Australia’s first shot tower, at Taroona, was built by Joseph Moir and is one of three still existing in the country, the others being in Melbourne. Joseph Moir's factory, which operated for 35 years from 1870, manufactured lead shot for contemporary muzzle loading sports guns. Although the factory struggled for most of its existence its most recognisable feature, the tallest stone shot tower in the southern hemisphere, has been a prominent landmark in the district for well over a century. Joseph Moir His Shot Tower on the Kingston Road is noted throughout the colonies, and Mr Moir’s enterprising spirit is there illustrated in a most remarkable manner. Though a speculation of a very hazardous kind, he had faith in its success, and his estimate, as was afterwards discovered, was not found on any erroneous basis. The manufacture of shot was a profitable venture under his management. Mercury 12 March 1874 Just twenty years old, Scotsman Joseph Moir arrived in Hobart in 1829, one of thousands of hopeful free immigrants who sailed to Van Diemen’s Land in the 1820s. By 1840 he had acquired several properties, government employment and a reputation as a builder of notable colonial buildings such as St Mark’s Anglican Church, Pontville. He returned briefly to Scotland in 1844 to marry Elizabeth Paxton with whom he had at least five children. A prominent businessman, Moir was active in Hobart’s civic affairs between 1846 and 1873, a year before his death. He revisited Britain in 1849 ‘to arrange to carry on an ironmonger’s business’, returning to Hobart with a stock of hardware items and opening a store with his brother at ‘Economy House’ in Murray Street. The business operated until sold by his son, Joseph in 1884. Moir purchased 39 acres on Brown’s River Rd in 1855 and moved to a new house at ‘Queenborough Glens’ (as he called the property) with his family in 1862. He then built the shot tower and its associated buildings and poured his first shot in 1870. When he died after a long illness in 1874 Moir left his major business concerns to his sons, James and Joseph. Together with Elizabeth (who only survived him by 15 months) and a daughter, Mary (who died in 1853 at the age of seven) Moir was encrypted in the family mausoleum on the cliffs below the shot tower. Their remains were later re-interred in unmarked graves at Queenborough Cemetery after Joseph relinquished the property in 1901. This cemetery’s graves were removed by Hobart Council in 1963 and Moir’s final resting place remains unknown. The Shot Tower This shot tower was built by the proprietor, Joseph Moir, in the year 1870. In its erection he acted as Engineer, Architect, Carpenter and Overseer. With merely the assistance of two masons it was completed in 8 months, when the secrets of shot-making had to be discovered. After many persevering efforts the first shot was dropped 8th September, 1870. Joseph Moir erected his shot making enterprise on 39 acres subdivided from an 1817 grant of 100 acres to John Williamson. He chose his site carefully. A road frontage facilitated straightforward transport of raw materials and product. A windmill pumped water from a reliable creek to a cistern on the site of the current overflow carpark and substantial timber reserves provided fuel for the furnaces and cauldrons. Sited far from residential neighbourhoods Moir could also relax in the knowledge that toxic fumes would blow safely out to sea or over forestland. Moir probably began building his shot making works after erecting the family home between 1855 and 1862. A stone building above the cliffs overlooking the River Derwent stored gun powder for his ironmongery as well as stores of arsenic and antimony. Another building south-west of the magazine contained the furnace for preparing lead with the arsenic and antimony. The tower was constructed of dressed curved sandstone blocks quarried at the nearby abandoned Brown’s River Convict Probation Station. A remarkable tapered structure 48m (157 feet 6 inches) tall it features an internal spiral staircase of pitsawn timber and an external gallery at its top which was probably used to store firewood for the upper cauldron. The staircase provided scaffolding during the construction of the tower and access to the upper cauldron and shot-making colanders. The tower is 10 metres in diameter at the base and tapers to 3.9 metres at the top . The walls are a metre thick at the bottom and thin out to .45 centimetres at the top. A three level stone factory abutting the tower was erected at the same time, then was extended soon after. The stone for the factory was probably recycled from the abandoned probation station. The Manufacturing Process The manufacture of shot is an industry which in England has always been conducted with the greatest secrecy, and consequently witnessed by very few except the initiated. This industry has recently been introduced in this colony by Mr Alderman Moir, and we learn that it is his intention to throw his Shot Tower open to the inspection of visitors on Monday and Tuesday next, when the process of shot making will be in operation, on which occasion we have no doubt many of our citizens will avail themselves of this opportunity of witnessing the interesting process. Mercury,10 March 1871. Shot manufacturing is thought to have been invented by Prince Rupert in the seventeenth century. It seems likely that Moir studied William Watts’ patented method of 1796 while in Britain in 1849- 50. Moir’s exact process is unknown — considerable experimentation was required by most manufacturers to perfect what is a very complex process requiring a detailed understanding of physics and metallurgy. Most of Moir’s raw materials would have been imported increasing his costs substantially Moir’s process was probably as follows: Lead was prepared in a furnace at the south-eastern corner of the property. Moir added 900g of arsenic (to decrease surface tension) and 6.35kg of antimony (to harden the shot) to every 45.35 kg of lead. The resultant ‘poisoned lead’ was cast into 7.7 kg ingots, conveyed to the factory, then remelted in cauldrons on the upper level of the factory for small shot and the top of the tower for larger shot. Firewood had to be winched to the upper cauldron. The molten lead was then poured through colanders, forming droplets which became spherical as they dropped. They fell into a tub of water at the base of the tower. The size of the shot depended on the amount of arsenic, the size of the holes in the colander and the height of the fall. Watts’ patent stipulated that large sized shot required a fall of 45.75m (150 feet), hence the height of Moir’s shot tower at 48m with the colander 46.36m above the base. The lead cooled partly while falling, then completely in the water. The antinomy hardener ensured that it maintained shape under the impact of the water. The cooled shot, green in colour, was winched to the factory’s upper floor where it was dried and run over inclined glass planes to separate out defective shot (which did not roll true). Imperfect shot was remelted and the process repeated. The shot was polished in a revolving drum (likened to a farmer’s barrel churn) using plumbago (graphite) then lowered through a trapdoor to the ground floor where it passed through ten sieves for grading into sizes ranging from fine birdshot to large balls. The graded shot was bagged into 12.7kg (28lb) handsewn linen bags stencilled with the manufacturer’s name and sent to market. At its peak the factory produced 100 tons of shot per annum. Working Conditions Little is known of working conditions in Joseph Moir’s shot tower. The work was highly skilled, noisy and almost certainly dangerous. That workers took great pride in their trade is indicated by an engraving in a window in the factory, reading, ‘George Matson Premier Shot Maker Tasmanian and Australian’. No further information about George Matson is known. The following descriptions of a contemporary works, Melbourne’s Coop shot tower (now incorporated in the Melbourne Central complex on Little Lonsdale St) provides some indication of the nature of the work involved. Pouring the lead was ‘an operation which needs great skill and constant watching. The man is used to his work but the novice would probably make a considerable bungle of it’. As the lead droplets fell there was ‘a sharp incessant shower of silvery rain . . . mak[ing] a noise very like that of an overflow waste pipe high up in one’s wall’. When shovelling shot from the water tub it was ‘quite certain that if the man who is so energetically shovelling . . . was to cease from his labours for any appreciable length of time the tank would be soon full of lead. . . . all the while the strange shower descends the man with the shovel is busily at work’. The noise of grading the shot through the sieves was ‘well nigh deafening’ while a woman sat with needle and thread sewing the 12.7kg linen bags for the finished shot. House and Garden Joseph Moir began building his residence soon after acquiring the property in 1855. Family lore suggests that he built the battlemented tower as practise before attempting the more substantial shot tower. By 1885 the property was well known for its gardens and orchards with its hot houses, summer houses and conservatories. "Mr [James] Moir has a prolific little orchard and kitchen garden, which latter, the flower garden and conservatories are watered from a considerable storage reservoir above. An amusing freak of the owner is to invite strangers into a summer house, and to be seated a moment or two out of the sun. He predicts rain shortly, however cloudless the sky — when hey presto: a shower immediately commences, a real earnest one. It is brought about by turning the tap of a pipe connecting with the circular piping on top of the summer house, the latter being perforated round its outside. A little defectiveness in the roof allowed of my receiving a slight baptism of spray, so I must be considered initiated." Tasmanian Mail,13 June 1885 Perhaps the youthful James Moir (he was 30 in 1885) had a better sense of fun than business sense. He had mortgaged the property the previous year and defaulted on his payments two years later. Later History Moir’s sons, James and Joseph, carried on the business after his death in 1874. Although James won merit certificates at the 1879 Sydney International Exhibition and the 1880-81 Melbourne Exhibition the business struggled and it was leased by the mortgagors to his brother, Joseph in 1887. Joseph found himself unable compete with mainland competitors when generous colonial tariffs were removed after Federation. He relinquished the lease to his brother-in-law, William Baynton who continued the business until closing its doors in 1905. During these years Baynton’s wife, Florence, operated a tea house in the residence. The property subsequently passed through several hands until 1956 when 3.24 hectares was purchased by the Tasmanian government and proclaimed a Scenery Reserve. Although it included the tower and residence, the reserve excluded the powder magazine, conservatory, antimony furnace and mausoleum. The reserve was gazetted as an historic site in 1971 under the National Parks and Wildlife Act. Since 1956 it has been leased to several concessionaires and has been open as a tourist site. Various conservation works have been conducted at the shot tower over the years to maintain its heritage significance.

 

Ref www.parks.tas.gov.au/index.aspx?base=2820

Starting in January 2012 the Department for Transport is conducting a trial of longer semi-trailers. The trial involves 900 semi-trailers of 14.6m in length (i.e. 1 metre longer than the current maximum), and a further 900 semi-trailers of 15.65m in length (i.e. 2.05 metres longer). This will result in the total maximum length of the semi-trailer truck being 17.5 metres (for trailers of 14.6 metre in length) and 18.55 metres (for trailers of 15.65 metres in length). The increase in length will not result in the 44,000 kg (97,000 lb) weight limit being exceeded, and will allow some operators to approach the weight limit which may not have been previously possible due to the previous length of trailers. The trial will run for a maximum of 10 years.

 

www.dft.gov.uk/topics/freight/road-freight/longer-semi-tr...

 

United Biscuits, the company famous for well known UK brands KP, Jacobs, McVities, McCoys, Go Ahead and Jaffa Cakes to name just a few, has recently taken delivery of 20 longer semi trailers built by South Manchester based Cartwright.

 

The Curtainside Longer Semi Trailers, which operate from United Biscuit’s distribution centre at Ashby de la Zouche are 15650mm in length, Tri-axle in design with a rear command steering axle. The Clearspan body design has insulated and security curtains and conforms to the EN12642XL standard. They are painted in six different liveries promoting the distinctive United Biscuits brands and include an impactive liveried environmental vehicle which runs on waste vegetable oil, a by product of UB’s manufacturing process.

 

CARTWRIGHT GROUP says its longer semitrailers (LSTs) will use the “command rearsteer” technology because it is more versatile than current self-tracking rear-steer solutions.

 

The Altrincham-based body and trailer manufacturer is in the process of building its irst LST, says director Steven Cartwright, which is expected to be unveiled in January 2012. “We are inalising the design but we will initially use command [positive] rear-steer technology, which in this case is Tridec, as it is more versatile and reduces the tyre wear.

 

“With self-tracking rear-steer trailers, which are cheaper and lighter, you have to straightenup to slot the pin into place before reversing with three ixed axles – and there will be a lot of yards where this might not be possible,” he says.

 

Manufacturers developing maximum length longer trailers with a single rear-steer axle are yet to achieve a true 44-tonne GVW because they are unable to put the axle in the right position to achieve the required turning circle without compromising weight distribution.

 

Cartwright admits its company’s design is currently at 42-tonnes GVW. However, a reduced GVW could beneit operators that regularly cube-out and those involved with the pallet networks, as there is no height restriction with longer trailers.

 

www.cartwright-group.co.uk

Catherine Barr, who died in 2008, left the money to fund a new lifeboat named in the memory of her late husband, Dr John Buchanan Barr MBE.

Dr Barr worked as a GP in Glasgow before World War II, during which he served with distinction with the Royal Army Medical Corps in North Africa, Sicily and Italy. After demobilising, he returned to general practice in Glasgow.

However, he and his wife often spent their holidays in Portpatrick and the lifeboat bequest was because of their fondness for the village.

The new boat is stationed in the Dumfries and Galloway village.

  

Tamar class lifeboats are all-weather lifeboats operated by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) around the coasts of Great Britain and Ireland. The Tamar class is the replacement for the Tyne-class slipway launched All Weather Lifeboat (ALB).

 

The class name comes from the River Tamar in south west England which flows into the English Channel where they are manufactured by Babcock International Group.

 

Since 1982 the RNLI had deployed 17 knots (31 km/h) Tyne Class lifeboats at stations which launched their boats down slipways or needed to operate in shallow waters. The organisation desired to increase the speed and range of their operations so introduced 25 knots (46 km/h) Severn and Trent boats from 1994 where they could be moored afloat. They then needed to produce a boat with similar capabilities but with protected propellers and other modifications that would allow it to be launched on a slipway.

 

The prototype Tamar was built in 2000 and was used for trials until 2006. It was sold in December 2008 to Kent Police, becoming Princess Alexandra III, the force's permanent maritime vessel operating out of Sheerness. The first production boat, Haydn Miller entered service at Tenby in March 2006. A few of the early boats suffered problems such as fuel leaking under the floor of the engine control room around hydraulic lines. These boats were recalled and the problems rectified. There are very few reported problems associated with the vessel now as the design and manufacturing process is largely perfected.

 

The Tamar has a new design of crew workstation with seats that can move up and down 20 centimetres (7.9 in) as the boat passes through rough seas at high speed, and a networked computerised Systems and Information Management System (SIMS) which allows the crew to monitor and control the boat entirely from within the wheelhouse. The coxswain and helmsman have seat-mounted throttles, trackerball and joystick controls of the rudder. Alternatively the boat may be monitored and control by two controls on the bridge: Dual throttle controls and joystick on the left; dual throttle, wheel and control-screen on the right. All aspects of the vessel may also be controlled from this position.

 

The lifeboat is completely water-tight allowing it to self-right with up to 60 people on board. The boat has the potential to carry a maximum of 120 passengers on board, but without self righting capability. The Survivors Space has room for 10 sitting and 8 standing. The Survivors Space is accessed either through the Wheelhouse or the fore deck Emergency Escape Hatch.

 

Each Tamar carries a Y Class inflatable boat which can be deployed and recovered while at sea

 

A major maritime exercise, Exercise Diamond, which involved HM Coastguard, vessels, RNLI lifeboats, helicopters, search and rescue coordinators, Belfast Harbour, emergency services and local authorities was held on Sunday 23 September from 9.30 am. Exercise Diamond, a live large-scale incident exercise, was held within Belfast Lough, Northern Ireland and involved 365 people.

 

Exercise Diamond was designed to test the major incident plans for all of the organisations that would be involved should a major maritime incident happen in Northern Ireland.

 

Exercise Diamond was the largest live maritime exercise ever held in Northern Ireland.

 

An exercise held within the Titanic centenary, Olympic, & Diamond year involving Emergency Services, Agencies and Companies dedicated to saving lives and providing the best possible service.

 

The following organisations participated in the exercise:

 

HM Coastguard / Maritime and Coastguard Agency; Royal National Lifeboat Institution; Police Service of Northern Ireland; Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service; Northern Ireland Ambulance Service; Ministry of Defence (including Royal Airforce); Stena Line; RFD Survitec; Irish Coastguard; Northdown and Ards Borough Council; Belfast Harbour.

Australia’s first shot tower, at Taroona, was built by Joseph Moir and is one of three still existing in the country, the others being in Melbourne. Joseph Moir's factory, which operated for 35 years from 1870, manufactured lead shot for contemporary muzzle loading sports guns. Although the factory struggled for most of its existence its most recognisable feature, the tallest stone shot tower in the southern hemisphere, has been a prominent landmark in the district for well over a century. Joseph Moir His Shot Tower on the Kingston Road is noted throughout the colonies, and Mr Moir’s enterprising spirit is there illustrated in a most remarkable manner. Though a speculation of a very hazardous kind, he had faith in its success, and his estimate, as was afterwards discovered, was not found on any erroneous basis. The manufacture of shot was a profitable venture under his management. Mercury 12 March 1874 Just twenty years old, Scotsman Joseph Moir arrived in Hobart in 1829, one of thousands of hopeful free immigrants who sailed to Van Diemen’s Land in the 1820s. By 1840 he had acquired several properties, government employment and a reputation as a builder of notable colonial buildings such as St Mark’s Anglican Church, Pontville. He returned briefly to Scotland in 1844 to marry Elizabeth Paxton with whom he had at least five children. A prominent businessman, Moir was active in Hobart’s civic affairs between 1846 and 1873, a year before his death. He revisited Britain in 1849 ‘to arrange to carry on an ironmonger’s business’, returning to Hobart with a stock of hardware items and opening a store with his brother at ‘Economy House’ in Murray Street. The business operated until sold by his son, Joseph in 1884. Moir purchased 39 acres on Brown’s River Rd in 1855 and moved to a new house at ‘Queenborough Glens’ (as he called the property) with his family in 1862. He then built the shot tower and its associated buildings and poured his first shot in 1870. When he died after a long illness in 1874 Moir left his major business concerns to his sons, James and Joseph. Together with Elizabeth (who only survived him by 15 months) and a daughter, Mary (who died in 1853 at the age of seven) Moir was encrypted in the family mausoleum on the cliffs below the shot tower. Their remains were later re-interred in unmarked graves at Queenborough Cemetery after Joseph relinquished the property in 1901. This cemetery’s graves were removed by Hobart Council in 1963 and Moir’s final resting place remains unknown. The Shot Tower This shot tower was built by the proprietor, Joseph Moir, in the year 1870. In its erection he acted as Engineer, Architect, Carpenter and Overseer. With merely the assistance of two masons it was completed in 8 months, when the secrets of shot-making had to be discovered. After many persevering efforts the first shot was dropped 8th September, 1870. Joseph Moir erected his shot making enterprise on 39 acres subdivided from an 1817 grant of 100 acres to John Williamson. He chose his site carefully. A road frontage facilitated straightforward transport of raw materials and product. A windmill pumped water from a reliable creek to a cistern on the site of the current overflow carpark and substantial timber reserves provided fuel for the furnaces and cauldrons. Sited far from residential neighbourhoods Moir could also relax in the knowledge that toxic fumes would blow safely out to sea or over forestland. Moir probably began building his shot making works after erecting the family home between 1855 and 1862. A stone building above the cliffs overlooking the River Derwent stored gun powder for his ironmongery as well as stores of arsenic and antimony. Another building south-west of the magazine contained the furnace for preparing lead with the arsenic and antimony. The tower was constructed of dressed curved sandstone blocks quarried at the nearby abandoned Brown’s River Convict Probation Station. A remarkable tapered structure 48m (157 feet 6 inches) tall it features an internal spiral staircase of pitsawn timber and an external gallery at its top which was probably used to store firewood for the upper cauldron. The staircase provided scaffolding during the construction of the tower and access to the upper cauldron and shot-making colanders. The tower is 10 metres in diameter at the base and tapers to 3.9 metres at the top . The walls are a metre thick at the bottom and thin out to .45 centimetres at the top. A three level stone factory abutting the tower was erected at the same time, then was extended soon after. The stone for the factory was probably recycled from the abandoned probation station. The Manufacturing Process The manufacture of shot is an industry which in England has always been conducted with the greatest secrecy, and consequently witnessed by very few except the initiated. This industry has recently been introduced in this colony by Mr Alderman Moir, and we learn that it is his intention to throw his Shot Tower open to the inspection of visitors on Monday and Tuesday next, when the process of shot making will be in operation, on which occasion we have no doubt many of our citizens will avail themselves of this opportunity of witnessing the interesting process. Mercury,10 March 1871. Shot manufacturing is thought to have been invented by Prince Rupert in the seventeenth century. It seems likely that Moir studied William Watts’ patented method of 1796 while in Britain in 1849- 50. Moir’s exact process is unknown — considerable experimentation was required by most manufacturers to perfect what is a very complex process requiring a detailed understanding of physics and metallurgy. Most of Moir’s raw materials would have been imported increasing his costs substantially Moir’s process was probably as follows: Lead was prepared in a furnace at the south-eastern corner of the property. Moir added 900g of arsenic (to decrease surface tension) and 6.35kg of antimony (to harden the shot) to every 45.35 kg of lead. The resultant ‘poisoned lead’ was cast into 7.7 kg ingots, conveyed to the factory, then remelted in cauldrons on the upper level of the factory for small shot and the top of the tower for larger shot. Firewood had to be winched to the upper cauldron. The molten lead was then poured through colanders, forming droplets which became spherical as they dropped. They fell into a tub of water at the base of the tower. The size of the shot depended on the amount of arsenic, the size of the holes in the colander and the height of the fall. Watts’ patent stipulated that large sized shot required a fall of 45.75m (150 feet), hence the height of Moir’s shot tower at 48m with the colander 46.36m above the base. The lead cooled partly while falling, then completely in the water. The antinomy hardener ensured that it maintained shape under the impact of the water. The cooled shot, green in colour, was winched to the factory’s upper floor where it was dried and run over inclined glass planes to separate out defective shot (which did not roll true). Imperfect shot was remelted and the process repeated. The shot was polished in a revolving drum (likened to a farmer’s barrel churn) using plumbago (graphite) then lowered through a trapdoor to the ground floor where it passed through ten sieves for grading into sizes ranging from fine birdshot to large balls. The graded shot was bagged into 12.7kg (28lb) handsewn linen bags stencilled with the manufacturer’s name and sent to market. At its peak the factory produced 100 tons of shot per annum. Working Conditions Little is known of working conditions in Joseph Moir’s shot tower. The work was highly skilled, noisy and almost certainly dangerous. That workers took great pride in their trade is indicated by an engraving in a window in the factory, reading, ‘George Matson Premier Shot Maker Tasmanian and Australian’. No further information about George Matson is known. The following descriptions of a contemporary works, Melbourne’s Coop shot tower (now incorporated in the Melbourne Central complex on Little Lonsdale St) provides some indication of the nature of the work involved. Pouring the lead was ‘an operation which needs great skill and constant watching. The man is used to his work but the novice would probably make a considerable bungle of it’. As the lead droplets fell there was ‘a sharp incessant shower of silvery rain . . . mak[ing] a noise very like that of an overflow waste pipe high up in one’s wall’. When shovelling shot from the water tub it was ‘quite certain that if the man who is so energetically shovelling . . . was to cease from his labours for any appreciable length of time the tank would be soon full of lead. . . . all the while the strange shower descends the man with the shovel is busily at work’. The noise of grading the shot through the sieves was ‘well nigh deafening’ while a woman sat with needle and thread sewing the 12.7kg linen bags for the finished shot. House and Garden Joseph Moir began building his residence soon after acquiring the property in 1855. Family lore suggests that he built the battlemented tower as practise before attempting the more substantial shot tower. By 1885 the property was well known for its gardens and orchards with its hot houses, summer houses and conservatories. "Mr [James] Moir has a prolific little orchard and kitchen garden, which latter, the flower garden and conservatories are watered from a considerable storage reservoir above. An amusing freak of the owner is to invite strangers into a summer house, and to be seated a moment or two out of the sun. He predicts rain shortly, however cloudless the sky — when hey presto: a shower immediately commences, a real earnest one. It is brought about by turning the tap of a pipe connecting with the circular piping on top of the summer house, the latter being perforated round its outside. A little defectiveness in the roof allowed of my receiving a slight baptism of spray, so I must be considered initiated." Tasmanian Mail,13 June 1885 Perhaps the youthful James Moir (he was 30 in 1885) had a better sense of fun than business sense. He had mortgaged the property the previous year and defaulted on his payments two years later. Later History Moir’s sons, James and Joseph, carried on the business after his death in 1874. Although James won merit certificates at the 1879 Sydney International Exhibition and the 1880-81 Melbourne Exhibition the business struggled and it was leased by the mortgagors to his brother, Joseph in 1887. Joseph found himself unable compete with mainland competitors when generous colonial tariffs were removed after Federation. He relinquished the lease to his brother-in-law, William Baynton who continued the business until closing its doors in 1905. During these years Baynton’s wife, Florence, operated a tea house in the residence. The property subsequently passed through several hands until 1956 when 3.24 hectares was purchased by the Tasmanian government and proclaimed a Scenery Reserve. Although it included the tower and residence, the reserve excluded the powder magazine, conservatory, antimony furnace and mausoleum. The reserve was gazetted as an historic site in 1971 under the National Parks and Wildlife Act. Since 1956 it has been leased to several concessionaires and has been open as a tourist site. Various conservation works have been conducted at the shot tower over the years to maintain its heritage significance.

 

Ref www.parks.tas.gov.au/index.aspx?base=2820

This evening we were given a peek at the Montblanc TimeWalker Urban Speed which is Montblanc's second scheduled SIHH release and will join the Contemporary Timepieces collection. Delivering sporty elegance with its sand-blasted steel case and black, white and red colour scheme, it's the perfect watch for anyone looking to add a truly urban-ready piece to their luxury collection.

 

Montblanc TimeWalker Urban Speed e-Strap

 

The TimeWalker Urban Speed e-Strap, combines a highly functional e-Strap with contemporary TimeWalker timepieces. The e-Strap is an interchangeable strap, with an integrated technology device that offers an activity tracker, smart notifications, remote controls and Find-Me functions. It connects, via Bluetooth Low Energy, to selected Android and iOS smartphones. For the first time, an owner will be able to wear a mechanical timepiece with highly useful digital functionality.

 

Montblanc continues to underline the technicity, performance and avant-garde appeal of this watch line, its dynamic appeal is further highlighted by the use of contemporary material mixes featuring red design elements on a pure black background.

 

The e-Strap device offers a variety of functionality.

 

Smart notifications, signaled by vibrations provide an alert of incoming communication without the need to look at the smartphone. It enables the preview of e-mails by topic and sender, read text messages, see incoming calls and status updates of social media feeds or reminders of important upcoming meetings, all on the wrist.

 

The activity tracker is a simple tool to monitor the wearer’s physical activity over time and keep track of his personal daily goals. To do so, it measures the number of steps taken per day, calories burnt and the distance travelled. The accompanying smartphone application enables the of progress per week and month. The e-Strap will remind the wearer to stay active through unobtrusive vibration alerts and show at a glance the daily progress.

 

The remote controls are useful for controlling the smartphone with the e-Strap. The camera remote enables the taking of pictures with the smartphone by triggering the shutter with a tap on the e-Strap thus allowing better and easier selfies or group shots.

 

Playing, pausing, and skipping music on the smartphone can be also remotely steered with the music control function of the e-Strap.

 

Additionally, the Find-Me function allows searching for the watch or phone within a range of up to 30 meters, either by tapping on the e-Strap to find the smartphone or by using the smartphone application to find the watch.

 

The e-Strap device has an inbuilt touch screen display, readable in daylight, to display the information and navigate through the functionalities. The technical device is encapsulated in a stainless steel case with rubber protection and can be easily fixed and adjusted with the pass-through strap.

 

Depending on usage, the device needs to be recharged every 5 days using a standard micro-USB cable. The e-Strap is compatible with Samsung Galaxy S4, S5, Note 3, Note 4, selected Android Devices running Android 4.3 and upwards as well as Apple iPhone 4S, 5, 5C, 5S, 6 and 6 plus.

 

The Leather e-Strap

 

The TimeWalker collection e-Strap is equipped with a pass-through strap made of the innovative Montblanc Extreme Leather. The Extreme leather wristband created by the Montblanc Pelleteria in Florence, perfectly matches with the timepiece: markedly technical while retaining a sporty yet elegant appearance.

 

Due to its innovative manufacturing process, the upper surface of the leather wristband has a characteristic carbon appearance. In a long and meticulous process, the leather is textured and simultaneously impregnated with an innovative treatment that does not only coat the surface of the wristband, but also bonds with it and increases its structural strength. This innovative technique produces a high-performance and innovative leather, delivering abrasion resistance, water repellence and heat wear-, water- and fire-resistant. The e-Strap device can be easily fixed and adjusted with the pass-through to all strap sizes 20/22mm.

 

Three new timepieces for the TimeWalker collection

The collection extension will introduce three new models - all of them equipped with mechanical automatic winding movements living up to the highest standards of traditional Swiss fine watchmaking: a chronograph, a UTC (United Time Coordinated) with a second time zone and a three hands watch with the essential functionality of hours, minutes, seconds and date.

 

The expressive design of the 42 or 43-millimetre case, which combines clean lines with architectural shapes, made the Montblanc TimeWalker family of Montblanc timepieces instantly recognizable right from the outset. Blending sporty elegance and masculinity, the Montblanc TimeWalker carries its unique aesthetics and features the signature skeletonised horns, a narrow bezel, a large dial with Arabic numerals in a distinctive, clearly contoured typography, and the characteristic lancet-shaped hands.

