tons in 1500 to 35,000 tons in 1565, and to 400,000 tons in 1625.

 

The plague visited Newcastle four times during the 16th century, in 1579 when 2,000 people died, in 1589 when 1700 died, in 1595 and finally in 1597.

 

In 1600 Elizabeth I granted Newcastle a charter for an exclusive body of electors, the right to elect the mayor and burgesses. The charter also gave the Hostmen exclusive rights to load coal at any point on the Tyne. The Hostmen developed as an exclusive group within the Merchant Adventurers who had been incorporated by a charter in 1547.

 

Stuart period

In 1636 there was a serious outbreak of bubonic plague in Newcastle. There had been several previous outbreaks of the disease over the years, but this was the most serious. It is thought to have arrived from the Netherlands via ships that were trading between the Tyne and that country. It first appeared in the lower part of the town near the docks but gradually spread to all parts of the town. As the disease gained hold the authorities took measures to control it by boarding up any properties that contained infected persons, meaning that whole families were locked up together with the infected family members. Other infected persons were put in huts outside the town walls and left to die. Plague pits were dug next to the town's four churches and outside the town walls to receive the bodies in mass burials. Over the course of the outbreak 5,631 deaths were recorded out of an estimated population of 12,000, a death rate of 47%.

 

In 1637 Charles I tried to raise money by doubling the 'voluntary' tax on coal in return for allowing the Newcastle Hostmen to regulate production and fix prices. This caused outrage amongst the London importers and the East Anglian shippers. Both groups decided to boycott Tyne coal and as a result forced Charles to reverse his decision in 1638.

 

In 1640 during the Second Bishops' War, the Scots successfully invaded Newcastle. The occupying army demanded £850 per day from the Corporation to billet the Scottish troops. Trade from the Tyne ground to a halt during the occupation. The Scots left in 1641 after receiving a Parliamentary pardon and a £4,000,000 loan from the town.

 

In 1642 the English Civil War began. King Charles realised the value of the Tyne coal trade and therefore garrisoned Newcastle. A Royalist was appointed as governor. At that time, Newcastle and King's Lynn were the only important seaports to support the crown. In 1644 Parliament blockaded the Tyne to prevent the king from receiving revenue from the Tyne coal trade. Coal exports fell from 450,000 to 3,000 tons and London suffered a hard winter without fuel. Parliament encouraged the coal trade from the Wear to try to replace that lost from Newcastle but that was not enough to make up for the lost Tyneside tonnage.

 

In 1644 the Scots crossed the border. Newcastle strengthened its defences in preparation. The Scottish army, with 40,000 troops, besieged Newcastle for three months until the garrison of 1,500 surrendered. During the siege, the Scots bombarded the walls with their artillery, situated in Gateshead and Castle Leazes. The Scottish commander threatened to destroy the steeple of St Nicholas's Church by gunfire if the mayor, Sir John Marley, did not surrender the town. The mayor responded by placing Scottish prisoners that they had captured in the steeple, so saving it from destruction. The town walls were finally breached by a combination of artillery and sapping. In gratitude for this defence, Charles gave Newcastle the motto 'Fortiter Defendit Triumphans' to be added to its coat of arms. The Scottish army occupied Northumberland and Durham for two years. The coal taxes had to pay for the Scottish occupation. In 1645 Charles surrendered to the Scots and was imprisoned in Newcastle for nine months. After the Civil War the coal trade on the Tyne soon picked up and exceeded its pre-war levels.

 

A new Guildhall was completed on the Sandhill next to the river in 1655, replacing an earlier facility damaged by fire in 1639, and became the meeting place of Newcastle Town Council. In 1681 the Hospital of the Holy Jesus was built partly on the site of the Austin Friars. The Guildhall and Holy Jesus Hospital still exist.

 

Charles II tried to impose a charter on Newcastle to give the king the right to appoint the mayor, sheriff, recorder and town clerk. Charles died before the charter came into effect. In 1685, James II tried to replace Corporation members with named Catholics. However, James' mandate was suspended in 1689 after the Glorious Revolution welcoming William of Orange. In 1689, after the fall of James II, the people of Newcastle tore down his bronze equestrian statue in Sandhill and tossed it into the Tyne. The bronze was later used to make bells for All Saints Church.

