View allAll Photos Tagged Integrative
Due to funding constraints, the City & County of Swansea has had to look at a different model for providing its two remaining Park & Ride services. Therefore, from 17th June, the two bespoke services operated by First Cymru under contract have been amalgamated into the company's parallel commercial services.. Thus the former 501 covering Landore is now merged into Service 34 (Neath-Skewen-Llansamlet-Enterprise Park-Swansea City Centre) and the former 502 serving Fabian Way is now covered by Service 8 (Bay Campus-City Centre-Singleton Campus & Hospital-Sketty Park-Hendrefoilan Student Village).
Alexander Dennis E30D 67433 is one a pair that have covered the Landore service for the last five and a half years, and carry a two-tone green contract livery. These have been de-branded and re-allocated from Swansea Ravenhill depot to Port Talbot to temporarily cover Service 34 alongside the two-tone blue pair from the Fabian Way service.
My mid June 2019 shot of her in her new role was taken on Phoenix Way in Swansea Enterprise Park.
It may be simple but i visualize arts integration as soap in water. When you pour soap into water, shake things up a bit, it mixes and you create suds plus add a little bit of color. In a similar manner when you mix the arts into other subjects you enhance learning and add color to it! Not to mention the arts help in removing certain obstacles students may have in understanding content; just like soap and water help remove smudges from dishes and other items!
Due to funding constraints, the City & County of Swansea has had to look at a different model for providing its two remaining Park & Ride services. Therefore, from 17th June, the two bespoke services operated by First Cymru under contract have been amalgamated into the company's parallel commercial services.. Thus the former 501 covering Landore is now merged into Service 34 (Neath-Skewen-Llansamlet-Enterprise Park-Swansea City Centre) and the former 502 serving Fabian Way is now covered by Service 8 (Bay Campus-City Centre-Singleton Campus & Hospital-Sketty Park-Hendrefoilan Student Village).
Alexander Dennis E30D 67435 is one a pair that has covered the Fabian Way service for the last five and a half years, and carries a two-tone blue contract livery. These have been de-branded and re-allocated from Swansea Ravenhill depot to Port Talbot to temporarily cover Service 34 alongside the two-tone green pair from the Landore service. She is captured on Fendrod Way, Llansamlet in her new role in mid June 2019.
Managed to develop a fully functional midsection that bends and flexes. It uses two "linear actuator" like designs that are enslaved to a differential which can either lift and lower the upper chassis when locked or bend it side to side when free. Best part is, it will lift and lower the upper section *around* the cockpit housing, which will be mounted to the lower abdomen rather than the upper chest, much like how the original technical developer envisioned it. Or so it would appear to me. The plating around the abdomen is attached to a "spine" on the lower section, which should conform with the movement of the upper chest. It still needs some reworking since that frame is from yesterday and not fitted to the new structure. It seems to bear weight well, fingers cross that it works.
Due to funding constraints, the City & County of Swansea has had to look at a different model for providing its two remaining Park & Ride services. Therefore, from 17th June, the two bespoke services operated by First Cymru under contract have been amalgamated into the company's parallel commercial services.. Thus the former 501 covering Landore is now merged into Service 34 (Neath-Skewen-Llansamlet-Enterprise Park-Swansea City Centre) and the former 502 serving Fabian Way is now covered by Service 8 (Bay Campus-City Centre-Singleton Campus & Hospital-Sketty Park-Hendrefoilan Student Village).
The five Alexander Dennis E20D MMCs (67091-5) bought for Swansea UniBus work have now transferred from Swansea Ravenhill to Port Talbot depot. These are the intended vehicles for Service 34. and the batch is in the process of receiving the red, maroon and orange fleet livery.
Recently de-branded 67091 is captured using the Bus Only link from the Landore Park & Ride site when returning to the City Centre in early 2019.
Leica M2
Leica Summilux 35mm f/1.4 II
Fomapan 100
Ars Imago FD 1+39
6 min 30 sec 20°C
Scan from negative film
The central island in the Greenstone Overlook's parking area contains an excellent exposure of one of the Blue Ridge's most extensive and interesting rock units, the Catoctin Formation.
The term greenstone is a somewhat informal name for what most geologists now prefer to call metabasalt. But the former moniker is certainly applicable here, where a low, tilting ledge of what I take to be bedrock has an unusual and lovely tint.
Whatever you prefer to call it, this rock was basalt—a mafic, extrusive igneous type—that was subsequently metamorphosed. In the process of transformation its predominantly black-toned mineral content was altered to include such green constituents as epidote, actinolite, and chlorite.
Atop the ledge sits an eye-catching example of what is often called a "balancing rock." This is a very hefty boulder, presumably Catoctin too, that after being detached by weathering or erosion slumped downhill to this spot a very long time ago. Either that, or some megamuscular Civilian Conservation Corps workers, in a Depression-era prank not recorded, hoisted it up here for decorative effect. And, also in the realm of alternative history, I'm tempted to start a meme about Ancient Astronauts or perhaps some far-wandering Phoenicians doing the heavy lifting.