Instantly, the “cold grey” micro-blasted steel case or the black DLC (Diamond like carbon) coating, witness to its dynamic spirit and technical elegance.

 

This sporty elegance continues on the dial, making use of its black background to accentuate the white numerals and dynamic red second hands common to all three models.

 

The window in the case back offers a clear view of the automatic mechanical calibre which guarantees reliability and precision. All calibres of the TimeWalker Urban Speed e-Strap program are manufactured in accord with all the rules that govern the art of Swiss fine watchmaking. They oscillate at a steady pace of 28,800 semi-oscillations per hour (4 Hz).

 

All TimeWalker Urban Speed e-Strap models will be available in markets in June 2015 with or without the e-Strap device, but not in Canada just yet. They will eventually be released in Canada but in very limited numbers.

 

It finally arrived. www.flickr.com/photos/21728045@N08/22192696003/in/datepos...

Australia’s first shot tower, at Taroona, was built by Joseph Moir and is one of three still existing in the country, the others being in Melbourne. Joseph Moir's factory, which operated for 35 years from 1870, manufactured lead shot for contemporary muzzle loading sports guns. Although the factory struggled for most of its existence its most recognisable feature, the tallest stone shot tower in the southern hemisphere, has been a prominent landmark in the district for well over a century. Joseph Moir His Shot Tower on the Kingston Road is noted throughout the colonies, and Mr Moir’s enterprising spirit is there illustrated in a most remarkable manner. Though a speculation of a very hazardous kind, he had faith in its success, and his estimate, as was afterwards discovered, was not found on any erroneous basis. The manufacture of shot was a profitable venture under his management. Mercury 12 March 1874 Just twenty years old, Scotsman Joseph Moir arrived in Hobart in 1829, one of thousands of hopeful free immigrants who sailed to Van Diemen’s Land in the 1820s. By 1840 he had acquired several properties, government employment and a reputation as a builder of notable colonial buildings such as St Mark’s Anglican Church, Pontville. He returned briefly to Scotland in 1844 to marry Elizabeth Paxton with whom he had at least five children. A prominent businessman, Moir was active in Hobart’s civic affairs between 1846 and 1873, a year before his death. He revisited Britain in 1849 ‘to arrange to carry on an ironmonger’s business’, returning to Hobart with a stock of hardware items and opening a store with his brother at ‘Economy House’ in Murray Street. The business operated until sold by his son, Joseph in 1884. Moir purchased 39 acres on Brown’s River Rd in 1855 and moved to a new house at ‘Queenborough Glens’ (as he called the property) with his family in 1862. He then built the shot tower and its associated buildings and poured his first shot in 1870. When he died after a long illness in 1874 Moir left his major business concerns to his sons, James and Joseph. Together with Elizabeth (who only survived him by 15 months) and a daughter, Mary (who died in 1853 at the age of seven) Moir was encrypted in the family mausoleum on the cliffs below the shot tower. Their remains were later re-interred in unmarked graves at Queenborough Cemetery after Joseph relinquished the property in 1901. This cemetery’s graves were removed by Hobart Council in 1963 and Moir’s final resting place remains unknown. The Shot Tower This shot tower was built by the proprietor, Joseph Moir, in the year 1870. In its erection he acted as Engineer, Architect, Carpenter and Overseer. With merely the assistance of two masons it was completed in 8 months, when the secrets of shot-making had to be discovered. After many persevering efforts the first shot was dropped 8th September, 1870. Joseph Moir erected his shot making enterprise on 39 acres subdivided from an 1817 grant of 100 acres to John Williamson. He chose his site carefully. A road frontage facilitated straightforward transport of raw materials and product. A windmill pumped water from a reliable creek to a cistern on the site of the current overflow carpark and substantial timber reserves provided fuel for the furnaces and cauldrons. Sited far from residential neighbourhoods Moir could also relax in the knowledge that toxic fumes would blow safely out to sea or over forestland. Moir probably began building his shot making works after erecting the family home between 1855 and 1862. A stone building above the cliffs overlooking the River Derwent stored gun powder for his ironmongery as well as stores of arsenic and antimony. Another building south-west of the magazine contained the furnace for preparing lead with the arsenic and antimony. The tower was constructed of dressed curved sandstone blocks quarried at the nearby abandoned Brown’s River Convict Probation Station. A remarkable tapered structure 48m (157 feet 6 inches) tall it features an internal spiral staircase of pitsawn timber and an external gallery at its top which was probably used to store firewood for the upper cauldron. The staircase provided scaffolding during the construction of the tower and access to the upper cauldron and shot-making colanders. The tower is 10 metres in diameter at the base and tapers to 3.9 metres at the top . The walls are a metre thick at the bottom and thin out to .45 centimetres at the top. A three level stone factory abutting the tower was erected at the same time, then was extended soon after. The stone for the factory was probably recycled from the abandoned probation station. The Manufacturing Process The manufacture of shot is an industry which in England has always been conducted with the greatest secrecy, and consequently witnessed by very few except the initiated. This industry has recently been introduced in this colony by Mr Alderman Moir, and we learn that it is his intention to throw his Shot Tower open to the inspection of visitors on Monday and Tuesday next, when the process of shot making will be in operation, on which occasion we have no doubt many of our citizens will avail themselves of this opportunity of witnessing the interesting process. Mercury,10 March 1871. Shot manufacturing is thought to have been invented by Prince Rupert in the seventeenth century. It seems likely that Moir studied William Watts’ patented method of 1796 while in Britain in 1849- 50. Moir’s exact process is unknown — considerable experimentation was required by most manufacturers to perfect what is a very complex process requiring a detailed understanding of physics and metallurgy. Most of Moir’s raw materials would have been imported increasing his costs substantially Moir’s process was probably as follows: Lead was prepared in a furnace at the south-eastern corner of the property. Moir added 900g of arsenic (to decrease surface tension) and 6.35kg of antimony (to harden the shot) to every 45.35 kg of lead. The resultant ‘poisoned lead’ was cast into 7.7 kg ingots, conveyed to the factory, then remelted in cauldrons on the upper level of the factory for small shot and the top of the tower for larger shot. Firewood had to be winched to the upper cauldron. The molten lead was then poured through colanders, forming droplets which became spherical as they dropped. They fell into a tub of water at the base of the tower. The size of the shot depended on the amount of arsenic, the size of the holes in the colander and the height of the fall. Watts’ patent stipulated that large sized shot required a fall of 45.75m (150 feet), hence the height of Moir’s shot tower at 48m with the colander 46.36m above the base. The lead cooled partly while falling, then completely in the water. The antinomy hardener ensured that it maintained shape under the impact of the water. The cooled shot, green in colour, was winched to the factory’s upper floor where it was dried and run over inclined glass planes to separate out defective shot (which did not roll true). Imperfect shot was remelted and the process repeated. The shot was polished in a revolving drum (likened to a farmer’s barrel churn) using plumbago (graphite) then lowered through a trapdoor to the ground floor where it passed through ten sieves for grading into sizes ranging from fine birdshot to large balls. The graded shot was bagged into 12.7kg (28lb) handsewn linen bags stencilled with the manufacturer’s name and sent to market. At its peak the factory produced 100 tons of shot per annum. Working Conditions Little is known of working conditions in Joseph Moir’s shot tower. The work was highly skilled, noisy and almost certainly dangerous. That workers took great pride in their trade is indicated by an engraving in a window in the factory, reading, ‘George Matson Premier Shot Maker Tasmanian and Australian’. No further information about George Matson is known. The following descriptions of a contemporary works, Melbourne’s Coop shot tower (now incorporated in the Melbourne Central complex on Little Lonsdale St) provides some indication of the nature of the work involved. Pouring the lead was ‘an operation which needs great skill and constant watching. The man is used to his work but the novice would probably make a considerable bungle of it’. As the lead droplets fell there was ‘a sharp incessant shower of silvery rain . . . mak[ing] a noise very like that of an overflow waste pipe high up in one’s wall’. When shovelling shot from the water tub it was ‘quite certain that if the man who is so energetically shovelling . . . was to cease from his labours for any appreciable length of time the tank would be soon full of lead. . . . all the while the strange shower descends the man with the shovel is busily at work’. The noise of grading the shot through the sieves was ‘well nigh deafening’ while a woman sat with needle and thread sewing the 12.7kg linen bags for the finished shot. House and Garden Joseph Moir began building his residence soon after acquiring the property in 1855. Family lore suggests that he built the battlemented tower as practise before attempting the more substantial shot tower. By 1885 the property was well known for its gardens and orchards with its hot houses, summer houses and conservatories. "Mr [James] Moir has a prolific little orchard and kitchen garden, which latter, the flower garden and conservatories are watered from a considerable storage reservoir above. An amusing freak of the owner is to invite strangers into a summer house, and to be seated a moment or two out of the sun. He predicts rain shortly, however cloudless the sky — when hey presto: a shower immediately commences, a real earnest one. It is brought about by turning the tap of a pipe connecting with the circular piping on top of the summer house, the latter being perforated round its outside. A little defectiveness in the roof allowed of my receiving a slight baptism of spray, so I must be considered initiated." Tasmanian Mail,13 June 1885 Perhaps the youthful James Moir (he was 30 in 1885) had a better sense of fun than business sense. He had mortgaged the property the previous year and defaulted on his payments two years later. Later History Moir’s sons, James and Joseph, carried on the business after his death in 1874. Although James won merit certificates at the 1879 Sydney International Exhibition and the 1880-81 Melbourne Exhibition the business struggled and it was leased by the mortgagors to his brother, Joseph in 1887. Joseph found himself unable compete with mainland competitors when generous colonial tariffs were removed after Federation. He relinquished the lease to his brother-in-law, William Baynton who continued the business until closing its doors in 1905. During these years Baynton’s wife, Florence, operated a tea house in the residence. The property subsequently passed through several hands until 1956 when 3.24 hectares was purchased by the Tasmanian government and proclaimed a Scenery Reserve. Although it included the tower and residence, the reserve excluded the powder magazine, conservatory, antimony furnace and mausoleum. The reserve was gazetted as an historic site in 1971 under the National Parks and Wildlife Act. Since 1956 it has been leased to several concessionaires and has been open as a tourist site. Various conservation works have been conducted at the shot tower over the years to maintain its heritage significance.

 

Ref www.parks.tas.gov.au/index.aspx?base=2820

Chocolate is a key ingredient in many foods such as milk shakes, candy bars, cookies and cereals. It is ranked as one of the most favourite flavours in North America and Europe (Swift, 1998). Despite its popularity, most people do not know the unique origins of this popular treat. Chocolate is a product that requires complex procedures to produce. The process involves harvesting coca, refining coca to cocoa beans, and shipping the cocoa beans to the manufacturing factory for cleaning, coaching and grinding. These cocoa beans will then be imported or exported to other countries and be transformed into different type of chocolate products (Allen, 1994).

 

Harvesting Cocoa & Cocoa processing

Chocolate production starts with harvesting coca in a forest. Cocoa comes from tropical evergreen Cocoa trees, such as Theobroma Cocoa, which grow in the wet lowland tropics of Central and South America, West Africa and Southeast Asia (within 20 C of the equator) (Walter,1981) . Cocoa needs to be harvested manually in the forest. The seed pods of coca will first be collected; the beans will be selected and placed in piles. These cocoa beans will then be ready to be shipped to the manufacturer for mass production.

 

Step #1: Plucking and opening the Pods

Cocoa beans grow in pods that sprout off of the trunk and branches of cocoa trees. The pods are about the size of a football. The pods start out green and turn orange when they're ripe. When the pods are ripe, harvesters travel through the cocoa orchards with machetes and hack the pods gently off of the trees.

 

Machines could damage the tree or the clusters of flowers and pods that grow from the trunk, so workers must be harvest the pods by hand, using short, hooked blades mounted on long poles to reach the highest fruit.

  

After the cocoa pods are collected into baskets ,the pods are taken to a processing house. Here they are split open and the cocoa beans are removed. Pods can contain upwards of 50 cocoa beans each. Fresh cocoa beans are not brown at all, they do not taste at all like the sweet chocolate they will eventually produce.

 

Step #2: Fermenting the cocoa seeds

Now the beans undergo the fermentation processing. They are either placed in large, shallow, heated trays or covered with large banana leaves. If the climate is right, they may be simply heated by the sun. Workers come along periodically and stir them up so that all of the beans come out equally fermented. During fermentation is when the beans turn brown. This process may take five or eight days.

 

Step #3: Drying the cocoa seeds

After fermentation, the cocoa seeds must be dried before they can be scooped into sacks and shipped to chocolate manufacturers. Farmers simply spread the fermented seeds on trays and leave them in the sun to dry. The drying process usually takes about a week and results in seeds that are about half of their original weight.

 

Manufacturing Chocolate

Once the cocoa beans have reached the machinery of chocolate factories, they are ready to be refined into chocolate. Generally, manufacturing processes differ slightly due to the different species of cocoa trees, but most factories use similar machines to break down the cocoa beans into cocoa butter and chocolate (International Cocoa Organization, 1998). Firstly, fermented and dried cocoa beans will be refined to a roasted nib by winnowing and roasting. Then, they will be heated and will melt into chocolate liquor. Lastly, manufacturers blend chocolate liquor with sugar and milk to add flavour. After the blending process, the liquid chocolate will be stored or delivered to the molding factory in tanks and will be poured into moulds for sale. Finally, wrapping and packaging machines will pack the chocolates and then they will be ready to transport.

 

Step #1: Roasting and Winnowing the Cocoa

The first thing that chocolate manufacturers do with cocoa beans is roast them. This develops the colour and flavour of the beans into what our modern palates expect from fine chocolate. The outer shell of the beans is removed, and the inner cocoa bean meat is broken into small pieces called "cocoa nibs."

  

The roasting process makes the shells of the cocoa brittle, and cocoa nibs pass through a series of sieves, which strain and sort the nibs according to size in a process called "winnowing".

 

Step #2: Grinding the Cocoa Nibs

Grinding is the process by which cocoa nibs are ground into " cocoa liquor", which is also known as unsweetened chocolate or cocoa mass. The grinding process generates heat and the dry granular consistency of the cocoa nib is then turned into a liquid as the high amount of fat contained in the nib melts. The cocoa liquor is mixed with cocoa butter and sugar. In the case of milk chocolate, fresh, sweetened condensed or roller-dry low-heat powdered whole milk is added, depending on the individual manufacturer's formula and manufacturing methods.

 

Step #3: Blending Cocoa liquor and molding Chocolate

After the mixing process, the blend is further refined to bring the particle size of the added milk and sugar down to the desired fineness. The Cocoa powder or 'mass' is blended back with the butter and liquor in varying quantities to make different types of chocolate or couverture.

 

After blending is complete, molding is the final procedure for chocolate processing. This step allows cocoa liquor to cool and harden into different shapes depending on the mold. Finally the chocolate is packaged in candy boxes and other wrappings and distributed around the world.

 

Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries Minister, Hon. Karl Samuda (2nd right), is briefed on the sugar-manufacturing process at the Worthy Park sugar factory in St. Catherine by Senior Managing Director, Robert Clarke (right), during a tour of the facility on February 15.

 

Yhomo Hutchinson Photos

Having worked with expendable launch vehicles (ELV) for 19 years, I jumped at the opportunity to be part of Orion, America’s new human exploration spacecraft. As the floor operations lead for Orion, I truly enjoy interfacing with the top professionals in the aerospace industry, who share the common goal of ensuring the success of the Orion program.

 

I am responsible for the supervision and leadership of hourly technicians, supervisors and floor operations personnel at the Kennedy Space Center’s Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout (O&C) building. I make daily job assignments for assembly, integration and testing of the Orion spacecraft to keep production moving forward in order to meet daily and overall schedule milestones.

 

Being part of the Orion assembly, test and launch operations (ALTO) team has been one of my proudest moments. As part of the team, I was given the opportunity to contribute to the Orion crew module Ground Test Article and evolving the manufacturing processes of Exploration Flight Test-1 (EFT-1) crew and support modules.

 

Not surprisingly, the coolest part of my job is contributing to America’s space program.

 

My love for space began as a child. I grew up watching the Apollo launches from Cocoa Beach, so it’s very fitting that I now work in the building named to honor one of our greatest Apollo astronauts I decided to pursue my passion and attended Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. I graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Aeronautics and a master’s degree in Management of Technical Systems.

 

My advice to students: If you want it – work hard for it. And above all else, follow your dreams!

 

CHI. SO. BEND & NO. IND. RY. CO.

 

GOOD FOR ONE FARE

R.R. Smith.

VICE PRES.

 

Date: Circa 1920s

Source Type: Token

Publisher, Printer, Photographer: Unknown

Postmark: Not Applicable

Collection: Steven R. Shook

Remark: The following information concerning this token was obtained from the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History:

 

The Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut produced this transportation token during the early 20th century. The Scovill Company was established in 1802 as a button manufacturer and is still in business today. Scovill was an early industrial American innovator, adapting armory manufacturing processes to mass-produce a variety of consumer goods including buttons, daguerreotype mats, medals, coins, and transportation tokens.

 

⦿ Atwood-Coffee No. IN 860 B

⦿ Wagaman No. S-4050a; rarity 1 (500+ examples known to exist)

⦿ Token Catalog No. 237579

 

Sources:

Coffee, John M., and Harold V. Ford. 2007. The Atwood-Coffee Catalogue of United States and Canadian Transportation Tokens. Boston, Massachusetts: American Vecturist Association. 934 p.

 

Wagaman, Lloyd E. 1981. Indiana Trade Tokens. Fairfield, Ohio: Indiana-Kentucky-Ohio Token and Medal Society. 302 p.

 

TokenCatalog.com

 

Copyright 2014. Some rights reserved. The associated text may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior written permission of Steven R. Shook.

Raven - Mach 8-10 Hypersonic Plane - Single Stage to Orbit (STO) - Iteration 7

 

IO Aircraft www.ioaircraft.com

Drew Blair www.linkedin.com/in/drew-b-25485312/

 

Raven - B Model (Iteration 7)

 

Single Stage To Orbit Fixed Wing Aircraft

Length: 100'

Span: 45' 8"

 

Thermals: 6,000+ Fahrenheit

Turn Around Time: 3-6 Hours (No Ablative/Ceramic Tiles)

 

Airframe: 90% Advanced Composites, 10X Stronger then if it were Titatanium

 

Propulsion: U-TBCC (Unified Turbine Based Combined Cycle + Zero Atmosphere Mod)

 

Empty Weight: Apx 40,000 LBS

Fuel: 8,000-12,000 PSI Compressed Hydrogen and Oxygen

Fuel Weight Total: 5,000 LBS

 

Capability: Max Load, 170 Mile Parking Orbit

(W/O Assist) Half Load, Geo Stationary Orbit (Or Moon Orbit)

 

Payload Bay: 15' X 7' X 7'

Payload Max: 15,000 LBS

 

Costs Per Launch: Apx $2.5 Million

 

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Advanced Additive Manufacturing for Hypersonic Aircraft

 

Utilizing new methods of fabrication and construction, make it possible to use additive manufacturing, dramatically reducing the time and costs of producing hypersonic platforms from missiles, aircraft, and space capable craft. Instead of aircraft being produced in piece, then bolted together; small platforms can be produced as a single unit and large platforms can be produces in large section and mated without bolting. These techniques include using exotic materials and advanced assembly processes, with an end result of streamlining the production costs and time for hypersonic aircraft; reducing months of assembly to weeks. Overall, this process greatly reduced the cost for producing hypersonic platforms. Even to such an extent that a Hellfire missile costs apx $100,000 but by utilizing our technologies, replacing it with a Mach 8-10 hypersonic missile of our physics/engineering and that missile would cost roughly $75,000 each delivered.

 

Materials used for these manufacturing processes are not disclosed, but overall, provides a foundation for extremely high stresses and thermodynamics, ideal for hypersonic platforms. This specific methodology and materials applications is many decades ahead of all known programs. Even to the extend of normalized space flight and re-entry, without concern of thermodynamic failure.

 

*Note, most entities that are experimenting with additive manufacturing for hypersonic aircraft, this makes it mainstream and standardized processes, which also applies for mass production.

 

What would normally be measured in years and perhaps a decade to go from drawing board to test flights, is reduced to singular months and ready for production within a year maximum.

 

Unified Turbine Based Combined Cycle (U-TBCC)

 

To date, the closest that NASA and industry have achieved for turbine based aircraft to fly at hypersonic velocities is by mounting a turbine into an aircraft and sharing the inlet with a scramjet or rocket based motor. Reaction Engines Sabre is not able to achieve hypersonic velocities and can only transition into a non air breathing rocket for beyond Mach 4.5

 

However, utilizing Unified Turbine Based Combine Cycle also known as U-TBCC, the two separate platforms are able to share a common inlet and the dual mode ramjet/scramjet is contained within the engine itself, which allows for a much smaller airframe footprint, thus engingeers are able to then design much higher performance aerial platforms for hypersonic flight, including the ability for constructing true single stage to orbit aircraft by utilizing a modification/version that allows for transition to outside atmosphere propulsion without any other propulsion platforms within the aircraft. By transitioning and developing aircraft to use Unified Turbine Based Combined Cycle, this propulsion system opens up new options to replace that airframe deficit for increased fuel capacity and/or payload.

 

Enhanced Dynamic Cavitation

 

Dramatically Increasing the efficiency of fuel air mixture for combustion processes at hypersonic velocities within scramjet propulsion platforms. The aspects of these processes are non disclosable.

 

Dynamic Scramjet Ignition Processes

 

For optimal scramjet ignition, a process known as Self Start is sought after, but in many cases if the platform becomes out of attitude, the scramjet will ignite. We have already solved this problem which as a result, a scramjet propulsion system can ignite at lower velocities, high velocities, at optimal attitude or not optimal attitude. It doesn't matter, it will ignite anyways at the proper point for maximum thrust capabilities at hypersonic velocities.

 

Hydrogen vs Kerosene Fuel Sources

 

Kerosene is an easy fuel to work with, and most western nations developing scramjet platforms use Kerosene for that fact. However, while kerosene has better thermal properties then Hydrogen, Hydrogen is a far superior fuel source in scramjet propulsion flight, do it having a much higher efficiency capability. Because of this aspect, in conjunction with our developments, it allows for a MUCH increased fuel to air mixture, combustion, thrust; and ability for higher speeds; instead of very low hypersonic velocities in the Mach 5-6 range. Instead, Mach 8-10 range, while we have begun developing hypersonic capabilities to exceed 15 in atmosphere within less then 5 years.

 

Conforming High Pressure Tank Technology for CNG and H2.

 

As most know in hypersonics, Hydrogen is a superior fuel source, but due to the storage abilities, can only be stored in cylinders thus much less fuel supply. Not anymore, we developed conforming high pressure storage technology for use in aerospace, automotive sectors, maritime, etc; which means any overall shape required for 8,000+ PSI CNG or Hydrogen. For hypersonic platforms, this means the ability to store a much larger volume of hydrogen vs cylinders.

 

As an example, X-43 flown by Nasa which flew at Mach 9.97. The fuel source was Hydrogen, which is extremely more volatile and combustible then kerosene (JP-7), via a cylinder in the main body. If it had used our technology, that entire section of the airframe would had been an 8,000 PSI H2 tank, which would had yielded 5-6 times the capacity. While the X-43 flew 11 seconds under power at Mach 9.97, at 6 times the fuel capacity would had yielded apx 66 seconds of fuel under power at Mach 9.97. If it had flew slower, around Mach 6, same principles applied would had yielded apx 500 seconds of fuel supply under power (slower speeds required less energy to maintain).

 

Enhanced Fuel Mixture During Shock Train Interaction

 

Normally, fuel injection is conducted at the correct insertion point within the shock train for maximum burn/combustion. Our methodologies differ, since almost half the fuel injection is conducted PRE shock train within the isolator, so at the point of isolator injection the fuel enhances the combustion process, which then requires less fuel injection to reach the same level of thrust capabilities.

 

Improved Bow Shock Interaction

 

Smoother interaction at hypersonic velocities and mitigating heat/stresses for beyond Mach 6 thermodynamics, which extraordinarily improves Type 3, 4, and 5 shock interaction.

 

6,000+ Fahrenheit Thermal Resistance

 

To date, the maximum thermal resistance was tested at AFRL in the spring of 2018, which resulted in a 3,200F thermal resistance for a short duration. This technology, allows for normalized hypersonic thermal resistance of 3,000-3,500F sustained, and up to 6,500F resistance for short endurance, ie 90 seconds or less. 10-20 minute resistance estimate approximately 4,500F +/- 200F.

  

*** This technology advancement also applies to Aerospike rocket engines, in which it is common for Aerospike's to exceed 4,500-5,000F temperatures, which results in the melting of the reversed bell housing. That melting no longer ocurrs, providing for stable combustion to ocurr for the entire flight envelope

 

Scramjet Propulsion Side Wall Cooling

 

With old technologies, side wall cooling is required for hypersonic flight and scramjet propulsion systems, otherwise the isolator and combustion regions of a scramjet would melt, even using advanced ablatives and ceramics, due to their inability to cope with very high temperatures. Using technology we have developed for very high thermodynamics and high stresses, side wall cooling is no longer required, thus removing that variable from the design process and focusing on improved ignition processes and increasing net thrust values.

 

Lower Threshold for Hypersonic Ignition

 

Active and adaptive flight dynamics, resulting in the ability for scramjet ignition at a much lower velocity, ie within ramjet envelope, between Mach 2-4, and seamless transition from supersonic to hypersonic flight, ie supersonic ramjet (scramjet). This active and dynamic aspect, has a wide variety of parameters for many flight dynamics, velocities, and altitudes; which means platforms no longer need to be engineered for specific altitude ranges or preset velocities, but those parameters can then be selected during launch configuration and are able to adapt actively in flight.

 

Dramatically Improved Maneuvering Capabilities at Hypersonic Velocities

 

Hypersonic vehicles, like their less technologically advanced brethren, use large actuator and the developers hope those controls surfaces do not disintegrate in flight. In reality, it is like rolling the dice, they may or may not survive, hence another reason why the attempt to keep velocities to Mach 6 or below. We have shrunken down control actuators while almost doubling torque and response capabilities specifically for hypersonic dynamics and extreme stresses involved, which makes it possible for maximum input authority for Mach 10 and beyond.

 

Paradigm Shift in Control Surface Methodologies, Increasing Control Authority (Internal Mechanical Applications)

 

To date, most control surfaces for hypersonic missile platforms still use fins, similar to lower speed conventional missiles, and some using ducted fins. This is mostly due to lack of comprehension of hypersonic velocities in their own favor. Instead, the body itself incorporates those control surfaces, greatly enhancing the airframe strength, opening up more space for hardware and fuel capacity; while simultaneously enhancing the platforms maneuvering capabilities.

 

A scramjet missile can then fly like conventional missile platforms, and not straight and level at high altitudes, losing velocity on it's decent trajectory to target. Another added benefit to this aspect, is the ability to extend range greatly, so if anyone elses hypersonic missile platform were developed for 400 mile range, falling out of the sky due to lack of glide capabilities; our platforms can easily reach 600+ miles, with minimal glide deceleration.

Some of you know that my real job is in designing and engineering real cars.

 

With that in mind, I thought it would be helpful to share some of the knowledge regarding the design, engineering and manufacturing processes involved in the creation of a new car.

 

A term that is frequently used within car companies, and which sometimes slips out into the media, but without much explanation, is the term 'Body-In-White'. The abbreviation of the term is BIW, though the full word usage occurs within companies when it is discussed.

 

So, what is the 'Body-In-White'?

 

Though the names says otherwise. It is not white. It does describe the stamped sheet metal of the body before it has been painted, had any trim attached, or any of the chassis and powertrain. It is frequently described as the 'body' of the car. And for a pickup, or similar vehicle, it will be the body prior to the attachment to the separate 'frame', which is attached underneath the car, and frequently attached by isolating mounts.

 

The BIW doesn't just include the main part of the monocoque (the 'stressed' load-bearing part of the car), but also the doors, bootlid (trunk), and bonnet (hood). All these parts usually get coated in protective coatings prior to the application of paint, together (though not always). Frequently, when the car is 'trimmed' - that is the addition of trim and interior - the doors are removed to make this easier, though they do travel along with the car that they were attached to during the paint process.

 

Stay tuned for further car-design, engineering and manufacturing information in the near future.

 

Regards,

 

lego911

 

These images are created for the first in a series of topics covering car design, engineering and manufacturing.

 

Body-In-White: www.flickr.com/groups/lugnuts/discuss/72157645669786809/

 

A central index will be created, over time, in this discussion thread: www.flickr.com/groups/lugnuts/discuss/72157646071614841/

IO Aircraft, Imaginactive / Charles Bombadier, ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization, Martin Rico, Drew Blair

 

IO Aircraft: www.ioaircraft.com/hypersonic/blueedge.php

Imaginactive: imaginactive.org/2019/02/blue-edge/

Martin Rico, Industrial Graphics Designed: www.linkedin.com/in/mjrico/

 

Seating: 220 | Crew 2+4

Length: 195ft | Span: 93ft

Engines: 4 U-TBCC (Unified Turbine Based Combined Cycle) +1 Aerospike for sustained 2G acceleration to Mach 10.

