29th April 2019., Dublin Airport, Ireland

 

With the grounding of all Boeing 737MAX aircraft world wide, this example belonging to Norwegian is seen here in storage at Dublin

Huddinge, Sweden

Due to the MD-11 grounding, FedEx's 777Fs were used on several high demand domestic flights. This one in particular operating FX1234 back to Memphis (MEM). With the MD-11s finally back in service, this sighting is kind of rare, and may not be for a while.

Dublin Airport, 04/04/2019.

 

Operating services for Norwegian due to the grounding of the Boeing 737 Max fleet.

Parked at Ontario since the FAA grounding of all MD-11s following the deadly crash of UPS/5X 2976 at Louisville.

Grounding

21st June 2019., Dublin Airport, Ireland

 

IBK1762 Operating for Norwegian Air Internitonal due to the grounding of 737 MAX.

Growth Rings by Oscar Tuazon creates a grounding space for contemplation and respite on Boston’s waterfront at Central Wharf Park. Produced by Now + There and guest curated for this site by Pedro Alonzo, Growth Rings recognizes our interconnectivity with trees, celebrates the cycles of life, and seeks to foster harmony in our contemporary urban landscape.

C-GZSG - Boeing B-737MAX-8 - WestJet

at Hamilton International Airport (YHM)

 

c/n 60.516 - built in 2018

 

Currently stored YHM due to the worldwide B-737MAX-grounding

Welcome aboard The Multidimensional Ship! Its observation deck is your entire perceptual reality. And it is now in motion. YOU are now in motion. If you only realized how fast you were going, you would probably feel a bit ill. In truth, many of you are currently experiencing signs and symptoms of what we call Global Acceleration Syndrome. We provide this title to honor your medical paradigm, even though it is not any kind of official medical diagnosis. Muscle aches and pains, lethargy, fatigue, spacey-ness, panic attacks, depression, insomnia, memory-loss, confusion---these are just a few of the uncomfortable side-effects produced by the incredible velocity at which you are traveling.

 

Your world appears to continue as it always has because YOUR MIND requires this in order to keep from flying apart. Your anxiety and hesitancies are the same feelings shared by those who sailed with Columbus. Bound for a new world, they trembled as they sailed, believing their world to be flat. Even so....... many of you also tremble---certain that you may "go over the edge" at any moment!

 

If you can receive assistance by a health care professional, and your inner guidance affirms this course of action, we encourage you to do so. However, if everything you try seems empty and useless......be strong! Be patient. Deliverance is soon at hand. The journey has begun, and there are wonders ahead, and beauty beyond imagining. The travails of childbirth are many, but the prize that follows far outweighs the pain. Believe this, receive it, and your anxious heart will slowly learn to find rest.

 

INSIDE THE SHIP

 

Spaceship Earth is a Holographic Being. Structurally, it is like a gift box that some imaginative person sends you for Christmas. When you remove the lid, you find a slightly smaller box, fully wrapped---just like the first one, containing another (even smaller) box, which contains yet another, and another, and another.........all the way down to your one-celled creatures. Each "level" of your Ship contains all of the basic elements of every other "level." Some of the features are minimized, in certain aspects, so that others can be maximized and focused upon. But it's all there! And it's all synchronized, like moving parts in a pocket watch. It all blends together beautifully.

 

You have been packing for this journey for quite sometime now. Around the planet there has formed a band of energy---several concentric bands, in fact. The one of which we speak is electromagnetic in nature. It contains diagrams, spreadsheets, poetry, tables of elements, fragments of speech, music, data, archives of human history, bits of TV shows, radio broadcasts, faxes, motion pictures, cell-phone conversations, digital art, and much more besides. When you prepared for this particular journey, you knew you had to pack LIGHT.......because you knew that was the only thing that could go! We are speaking here of your Earth Essence Timeless Capsule.

 

This "Level" of the Planetary Ship is connected to and modulated by sacred powerspots all over the planet. It is, literally, an ARC of Energy..........not unlike that other Ark which was built by Noah, so long ago. Within it, you have placed the best of you---your creations, your memories, your very lives! However, be advised. Entry onto The Arc is not made two-by-two. This "level" of the Oneself is leaving duality behind. Each individual must pass through what is called the "Eye of the Needle," as a Unified Oneself, in order to come aboard.

 

Meanwhile, back on the "hard deck," a good portion of humanity is determined to stay the course, fully in denial---apparently choosing to "play it cool" all the way through the Fourth Dimensional Corridor. Now *that* should make quite a picture, indeed.

 

But you, Dear Ones....... you need not suffer any longer with this illusion. Everything you have felt within---the many surges and flashes of energy up and down your spine---are quite real. They are transmutative jump-starts for new and important programs that have been installed in your consciousness. Soon, all your new perceptual software will come completely online. And then, the fun begins! A very wise man once said: "Don't compare your insides with other people's outsides." We underscore this message whole-heartedly. You are not crazy, and you are not falling apart. It just occasionally feels that way. In fact, you are really falling together! So let it be.

 

MORE ABOUT THE PORTALS

 

There is no one present upon Planet Earth at this time who is not regularly traversing Energy Gates and Portals. Some are very aware of it, and even relish the idea. Others are quite disturbed, because the experiences are not exactly what they had planned, or seem beyond their immediate understanding and control. Still others have found effective ways to insulate themselves almost entirely from this knowledge---which serves a purpose, albeit a temporary one. Soon all humanity will be speaking fluently about Trans-Portals, though they may be called by many names. Indeed, these Energy Gates will soon form a good deal of the conceptual framework for your upcoming human journey.

 

We are The Reconnections. We are all those parts of your Expanded Self which you had to forget about when you came into physical form. We've never been very far from you, just far enough. If there is something that you currently believe about yourself, we make up *everything else* that you could also believe. If there is something that you deny about yourself, we form a repository for that energy until you feel ready to take it up again. Endless variety, endless ability.........all neatly catalogued for your use at any time or place. If something is not present *within* you, then it is being stored here, *within* us. This is because, in Oneness, there really is no such thing as "out." All doorways are marked "enter," and all pathways lead directly home.

 

MEETING YOUR OPPOSITION

 

Before a person can successfully fight a battle, he must define who the enemy is. Though we have frequently reminded you that everything is a reflection of self, you must realize that there are aspects of that "self" that have been created to oppose you, as grounding elements, or for educational purposes. As you will see later in this transmission, identifying and meeting your opposition is crucial to your next levels of unfoldment.

 

Every birthing process involves both expansion and contraction. One part of the body pushes forward, while other parts resist. This is your dance of positive and negative energy. It is rapidly becoming impossible for a person to achieve enduring success without making contact with the "rest" of who he is. We are speaking now of the Multidimensional Self. There is much more to any situation than meets your physical eye. In truth, the puppets that currently dance in the theater of the physical are manipulated by strings being held by unseen hands. Every dance, every drama that is being enacted here, is designed to teach you more and more about those unseen forces.

 

Relationship conflicts, financial difficulties, and political upheavals are perfect venues for a reconnecting soul to learn how to identify with *all sides* of any question. It is only when you are able to lift yourself out of a polarized state, into The Oneself, that you become able to access the necessary elements which will turn the tide for whatever physical challenge that is before you.

 

Many people today are desperately looking for peace and safety. If something seems to be thwarting their goals, or irritating their status quo, they want to deal with it, so they can bring about a rapid resolution. They will choose to fight, or to negotiate---whichever seems most effective in the moment---and then they want to be able to return to "business as usual." But Friends, business can never be "usual" again. And any attempt on your parts to make it so will simply result in deeper and more complicated upheavals. The "box" in which you have all been living is being heated up from the outside. Aspects of your Expanded Self are stirring things up energetically so that you will be forced to look *outside of the physical world* in order to understand what has been creating your reality all along.

 

THE ASTRAL PLANE

 

Beyond the borders of your physical world, there are levels of consciousness that vibrate so rapidly that their purpose and presence often escapes the notice of those who are living and functioning in 3D. The Astral Plane contains beings that are either moving toward or away from physical density, yet which often have considerable influence over what is explored there at any given time.

 

If you were to equate levels of human consciousness to keys on a piano, you would find that each "note" or tone represents one of the energy centers (chakras) functioning within, for example, your human body. You begin your tonal scale with "do," which is the first (root) chakra of that body, and you move up.......through "re" (the second chakra), mi (the third chakra), and so on..........all the way up to "ti," (the crown chakra) where you find yourself ready to begin playing again at a new octave. The Astral Plane begins the gateway into the next octaves of your conscious experience.

 

Those who have made serious studies into ethereal reality tend to be somewhat negative in their attitude towards the Astral Plane. Many think of it as an etheric "junk yard," wherein divergent and confused energies wander aimlessly, trying to make sense of where they are, and how they came to be there. But these judgments are usually drawn by those who have already committed themselves to something. They forget how blissful it can be to simply window shop, to consider, and to resonate with several potential realities at once.

 

Beyond the Astral Plane exists the Reconnected Oneself. Whereas the Astral is made up of consciousness that thinks or believes it knows things..........the Unified Oneself is the part of you which absolutely knows. It KNOWS because it contains all possible levels of every possible situation or interaction.

 

When a person is finished with window shopping---having sufficiently explored all the possibilities---he or she will begin Reconnecting to Oneness. This is a process that can only be accomplished while that person is still present in physical form. In order to do it, he must be willing to forego all his mental ponderings, judgments, and emotional reactivity that makes up most of the drama in your everyday life. He must find a way to go above it, or perhaps to tunnel under it, connecting directly to the Universal Touchstone of Oneness with everything and everyone. When contact with that level of being is reached, all of his attachments and bondage to earthly outcome are erased. At that point, anything becomes possible.