Were this feature located farther north, in New England, I'd hypothesize in yet another direction, and guess that a melting Pleistocene ice sheet had delivered it to this precarious perch instead. At any rate, one day the big rock will lose its balance at last and continue its journey downslope.
And regarding the Catoctin Formation itself. Being metamorphic, it has two ages of note. The first, the latter part of the Neoproterozoic era, marks the time when this deposit was erupted in great sheets of lava that spread over both land and water. This was the time of the breakup of the supercontinent Pannotia, triggered in part by a hot spot fed by a mantle plume.
So the Catoctin is most likely the remains of an immense flood-basalt event. As such, it's the younger equivalent of the gigantic eruption that took place in the Lake Superior region half a billion years earlier.
The second benchmark in the Catoctin's history is the late Paleozoic era (and for the most part the Mississippian / Lower Carboniferous subperiod). It was then that the metamorphism took place, during major tectonic activity some Eastern-US geologists now attribute to an orogeny they call the Neoacadian.
In any event, this deformation that turned the Catoctin rock a handsome green occurred well before the Alleghenian mountain-building episode that marked the formation of the next supercontinent, Pangaea.
To dive into this ancient flood-basalt lava a little more deeply, see the other photos and descriptions of this series in my Natural History: Virginia album.
GT
© 2008 Steve Kelley
Have a crooked Friday! :) Shot from Jersey City, NJ.
9exp using Photomatix 3.1
Please view on black and large:
(Updated on May 10, 2025)
Looking generally northwestward. Taken either at the Pinkley Peak picnic area, or a little south of it. So I was near the beginning of my transit of Puerto Blanco Drive, which for much of its 41 mi (66 km) is just a stony, one-way, high-clearance-only track. I'm proud to say that I negotiated the whole dang loop, without one flat tire and without getting stuck in any washouts, in my little Chevy S-10 2WD pickup. And after that I did the Ajo Mountain Drive, an additional and better graded 21 mi (34 km). For some reason I didn't take photos there.
The Ektachrome slides I took this day along Puerto Blanco Drive are, thirty-three years later, of two types. One group remains quite clear and equitably tone-balanced. The other has the quality of a darkling dream, due to the Creosote Bushes (Larrea tridentata) appearing as Stygian masses below the pea-green Saguaros (Carnegiea gigantea). Perhaps it was the lighting. At this distant remove, I just don't know. But I rather like the effect.
This particular image is obviously one of the second group. What it primarily shows, and what clearly caught my geologist's eye at the time, was the yellow-spotted Pinkley Peak in the background.
Named for an important National Park Service official of bygone years, this prominence is part of the upthrust horst block known as the Puerto Blanco Mountains.
Upthrust ranges, down-dropped basins: that's right, we're smack dab in the Basin and Range Province, that immense world-historical museum of extensional tectonics. A large portion of the western US and Mexico can be likened to a gigantic sheet of saltwater taffy that got stretched apart and badly cracked.
One of my main references for this series is the Bedrock Geology Map of Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument and Vicinity, Southwest Arizona (Thompson et al., Arizona Geological Survey, 2024). It includes an informative booklet.
According to that source, Pinkley Peak is something of a volcanic layer cake. Its dark-toned, nipplelike peak is mapped as Childs Latite. This rock type, the extrusive equivalent of monzonite, contains a roughly equal amount of alkali and plagioclase feldspars, but very little quartz.
Below the latite, however, is the appropriately dubbed Pinkley Peak rhyolite. (Its rock type is not capitalized, the map authors explain, because the name is an informal one.) And the yellower zones on the middle and lower slopes is a lithic-lapili-tuff member within that unit.
All of these are early Miocene in age, and came into being during the heyday of Basin-and-Range magmatic activity. In contrast, the core of the Puerto Blanco Mountains is composed of considerably older metamorphic rocks dating to the Jurassic.
Down here on the Sonoran Desert Floor, however, there's younger, Pliocene-to-Pleistocene alluvium deposits mantled in desert pavement. For a discussion of that amazing feature, see this post of mine in another Flickr series. For now, suffice it to say that in many places the desert itself is better paved than Puerto Blanco Drive.
To see the other photos and descriptions in this set, visit my my Integrative Natural History of Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument album.
Carina Nebula, 15 hours and 20 minutes of integration in SHO with Planewave CDK24 610/3962 f 6/5 telescope, QHY 600M Pro camera, are 171 shots of which in Ha 17x600 seconds-32x300 seconds and 15x120 seconds, in OIII 9x600 seconds, 30x300 seconds and 15x120 seconds, in SII 8x600 seconds, 30x300 seconds and 15x120 seconds, processing with Pixinsight and Photoshop. All data and shots were captured with Telescope Live. The Carina Nebula (also known as the Eta Carinae Nebula or by the catalog designations NGC 3372 and C 92) is an emission nebula located in the heart of the southern Milky Way, in the constellation Carina. It is perfectly visible even to the naked eye, although its observation is limited to the regions of the Earth's southern hemisphere and the northern tropics; it was first catalogued by Nicolas Louis de Lacaille in 1751, during his stay in Cape Town.