 

In 1689 the Lort Burn was covered over. At this time it was an open sewer. The channel followed by the Lort Burn became the present day Dean Street. At that time, the centre of Newcastle was still the Sandhill area, with many merchants living along the Close or on the Side. The path of the main road through Newcastle ran from the single Tyne bridge, through Sandhill to the Side, a narrow street which climbed steeply on the north-east side of the castle hill until it reached the higher ground alongside St Nicholas' Church. As Newcastle developed, the Side became lined with buildings with projecting upper stories, so that the main street through Newcastle was a narrow, congested, steep thoroughfare.

 

In 1701 the Keelmen's Hospital was built in the Sandgate area of the city, using funds provided by the keelmen. The building still stands today.

 

Eighteenth century

In the 18th century, Newcastle was the country's largest print centre after London, Oxford and Cambridge, and the Literary and Philosophical Society of 1793, with its erudite debates and large stock of books in several languages predated the London Library by half a century.

 

In 1715, during the Jacobite rising in favour of the Old Pretender, an army of Jacobite supporters marched on Newcastle. Many of the Northumbrian gentry joined the rebels. The citizens prepared for its arrival by arresting Jacobite supporters and accepting 700 extra recruits into the local militia. The gates of the city were closed against the rebels. This proved enough to delay an attack until reinforcements arrived forcing the rebel army to move across to the west coast. The rebels finally surrendered at Preston.

 

In 1745, during a second Jacobite rising in favour of the Young Pretender, a Scottish army crossed the border led by Bonnie Prince Charlie. Once again Newcastle prepared by arresting Jacobite supporters and inducting 800 volunteers into the local militia. The town walls were strengthened, most of the gates were blocked up and some 200 cannon were deployed. 20,000 regulars were billeted on the Town Moor. These preparations were enough to force the rebel army to travel south via the west coast. They were eventually defeated at Culloden in 1746.

 

Newcastle's actions during the 1715 rising in resisting the rebels and declaring for George I, in contrast to the rest of the region, is the most likely source of the nickname 'Geordie', applied to people from Tyneside, or more accurately Newcastle. Another theory, however, is that the name 'Geordie' came from the inventor of the Geordie lamp, George Stephenson. It was a type of safety lamp used in mining, but was not invented until 1815. Apparently the term 'German Geordie' was in common use during the 18th century.

 

The city's first hospital, Newcastle Infirmary opened in 1753; it was funded by public subscription. A lying-in hospital was established in Newcastle in 1760. The city's first public hospital for mentally ill patients, Wardens Close Lunatic Hospital was opened in October 1767.

 

In 1771 a flood swept away much of the bridge at Newcastle. The bridge had been built in 1250 and repaired after a flood in 1339. The bridge supported various houses and three towers and an old chapel. A blue stone was placed in the middle of the bridge to mark the boundary between Newcastle and the Palatinate of Durham. A temporary wooden bridge had to be built, and this remained in use until 1781, when a new stone bridge was completed. The new bridge consisted of nine arches. In 1801, because of the pressure of traffic, the bridge had to be widened.

 

A permanent military presence was established in the city with the completion of Fenham Barracks in 1806. The facilities at the Castle for holding assizes, which had been condemned for their inconvenience and unhealthiness, were replaced when the Moot Hall opened in August 1812.