 

Fuel: H2 (Compressed Hydrogen)

Cruising Altitude: 100,000-125,000ft

Airframe: 75% Proprietary Composites

Operating Costs, Similar to a 737. $7,000-$15,000hr, including averaged maintenence costs

 

Iteration 3 (Full release of IT3, Monday January 14, 2019)

IO Aircraft www.ioaircraft.com

Drew Blair www.linkedin.com/in/drew-b-25485312/

 

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hypersonic commercial aircraft, hypersonic commercial plane, hypersonic aircraft, hypersonic plane, Imaginactive, ICAO, International Civil Aviation Orginization, Charles Bombardier, Martin Rico, hypersonic airline, tbcc, glide breaker, fighter plane, hyperonic fighter, boeing phantom express, phantom works, boeing phantom works, lockheed skunk works, hypersonic weapon, hypersonic missile, scramjet engineering, scramjet physics, boost glide, tactical glide vehicle, space plane, scramjet, turbine based combined cycle, ramjet, dual mode ramjet, darpa, onr, navair, afrl, air force research lab, office of naval research, defense advanced research project agency, defense science, missile defense agency, aerospike, hydrogen, hydrogen storage, hydrogen fueled, hydrogen aircraft, virgin airlines, united airlines, sas, finnair ,emirates airlines, ANA, JAL, airlines, military, physics, airline, british airways, air france, aerion supersonic, aerion, spike aerospace, boom supersonic,

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Unified Turbine Based Combined Cycle. Current technologies and what Lockheed is trying to force on the Dept of Defense, for that low speed Mach 5 plane DOD gave them $1 billion to build and would disintegrate above Mach 5, is TBCC. 2 separate propulsion systems in the same airframe, which requires TWICE the airframe space to use.

 

Unified Turbine Based Combined Cycle is 1 propulsion system cutting that airframe deficit in half, and also able to operate above Mach 10 up to Mach 15 in atmosphere, and a simple nozzle modification allows for outside atmosphere rocket mode, ie orbital capable.

 

Additionally, Reaction Engines maximum air breather mode is Mach 4.5, above that it will explode in flight from internal pressures are too high to operate. Thus, must switch to non air breather rocket mode to operate in atmosphere in hypersonic velocities. Which as a result, makes it not feasible for anything practical. It also takes an immense amount of fuel to function.

 

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

 

Advanced Additive Manufacturing for Hypersonic Aircraft

 

Utilizing new methods of fabrication and construction, make it possible to use additive manufacturing, dramatically reducing the time and costs of producing hypersonic platforms from missiles, aircraft, and space capable craft. Instead of aircraft being produced in piece, then bolted together; small platforms can be produced as a single unit and large platforms can be produces in large section and mated without bolting. These techniques include using exotic materials and advanced assembly processes, with an end result of streamlining the production costs and time for hypersonic aircraft; reducing months of assembly to weeks. Overall, this process greatly reduced the cost for producing hypersonic platforms. Even to such an extent that a Hellfire missile costs apx $100,000 but by utilizing our technologies, replacing it with a Mach 8-10 hypersonic missile of our physics/engineering and that missile would cost roughly $75,000 each delivered.

 

Materials used for these manufacturing processes are not disclosed, but overall, provides a foundation for extremely high stresses and thermodynamics, ideal for hypersonic platforms. This specific methodology and materials applications is many decades ahead of all known programs. Even to the extend of normalized space flight and re-entry, without concern of thermodynamic failure.

 

*Note, most entities that are experimenting with additive manufacturing for hypersonic aircraft, this makes it mainstream and standardized processes, which also applies for mass production.

 

What would normally be measured in years and perhaps a decade to go from drawing board to test flights, is reduced to singular months and ready for production within a year maximum.

 

Unified Turbine Based Combined Cycle (U-TBCC)

 

To date, the closest that NASA and industry have achieved for turbine based aircraft to fly at hypersonic velocities is by mounting a turbine into an aircraft and sharing the inlet with a scramjet or rocket based motor. Reaction Engines Sabre is not able to achieve hypersonic velocities and can only transition into a non air breathing rocket for beyond Mach 4.5

 

However, utilizing Unified Turbine Based Combine Cycle also known as U-TBCC, the two separate platforms are able to share a common inlet and the dual mode ramjet/scramjet is contained within the engine itself, which allows for a much smaller airframe footprint, thus engingeers are able to then design much higher performance aerial platforms for hypersonic flight, including the ability for constructing true single stage to orbit aircraft by utilizing a modification/version that allows for transition to outside atmosphere propulsion without any other propulsion platforms within the aircraft. By transitioning and developing aircraft to use Unified Turbine Based Combined Cycle, this propulsion system opens up new options to replace that airframe deficit for increased fuel capacity and/or payload.

 

Enhanced Dynamic Cavitation

 

Dramatically Increasing the efficiency of fuel air mixture for combustion processes at hypersonic velocities within scramjet propulsion platforms. The aspects of these processes are non disclosable.

 

Dynamic Scramjet Ignition Processes

 

For optimal scramjet ignition, a process known as Self Start is sought after, but in many cases if the platform becomes out of attitude, the scramjet will ignite. We have already solved this problem which as a result, a scramjet propulsion system can ignite at lower velocities, high velocities, at optimal attitude or not optimal attitude. It doesn't matter, it will ignite anyways at the proper point for maximum thrust capabilities at hypersonic velocities.

 

Hydrogen vs Kerosene Fuel Sources

 

Kerosene is an easy fuel to work with, and most western nations developing scramjet platforms use Kerosene for that fact. However, while kerosene has better thermal properties then Hydrogen, Hydrogen is a far superior fuel source in scramjet propulsion flight, do it having a much higher efficiency capability. Because of this aspect, in conjunction with our developments, it allows for a MUCH increased fuel to air mixture, combustion, thrust; and ability for higher speeds; instead of very low hypersonic velocities in the Mach 5-6 range. Instead, Mach 8-10 range, while we have begun developing hypersonic capabilities to exceed 15 in atmosphere within less then 5 years.

 

Conforming High Pressure Tank Technology for CNG and H2.

 

As most know in hypersonics, Hydrogen is a superior fuel source, but due to the storage abilities, can only be stored in cylinders thus much less fuel supply. Not anymore, we developed conforming high pressure storage technology for use in aerospace, automotive sectors, maritime, etc; which means any overall shape required for 8,000+ PSI CNG or Hydrogen. For hypersonic platforms, this means the ability to store a much larger volume of hydrogen vs cylinders.

 

As an example, X-43 flown by Nasa which flew at Mach 9.97. The fuel source was Hydrogen, which is extremely more volatile and combustible then kerosene (JP-7), via a cylinder in the main body. If it had used our technology, that entire section of the airframe would had been an 8,000 PSI H2 tank, which would had yielded 5-6 times the capacity. While the X-43 flew 11 seconds under power at Mach 9.97, at 6 times the fuel capacity would had yielded apx 66 seconds of fuel under power at Mach 9.97. If it had flew slower, around Mach 6, same principles applied would had yielded apx 500 seconds of fuel supply under power (slower speeds required less energy to maintain).

 

Enhanced Fuel Mixture During Shock Train Interaction

 

Normally, fuel injection is conducted at the correct insertion point within the shock train for maximum burn/combustion. Our methodologies differ, since almost half the fuel injection is conducted PRE shock train within the isolator, so at the point of isolator injection the fuel enhances the combustion process, which then requires less fuel injection to reach the same level of thrust capabilities.

 

Improved Bow Shock Interaction

 

Smoother interaction at hypersonic velocities and mitigating heat/stresses for beyond Mach 6 thermodynamics, which extraordinarily improves Type 3, 4, and 5 shock interaction.

 

6,000+ Fahrenheit Thermal Resistance

 

To date, the maximum thermal resistance was tested at AFRL in the spring of 2018, which resulted in a 3,200F thermal resistance for a short duration. This technology, allows for normalized hypersonic thermal resistance of 3,000-3,500F sustained, and up to 6,500F resistance for short endurance, ie 90 seconds or less. 10-20 minute resistance estimate approximately 4,500F +/- 200F.

  

*** This technology advancement also applies to Aerospike rocket engines, in which it is common for Aerospike's to exceed 4,500-5,000F temperatures, which results in the melting of the reversed bell housing. That melting no longer ocurrs, providing for stable combustion to ocurr for the entire flight envelope

 

Scramjet Propulsion Side Wall Cooling

 

With old technologies, side wall cooling is required for hypersonic flight and scramjet propulsion systems, otherwise the isolator and combustion regions of a scramjet would melt, even using advanced ablatives and ceramics, due to their inability to cope with very high temperatures. Using technology we have developed for very high thermodynamics and high stresses, side wall cooling is no longer required, thus removing that variable from the design process and focusing on improved ignition processes and increasing net thrust values.

 

Lower Threshold for Hypersonic Ignition

 

Active and adaptive flight dynamics, resulting in the ability for scramjet ignition at a much lower velocity, ie within ramjet envelope, between Mach 2-4, and seamless transition from supersonic to hypersonic flight, ie supersonic ramjet (scramjet). This active and dynamic aspect, has a wide variety of parameters for many flight dynamics, velocities, and altitudes; which means platforms no longer need to be engineered for specific altitude ranges or preset velocities, but those parameters can then be selected during launch configuration and are able to adapt actively in flight.

 

Dramatically Improved Maneuvering Capabilities at Hypersonic Velocities

 

Hypersonic vehicles, like their less technologically advanced brethren, use large actuator and the developers hope those controls surfaces do not disintegrate in flight. In reality, it is like rolling the dice, they may or may not survive, hence another reason why the attempt to keep velocities to Mach 6 or below. We have shrunken down control actuators while almost doubling torque and response capabilities specifically for hypersonic dynamics and extreme stresses involved, which makes it possible for maximum input authority for Mach 10 and beyond.

 

Paradigm Shift in Control Surface Methodologies, Increasing Control Authority (Internal Mechanical Applications)

 

To date, most control surfaces for hypersonic missile platforms still use fins, similar to lower speed conventional missiles, and some using ducted fins. This is mostly due to lack of comprehension of hypersonic velocities in their own favor. Instead, the body itself incorporates those control surfaces, greatly enhancing the airframe strength, opening up more space for hardware and fuel capacity; while simultaneously enhancing the platforms maneuvering capabilities.

 

A scramjet missile can then fly like conventional missile platforms, and not straight and level at high altitudes, losing velocity on it's decent trajectory to target. Another added benefit to this aspect, is the ability to extend range greatly, so if anyone elses hypersonic missile platform were developed for 400 mile range, falling out of the sky due to lack of glide capabilities; our platforms can easily reach 600+ miles, with minimal glide deceleration.

NASA’s Tracking and Data Relay Satellites, known as TDRS-K, aboard an Atlas V rocket, was rolled to its launch position, Space Launch Complex 41, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station beginning at 10 a.m. January 29. TDRS-K will augment NASA’s space communications network, providing high data-rate communications to the International Space Station, Hubble Space Telescope, launch vehicles and a host of other spacecraft. “With this launch, NASA has begun the replenishment of our aging space network,” said Jeffrey Gramling, TDRS project manager. “This addition to our current fleet of seven, will provide even greater capabilities to a network that has become key to enabling many of NASA’s scientific discoveries.” The TDRS Project Office at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., manages the TDRS development program.

 

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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- The first of NASA's three next-generation

Tracking and Data Relay Satellites (TDRS), known as TDRS-K, launched

at 8:48 p.m. EST Wednesday from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in

Florida.

 

"TDRS-K bolsters our network of satellites that provides essential

communications to support space exploration," said Badri Younes,

deputy associate administrator for Space Communications and

Navigation at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "It will improve the

overall health and longevity of our system."

 

The TDRS system provides tracking, telemetry, command and

high-bandwidth data return services for numerous science and human

exploration missions orbiting Earth. These include the International

Space Station and NASA's Hubble Space Telescope.

 

"With this launch, NASA has begun the replenishment of our aging space

network," said Jeffrey Gramling, TDRS project manager. "This addition

to our current fleet of seven will provide even greater capabilities

to a network that has become key to enabling many of NASA's

scientific discoveries."

 

TDRS-K was lifted into orbit aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V

rocket from Space Launch Complex-41. After a three-month test phase,

NASA will accept the spacecraft for additional evaluation before

putting the satellite into service.

 

The TDRS-K spacecraft includes several modifications from older

satellites in the TDRS system, including redesigned

telecommunications payload electronics and a high-performance solar

panel designed for more spacecraft power to meet growing S-band

requirements. Another significant design change, the return to

ground-based processing of data, will allow the system to service

more customers with evolving communication requirements.

 

The next TDRS spacecraft, TDRS-L, is scheduled for launch in 2014.

TDRS-M's manufacturing process will be completed in 2015.

 

NASA's Space Communications and Navigation Program, part of the Human

Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate at the agency's

Headquarters in Washington, is responsible for the space network. The

TDRS Project Office at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in

Greenbelt, Md., manages the TDRS development program. Launch services

were provided by United Launch Alliance. NASA's Launch Services

Program at the Kennedy Space Center was responsible for acquisition

of launch services.

 

For more information about TDRS, visit:

 

www.nasa.gov/tdrs

 

NASA image use policy.

 

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission.

 

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Catherine Barr, who died in 2008, left the money to fund a new lifeboat named in the memory of her late husband, Dr John Buchanan Barr MBE.

Dr Barr worked as a GP in Glasgow before World War II, during which he served with distinction with the Royal Army Medical Corps in North Africa, Sicily and Italy. After demobilising, he returned to general practice in Glasgow.

However, he and his wife often spent their holidays in Portpatrick and the lifeboat bequest was because of their fondness for the village.

The new boat is stationed in the Dumfries and Galloway village.

  

Tamar class lifeboats are all-weather lifeboats operated by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) around the coasts of Great Britain and Ireland. The Tamar class is the replacement for the Tyne-class slipway launched All Weather Lifeboat (ALB).

 

The class name comes from the River Tamar in south west England which flows into the English Channel where they are manufactured by Babcock International Group.

 

Since 1982 the RNLI had deployed 17 knots (31 km/h) Tyne Class lifeboats at stations which launched their boats down slipways or needed to operate in shallow waters. The organisation desired to increase the speed and range of their operations so introduced 25 knots (46 km/h) Severn and Trent boats from 1994 where they could be moored afloat. They then needed to produce a boat with similar capabilities but with protected propellers and other modifications that would allow it to be launched on a slipway.

 

The prototype Tamar was built in 2000 and was used for trials until 2006. It was sold in December 2008 to Kent Police, becoming Princess Alexandra III, the force's permanent maritime vessel operating out of Sheerness. The first production boat, Haydn Miller entered service at Tenby in March 2006. A few of the early boats suffered problems such as fuel leaking under the floor of the engine control room around hydraulic lines. These boats were recalled and the problems rectified. There are very few reported problems associated with the vessel now as the design and manufacturing process is largely perfected.

 

The Tamar has a new design of crew workstation with seats that can move up and down 20 centimetres (7.9 in) as the boat passes through rough seas at high speed, and a networked computerised Systems and Information Management System (SIMS) which allows the crew to monitor and control the boat entirely from within the wheelhouse. The coxswain and helmsman have seat-mounted throttles, trackerball and joystick controls of the rudder. Alternatively the boat may be monitored and control by two controls on the bridge: Dual throttle controls and joystick on the left; dual throttle, wheel and control-screen on the right. All aspects of the vessel may also be controlled from this position.

 

The lifeboat is completely water-tight allowing it to self-right with up to 60 people on board. The boat has the potential to carry a maximum of 120 passengers on board, but without self righting capability. The Survivors Space has room for 10 sitting and 8 standing. The Survivors Space is accessed either through the Wheelhouse or the fore deck Emergency Escape Hatch.

 

Each Tamar carries a Y Class inflatable boat which can be deployed and recovered while at sea

 

A major maritime exercise, Exercise Diamond, which involved HM Coastguard, vessels, RNLI lifeboats, helicopters, search and rescue coordinators, Belfast Harbour, emergency services and local authorities was held on Sunday 23 September from 9.30 am. Exercise Diamond, a live large-scale incident exercise, was held within Belfast Lough, Northern Ireland and involved 365 people.

 

Exercise Diamond was designed to test the major incident plans for all of the organisations that would be involved should a major maritime incident happen in Northern Ireland.

 

Exercise Diamond was the largest live maritime exercise ever held in Northern Ireland.

 

An exercise held within the Titanic centenary, Olympic, & Diamond year involving Emergency Services, Agencies and Companies dedicated to saving lives and providing the best possible service.

 

The following organisations participated in the exercise:

 

HM Coastguard / Maritime and Coastguard Agency; Royal National Lifeboat Institution; Police Service of Northern Ireland; Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service; Northern Ireland Ambulance Service; Ministry of Defence (including Royal Airforce); Stena Line; RFD Survitec; Irish Coastguard; Northdown and Ards Borough Council; Belfast Harbour.

We have our students in the senior Manufacturing Processes elective make model steam engines. The flywheel is one of the more challenging parts to make.

austin, texas

1977

 

motorola semiconductor plant

 

part of an archival project, featuring the photographs of nick dewolf

 

© the Nick DeWolf Foundation

Image-use requests are welcome via flickrmail or nickdewolfphotoarchive [at] gmail [dot] com

I briefly considered this watch. Thank goodness that Montblanc released its Summit watch a couple years later.

 

Montblanc Boutique, Yorkdale Mall, Toronto, ON.

 

A limited number are finally in stock for public purchase. It retails for CAD $5,900.00 plus 13% HST.

Ask for Suresh. (416) 783-5670.

This is a Montblanc photo, not mine.

 

www.flickr.com/photos/21728045@N08/19129733842/in/album-7...

 

The Montblanc TimeWalker Urban Speed is Montblanc's second scheduled SIHH release and will join the Contemporary Timepieces collection. Delivering sporty elegance with its sand-blasted steel case and black, white and red colour scheme, it's the perfect watch for anyone looking to add a truly urban-ready piece to their luxury collection.

 

Montblanc TimeWalker Urban Speed e-Strap

 

The TimeWalker Urban Speed e-Strap, combines a highly functional e-Strap with contemporary TimeWalker timepieces. The e-Strap is an interchangeable strap, with an integrated technology device that offers an activity tracker, smart notifications, remote controls and Find-Me functions. It connects, via Bluetooth Low Energy, to selected Android and iOS smartphones. For the first time, an owner will be able to wear a mechanical timepiece with highly useful digital functionality.

 

Montblanc continues to underline the technicity, performance and avant-garde appeal of this watch line, its dynamic appeal is further highlighted by the use of contemporary material mixes featuring red design elements on a pure black background.

 

The e-Strap device offers a variety of functionality.

 

Smart notifications, signaled by vibrations provide an alert of incoming communication without the need to look at the smartphone. It enables the preview of e-mails by topic and sender, read text messages, see incoming calls and status updates of social media feeds or reminders of important upcoming meetings, all on the wrist.

 

The activity tracker is a simple tool to monitor the wearer’s physical activity over time and keep track of his personal daily goals. To do so, it measures the number of steps taken per day, calories burnt and the distance travelled. The accompanying smartphone application enables the of progress per week and month. The e-Strap will remind the wearer to stay active through unobtrusive vibration alerts and show at a glance the daily progress.

 

The remote controls are useful for controlling the smartphone with the e-Strap. The camera remote enables the taking of pictures with the smartphone by triggering the shutter with a tap on the e-Strap thus allowing better and easier selfies or group shots.

 

Playing, pausing, and skipping music on the smartphone can be also remotely steered with the music control function of the e-Strap.

 

Additionally, the Find-Me function allows searching for the watch or phone within a range of up to 30 meters, either by tapping on the e-Strap to find the smartphone or by using the smartphone application to find the watch.

 

The e-Strap device has an inbuilt touch screen display, readable in daylight, to display the information and navigate through the functionalities. The technical device is encapsulated in a stainless steel case with rubber protection and can be easily fixed and adjusted with the pass-through strap.

 

Depending on usage, the device needs to be recharged every 5 days using a standard micro-USB cable. The e-Strap is compatible with Samsung Galaxy S4, S5, Note 3, Note 4, selected Android Devices running Android 4.3 and upwards as well as Apple iPhone 4S, 5, 5C, 5S, 6 and 6 plus.

 

The Leather e-Strap

 

The TimeWalker collection e-Strap is equipped with a pass-through strap made of the innovative Montblanc Extreme Leather. The Extreme leather wristband created by the Montblanc Pelleteria in Florence, perfectly matches with the timepiece: markedly technical while retaining a sporty yet elegant appearance.

 

Due to its innovative manufacturing process, the upper surface of the leather wristband has a characteristic carbon appearance. In a long and meticulous process, the leather is textured and simultaneously impregnated with an innovative treatment that does not only coat the surface of the wristband, but also bonds with it and increases its structural strength. This innovative technique produces a high-performance and innovative leather, delivering abrasion resistance, water repellence and heat wear-, water- and fire-resistant. The e-Strap device can be easily fixed and adjusted with the pass-through to all strap sizes 20/22mm.

 

Three new timepieces for the TimeWalker collection

The collection extension will introduce three new models - all of them equipped with mechanical automatic winding movements living up to the highest standards of traditional Swiss fine watchmaking: a chronograph, a UTC (United Time Coordinated) with a second time zone and a three hands watch with the essential functionality of hours, minutes, seconds and date.

 

The expressive design of the 42 or 43-millimetre case, which combines clean lines with architectural shapes, made the Montblanc TimeWalker family of Montblanc timepieces instantly recognizable right from the outset. Blending sporty elegance and masculinity, the Montblanc TimeWalker carries its unique aesthetics and features the signature skeletonised horns, a narrow bezel, a large dial with Arabic numerals in a distinctive, clearly contoured typography, and the characteristic lancet-shaped hands.

Instantly, the “cold grey” micro-blasted steel case or the black DLC (Diamond like carbon) coating, witness to its dynamic spirit and technical elegance.

 

This sporty elegance continues on the dial, making use of its black background to accentuate the white numerals and dynamic red second hands common to all three models.

 

The window in the case back offers a clear view of the automatic mechanical calibre which guarantees reliability and precision. All calibres of the TimeWalker Urban Speed e-Strap program are manufactured in accord with all the rules that govern the art of Swiss fine watchmaking. They oscillate at a steady pace of 28,800 semi-oscillations per hour (4 Hz).

 

All TimeWalker Urban Speed e-Strap models will be available in markets in June 2015 with or without the e-Strap device, but not in Canada just yet. They will eventually be released in Canada but in very limited numbers.

High-end-Tuning for the Carrera GT: Racing-look GEMBALLA Mirage GT with more power

 

Body and Chassis

Porsche’s motor racing division designed and developed the Carrera GT’s body structure. The monocoque combines all structural functions. Unlike a conventional body shell made from numerous separate components, the monocoque is made from only a few elements that are bonded together in a high-pressure furnace to form a single or mono-structure that is exceptionally rigid and strong. Carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFP) is the generic term for composite fiber materials that were developed primarily for aerospace applications but have been widely applied to motorsports vehicle construction. These materials provide supreme performance through their combination of minimum weight and maximum strength and stiffness. On the Carrera GT, CFP is used for the chassis, which includes the windshield frame (which is reinforced by a steel core) and supplemental safety bar system, engine/transmission support frame, doors, hoods, fenders, underfloor tray and even in many interior components.

 

CFP is constructed from bonded layers of materials, including carbon fiber tissue, resin and aluminum or plastic honeycomb material that can be nearly an inch in thickness. Aluminum inserts are laminated at specific points so other components can be attached to the load-bearing monocoque structure. The structure is sealed in an airtight foil cover and placed in a high-pressure autoclave furnace, where the resins form a polymer and bond the honeycomb to the carbon fiber. Such carbon bonding creates a strong, stiff and precise structure that is also resistant to temperature extremes.

 

The Carrera GT is the first road car built around such a chassis and also the first with an engine and transmission support made entirely of CFP, a concept developed by Porsche’s motorsports department and registered for patent. The system was devised because of carbon-reinforced plastic’s structural strength and thermal resistance. CFP is also used in the Carrera GT’s removable roof, which consists of two lightweight panels. It is held in place by rapid-action catches and can be stored in the car’s front luggage compartment.

 

The Carrera GT has steel reinforcement in its windshield structure and the longitudinal arms commonly referred to as chassis legs are made from high-strength stainless steel and help create a crash structure at the front and rear of the vehicle. Aluminum inserts connect the longitudinal arms to the chassis at the front and to the engine/transmission support frame at the rear. The bumper system is made of a strong aluminum crossbar and impact tubes.

 

Porsche’s development engineers have placed the car’s fuel tank in an aluminum drawer within the monocoque and between the passenger cell and engine compartment. In addition to protecting the fuel tank, the chassis is designed to protect its human occupants. The Carrera GT is equipped with three-point safety belts with pretensioners and load limitors, but the seats also are prepared to accept six-point racing belts. Passive safety equipment includes front and side airbags for both the driver and passenger. Strong steel tubes built into the Carrera GT’s doors provide additional side-impact protection.

 

Engine

 

A purebred racing engine powers the Carrera GT. Porsche’s development center at Weissach, Germany, built a 5.5-liter, normally aspirated V10 engine for racing, and that engine’s bores have been enlarged to displace 5.7 liters in the Carrera GT. Maximum output is rated at 605 horsepower (SAE) at 8,000 rpm, with peak torque of 435 lb.-ft. The engine has a very low center of gravity, a 68-degree V angle and four valves-per-cylinder heads. The engine block serves as a load-bearing part of the chassis structure, yet is so strong that there is no distortion to the cylinder bores. Using dry-sump lubrication reduces the number of engine components and seals and also helps optimize weight and reliability.

 

To keep the engine as short as possible, Porsche engineers decided against using cylinder liners. Instead, the cylinders are coated with Nikasil, a nickel and silicon combination coating that improves wear resistance and minimizes internal friction. The engine has a closed-deck configuration, a principle carried over from motorsports. This closed-desk architecture enables the cylinders to be cooled by internal water chambers that directly surround the cylinders. Three front-mounted radiators and cross flow cooling ensure optimum heat transfer even under high engine loads.

 

The engine weighs only 472 pounds (214 kg.). The block, crankshaft and camshafts are all made of light alloys. The crankshaft is designed to operate at speeds of up to 8,400 rpm and is both forged and designed for minimum mass inertia and thus offers maximum torsional stiffness. Pistons are connected to the crankshaft by titanium connecting rods that are very lightweight. The crankcase is a one-piece unit that integrates the secondary air ducts as well as the separate bearing blocks for the camshaft. Camshaft drive is a combined sprocket/chain system with rigid cup tappets that guarantees a stiff and sturdy valve drive with low masses and compact dimensions. Porsche-patented VarioCam camshaft control provides the intake camshafts with infinite adjustment within a range of 40 degrees. The Carrera GT has a two-chamber exhaust system with one pre-catalyst and a main catalyst on each side. The car already meets European EU4 emission standards that do not go into effect until 2005. The exhaust system is made of stainless steel and is precisely tuned to provide a powerful sound that includes the high-frequency roar of a thoroughbred racing engine.

 

Transmission

 

The engine’s power reaches the rear wheels through a specially developed six-speed manual gearbox that has compact dimensions and a low center of gravity. The transversely mounted gearbox ensures optimum weight distribution without impairing the position of the rear diffuser.

 

Rather than carrying the weight of a two-mass flywheel, the transmission uses a special shaft design: the first main shaft is a hollow tube housing the long and thin solid shaft. This effectively creates a torsional spring that enables the shafts to dampen drive impacts and to reduce transmission noise.

 

The Carrera GT is the first Porsche to feature the Porsche Ceramic Composite Clutch (PCCC®), which is extremely compact and contributes to the car’s low center of gravity. The PCCC’s low mass also has a positive effect on engine dynamics. Ceramic composite clutches used in racing often have short lives, but Porsche has created a new clutch design and configuration with a two-plate dry clutch with ceramics made of carbon fiber and silicon carbide that are strong, light and have an exceptional service life. The plates are only 6.65 inches (169 mm) in diameter, less than half the size of typical production car clutch plates.

 

Suspension

 

The Porsche Carrera GT chassis and suspension is based on the architecture of the Porsche GT1, the car that won the 24 Hours of Le Mans race in 1998. For example, as on the GT1, the rear track control arms of the Carrera GT are made of aerodynamically designed steel tubes. However, Porsche engineers did not forget the need for driving comfort on the street when they adapted such racing-bred systems for the new supercar.