It is one of the largest known H II regions within our Galaxy: the nebula has real dimensions that reach 260 light years and surrounds several open clusters, as well as one of the most massive stars known, the variable η Carinae. Some star formation phenomena are active within it, although to a lesser extent than in other similar nebulae: this would be an indicator of the high degree of evolution of this nebula. Its distance is estimated at 7500 light-years from us.
As evidence that star formation in the astronomically recent past has been quite intense, there are a large number of open clusters and stellar associations, all composed of very hot, blue young stars, which excite the gas of the nebula and perturb it with their strong stellar wind. Within the nebula there are also well-known substructures, such as the Homunculus Nebula, which surrounds the star η Carinae and the Keyhole Nebula, whose name was assigned to it by John Herschel in the first half of the nineteenth century.
Entered production as the Lockheed Martin F-22 'Raptor".
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor is a fifth-generation, single-seat, twin-engine, all-weather stealth tactical fighter aircraft developed for the United States Air Force (USAF). The result of the USAF's Advanced Tactical Fighter (ATF) program, the aircraft was designed primarily as an air superiority fighter, but also has ground attack, electronic warfare, and signal intelligence capabilities. The prime contractor, Lockheed Martin, built most of the F-22's airframe and weapons systems and conducted final assembly, while Boeing provided the wings, aft fuselage, avionics integration, and training systems.
The aircraft was variously designated F-22 and F/A-22 before it formally entered service in December 2005 as the F-22A. Despite its protracted development and various operational issues, USAF officials consider the F-22 a critical component of the service's tactical air power. Its combination of stealth, aerodynamic performance, and situational awareness enable unprecedented air combat capabilities.
Service officials had originally planned to buy a total of 750 ATFs. In 2009, the program was cut to 187 operational production aircraft due to high costs, a lack of clear air-to-air missions due to delays in Russian and Chinese fighter programs, a ban on exports, and development of the more versatile F-35. The last F-22 was delivered in 2012.
Development
Origins
In 1981, the U.S. Air Force identified a requirement for an Advanced Tactical Fighter (ATF) to replace the F-15 Eagle and F-16 Fighting Falcon. Code named "Senior Sky", this air-superiority fighter program was influenced by emerging worldwide threats, including new developments in Soviet air defense systems and the proliferation of the Su-27 "Flanker"- and MiG-29 "Fulcrum"-class of fighter aircraft. It would take advantage of the new technologies in fighter design on the horizon, including composite materials, lightweight alloys, advanced flight control systems, more powerful propulsion systems, and most importantly, stealth technology. In 1983, the ATF concept development team became the System Program Office (SPO) and managed the program at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. The demonstration and validation (Dem/Val) request for proposals (RFP) was issued in September 1985, with requirements placing strong emphasis on stealth and supercruise. Of the seven bidding companies, Lockheed and Northrop were selected on 31 October 1986. Lockheed teamed with Boeing and General Dynamics while Northrop teamed with McDonnell Douglas, and the two contractor teams undertook a 50-month Dem/Val phase, culminating in the flight test of two technology demonstrator prototypes, the YF-22 and the YF-23, respectively.
Dem/Val was focused on risk reduction and technology development plans over specific aircraft designs. Contractors made extensive use of analytical and empirical methods, including computational fluid dynamics, wind-tunnel testing, and radar cross-section calculations and pole testing; the Lockheed team would conduct nearly 18,000 hours of wind-tunnel testing. Avionics development was marked by extensive testing and prototyping and supported by ground and flying laboratories. During Dem/Val, the SPO used the results of performance and cost trade studies conducted by contractor teams to adjust ATF requirements and delete ones that were significant weight and cost drivers while having marginal value. The short takeoff and landing (STOL) requirement was relaxed in order to delete thrust-reversers, saving substantial weight. As avionics was a major cost driver, side-looking radars were deleted, and the dedicated infra-red search and track (IRST) system was downgraded from multi-color to single color and then deleted as well. However, space and cooling provisions were retained to allow for future addition of these components. The ejection seat requirement was downgraded from a fresh design to the existing McDonnell Douglas ACES II. Despite efforts by the contractor teams to rein in weight, the takeoff gross weight estimate was increased from 50,000 lb (22,700 kg) to 60,000 lb (27,200 kg), resulting in engine thrust requirement increasing from 30,000 lbf (133 kN) to 35,000 lbf (156 kN) class.
Each team produced two prototype air vehicles for Dem/Val, one for each of the two engine options. The YF-22 had its maiden flight on 29 September 1990 and in flight tests achieved up to Mach 1.58 in supercruise. After the Dem/Val flight test of the prototypes, on 23 April 1991, Secretary of the USAF Donald Rice announced the Lockheed team as the winner of the ATF competition. The YF-23 design was considered stealthier and faster, while the YF-22, with its thrust vectoring nozzles, was more maneuverable as well as less expensive and risky. The aviation press speculated that the Lockheed team's design was also more adaptable to the U.S. Navy's Navalized Advanced Tactical Fighter (NATF), but by 1992, the Navy had abandoned NATF.