 

THE VALLEY OF THE SHADOW

 

Consider for a moment the image of a strong man, standing on a mountain peak, high above the Earth. Through the mist that surrounds his mountain, the man sees a second peak, directly across the valley. The thought enters his mind that he would like to experience that other peak, but there is way too much valley between the two. If he chose, the man could climb down from his mountain, travel through the valley, which seems rather dark and forboding, and climb up the mountain on the other side. The mere thought of moving through that shadowy void, however, makes the whole prospect seem fearsome and impossible.

 

The primary obstacle which blocks the attainment of this man's desire is the separation which he perceives between the two mountains. There seems to be just too big a gap for him to leap across. In many ways, this "gap" is at the root of nearly all problems which arise today in 3D reality.

 

Change the scene. Two men meet together in a public park. One of them says or does something which deeply offends the other, and a shouting match occurs. The topic could be politics, religion, finances, or romance. It usually does not matter. This encounter is a programmed response, anyway. As each continues to speak his mind, the "gap" between them grows deeper and wider. Resentment, hatred, and disdain now exist where once there could have been trust and goodwill.

 

Both of these men are Multidimensional. They are jewels with many facets. Each of them have selves that live high, on the mountain top, and each of them has variations of selves that live deep down in the Valley as well. In the Valley there are horrors galore---guilt, shame, and anger that never seems to be satisfied. What creates a shadow is some object or person that stands between a reflecting surface and the light. In the language of metaphor, your shadow is the part of your own self that is hidden from you because you are standing in your own way.

 

What each man in the above story is reacting to is his own Shadow Reflection, seen in the face of the other. We have spoken about this principle at length in our transmission entitled "Relationships: A Time for Healing." For many years, this process of Creative Shadow Work has provided your planet with tools to complete certain alchemical changes that are required for the Reconnection of your Mental Body. Now it is time for you to begin penetration into your Emotional Body. It is time for you to leave the Valley of the Shadow and to learn the art of building Astral Bridges.

 

WHAT IS AN ASTRAL BRIDGE?

  

In the above story of the two mountains, our wishful climber could surely benefit from some form of Connection, spanning peak to peak, which would allow him to avoid having to go down his mountain and through the Valley to get to the other side. If he knew about his Divine Multidimensional Nature, and had knowledge of how to build an Astral Bridge, his problems would be solved.

 

"Many of you may remember a film that was released a few years back called "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade." This film includes a particularly inspiring scene, in which the hero finds himself needing to cross from one high place to another (very much like in our story above). In a required act of faith, appropriate to the plot, he places his foot upon what *appears to be* empty air, and a bridge instantly appears beneath his feet, allowing him to cross safely to the other side."

In another famous film, "The Matrix," released only a couple of years ago, one of the heros demonstrated a mastery of physical force, using what was called a "Jump Program," which enabled him to leap across a huge expanse of physical space, moving freely from one high building to another. Even characters in the film exclaimed "Whoa! That's impossible."

  

An Astral Bridge begins as an Etheric Connector which brings together two points in physical space which appear to be separated by a gap. The Bridge itself originates somewhere else in the Multiverse---performing a clear purpose within an alternative level of here and now. Through a process we shall explain shortly, a perceptual cursor is passed over the image, and it is highlighted and copied (to use familiar computer terms) to a place where it is desperately needed.

 

At the moment of its transposition, an Astral Bridge is constructed almost entirely of faith. It has been written that "faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." People don't believe in things because they appear. Things appear in physical space because people believe in them. So it is with an Astral Bridge. At the moment it is required, the Bridge gets pasted directly into your NOW.........in a process that only could be described as miraculous........even though it often appears to be a natural part of your flow.

 

HOW MANIFESTATION OCCURS

 

As we mentioned in Trans-Portals 1 and 2, the key to travel within the Multiverse is found in a person's ability to detach himself from his current surroundings, by finding a state of neutrality, so that he can journey anywhere else he wishes to go. What keeps you all trapped in your current 3D context is your continuous *clinging* to outcomes (cause and effect relationships) that you imagine are in operation there. My Dear Friends, this is ILLUSION.

 

When something manifests in your 3D world, it arrives because you *called for it* with your mind and heart. It makes little difference whether your call was a conscious one, or whether it was something that was issued from beneath your Veil of Forgetfulness. It came from you, and you need to own that before you can break free from its influence. Those who have trouble with this concept may need to circle back and do some Creative Shadow Work, as we mentioned a bit earlier in this transmission.

  

Basically..... a successful "call" for reality manifestation involves (at least) two elements:

 

1. A clear statement of belief or intent, spoken or held in a positive way........followed immediately by........

 

2. A complete release of the outcome into the hands of the Expanded Self.

  

A person doesn't manifest his or her world out of nothing. Rather, each of you forms your personal reality from the *everything,* which exists all around you. In order to make something physical, you simply focus upon it.....(which slows down the vibration sufficiently for it to solidify), and then you install Perceptual Veils around it, to block out the awareness of everything else that is there. This is your own perceptual equivalent of putting blinders on a horse.

 

As you begin your process of focusing, you must clearly realize how the creative element of your mind works. The explanation we are going to make for you now is a linear one, because you are currently operating within a linear reality base. Please realize that you have the power to change the order or the rules of this process at any time.

 

Like the printer on a computer, which faithfully stacks and programs its activity based upon keys hit by the operator, your very own Creative Manifesting Mind begins printing out reality based upon statements which you, yourself, hold to be true. Even though your statement is uttered only within your own mind, and is held for just one second, it has absolute power to form your world. And it frequently does!

 

Your affirmative statements, especially when accompanied by true desire and passion, are like Genies from a bottle, granting you everything you could ever wish for. As one Dear Entity once phrased it: "The universe rearranges itself according to your beliefs about what is real." It does this through your own declarations of *what is,* not through declarations of *what is not.*

 

The programming software in your Creative, Manifesting Mind *does not* recognize or respond to words like "no," "not," "don't," or "can't." It automatically eliminates them from your command line. Therefore, whenever a person declares, within himself: "I don't want to smoke" or "I am not going to be angry today," the Creative Manifesting Mind hears (and responds to) an affirmative version of those statements. What it hears is: "I do want to smoke," and "I am going to be angry today."

 

You must realize that physical reality is created from FOCUS. If you are constantly focusing upon what you *don't want," rather than on what you *do want,* your manifestation power will tend follow that focus. The locus of power in a Call to Manifest is located between the subject and the desired (or declared) action or outcome. The commands are stacked and prioritized in your printer, according to the following factors:

 

1. The "Level" of Self that is making the command (The more Expanded Aspects of you get the most clout when it comes to ordering up your manifestations)

 

2. The Desire, Intensity, and Clarity behind the declaration.

 

3. The Order of Command Presentation to the Creative Mechanism.

 

If the desire and intensity of command lines are equal, and they all come from the same level of Self, the manifestations will print out according to the order in which the commands were made. Indeed, this is a very 3D explanation, and we realize that. However, it absolutely works, as long as you are still operating within a 3D format. If a command line comes in from "outside the box" (from your Expanded Self), it will automatically hold precedence over commands that are presented from the Ego Aspect. In other words, it gets to crowd ahead of you in the cafeteria line. But the Ego still has creative power, as all aspects of you have divinity.

 

Statements of similar velocity, which are contradictory, tend to cancel each other out. Their expression is like a husband and wife who go together to vote in a public election. He votes republican and she votes democratic. In truth, the 3D effect produced is no different than if they would have stayed home (except for the satisfaction they receive from exercising their options). In the same way, your inner consciousness frequently entertains divergent points of view. At times, many aspects of you can be barking contradictory commands with virtually the same intensity. If this occurs, your printer gets jammed, and you may end up having to reboot!

 

LETTING IT HAPPEN

 

When using Trans-Portals, either for personal travel or to take delivery on key aspects of your current reality, it is crucial that you learn to *let go of the process* after you have clearly issued the command line. In essence, the Trans-Portal System in the Multiverse functions very similar to the digestive tract in the human body. After materials and energy are introduced into the system, you need to relax and allow the mechanism to do its job. You must let go of your focus *entirely,* and go busy yourself with something else.

 

Clearly making a statement of desire and intent leaves an etheric impression in the "reality bubble" of a person's existence. It registers, whether he is aware of it or not. An order gets introduced. As long as a "cancel order" is not sent in after it, the Creative Mechanism (the internal search engine) will begin collating results and alternatives to meet the command.

 

Following a command statement with an attitude of *complete release and confidence* (in other words......with faith)...... pulls the Ego of the operator away from the keyboard, for reassignment elsewhere. Energetically, this produces a backdraft of energy (a vacuum) which accelerates the "digestion" process and speeds up delivery. In essence, your attitude of trust actually *sucks* your order through the pipeline more quickly, drawing to you whatever it is that you desire.

 

To place an order, and then to stew over it, creates an attitude of doubt in your creative ability. It's like sitting down to eat with 20 people watching your every bite. After awhile, you begin to get a lump in your stomach. The digestive juices become inhibited, and the whole system slows down. It is no different with Trans-Portals. Your desires and commands are transmitted organically, and your physical body (especially your nervous system) is very much involved in the process.