 

Victorian period

Present-day Newcastle owes much of its architecture to the work of the builder Richard Grainger, aided by architects John Dobson, Thomas Oliver, John and Benjamin Green and others. In 1834 Grainger won a competition to produce a new plan for central Newcastle. He put this plan into effect using the above architects as well as architects employed in his own office. Grainger and Oliver had already built Leazes Terrace, Leazes Crescent and Leazes Place between 1829 and 1834. Grainger and Dobson had also built the Royal Arcade at the foot of Pilgrim Street between 1830 and 1832. The most ambitious project covered 12 acres 12 acres (49,000 m2) in central Newcastle, on the site of Newe House (also called Anderson Place). Grainger built three new thoroughfares, Grey Street, Grainger Street and Clayton Street with many connecting streets, as well as the Central Exchange and the Grainger Market. John Wardle and George Walker, working in Grainger's office, designed Clayton Street, Grainger Street and most of Grey Street. Dobson designed the Grainger Market and much of the east side of Grey Street. John and Benjamin Green designed the Theatre Royal at the top of Grey Street, where Grainger placed the column of Grey's Monument as a focus for the whole scheme. Grey Street is considered to be one of the finest streets in the country, with its elegant curve. Unfortunately most of old Eldon Square was demolished in the 1960s in the name of progress. The Royal Arcade met a similar fate.

 

In 1849 a new bridge was built across the river at Newcastle. This was the High Level Bridge, designed by Robert Stephenson, and slightly up river from the existing bridge. The bridge was designed to carry road and rail traffic across the Tyne Gorge on two decks with rail traffic on the upper deck and road traffic on the lower. The new bridge meant that traffic could pass through Newcastle without having to negotiate the steep, narrow Side, as had been necessary for centuries. The bridge was opened by Queen Victoria, who one year later opened the new Central Station, designed by John Dobson. Trains were now able to cross the river, directly into the centre of Newcastle and carry on up to Scotland. The Army Riding School was also completed in 1849.

 

In 1854 a large fire started on the Gateshead quayside and an explosion caused it to spread across the river to the Newcastle quayside. A huge conflagration amongst the narrow alleys, or 'chares', destroyed the homes of 800 families as well as many business premises. The narrow alleys that had been destroyed were replaced by streets containing blocks of modern offices.

 

In 1863 the Town Hall in St Nicholas Square replaced the Guildhall as the meeting place of Newcastle Town Council.

 

In 1876 the low level bridge was replaced by a new bridge known as the Swing Bridge, so called because the bridge was able to swing horizontally on a central axis and allow ships to pass on either side. This meant that for the first time sizeable ships could pass up-river beyond Newcastle. The bridge was built and paid for by William Armstrong, a local arms manufacturer, who needed to have warships access his Elswick arms factory to fit armaments to them. The Swing Bridge's rotating mechanism is adapted from the cannon mounts developed in Armstrong's arms works. In 1882 the Elswick works began to build ships as well as to arm them. The Barrack Road drill hall was completed in 1890.

 

Industrialisation

In the 19th century, shipbuilding and heavy engineering were central to the city's prosperity; and the city was a powerhouse of the Industrial Revolution. Newcastle's development as a major city owed most to its central role in the production and export of coal. The phrase "taking coals to Newcastle" was first recorded in 1538; it proverbially denotes bringing a particular commodity to a place that has more than enough of it already.

 

Innovation in Newcastle and surrounding areas included the following:

 

George Stephenson developed a miner's safety lamp at the same time that Humphry Davy developed a rival design. The lamp made possible the opening up of ever deeper mines to provide the coal that powered the industrial revolution.

George and his son Robert Stephenson were hugely influential figures in the development of the early railways. George developed Blücher, a locomotive working at Killingworth colliery in 1814, whilst Robert was instrumental in the design of Rocket, a revolutionary design that was the forerunner of modern locomotives. Both men were involved in planning and building railway lines, all over this country and abroad.

 

Joseph Swan demonstrated a working electric light bulb about a year before Thomas Edison did the same in the USA. This led to a dispute as to who had actually invented the light bulb. Eventually the two rivals agreed to form a mutual company between them, the Edison and Swan Electric Light Company, known as Ediswan.

 

Charles Algernon Parsons invented the steam turbine, for marine use and for power generation. He used Turbinia, a small, turbine-powered ship, to demonstrate the speed that a steam turbine could generate. Turbinia literally ran rings around the British Fleet at a review at Spithead in 1897.

 

William Armstrong invented a hydraulic crane that was installed in dockyards up and down the country. He then began to design light, accurate field guns for the British army. These were a vast improvement on the existing guns that were then in use.