Production and procurement
As the program moved to full-scale development, or the Engineering & Manufacturing Development (EMD) stage, the production version had notable differences from the YF-22, despite having a broadly similar shape. The swept-back angle of the leading edge was decreased from 48° to 42°, while the vertical stabilizers were shifted rearward and decreased in area by 20%. To improve pilot visibility, the canopy was moved forward 7 inches (18 cm), and the engine intakes moved rearward 14 inches (36 cm). The shapes of the wing and stabilator trailing edges were refined to improve aerodynamics, strength, and stealth characteristics. Increasing weight during development caused slight reductions in range and maneuver performance.
Prime contractor Lockheed Martin Aeronautics manufactured the majority of the airframe and performed final assembly at Dobbins Air Reserve Base in Marietta, Georgia; program partner Boeing Defense, Space & Security provided additional airframe components as well as avionics integration and training systems. The first F-22, an EMD aircraft with tail number 4001, was unveiled at Marietta, Georgia, on 9 April 1997, and first flew on 7 September 1997. Production, with the first lot awarded in September 2000, supported over 1,000 subcontractors and suppliers from 46 states and up to 95,000 jobs, and spanned 15 years at a peak rate of roughly two airplanes per month. In 2006, the F-22 development team won the Collier Trophy, American aviation's most prestigious award. Due to the aircraft's advanced nature, contractors have been targeted by cyberattacks and technology theft.
The USAF originally envisioned ordering 750 ATFs at a total program cost of $44.3 billion and procurement cost of $26.2 billion in fiscal year (FY) 1985 dollars, with production beginning in 1994. The 1990 Major Aircraft Review led by Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney reduced this to 648 aircraft beginning in 1996. By 1997, funding instability had further cut the total to 339, which was again reduced to 277 by 2003. In 2004, the Department of Defense (DoD) further reduced this to 183 operational aircraft, despite the USAF's preference for 381. A multi-year procurement plan was implemented in 2006 to save $15 billion, with total program cost projected to be $62 billion for 183 F-22s distributed to seven combat squadrons. In 2008, Congress passed a defense spending bill that raised the total orders for production aircraft to 187.
The first two F-22s built were EMD aircraft in the Block 1.0 configuration for initial flight testing, while the third was a Block 2.0 aircraft built to represent the internal structure of production airframes and enabled it to test full flight loads. Six more EMD aircraft were built in the Block 10 configuration for development and upgrade testing, with the last two considered essentially production quality jets. Production for operational squadrons consisted of 37 Block 20 training aircraft and 149 Block 30/35 combat aircraft; one of the Block 35 aircraft is dedicated to flight sciences at Edwards Air Force Base.
The numerous new technologies in the F-22 resulted in substantial cost overruns and delays. Many capabilities were deferred to post-service upgrades, reducing the initial cost but increasing total program cost. As production wound down in 2011, the total program cost is estimated to be about $67.3 billion, with $32.4 billion spent on Research, Development, Test and Evaluation (RDT&E) and $34.9 billion on procurement and military construction (MILCON) in then year dollars. The incremental cost for an additional F-22 was estimated at about $138 million in 2009.
Ban on exports
The F-22 cannot be exported under US federal law to protect its stealth technology and other high-tech features. Customers for U.S. fighters are acquiring earlier designs such as the F-15 Eagle and F-16 Fighting Falcon or the newer F-35 Lightning II, which contains technology from the F-22 but was designed to be cheaper, more flexible, and available for export. In September 2006, Congress upheld the ban on foreign F-22 sales. Despite the ban, the 2010 defense authorization bill included provisions requiring the DoD to prepare a report on the costs and feasibility for an F-22 export variant, and another report on the effect of F-22 export sales on U.S. aerospace industry.
Some Australian politicians and defense commentators proposed that Australia should attempt to purchase F-22s instead of the planned F-35s, citing the F-22's known capabilities and F-35's delays and developmental uncertainties. However, the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) determined that the F-22 was unable to perform the F-35's strike and close air support roles. The Japanese government also showed interest in the F-22 for its Replacement-Fighter program. The Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) would reportedly require fewer fighters for its mission if it obtained the F-22, thus reducing engineering and staffing costs. However, in 2009 it was reported that acquiring the F-22 would require increases to the Japanese government's defense budget beyond the historical 1 percent of its GDP. With the end of F-22 production, Japan chose the F-35 in December 2011. Israel also expressed interest, but eventually chose the F-35 because of the F-22's price and unavailability.
Production termination
Throughout the 2000s, the need for F-22s was debated, due to rising costs and the lack of relevant adversaries. In 2006, Comptroller General of the United States David Walker found that "the DoD has not demonstrated the need" for more investment in the F-22, and further opposition to the program was expressed by Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, Deputy Secretary of Defense Gordon R. England, Senator John McCain, and Chairman of U.S. Senate Committee on Armed Services Senator John Warner. The F-22 program lost influential supporters in 2008 after the forced resignations of Secretary of the Air Force Michael Wynne and the Chief of Staff of the Air Force General T. Michael Moseley.