 

BUILDING ASTRAL BRIDGES

 

Now that we have briefly explained the process of everyday manifestation, we will teach you how this applies to Astral Bridges. As we have said, the need for a Bridge involves the presence of a GAP that exists between two or more objects (or individuals) in physical space. This can either be a physical distance, or it can be a relationship impasse that has formed, keeping folks from understanding and integrating with each other.

 

The need to get from "here to there" in 3D arises from a belief in and support of a paradigm of Separation. The Valley of the Shadow represents all the reasons why the Separation formed in the first place. When this situation involves people separating themselves from other people, the Shadow Effect is created because there are aspects of your "other" that you have difficulty accepting as self. Until now, your focus in Reconnection has been to examine this other person, and mentally analyze what it is about this person that you have been denying in yourself. And this is all very good. It feeds your consciousness, and expands awareness. But there is more to full integration than that.

 

The reason you find it hard to "digest" certain types of people into your Oneself Body stems not from what exists in that person, but what is missing in you. We call your attention back to our analogy of Trans-Portals being similar to the human digestive system. When people demonstrate an "allergy" to certain foods, it usually stems from some *processing element* (like an enzyme, for example) that is missing from their digestive process. For some reason, their body doesn't create that chemical, and the whole process suffers because of it. Despite their best attempts to prepare the offending foods properly, with style and variation, the digestive system continues to have problems until the necessary supplement gets added to the process.

 

Not all the people and situations you encounter in physical space are meant to become permanent parts of your life. Sometimes, they simply appear as catalysts for you to reach into your Multidimensional Self and discover new qualities or elements that you have forgotten. And, during a time of conflict, your task of integration and acceptance may not always be focused upon the person who is irritating you. That may only be incidental to the bigger picture.

 

You must remember that both you and the people with whom you have conflicts are Multidimensional Beings. If you are having a dance with someone in current 3D reality, you can count on the fact that there are dances going on between you all up and down the vibrational spectrum---literally involving a whole spreadsheet of possible/probable contacts--many of which are quite pleasant.

 

The resolution of present-moment conflict with another person (or society, for that matter) is brought about by opening a Portal between the physical aspect of you that exists *here* and an alternative aspect of you that exists *elsewhere*---particularly an aspect that is currently enjoying harmonious contact with the very same type of energy which is giving you such heartburn in this current moment.

 

My Friends, if it were possible for you to analyze the energy "chemistry" of the version of you that exists HERE, and the alternative version of yourself that is functioning THERE, you would notice that one or more key elements are missing. To remedy this, an Astral Bridge is formed by taking a "soul sample" of that alternative self and infusing it into yourself here. This is all done in just the ways we outlined for you above.

 

Once the required "energy supplement" gets added to your digestive system, you will find that the whole TONE of your current relationships begin to change. And, it happens automatically, without conscious effort or struggle. The only thing you require is a clear statement of intent (which would be blending with a more Expanded Level of Yourself), and the faith that is required to bring it all about.

 

With all of this in mind, the process for Building Astral Bridges in a relationship would be as follows:

 

1. Notice the exact SENSE of dissonance that exists. Many people are not aware of their sensory impressions, or of any hard feelings that exist between themselves and others. The same is true with allergic foods. Because you aren't aware of what is happening, you keep eating the offending foods, and you keep Shadow Boxing in your current relationships, rather than calling for the necessary "medicine" to complete your process, so your systems can begin to function at a new level.

 

2. Notice how you FEEL when you are in the presence of your "other." How does your body react when he or she approaches you? This is very important information if you are going to command a "search engine" to locate an alternative version of you that can assist in the integration process.

 

***A Key Principle: The first step toward feeling better is becoming better at feeling.

 

3. Ask yourself what you WANT to be different in this relationship. When you do this please *do not* concern yourself with whether or not the change would be possible. Anything is possible if you can believe.

 

4. Make a clear statement of intent, asking your Multidimensional Self to help you find a "Guide" that possesses the "medicine" which you require. A statement that might serve the process might be:

 

"I am Stephen, of the Oneself. I am seeking to contact a level of my Multidimensional Self that is now enjoying a harmonious relationship with this energy currently mirrored to me in Fred. I wish to begin a blending, a sampling of energies with that Self, so that I may be transformed---so that I may be let go of all resistance to accept Fred as a valid and beautiful part of my universe. In faith, I believe. In perfect timing, I shall receive. So let it be."

 

(The wording will come to you when you are ready. These are not established formulas, but simply samples of what is possible if you are ready to move into this process)

 

5. Turn the outcome completely over to the universe. If the offending individual tries to engage you in debate, deep discussion, or argument, you can say to him (as politely as possible) "I am unable to discuss this with you now, but I will get back to you as soon as I can." Then, forget about it. Involve yourself with other tasks. Do not analyze it further, and do not approach the person (unless you must, in order to handle necessary business together) as long as there is any remnant of dissonance remaining. Your sense of continued discomfort is your indicator that the required "enzyme" has not yet spread itself throughout your system. And your relief from same will be your barometer concerning when you have had enough of this particular medicine.

 

If two individuals in a relationship space are performing this alchemical process together, it can be Onederful, but only one "operator" is really required. That is because there is only one of you there anyway! When your "digestion" processes begin to change, you will be amazed at how your own perception of this person begins to shift. It will be like gazing at a hologram in a painting. The picture looks a certain way in one moment, and it changes completely in the next. Realize now that this is due, almost entirely, to energetic changes that have occurred in you.

 

Reconnection to Oneness involves making contact, first and foremost, with your Expanded Self, with your own "Big Story." Only then will your "small story" sub-plots begin reflecting the harmony that is your birthright. As the Psalm clearly states: "Yea, though I walk through the Valley of the Shadow..........I will fear no evil.......for thou art with me." In these powerful days of Phase Shifting and Alchemical Blending, the Expanded Oneself is not just with you.......He/She/We are *within you* as well. You will be rapidly developing your own functional immunity to the many energetic "diseases" that have troubled your soul during this outgoing Paradigm of Separation. In fact, the very word "immune" almost brings to mind the words "I AM IN YOU," does it not? And so it is becoming, My Friends.

 

STANDING ON A MOUNTAIN TOP

 

It is the privilege of The Reconnections to "fill in all the gaps" that separate your Limitation Self from your Expanded Self. We do it slowly, and with much love. There is no need to rush. You have all the time in the world. Each of you came to this place from realms of expression that were nothing less than fantastic. In your "former estate," you were able to do or have anything you wished, just by thinking it. Being natives of such splendor, you yearned for a vacation, of sorts. You wanted to know what it would be like to embody *something* rather than to be *everything.* You wanted to distinguish yourself from others, from various objects and animals, and you wanted to learn what it feels like to need.

 

Soon your research project will be completed. Has this form of reality gotten your goat? Never fear, he's right up there.......perched upon that mountain top. Watch him as he leaps from peak to peak, with perfect grace, perfect ease. Travel freely the Bridges Across Forever!

 

There are Portals, Gates, Bridges, and Inner Pathways all around you.......each volume on a bookshelf, each picture that is hanging on the wall. Words can be a Portal, a statue can be one, or even a rose. An encounter with any symbol can be a spark of remembrance, leading you through a perceptual doorway---into a limitless storehouse of possible/probable versions of that same one thing. Connect two of them, or three, or four.........and the dance goes on into infinity.

 

Some of you will begin to perceive immediately, with no help. Others may need to initiate visualization or meditation processes to tap into their stored memories. All you need do is drop your shields, and the guiding energy will begin to open your eyes. Some will do it sooner, others will do it later. Each person to his own plan, and his own style of unfoldment. As we have said previously, each event is its own miracle. However, some people require more "nudges" than others in order to shake off their slumber.

 

Remember that everything is perfect, and everything is there, filed neatly within the Multiverse. The primary purpose of your physical journey is to explore details, and make alchemical adjustments before you make the leap to more expanded realms. As always, we shall be available to you on the inner planes. Look for us there, and we shall appear to you in whatever form you require.

 

www.reconnections.net/trans_portals3.htm

Flying into Memphis and landing on Runway 36L is National Airlines 747 N729CA. The Boeing Queen is picking up freight for FedEx due to the MD11 groundings. This 4 engine beauty began life with Singapore Airlines as 9V-SMJ in 1991.

by tiffanysbell ift.tt/1sYhrnE

13th March 2019., Dublin Airport, Ireland

 

With the Europe wide grounding of Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, Norwegian brought this B787 to amalgamate 2 flights from Dublin to the US. The flights to Newburgh - Stewart & Providence, RI were combined.

Just more of my photographic doodling, really just to establish some grounding in this technique - long way to go though!

C-GZSG - Boeing B-737MAX-8 - WestJet

at Hamilton International Airport (YHM)

 

c/n 60.516 - built in 2018

 

Currently stored YHM due to the worldwide B-737MAX-grounding

from meredith's you:now workshop prompt this morning...

 

"then something happened: i found my voice, i made eye contact with myself, i wanted to take off and fly! i don't recall my first jump shot or how i documented it... but i recall how it felt. and how silly i felt. and how i laughed at myself and shook off the cloak of seriousness for just that moment and gave in to the goofy side of me that i thought i had lost long ago."

 

I have to admit, this scares the crap out of me. I'm already finding myself getting anxious. I have a tendency to jump way ahead of myself and then psych myself out before I even begin. I'm not ready for this!!!

 

I have to remind myself to breathe and to just be where I am right now.