 

Like a racecar, the Carrera GT uses pushrod suspension with double-track control arms at all four corners to give the Carrera GT its refined response and behavior, feeding forces smoothly and efficiently into the car’s chassis. Where many cars use MacPherson spring struts, the Carrera GT’s spring and damper elements are operated by stainless steel pushrods and pivot levers, which separate the guidance function from the spring action. Advantages include more sensitive response and behavior as well as precise suspension tuning for both high and low speeds. Forged aluminum control arms resting on broad mounts feed wheel forces into the chassis. As on a racecar, the control arms are bolted on the chassis without rubber insulators, providing the most precise and direct wheel guidance at all times. The Carrera GT’s superior driving dynamics are further enhanced by a power steering system that has its safety steering column also bolted directly to the monocoque body structure.

 

Braking System

 

The Carrera GT is equipped with Porsche Ceramic Composite Brakes (PCCB®), which have been optimized and enlarged. The cross-drilled composite ceramic brake discs are 14.96 inches (380 mm) in diameter at all four corners of the car. Those discs are 1.34 inches (34 mm) thick, yet are 50 percent lighter than comparable cast iron discs. Porsche composite brakes provide immediate, frictionally consistent and optimized response while slowing the Carrera GT. Maximum brake power is built up within fractions of a second, yet abrasion is kept to an absolute minimum and the brakes have a substantial safety reserve even under extreme loads. Six-piston monoblock aluminum brake calipers front and rear are brand new and feature extremely large and firmly bolted connections to the wheel mounts, giving the driver good feel through the brake pedal. Short stopping distances are ensured by the hydraulic brake servo that builds pressure very quickly and efficiently.

 

The antilock braking system and traction control serve to ensure dynamic driving behavior even in transitional road surfaces and in inclement weather. The Carrera GT has four-channel anti-spin control (ASC) geared specifically for its ceramic brakes to provide short stopping distances with precise steering control. ASC is activated when required throughout the car’s entire range of acceleration, preventing excessive wheel spin on the drive wheels and thus avoiding any instability at the rear of the car. ASC can intervene in engine management to reduce power to the degree required. While they are spinning, the drive wheels are slowed by automatic brake differential (ABD) technology. However, the driver can switch off the traction control function by pressing a button on the center console.

 

Wheels

 

The Carrera GT rides on large, five-spoke wheels, which are the first production car application of forged magnesium rims made from a special manufacturing process that enhances strength while reducing weight. The forged magnesium wheels are some 25 percent lighter than cast aluminum wheels and thus reduce unsprung weight to a new level. The result is supreme traction as well as smooth and sure spring and damper action. The wheels are 19 inches in diameter and 9.5 inches wide for the front of the car and 20 inches in diameter and 12.5 inches wide at the rear. The wheels feature motorsports-style central wheel locks on their hubs.

 

Special tires were developed for the Carrera GT. They measure 265/35 X 19 in front and 335/30 X 20 in the rear. The tires are Z rated and have outstanding grip and consistent behavior at high speeds, yet have a relatively low level of wear for such high-performance tires. Despite its racing-oriented performance, the Porsche Carrera GT does not have a spartan interior. The cockpit is characterized by function-oriented ambience with extensive use of high-tech materials. Carbon, magnesium and leather dominate interior materials, with composite components either in their natural state or painted to match the magnesium pieces.

 

Interior and Amenities

 

The car’s center console is made of composite materials covered in galvanized magnesium. The shift lever is positioned about halfway up the console and is directly next to the steering wheel. The shift lever has a ball-shaped knob made of lightweight stratified birch/ash wood meant to remind drivers of the balsa wood shift knob in the 1970 Le Mans-winning Porsche 917. The Carrera GT features a new seat design and structure. The seats are finished in smooth leather and have manual adjustment because power motors would add unnecessary weight. The seats are made of a composite carbon shell. Each seat weighs only 23.6 pounds (10.7 kg.), compared to 28.9 pounds (13.1 kg.) for the seats in the Porsche GT3 or 44.1 pounds (20 kg.) for the seats in a Porsche 911 Carrera.

 

Air conditioning is optimized for weight and the car comes with a standard air filter system. Even though the Carrera GT is a serious performance car, it can be equipped with many comfort features, including a navigation system and Bose® audio. The Carrera GT also comes with its own five-piece set of leather luggage matched to the car’s interior color – Terracotta, Dark Grey Nature, Ascot Brown/Black Nature. Each piece of luggage is designed for a precise place within the car: the clothes bag fits behind the passenger’s seat, the attaché case fits in the passenger’s foot well, the shoulder bag fits between the passenger’s seat and door, a center console bag fits beneath the console and there are leather bags in special storage boxes within the doors and a travel bag in the luggage compartment. The luggage compartment is lined with a checkered fabric and can hold 2.68 cu.-ft. (76 liters) of cargo. Special leather straps hold the two roof panels in position when they are in the compartment.

     

Raven - Model B Mach 8-10 - Supersonic / Hypersonic Business Jet - Iteration 6

 

Seating: 22 | Crew 2+1

Length: 100ft | Span: 45ft 8in

Engines: 2 U-TBCC (Unified Turbine Based Combined Cycle)

 

Fuel: H2 (Compressed Hydrogen)

Cruising Altitude: 100,000-125,000 ft @ Mach 8-10

Air frame: 75% Proprietary Composites

Operating Costs, Similar to the hourly operating costs of a Gulfstream G650 or Bombardier Global Express 7000 Series

  

IO Aircraft www.ioaircraft.com

Drew Blair www.linkedin.com/in/drew-b-25485312/

 

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Unified Turbine Based Combined Cycle. Current technologies and what Lockheed is trying to force on the Dept of Defense, for that low speed Mach 5 plane DOD gave them $1 billion to build and would disintegrate above Mach 5, is TBCC. 2 separate propulsion systems in the same airframe, which requires TWICE the airframe space to use.

 

Unified Turbine Based Combined Cycle is 1 propulsion system cutting that airframe deficit in half, and also able to operate above Mach 10 up to Mach 15 in atmosphere, and a simple nozzle modification allows for outside atmosphere rocket mode, ie orbital capable.

 

Additionally, Reaction Engines maximum air breather mode is Mach 4.5, above that it will explode in flight from internal pressures are too high to operate. Thus, must switch to non air breather rocket mode to operate in atmosphere in hypersonic velocities. Which as a result, makes it not feasible for anything practical. It also takes an immense amount of fuel to function.

 

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Advanced Additive Manufacturing for Hypersonic Aircraft

 

Utilizing new methods of fabrication and construction, make it possible to use additive manufacturing, dramatically reducing the time and costs of producing hypersonic platforms from missiles, aircraft, and space capable craft. Instead of aircraft being produced in piece, then bolted together; small platforms can be produced as a single unit and large platforms can be produces in large section and mated without bolting. These techniques include using exotic materials and advanced assembly processes, with an end result of streamlining the production costs and time for hypersonic aircraft; reducing months of assembly to weeks. Overall, this process greatly reduced the cost for producing hypersonic platforms. Even to such an extent that a Hellfire missile costs apx $100,000 but by utilizing our technologies, replacing it with a Mach 8-10 hypersonic missile of our physics/engineering and that missile would cost roughly $75,000 each delivered.

 

Materials used for these manufacturing processes are not disclosed, but overall, provides a foundation for extremely high stresses and thermodynamics, ideal for hypersonic platforms. This specific methodology and materials applications is many decades ahead of all known programs. Even to the extend of normalized space flight and re-entry, without concern of thermodynamic failure.

 

*Note, most entities that are experimenting with additive manufacturing for hypersonic aircraft, this makes it mainstream and standardized processes, which also applies for mass production.

 

What would normally be measured in years and perhaps a decade to go from drawing board to test flights, is reduced to singular months and ready for production within a year maximum.

 

Unified Turbine Based Combined Cycle (U-TBCC)

 

To date, the closest that NASA and industry have achieved for turbine based aircraft to fly at hypersonic velocities is by mounting a turbine into an aircraft and sharing the inlet with a scramjet or rocket based motor. Reaction Engines Sabre is not able to achieve hypersonic velocities and can only transition into a non air breathing rocket for beyond Mach 4.5

 

However, utilizing Unified Turbine Based Combine Cycle also known as U-TBCC, the two separate platforms are able to share a common inlet and the dual mode ramjet/scramjet is contained within the engine itself, which allows for a much smaller airframe footprint, thus engingeers are able to then design much higher performance aerial platforms for hypersonic flight, including the ability for constructing true single stage to orbit aircraft by utilizing a modification/version that allows for transition to outside atmosphere propulsion without any other propulsion platforms within the aircraft. By transitioning and developing aircraft to use Unified Turbine Based Combined Cycle, this propulsion system opens up new options to replace that airframe deficit for increased fuel capacity and/or payload.

 

Enhanced Dynamic Cavitation

 

Dramatically Increasing the efficiency of fuel air mixture for combustion processes at hypersonic velocities within scramjet propulsion platforms. The aspects of these processes are non disclosable.

 

Dynamic Scramjet Ignition Processes

 

For optimal scramjet ignition, a process known as Self Start is sought after, but in many cases if the platform becomes out of attitude, the scramjet will ignite. We have already solved this problem which as a result, a scramjet propulsion system can ignite at lower velocities, high velocities, at optimal attitude or not optimal attitude. It doesn't matter, it will ignite anyways at the proper point for maximum thrust capabilities at hypersonic velocities.

 

Hydrogen vs Kerosene Fuel Sources

 

Kerosene is an easy fuel to work with, and most western nations developing scramjet platforms use Kerosene for that fact. However, while kerosene has better thermal properties then Hydrogen, Hydrogen is a far superior fuel source in scramjet propulsion flight, do it having a much higher efficiency capability. Because of this aspect, in conjunction with our developments, it allows for a MUCH increased fuel to air mixture, combustion, thrust; and ability for higher speeds; instead of very low hypersonic velocities in the Mach 5-6 range. Instead, Mach 8-10 range, while we have begun developing hypersonic capabilities to exceed 15 in atmosphere within less then 5 years.

 

Conforming High Pressure Tank Technology for CNG and H2.

 

As most know in hypersonics, Hydrogen is a superior fuel source, but due to the storage abilities, can only be stored in cylinders thus much less fuel supply. Not anymore, we developed conforming high pressure storage technology for use in aerospace, automotive sectors, maritime, etc; which means any overall shape required for 8,000+ PSI CNG or Hydrogen. For hypersonic platforms, this means the ability to store a much larger volume of hydrogen vs cylinders.

 

As an example, X-43 flown by Nasa which flew at Mach 9.97. The fuel source was Hydrogen, which is extremely more volatile and combustible then kerosene (JP-7), via a cylinder in the main body. If it had used our technology, that entire section of the airframe would had been an 8,000 PSI H2 tank, which would had yielded 5-6 times the capacity. While the X-43 flew 11 seconds under power at Mach 9.97, at 6 times the fuel capacity would had yielded apx 66 seconds of fuel under power at Mach 9.97. If it had flew slower, around Mach 6, same principles applied would had yielded apx 500 seconds of fuel supply under power (slower speeds required less energy to maintain).

 

Enhanced Fuel Mixture During Shock Train Interaction

 

Normally, fuel injection is conducted at the correct insertion point within the shock train for maximum burn/combustion. Our methodologies differ, since almost half the fuel injection is conducted PRE shock train within the isolator, so at the point of isolator injection the fuel enhances the combustion process, which then requires less fuel injection to reach the same level of thrust capabilities.

 

Improved Bow Shock Interaction

 

Smoother interaction at hypersonic velocities and mitigating heat/stresses for beyond Mach 6 thermodynamics, which extraordinarily improves Type 3, 4, and 5 shock interaction.

 

6,000+ Fahrenheit Thermal Resistance

 

To date, the maximum thermal resistance was tested at AFRL in the spring of 2018, which resulted in a 3,200F thermal resistance for a short duration. This technology, allows for normalized hypersonic thermal resistance of 3,000-3,500F sustained, and up to 6,500F resistance for short endurance, ie 90 seconds or less. 10-20 minute resistance estimate approximately 4,500F +/- 200F.

  

*** This technology advancement also applies to Aerospike rocket engines, in which it is common for Aerospike's to exceed 4,500-5,000F temperatures, which results in the melting of the reversed bell housing. That melting no longer ocurrs, providing for stable combustion to ocurr for the entire flight envelope

 

Scramjet Propulsion Side Wall Cooling

 

With old technologies, side wall cooling is required for hypersonic flight and scramjet propulsion systems, otherwise the isolator and combustion regions of a scramjet would melt, even using advanced ablatives and ceramics, due to their inability to cope with very high temperatures. Using technology we have developed for very high thermodynamics and high stresses, side wall cooling is no longer required, thus removing that variable from the design process and focusing on improved ignition processes and increasing net thrust values.

 

Lower Threshold for Hypersonic Ignition

 

Active and adaptive flight dynamics, resulting in the ability for scramjet ignition at a much lower velocity, ie within ramjet envelope, between Mach 2-4, and seamless transition from supersonic to hypersonic flight, ie supersonic ramjet (scramjet). This active and dynamic aspect, has a wide variety of parameters for many flight dynamics, velocities, and altitudes; which means platforms no longer need to be engineered for specific altitude ranges or preset velocities, but those parameters can then be selected during launch configuration and are able to adapt actively in flight.

 

Dramatically Improved Maneuvering Capabilities at Hypersonic Velocities

 

Hypersonic vehicles, like their less technologically advanced brethren, use large actuator and the developers hope those controls surfaces do not disintegrate in flight. In reality, it is like rolling the dice, they may or may not survive, hence another reason why the attempt to keep velocities to Mach 6 or below. We have shrunken down control actuators while almost doubling torque and response capabilities specifically for hypersonic dynamics and extreme stresses involved, which makes it possible for maximum input authority for Mach 10 and beyond.

 

Paradigm Shift in Control Surface Methodologies, Increasing Control Authority (Internal Mechanical Applications)

 

To date, most control surfaces for hypersonic missile platforms still use fins, similar to lower speed conventional missiles, and some using ducted fins. This is mostly due to lack of comprehension of hypersonic velocities in their own favor. Instead, the body itself incorporates those control surfaces, greatly enhancing the airframe strength, opening up more space for hardware and fuel capacity; while simultaneously enhancing the platforms maneuvering capabilities.

 

A scramjet missile can then fly like conventional missile platforms, and not straight and level at high altitudes, losing velocity on it's decent trajectory to target. Another added benefit to this aspect, is the ability to extend range greatly, so if anyone elses hypersonic missile platform were developed for 400 mile range, falling out of the sky due to lack of glide capabilities; our platforms can easily reach 600+ miles, with minimal glide deceleration.

I have been holding on to these photos until this project went public.

 

THIS WAS SUBMITTED FOR A GREEN DESIGN COMPETITION AND COULD BENEFIT FROM YOUR VOTE!

 

www.core77.com/greenergadgets/entry.php?projectid=32#img92

 

Recompute is a new way of thinking about computers that layers sustainable ideas throughout its lifecycle to make an overall sustainable product that can be easily replicated. Recompute address sustainability along three main points during its life.

 

Manufacturing: Rather than making a large tower constructed from numerous materials (ABS plastic, aluminum, steel, etc.), hundreds of manufacturing processes, and dozens of individual components, the Recompute case is made of corrugated cardboard (recyclable and renewable). There are four low-impact manufacturing processes to assemble Recompute: Die cutting, gluing (with non-toxic white glue), printing and electronic assembly. Recompute uses only three major electronic components: A motherboard with processor & memory, power supply, and a hard drive.

 

Use: Recompute is designed to allow the user to take advantage of existing hardware. For example; use the keyboard from a previous computer. For additional flexibility, external hardware customization is easy via 8 USB ports.

 

Disposal: Electronic components need to be properly recycled as they contain toxic heavy metals. However, this is often skipped because dismantling of computers is difficult. Recompute can be disassembled without tools, so the electronics and case can be easily recycled individually.

 

Oh yes, Recompute is a real working computer.

 

(Project is by Brenden Macaluso)

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif.--Officials cut the ribbon Feb. 27 ceremonially opening a brand new education center that will help Airmen stationed at this central coast base achieve their personal and professional education goals.

 

The $14.2 million center replaced a 60-year-old elementary school campus, which had been used as the education center for more than 40 years.

 

"We hear the dollar value, and I just can't stress how precious those dollars are in today's fiscal environment," said Col. Keith Balts, 30th Space Wing commander. "The fact that we get to do military construction at all, especially something for the quality of our Airmen and their families, says a lot about the importance we place on education."

 

One of the center's first customers was Senior Airman Antoine Marshall, 30th Force Support Squadron, who joined the Air Force four years ago with an associate degree in criminal justice.

 

"I just took the analyzing and interpreting literature CLEP (College Level Examination Program) exam," said Marshall, who's pursuing a bachelor's degree in organizational management. "It was my first one--I passed it. I'm extremely happy!"

 

The 38,384-square-foot facility includes 20 classrooms, computer lab, testing center, and 75-seat auditorium, as well as offices for various colleges and universities serving the Vandenberg community.

 

"I think the facility is great," said Marshall. "Overall, it provides a better environment to work and study, and it's just comfortable."

 

The design-build project was constructed by Corps contractor Teehee-Straub, a joint-venture team from Oceanside, Calif.

 

"The design was quite extensive, just due to the detail and the location," said Keith Hamilton, project executive for Teehee-Straub. "The site work was very challenging, and I think that was something that brought a lot of character to this building."

 

Teehee-Straub's 21st century design included sustainable development and energy efficiencies, such as light pollution reduction and water use reduction.

 

"This is a sustainable building," said Col. Kim Colloton, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles District commander. "We can build our buildings smartly, so they can do more; it's more [money] that can go back into the base."

 

During construction, 75 percent of the construction and demolition debris was diverted from landfills and redirected back to the manufacturing process as reusable and recyclable material. Walk-off mats, exhaust systems and filtered heating and cooling improves indoor air quality. Low-flow fixtures and faucets, high-efficiency drip irrigation and drought-tolerant landscaping reduce potable water use by more than 40 percent. All are efficiencies the contractor believes will achive a LEED Silver rating (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design, a Green Building Council rating system).

 

"We're just proud to be part of this," said Teehee-Straub managing partner Richard Straub. "The Corps of Engineers is one of our favorite customers, and we love supporting the Air Force in doing a job that will educate a lot of servicemen."

FILMING A MOVIE WAR

BURSTING bombs failed to stop scores of German soldiers charging across the scarred battlefield under cover of night. The ground was rent by machine-gun bullets. Soldiers dropped hopelessly in barbwire entanglements.

It was the World War all over again for many American Legion men and ex-German soldiers acting as extras during the filming of The Road Back. Every exploding shell and spattering of machine gun fire brought back memories of war’s deadliness. But this was a movie war—nobody was being killed! Hollywood’s explosive experts, through years of experience, have developed tricks that make acting in a movie war safer than crossing a busy highway.

 

The script called for a night scene in the trenches in November, 1918, shortly before the Armistice was signed. It was bitter cold in France then. Universal Studio’s special

effects department had little difficulty obtaining this impression, as the spring nights, when the battle sequences were shot, were extremely cold for California. The air was frosty and smudge pots blazed in orange groves nearby. But there was no snow such as blew over the Western Front in November, 1918. To accomplish this desired effect studio workmen simply sprayed white paint over the ground.

Several acres on the studio’s back lot was marked off for the battlefield. Official U. S. Signal Corps photos were scanned in order to get authentic detail into the battlefield set. A huge sky drop was built in the background, across the width of the battlefield. The sky drop consisted of a wooden scaffolding, some forty feet high, from which a great canvas curtain was hung. Painters were busy for several days spraying on “clouds.” This gave the effect that the war ground’s horizon was several miles away.

Twelve pieces of digging equipment—tractors, scrapers, and steam shovels, were required to dig trenches, grade the battlefield and to give it that shot-to-pieces appearance. Each day, after the night war episodes were shot, workmen would dig up the ground and sprinkle it with water to make the mire deep for the coming night. Realism of the first order.

Real war is costly. So is a movie war! Thousands of rounds of blank ammunition for the 8 mm Mauser rifles were fired. One thousand pounds of black powder, five hundred pounds of dynamite, and 2,000 detonating caps went up in smoke for the combat scenes. Four hundred parachute-flares and seven hundred night flares were consumed during night film warfare.

Over a hundred gallons of liquid smoke, the preparation, ingredients and manufacturing processes of which are a carefully guarded military secret, were employed in the battle scenes. Navy planes use this liquid smoke to hide ships during maneuvers.

Two “inventions” were worked out in the battle sequences. Ground oyster shells were found to give a better photographic reproduction of dust, in shell-explosions, than dust itself. And by balancing the charcoal content in black-powder bombs, greater photographic value was given to explosions.

Months of research must go into a war film before the cameras begin to roll. Hundreds of historic photos must be studied by the technical department. The wardrobe department must correctly tailor the exact type of uniform worn by a certain regiment at a certain time. The studio arsenal must be sure to supply the correct rifle model. More care must be taken for carefully depicting recent wars than those of a century ago, as many veterans are film fans.

Ralph Morgan, head of Universal’s special effects department, who has worked on many war films, including The Big Parade, tells how one of the war illusions is achieved:

“To get the effect of a shell striking the ground and exploding we first dig the shell hole. The shell crater is dug in hard earth. The earth on the sides of the hole is tightly packed. Next the explosives man plants his powder charge in the center of the crater in such a way that it will blow straight upward. Then into the shell hole is sifted a mixture of earth and cork until it is even with the rest of the terrain.

“A wire connects this prepared hole with the head explosive expert’s control board. These shell holes are often marked by an odd clod of dirt, an old gun carriage wheel or a fake stump. Sometimes the danger spot is dabbed with a bit of paint that will not show in the film. The players, who have previously been coached by the director and his assistants, will avoid passing directly over these shell explosives. A shower of soft earth and ground cork will be the only discomfort actors who pass near these shell hole explosions will suffer.”

When you see a performer being blown skyward by an explosion you can be certain it’s a dummy. The dummy is usually made from rubber. Often an actual life cast of the actor the dummy is supposed to represent is made from rubber. This type dummy is more realistic than those formerly used, which were stuffed with sawdust.

The effects of bullets striking are obtained by two different methods. The usual system is to fire away with the rifle or machine-gun at the top of an entrenchment or building while the camera is safely located at one side filming the hits. Special care must be taken that bullets do not ricochet. This stunt is used when actors are not in the scene.

To get the effect of bullets striking near players in trenches, tiny powder charges are embedded in the dust. These explosives have about the same power as toy torpedoes youngsters throw on the Fourth of July. In fact some explosives men have used torpedoes for this effect. A thin wire is attached to each charge and to a control board. As a man presses the control board buttons the small explosives go off, giving the effect of a bullet biting the dust. The action of machine-gun bullets striking can be had by firing a series of these minute explosives in a row, all within a few seconds.

A new trick was used in The Road Back to get the realization of a French bullet crashing a mirror in front of “Slim” Summerville, the comedian, as he shaves. A prop man, who was a clever marksman with a sling shot, shattered the mirror on the first shot.

To create the illusion of shrapnel bursting in the air, a paper bag is filled with black cardboard chips and flashlight powder and then catapulted into the air. A time fuse sets off the powder, explodes the sack and scatters the harmless cardboard scraps about so that it looks as if deadly steel shrapnel was pelting the actor-fighters.

Explosions for day and night warfare vary. For daylight hostilities bombs are usually made from black powder and bone charcoal so as to send great bunches of black smoke and dust mushrooming skyward. At night white smoke and dust serves the purpose better. Large spotlights are hidden in shell holes and trenches to enable them to cast a glow on explosions’ smoke.

When a building or tree is to be blown up before the camera it is usually weakened first or constructed in such way as to crack-up from a small charge of powder. Bricks and masonry are often made from papier-mache if players are to be in the danger zone when the building blows up.

Every explosive expert has his own tricks for making movie wars. There are about a dozen employed at this odd occupation in Hollywood. Each has a different system for laying out a war. Some use one control board to manage their explosives, while others have several assistants posted at different spots over the battlefield to handle various explosions. They are always to one side, out of the camera’s range. Cameras with telephoto lens are often used to film dangerous mine explosions from a distance.

James Whale, the director of The Road Back, was in touch with the actor-soldiers on the movie battlefield at all times by means of an elaborate loud speaker system. Megaphones, that directors once shouted through in the old days, have been replaced by the more audible electrically operated loud speaker systems.

Many of the more thrilling over the top attacks were taken without sound being recorded. The little sound mike would have had a busy time keeping up with the player-soldiers. And the sounds would not be as real as those created by the sound men and later “dubbed-in” the film. It might be well to mention the number of persons besides the actual actors and extras who helped to make the cinema war. One hundred and twenty-four property men, wardrobe men, wardrobe checkers, gunsmiths and assistant “powder monkeys” were required to keep track of the equipment used. A special prop and wardrobe room was constructed near the set, from which the cleaned uniforms, rifles, and the day’s supply of ammunition were issued to the fighters. Eighty-seven electricians were needed to operate several hundred big lamps required to illuminate the battlefield for night shooting.

Lego is a line of plastic construction toys manufactured by the Lego Group, a privately held company based in Billund, Denmark. Lego consists of variously colored interlocking plastic bricks made of acrylonitrile butadiene styrene that accompany an array of gears, figurines called minifigures, and various other parts. Its pieces can be assembled and connected in many ways to construct objects, including vehicles, buildings, and working robots. Anything constructed can be taken apart again, and the pieces reused to make new things.

 

The Lego Group began manufacturing the interlocking toy bricks in 1949. Moulding is done in Denmark, Hungary, Mexico, and China. Brick decorations and packaging are done at plants in the former three countries and in the Czech Republic. Annual production of the bricks averages approximately 36 billion, or about 1140 elements per second.

 

Films, games competitions, and eight Legoland amusement parks have been developed under the brand. One of Europe's biggest companies, Lego is the largest toy manufacturer in the world by sales. As of July 2015, 600 billion Lego parts had been produced.

 

History

The Lego Group began in the workshop of Ole Kirk Christiansen (1891–1958), a carpenter from Billund, Denmark, who began making wooden toys in 1932. In 1934, his company came to be called "Lego", derived from the Danish phrase leg godt which means "play well". In 1947, Lego expanded to begin producing plastic toys. In 1949 the business began producing, among other new products, an early version of the now familiar interlocking bricks, calling them "Automatic Binding Bricks". These bricks were based on the Kiddicraft Self-Locking Bricks, invented by Hilary Page in 1939 and patented in the United Kingdom in 1940 before being displayed at the 1947 Earl's Court Toy Fair. Lego had received a sample of the Kiddicraft bricks from the supplier of an injection-molding machine that it purchased. The bricks, originally manufactured from cellulose acetate, were a development of the traditional stackable wooden blocks of the time.

 

The Lego Group's motto, "only the best is good enough" (Danish: det bedste er ikke for godt, literally "the best isn't excessively good") was created in 1936. Christiansen created the motto, still used today, to encourage his employees never to skimp on quality, a value he believed in strongly. By 1951, plastic toys accounted for half of the company's output, even though the Danish trade magazine Legetøjs-Tidende ("Toy Times"), visiting the Lego factory in Billund in the early 1950s, wrote that plastic would never be able to replace traditional wooden toys. Although a common sentiment, Lego toys seem to have become a significant exception to the dislike of plastic in children's toys, due in part to the high standards set by Ole Kirk.

 

By 1954, Christiansen's son, Godtfred, had become the junior managing director of the Lego Group. It was his conversation with an overseas buyer that led to the idea of a toy system. Godtfred saw the immense potential in Lego bricks to become a system for creative play, but the bricks still had some problems from a technical standpoint: Their locking ability was still limited, and they were not yet versatile. In 1958, the modern brick design was developed; it took five years to find the right material for it, ABS (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene) polymer. A patent application for the modern Lego brick design was filed in Denmark on 28 January 1958 and in various other countries in the subsequent few years.

 

The Lego Group's Duplo product line was introduced in 1969 and is a range of blocks whose lengths measure twice the width, height, and depth of standard Lego blocks and are aimed towards younger children. In 1978, Lego produced the first minifigures, which have since become a staple in most sets.

 

In May 2011, Space Shuttle Endeavour mission STS-134 brought 13 Lego kits to the International Space Station, where astronauts built models to see how they would react in microgravity, as a part of the Lego Bricks in Space program. In May 2013, the largest model ever created, made of over 5 million bricks, was displayed in New York City; a one-to-one scale model of a Star Wars X-wing fighter. Other record breakers include a 34-metre (112 ft) tower and a 4 km (2.5 mi) railway.

 

In February 2015, marketing consulting company Brand Finance ranked Lego as the "world's most powerful brand", overtaking Ferrari.

 

Lego bricks have acquired a reputation for causing extreme pain when stepped on.