 

The following major industries developed in Newcastle or its surrounding area:

 

Glassmaking

A small glass industry existed in Newcastle from the mid-15th century. In 1615 restrictions were put on the use of wood for manufacturing glass. It was found that glass could be manufactured using the local coal, and so a glassmaking industry grew up on Tyneside. Huguenot glassmakers came over from France as refugees from persecution and set up glasshouses in the Skinnerburn area of Newcastle. Eventually, glass production moved to the Ouseburn area of Newcastle. In 1684 the Dagnia family, Sephardic Jewish emigrants from Altare, arrived in Newcastle from Stourbridge and established glasshouses along the Close, to manufacture high quality flint glass. The glass manufacturers used sand ballast from the boats arriving in the river as the main raw material. The glassware was then exported in collier brigs. The period from 1730 to 1785 was the highpoint of Newcastle glass manufacture, when the local glassmakers produced the 'Newcastle Light Baluster'. The glassmaking industry still exists in the west end of the city with local Artist and Glassmaker Jane Charles carrying on over four hundred years of hot glass blowing in Newcastle upon Tyne.

 

Locomotive manufacture

In 1823 George Stephenson and his son Robert established the world's first locomotive factory near Forth Street in Newcastle. Here they built locomotives for the Stockton and Darlington Railway and the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, as well as many others. It was here that the famous locomotive Rocket was designed and manufactured in preparation for the Rainhill Trials. Apart from building locomotives for the British market, the Newcastle works also produced locomotives for Europe and America. The Forth Street works continued to build locomotives until 1960.

 

Shipbuilding

In 1296 a wooden, 135 ft (41 m) long galley was constructed at the mouth of the Lort Burn in Newcastle, as part of a twenty-ship order from the king. The ship cost £205, and is the earliest record of shipbuilding in Newcastle. However the rise of the Tyne as a shipbuilding area was due to the need for collier brigs for the coal export trade. These wooden sailing ships were usually built locally, establishing local expertise in building ships. As ships changed from wood to steel, and from sail to steam, the local shipbuilding industry changed to build the new ships. Although shipbuilding was carried out up and down both sides of the river, the two main areas for building ships in Newcastle were Elswick, to the west, and Walker, to the east. By 1800 Tyneside was the third largest producer of ships in Britain. Unfortunately, after the Second World War, lack of modernisation and competition from abroad gradually caused the local industry to decline and die.

 

Armaments

In 1847 William Armstrong established a huge factory in Elswick, west of Newcastle. This was initially used to produce hydraulic cranes but subsequently began also to produce guns for both the army and the navy. After the Swing Bridge was built in 1876 allowing ships to pass up river, warships could have their armaments fitted alongside the Elswick works. Armstrong's company took over its industrial rival, Joseph Whitworth of Manchester in 1897.

 

Steam turbines

Charles Algernon Parsons invented the steam turbine and, in 1889, founded his own company C. A. Parsons and Company in Heaton, Newcastle to make steam turbines. Shortly after this, he realised that steam turbines could be used to propel ships and, in 1897, he founded a second company, Parsons Marine Steam Turbine Company in Wallsend. It is there that he designed and manufactured Turbinia. Parsons turbines were initially used in warships but soon came to be used in merchant and passenger vessels, including the liner Mauretania which held the blue riband for the Atlantic crossing until 1929. Parsons' company in Heaton began to make turbo-generators for power stations and supplied power stations all over the world. The Heaton works, reduced in size, remains as part of the Siemens AG industrial giant.

 

Pottery

In 1762 the Maling pottery was founded in Sunderland by French Huguenots, but transferred to Newcastle in 1817. A factory was built in the Ouseburn area of the city. The factory was rebuilt twice, finally occupying a 14-acre (57,000 m2) site that was claimed to be the biggest pottery in the world and which had its own railway station. The pottery pioneered use of machines in making potteries as opposed to hand production. In the 1890s the company went up-market and employed in-house designers. The period up to the Second World War was the most profitable with a constant stream of new designs being introduced. However, after the war, production gradually declined and the company closed in 1963.