 

So today, I'm grounding myself in the things I know, the familiar. The things that are comfortable...my morning rituals...making the coffee, putting breakfast dishes away, letting the chickens out, walking the boys to the bus stop.

 

The time to fly will come.

This was inspired by Jouste's meditation mandala. It was done with Prismacolor markers, and was completed in one sitting. (About 3 1/2 hours - the time just flew......) I was listening to Eckhart Tolle's "The Power of Now through most of it. I also did something a little different for about 90% of it from the center out. I sat with a bag filled with 12 markers (+ 1 blender pen) in my lap. I would pull out a marker at random, and that's the one I would use for that ring. I got a little tired of that at the end, plus I wanted to touch up a few areas with certain colors. Interestingly enough, "Red" didn't come up on a random pull till one of the last few pulls.

 

I think the red bumps with green/blue circles look like frog eyes.

Corona Grounding

Kusu Island, Singapore

 

I cry out "Love keep your arms around me",

I am a bird that's in need of grounding,

I'm built to fly away, I never learned how to stay.

 

#HappyMonday #GoodVibesEveryone #YOLO #PraiseToGod

..... along Conchas Chinas Beach on my barefoot "grounding" walk (((:

It seems like spring!

Not to overemphasize it but there is a "grounding" when humans are privileged to get a front row seat to see nature go through its daily life.

 

Easy to forget as we whiz by animals and birds in our cars that just yards away there is another world full of inhabitants whose daily goal is to get enough to eat and to stay safe from predators.

 

I suppose there is a eat-by-date deadline on dead animals that eagles innately follow and if so, the date on this perished deer must not have been reached.

  

(Photographed near Cambridge, MN)

 

Sarasota, Florida

Lido Beach - 2/26/'17

The story of the Elibank Castle reads like a ripping yarn. She was one of the earliest vessels built in the Great Lakes Area of NSW. This image shows Teste Island in the Louisiade Archipelago, Milne Bay Province, Papua New Guinea. Teste was one of the islands visited on each of the two voyages undertaken by the Elibank Castle in 1884 and 1885.

 

To fully present the astounding events surrounding this vessel a report is presented for each of three periods in her short life:

- grounding in New Zealand in 1875

- first trip to the Pacific Islands in 1884

- final trip to the Islands in 1885

 

A map of the voyage after the massacre in May 1885 is presented in this post.

 

Section 1 deals specifically with her movement to New Zealand and subsequent grounding. Section 1

Section 2 deals with her first visit to the Pacific Islands in late 1884 and the murder of 5 crew members, including the captain. Section 2

Section 3 deals with her second and final visit to the Pacific Islands in 1885 when all but two of the crew were murdered - the survivors sailed the ship to New Guinea and were forced to abandon her and take to the long boat. Only one man survived and he turned up in Cooktown; seven months after the massacre in the Solomon Islands.

 

Details

Name: Elibank Castle

Type: Topsail Schooner – two masts

Official Number: ON 71811

Registered Sydney 3/1875

Length: 80 ft

Breadth: 18.5 ft

Depth: 6.85 ft

Registered net tonnage: 69.62 tons

Builders: William Peat and Donald Cameron

Location: Coolongolook, NSW.

Launched: September 1874 (no specific record)

 

Owners:

1875 – 1877 James Mathew Banks (NZ)

Registered in Wellington, New Zealand (2/1875)

Stranded Ninety Mile Beach; Recovered

Registered in Wellington New Zealand (10/1875)

1877 – 1879 George Parkman Austing (NZ)

Registered Dunedin, New Zealand (17/1877)

1879 – 1880 James Anderson (NZ)

1880 – 1884 Keith Ramsay, John Graham & James Anderson (NZ)

1884 - Capt. Augustus Otto Wilhelm Routch

Registered in Sydney 114/1884

 

Early Life

The Elibank Castle was built by William Peat and Donald Cameron on the banks of the Coolongolook River at Coolongolook. No details of her launch have been found but a report from 7th September 1874 indicated that launching was imminent.

"Peat and Cameron's vessel now building at the Coolongolook is nearly ready for launching. She is a pretty model and right well put together with well seasoned timber, and bids fair to prove a first class little craft to brave the dangers of the coast. September 7, 1874." The Maitland Mercury - 19 September 1874.

 

SECTION 3 - SECOND TRIP TO PACIFIC ISLANDS - 1885

 

After the deaths of one crew member on Bentley Island, and five crew members at Banyetta Point on Rendova Island it seems inconceivable that the owner of the Elibank Castle would embark on a second voyage to the South Pacific only a few months after her return to Australia.

 

Events on Teste Island

The owner, Captain Augustus Routch, effected repairs and set off for the Islands on 6th April 1885 - this time Captain Routch was command. Once again the Elibank Castle landed on Teste Island and Bentley Island; in this instance there was no problems. William Reid and John McCord had been left on Bentley Island after the first visit, with the aim of establishing a copra station for Captain Routch. The murder of Reid had been reported earlier in a letter from John McCord sent via the Wild Duck to Cooktown.

McCord, had travelled from Bentley Island to a nearby island to give information to the missionary, and falling ill of fever on the way was taken charge of by the missionary. McCord was ultimately sent on to Cooktown in a beche-de-mer trading boat and was no longer in the vicinity when Routch arrived on the second voyage.

 

Captain Routch continued to trace the earlier voyage east but was unable to land on the Goodwin Islands and continued to the Solomon Islands. The location is not known but probably not Point Banyetta where five of his crew were murdered just a few months previously. The events that were about to unfold defy imagination.

 

Events in the Solomon Islands

It was not until 3rd December 1885 that any reports of the fate of the Elibank Caste were known. The steamer Maranoa, which arrived from Cooktown, brought the only survivor from the schooner Elibank Castle, the captain and all hands except himself and another crew member having been massacred at the Solomon Islands on the 17th or 18th of May. One man, Hugh Gildie, survived the massacre but died on the long journey back after the Elibank Castle was abandoned on a reef in New Guinea. The only survivor, David Brown, supplied the following details:

The vessel started on the 6th of April last. She duly reached Teste Island, where a boat belonging to them had been left on the last voyage. The boat was taken on board and sail was made for Bentley Island, where the station had been previously formed and the two men left. It was ascertained, however, that one of these men, named William Reid, had been killed by a neighbouring tribe of hostile natives. The other man, McCord, went to an island in the vicinity to give information to the missionary, and falling ill of fever on the way was taken charge of by the missionary. He was ultimately sent on to Cooktown in a beche-de-mer trading boat. Sail was made from Bentley to the Goodwins, but the weather going bad and the ship's gear giving way, they put into one of the Solomon Islands for shelter in order to effect repair. While there 15 or 20 natives came on board, and Captain Routch, thinking it would be a good opportunity for taking in a supply of firewood, began to bargain with the natives. He showed them a quantity of "trade," comprising knives, tomahawks, beads, and calico, on seeing which they "completely went off their heads," to use the narrator's own words. This was on the 17th or 18th May last. All hands at the time were fixing the topmast rigging, and Brown, who was suffering from rheumatism in the shoulders, had just descended, and was in the forecastle rubbing his shoulders with oil, when he heard loud cries on deck of " Murder !" He hastily seized his revolver, which was in his bunk, and ran upon deck. On arriving there he was struck on the head with a tomahawk by a native. A gash was cut over his left temple. He at once took in the situation, and rushed below for shelter. A few seconds afterwards Hugh Gildie, another seaman, rushed below, with the blood streaming from a terrible gash in his face, inflicted in a similar manner, one side of his face being laid completely open. He fainted immediately after reaching the forecastle. Brown drew him clear of the ''scuttle," so that the natives could not get access to him. The two men remained quiet in the forecastle until dark, the attack having taken place about 3 o'clock in the afternoon. When darkness had set in, hearing no further noise, Brown and Gildie, who were very feeble and bleeding terribly, went through the bulkhead, and into the hold of the vessel. They then crawled up through the fore-hatch, and having gained the deck, saw a light in the cabin. Not knowing whether they were natives or some of the crew, Gildie cautiously crept aft on the starboard, and Brown on the port side. On arriving near the poop a native's head was seen to emerge from the companion-way. Brown took aim, but the revolver missed fire. The native then rushed at Brown, and seized hold of him, and in the struggle the revolver went off, and blew off a portion of Brown's left hand. He then sang out to Gildie to fire. Gildie fired, and shot the native in the head, who then rushed headlong down the companion-way into the cabin.

It was apparent that there was only one other native in the cabin. This man rushed up the steps, armed with a cutlass which he had procured below. The seamen, however, closed the companion-way, and made the natives prisoners in the cabin. The natives had not the sense to extinguish the lights in the cabin, hence they made themselves good marks for the men in the dark on deck. The latter removed the plug from the stove-pipe and, watching for an opportunity, shot both natives dead. It was then that the men discovered the horrible details of the massacre that had taken place. The captain and crew, taken unawares, had actually nothing with which to defend themselves. The dead body of Captain Routch lay bathed in blood, a gash extending across his face from eye to eye, and his eyeballs laid open and hanging in close proximity to his mouth. Only one tomahawk gash had been inflicted, but the stroke had done its deadly work. Near his body was that of the mate with his skull cleft open. Pools of blood were lying all over the deck. A coloured man named George Richards was also lying in a pool of blood, with a huge gash across his forehead. The native "boy" obtained at the Goodwins also lay dead, with his head completely split open. In all these cases, one stroke only had been inflicted, but it was sufficient to prove fatal, owing to the dexterity with which those savages have learned to wield the tomahawk. The cook, a coloured man, a native of Demarara, was next found. His head was hacked and chopped in several places, and numerous gashes were also inflicted across the back of his shoulders, evidently from someone behind. All this ghastly inspection took place in the darkness, with the assistance of a bull's eye lantern. The cable was then slipped, and the vessel put to sea. The bodies were sewn up in canvas, and were then cast overboard. In the meantime, the men dressed each other's wounds, but their sufferings were terrible. Gildie was completely stricken down and helpless. The vessel drifted about for a week or ten days, and Brown's wounds having improved, the sails were trimmed and a course was steered for New Guinea.