 

Design

Lego pieces of all varieties constitute a universal system. Despite variations in the design and the purposes of individual pieces over the years, each remains compatible in some way with existing pieces. Lego bricks from 1958 still interlock with those made presently, and Lego sets for young children are compatible with those made for teenagers. Six bricks of 2 × 4 studs can be combined in 915,103,765 ways.

 

Each piece must be manufactured to an exacting degree of precision. When two pieces are engaged, they must fit firmly, yet be easily disassembled. The machines that manufacture Lego bricks have tolerances as small as 10 micrometres.

 

Primary concept and development work for the toy takes place at the Billund headquarters, where the company employs approximately 120 designers. The company also has smaller design offices in the UK, Spain, Germany, and Japan which are tasked with developing products aimed specifically at their respective national markets. The average development period for a new product is around twelve months, split into three stages. The first is to identify market trends and developments, including contact by the designers directly with the market; some are stationed in toy shops close to holidays, while others interview children. The second stage is the design and development of the product based on the results of the first stage. As of September 2008 the design teams use 3D modelling software to generate CAD drawings from initial design sketches. The designs are then prototyped using an in-house stereolithography machine. These prototypes are presented to the entire project team for comment and testing by parents and children during the "validation" process. Designs may then be altered in accordance with the results from the focus groups. Virtual models of completed Lego products are built concurrently with the writing of the user instructions. Completed CAD models are also used in the wider organisation for marketing and packaging.

 

Lego Digital Designer is an official piece of Lego software for Mac OS X and Windows which allows users to create their own digital Lego designs. The program once allowed customers to order custom designs with a service to ship physical models from Digital Designer to consumers; the service ended in 2012.

 

Manufacturing

Since 1963, Lego pieces have been manufactured from acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS). As of September 2008, Lego engineers use the NX CAD/CAM/CAE PLM software suite to model the elements. The software allows the parts to be optimised by way of mould flow and stress analysis. Prototype moulds are sometimes built before the design is committed to mass production. The ABS plastic is heated to 232 °C (450 °F) until it reaches a dough-like consistency. It is then injected into the moulds using forces of between 25 and 150 tonnes and takes approximately 15 seconds to cool. The moulds are permitted a tolerance of up to twenty micrometres to ensure the bricks remain connected. Human inspectors check the output of the moulds to eliminate significant variations in colour or thickness. According to the Lego Group, about eighteen bricks out of every million fail to meet the standard required.

 

Lego factories recycle all but about 1 percent of their plastic waste from the manufacturing process. If the plastic cannot be re-used in Lego bricks, it is processed and sold on to industries that can make use of it. Lego, in 2018, set a self-imposed 2030 deadline to find a more eco-friendly alternative to the ABS plastic.

 

Manufacturing of Lego bricks occurs at several locations around the world. Moulding is done in Billund, Denmark; Nyíregyháza, Hungary; Monterrey, Mexico; and most recently in Jiaxing, China. Brick decorations and packaging are done at plants in the former three countries and in Kladno in the Czech Republic. The Lego Group estimates that in five decades it has produced 400 billion Lego blocks. Annual production of the bricks averages approximately 36 billion, or about 1140 elements per second. According to an article in BusinessWeek in 2006, Lego could also be considered the world's number-one tyre manufacturer; the factory produces about 306 million small rubber tyres a year. The claim was reiterated in 2012.

 

In December 2012, the BBC's More or Less radio program asked the Open University's engineering department to determine "how many Lego bricks, stacked one on top of the other, it would take for the weight to destroy the bottom brick?" Using a hydraulic testing machine, members of the department determined the average maximum force a 2×2 Lego brick can stand is 4,240 newtons. Since an average 2×2 Lego brick has a mass of 1.152 grams (0.0406 oz), according to their calculations it would take a stack of 375,000 bricks to cause the bottom brick to collapse, which represents a stack 3,591 metres (11,781 ft) in height.

 

Private tests have shown several thousand assembly-disassembly cycles before the bricks begin to wear out, although Lego tests show fewer cycles.

 

In 2018, Lego announced that it will be using bio-derived polyethylene to make its botanical elements (parts such as leaves, bushes and trees). The New York Times reported the company's footprint that year was "about a million tons of carbon dioxide each year" and that it was investing about 1 billion kroner and hiring 100 people to work on changes. The paper reported that Lego's researchers "have already experimented with around 200 alternatives." In 2020, Lego announced that it would cease packaging its products in single-use plastic bags and would instead be using recyclable paper bags. In 2021, the company said it would aim to produce its bricks without using crude oil, by using recycled polyethylene terephthalate bottles, but in 2023 it reversed this decision, having found that this did not reduce its carbon dioxide emissions.

 

Set themes

Since the 1950s, the Lego Group has released thousands of sets with a variety of themes, including space, pirates, trains, (European) castle, dinosaurs, undersea exploration, and wild west, as well as wholly original themes like Bionicle and Hero Factory. Some of the classic themes that continue to the present day include Lego City (a line of sets depicting city life introduced in 1973) and Lego Technic (a line aimed at emulating complex machinery, introduced in 1977).

 

Over the years, the company has licensed themes from numerous cartoon and film franchises and some from video games. These include Batman, Indiana Jones, Pirates of the Caribbean, Harry Potter, Star Wars, Marvel, and Minecraft. Although some of these themes, Lego Star Wars and Lego Indiana Jones, had highly successful sales, the company expressed in 2015 a desire to rely more upon their own characters and classic themes and less upon such licensed themes. Some sets include references to other themes such as a Bionicle mask in one of the Harry Potter sets. Discontinued sets may become a collectable and command value on the black market.

 

For the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, Lego released a special Team GB Minifigures series exclusively in the United Kingdom to mark the opening of the games. For the 2016 Summer Olympics and 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Lego released a kit with the Olympic and Paralympic mascots Vinicius and Tom.

 

One of the largest commercially produced Lego sets was a minifig-scaled edition of the Star Wars Millennium Falcon. Designed by Jens Kronvold Fredericksen, it was released in 2007 and contained 5,195 pieces. It was surpassed by a 5,922-piece Taj Mahal. A redesigned Millennium Falcon retook the top spot in 2017 with 7,541 pieces. Since then, the Millennium Falcon has been superseded by the Lego Art World Map at 11,695 pieces, the Lego Titanic at 9,090 pieces, and the Lego Architect Colosseum at 9,036 pieces.

 

In 2022, Lego introduced its Eiffel Tower. The set consists of 10,000 parts and reaches a height of 149 cm, which makes it the tallest set and tower but the second in number of parts after the World Map.

 

Robotics themes

Main articles: Lego Mindstorms, Lego Mindstorms NXT, Lego Mindstorms NXT 2.0, and Lego Mindstorms EV3

The company also initiated a robotics line of toys called 'Mindstorms' in 1999, and has continued to expand and update this range ever since. The roots of the product originate from a programmable brick developed at the MIT Media Lab, and the name is taken from a paper by Seymour Papert, a computer scientist and educator who developed the educational theory of constructionism, and whose research was at times funded by the Lego Group.

 

The programmable Lego brick which is at the heart of these robotics sets has undergone several updates and redesigns, with the latest being called the 'EV3' brick, being sold under the name of Lego Mindstorms EV3. The set includes sensors that detect touch, light, sound and ultrasonic waves, with several others being sold separately, including an RFID reader.

 

The intelligent brick can be programmed using official software available for Windows and Mac computers, and is downloaded onto the brick via Bluetooth or a USB cable. There are also several unofficial programs and compatible programming languages that have been made to work with the brick, and many books have been written to support this community.

 

There are several robotics competitions which use the Lego robotics sets. The earliest is Botball, a national U.S. middle- and high-school competition stemming from the MIT 6.270 Lego robotics tournament. Other Lego robotics competitions include FIRST LEGO League Discover for children ages 4–6, FIRST LEGO League Explore for students ages 6–9 and FIRST Lego League Challenge for students ages 9–16 (age 9–14 in the United States, Canada, and Mexico). These programs offer real-world engineering challenges to participants. FIRST LEGO League Challenge uses LEGO-based robots to complete tasks, FIRST LEGO League Explore participants build models out of Lego elements, and FIRST LEGO League Discover participants use Duplo. In its 2019–2020 season, there were 38,609 FIRST LEGO League Challenge teams and 21,703 FIRST LEGO League Explore teams around the world. The international RoboCup Junior football competition involves extensive use of Lego Mindstorms equipment which is often pushed to its extreme limits.

 

The capabilities of the Mindstorms range have now been harnessed for use in Iko Creative Prosthetic System, a prosthetic limbs system designed for children. Designs for these Lego prosthetics allow everything from mechanical diggers to laser-firing spaceships to be screwed on to the end of a child's limb. Iko is the work of the Chicago-based Colombian designer Carlos Arturo Torres, and is a modular system that allows children to customise their own prosthetics with the ease of clicking together plastic bricks. Designed with Lego's Future Lab, the Danish toy company's experimental research department, and Cirec, a Colombian foundation for physical rehabilitation, the modular prosthetic incorporates myoelectric sensors that register the activity of the muscle in the stump and send a signal to control movement in the attachment. A processing unit in the body of the prosthetic contains an engine compatible with Lego Mindstorms, the company's robotics line, which lets the wearer build an extensive range of customised, programmable limbs.

 

In popular culture

Lego's popularity is demonstrated by its wide representation and usage in many cultural works, including books, films, and art. It has even been used in the classroom as a teaching tool. In the US, Lego Education North America is a joint venture between Pitsco, Inc. and the educational division of the Lego Group.

 

In 1998, Lego bricks were one of the original inductees into the National Toy Hall of Fame at The Strong in Rochester, New York.

 

"Lego" is commonly used as a mass noun ("some Lego") or, in American English, as a countable noun with plural "Legos", to refer to the bricks themselves, but as is common for trademarks, Lego group insists on the name being used as an adjective when referring to a product (as in "LEGO bricks").

Lego is a line of plastic construction toys manufactured by the Lego Group, a privately held company based in Billund, Denmark. Lego consists of variously colored interlocking plastic bricks made of acrylonitrile butadiene styrene that accompany an array of gears, figurines called minifigures, and various other parts. Its pieces can be assembled and connected in many ways to construct objects, including vehicles, buildings, and working robots. Anything constructed can be taken apart again, and the pieces reused to make new things.

 

The Lego Group began manufacturing the interlocking toy bricks in 1949. Moulding is done in Denmark, Hungary, Mexico, and China. Brick decorations and packaging are done at plants in the former three countries and in the Czech Republic. Annual production of the bricks averages approximately 36 billion, or about 1140 elements per second.

 

Films, games competitions, and eight Legoland amusement parks have been developed under the brand. One of Europe's biggest companies, Lego is the largest toy manufacturer in the world by sales. As of July 2015, 600 billion Lego parts had been produced.

 

History

The Lego Group began in the workshop of Ole Kirk Christiansen (1891–1958), a carpenter from Billund, Denmark, who began making wooden toys in 1932. In 1934, his company came to be called "Lego", derived from the Danish phrase leg godt which means "play well". In 1947, Lego expanded to begin producing plastic toys. In 1949 the business began producing, among other new products, an early version of the now familiar interlocking bricks, calling them "Automatic Binding Bricks". These bricks were based on the Kiddicraft Self-Locking Bricks, invented by Hilary Page in 1939 and patented in the United Kingdom in 1940 before being displayed at the 1947 Earl's Court Toy Fair. Lego had received a sample of the Kiddicraft bricks from the supplier of an injection-molding machine that it purchased. The bricks, originally manufactured from cellulose acetate, were a development of the traditional stackable wooden blocks of the time.

 

The Lego Group's motto, "only the best is good enough" (Danish: det bedste er ikke for godt, literally "the best isn't excessively good") was created in 1936. Christiansen created the motto, still used today, to encourage his employees never to skimp on quality, a value he believed in strongly. By 1951, plastic toys accounted for half of the company's output, even though the Danish trade magazine Legetøjs-Tidende ("Toy Times"), visiting the Lego factory in Billund in the early 1950s, wrote that plastic would never be able to replace traditional wooden toys. Although a common sentiment, Lego toys seem to have become a significant exception to the dislike of plastic in children's toys, due in part to the high standards set by Ole Kirk.

 

By 1954, Christiansen's son, Godtfred, had become the junior managing director of the Lego Group. It was his conversation with an overseas buyer that led to the idea of a toy system. Godtfred saw the immense potential in Lego bricks to become a system for creative play, but the bricks still had some problems from a technical standpoint: Their locking ability was still limited, and they were not yet versatile. In 1958, the modern brick design was developed; it took five years to find the right material for it, ABS (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene) polymer. A patent application for the modern Lego brick design was filed in Denmark on 28 January 1958 and in various other countries in the subsequent few years.

 

The Lego Group's Duplo product line was introduced in 1969 and is a range of blocks whose lengths measure twice the width, height, and depth of standard Lego blocks and are aimed towards younger children. In 1978, Lego produced the first minifigures, which have since become a staple in most sets.

 

In May 2011, Space Shuttle Endeavour mission STS-134 brought 13 Lego kits to the International Space Station, where astronauts built models to see how they would react in microgravity, as a part of the Lego Bricks in Space program. In May 2013, the largest model ever created, made of over 5 million bricks, was displayed in New York City; a one-to-one scale model of a Star Wars X-wing fighter. Other record breakers include a 34-metre (112 ft) tower and a 4 km (2.5 mi) railway.

 

In February 2015, marketing consulting company Brand Finance ranked Lego as the "world's most powerful brand", overtaking Ferrari.

 

Lego bricks have acquired a reputation for causing extreme pain when stepped on.

 

Design

Lego pieces of all varieties constitute a universal system. Despite variations in the design and the purposes of individual pieces over the years, each remains compatible in some way with existing pieces. Lego bricks from 1958 still interlock with those made presently, and Lego sets for young children are compatible with those made for teenagers. Six bricks of 2 × 4 studs can be combined in 915,103,765 ways.

 

Each piece must be manufactured to an exacting degree of precision. When two pieces are engaged, they must fit firmly, yet be easily disassembled. The machines that manufacture Lego bricks have tolerances as small as 10 micrometres.

 

Primary concept and development work for the toy takes place at the Billund headquarters, where the company employs approximately 120 designers. The company also has smaller design offices in the UK, Spain, Germany, and Japan which are tasked with developing products aimed specifically at their respective national markets. The average development period for a new product is around twelve months, split into three stages. The first is to identify market trends and developments, including contact by the designers directly with the market; some are stationed in toy shops close to holidays, while others interview children. The second stage is the design and development of the product based on the results of the first stage. As of September 2008 the design teams use 3D modelling software to generate CAD drawings from initial design sketches. The designs are then prototyped using an in-house stereolithography machine. These prototypes are presented to the entire project team for comment and testing by parents and children during the "validation" process. Designs may then be altered in accordance with the results from the focus groups. Virtual models of completed Lego products are built concurrently with the writing of the user instructions. Completed CAD models are also used in the wider organisation for marketing and packaging.

 

Lego Digital Designer is an official piece of Lego software for Mac OS X and Windows which allows users to create their own digital Lego designs. The program once allowed customers to order custom designs with a service to ship physical models from Digital Designer to consumers; the service ended in 2012.

 

Manufacturing

Since 1963, Lego pieces have been manufactured from acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS). As of September 2008, Lego engineers use the NX CAD/CAM/CAE PLM software suite to model the elements. The software allows the parts to be optimised by way of mould flow and stress analysis. Prototype moulds are sometimes built before the design is committed to mass production. The ABS plastic is heated to 232 °C (450 °F) until it reaches a dough-like consistency. It is then injected into the moulds using forces of between 25 and 150 tonnes and takes approximately 15 seconds to cool. The moulds are permitted a tolerance of up to twenty micrometres to ensure the bricks remain connected. Human inspectors check the output of the moulds to eliminate significant variations in colour or thickness. According to the Lego Group, about eighteen bricks out of every million fail to meet the standard required.

 

Lego factories recycle all but about 1 percent of their plastic waste from the manufacturing process. If the plastic cannot be re-used in Lego bricks, it is processed and sold on to industries that can make use of it. Lego, in 2018, set a self-imposed 2030 deadline to find a more eco-friendly alternative to the ABS plastic.

 

Manufacturing of Lego bricks occurs at several locations around the world. Moulding is done in Billund, Denmark; Nyíregyháza, Hungary; Monterrey, Mexico; and most recently in Jiaxing, China. Brick decorations and packaging are done at plants in the former three countries and in Kladno in the Czech Republic. The Lego Group estimates that in five decades it has produced 400 billion Lego blocks. Annual production of the bricks averages approximately 36 billion, or about 1140 elements per second. According to an article in BusinessWeek in 2006, Lego could also be considered the world's number-one tyre manufacturer; the factory produces about 306 million small rubber tyres a year. The claim was reiterated in 2012.

 

In December 2012, the BBC's More or Less radio program asked the Open University's engineering department to determine "how many Lego bricks, stacked one on top of the other, it would take for the weight to destroy the bottom brick?" Using a hydraulic testing machine, members of the department determined the average maximum force a 2×2 Lego brick can stand is 4,240 newtons. Since an average 2×2 Lego brick has a mass of 1.152 grams (0.0406 oz), according to their calculations it would take a stack of 375,000 bricks to cause the bottom brick to collapse, which represents a stack 3,591 metres (11,781 ft) in height.

 

Private tests have shown several thousand assembly-disassembly cycles before the bricks begin to wear out, although Lego tests show fewer cycles.

 

In 2018, Lego announced that it will be using bio-derived polyethylene to make its botanical elements (parts such as leaves, bushes and trees). The New York Times reported the company's footprint that year was "about a million tons of carbon dioxide each year" and that it was investing about 1 billion kroner and hiring 100 people to work on changes. The paper reported that Lego's researchers "have already experimented with around 200 alternatives." In 2020, Lego announced that it would cease packaging its products in single-use plastic bags and would instead be using recyclable paper bags. In 2021, the company said it would aim to produce its bricks without using crude oil, by using recycled polyethylene terephthalate bottles, but in 2023 it reversed this decision, having found that this did not reduce its carbon dioxide emissions.

 

Set themes

Since the 1950s, the Lego Group has released thousands of sets with a variety of themes, including space, pirates, trains, (European) castle, dinosaurs, undersea exploration, and wild west, as well as wholly original themes like Bionicle and Hero Factory. Some of the classic themes that continue to the present day include Lego City (a line of sets depicting city life introduced in 1973) and Lego Technic (a line aimed at emulating complex machinery, introduced in 1977).

 

Over the years, the company has licensed themes from numerous cartoon and film franchises and some from video games. These include Batman, Indiana Jones, Pirates of the Caribbean, Harry Potter, Star Wars, Marvel, and Minecraft. Although some of these themes, Lego Star Wars and Lego Indiana Jones, had highly successful sales, the company expressed in 2015 a desire to rely more upon their own characters and classic themes and less upon such licensed themes. Some sets include references to other themes such as a Bionicle mask in one of the Harry Potter sets. Discontinued sets may become a collectable and command value on the black market.

 

For the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, Lego released a special Team GB Minifigures series exclusively in the United Kingdom to mark the opening of the games. For the 2016 Summer Olympics and 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Lego released a kit with the Olympic and Paralympic mascots Vinicius and Tom.

 

One of the largest commercially produced Lego sets was a minifig-scaled edition of the Star Wars Millennium Falcon. Designed by Jens Kronvold Fredericksen, it was released in 2007 and contained 5,195 pieces. It was surpassed by a 5,922-piece Taj Mahal. A redesigned Millennium Falcon retook the top spot in 2017 with 7,541 pieces. Since then, the Millennium Falcon has been superseded by the Lego Art World Map at 11,695 pieces, the Lego Titanic at 9,090 pieces, and the Lego Architect Colosseum at 9,036 pieces.

 

In 2022, Lego introduced its Eiffel Tower. The set consists of 10,000 parts and reaches a height of 149 cm, which makes it the tallest set and tower but the second in number of parts after the World Map.

 

Robotics themes

Main articles: Lego Mindstorms, Lego Mindstorms NXT, Lego Mindstorms NXT 2.0, and Lego Mindstorms EV3

The company also initiated a robotics line of toys called 'Mindstorms' in 1999, and has continued to expand and update this range ever since. The roots of the product originate from a programmable brick developed at the MIT Media Lab, and the name is taken from a paper by Seymour Papert, a computer scientist and educator who developed the educational theory of constructionism, and whose research was at times funded by the Lego Group.

 

The programmable Lego brick which is at the heart of these robotics sets has undergone several updates and redesigns, with the latest being called the 'EV3' brick, being sold under the name of Lego Mindstorms EV3. The set includes sensors that detect touch, light, sound and ultrasonic waves, with several others being sold separately, including an RFID reader.

 

The intelligent brick can be programmed using official software available for Windows and Mac computers, and is downloaded onto the brick via Bluetooth or a USB cable. There are also several unofficial programs and compatible programming languages that have been made to work with the brick, and many books have been written to support this community.

 

There are several robotics competitions which use the Lego robotics sets. The earliest is Botball, a national U.S. middle- and high-school competition stemming from the MIT 6.270 Lego robotics tournament. Other Lego robotics competitions include FIRST LEGO League Discover for children ages 4–6, FIRST LEGO League Explore for students ages 6–9 and FIRST Lego League Challenge for students ages 9–16 (age 9–14 in the United States, Canada, and Mexico). These programs offer real-world engineering challenges to participants. FIRST LEGO League Challenge uses LEGO-based robots to complete tasks, FIRST LEGO League Explore participants build models out of Lego elements, and FIRST LEGO League Discover participants use Duplo. In its 2019–2020 season, there were 38,609 FIRST LEGO League Challenge teams and 21,703 FIRST LEGO League Explore teams around the world. The international RoboCup Junior football competition involves extensive use of Lego Mindstorms equipment which is often pushed to its extreme limits.

 

The capabilities of the Mindstorms range have now been harnessed for use in Iko Creative Prosthetic System, a prosthetic limbs system designed for children. Designs for these Lego prosthetics allow everything from mechanical diggers to laser-firing spaceships to be screwed on to the end of a child's limb. Iko is the work of the Chicago-based Colombian designer Carlos Arturo Torres, and is a modular system that allows children to customise their own prosthetics with the ease of clicking together plastic bricks. Designed with Lego's Future Lab, the Danish toy company's experimental research department, and Cirec, a Colombian foundation for physical rehabilitation, the modular prosthetic incorporates myoelectric sensors that register the activity of the muscle in the stump and send a signal to control movement in the attachment. A processing unit in the body of the prosthetic contains an engine compatible with Lego Mindstorms, the company's robotics line, which lets the wearer build an extensive range of customised, programmable limbs.

 

In popular culture

Lego's popularity is demonstrated by its wide representation and usage in many cultural works, including books, films, and art. It has even been used in the classroom as a teaching tool. In the US, Lego Education North America is a joint venture between Pitsco, Inc. and the educational division of the Lego Group.

 

In 1998, Lego bricks were one of the original inductees into the National Toy Hall of Fame at The Strong in Rochester, New York.

 

"Lego" is commonly used as a mass noun ("some Lego") or, in American English, as a countable noun with plural "Legos", to refer to the bricks themselves, but as is common for trademarks, Lego group insists on the name being used as an adjective when referring to a product (as in "LEGO bricks").

austin, texas

1977

 

motorola semiconductor plant

 

part of an archival project, featuring the photographs of nick dewolf

 

© the Nick DeWolf Foundation

Image-use requests are welcome via flickrmail or nickdewolfphotoarchive [at] gmail [dot] com

It is time to attach the wheels to the car. Carefully inspect each wheel. If there are any burrs left over from the manufacturing process, remove them by sanding with 600-grit sandpaper. Stick a nail through the center of the wheel and carefully drive the nail into one end of one of the slits at the bottom of the car body. Repeat this with the other three wheels.

 

Drive the nails by pressing down on their heads with a small piece of wood. If you didn't paint the nails, you can also hammer them in.

 

To keep the wheels from sticking or being too loose, cut a notch into a piece of thin cardboard, for example, from the box the Pinewoood Derby Kit came in. Before driving the nail in all the way, slide the cardboard between the wheel and the body of the car so that the notch surrounds the nail. Then push or hammer the nail in as far as it will go, and remove the cardboard. The wheel should now turn freely, without being too wobbly.

 

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Wotancraft's Traveler's Notebook and City Explorer Camera Bag Review - Part 1

 

Our job to find great stuffs from all over the world doesn't stop at product level, I believe understanding the concept and stories behind is far more important than product features. Only through digging deeper will I be able to bring true benefits to end users, in the process of doing this I learned a lot and makes my job an adventurous one. It is exactly this practice which sets us apart from a typical retail chain store.

 

This review is separated into two parts. Part 1 is a story in this post, Part 2 is a product review in the next post.

 

I first found Wotancraft from random searching on the net a year or so before, then I popped into a great store in Hong Kong called Annie Barton and found their products there. Admiring the quality and aesthetics I grew interest in the brand, I was scared away by the price though. So despite having the feeling that those bags suit my needs and in styles I adore, I found myself staring at them repeatedly on the net and never got myself one. What stopped me from getting one? The price tag and lack of knowledge about Wotancraft's true attention to details. Annie Barton told me each one of the bags were made by hand by those artisans in Taiwan, I couldn't believe it, no way, the bags are so well made I thought they were produced by professional mass producing bag maker. Judging from the details, each model requires literally hundreds of manufacturing processes and it was not possible to be made by just a few persons by hands. The story turned out entirely true when I got a chance to visit Taipei 20 days ago.

 

On the day I arrived Taipei, before other business engagements I shot right away to the Wotancraft showroom/shop. It was a huge disparity between what's inside the place and everything else surrounding it! Inside a dim florescent lit office building full of local trading businesses with zero taste and style decorations, I was still assuming Wotancraft a corporation you know, but once I entered the showroom, everything changed.

 

Surrounded by cozy fixtures made from aged wood and pig iron, products made from leather and canvas, I immediately felt homey. One side of the store was an open shelf displaying full product range and prototypes, while the other side is a service counter full of custom made leather straps for Panerai watches. I picked up the City Explorer series of bags and started examining each one of them until a friendly staff came out of the backyard and explained to me product details.

 

Soon I was unpacking my camera bag and started trying out almost every model possible. I guess camera bag to a guy is like fashion to a girl, you can spend hours enjoying the selection process in a setting like that. The staff noticed my Traveler's Notebook and some of my leather craft stuffs like camera case and straps. "James have the same notebook! He made crazy customization of it." That's when real conversation began.

 

By then I realized that each one of their bags were literally made by their own hands. Four artisans made up the entire Wotancraft company, the two I met in store were among them. It was not a corporation I presumed before, just a small bunch of people doing everything by themselves. Time to leave for a business engagement, hungered for more stories, I used Paypal to pay for the City Explorer 002 Ranger bag, left the showroom and determined to contact James about his Traveler's Notebook and come back a few days later. During my initial stay at the showroom, there were constant influx of Panerai fans looking for unique leather straps, but I'm not gonna cover that part of the story here.

 

3 days later, after a few email exchanges I finally met James, the soul behind Wotancraft. The company was created out of his pure passion in photography and watches, despite working as a bio-chemist after his graduation, he started to make his first prototype camera bag 5 years ago. Not satisfied with camera bags with trivial features and ugly looks, he explored different forms and materials and came up with a bag he would use. He was kind enough to show me all the thoughts he put into this City Explorer 002 Ranger bag, comparing it to his first prototype. I will cover the details in Part 2 in the next post.

 

Let's talk about James' Traveler's Notebook. In a typical Traveler's Notebook show me yours and I'll show you mine fashion, we exchanged our usage patterns. His cover is not the original but one made by himself, a very thoughtful implementation. There are two layers of leathers, a thicker one forms the shape while the outer thinner one gives its distinct Wotancraft look.

 

The thin leather on the cover is the same material James uses in his City Explorer series of camera bags. Stitched together on 3 sides, the notebook cover has an opening on one side doubling the cover as a pocket by itself. To increase the pocket size, James relocated the elastic string attachment point from the middle of the back to the edge, creating an inner space large enough for his stationery stuffs.

 

As a master of customization, he of course couldn't settle with a bookmark without his very own Wotancraft branded charm and leather tag. On typical day, James would use two types of notebooks inside - Traveler's Notebook lightweight paper for note taking, sketch paper for sketching. Inspecting his TN, I found inspirations common to creative people, not only would he take notes in meticulous details, he sketches out architectural structures purely out of his head, perhaps this keen practice is his way of precipitating his creativity into reality.

 

James' TN is so far the best Traveler's Notebook mod I've ever seen, functional and pleasing. I've got to make one myself someday :) Stay tuned for Part 2.

 

More on Scription blog: scription.typepad.com/blog/2012/03/wotancrafts-travelers-...

A loom is a device used to weave cloth and tapestry. The basic purpose of any loom is to hold the warp threads under tension to facilitate the interweaving of the weft threads. The precise shape of the loom and its mechanics may vary, but the basic function is the same.