 

Expansion of the city

Newcastle was one of the boroughs reformed by the Municipal Corporations Act 1835: the reformed municipal borough included the parishes of Byker, Elswick, Heaton, Jesmond, Newcastle All Saints, Newcastle St Andrew, Newcastle St John, Newcastle St Nicholas, and Westgate. The urban districts of Benwell and Fenham and Walker were added in 1904. In 1935, Newcastle gained Kenton and parts of the parishes of West Brunton, East Denton, Fawdon, Longbenton. The most recent expansion in Newcastle's boundaries took place under the Local Government Act 1972 on 1 April 1974, when Newcastle became a metropolitan borough, also including the urban districts of Gosforth and Newburn, and the parishes of Brunswick, Dinnington, Hazlerigg, North Gosforth and Woolsington from the Castle Ward Rural District, and the village of Westerhope.

 

Meanwhile Northumberland County Council was formed under the Local Government Act 1888 and benefited from a dedicated meeting place when County Hall was completed in the Castle Garth area of Newcastle in 1910. Following the Local Government Act 1972 County Hall relocated to Morpeth in April 1981.

 

Twentieth century

In 1925 work began on a new high-level road bridge to span the Tyne Gorge between Newcastle and Gateshead. The capacity of the existing High-Level Bridge and Swing Bridge were being strained to the limit, and an additional bridge had been discussed for a long time. The contract was awarded to the Dorman Long Company and the bridge was finally opened by King George V in 1928. The road deck was 84 feet (26 m) above the river and was supported by a 531 feet (162 m) steel arch. The new Tyne Bridge quickly became a symbol for Newcastle and Tyneside, and remains so today.

 

During the Second World War, Newcastle was largely spared the horrors inflicted upon other British cities bombed during the Blitz. Although the armaments factories and shipyards along the River Tyne were targeted by the Luftwaffe, they largely escaped unscathed. Manors goods yard and railway terminal, to the east of the city centre, and the suburbs of Jesmond and Heaton suffered bombing during 1941. There were 141 deaths and 587 injuries, a relatively small figure compared to the casualties in other industrial centres of Britain.

 

In 1963 the city gained its own university, the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, by act of parliament. A School of Medicine and Surgery had been established in Newcastle in 1834. This eventually developed into a college of medicine attached to Durham University. A college of physical science was also founded and became Armstrong College in 1904. In 1934 the two colleges merged to become King's College, Durham. This remained as part of Durham University until the new university was created in 1963. In 1992 the city gained its second university when Newcastle Polytechnic was granted university status as Northumbria University.

 

Newcastle City Council moved to the new Newcastle Civic Centre in 1968.

 

As heavy industries declined in the second half of the 20th century, large sections of the city centre were demolished along with many areas of slum housing. The leading political figure in the city during the 1960s was T. Dan Smith who oversaw a massive building programme of highrise housing estates and authorised the demolition of a quarter of the Georgian Grainger Town to make way for Eldon Square Shopping Centre. Smith's control in Newcastle collapsed when it was exposed that he had used public contracts to advantage himself and his business associates and for a time Newcastle became a byword for civic corruption as depicted in the films Get Carter and Stormy Monday and in the television series Our Friends in the North. However, much of the historic Grainger Town area survived and was, for the most part, fully restored in the late 1990s. Northumberland Street, initially the A1, was gradually closed to traffic from the 1970s and completely pedestrianised by 1998.

 

In 1978 a new rapid transport system, the Metro, was built, linking the Tyneside area. The system opened in August 1980. A new bridge was built to carry the Metro across the river between Gateshead and Newcastle. This was the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, commonly known as the Metro Bridge. Eventually the Metro system was extended to reach Newcastle Airport in 1991, and in 2002 the Metro system was extended to the nearby city of Sunderland.

 

As the 20th century progressed, trade on the Newcastle and Gateshead quaysides gradually declined, until by the 1980s both sides of the river were looking rather derelict. Shipping company offices had closed along with offices of firms related to shipping. There were also derelict warehouses lining the riverbank. Local government produced a master plan to re-develop the Newcastle quayside and this was begun in the 1990s. New offices, restaurants, bars and residential accommodation were built and the area has changed in the space of a few years into a vibrant area, partially returning the focus of Newcastle to the riverside, where it was in medieval times.