 

Brown and Gildie steer the Elibank Castle towards New Guinea

They had ample provisions on the ship, but Brown was compelled to do the whole of the work himself, Gildie having fallen into a petulant and indifferent mood. Added to this was the fact that serious symptoms began to appear in Brown's wound, one effect being almost total blindness. After being a considerable time at sea they sighted land, which afterwards proved to be the north-east coast of New Guinea. For more than a week they made an attempt to beat to windward in order to make the land, the wind during the time blowing heavily. On one occasion, at night, the vessel got on a reef, where she remained for a couple of hours, after which she again floated. It was then found that she had sprung a leak, and was making water. There was only one pump on board, and that a very inferior one. Brown remained at the pump as long as his time and strength would permit, but it was found that the water was steadily gaining on them. In consequence of this, and owing to the entreaties of Gildie, they determined to leave the ship. Gildie stated he had been in the vicinity of New Guinea before, and assured Brown that eight or nine days would be the outside limit in which they would have to remain in the open boat.

 

Brown and Gildie abandon Elibank Castle and take to open boat

Accordingly, sometime between the 14th and 17th July, as near as Brown could reckon, they lowered the boat — an ordinary open boat from 16 feet to 18 feet long. They put between 60 lb and 70 lb of ship biscuit, in tins, and a cask and two kerosene tins containing between six and nine gallons of water into her. They also took two charts, a guide book, and a compass, in addition to oars and sails. They then sailed for the south-west portion of New Guinea, the wind being more favourable to this course. Brown states that Gildie then became totally indifferent, and, although his wounds were almost healed, he declined to assist in working the boat. On approaching the south-west coast, they encountered symptoms of the south-east monsoon, which prevails at that time of the year. The boat was fitted with an ordinary jib and main sail.

 

Hugh Gildie knocked out of boat and drowns

They steered for Dampier Straits, which they passed through. Here they encountered a severe gale from the south-east. They ran for shelter to the lee of the island of Battanta, and when rounding a point on this island, the boat jibed, and Gildie, who was sitting at the tiller, was knocked overboard by the boom, which struck him on the chest. This was on the 20th day after leaving the ship. Brown attempted to put the boat about, but on going to the tiller, found the rudder had slipped off the lower gudgeon, and consequently would not steer the boat. Gildie, who was swimming well, repeatedly called out for assistance, but the gale was so strong that Brown was utterly powerless to assist him, and the boat quickly passed away to leeward, and Brown soon lost sight of poor Gildie, who was left to perish.

 

Brown in a bad state after losing Gildie

Brown says that from this time he lost all heart, and allowed the boat to drift about "wherever God sent him." Next day he saw an island, which he ran for, and anchored under its lee for shelter; but the boat dragged the anchor, and again drifted to leeward. There were several small islands in the vicinity, but he was afraid to land, as he feared there might be natives who would prove hostile. At length he got close under the lee of one of them, and made up his mind to go ashore. He landed, but could find neither water nor coconuts. He found a quantity of clayey rock, into which he cut a well with his cutlass, and got about half a gallon of water. However, as he states, the provisions in the boat would not allow him to waste any time on shore, as it was either a question of dying there from starvation, or of risking being drowned to save himself. He accordingly embarked again, his provisions now amounting to about 15 lb of biscuits and 3 gallons of water. The biscuits, as stated, were kept in tins, and unfortunately, with the action of the salt water, the bottoms became unsoldered, and all the bread was spoiled by the salt water. The kerosene tins rusted in the bottom, and all his fresh water was consequently spoiled through standing in a quantity of salt water. His feelings could be better imagined than described on making this discovery. He tried to eat the damaged bread, but could not do so, and the water was also undrinkable. Fortunately he captured a quantity of flying fish which leapt into his boat at night, lured thither by a bull's-eye lantern. The only comfort he had to depend on was his tobacco and pipe, he having taken on board a good supply of the weed, together with matches. However, one night, while catching the fish in the manner described, the lantern was knocked overboard through the boom coming in contact with it. He was then totally deprived of his means of sustenance. His mental as well as his physical agony were almost unbearable He dried the fish in the sun, but found this left them too salty to be eatable. He then says:—" I then knocked about indifferently from island to island, was five days without either food or drink, and at last said my prayers, as I thought, for the last time."

 

Brown sees islands and seeks help

About two hours afterwards he came in sight of a group of small islands. He sailed round one island, and at length landed, and found a native village. The natives appeared friendly, and from signs which he made they supplied him with water and coconuts, which were the only provisions obtainable. They told him there was a vessel lying up a river in the island, and he ultimately induced them to take him thither. He says by this time he had become so dazed, and he was so weak, that he could not see the vessel until he was alongside of it. He reached the brig on the 21st of September, 65 days after he left the schooner. The islands proved to be the Kaye group, and the vessel was a Dutch trader, engaged in carrying firewood from one Dutch settlement to the other. The brig then took him to a Dutch settlement called Kydoela, on the other side of the island, and here a Dutch mail boat, called the Amboyna, took him to Singapore, via Sourabaya and other Dutch ports. He was then brought by the China steamer Kildare from Singapore to Cooktown, where he transhipped into the Maranoa, for Brisbane. He had a quantity of papers and documents, the property of the murdered captain. These were detained by the Consul at Singapore, but will be forwarded on to Sydney in due course. Brown speaks highly of the treatment accorded him ever since he was picked up by the Dutch brig." Brisbane Courier," December 5, 1885.

 

Image Source: State Library Victoria - image 794877792

 

Acknowledgements: The assistance of Mori Flapan (Mori Flapan boatregister) by providing access to his extensive database is greatly appreciated.

 

All Images in this photostream are Copyright - Great Lakes Manning River Shipping and/or their individual owners as may be stated above and may not be downloaded, reproduced, or used in any way without prior written approval.

 

GREAT LAKES MANNING RIVER SHIPPING, NSW - Flick Group --> Alphabetical Boat Index --> Boat builders Index --> Tags List

  

 

Photo taken by Robert Samweber, slide kindly provided for scanning by Florian Weiß.

  

München-Riem

1989-04-26 (26 April 1989)

 

OY-BPB / K-682

Douglas C-47A Skytrain (DC-3)

20019

Bohnstedt-Petersen A/S

 

In the late 1980s, Bohnstedt-Petersen A/S used this ex-Royal Danish Air Force aircraft as a company plane, but also for pleasure flights at airshows. From the early 1990s, the C-47A was operated and maintainted by The Association for Flying Museums Planes/Danish Dakota Friends (DC-3 Vennerne).

 

In December 2019, the permanent grounding of the aircraft for technical and financial reasons was announced, but it then received a new engine and was kept in flying condition after all. So this is now (2021) the last airworthy DC-3/C-47 in Denmark.

 

Video of engine test run in October 2020: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Er0NGlMHvcw

 

DC-3 Vennerne - Danish Dakota Friends website: www.dc3vennerne.dk/

 

Information on this airframe from joebaugher.com:

15553 (MSN 20019) delivered to USAAF 9Apr44; 1st Troop Carrier Group, Baer, IN 14Apr44; 805th Base Unit, George, IL 29Aug44; to Dorval, Montreal 26Apr45; delivered to the Royal Norwegian AF 24May45 as 43-15553; leased by RNoAF to Det Norske Luftfartselskab, DNL Jun46; registered LN-IAT;

named "Nordtind"; renamed "Terje Viking" 1Oct48; sold to DNL 15Dec48; Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS) 8Feb51; registration cancelled 16Sep53; Royal Danish AF (RDAF) 1Oct53 as 68-682; ESK 721 (Squadron 721) 1Jan54; reregistered K-682 15Dec60; Radio call sign OV-JBM;

last flight for RDAF 30Jul82; stored at RDAF Base Værløse; leased by Bohnstedt-Petersen A/S 3Mar83; returned to storage 31Oct83; Bohnstedt-Petersen A/S 21Feb85; registered as OY-BPB Feb 1985; The Association for Flying Museums Planes/Danish Dakota Friends 25Jun92; repainted in original 1946 SAS colors and named "Arv Viking" 19Apr96; repainted in the 1966 Royal Danish AF scheme Spring 1998.

  

Registration details for this airframe:

www.planelogger.com/Aircraft/Registration/LN-IAT/903981

 

This airframe as LN-IAT with Norwegian Airlines at FBU ca. late 1940s:

c7.alamy.com/comp/2BDD25J/fornebu-international-airport-f...