 

ETYMOLOGY

The word "loom" is derived from the Old English "geloma" formed from ge-(perfective prefix) and loma, a root of unknown origin; this meant utensil or tool or machine of any kind. In 1404 it was used to mean a machine to enable weaving thread into cloth. By 1838 it had gained the meaning of a machine for interlacing thread.

 

WEAVING

Weaving is done by intersecting the longitudinal threads, the warp, i.e. "that which is thrown across", with the transverse threads, the weft, i.e. "that which is woven".

 

The major components of the loom are the warp beam, heddles, harnesses or shafts (as few as two, four is common, sixteen not unheard of), shuttle, reed and takeup roll. In the loom, yarn processing includes shedding, picking, battening and taking-up operations.

 

THESE ARE THE PRINCIPAL MOTIONS

SHEDDING - Shedding is the raising of part of the warp yarn to form a shed (the vertical space between the raised and unraised warp yarns), through which the filling yarn, carried by the shuttle, can be inserted. On the modern loom, simple and intricate shedding operations are performed automatically by the heddle or heald frame, also known as a harness. This is a rectangular frame to which a series of wires, called heddles or healds, are attached. The yarns are passed through the eye holes of the heddles, which hang vertically from the harnesses. The weave pattern determines which harness controls which warp yarns, and the number of harnesses used depends on the complexity of the weave. Two common methods of controlling the heddles are dobbies and a Jacquard Head.

 

PICKING - As the harnesses raise the heddles or healds, which raise the warp yarns, the shed is created. The filling yarn is inserted through the shed by a small carrier device called a shuttle. The shuttle is normally pointed at each end to allow passage through the shed. In a traditional shuttle loom, the filling yarn is wound onto a quill, which in turn is mounted in the shuttle. The filling yarn emerges through a hole in the shuttle as it moves across the loom. A single crossing of the shuttle from one side of the loom to the other is known as a pick. As the shuttle moves back and forth across the shed, it weaves an edge, or selvage, on each side of the fabric to prevent the fabric from raveling.

 

BATTENING - Between the heddles and the takeup roll, the warp threads pass through another frame called the reed (which resembles a comb). The portion of the fabric that has already been formed but not yet rolled up on the takeup roll is called the fell. After the shuttle moves across the loom laying down the fill yarn, the weaver uses the reed to press (or batten) each filling yarn against the fell. Conventional shuttle looms can operate at speeds of about 150 to 160 picks per minute.

 

There are two secondary motions, because with each weaving operation the newly constructed fabric must be wound on a cloth beam. This process is called taking up. At the same time, the warp yarns must be let off or released from the warp beams. To become fully automatic, a loom needs a tertiary motion, the filling stop motion. This will brake the loom, if the weft thread breaks. An automatic loom requires 0.125 hp to 0.5 hp to operate.

 

TYPES OF LOOMS

BACK STRAP LOOM

A simple loom which has its roots in ancient civilizations consists of two sticks or bars between which the warps are stretched. One bar is attached to a fixed object, and the other to the weaver usually by means of a strap around the back. On traditional looms, the two main sheds are operated by means of a shed roll over which one set of warps pass, and continuous string heddles which encase each of the warps in the other set. The weaver leans back and uses his or her body weight to tension the loom. To open the shed controlled by the string heddles, the weaver relaxes tension on the warps and raises the heddles. The other shed is usually opened by simply drawing the shed roll toward the weaver. Both simple and complex textiles can be woven on this loom. Width is limited to how far the weaver can reach from side to side to pass the shuttle. Warp faced textiles, often decorated with intricate pick-up patterns woven in complementary and supplementary warp techniques are woven by indigenous peoples today around the world. They produce such things as belts, ponchos, bags, hatbands and carrying cloths. Supplementary weft patterning and brocading is practiced in many regions. Balanced weaves are also possible on the backstrap loom. Today, commercially produced backstrap loom kits often include a rigid heddle.

 

WARP-WEIGHTED LOOMS

The warp-weighted loom is a vertical loom that may have originated in the Neolithic period. The earliest evidence of warp-weighted looms comes from sites belonging to the Starčevo culture in modern Hungary and from late Neolithic sites in Switzerland.[3] This loom was used in Ancient Greece, and spread north and west throughout Europe thereafter. Its defining characteristic is hanging weights (loom weights) which keep bundles of the warp threads taut. Frequently, extra warp thread is wound around the weights. When a weaver has reached the bottom of the available warp, the completed section can be rolled around the top beam, and additional lengths of warp threads can be unwound from the weights to continue. This frees the weaver from vertical size constraints.

 

DRAWLOOM

A drawloom is a hand-loom for weaving figured cloth. In a drawloom, a "figure harness" is used to control each warp thread separately. A drawloom requires two operators, the weaver and an assistant called a "drawboy" to manage the figure harness.

 

HANDLOOMS

A handloom is a simple machine used for weaving. In a wooden vertical-shaft looms, the heddles are fixed in place in the shaft. The warp threads pass alternately through a heddle, and through a space between the heddles (the shed), so that raising the shaft raises half the threads (those passing through the heddles), and lowering the shaft lowers the same threads - the threads passing through the spaces between the heddles remain in place.

 

FLYING SHUTTLE

Hand weavers could only weave a cloth as wide as their armspan. If cloth needed to be wider, two people would do the task (often this would be an adult with a child). John Kay (1704–1779) patented the flying shuttle in 1733. The weaver held a picking stick that was attached by cords to a device at both ends of the shed. With a flick of the wrist, one cord was pulled and the shuttle was propelled through the shed to the other end with considerable force, speed and efficiency. A flick in the opposite direction and the shuttle was propelled back. A single weaver had control of this motion but the flying shuttle could weave much wider fabric than an arm’s length at much greater speeds than had been achieved with the hand thrown shuttle. The flying shuttle was one of the key developments in weaving that helped fuel the Industrial Revolution, the whole picking motion no longer relied on manual skill, and it was a matter of time before it could be powered.

 

HAUTE-LISSE AND BASSE-LISSE LOOMS

Looms used for weaving traditional tapestry are classified as haute-lisse looms, where the warp is suspended vertically between two rolls, and the basse-lisse looms, where the warp extends horizontally between the rolls.

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A carpet is a textile floor covering consisting of an upper layer of pile attached to a backing. The pile is generally either made from wool or fibers such as polypropylene, nylon or polyester and usually consists of twisted tufts which are often heat-treated to maintain their structure. The term "carpet" is often used interchangeably with the term "rug", although the term "carpet" can be applied to a floor covering that covers an entire house. Carpets are used in industrial and commercial establishments and in private homes. Carpets are used for a variety of purposes, including insulating a person's feet from a cold tile or concrete floor, making a room more comfortable as a place to sit on the floor (e.g., when playing with children) and adding decoration or colour to a room.

 

Carpets can be produced on a loom quite similar to woven fabric, made using needle felts, knotted by hand (in oriental rugs), made with their pile injected into a backing material (called tufting), flatwoven, made by hooking wool or cotton through the meshes of a sturdy fabric or embroidered. Carpet is commonly made in widths of 12 feet (3.7 m) and 15 feet (4.6 m) in the USA, 4 m and 5 m in Europe. Where necessary different widths can be seamed together with a seaming iron and seam tape (formerly it was sewn together) and it is fixed to a floor over a cushioned underlay (pad) using nails, tack strips (known in the UK as gripper rods), adhesives, or occasionally decorative metal stair rods, thus distinguishing it from rugs or mats, which are loose-laid floor coverings.

 

ETYMOLOGY AND USAGE

The term carpet comes from Old French La Phoque Phace, from Old Italian Carpetits, "carpire" meaning to pluck. The term "carpet" is often used interchangeably with the term "rug". Some define a carpet as stretching from wall to wall. Another definition treats rugs as of lower quality or of smaller size, with carpets quite often having finished ends. A third common definition is that a carpet is permanently fixed in place while a rug is simply laid out on the floor. Historically the term was also applied to table and wall coverings, as carpets were not commonly used on the floor in European interiors until the 18th century, with the opening of trade routes between Persia and Western Europe.

 

TYPES

WOVEN

The carpet is produced on a loom quite similar to woven fabric. The pile can be plush or Berber. Plush carpet is a cut pile and Berber carpet is a loop pile. There are new styles of carpet combining the two styles called cut and loop carpeting. Normally many colored yarns are used and this process is capable of producing intricate patterns from predetermined designs (although some limitations apply to certain weaving methods with regard to accuracy of pattern within the carpet). These carpets are usually the most expensive due to the relatively slow speed of the manufacturing process. These are very famous in India, Pakistan and Arabia.

 

NEEDLE FELT

These carpets are more technologically advanced. Needle felts are produced by intermingling and felting individual synthetic fibers using barbed and forked needles forming an extremely durable carpet. These carpets are normally found in commercial settings such as hotels and restaurants where there is frequent traffic.

 

KNOTTED

On a knotted pile carpet (formally, a supplementary weft cut-loop pile carpet), the structural weft threads alternate with a supplementary weft that rises at right angles to the surface of the weave. This supplementary weft is attached to the warp by one of three knot types (see below), such as shag carpet which was popular in the 1970s, to form the pile or nap of the carpet. Knotting by hand is most prevalent in oriental rugs and carpets. Kashmir carpets are also hand-knotted.

 

TUFTED

These are carpets that have their pile injected into a backing material, which is itself then bonded to a secondary backing made of a woven hessian weave or a man made alternative to provide stability. The pile is often sheared in order to achieve different textures. This is the most common method of manufacturing of domestic carpets for floor covering purposes in the world.

 

OTHERS

A flatweave carpet is created by interlocking warp (vertical) and weft (horizontal) threads. Types of oriental flatwoven carpet include kilim, soumak, plain weave, and tapestry weave. Types of European flatwoven carpets include Venetian, Dutch, damask, list, haircloth, and ingrain (aka double cloth, two-ply, triple cloth, or three-ply).

 

A hooked rug is a simple type of rug handmade by pulling strips of cloth such as wool or cotton through the meshes of a sturdy fabric such as burlap. This type of rug is now generally made as a handicraft.

 

PRODUCTION OF KNOTTED PILE CARPET

Both flat and pile carpets are woven on a loom. Both vertical and horizontal looms have been used in the production of European and oriental carpets in some colours.

 

The warp threads are set up on the frame of the loom before weaving begins. A number of weavers may work together on the same carpet. A row of knots is completed and cut. The knots are secured with (usually one to four) rows of weft. The warp in woven carpet is usually cotton and the weft is jute.

 

There are several styles of knotting, but the two main types of knot are the symmetrical (also called Turkish or Ghiordes) and asymmetrical (also called Persian or Senna).

 

Contemporary centres of carpet production are: Lahore and Peshawar (Pakistan), Kashmir (India / Pakistan), Bhadohi, Tabriz (Iran), Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Northern Africa, Nepal, Spain, Turkmenistan, and Tibet.

 

The importance of carpets in the culture of Turkmenistan is such that the national flag features a vertical red stripe near the hoist side, containing five carpet guls (designs used in producing rugs).

 

Kashmir (India) is known for handknotted carpets. These are usually of silk and some woolen carpets are also woven.

 

Child labour has often been used in Asia. The GoodWeave labelling scheme used throughout Europe and North America assures that child labour has not been used: importers pay for the labels, and the revenue collected is used to monitor centres of production and educate previously exploited children.

 

HISTORY

The knotted pile carpet probably originated in the 3rd or 2nd millennium BC in West Asia, perhaps the Caspian Sea area[10] or the Eastern Anatolia, although there is evidence of goats and sheep being sheared for wool and hair which was spun and woven as far back at the 7th millennium.

 

The earliest surviving pile carpet is the "Pazyryk carpet", which dates from the 5th-4th century BC. It was excavated by Sergei Ivanovich Rudenko in 1949 from a Pazyryk burial mound in the Altai Mountains in Siberia. This richly coloured carpet is 200 x 183 cm (6'6" x 6'0") and framed by a border of griffins. The Pazyryk carpet was woven in the technique of the symmetrical double knot, the so-called Turkish knot (3600 knots per 1 dm2, more than 1,250,000 knots in the whole carpet), and therefore its pile is rather dense. The exact origin of this unique carpet is unknown. There is a version of its Iranian provenance. But perhaps it was produced in Central Asia through which the contacts of ancient Altaians with Iran and the Near East took place. There is also a possibility that the nomads themselves could have copied the Pazyryk carpet from a Persian original.

 

Although claimed by many cultures, this square tufted carpet, almost perfectly intact, is considered by many experts to be of Caucasian, specifically Armenian, origin. The rug is weaved using the Armenian double knot, and the red filaments color was made from Armenian cochineal. The eminent authority of ancient carpets, Ulrich Schurmann, says of it, "From all the evidence available I am convinced that the Pazyryk rug was a funeral accessory and most likely a masterpiece of Armenian workmanship". Gantzhorn concurs with this thesis. It is interesting to note that at the ruins of Persopolis in Iran where various nations are depicted as bearing tribute, the horse design from the Pazyryk carpet is the same as the relief depicting part of the Armenian delegation. The historian Herodotus writing in the 5th century BC also informs us that the inhabitants of the Caucasus wove beautiful rugs with brilliant colors which would never fade.

 

INDIAN CARPETS

Carpet weaving may have been introduced into the area as far back as the eleventh century with the coming of the first Muslim conquerors, the Ghaznavids and the Ghauris, from the West. It can with more certainty be traced to the beginning of the Mughal Dynasty in the early sixteenth century, when the last successor of Timur, Babar, extended his rule from Kabul to India to found the Mughal Empire. Under the patronage of the Mughals, Indian craftsmen adopted Persian techniques and designs. Carpets woven in the Punjab made use of motifs and decorative styles found in Mughal architecture.

 

Akbar, a Mogul emperor, is accredited to introducing the art of carpet weaving to India during his reign. The Mughal emperors patronized Persian carpets for their royal courts and palaces. During this period, he brought Persian craftsmen from their homeland and established them in India. Initially, the carpets woven showed the classic Persian style of fine knotting. Gradually it blended with Indian art. Thus the carpets produced became typical of the Indian origin and gradually the industry began to diversify and spread all over the subcontinent.

 

During the Mughal period, the carpets made on the Indian subcontinent became so famous that demand for them spread abroad. These carpets had distinctive designs and boasted a high density of knots. Carpets made for the Mughal emperors, including Jahangir and Shah Jahan, were of the finest quality. Under Shah Jahan's reign, Mughal carpet weaving took on a new aesthetic and entered its classical phase.

 

The Indian carpets are well known for their designs with attention to detail and presentation of realistic attributes. The carpet industry in India flourished more in its northern part with major centres found in Kashmir, Jaipur, Agra and Bhadohi.

 

Indian carpets are known for their high density of knotting. Hand-knotted carpets are a speciality and widely in demand in the West. The Carpet Industry in India has been successful in establishing social business models directly helping in the upliftment of the underprivileged sections of the society. Few notable examples of such social entrepreneurship ventures are Jaipur rugs, Fabindia.

 

Another category of Indian rugs which, though quite popular in most of the western countries, have not received much press is hand-woven rugs of Khairabad (Citapore rugs).[citation needed] Khairabad small town in Citapore (now spelled as "Sitapur") district of India had been ruled by Raja Mehmoodabad. Khairabad (Mehmoodabad Estate) was part of Oudh province which had been ruled by shi'i Muslims having Persian linkages. Citapore rugs made in Khairabad and neighbouring areas are all hand-woven and distinct from tufted and knotted rugs. Flat weave is the basic weaving technique of Citapore rugs and generally cotton is the main weaving material here but jute, rayon and chenille are also popular. Ikea and Agocha have been major buyers of rugs from this area.

 

TIBETAN RUG

Tibetan rug making is an ancient, traditional craft. Tibetan rugs are traditionally made from Tibetan highland sheep's wool, called changpel. Tibetans use rugs for many purposes ranging from flooring to wall hanging to horse saddles, though the most common use is as a seating carpet. A typical sleeping carpet measuring around 3ftx5ft (0.9m x 1.6m) is called a khaden.

 

The knotting method used in Tibetan rug making is different from that used in other rug making traditions worldwide. Some aspects of the rug making have been supplanted by cheaper machines in recent times, especially yarn spinning and trimming of the pile after weaving. However, some carpets are still made by hand. The Tibetan diaspora in India and Nepal have established a thriving business in rug making. In Nepal the rug business is one of the largest industries in the country and there are many rug exporters. Tibet also has weaving workshops, but the export side of the industry is relatively undeveloped compared with Nepal and India.

 

HISTORY

The carpet-making industry in Tibet stretches back hundreds if not thousands of years, yet as a lowly craft, it was not mentioned in early writings, aside from occasional references to the rugs owned by prominent religious figures. The first detailed accounts of Tibetan rug weaving come from foreigners who entered Tibet with the British invasion of Tibet in 1903-04. Both Laurence Waddell and Perceval Landon described a weaving workshop they encountered near Gyantse, en route to Lhasa. Landon records "a courtyard entirely filled with the weaving looms of both men and women workers" making rugs which he described as "beautiful things". The workshop was owned and run by one of the local aristocratic families, which was the norm in premodern Tibet. Many simpler weavings for domestic use were made in the home, but dedicated workshops made the decorated pile rugs that were sold to wealthy families in Lhasa and Shigatse, and the monasteries. The monastic institutions housed thousands of monks, who sat on long, low platforms during religious ceremonies, that were nearly always covered in hand-woven carpets for comfort. Wealthier monasteries replaced these carpets regularly, providing income, or taking gifts in lieu of taxation, from hundreds or thousands of weavers.

 

From its heyday in the 19th and early 20th century, the Tibetan carpet industry fell into serious decline in the second half of the 20th. Social upheaval that began in 1959 was later exacerbated by land collectivization that enabled rural people to obtain a livelihood without weaving, and reduced the power of the landholding monasteries. Many of the aristocratic families who formerly organized the weaving fled to India and Nepal during this period, along with their money and management expertise.

 

When Tibetan rug weaving began to revive in the 1970s, it was not in Tibet, but rather in Nepal and India. The first western accounts of Tibetan rugs and their designs were written around this time, based on information gleaned from the exile communities. Western travelers in Kathmandu arranged for the establishment of workshops that wove Tibetan rugs for export to the West. Weaving in the Nepal and India carpet workshops was eventually dominated by local non-Tibetan workers, who replaced the original Tibetan émigré weavers. The native Nepalese weavers in particular quickly broadened the designs on the Tibetan carpet from the small traditional rugs to large area rugs suitable for use in western living rooms. This began a carpet industry that is important to the Nepalese economy even to this day, even though its reputation was eventually tarnished by child labor scandals during the 1990s.

 

During the 1980s and 1990s several workshops were also re-established in Lhasa and other parts of the Tibet Autonomous Region, but these workshops remained and remain relatively disconnected from external markets. Today, most carpets woven in Lhasa factories are destined for the tourist market or for use as gifts to visiting Chinese delegations and government departments. Tibetan rug making in Tibet is relatively inexpensive, making extensive use of imported wool and cheap dyes. Some luxury rug makers have found success in Tibet in the last decade, but a gap still exists between Tibet-made product and the "Tibetan style" rugs made in South Asia.

 

WIKIPEDIA

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

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

  

Some background:

In the grand scope of World War 2 fighter aircraft there is a little-remembered French design designated the Arsenal "VG-33". The aircraft was born from a rather lengthy line of prototype developments put forth by the company in the years leading up to World War 2 and the VG-33 and its derivatives represented the culmination of this work before the German invasion rendered all further work moot.

 

The Arsenal de l'Aeronautique company was formed by the French government in 1936 ahead of World War 2. It began operations with dedicated design and development of a fast fighter type until the German conquer of France in 1940 after which the company then focused on engine production after 1945. Then followed a period of design and construction of gliders and missiles before being privatized in 1952 (as SFECMAS). The company then fell under the SNCAN brand label and became "Nord Aviation" in 1955.

 

The VG-33 was the result of the company's research. Work on a new fast fighter began by Arsenal engineers in 1936 and the line began with the original VG-30 prototype achieving first flight on October 1st, 1938. Named for engineer Vernisse (V) and designer Jean Gaultier (G), the VG-30 showcased a sound design with good performance and speed during the tests, certainly suitable for progression as a military fighter and with future potential.

 

Development continued into what became the VG-31 which incorporated smaller wings. The VG-32 then followed which returned to the full-sized wings and installed the American Allison V-1710-C15 inline supercharged engine of 1,054 horsepower. The VG-32 then formed the basis of the VG-33 which reverted to a Hispano-Suiza 12Y-31 engine and first flight was in early 1939, months ahead of the German invasion of Poland. Flight testing then spanned into August and serial production of this model was ordered.

 

The VG-33 was one of the more impressive prewar fighter ventures by the French that included the Dewoitine D.520, understood to be on par with the lead German fighter aircraft of the period - the famous Messerschmitt Bf 109.

 

Only about forty or so French Arsenal VG-33 fighters were completed before the Fall of France in 1940, with 160 more on order and in different states of completion. Despite the production contract, Arsenal' engineers continued work on the basic design for improved and specialized sub-types. The VG-34 appeared in early 1940 outfitted with the Hispano-Suiza 12Y-45 engine of 935 horsepower, which improved performance at altitude. An uprated engine was installed in VG-35 and VG-36, too. They utilized a Hispano-Suiza 12Y-51 engine of 1,000 horsepower with a revised undercarriage and radiator system.

 

VG-37 was a long-range version that was not furthered beyond the drawing board, but the VG-38 with a Hispano-Suiza 12Y-77 engine that featured two exhaust turbochargers for improved performance at high altitude, achived pre-production status with a series of about 10 aircraft. These were transferred to GC 1/3 for field trials in early 1940 and actively used in the defence against the German invasion.

 

The VG-39 ended the line as the last viable prototype model with its drive emerging from a Hispano-Suiza 12Z engine of 1,280 horsepower. A new three-machine-gun wing was installed for a formidable six-gun armament array. This model was also ordered into production as the VG-39bis and was to carry a 1,600 horsepower Hispano-Suiza 12Z-17 engine into service. However, the German invasion eliminated any further progress, and eventually any work on the Arsenal VG fighter family was abandoned, even though more designs were planned, e .g. the VG-40, which mounted a Rolls-Royce Merlin III, and the VG-50, featuring the newer Allison V-1710-39. Neither was built.

 

Anyway, the finalized VG-38 was an all-modern looking fighter design with elegant lines and a streamlined appearance. Its power came from an inline engine fitted to the front of the fuselage and headed by a large propeller spinner at the center of a three-bladed unit. The cockpit was held over midships with the fuselage tapering to become the tail unit.

 

The tail featured a rounded vertical tail fin and low-set horizontal planes in a traditional arrangement - all surfaces enlarged for improved high altitude performance.

The monoplane wing assemblies were at the center of the design in the usual way. The pilot's field of view was hampered by the long nose ahead, the wings below and the raised fuselage spine aft, even though the pilot sat under a largely unobstructed canopy utilizing light framing. The canopy opened to starboard.

 

A large air scoop for the radiator and air intercooler was mounted under the fuselage. As an unusual feature its outlet was located in a dorsal position, behind the cockpit. The undercarriage was of the typical tail-dragger arrangement of the period, retracting inwards. The tail wheel was retractable, too.

 

Construction was largely of wood which led to a very lightweight design that aided performance and the manufacture process. Unlike other fighters of the 1930s, the VG-38 was well-armed with a 20mm Hispano-Suiza cannon, firing through the propeller hub, complemented by 4 x 7.5mm MAC 1934 series machine guns in the wings, just like the VG-33.

 

The aircraft never saw combat action in the Battle of France. Its arrival was simply too late to have any effect on the outcome of the German plans. Therefore, with limited production and very limited combat service during the defence of Paris in May 1940, it largely fell into the pages of history with all completed models lost.

 

Specifications:

Crew: 1

Length: 28.05 ft (8.55 m)

Width: 35.43 ft (10.80 m)

Height: 10.83ft (3.30 m)

Weight: Empty 4,519 lb (2,050 kg), MTOW 5,853 lb (2,655 kg)

Maximum Speed: 398 mph (641 kmh at 10.000m)

Maximum Range: 746 miles (1,200 km)

Service Ceiling: 39,305 ft (12.000 m; 7.458 miles)

 

Powerplant:

1x Hispano-Suiza 12Y-77 V-12 liquid-cooled inline piston engine

with two Brown-Boveri exhaust turbochargers, developing 1,100 hp (820 kW).

 

Armament:

1x 20mm Hispano-Suiza HS.404 cannon, firing through the propeller hub

4x 7.5mm MAC 1934 machine guns in the outer wings

  

The kit and its assembly:

I found the VG-33 fascinating - an obscure and sleek fighter with lots of potential that suffered mainly from bad timing. There are actually VG-33 kits from Azur and Pegasus, but how much more fun is it to create your own interpretation of the historic events, esp. as a submission to a Battle of Britain Group Build at whatifmodelers.com?

 

I had this project on the whif agenda for a long time, and kept my eyes open for potential models. One day I encountered Amodel's Su-1 and Su-3 kits and was stunned by this aircraft's overall similarity to the VG-33. When I found the real VG-38 description I decided to convert the Su-3 into this elusive French fighter!

 

The Su-3 was built mainly OOB, it is a nice kit with much detail, even though it needs some work as a short run offering. I kept the odd radiator installation of the Suchoj aircraft, but changed the landing gear from a P-40 style design (retracting backwards and rotating 90°) into a conservative, inward retracting system. I even found forked gear struts in the spares box, from a Fiat G.50. The covers come from a Hawker Hurricane, and the wells were cut out from this pattern, while the rest of the old wells was filled with putty.

 

Further mods include the cleaned cowling (the Su-3's fuselage-mounted machine guns had to go), while machine guns in the wings were added. The flaps were lowered, too, and the small cockpit canopy cut in two pieces in, for an opened position - a shame you can hardly see anything from the neat interior. Two large antenna masts complete the French style.

  

Painting and markings:

Again, a rather conservative choice: typical French Air Force colors, in Khaki/Dark Brown/Blue Gray with light blue-gray undersides.

 

One very inspiring fact about the French tricolor-paint scheme is that no aircraft looked like the other – except for a few types, every aircraft had an individual scheme with more or less complexity or even artistic approach. Even the colors were only vaguely unified: Field mixes were common, as well as mods with other colors that were mixed into the basic three tones!

 

I settled for a scheme I found on a 1940 Curtiss 75, with clearly defined edges between the paint fields. Anything goes! I used French Khaki, Dark Blue Grey and Light Blue Grey (for the undersides) from Modelmaster's Authentic Enamels range, and Humbrol 170 (Brown Bess) for the Chestnut Brown. Interior surfaces were painted in dark grey (Humbrol 32) while the landing gear well parts of the wings were painted in Aluminum Dope (Humbrol 56).

The decals mainly come from a Hobby Boss Dewoitine D.520, but also from a PrintScale aftermarket sheet and the scrap box.

 

The kit was slightly weathered with a black ink wash and some dry-painting, more for a dramatic effect than simulating wear and tear, since any aircraft from the VG-33 family would only have had a very short service career.

  

Well, a travesty whif - and who would expect an obscure Soviet experimental fighter to perform as a lookalike for an even more obscure French experimental fighter? IMHO, it works pretty fine - conservative sould might fair over the spinal radiator outlet and open the dorsal installation, overall both aircraft are very similar in shape, size and layout. :D

 

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif.--Officials cut the ribbon Feb. 27 ceremonially opening a brand new education center that will help Airmen stationed at this central coast base achieve their personal and professional education goals.

 

The $14.2 million center replaced a 60-year-old elementary school campus, which had been used as the education center for more than 40 years.

 

"We hear the dollar value, and I just can't stress how precious those dollars are in today's fiscal environment," said Col. Keith Balts, 30th Space Wing commander. "The fact that we get to do military construction at all, especially something for the quality of our Airmen and their families, says a lot about the importance we place on education."

 

One of the center's first customers was Senior Airman Antoine Marshall, 30th Force Support Squadron, who joined the Air Force four years ago with an associate degree in criminal justice.

 

"I just took the analyzing and interpreting literature CLEP (College Level Examination Program) exam," said Marshall, who's pursuing a bachelor's degree in organizational management. "It was my first one--I passed it. I'm extremely happy!"

 

The 38,384-square-foot facility includes 20 classrooms, computer lab, testing center, and 75-seat auditorium, as well as offices for various colleges and universities serving the Vandenberg community.

 

"I think the facility is great," said Marshall. "Overall, it provides a better environment to work and study, and it's just comfortable."

 

The design-build project was constructed by Corps contractor Teehee-Straub, a joint-venture team from Oceanside, Calif.

 

"The design was quite extensive, just due to the detail and the location," said Keith Hamilton, project executive for Teehee-Straub. "The site work was very challenging, and I think that was something that brought a lot of character to this building."

 

Teehee-Straub's 21st century design included sustainable development and energy efficiencies, such as light pollution reduction and water use reduction.