 

The Gateshead Millennium Bridge, a foot and cycle bridge, 26 feet (7.9 m) wide and 413 feet (126 m) long, was completed in 2001. The road deck is in the form of a curve and is supported by a steel arch. To allow ships to pass, the whole structure, both arch and road-deck, rotates on huge bearings at either end so that the road deck is lifted. The bridge can be said to open and shut like a human eye. It is an important addition to the re-developed quayside area, providing a vital link between the Newcastle and Gateshead quaysides.

 

Recent developments

Today the city is a vibrant centre for office and retail employment, but just a short distance away there are impoverished inner-city housing estates, in areas originally built to provide affordable housing for employees of the shipyards and other heavy industries that lined the River Tyne. In the 2010s Newcastle City Council began implementing plans to regenerate these depressed areas, such as those along the Ouseburn Valley.

It can happen!

 

The calving season was about over [when this beach is closed to humans], and all kinds of people were walking up to the seals, who were either mildly curious or flat-out indifferent. Folks were respectful to the seals; we all knew we were having a special kind of experience.

 

I didn't know any of these people, and I hope they don't spot themselves in my photos!

The 2018 London Design Biennale at Somerset House was on the theme 'Emotional States'. The Saudi Arabia entry was called 'Being and Existence'. Lulwah Al Homoud used lights and mirrors to create kaleidoscopic geometric patterns based on the Arabic alphabet.

Aireal shot while comming in to land at KLIA, Malaysia.

All Rights reserved by Kazi Sudipto .

  

www.kazisudipto.com

  

"""Join my Facebook page Kazi Sudipto Photography For more updates :) And you also can add me on Facebook :) """

“The whole secret of existence is to have no fear. Never fear what will become of you, depend on no one. Only the moment you reject all help are you freed.”

Buddha

+++[8/17/10]+++

 

Hello flickr mates. Yep! that's me doing rock climbing for the very first time. It was fun doing it but I was super scared doing the Australian Suicide. I was holding on to the rope for dear life >_<

 

I'm going back to school tomorrow which means I'll be spending time on Flickr.

 

+++[UPDATES]+++

 

I just recently created a fan page and side project that showcase some of my best work on Flickr. I'll be advertising this more before my flickr expires on Aug 26 haha

  

Facebook [Count the Cost Photography]

Flickr [Count The Cost Photography]

Tumblr[Tumblr]

no-one to mirror back to me but nature.

 

♥

surprised to see this lady on the street in such an affluent town, sat by a bank ATM.... maybe hoping for some charity.....

Boulogne, France

Walking on foot brings you down to the very stark, naked core of existence. We travel too much in airplanes and cars. It’s an existential quality that we are losing. It’s almost like a credo of religion that we should walk.

 

There is, of course, something inherently romantic—if not heroic—about the extreme solitary explorer enveloped by nature. The very image of Herzog on foot recalls the iconic 19th-century paintings of Caspar David Friedrich, especially his Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog, with its lone figure staring out at the wide vista above the clouds.

 

'Truth itself wanders through the forests,' Herzog writes near the end. Yet here he embroiders his memories for effect: The vast swath of geography between Munich and Paris is littered with industrial towns and cities.

 

Once he comes out on the other end, traversing the deforested Champs-Élysées (“We were close to what they call the breath of danger”), Herzog emerges victorious.

― Of Walking in Ice: (Munich-Paris, 23 November–14 December 1974)

by Werner Herzog

 

Source: Werner Herzog’s Maniacal Quests ―A newly published travel journal shows how walking, like filmmaking, brings us to the naked core of existence. (Noah Isenberg)

EXIF Details: Camera:: Canon EOS 600D || Lens:: Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS II || Shutter Speed:: 1/30 || Aperture:: f 8 || ISO:: 200 || Focal Length:: 49mm

Beyond

Income

Education

Skin color

Language

Heritage

Religion...