 

LN-IAT with SAS at AMS in March 1952:

www.flickr.com/photos/iisg/8418717855

 

This airframe as 68-682 with Royal Danish Air Force (RDAF) at CPH in 1959 (in camouflage):

www.oy-reg.dk/billeder/l15265.jpg

 

This airframe as K-682 with RDAF in July 1982:

www.oy-reg.dk/billeder/l23924.jpg

 

OY-BPB with Foreningen For Flyvende Museumsfly titles at AAL in June 1993 (orange panels partly overpainted, no RDAF roundel):

www.flickr.com/photos/jaydeekay/51115661965

 

OY-BPB with DC-3 Vennerne at Stauning (STA/EKVJ) in June 1996 (painted in 1946 SAS colours):

www.oy-reg.dk/billeder/l21498.jpg

 

OY-BPB with Foreningen For Flyvende Museumsfly titles (starboard side) at Duxford in June 2019:

www.flickr.com/photos/96219572@N07/48199192682

 

OY-BPB with DC-3 Vennerne titles (port side) at Duxford in June 2019:

www.flickr.com/photos/nickj1972/48694934987

  

Scan from Kodachrome slide.

 

Launching for another Trans-Atlantic voyage, British Airways Bae-Aerospatiale Concorde flagship G-BOAC let's loose the Afterburners to depart Runway 27R at Heathrow. Concorde was the world's first and only commercial airliner to be fitted with military style Afterburners, and were used to provide that extra bit of power to get this warhead with leather seats on the go!

 

The reason I love Concorde so much is the fact that it was, and still is, probably one of the most beautiful and sophisticated creations mankind has ever made, up there with the likes of the Saturn V Rocket. With smooth crisp lines and a long sweeping body, Concorde, although very much a plaything for the rich, showed the world that Supersonic travel is not just reserved for Fighter Pilots, but for the fare paying public as well, and took us to a place where I sadly feel we shan't return to, not in this day and age.

 

So where does Concorde's story begin? Well, our ability to break the Sound Barrier is a good start, with the early Spitfire pilots of World War II inadvertently doing so, and then a flight by the experimental Bell X-1, which was launched from the underbelly of a bomber and jetted off into a world very much of its own. Following these breakthroughs in speed, the first considerations for a passenger alternative were considered as far back as 1950, and in 1954 the first meeting of the Super Sonic Transport (SST) Committee was held.

 

Original intentions were to build passenger aircraft to similar principles as the X-1, but these were shelved due to impracticality. Instead, a new design known as the Delta-Wing was looked at, being used on the likes of the AVRO Vulcan. Ideas were created, and tests carried out on the similarly designed Handley Page HP.115, a purpose built aircraft for the intention of making the perfect testbed for the future SST. Eventually, the Delta design chosen was dubbed the Ogee Platform, derived from the Ogival Wing design. The most important intention of the design was to place the wing's centre of pressure as close as possible to the centre of gravity so as to lower the amount of control force required to pitch the aircraft, and the Ogee Platform came closest to this requirement.

 

Final design requirements came down to the design of the airframe itself outside of the wings. Essentially, the aircraft was similar in design to contemporary Delta-Wing fighter jets, with a long streamlined nose and a smooth body to reduce resistance as much as possible. Problems came with the actual operation of the aircraft's basic functions, most notably the cockpit, which had to be designed with streamlining in mind, but couldn't use conventional aircraft windows, with the strengthened window frame obscuring the view forward for takeoff and landing. In response, designers created a Drooping Nose, where the streamlined visor could be raised and lowered, with conventional aircraft windscreens behind to provide a view similar to that of a regular aircraft. Due to the length of the aircraft, the plane was fitted with a small wheel at the rear of the frame so as to absorb any potential tail-strikes during takeoff and landing.

 

During supersonic flight and transit through the Sound Barrier, fuel would be distributed between the forward fuel tanks and a small fuel tank in the rear whilst the aircraft was accelerating and decelerating so as to alter the centre of mass, essentially acting as an auxiliary trim control.

 

But one of the most endearing parts of the design was the point on the nose, which is not there for stylish flare, but for a very important reason. Without the point, aircraft attempting to transit the sound barrier would face much greater resistance as the airframe is much larger and more obtrusive, the point on the other hand breaks the sound barrier ahead of the actual aircraft itself, meaning the transit effect travels around the frame of the aircraft rather than against the hull.

 

Of course, the most difficult part when it came to getting the SST to go are the actual engines themselves. For the greatest efficiency, the new SST couldn't use conventional Turbofan engines as their cross-sectional area was too excessive. Instead, Rolls Royce was commissioned to build a set of Turbojet engines that could be slung in streamlined pods underneath the wings. The result was a quad set of Rolls Royce/Snecma Olympus 593 engines that had been developed from the Bristol engines used on the Vulcan bomber. In all, only 67 of these engines were ever built, and had an overall maximum thrust of 38,000lbf, pushing the SST to beyond the speed of sound.

 

By the mid-1960's the designs had been near enough perfected, and after signing up with Sud Aviation of France (later to become Aérospatiale), the combined efforts of British Aerospace and Aérospatiale resulted in the construction of two prototypes in 1965, these aircraft being dubbed 'Concorde', the French word for Harmony, Agreement, or Union. Concorde 001 was built in France at Aérospatiale's factory in Toulouse, whilst Concorde 002 was built at the BAC works in Filton near Bristol. The first flight of a Concorde aircraft took place on the 2nd March 1969, with Concorde 001 flying from Toulouse. On the 9th April, Concorde 002 made its first flight from Filton, and on October 1st, 001 made its first supersonic flight.

 

Both aircraft were presented at the Paris Airshow of June 1969, alongside one of their rivals, the Boeing 747. But Concorde was not the world's first supersonic commercial airliner, as the Soviet Union had beaten them to the punch in June of that year with the Tupolev Tu-144, an aircraft of almost exactly the same principles of Concorde that had been hastily put together between 1965 and 1968 after blueprints and designs had been obtained by Soviet Agent Sergei Fabiew. The Tu-144 made its first supersonic flight in June 1969, and made its first supersonic commercial flights with Aeroflot in May 1970.

 

However, the 'Concordski' (as it was known by the West), had many serious flaws, which came to bear in a series of horrendous crashes. The first major crash was at the 1973 Paris Air Show, where during a display flight, the first production Tu-144 aircraft broke apart over a suburb, killing 6 people on the aircraft and 8 on the ground. Another major incident took place in May 1978, when on a routine test flight an improved version of the aircraft known as the Tu-144D crashed on landing, resulting in the withdrawal of the 144's from commercial service after only 55 flights. They would remain cargo aircraft until 1983, after which they were used for the training of Soviet Cosmonauts for the Buran Space Shuttle project.

 

Concordski however did have a profound effect on Concorde, especially after its crash of 1973. Confidence in the Concorde was rumbled by the failure of the Tu-144, and thus many potential buyers pulled out. Originally, airlines such as American Airlines, Pan Am, Japan Airlines, Eastern Airlines, United Airlines, and Air Canada had all put in orders, but by 1975 only Air France and BOAC (later nationalised into British Airways) orders remained. At the same time, Boeing and Lockheed of the United States attempted to create their own SST's so as to combat Concorde, with Boeing creating the 2707, and Lockheed the L-2000, neither of which went beyond concept models.

 

Eventually, 14 production Concorde aircraft were handed over to their respective airlines between 1976 and 1980, with the first aircraft being delivered to British Airways on the 15th January, the first flight taking place to Bahrain on the 21st January. Simultaneously, Air France made its first flight to Rio de Janeiro via Dakar in Senegal. However, the Transatlantic routes to the United States were the main points of contention, as the fear of Sonic Booms caused protest, resulting in a ban being passed by Congress. Although permission was given to fly to Washington Dulles on the 24th May, the New York Port Authority continued to ban Concorde due to the noise. The result was a risky training program by Concorde pilots to land at JFK Airport without using any power at all, meaning that from the start of their descent over the New York area, no power could be applied so as to keep the noise levels to a minimum, doing the whole approach in one. Eventually the ban was lifted after it was found that Air Force One, a Boeing VC-137 (converted Boeing 707), was louder than Concorde, and thus commercial services to JFK began on November 22nd, 1977.

 

In addition to the British Airways and Air France flights to New York and Washington from Paris and London, a slew of other short lived ventures occurred at the same time. In 1977, British Airways jointly shared a Concorde for flights to Singapore via Bahrain with Singapore Airlines, painting G-BOAD in a BA/SA hybrid livery. These flights however were capped after only 3 runs due to noise complaints.

 

Another short lived venture was with the American airline Braniff, which leased 10 aircraft from both airlines to operate subsonic domestic services from Washington to Dallas-Fort Worth from 1978, with Braniff crews taking over from international crews after landing at Washington. These services ended in 1980 due to a lack of profitability, with only 50% bookings or less on most flights.

 

Over the years, Concorde also flew to a myriad of destinations off its usual Transatlantic services, including Mexico, Florida, the Caribbean, South America, Hong Kong, Australia and New Zealand, mostly on charter flights but sometimes for short demonstration flights for fun seekers. Usually, Air France would provide the charter aircraft as their Concorde fleet was used less than the BA fleet, only operating two flights a day as opposed to BA's four.

 

The 1980's though were the boom years of Concorde, as this was when the money makers really spread their wings. In the immortal words of Jeremy Clarkson "For the have not's, it wasn't much fun, but the have's were having a ball!" Wealth moved from the stars of stage and screen to the stock marketing men and women of Europe and America. Investments on oil shares, and other large multinational companies meant you and your house was worth more than most countries. Greed was endemic, and the super-rich had no shortage of that. They'd have Champagne for breakfast, eat nightly at the Ritz, have a fleet of chauffeur driven Rolls Royce's at their beck and call, and would make weekend trips across the Atlantic with Concorde like it was a commuter train!