In November 2008, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates stated that the F-22 was not relevant in post-Cold War conflicts such as irregular warfare operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, and in April 2009, under the new Obama Administration, he called for ending production in FY2011, leaving the USAF with 187 production aircraft. In July, General James Cartwright, Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, stated to the Senate Committee on Armed Services his reasons for supporting termination of F-22 production. They included shifting resources to the multirole F-35 to allow proliferation of fifth-generation fighters for three service branches and preserving the F/A-18 production line to maintain the military's electronic warfare (EW) capabilities in the Boeing EA-18G Growler.[60] Issues with the F-22's reliability and availability also raised concerns. After President Obama threatened to veto further production, the Senate voted in July 2009 in favor of ending production and the House subsequently agreed to abide by the 187 production aircraft cap. Gates stated that the decision was taken in light of the F-35's capabilities, and in 2010, he set the F-22 requirement to 187 aircraft by lowering the number of major regional conflict preparations from two to one.
In 2010, USAF initiated a study to determine the costs of retaining F-22 tooling for a future Service Life Extension Program (SLEP).[66] A RAND Corporation paper from this study estimated that restarting production and building an additional 75 F-22s would cost $17 billion, resulting in $227 million per aircraft, or $54 million higher than the flyaway cost. Lockheed Martin stated that restarting the production line itself would cost about $200 million. Production tooling and associated documentation were subsequently stored at the Sierra Army Depot, allowing the retained tooling to support the fleet life cycle. There were reports that attempts to retrieve this tooling found empty containers, but a subsequent audit found that the tooling was stored as expected.
Russian and Chinese fighter developments have fueled concern, and in 2009, General John Corley, head of Air Combat Command, stated that a fleet of 187 F-22s would be inadequate, but Secretary Gates dismissed General Corley's concern. In 2011, Gates explained that Chinese fifth-generation fighter developments had been accounted for when the number of F-22s was set, and that the U.S. would have a considerable advantage in stealth aircraft in 2025, even with F-35 delays. In December 2011, the 195th and final F-22 was completed out of 8 test EMD and 187 operational aircraft produced; the aircraft was delivered to the USAF on 2 May 2012.
In April 2016, the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) Tactical Air and Land Forces Subcommittee proposed legislation that would direct the Air Force to conduct a cost study and assessment associated with resuming production of the F-22. Since the production halt directed in 2009 by then Defense Secretary Gates, lawmakers and the Pentagon noted that air warfare systems of Russia and China were catching up to those of the U.S. Lockheed Martin has proposed upgrading the Block 20 training aircraft into combat-coded Block 30/35 versions as a way to increase numbers available for deployment. On 9 June 2017, the Air Force submitted their report to Congress stating they had no plans to restart the F-22 production line due to economic and operational issues; it estimated it would cost approximately $50 billion to procure 194 additional F-22s at a cost of $206–$216 million per aircraft, including approximately $9.9 billion for non-recurring start-up costs and $40.4 billion for aircraft procurement costs.
Upgrades
The first aircraft with combat-capable Block 3.0 software flew in 2001. Increment 2, the first upgrade program, was implemented in 2005 for Block 20 aircraft onward and enabled the employment of Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM). Certification of the improved AN/APG-77(V)1 radar was completed in March 2007, and airframes from production Lot 5 onward are fitted with this radar, which incorporates air-to-ground modes. Increment 3.1 for Block 30 aircraft onward provided improved ground-attack capability through synthetic aperture radar mapping and radio emitter direction finding, electronic attack and Small Diameter Bomb (SDB) integration; testing began in 2009 and the first upgraded aircraft was delivered in 2011. To address oxygen deprivation issues, F-22s were fitted with an automatic backup oxygen system (ABOS) and modified life support system starting in 2012.
Increment 3.2 for Block 35 aircraft is a two-part upgrade process; 3.2A focuses on electronic warfare, communications and identification, while 3.2B includes geolocation improvements and a new stores management system to show the correct symbols for the AIM-9X and AIM-120D.[83][84] To enable two-way communication with other platforms, the F-22 can use the Battlefield Airborne Communications Node (BACN) as a gateway. The planned Multifunction Advanced Data Link (MADL) integration was cut due to development delays and lack of proliferation among USAF platforms. The F-22 fleet is planned to start receiving Increment 3.2B as well as a software upgrade for cryptography capabilities and avionics stability in May 2019. A Multifunctional Information Distribution System-Joint (MIDS-J) radio that replaces the current Link-16 receive-only box is expected to be operational by 2020. Subsequent upgrades are also focusing on having an open architecture to enable faster future enhancements.
In 2024, funding is projected to begin for the F-22 mid-life upgrade (MLU), which is expected to include new sensors and antennas, hardware refresh, cockpit improvements, and a helmet mounted display and cuing system. Other enhancements being developed include IRST functionality for the AN/AAR-56 Missile Launch Detector (MLD) and more durable stealth coating based on the F-35's.