 

"This is a sustainable building," said Col. Kim Colloton, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles District commander. "We can build our buildings smartly, so they can do more; it's more [money] that can go back into the base."

 

During construction, 75 percent of the construction and demolition debris was diverted from landfills and redirected back to the manufacturing process as reusable and recyclable material. Walk-off mats, exhaust systems and filtered heating and cooling improves indoor air quality. Low-flow fixtures and faucets, high-efficiency drip irrigation and drought-tolerant landscaping reduce potable water use by more than 40 percent. All are efficiencies the contractor believes will achive a LEED Silver rating (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design, a Green Building Council rating system).

 

"We're just proud to be part of this," said Teehee-Straub managing partner Richard Straub. "The Corps of Engineers is one of our favorite customers, and we love supporting the Air Force in doing a job that will educate a lot of servicemen."

A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket blasts off from Space Launch Complex-41 with NASAs Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS-K) payload. This was the first of 13 ULA launches scheduled for 2013, the 35th Atlas V mission, and the 67th ULA launch.

 

Photo courtesy United Launch Alliance

 

-----

 

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- The first of NASA's three next-generation

Tracking and Data Relay Satellites (TDRS), known as TDRS-K, launched

at 8:48 p.m. EST Wednesday from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in

Florida.

 

"TDRS-K bolsters our network of satellites that provides essential

communications to support space exploration," said Badri Younes,

deputy associate administrator for Space Communications and

Navigation at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "It will improve the

overall health and longevity of our system."

 

The TDRS system provides tracking, telemetry, command and

high-bandwidth data return services for numerous science and human

exploration missions orbiting Earth. These include the International

Space Station and NASA's Hubble Space Telescope.

 

"With this launch, NASA has begun the replenishment of our aging space

network," said Jeffrey Gramling, TDRS project manager. "This addition

to our current fleet of seven will provide even greater capabilities

to a network that has become key to enabling many of NASA's

scientific discoveries."

 

TDRS-K was lifted into orbit aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V

rocket from Space Launch Complex-41. After a three-month test phase,

NASA will accept the spacecraft for additional evaluation before

putting the satellite into service.

 

The TDRS-K spacecraft includes several modifications from older

satellites in the TDRS system, including redesigned

telecommunications payload electronics and a high-performance solar

panel designed for more spacecraft power to meet growing S-band

requirements. Another significant design change, the return to

ground-based processing of data, will allow the system to service

more customers with evolving communication requirements.

 

The next TDRS spacecraft, TDRS-L, is scheduled for launch in 2014.

TDRS-M's manufacturing process will be completed in 2015.

 

NASA's Space Communications and Navigation Program, part of the Human

Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate at the agency's

Headquarters in Washington, is responsible for the space network. The

TDRS Project Office at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in

Greenbelt, Md., manages the TDRS development program. Launch services

were provided by United Launch Alliance. NASA's Launch Services

Program at the Kennedy Space Center was responsible for acquisition

of launch services.

 

For more information about TDRS, visit:

 

www.nasa.gov/tdrs

 

NASA image use policy.

 

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission.

 

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FIRESTONE BUILDS TODAY, THE TIRE OF TOMORROW -- PRODUCTION LINE,

FIRESTONE FACTORY AND EXHIBITION BUILDING, NEW YORK WORLD'S FAIR

MIXING - GUM-DIPPING - CALENDARING - PLY CUTTING

 

Date: 1939

Source Type: Postcard

Printer, Publisher, Photographer: Firestone Tire and Rubber Company (#M113-4-39)

Postmark: None

Collection: Steven R. Shook

Remark: World's Most Modern Tire-Production Line

Here, the world's most modern tire is built with the world's most modern and most efficient tire machinery. Each step in the manufacturing process unfolds before your eyes - from the mixing of the raw rubber and chemicals and the Gum-Dipping of the Safety-Lock cords to application of the Gear Grip tread and the wrapping of the finished tire. You actually see how greater Strength and Safety is LOCKED into Firestone Champion Tires.

 

Copyright 2010. Some rights reserved. The associated text may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior written permission of Steven R. Shook.

Grade II listed historic house, now offices, constructed in 1824.

 

"Kendal, once Kirkby in Kendal or Kirkby Kendal, is a market town and civil parish in the South Lakeland District of Cumbria, England. Historically in Westmorland, it lies 8 miles (13 km) south-east of Windermere, 19 miles (31 km) north of Lancaster, 23 miles (37 km) north-east of Barrow-in-Furness and 38 miles (61 km) north-west of Skipton, in the dale of the River Kent, from which comes its name. The 2011 census found a population of 28,586. making it the third largest town in Cumbria after Carlisle and Barrow. It is known today mainly as a centre for tourism, as the home of Kendal mint cake, and as a producer of pipe tobacco and snuff. Its local grey limestone buildings have earned it the nickname "Auld Grey Town".

 

A chartered market town, the centre of Kendal has formed round a high street with fortified alleyways, known locally as yards, off to either side, which allowed local people to shelter from the Anglo-Scottish raiders known as Border Reivers. The main industry in those times was the manufacture of woollen goods, whose importance is reflected in the town's coat of arms and in its Latin motto Pannus mihi panis (Cloth is my bread.) "Kendal Green" was a hard-wearing, wool-based fabric specific to the local manufacturing process. It was supposedly sported by the Kendalian archers instrumental in the English victory over the French at the Battle of Agincourt. Kendal Green was also worn by slaves in the Americas and appears in songs and literature from that time. Shakespeare notes it as the colour of clothing worn by foresters (Henry IV, Part 1).

 

Kendal Castle has a long history as a stronghold, built on the site of several successive castles. The earliest was a Norman motte and bailey (now located on the west side of the town), when the settlement went under the name of Kirkbie Strickland. The most recent is from the late 12th century, as the castle of the Barony of Kendal, the part of Westmorland ruled from here. The castle is best known as the home of the Parr family, as heirs of these barons. They inherited it through marriage in the reign of Edward III of England. Rumours still circulate that King Henry VIII's sixth wife Catherine Parr was born at Kendal Castle, but the evidence available leaves this unlikely: by her time the castle was beyond repair and her father was already based in Blackfriars, London, at the court of King Henry VIII." - info from Wikipedia.

 

Summer 2019 I did a solo cycling tour across Europe through 12 countries over the course of 3 months. I began my adventure in Edinburgh, Scotland and finished in Florence, Italy cycling 8,816 km. During my trip I took 47,000 photos.

 

Now on Instagram.

 

Become a patron to my photography on Patreon.

Concrete Creations Offers a Complete One-Stop-Shop

Please read through Fire Bowls 101 and simply CLICK ON any Question/Point;

the Answer will pop Open

(start by clicking here first)

Adding a fire bowl is a wonderful opportunity to bring art to landscape, as well as to create a warm outdoor conversation area. To make sure that the right fire bowl for your needs is chosen, it is important to consider a few key issues.

When Planning for a Fire Bowl Consider the following:

 

The location? and the access to the location?

The area size/bowl size?

The intended use?

The energy source?

The type of burner? An automatic shut off system, or manual light?

 

Over the years of serving our customers, Concrete Creations has developed a sense of what works best. To help our clients' plan for their fire bowl, we have compiled a list of commonly asked questions. We encourage you to ask us to add any additional questions. (click here)

The below information applies only to Concrete Creations’ fire bowls, as our products are both iron and fiber reinforced, hand-made and NOT PRECAST in a mold.

We suggest following the questions, but also if you need to print for your contractor or plumber we attach a few PDF with the same information.

2014-12-fire bowls- general-Specifications

2015-Burner-Options

WT-AWEIS-MANUAL

 

Commonly Asked Questions:

How Do I Choose the Right Size Fire Bowl?

The real question is how do you want to use your fire bowl?

Do you want to sit around the fire pit/fire bowl? If so, go LARGE, as large as you can fit in the space. Why? Because a large bowl means that you can have a large burner; a LARGE burner = MORE heat.

However, if you want your fire bowl for ambiance or next to the pool, then you can really select any size that is aesthetically appealing. For a natural looking fire bowl that does not resemble a burning candle however, Concrete Creations recommends at least a 28” diameter bowl.

 

How to Determine What Size Fire Bowl Works For Me?

If you have a professional designer/landscape architect, then you are half way there. With that said, visualization is very helpful.

                     

Concrete Creations advises that you cut a piece of cardboard to the largest diameter size fire bowl that you are considering. Place the cut-out on top of a bucket or a box, to help simulate the size and height. Place some chairs around the cut-out approximately 1.5 to 2 feet away from the bowl, as that is as close as you will want sit next to the fire bowl. Now you will be able to see if there is enough space; if it’s too big, cut the card board smaller, until it is the right size for you.

     

Natural Gas, Liquid Propane (LP), Gel, Ethanol, or Fire Wood?

Natural gas is the cleanest energy source, and though it requires some professional prep work, you will enjoy the clean burning, without the smell of burning wood.

Liquid propane (LP) is used ONLY when you do not have natural gas available in the house, and you use LP for all your needs around the house. The propane tank CANNOT be placed under or next to your fire bowl! LP is heavier than air and therefore tends to sink, so the fire bowl will require ventilation. Fire bowls used for LP have weeping holes created for air flow, and LP is routed to them from a big tank that supply's energy to the house.

A 25 Gallon ( which is 5 times the size your typical BBQ tank) can run for about 4 hours for a typical 120K BTU burner. Most of our sit around fire bowl offers about 130k- 180K, so as you can see storing and running to fill up the tanks in the middle of a party is not a good solution.

Gel has been discontinued and is off the shelf in most places, due to safety issues. We do not supply gel.

Ethanol burns for a very limited time and requires that you wait for the ethanol to finish burning, then cool down, and then pour more ethanol, and then relight. We do not supply ethanol.

Firewood is a wonderful fire bowl option to roast marshmallows, or hotdogs without worrying about the burner. However, firewood smells like firewood, and it emits smoke, so it’s not allowed in some areas. Also, if the fire bowl is close to the house, you will smell the smoke in the house, so shut all the windows.

One more thing to remember about wood burning fire bowl, wood burning produce soot, and you can expect to find soot all around, when it's windy.

IMPORTANT! Burning Firewood is not as easy to completely put down, unlike gas fueled or LP you can not just turn the valve. So be extra careful not to leave fire unattended, and to make sure there is no chance for the fire to reignite once you are not there.

What do I need for Wood Burning Fire Bowls?

  

Wood Burning fire bowls require a drainage hole. The bottom of the fire bowl should to be filled with Gravel for proper drainage; and a rough sand, such as silica sand #20, should be poured on top of the Gravel to 2” below the top of the fire bowl; and THEN the firewood is placed on the sand in the middle of the bowl. The bowl in photo DOES NOT have ENOUGH sand.

         

How to prepare for Natural Gas or LP Fire bowls?

Fire Bowls (44” width and over) have a large 6” hole at the bottom of the bowl to accommodate both drainage and to allow the maximum flexibility for the gas pipe. Gas pipe should be set about 1.5”- 2” off of the center of the bowl, as most burners have a hook up in the center, and an off center gas pipe allows the flex line to the burner to enjoy less sharp turns and an easy flow of energy, and therefore less whistling. Gas or LP pipe should extend about 3.5” above ground, and be capped. For 36"- 40" bowls the center hole is 3.5”- 4” diameter therefore when selecting a smaller bowl, make sure that the gas pipe is set about 1"- 1.5" off of the center of the bowl.

Smaller than 36" bowls will have a 2" hole centered and gas line should come up @ their center.

                   

Do I Need a Shut-Off Valve and Where Should it be Placed?

Yes, of course, a valve is necessary to turn the gas on and off.

If you do NOT live in a freeze area, then can to set the valve on the ground or off of the ground on a bench or wall. There are metal covers available to hide and keep dirt from getting into the valve when it is placed on the ground. A key is used to turn the shut-off valve on and off, and to adjust volume.

The main consideration is to make sure that the shut-off valve is near the bowl and a distance that allows ONE person to light the bowl. Lighting the fire bowl should not be a group assignment.

In areas that DO freeze, it is better to have the valve on the outside wall of the bowl, or on a side wall or bench, providing it's close enough for ONE person to light the bowl. A key is used to turn the shut-off valve on and off, and to adjust volume.

Holding a Match light to the upper part of the bowl and then turning the key, to light your fire bowl. Never leave the key attached to valve especially if you have children.

                             

Does the Fire Bowl Require a Concrete Pad or can the Bowl Fit on DG (Decomposed Granite), or Stone?

Concrete Creations recommends that the fire bowl sits leveled. In earthquake or other natural disaster prone areas, it is best to anchor the bowl, and a concrete pad is recommended. There are two additional 3/4" holes in the base of the bowl for the purpose of anchoring. From the holes within the bowl, the pad should be carefully drilled, rebar placed and cemented down. If the fire bowl is on DG, you will need to have the shut-off valve on the outside wall of the bowl.

 

Are the Fire Bowls Fire Rated or have a UL Number?

Concrete Creations' fire bowls are custom made and are not mass produced; therefore do not require an UL number.

We have been using our fire bowl in our back yard for wood burning, which is much hotter flame than most burners without any issues. As long as the safety guidelines on the burner size and location are followed, there should not be any issues.

Media inside the bowl should be fire rated.

 

Do I Need to Cover the Fire Bowl?

The short answer is Yes. Bowls that are covered will accumulate less dirt, leaves, etc. During rain the cover will keep water out of the bowl's burner and gas line; and during snow it is part of winterizing to cover the bowl. Concrete Creations offers water resistant fabric covers that have ties around the bowl near the base of the bowl. Covers are made to fit each of the bowl sizes and are Made in the USA.

               

Burners and BTU?

If you plan to sit around the fire bowl/fire pit it is very important to have enough pressure to run 150K - 250K BTU, or at least 180K BTU. More about the burners will come later; however, this is an important issue as we have had customers that only realized after they had installed their bowl, that they did NOT have enough pressure to run the burner. In case of too much pressure you will have to get a pressure reducer.

 

What is an Electronic Ignition and Shut-Off System?

The AWEIS All Weather Electronic Ignition System system allows you to light your fire bowl from a remote location; have an on and off switch; put the fire bowl on a timer; or have an on and off switch on the side of the bowl. An automatic shut-off system requires 110v run to the bowl or for a smaller burners the system can be battery operated.

The Elctronic shut-off system also acts as a safety measure. If a sudden gust of wind or rain blows the fire out, the system will attempt to re-ignite itself up to 3 times; if unable to reignite, the Electronic Ignition system will shut off the gas supply to the fire bowl.

  

Am I Required to Have an Electronic Ignition System?

Some areas DO have local codes that require an Electronic Ignition system. In addition, it is best to use the Electronic Ignition system in commercial applications, as in a commercial application unlike in your home, the fire bowl might be on a timer, and not always closely watched .

It makes sense to consider an All Weather Ignition System for your home, if you have a few fire bowls, as it will enable you to light them and turn them all off with just one switch.

For just one home usage fire bowl, which will be sat around and watched, it may not make as much sense to spend the money; on the other hand the peace of mind knowing that if the fire is blown out for any reason, then the gas or LP supply will be shut down after 3 attempts, might make it worth while.

In windy conditions, or during rain, the fire bowl should NOT be operated; and Concrete Creations advises to cover the fire bowl.

 

Never leave the fire bowl unattended. A fire bowl is a feature designed to enjoy WHILE sitting around it.

 

How do I Choose the Right Burner?

Concrete Creations offers two types of burners: the typical stainless steel ring and the cross fire burner. Each of the burner types offer multiple BTU strengths and different sizes. Concrete Creations provides the burner pricing and BTU options with your fire bowl quote. The cross fire burner is not stainless, but all brass; however, it mixes air with the gas and therefore burns 50% less gas than the stainless steel ring.

We use Warming Trends LLC out in Colorado for the Cross Fire Burner, for both Manual Light and Electronic Ignition. We find that most of our clients LOVE the way the flame looks and feels like.

Does the Flame Look the Same on Both Burners?

No. The flame from the stainless steel ring has a different appearance than the flame from the cross fire burner.

 

Where Can I See What Each of the Burner Flames Look Like?

Here is a Video comparing the two burners.

  

Why Use a Pan?

Concrete Creations creates most fire bowls with a modification on the inside wall of the bowl to hold a pan at the right height. Concrete Creations cuts the pan to fit the fire bowl. The pan is made from aluminum, with either a stainless steel ring burner sitting on top of it, or a cross fire burner attached to it. The pan enables a cleaner installation as well as easy maintenance. Media, such as lava, glass, or fire stones sit on top of the pan, allowing the rest of the bowl to remain empty. Remember that the ring should NOT be covered with anything other than the media (Lava, glass, etc). Never Place the Ring UNDER the pan.

Photos are showing the modification to hold to pan, Stainless steel ring on top of pan, and Cross fire burner attached to pan. Pans are cut to size photos are before and during crating.

  

Modification inside most Fire bowls designed to hold pan.

  

What Else Should I Consider When Before Ordering?

Concrete Creations' fire bowls are made out of concrete and are therefore heavy. If you are considering a large fire bowl, measure the access to the area where you plan to place the fire bowl. Make sure that you can have a pallet jack on-site to wheel the bowl to its placement location. Talk to us; Concrete Creations is happy to help you with the assessment of the situation.

 

What if I Have More Questions?

Concrete Creations appreciates your business and works hard to ensure that the process of specifying and or purchasing our beautiful products is pleasant and seamless. Please do not hesitate to contact us if we can be of any assistance. We are here to answer your questions and help.

 

About the Concrete Creations Manufacturing Process

In a process similar to ancient clay pottery techniques, our concrete pots and bowls are hand turned on a large wheel while layers of cement are applied onto iron reinforcement. When this process is utilized with cement as well as fibers and other additives, it increases the strength and durability of the pot or bowl tremendously. All Concrete Creations' products are enhanced with a clear interior and exterior sealer protection for water feature usage, as well as for the freeze and thaw process.

Our Products are not made by machine, nor are they poured into molds. They are handmade - a hand thrown process that is unique to Concrete Creations. The finish and coloring is not always uniform because it is hand sponged. You can expect slight variations in the finish or color; this is normal for our handmade products and enhances the beauty of each piece.

 

What to Expect Over Time

Over time the concrete will patina and age with natural character. Sometimes the concrete might develop small hair line cracks, or surface cracks, this is normal for concrete, however, in our products will not break the bowl. We use different additives to reduce cracking and shrinkage, and are constantly working with new materials that are being developed.

Concrete is easily scratched or chipped; if rubbed or hit against metal or other concrete it will damage.

Pots and bowls will need to be sealed every 1-2 years depending on exposure. Sealer is available from Concrete Creations.

 

What is your warranty?

Concrete Creations warranties its products, when purchased new, to be free from defects in Materials and workmanship under normal use and service for one year from the original provable date of purchase. Replacement or repair at the option of Concrete Creations of defective part shall be the sole remedy of this warranty.

 

How to Avoid Problems During Shipping

Concrete Creations' products are packed and crated in specially built wooden crates. We make every effort to pack and protect all shipped products, including the purchase of shipping insurance; nonetheless, damage does rarely occur during shipment. In the effort to avoid unnecessary problems please adhere to the following simple guidelines:

  

A designated person should always be present at the project site to receive the pots, even if the shipping company suggests that it is not necessary.

Have a person with power tools to make the opening of the crate easier.

The shipment should always be inspected carefully for exterior damage to the box at the time of delivery.

Please Call Concrete Creations if there is any damage.

Please write all damage onto the bill of landing and have the driver sign the bill; take photographs.

Whether there is damage to the exterior box or not, please open the boxes carefully while the driver is still present. The walls of the crate are nailed together and the top is screwed down onto the walls.

 

How to Avoid Problems Before, During and After Installation

 

Make sure that your walk-way and/or gate is wide enough, and that the way is paved. If the path is not paved, be ready with some pieces of 3/4" plywood.

Measure access and all gates, where ever bowl will go through. DO NOT guesstimate.

The fire bowl should be installed by a licensed plumber, and per local codes.

Support for the burner is available from the burner manufacturer.

The easiest way to move the bowl into place is to rent a pallet jack and wheel the bowl next to it's designated gas line. If you do not have a pallet jack, an option is to request to use the driver's and tip him.

Concrete Creations has a video on our Concrete Creations You Tube Channel showing how to place the bowl at the gas line without real lifting, or damaging the bowl. Please be sure to watch the video and "like" us while you are visiting.

Do not strap the bowl or pot directly; if you need to lift it with a crane of some type make sure to strap the crate. Talk to us ahead of time if you plan to crane the bowl or pot into place, since it will require us to build special crating.

Many of the possible issues can be avoided by talking with us, and preparing accordingly. We are happy do help with what ever aspect, and can do Facetime anytime, or Skype.

 

How to clean your bowl?

Regular cleaning from dust can be done with clean dump sponge, an a mild detergent.

Fire bowls and our other products will age, and might get water marks. Most people see the water marks as part of the aging and natural look of concrete, however if it bothers you there is a way to clean it.

1) Prepare and Mix 5 parts of water to 1 part white distilled vinegar. (Adjust strength as needed, can use commercial grade hydrochloric acid for cleaning).

2) Wet outside surface of the bowl thoroughly with clean water.

3) Use plastic brush with soft bristles to brush affected areas to remove whitening or staining.

4) Hose affected area with water immediately, once the whitening or staining has cleared or when change in appearance is observed.

5) Repeat the process at least two times to ensure efficacy of the acid solution. If slightly improving, reduce ratio of water to acid and repeat the same process.

6) Once the surface is clean, let dry for 24-hours and reseal immediately for protection. concretecreationsla.com/ccweb1/?page_id=2239

This is the in-house manufacturing process of the half-wall for the new décor upgrade that I-5 Design & Manufacture created for the Chinook Winds Casino Buffet, located in Lincoln City, Oregon. The main portion of the wall consists of architectural stone, which is divided by wooden columns that are inset with amber toned specialty metal. To see more examples of casino design, click here.

A guy on the street liked my stuff and took this lovely picture of the back of my head.

SeaDek is a revolutionary product utilized not only by the top boat builders in the marine industry, but also in the aftermarket by boat owners seeking custom products. Made from closed cell PE/EVA foam, SeaDek products offer safe and comfortable alternatives to marine traction products currently on the market. Easy to install and customizable, SeaDek replaces the need for molded in non skid, saving OEMs time and money during the manufacturing process.

 

SeaDek can be tailored to fit endless applications on nearly any type of boat. Some of the other benefits SeaDek offers include:

 

Exceptional traction, even when wet

Unparalleled comfort when standing, walking, or leaning on boat surfaces

Shock absorption, which decreases fatigue

Protection for boat surfaces against scratches, chips, and dents

Noise reduction characteristics - ideal for fishermen

 

If you have a boat, you have a place for SeaDek!

 

Learn more at www.seadek.com/

 

Want custom SeaDek for your boat? Find a Certified Fabricator or Installer near you! www.seadek.com/seadek-certified

I have been holding on to these photos until this project went public.

 

THIS WAS SUBMITTED FOR A GREEN DESIGN COMPETITION AND COULD BENEFIT FROM YOUR VOTE!

 

www.core77.com/greenergadgets/entry.php?projectid=32#img92

 

Recompute is a new way of thinking about computers that layers sustainable ideas throughout its lifecycle to make an overall sustainable product that can be easily replicated. Recompute address sustainability along three main points during its life.

 

Manufacturing: Rather than making a large tower constructed from numerous materials (ABS plastic, aluminum, steel, etc.), hundreds of manufacturing processes, and dozens of individual components, the Recompute case is made of corrugated cardboard (recyclable and renewable). There are four low-impact manufacturing processes to assemble Recompute: Die cutting, gluing (with non-toxic white glue), printing and electronic assembly. Recompute uses only three major electronic components: A motherboard with processor & memory, power supply, and a hard drive.

 

Use: Recompute is designed to allow the user to take advantage of existing hardware. For example; use the keyboard from a previous computer. For additional flexibility, external hardware customization is easy via 8 USB ports.

 

Disposal: Electronic components need to be properly recycled as they contain toxic heavy metals. However, this is often skipped because dismantling of computers is difficult. Recompute can be disassembled without tools, so the electronics and case can be easily recycled individually.

 

Oh yes, Recompute is a real working computer.

 

(Project is by Brenden Macaluso)

Catherine Barr, who died in 2008, left the money to fund a new lifeboat named in the memory of her late husband, Dr John Buchanan Barr MBE.

Dr Barr worked as a GP in Glasgow before World War II, during which he served with distinction with the Royal Army Medical Corps in North Africa, Sicily and Italy. After demobilising, he returned to general practice in Glasgow.

However, he and his wife often spent their holidays in Portpatrick and the lifeboat bequest was because of their fondness for the village.

The new boat is stationed in the Dumfries and Galloway village.

  

Tamar class lifeboats are all-weather lifeboats operated by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) around the coasts of Great Britain and Ireland. The Tamar class is the replacement for the Tyne-class slipway launched All Weather Lifeboat (ALB).

 

The class name comes from the River Tamar in south west England which flows into the English Channel where they are manufactured by Babcock International Group.

 

Since 1982 the RNLI had deployed 17 knots (31 km/h) Tyne Class lifeboats at stations which launched their boats down slipways or needed to operate in shallow waters. The organisation desired to increase the speed and range of their operations so introduced 25 knots (46 km/h) Severn and Trent boats from 1994 where they could be moored afloat. They then needed to produce a boat with similar capabilities but with protected propellers and other modifications that would allow it to be launched on a slipway.

 

The prototype Tamar was built in 2000 and was used for trials until 2006. It was sold in December 2008 to Kent Police, becoming Princess Alexandra III, the force's permanent maritime vessel operating out of Sheerness. The first production boat, Haydn Miller entered service at Tenby in March 2006. A few of the early boats suffered problems such as fuel leaking under the floor of the engine control room around hydraulic lines. These boats were recalled and the problems rectified. There are very few reported problems associated with the vessel now as the design and manufacturing process is largely perfected.

 

The Tamar has a new design of crew workstation with seats that can move up and down 20 centimetres (7.9 in) as the boat passes through rough seas at high speed, and a networked computerised Systems and Information Management System (SIMS) which allows the crew to monitor and control the boat entirely from within the wheelhouse. The coxswain and helmsman have seat-mounted throttles, trackerball and joystick controls of the rudder. Alternatively the boat may be monitored and control by two controls on the bridge: Dual throttle controls and joystick on the left; dual throttle, wheel and control-screen on the right. All aspects of the vessel may also be controlled from this position.

 

The lifeboat is completely water-tight allowing it to self-right with up to 60 people on board. The boat has the potential to carry a maximum of 120 passengers on board, but without self righting capability. The Survivors Space has room for 10 sitting and 8 standing. The Survivors Space is accessed either through the Wheelhouse or the fore deck Emergency Escape Hatch.

 

Each Tamar carries a Y Class inflatable boat which can be deployed and recovered while at sea

 

A major maritime exercise, Exercise Diamond, which involved HM Coastguard, vessels, RNLI lifeboats, helicopters, search and rescue coordinators, Belfast Harbour, emergency services and local authorities was held on Sunday 23 September from 9.30 am. Exercise Diamond, a live large-scale incident exercise, was held within Belfast Lough, Northern Ireland and involved 365 people.

 

Exercise Diamond was designed to test the major incident plans for all of the organisations that would be involved should a major maritime incident happen in Northern Ireland.

 

Exercise Diamond was the largest live maritime exercise ever held in Northern Ireland.

 

An exercise held within the Titanic centenary, Olympic, & Diamond year involving Emergency Services, Agencies and Companies dedicated to saving lives and providing the best possible service.

 

The following organisations participated in the exercise:

 

HM Coastguard / Maritime and Coastguard Agency; Royal National Lifeboat Institution; Police Service of Northern Ireland; Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service; Northern Ireland Ambulance Service; Ministry of Defence (including Royal Airforce); Stena Line; RFD Survitec; Irish Coastguard; Northdown and Ards Borough Council; Belfast Harbour.

Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries Minister, Hon. Karl Samuda, observes an aspect of the sugar-manufacturing process at the Worthy Park sugar factory in St. Catherine during a tour of the facility on February 15.

 

Yhomo Hutchinson Photos

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif.--Officials cut the ribbon Feb. 27 ceremonially opening a brand new education center that will help Airmen stationed at this central coast base achieve their personal and professional education goals.

 

The $14.2 million center replaced a 60-year-old elementary school campus, which had been used as the education center for more than 40 years.

 

"We hear the dollar value, and I just can't stress how precious those dollars are in today's fiscal environment," said Col. Keith Balts, 30th Space Wing commander. "The fact that we get to do military construction at all, especially something for the quality of our Airmen and their families, says a lot about the importance we place on education."

 

One of the center's first customers was Senior Airman Antoine Marshall, 30th Force Support Squadron, who joined the Air Force four years ago with an associate degree in criminal justice.