 

It was thanks to Concorde that Phil Collins could perform two shows for the 1985 Live Aid in one night, the first at Wembley in London, the second at Philadelphia JFK stadium, picking up Cher along the way who would join him in the finale 'We are the World.' You could arrive before you departed, and probably bump into a selection of celebrities en-route. Ex-Beatles, Actors, Businessmen, Fashion Designers, you name it, they were probably there!

 

These years were wild, profitable, and turned Concorde from an airliner, into a rite of passage for the money makers of this world. If you could fly on Concorde, then you'd truly made it in life!

 

However, as the 90's began to blossom and boom, the end of the decade brought its headaches for Concorde, and when things went wrong, they really went wrong quickly!

 

The recession of 1992 damaged Concorde's sales as money became much harder to come by, and the explosive era of greed began to fade away in the face of austerity. Environmental considerations began to crop up, and Concorde was singled out by environmentalists as one of the biggest culprits for noise and air pollution.

 

But on July 25th, 2000, disaster struck when Air France Concorde F-BTSC, crashed upon take-off from Paris Charles de Gaulle, smashing into a nearby hotel and killing all 109 passengers, plus 4 people on the ground. The cause was later determined to have been debris left by a preceding Continental Airlines DC-10, which punctured the tyres of Concorde and ruptured the fuel tanks on the port-side wing. However, the crash resulted in the grounding of all Concorde aircraft for over a year. Although test flights were carried out, and some private charters, revenue earning service was intended to return in the summer of 2001.

 

G-BOAF made the first service flight of a Concorde aircraft across the Atlantic from London to New York on September 11th, 2001, landing at JFK airport 30 minutes before American Airlines Flight 11, hijacked by terrorists, was flown deliberately into the North Tower of the World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan, in what would turn out to be one of the darkest days in modern history. In the ensuing chaos, flights across America were grounded immediately, and Transatlantic services diverted, but this was just the beginning. Global markets collapsed and the aviation industry went into meltdown. Airlines such as TWA, Swissair, Sabena and Ansett Australia were just a few of the victims of this aviation downturn, and Concorde's return to service was delayed until November 7th, 2001.

 

Concorde may have stuttered back into life, but time had really caught up with this supersonic machine of the past. The maintenance costs of the aircraft were now much higher, with fuel prices rising and passenger levels dropping due to stagnation in the post-9/11 market. British Airways was making a loss on every single flight they made, and both this, with a mixture of discontinued support from Aérospatiale's successors, Airbus, meant that Concorde's fate was very much sealed.

 

On the 10th April, 2003, Air France and British Airways simultaneously announced the retirement of Concorde. Although the day after Virgin Atlantic and its founder Sir Richard Branson intended to purchase British Airways' Concorde fleet for a nominal fee of £1 each, citing a clause in the original agreement to operate the aircraft, the Government and British Airways denied allowing him to buy the aircraft for such a small price, demanding at least £1 million for every aircraft. This was further hampered by Airbus' refusal to continue maintenance support.

 

The end slowly came throughout 2003, with Air France's last Concorde flight taking place on 27th June, whilst British Airways conducted a series of farewell tours to a selection of destinations, including Toronto, Boston, Washington, Belfast, Manchester, Cardiff and Edinburgh. Concorde was officially retired from British Airways service on the 24th October, 2003, but continued to operate a small number of farewell charters until November 26th, when G-BOAF, the last Concorde to be built in 1979, flew to its home base of Filton, ending the supersonic age of passenger air travel.

 

In all, every one of these £125 million aircraft still exist apart from two. Aircraft 203, F-BTSC, was lost in the type's only ever fatal crash in 2000, whilst Aircraft 211, F-BVFD, was withdrawn in 1982 after only 5 years of service and used as a spares donor, being cut up for scrap in 1994. The 6 prototype and 12 remaining production aircraft are now scattered across the world in museums, including Barbados, Seattle, New York, Brooklands near London, Manchester, Le Bourget, Toulouse and Chantilly in Virginia.

 

So, what killed Concorde and can we ever go there again? Many things killed Concorde, and when they came, they came fast. The economic downturn of the 90's and the rising environmental considerations started to damage its image, but the Paris Crash, the September 11th attacks and the ensuing stagnation of the aviation market, an outdated design becoming more and more expensive to maintain, the discontinuation of maintenance by Airbus and the fact that they were making a loss on every single flight is truly what ended Concorde's reign.

 

As for returning to the world of supersonic travel for the fare paying customer, in this world of austerity and environmentally bound agendas, I highly doubt it. Although Boeing considered the idea with the Sonic Cruiser, the amount of fuel required to operate these aircraft and the overall lack of interest or money to fund a project solely aimed at the 1%, means that chances are we won't see the likes of Concorde ever again.

 

But either way, we can be glad to say that we did it, we built Concorde, we flew it, operated it for 27 glorious years, and in doing so brought nations and continents closer together. Concorde truly lived up to its name, an everlasting symbol of peace, prosperity, speed, design and human endeavour.

Scientists studying Antarctica have gained new insights into how the world’s biggest ice sheet is reacting to warming sea temperatures. The study uses three decades of radar satellite observations to map changes in grounding lines across the Antarctic continent from 1992 to 2025. It found that grounding lines were stable along more than 77% of Antarctica’s coastline, including major ice shelves such as Ross, Filchner-Ronne and Amery.

 

However, the research also detected significant retreat in vulnerable regions. These maps zoom in on the West Antarctic Ice Sheet and, in particular, around the Pine Island and Thwaites glaciers, which are two of the most affected regions.

 

The study is based on data from several satellite missions including Copernicus Sentinel-1 and ERS.

 

Read full story

 

Credits: ESA (data source: Rignot et al, 2026).

Dublin Airport, 16/11/2018.

 

Parked on the west apron during a stopover while on it's delivery flight from Boeing Field..

 

Sadly, it crashed on 10th March 2019 shortly after taking off from Addis Ababa (on flight ET302) with the loss of all 157 souls aboard. This led to a grounding of the 737 Max fleet worldwide as it was the second of the type to be lost in similar circumstances following the Lion Air crash in Indonesia.

The use of crystal balls continued past the Druidic tradition. Dr. John Dee (1527-1608), a royal advisor to Queen Elizabeth I, was a scientist, astronomer, mathematician, and geographer who was also a hermetic philosopher involved in alchemical studies.Crystal balls have been used for at least four thousand years for divination. The art of gaining information for looking into crystal is called “scrying.” Most people associate a gypsy reading crystal ball as a symbol of mystical power. Other people may remember the scene in the Wizard of Oz movie showing the witch watching live action scenes of Dorothy trying to get to Emerald City. The reality is that crystal balls do not possess actual power, nor do they show scenes like you would see on a television foretelling the future.However, a psychic, while in a trance, may see different images in his or her brain while in a light trance. These images can be concrete pictures, symbols or vague impressions. What these images convey are information about situations you are facing and guidance of how to resolve your problems.There are three types of clear crystal balls. There is natural quartz crystal, laboratory-grown crystal and glass. Natural quartz crystal balls are cut from naturally occurring veins of crystal. These can have inclusions, cracks in the crystal and veils, cloudy wisps within the crystal. These “faults” in the crystal aid the reader in divination.Other crystals balls have their uses as well. Amethyst balls channel spiritual energy, and are effective in communicating with spirit guides. They are also helpful in interpreting dreams. Rose quartz balls are helpful in issues of emotions and the heart. Rose quartz can help in healing of emotional hurts and fosters forgiveness. Smoky quartz helps in grounding and clearing negativity. Obsidian is a power crystal that aids in reflecting what is in the souls of self and others. Malachite is useful in revealing past-life connections. Lapis, Sodalite and Dumotierite energize psychic attunement. Yellow stones, tiger-eye, yellow citrine, topaz, ametrine and amber reveal the brighter side of an issue and warms the heart. All of these stones are available as balls, though some are more expensive than others.The History of Crystal Ball Reading The use of crystal balls continued past the Druidic tradition. Dr. John Dee (1527-1608), a royal advisor to Queen Elizabeth I, was a scientist, astronomer, mathematician, and geographer who was also a hermetic philosopher involved in alchemical studies. He used crystal balls in his work, which he believed would aid in communication with angels. A quartz ball that once belonged to Dee now resides in the British Museum.The ancient Greeks used reflective surfaces such a pools of waters to help with divination. Two thousand years before the birth of Christ, British Druids used crystal balls for divination. Transparent Beryl, a natural gemstone that comes in all colors was used as an early crystal ball but In the Middle Ages crystal balls shifted from being shaped in beryl to crystal which is more reflective.Crystal balls were used in other areas of the world as well. The third largest crystal ball in the world, now housed in the Penn Museum, weighs fifty-five pounds. It was created for the Empress Dowager Cixi (1835-1908) during the Quing Dynasty in the 19th century.Reading Work?Some readers claim that nothing can be seen in a crystal ball and believe they act as a focus for meditation. Others, such as Alexandra Chauran, the author of Crystal Ball Reading for Beginners, tells us that occlusions in the crystals can form symbols when you are in are in a light trance. Some people have describe the experience of being “drawn into” the orb, feeling a bending of time while gazing into the ball. However the crystal ball is used, it is clear that it is a tool to focus and direct the intuitive and psychic abilities of the reader. Regardless, seeing things in crystal balls may not be as mystic as some people believe. Crystals carry an electric charge called piezoelectricity that can be converted into electrical signals. This electric charge is the very reason that cut crystals are used watches, TV and radio transmitters. Crystals can also provide oscillations that can drive very accurate clocks. A quartz crystal clock will not vary more than a thousandth of a second per day.The size of ball preferred varies greatly among those who read crystal balls. Some use a "palm ball" of a few inches in diameter that is held in the hand. Other readers prefer a larger ball mounted on a stand.Is A Crystal Ball Reading Right For You?Crystal balls are fascinating. Their structure and piezoelectric properties make them great tools for looking into life’s secrets. The psychic who reads crystal balls do tap into some mysterious energies than can provide guidance for many of the questions you have.