The F-22 was designed for a service life of 8,000 flight hours, with a $350 million "structures retrofit program". Investigations are being made for upgrades to extend their useful lives further. In the long term, the F-22 is expected to be superseded by a sixth-generation jet fighter to be fielded in the 2030s.
Design
Overview
The F-22 Raptor is a fifth-generation fighter that is considered fourth generation in stealth aircraft technology by the USAF.[91] It is the first operational aircraft to combine supercruise, supermaneuverability, stealth, and sensor fusion in a single weapons platform. The F-22 has four empennage surfaces, retractable tricycle landing gear, and clipped delta wings with reverse trailing edge sweep and leading edge extensions running to the upper outboard corner of the inlets. Flight control surfaces include leading-edge flaps, flaperons, ailerons, rudders on the canted vertical stabilizers, and all-moving horizontal tails (stabilators); for speed brake function, the ailerons deflect up, flaperons down, and rudders outwards to increase drag.
The aircraft's dual Pratt & Whitney F119-PW-100 augmented turbofan engines are closely spaced and incorporate pitch-axis thrust vectoring nozzles with a range of ±20 degrees; each engine has maximum thrust in the 35,000 lbf (156 kN) class. The F-22's thrust-to-weight ratio at typical combat weight is nearly at unity in maximum military power and 1.25 in full afterburner. Maximum speed without external stores is approximately Mach 1.8 at military power and greater than Mach 2 with afterburners.
The F-22's high cruise speed and operating altitude over prior fighters improve the effectiveness of its sensors and weapon systems, and increase survivability against ground defenses such as surface-to-air missiles. The aircraft is among only a few that can supercruise, or sustain supersonic flight without using fuel-inefficient afterburners; it can intercept targets which subsonic aircraft would lack the speed to pursue and an afterburner-dependent aircraft would lack the fuel to reach. The F-22's thrust and aerodynamics enable regular combat speeds of Mach 1.5 at 50,000 feet (15,000 m). The use of internal weapons bays permits the aircraft to maintain comparatively higher performance over most other combat-configured fighters due to a lack of aerodynamic drag from external stores. The aircraft's structure contains a significant amount of high-strength materials to withstand stress and heat of sustained supersonic flight. Respectively, titanium alloys and composites comprise 39% and 24% of the structural weight.
The F-22's aerodynamics, relaxed stability, and powerful thrust-vectoring engines give it excellent maneuverability and energy potential across its flight envelope. The airplane has excellent high alpha (angle of attack) characteristics, capable of flying at trimmed alpha of over 60° while maintaining roll control and performing maneuvers such as the Herbst maneuver (J-turn) and Pugachev's Cobra. The flight control system and full-authority digital engine control (FADEC) make the aircraft highly departure resistant and controllable, thus giving the pilot carefree handling.
Stealth
The F-22 was designed to be highly difficult to detect and track by radar. Measures to reduce radar cross-section (RCS) include airframe shaping such as alignment of edges, fixed-geometry serpentine inlets and curved vanes that prevent line-of-sight of the engine faces and turbines from any exterior view, use of radar-absorbent material (RAM), and attention to detail such as hinges and pilot helmets that could provide a radar return. The F-22 was also designed to have decreased radio emissions, infrared signature and acoustic signature as well as reduced visibility to the naked eye. The aircraft's flat thrust-vectoring nozzles reduce infrared emissions of the exhaust plume to mitigate the threat of infrared homing ("heat seeking") surface-to-air or air-to-air missiles. Additional measures to reduce the infrared signature include special topcoat and active cooling of leading edges to manage the heat buildup from supersonic flight.
Compared to previous stealth designs like the F-117, the F-22 is less reliant on RAM, which are maintenance-intensive and susceptible to adverse weather conditions. Unlike the B-2, which requires climate-controlled hangars, the F-22 can undergo repairs on the flight line or in a normal hangar. The F-22 has a Signature Assessment System which delivers warnings when the radar signature is degraded and necessitates repair. While the F-22's exact RCS is classified, in 2009 Lockheed Martin released information indicating that from certain angles the aircraft has an RCS of 0.0001 m² or −40 dBsm – equivalent to the radar reflection of a "steel marble". Effectively maintaining the stealth features can decrease the F-22's mission capable rate to 62–70%.
The effectiveness of the stealth characteristics is difficult to gauge. The RCS value is a restrictive measurement of the aircraft's frontal or side area from the perspective of a static radar. When an aircraft maneuvers it exposes a completely different set of angles and surface area, potentially increasing radar observability. Furthermore, the F-22's stealth contouring and radar absorbent materials are chiefly effective against high-frequency radars, usually found on other aircraft. The effects of Rayleigh scattering and resonance mean that low-frequency radars such as weather radars and early-warning radars are more likely to detect the F-22 due to its physical size. However, such radars are also conspicuous, susceptible to clutter, and have low precision. Additionally, while faint or fleeting radar contacts make defenders aware that a stealth aircraft is present, reliably vectoring interception to attack the aircraft is much more challenging. According to the USAF an F-22 surprised an Iranian F-4 Phantom II that was attempting to intercept an American UAV, despite Iran's assertion of having military VHF radar coverage over the Persian Gulf.