True Lovers

Meet unashamed

Worshipping

Every unique difference

Between them

While

Countless

Countries struggle

To find

A way

To live together

Peacefully

Powerfully

Equally

Morally

Joyfully

Abundantly

  

© Ganga Fondan, 2011

 

*It's 5:00am in the morning. This one took all night. Falling exhilarated into bed for a few hours!!!

 

Pencil, charcoal, a little gel pen and some time on A4 Seawhite paper.

Ponpathirkoodam, Chennai

The Valtice castle, which came into existence thanks to an enlargement of a tower house that was probably founded in the 11th century, was the seat of the ruling prince of the Liechtenstein family from the end of the 14th century, until the post-war confiscation.

Yayoi Kusama: Infinity Mirrors / Hirshhorn Museum

 

hirshhorn.si.edu/kusama/

 

“The slow collapse of the social contract is the backdrop for a modern mania for clean eating, healthy living, personal productivity, and ‘radical self-love’—the insistence that, in spite of all evidence to the contrary, we can achieve a meaningful existence by maintaining a positive outlook, following our bliss, and doing a few hamstring stretches as the planet burns.” ―Laurie Penny

 

thebaffler.com/latest/laurie-penny-self-care

happiness is like this bubble..you can't hold it ,just can enjoy unless it totally disappears, you want it to stay, but you know, it won't...

glimpses at my free and frightening existence.

View On Black

 

Why can't we co-exist with animals on this planet? Tigers are on the brink of extinction. There are only between 5,000 and 7,400 tigers left in the wild and the number keeps shrinking. Of the 8 species of tigers, only 5 are still in existence today. Once they are gone, they will be gone forever. What would life be like if we couldn't show our children and our grandchildren the beauty of these animals? It would be a great tragedy.

 

I am a sucker for animals. This little tiger lives in Sydney Zoo and he was soooo beautiful, i couldn't not take pictures. It didn't quite turn out how i intended but i might i kind of like it anyway.

   

4 times the fun ^_^

The sea is the embodiment of a supernatural and wonderful existence. Jules Verne

**Cane River Creole National Historical Park** - National Register of Historic Places Ref #01000226, date listed 11/2/1994

 

4386 Hwy 494

 

Natchez, LA (Natchitoches Parish)

 

Oakland Plantation was founded on a 1785 Spanish-era land grant by Jean Pierre Emanuel Prud’homme and his wife Catherine Lambre. A small enslaved work force grew tobacco and indigo. From domestic and agricultural workers to craftsmen such as blacksmiths, carpenters and masons, the skills and strengths of enslaved Africans were vital to the survival of the plantation. The proficiency of enslaved blacksmiths including Philippe and Solomon Williams, for example, can be seen in iron latches and hinges, in numerous iron cross grave markers, and in a collection of skillfully made well-drilling tools found on Oakland Plantation. (1)

 

The store was constructed after the Civil War and quickly became a focal point of the community. In the words of historian Ann Malone, “the postbellum rural merchant was all things to his community…His store was the hub of the local universe. It was the marketplace, banking and credit source, recreational center, public forum, and news exchange.” Oakland’s store also served as a post office on and off during its existence, further enhancing its importance in the community.

 

The plantation store could also prove to be a financial burden to the sharecroppers. Quite often sharecroppers could not get out from under the mountain of debt that they accumulated at the stores. Historian Carol Breedlove noted, “Perhaps the Prud’hommes could have done more, or been more generous [with the sharecroppers]. On the other hand, they could certainly, in their environment and historical period, have done less, been less supportive and more selfish.” As the numbers of sharecroppers dwindled, so did the importance of the plantation stores. The Prud’hommes closed their store for good in 1982.

 

The Oakland Plantation Store is the park's main visitor contact station. Inside the store you will find historic exhibits, NPS passport stamps, Junior Ranger books, and a gift shop. (2)

 

References (1) Cane River Creole NHP NPS www.nps.gov/cari/learn/historyculture/oakland-plantation-...

 

(2) www.nps.gov/places/oakland-plantation-store.htm