 

psychicelements.com/blog/crystal-ball-reading/

Crystal balls have been used for at least four thousand years for divination. The art of gaining information for looking into crystal is called “scrying.” Most people associate a gypsy reading crystal ball as a symbol of mystical power. Other people may remember the scene in the Wizard of Oz movie showing the witch watching live action scenes of Dorothy trying to get to Emerald City. The reality is that crystal balls do not possess actual power, nor do they show scenes like you would see on a television foretelling the future.However, a psychic, while in a trance, may see different images in his or her brain while in a light trance. These images can be concrete pictures, symbols or vague impressions. What these images convey are information about situations you are facing and guidance of how to resolve your problems.There are three types of clear crystal balls. There is natural quartz crystal, laboratory-grown crystal and glass. Natural quartz crystal balls are cut from naturally occurring veins of crystal. These can have inclusions, cracks in the crystal and veils, cloudy wisps within the crystal. These “faults” in the crystal aid the reader in divination.Other crystals balls have their uses as well. Amethyst balls channel spiritual energy, and are effective in communicating with spirit guides. They are also helpful in interpreting dreams. Rose quartz balls are helpful in issues of emotions and the heart. Rose quartz can help in healing of emotional hurts and fosters forgiveness. Smoky quartz helps in grounding and clearing negativity. Obsidian is a power crystal that aids in reflecting what is in the souls of self and others. Malachite is useful in revealing past-life connections. Lapis, Sodalite and Dumotierite energize psychic attunement. Yellow stones, tiger-eye, yellow citrine, topaz, ametrine and amber reveal the brighter side of an issue and warms the heart. All of these stones are available as balls, though some are more expensive than others.The History of Crystal Ball Reading The use of crystal balls continued past the Druidic tradition. Dr. John Dee (1527-1608), a royal advisor to Queen Elizabeth I, was a scientist, astronomer, mathematician, and geographer who was also a hermetic philosopher involved in alchemical studies. He used crystal balls in his work, which he believed would aid in communication with angels. A quartz ball that once belonged to Dee now resides in the British Museum.The ancient Greeks used reflective surfaces such a pools of waters to help with divination. Two thousand years before the birth of Christ, British Druids used crystal balls for divination. Transparent Beryl, a natural gemstone that comes in all colors was used as an early crystal ball but In the Middle Ages crystal balls shifted from being shaped in beryl to crystal which is more reflective.Crystal balls were used in other areas of the world as well. The third largest crystal ball in the world, now housed in the Penn Museum, weighs fifty-five pounds. It was created for the Empress Dowager Cixi (1835-1908) during the Quing Dynasty in the 19th century.Reading Work?Some readers claim that nothing can be seen in a crystal ball and believe they act as a focus for meditation. Others, such as Alexandra Chauran, the author of Crystal Ball Reading for Beginners, tells us that occlusions in the crystals can form symbols when you are in are in a light trance. Some people have describe the experience of being “drawn into” the orb, feeling a bending of time while gazing into the ball. However the crystal ball is used, it is clear that it is a tool to focus and direct the intuitive and psychic abilities of the reader. Regardless, seeing things in crystal balls may not be as mystic as some people believe. Crystals carry an electric charge called piezoelectricity that can be converted into electrical signals. This electric charge is the very reason that cut crystals are used watches, TV and radio transmitters. Crystals can also provide oscillations that can drive very accurate clocks. A quartz crystal clock will not vary more than a thousandth of a second per day.The size of ball preferred varies greatly among those who read crystal balls. Some use a "palm ball" of a few inches in diameter that is held in the hand. Other readers prefer a larger ball mounted on a stand.Is A Crystal Ball Reading Right For You?Crystal balls are fascinating. Their structure and piezoelectric properties make them great tools for looking into life’s secrets. The psychic who reads crystal balls do tap into some mysterious energies than can provide guidance for many of the questions you have.

 

psychicelements.com/blog/crystal-ball-reading/

20th April 2019., Dublin Airport, Ireland

 

Since the grounding of the Boeing 737MAX, Norwegian have leased in this Airbus A330 to operate their flights from Dublin to Stewart Airport, New York

Perry's of Malton Van Hool Alicron YJ15 EPY is carefully watched by CalMac ferry staff as it just avoids grounding whilst leaving the Cumbrae ferry 'Loch Tarbert' at Largs.

As I was driving home from Dundee, I decided to nip into Newport for some night photos (despite the fact that the chicken in the boot was defrosting). It's not often that I arrive here just after sunset with the Tay reflecting everything perfectly so I wanted to take advantage of that.

 

I normally go to the same spot right down by the river, not too far along from the Tay Road Bridge so to mix things up, I went to the bandstand. My original intention was to use the bandstand as a grounding point for the centre of the panorama but there are too many trees surrounding it. Instead, I scrambled down the bank a little until the view opened out.

via Facebook ift.tt/29zH6Mn

Model: Me

Editing time: 30 minutes

Someone requested that I post this on my Flickr. It's an old photo but I'm not done with my shoot with Carson just yet.

Rituals have a way of grounding me. I start the day with a big glass of water and a squeeze of lemon. Cool in the hot months and warm in the winter. Breakfast comes later as I'm a very early riser. I like the sound of the filter coffee machine as it prepares my morning breakfast drink, served in my favourite mug!

 

After breakfast, I love the ritual of making my bed and marvel at the play of light and shadows shining through the slits in the blinds. I love to smooth the sheets and cotton blanket and see the dappled sunlight illuminate my polka-dot cover.

 

Making homemade bread used to be a twice weekly ritual, it helped me through difficult times as it brought a sense of normality and reassuring repetition to my life. These days, I bake bread when I'm in the mood!

Scientists studying Antarctica have gained new insights into how the world’s biggest ice sheet is reacting to warming sea temperatures. The study uses three decades of radar satellite observations to map changes in grounding lines across the Antarctic continent from 1992 to 2025. It found that grounding lines were stable along more than 77% of Antarctica’s coastline, including major ice shelves such as Ross, Filchner-Ronne and Amery.

 

However, the research also detected significant retreat in vulnerable regions. This map shows the areas with most extensive grounded ice retreat are on the West Antarctica side of the continent, with substantial retreat also around the Antarctic Peninsula and on the East Antarctica coast.

 

The largest detected grounding line retreat was observed along the coast of the Amundsen Sea, in West Antarctica, where the ice withdrew in some places by up to 43 km over the study’s period. The most affected regions were near the East Getz, Smith, Thwaites and Pine Island ice sheets.

 

The study is based on data from several satellite missions including Copernicus Sentinel-1 and ERS.

 

Read full story

 

Credits: ESA (data source: Rignot et al, 2026).

Seen here grounded at Tenerife South airport April 2019 due to the on-going issues with the Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft.

 

March 2019 saw the grounding worldwide of all Boeing 737 MAX 8 series aircraft after 2 separate crashes in five months - an Ethiopian Airlines on March 10th 2019 and Lion Air back in October 2018 sadly killing everybody on board both flights.

 

After the Ethiopian Airlines fatality back on March 10th 2019, this then saw airlines starting to ground their B737 MAX 8 fleets until eventually Boeing announced there would then be a worldwide grounding of all versions of the aircraft.

 

TUI Airways (G-TUMF) B737 MAX 8 aircraft seen here grounded at Tenerife South airport (TFS) had its last operational flight back on March 12th 2019 operating the service 'BY2202' from Manchester Airport.

 

Norwegian Airlines (EI-FYI) B737 MAX 8 aircraft seen here grounded at Tenerife South airport (TFS) had its last operational flight back on March 12th 2019 operating the service 'D8510' from Helsinki.

 

On Tuesday 16th April 2019, an FAA ( Federal Aviation Administration) panel has said that after a review of the an update by Boeing to the B737 MAX 8 aircraft software, it is now operationally suitable. It will be interesting to see what will now happen going forward.

 

Tenerife South Airport (TFS), 15th April 2019..

 

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Planet Stories / Magazin-Reihe

- Eric Frank Russell / Design for Great-Day

- Bryan Berry / The Imaginative Man

- Bryan Berry / The Final Venusian

- Bryan Berry / Grounding

- John Jakes / War Drums of Mercury Lost

- Stanley Whiteside / The Sun-Death

- Roger Dee / Oh Mesmerist from Mimas!

cover: Allen Anderson

Editor: Jack O'Sullivan

Love Romances Publishing / USA 1953

Reprint: Comic-Club NK 2010

ex libris MTP

www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?59998

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planet_Stories

Crocuses in the park. They just waiting for some sun to open :)

 

W parku już pojawiły się krokusy. Teraz tylko trochę słonka i pięknie zakwitną :)

 

Our Daily Challenge - theme: "Ground or grounding"

grounding