INTEGRATION-LIEBE-LABSKAUS
Dinge, die Hamburg ausmachen.
..gesehen an einer Mauer, die für allerlei Aufkleber, meist politisch-anarchistisch, herhält
This photo from Northrop Grumman's clean room in Redondo Beach, California shows the start of the integration process of the James Webb Space Telescope. The telescope is seen hanging from a crane, in the process of being moved over the sunshield.
Here's a recent video about the recent successful assembly of Webb into its final form: youtu.be/Trh9ohPo-cE
Image credit: Northrop Grumman
RAF Regiment Forward Air Controllers (FACs) from the Air Land Integration Cell (ALIC), Based at RAF Honington (Suffolk), guide a Typhoon from 6 Squadron onto their target at the Cape Wrath practice range in Scotland.
6 Squadron was training to use Typhoon in the air-to-ground strike role, building on their ability to use it in the air-to-air air defence role.
For the RAF regiment, the exercise formed part of ALIC FAC training for both Operation HERRICK (Afghanistan) and contingency operations. RAF Regt personnel provided Laser designation and target ‘talk-ons’ ensuring that the inert Paveway II weapons successfully struck their targets.
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© Crown Copyright 2013
Photographer: RAF
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This is my collage representing arts integration. This is previous students and each image is a child using the arts to learn another subject matter while discovering more about a specific art form. These art representations include music, movement, theatre, and visual art in various ways. This is close to my heart and when I see these children in their moment of discovery through artistic influence, I truly see arts integration work.
#EDN514SP17 and #EDN514Illustration
© Daniela Hartmann, flickr.com
After-lunch nap of four rose-ringed Parakeet (Psittacula krameri), also known as the Ringnecked Parakeet. The bird is a gregarious tropical parakeet species.
In the Netherlands and Belgium, there exist a network of feral populations numbering 5000-6000 each in urbanized areas. In Germany, these birds are found along the Rhine in all major urban areas like Cologne, Heidelberg and Wiesbaden. Other populations are found around Paris and in Barcelona.
I have taken that photo of the feral parakeets with migration background in Wiesbaden, Germany. It is winter time and around -10° C, so the birds are dreaming of the departure.
Originally the birds are coming from India, approximately as pet in a birdcage. Now it is a example for suceed integration in germany ;-)
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Una siesta: La cotorra de Kramer es una especie de la familia ampliamente distribuida por Asia, África y Europa.
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Schnarchzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.... Mittagsschläfchen und wie praktisch: Das Kissen ist immer dabei.
Die exotischen Vögel bevölkern seit Mitte der siebziger Jahre den Wiesbadener Kurpark und den Schloßpark in Wiesbaden-Biebrich. Das Foto dieser vier Wiesbadener Papageien mit Migrationshintergrund habe ich im Schloßpark aufgenommen. Übrigens bei winterlichen Temperaturen von -10° C. Wahrscheinlich träumen die Vögel gerade von der Ausreise.
Erstmals haben sich die Vögel in den sechziger Jahren im Kölner Raum angesiedelt, seitdem wandern sie entlang den Flußniederungen den Rhein aufwärts, mittlerweile bis nach Mannheim, Worms, Heidelberg und selbst nach Stuttgart. Ursprünglich stammen die Exoten wohl aus Indien und sind dann als Haustiere nach Deutschland gekommen (und dann entflogen).
Insgesamt leben in Wiesbaden und Umgebung derzeit nach Schätzungen rund 1300 Halsbandsittiche, die etwa 40 Zentimeter groß werden, und mehrere hundert der knapp 55 Zentimeter großen Alexandersittiche frei. Immer wieder werden Trupps der grünen Exoten auch in Mainz gesichtet.
Und wenn man die bunten Freunde nicht sieht, dann hört man das Gekreische.
Ein Beispiel geglückter Integration.
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If you intend to use any of my pictures for non-commercial usage, you have to sign them with © Daniela Hartmann, flickr.com. Please write a comment if you have used it and for what purpose. I would be very happy about it. I am curious about the context in which the image is used.
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My name there is "alles-schlumpf".
..ecco il mio tentativo di mostrare la IFN intorno a questo celeberrimo duo di galassie nell'Orsa maggiore, M81 e M82, sono riuscito a sommare in due serate 48 frames 800 iso di cui 5 di 10 minuti ottenuti da Fontecorniale 550 mt. e i rimanenti 43 da 5 minuti dal cielo di casa a Lucrezia con Eos 40D su FS60 CB con riduttore di focale autoguida PHD Guiding dithering su AZEQ6 GT SW processing PixInsight 1.8 elaborazione PS CS5 Topaz labs (Detail3 Desnoise5)..
il risultato lo ritengo abbastanza soddisfacente anche se la IFN è percettibile solo dai cieli di montagna,mi accontento
Underground parking garage.
Hotel "RIUS". Lviv, Ukraine.
SLR Camera: Nikon F5
Lens: Nikkor 50mm f1.8 AF-D
Film: Kodak ColorPlus 200
Filter: B+W UV-Haze MRC-nano XS-Pro Digital
Film was processed and scanned by "Mark" Studio Lab. in Chernivtsi. I am happy with the results.
To see the pictures taken with this camera click here.
Thank you for your comments and Fav's.
For those hard to reach places, technicians and engineers use various styles of lifts and platforms to ensure they have the best angle of approach to work on the James Webb Space Telescope observatory.
Here's a recent video about the recent successful assembly of Webb into its final form: youtu.be/Trh9ohPo-cE
Image credit: Northrop Grumman
Copyright © Gio's Gallery Photography.
This photo may not be used in any form without prior permission. All rights reserved.
Taken along the summit rim trail of Mount Vesuvius. Looking at a portion of the interior of the Gran Cono crater.
When I was a child, my father spent hours, with Chicago Motor Club maps spread out before him, planning a family trip to the Pacific Northwest and the Cascade Range. In his own childhood he'd been to Crater Lake in Oregon and for good reason thought it the most beautiful place on Earth.
While in my early years we did get to many splendid places in the West, including the Yellowstone Caldera and the Canadian Rockies, we never quite made it all the way to the Cascade peaks that form the magnificent (and dangerous) continental volcanic arc a little inboard from the subducting Juan de Fuca Plate. As a matter of fact, I didn't get to them by myself until my middle adulthood, long after I'd been to the tops of Vesuvius, Etna, and Stromboli.
Of that Italian triad, Vesuvius was my first ascent. And it was the first place I'd ever visited that seemed to be chronologically unhitched from the landscape below and around it.
Whether they're currently erupting or not, the world's great volcanic summits invest one with the feeling that the planet itself is still very young and forming. It's an eerie thing to suddenly find oneself in an early chapter of the Earth's creation—the Hadean, perhaps, or the dawn of the Eoarchean, some 4 Ga before the birth of our species.
That makes it all the more ironic that the geology here is actually remarkably young. This fact is made abundantly clear in one of my main sources for this series, "Volcanic Evolution of the Somma-Vesuvius Complex (Italy)," Sbrana et al., Journal of Maps, January 2020.
If I'm interpreting one of that article's illustrations correctly, the upper portion of the crater wall shown in the photo above was almost all produced in the 1944 eruption, during the Allies' torturous advance up the Italian peninsula. Only the lowest quarter of the visible strata are older; and they just date to the period 1913-1930.
Incidentally, notice that I used the term strata for rock units that are obviously igneous. If you're someone who's taken a single geology course, perhaps as a 100-level science elective in college, you probably think that strata (synonymous with layers and beds) are the sole intellectual property of sedimentary rocks.
So it appears I'm violating a basic understanding uttered by countless Earth-science instructors. But it turns out that what they told you is something I call a beginner's truth—an educatively helpful fact that is partly abrogated as one gains additional experience.
It's true that a nice set of stacked beds is an excellent way to identify sedimentary rocks. But in composite volcanoes like Vesuvius, also known as stratovolcanoes for good reason, you'll see striking patterns of alternating layers, too. In this case, though, they're not made of sandstone, limestone, or some other clastic or chemically precipitated type. Instead, they're a succession of tephra (ash, lapilli, pumice, and other ejected particles) and lava flows that poured onto the surface while still in a liquid state.
In Part 1 of this set, I discussed the petrology and predominant rock types of Vesuvius' more recently erupted material. But in this post, instead of focusing on the arcanities of tephrite, phonolite, and their intergradations, let's just identify what beds are lava and which are the tephra.
Fortunately, this is one of the best places in the world to see the inner structure of a stratovolcano: the crater is about 500 m (1,640 ft) wide and 300 m (984 ft) deep. And its almost-vertical walls are nothing less than the opened pages of a geology textbook.
First of all, the sunlit, reddish-brown material blanketing the rim is mostly tephra. When you actually walk on it, it has a crunchy, granular to dusty texture.
Farther down the wall, in the shade, the tephra takes on a darker aspect. In contrast, the lava strata are lighter-toned and more massive (thicker). See how many different layers you can actually count. Each bed represents its own geologic story worthy of remembrance.
The other photos and descriptions of this series can be found in my Integrative Natural History of Mount Vesuvius & the Gulf of Naples album.
Das ist Integration:
Mustafa, neben mir: "Ich ess ja auch schon mal Schweinefleisch."
Nachbar: "Mustafa - du bist doch Moslem?"
Mustafa: "Ich bin Deutscher."
Two U.S. Air Force Rockwell B-1B "Lancers" assigned to 37th Expeditionary Bomb Squadron, deployed from Ellsworth Air Force Base, South Dakota, fly alongside two Koku Jieitai (Japan Air Self-Defense Force) F-15s over the vicinity of the East China Sea, Sept. 9, 2017. Following the end of the operation, one B-1B flew to Misawa Air Base, Japan, to be a static display for the Misawa Air Festival, while the other B-1B returned to Andersen AFB, Guam. The integration of our aerial platforms with our allied nations advance and strengthen the long-standing military-to-military relationships in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region.