 

"I just took the analyzing and interpreting literature CLEP (College Level Examination Program) exam," said Marshall, who's pursuing a bachelor's degree in organizational management. "It was my first one--I passed it. I'm extremely happy!"

 

The 38,384-square-foot facility includes 20 classrooms, computer lab, testing center, and 75-seat auditorium, as well as offices for various colleges and universities serving the Vandenberg community.

 

"I think the facility is great," said Marshall. "Overall, it provides a better environment to work and study, and it's just comfortable."

 

The design-build project was constructed by Corps contractor Teehee-Straub, a joint-venture team from Oceanside, Calif.

 

"The design was quite extensive, just due to the detail and the location," said Keith Hamilton, project executive for Teehee-Straub. "The site work was very challenging, and I think that was something that brought a lot of character to this building."

 

Teehee-Straub's 21st century design included sustainable development and energy efficiencies, such as light pollution reduction and water use reduction.

 

"This is a sustainable building," said Col. Kim Colloton, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles District commander. "We can build our buildings smartly, so they can do more; it's more [money] that can go back into the base."

 

During construction, 75 percent of the construction and demolition debris was diverted from landfills and redirected back to the manufacturing process as reusable and recyclable material. Walk-off mats, exhaust systems and filtered heating and cooling improves indoor air quality. Low-flow fixtures and faucets, high-efficiency drip irrigation and drought-tolerant landscaping reduce potable water use by more than 40 percent. All are efficiencies the contractor believes will achive a LEED Silver rating (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design, a Green Building Council rating system).

 

"We're just proud to be part of this," said Teehee-Straub managing partner Richard Straub. "The Corps of Engineers is one of our favorite customers, and we love supporting the Air Force in doing a job that will educate a lot of servicemen."

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

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

  

Some background:

In the grand scope of World War 2 fighter aircraft there is a little-remembered French design designated the Arsenal "VG-33". The aircraft was born from a rather lengthy line of prototype developments put forth by the company in the years leading up to World War 2 and the VG-33 and its derivatives represented the culmination of this work before the German invasion rendered all further work moot.

 

The Arsenal de l'Aeronautique company was formed by the French government in 1936 ahead of World War 2. It began operations with dedicated design and development of a fast fighter type until the German conquer of France in 1940 after which the company then focused on engine production after 1945. Then followed a period of design and construction of gliders and missiles before being privatized in 1952 (as SFECMAS). The company then fell under the SNCAN brand label and became "Nord Aviation" in 1955.

 

The VG-33 was the result of the company's research. Work on a new fast fighter began by Arsenal engineers in 1936 and the line began with the original VG-30 prototype achieving first flight on October 1st, 1938. Named for engineer Vernisse (V) and designer Jean Gaultier (G), the VG-30 showcased a sound design with good performance and speed during the tests, certainly suitable for progression as a military fighter and with future potential.

 

Development continued into what became the VG-31 which incorporated smaller wings. The VG-32 then followed which returned to the full-sized wings and installed the American Allison V-1710-C15 inline supercharged engine of 1,054 horsepower. The VG-32 then formed the basis of the VG-33 which reverted to a Hispano-Suiza 12Y-31 engine and first flight was in early 1939, months ahead of the German invasion of Poland. Flight testing then spanned into August and serial production of this model was ordered.

 

The VG-33 was one of the more impressive prewar fighter ventures by the French that included the Dewoitine D.520, understood to be on par with the lead German fighter aircraft of the period - the famous Messerschmitt Bf 109.

 

Only about forty or so French Arsenal VG-33 fighters were completed before the Fall of France in 1940, with 160 more on order and in different states of completion. Despite the production contract, Arsenal' engineers continued work on the basic design for improved and specialized sub-types. The VG-34 appeared in early 1940 outfitted with the Hispano-Suiza 12Y-45 engine of 935 horsepower, which improved performance at altitude. An uprated engine was installed in VG-35 and VG-36, too. They utilized a Hispano-Suiza 12Y-51 engine of 1,000 horsepower with a revised undercarriage and radiator system.

 

VG-37 was a long-range version that was not furthered beyond the drawing board, but the VG-38 with a Hispano-Suiza 12Y-77 engine that featured two exhaust turbochargers for improved performance at high altitude, achived pre-production status with a series of about 10 aircraft. These were transferred to GC 1/3 for field trials in early 1940 and actively used in the defence against the German invasion.

 

The VG-39 ended the line as the last viable prototype model with its drive emerging from a Hispano-Suiza 12Z engine of 1,280 horsepower. A new three-machine-gun wing was installed for a formidable six-gun armament array. This model was also ordered into production as the VG-39bis and was to carry a 1,600 horsepower Hispano-Suiza 12Z-17 engine into service. However, the German invasion eliminated any further progress, and eventually any work on the Arsenal VG fighter family was abandoned, even though more designs were planned, e .g. the VG-40, which mounted a Rolls-Royce Merlin III, and the VG-50, featuring the newer Allison V-1710-39. Neither was built.

 

Anyway, the finalized VG-38 was an all-modern looking fighter design with elegant lines and a streamlined appearance. Its power came from an inline engine fitted to the front of the fuselage and headed by a large propeller spinner at the center of a three-bladed unit. The cockpit was held over midships with the fuselage tapering to become the tail unit.

 

The tail featured a rounded vertical tail fin and low-set horizontal planes in a traditional arrangement - all surfaces enlarged for improved high altitude performance.

The monoplane wing assemblies were at the center of the design in the usual way. The pilot's field of view was hampered by the long nose ahead, the wings below and the raised fuselage spine aft, even though the pilot sat under a largely unobstructed canopy utilizing light framing. The canopy opened to starboard.

 

A large air scoop for the radiator and air intercooler was mounted under the fuselage. As an unusual feature its outlet was located in a dorsal position, behind the cockpit. The undercarriage was of the typical tail-dragger arrangement of the period, retracting inwards. The tail wheel was retractable, too.

 

Construction was largely of wood which led to a very lightweight design that aided performance and the manufacture process. Unlike other fighters of the 1930s, the VG-38 was well-armed with a 20mm Hispano-Suiza cannon, firing through the propeller hub, complemented by 4 x 7.5mm MAC 1934 series machine guns in the wings, just like the VG-33.

 

The aircraft never saw combat action in the Battle of France. Its arrival was simply too late to have any effect on the outcome of the German plans. Therefore, with limited production and very limited combat service during the defence of Paris in May 1940, it largely fell into the pages of history with all completed models lost.

 

Specifications:

Crew: 1

Length: 28.05 ft (8.55 m)

Width: 35.43 ft (10.80 m)

Height: 10.83ft (3.30 m)

Weight: Empty 4,519 lb (2,050 kg), MTOW 5,853 lb (2,655 kg)

Maximum Speed: 398 mph (641 kmh at 10.000m)

Maximum Range: 746 miles (1,200 km)

Service Ceiling: 39,305 ft (12.000 m; 7.458 miles)

 

Powerplant:

1x Hispano-Suiza 12Y-77 V-12 liquid-cooled inline piston engine

with two Brown-Boveri exhaust turbochargers, developing 1,100 hp (820 kW).

 

Armament:

1x 20mm Hispano-Suiza HS.404 cannon, firing through the propeller hub

4x 7.5mm MAC 1934 machine guns in the outer wings

  

The kit and its assembly:

I found the VG-33 fascinating - an obscure and sleek fighter with lots of potential that suffered mainly from bad timing. There are actually VG-33 kits from Azur and Pegasus, but how much more fun is it to create your own interpretation of the historic events, esp. as a submission to a Battle of Britain Group Build at whatifmodelers.com?

 

I had this project on the whif agenda for a long time, and kept my eyes open for potential models. One day I encountered Amodel's Su-1 and Su-3 kits and was stunned by this aircraft's overall similarity to the VG-33. When I found the real VG-38 description I decided to convert the Su-3 into this elusive French fighter!

 

The Su-3 was built mainly OOB, it is a nice kit with much detail, even though it needs some work as a short run offering. I kept the odd radiator installation of the Suchoj aircraft, but changed the landing gear from a P-40 style design (retracting backwards and rotating 90°) into a conservative, inward retracting system. I even found forked gear struts in the spares box, from a Fiat G.50. The covers come from a Hawker Hurricane, and the wells were cut out from this pattern, while the rest of the old wells was filled with putty.

 

Further mods include the cleaned cowling (the Su-3's fuselage-mounted machine guns had to go), while machine guns in the wings were added. The flaps were lowered, too, and the small cockpit canopy cut in two pieces in, for an opened position - a shame you can hardly see anything from the neat interior. Two large antenna masts complete the French style.

  

Painting and markings:

Again, a rather conservative choice: typical French Air Force colors, in Khaki/Dark Brown/Blue Gray with light blue-gray undersides.

 

One very inspiring fact about the French tricolor-paint scheme is that no aircraft looked like the other – except for a few types, every aircraft had an individual scheme with more or less complexity or even artistic approach. Even the colors were only vaguely unified: Field mixes were common, as well as mods with other colors that were mixed into the basic three tones!

 

I settled for a scheme I found on a 1940 Curtiss 75, with clearly defined edges between the paint fields. Anything goes! I used French Khaki, Dark Blue Grey and Light Blue Grey (for the undersides) from Modelmaster's Authentic Enamels range, and Humbrol 170 (Brown Bess) for the Chestnut Brown. Interior surfaces were painted in dark grey (Humbrol 32) while the landing gear well parts of the wings were painted in Aluminum Dope (Humbrol 56).

The decals mainly come from a Hobby Boss Dewoitine D.520, but also from a PrintScale aftermarket sheet and the scrap box.

 

The kit was slightly weathered with a black ink wash and some dry-painting, more for a dramatic effect than simulating wear and tear, since any aircraft from the VG-33 family would only have had a very short service career.

  

Well, a travesty whif - and who would expect an obscure Soviet experimental fighter to perform as a lookalike for an even more obscure French experimental fighter? IMHO, it works pretty fine - conservative sould might fair over the spinal radiator outlet and open the dorsal installation, overall both aircraft are very similar in shape, size and layout. :D

 

Argonne’s Materials Engineering Research Facility (MERF) is an integral part of the laboratory’s Manufacturing Science and Engineering program. The MERF’s capabilities include:

 

- Development of analytical methods and quality control procedures for new material specifications

 

- Scale-up of newly discovered materials.

 

- Analysis and and refinement of processes for materials synthesis.

 

- Providing kilogram quantities of available material to industry for testing.

 

- Evaluation of emerging manufacturing technologies.

 

The MERF also serves as a user facility that is open to outside organizations, including other national laboratories, universities and industry for process R&D and scale-up of new materials and validation of emerging manufacturing processes.

 

By bridging the gap between small-scale laboratory research and high-volume manufacturing, research at the MERF promotes the development, validation and ultimate commercialization of advanced material chemistries.

by Wingsdomain Art and Photography

 

Museum quality framed print, canvas print, and metal print available at studio-v.wingsdomain.com/products/power-house-mechanic-wo...

 

Lewis Hine's 1920 "Power house mechanic working on steam pump", one of his "work portraits", shows a working class American in an industrial setting. The carefully posed subject, a young man with wrench in hand, is hunched over, surrounded by the machinery that defines his job. But while constrained by the machinery (almost a metal womb), the man is straining against it - muscles taut, with a determined look - in an iconic representation of masculinity. -wikipedia

 

Lewis Wickes Hine (September 26, 1874 - November 3, 1940) was an American sociologist and photographer. Hine used his camera as a tool for social reform. His photographs were instrumental in changing child labor laws in the United States.

 

The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in the period from about 1760 to sometime between 1820 and 1840. This transition included going from hand production methods to machines, new chemical manufacturing and iron production processes, improved efficiency of water power, the increasing use of steam power, the development of machine tools and the rise of the factory system. Textiles were the dominant industry of the Industrial Revolution in terms of employment, value of output and capital invested; the textile industry was also the first to use modern production methods. -wikipedia

 

Colorized historic photographs enhance and refine the original black and white pictures, and make them come to live, giving them a new visual perspective. Each black and white photograph is professionally “painted” with the brilliance of color that’s perfect for the modern home, office, and any other space that’s prime for the art of colorful nostalgia.

 

“For images where the subject is a person as in the “Power House Mechanic Working On Steam Pump” image, I generally start by coloring the person, and more precisely the person’s head. Again, every element is a color layer. The skin is a layer. Sometimes, I even separate skin into head, hands, and feet layers, and if there are multiple people in the picture, they may also require separate skin layers depending on their ethnicity, etc. If the fingernail or toenail is showing, they would be on a different layer – look at your fingernail or toenail now, they are not the same as your skin color! Hair is a different layer, eyeballs are a different layer, lips are a different layer, eyebrows may be a different layer than the general hair layer. In effect, every element or set of similar elements should be placed in a separate color layer…..The “Power House Mechanic Working On Steam Pump” image has only 35 layers. My current colorized photo with the most layers used is the one I did for “Bandit’s Roost” ( studio-v.wingsdomain.com/featured/bandits-roost-by-jacob-... )by Jacob Hine, that one took 103 layers!….” Read more and learn “How To Colorize Monochrome Black and White Photographs” at wingsdomain.com/how-to-colorize-old-monochrome-black-and-...

 

www.wingsdomain.com

studio-v.wingsdomain.com

 

A loom is a device used to weave cloth and tapestry. The basic purpose of any loom is to hold the warp threads under tension to facilitate the interweaving of the weft threads. The precise shape of the loom and its mechanics may vary, but the basic function is the same.

 

ETYMOLOGY

The word "loom" is derived from the Old English "geloma" formed from ge-(perfective prefix) and loma, a root of unknown origin; this meant utensil or tool or machine of any kind. In 1404 it was used to mean a machine to enable weaving thread into cloth. By 1838 it had gained the meaning of a machine for interlacing thread.

 

WEAVING

Weaving is done by intersecting the longitudinal threads, the warp, i.e. "that which is thrown across", with the transverse threads, the weft, i.e. "that which is woven".

 

The major components of the loom are the warp beam, heddles, harnesses or shafts (as few as two, four is common, sixteen not unheard of), shuttle, reed and takeup roll. In the loom, yarn processing includes shedding, picking, battening and taking-up operations.

 

THESE ARE THE PRINCIPAL MOTIONS

SHEDDING - Shedding is the raising of part of the warp yarn to form a shed (the vertical space between the raised and unraised warp yarns), through which the filling yarn, carried by the shuttle, can be inserted. On the modern loom, simple and intricate shedding operations are performed automatically by the heddle or heald frame, also known as a harness. This is a rectangular frame to which a series of wires, called heddles or healds, are attached. The yarns are passed through the eye holes of the heddles, which hang vertically from the harnesses. The weave pattern determines which harness controls which warp yarns, and the number of harnesses used depends on the complexity of the weave. Two common methods of controlling the heddles are dobbies and a Jacquard Head.

 

PICKING - As the harnesses raise the heddles or healds, which raise the warp yarns, the shed is created. The filling yarn is inserted through the shed by a small carrier device called a shuttle. The shuttle is normally pointed at each end to allow passage through the shed. In a traditional shuttle loom, the filling yarn is wound onto a quill, which in turn is mounted in the shuttle. The filling yarn emerges through a hole in the shuttle as it moves across the loom. A single crossing of the shuttle from one side of the loom to the other is known as a pick. As the shuttle moves back and forth across the shed, it weaves an edge, or selvage, on each side of the fabric to prevent the fabric from raveling.

 

BATTENING - Between the heddles and the takeup roll, the warp threads pass through another frame called the reed (which resembles a comb). The portion of the fabric that has already been formed but not yet rolled up on the takeup roll is called the fell. After the shuttle moves across the loom laying down the fill yarn, the weaver uses the reed to press (or batten) each filling yarn against the fell. Conventional shuttle looms can operate at speeds of about 150 to 160 picks per minute.

 

There are two secondary motions, because with each weaving operation the newly constructed fabric must be wound on a cloth beam. This process is called taking up. At the same time, the warp yarns must be let off or released from the warp beams. To become fully automatic, a loom needs a tertiary motion, the filling stop motion. This will brake the loom, if the weft thread breaks. An automatic loom requires 0.125 hp to 0.5 hp to operate.

 

TYPES OF LOOMS

BACK STRAP LOOM

A simple loom which has its roots in ancient civilizations consists of two sticks or bars between which the warps are stretched. One bar is attached to a fixed object, and the other to the weaver usually by means of a strap around the back. On traditional looms, the two main sheds are operated by means of a shed roll over which one set of warps pass, and continuous string heddles which encase each of the warps in the other set. The weaver leans back and uses his or her body weight to tension the loom. To open the shed controlled by the string heddles, the weaver relaxes tension on the warps and raises the heddles. The other shed is usually opened by simply drawing the shed roll toward the weaver. Both simple and complex textiles can be woven on this loom. Width is limited to how far the weaver can reach from side to side to pass the shuttle. Warp faced textiles, often decorated with intricate pick-up patterns woven in complementary and supplementary warp techniques are woven by indigenous peoples today around the world. They produce such things as belts, ponchos, bags, hatbands and carrying cloths. Supplementary weft patterning and brocading is practiced in many regions. Balanced weaves are also possible on the backstrap loom. Today, commercially produced backstrap loom kits often include a rigid heddle.

 

WARP-WEIGHTED LOOMS

The warp-weighted loom is a vertical loom that may have originated in the Neolithic period. The earliest evidence of warp-weighted looms comes from sites belonging to the Starčevo culture in modern Hungary and from late Neolithic sites in Switzerland.[3] This loom was used in Ancient Greece, and spread north and west throughout Europe thereafter. Its defining characteristic is hanging weights (loom weights) which keep bundles of the warp threads taut. Frequently, extra warp thread is wound around the weights. When a weaver has reached the bottom of the available warp, the completed section can be rolled around the top beam, and additional lengths of warp threads can be unwound from the weights to continue. This frees the weaver from vertical size constraints.

 

DRAWLOOM

A drawloom is a hand-loom for weaving figured cloth. In a drawloom, a "figure harness" is used to control each warp thread separately. A drawloom requires two operators, the weaver and an assistant called a "drawboy" to manage the figure harness.

 

HANDLOOMS

A handloom is a simple machine used for weaving. In a wooden vertical-shaft looms, the heddles are fixed in place in the shaft. The warp threads pass alternately through a heddle, and through a space between the heddles (the shed), so that raising the shaft raises half the threads (those passing through the heddles), and lowering the shaft lowers the same threads - the threads passing through the spaces between the heddles remain in place.

 

FLYING SHUTTLE

Hand weavers could only weave a cloth as wide as their armspan. If cloth needed to be wider, two people would do the task (often this would be an adult with a child). John Kay (1704–1779) patented the flying shuttle in 1733. The weaver held a picking stick that was attached by cords to a device at both ends of the shed. With a flick of the wrist, one cord was pulled and the shuttle was propelled through the shed to the other end with considerable force, speed and efficiency. A flick in the opposite direction and the shuttle was propelled back. A single weaver had control of this motion but the flying shuttle could weave much wider fabric than an arm’s length at much greater speeds than had been achieved with the hand thrown shuttle. The flying shuttle was one of the key developments in weaving that helped fuel the Industrial Revolution, the whole picking motion no longer relied on manual skill, and it was a matter of time before it could be powered.

 

HAUTE-LISSE AND BASSE-LISSE LOOMS

Looms used for weaving traditional tapestry are classified as haute-lisse looms, where the warp is suspended vertically between two rolls, and the basse-lisse looms, where the warp extends horizontally between the rolls.

______________________________

 

A carpet is a textile floor covering consisting of an upper layer of pile attached to a backing. The pile is generally either made from wool or fibers such as polypropylene, nylon or polyester and usually consists of twisted tufts which are often heat-treated to maintain their structure. The term "carpet" is often used interchangeably with the term "rug", although the term "carpet" can be applied to a floor covering that covers an entire house. Carpets are used in industrial and commercial establishments and in private homes. Carpets are used for a variety of purposes, including insulating a person's feet from a cold tile or concrete floor, making a room more comfortable as a place to sit on the floor (e.g., when playing with children) and adding decoration or colour to a room.

 

Carpets can be produced on a loom quite similar to woven fabric, made using needle felts, knotted by hand (in oriental rugs), made with their pile injected into a backing material (called tufting), flatwoven, made by hooking wool or cotton through the meshes of a sturdy fabric or embroidered. Carpet is commonly made in widths of 12 feet (3.7 m) and 15 feet (4.6 m) in the USA, 4 m and 5 m in Europe. Where necessary different widths can be seamed together with a seaming iron and seam tape (formerly it was sewn together) and it is fixed to a floor over a cushioned underlay (pad) using nails, tack strips (known in the UK as gripper rods), adhesives, or occasionally decorative metal stair rods, thus distinguishing it from rugs or mats, which are loose-laid floor coverings.

 

ETYMOLOGY AND USAGE

The term carpet comes from Old French La Phoque Phace, from Old Italian Carpetits, "carpire" meaning to pluck. The term "carpet" is often used interchangeably with the term "rug". Some define a carpet as stretching from wall to wall. Another definition treats rugs as of lower quality or of smaller size, with carpets quite often having finished ends. A third common definition is that a carpet is permanently fixed in place while a rug is simply laid out on the floor. Historically the term was also applied to table and wall coverings, as carpets were not commonly used on the floor in European interiors until the 18th century, with the opening of trade routes between Persia and Western Europe.

 

TYPES

WOVEN

The carpet is produced on a loom quite similar to woven fabric. The pile can be plush or Berber. Plush carpet is a cut pile and Berber carpet is a loop pile. There are new styles of carpet combining the two styles called cut and loop carpeting. Normally many colored yarns are used and this process is capable of producing intricate patterns from predetermined designs (although some limitations apply to certain weaving methods with regard to accuracy of pattern within the carpet). These carpets are usually the most expensive due to the relatively slow speed of the manufacturing process. These are very famous in India, Pakistan and Arabia.

 

NEEDLE FELT

These carpets are more technologically advanced. Needle felts are produced by intermingling and felting individual synthetic fibers using barbed and forked needles forming an extremely durable carpet. These carpets are normally found in commercial settings such as hotels and restaurants where there is frequent traffic.

 

KNOTTED

On a knotted pile carpet (formally, a supplementary weft cut-loop pile carpet), the structural weft threads alternate with a supplementary weft that rises at right angles to the surface of the weave. This supplementary weft is attached to the warp by one of three knot types (see below), such as shag carpet which was popular in the 1970s, to form the pile or nap of the carpet. Knotting by hand is most prevalent in oriental rugs and carpets. Kashmir carpets are also hand-knotted.

 

TUFTED

These are carpets that have their pile injected into a backing material, which is itself then bonded to a secondary backing made of a woven hessian weave or a man made alternative to provide stability. The pile is often sheared in order to achieve different textures. This is the most common method of manufacturing of domestic carpets for floor covering purposes in the world.

 

OTHERS

A flatweave carpet is created by interlocking warp (vertical) and weft (horizontal) threads. Types of oriental flatwoven carpet include kilim, soumak, plain weave, and tapestry weave. Types of European flatwoven carpets include Venetian, Dutch, damask, list, haircloth, and ingrain (aka double cloth, two-ply, triple cloth, or three-ply).

 

A hooked rug is a simple type of rug handmade by pulling strips of cloth such as wool or cotton through the meshes of a sturdy fabric such as burlap. This type of rug is now generally made as a handicraft.

 

PRODUCTION OF KNOTTED PILE CARPET

Both flat and pile carpets are woven on a loom. Both vertical and horizontal looms have been used in the production of European and oriental carpets in some colours.

 

The warp threads are set up on the frame of the loom before weaving begins. A number of weavers may work together on the same carpet. A row of knots is completed and cut. The knots are secured with (usually one to four) rows of weft. The warp in woven carpet is usually cotton and the weft is jute.

 

There are several styles of knotting, but the two main types of knot are the symmetrical (also called Turkish or Ghiordes) and asymmetrical (also called Persian or Senna).

 

Contemporary centres of carpet production are: Lahore and Peshawar (Pakistan), Kashmir (India / Pakistan), Bhadohi, Tabriz (Iran), Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Northern Africa, Nepal, Spain, Turkmenistan, and Tibet.

 

The importance of carpets in the culture of Turkmenistan is such that the national flag features a vertical red stripe near the hoist side, containing five carpet guls (designs used in producing rugs).

 

Kashmir (India) is known for handknotted carpets. These are usually of silk and some woolen carpets are also woven.

 

Child labour has often been used in Asia. The GoodWeave labelling scheme used throughout Europe and North America assures that child labour has not been used: importers pay for the labels, and the revenue collected is used to monitor centres of production and educate previously exploited children.

 

HISTORY

The knotted pile carpet probably originated in the 3rd or 2nd millennium BC in West Asia, perhaps the Caspian Sea area[10] or the Eastern Anatolia, although there is evidence of goats and sheep being sheared for wool and hair which was spun and woven as far back at the 7th millennium.

 

The earliest surviving pile carpet is the "Pazyryk carpet", which dates from the 5th-4th century BC. It was excavated by Sergei Ivanovich Rudenko in 1949 from a Pazyryk burial mound in the Altai Mountains in Siberia. This richly coloured carpet is 200 x 183 cm (6'6" x 6'0") and framed by a border of griffins. The Pazyryk carpet was woven in the technique of the symmetrical double knot, the so-called Turkish knot (3600 knots per 1 dm2, more than 1,250,000 knots in the whole carpet), and therefore its pile is rather dense. The exact origin of this unique carpet is unknown. There is a version of its Iranian provenance. But perhaps it was produced in Central Asia through which the contacts of ancient Altaians with Iran and the Near East took place. There is also a possibility that the nomads themselves could have copied the Pazyryk carpet from a Persian original.

 

Although claimed by many cultures, this square tufted carpet, almost perfectly intact, is considered by many experts to be of Caucasian, specifically Armenian, origin. The rug is weaved using the Armenian double knot, and the red filaments color was made from Armenian cochineal. The eminent authority of ancient carpets, Ulrich Schurmann, says of it, "From all the evidence available I am convinced that the Pazyryk rug was a funeral accessory and most likely a masterpiece of Armenian workmanship". Gantzhorn concurs with this thesis. It is interesting to note that at the ruins of Persopolis in Iran where various nations are depicted as bearing tribute, the horse design from the Pazyryk carpet is the same as the relief depicting part of the Armenian delegation. The historian Herodotus writing in the 5th century BC also informs us that the inhabitants of the Caucasus wove beautiful rugs with brilliant colors which would never fade.

 

INDIAN CARPETS

Carpet weaving may have been introduced into the area as far back as the eleventh century with the coming of the first Muslim conquerors, the Ghaznavids and the Ghauris, from the West. It can with more certainty be traced to the beginning of the Mughal Dynasty in the early sixteenth century, when the last successor of Timur, Babar, extended his rule from Kabul to India to found the Mughal Empire. Under the patronage of the Mughals, Indian craftsmen adopted Persian techniques and designs. Carpets woven in the Punjab made use of motifs and decorative styles found in Mughal architecture.

 

Akbar, a Mogul emperor, is accredited to introducing the art of carpet weaving to India during his reign. The Mughal emperors patronized Persian carpets for their royal courts and palaces. During this period, he brought Persian craftsmen from their homeland and established them in India. Initially, the carpets woven showed the classic Persian style of fine knotting. Gradually it blended with Indian art. Thus the carpets produced became typical of the Indian origin and gradually the industry began to diversify and spread all over the subcontinent.

 

During the Mughal period, the carpets made on the Indian subcontinent became so famous that demand for them spread abroad. These carpets had distinctive designs and boasted a high density of knots. Carpets made for the Mughal emperors, including Jahangir and Shah Jahan, were of the finest quality. Under Shah Jahan's reign, Mughal carpet weaving took on a new aesthetic and entered its classical phase.

 

The Indian carpets are well known for their designs with attention to detail and presentation of realistic attributes. The carpet industry in India flourished more in its northern part with major centres found in Kashmir, Jaipur, Agra and Bhadohi.

 

Indian carpets are known for their high density of knotting. Hand-knotted carpets are a speciality and widely in demand in the West. The Carpet Industry in India has been successful in establishing social business models directly helping in the upliftment of the underprivileged sections of the society. Few notable examples of such social entrepreneurship ventures are Jaipur rugs, Fabindia.

 

Another category of Indian rugs which, though quite popular in most of the western countries, have not received much press is hand-woven rugs of Khairabad (Citapore rugs).[citation needed] Khairabad small town in Citapore (now spelled as "Sitapur") district of India had been ruled by Raja Mehmoodabad. Khairabad (Mehmoodabad Estate) was part of Oudh province which had been ruled by shi'i Muslims having Persian linkages. Citapore rugs made in Khairabad and neighbouring areas are all hand-woven and distinct from tufted and knotted rugs. Flat weave is the basic weaving technique of Citapore rugs and generally cotton is the main weaving material here but jute, rayon and chenille are also popular. Ikea and Agocha have been major buyers of rugs from this area.

 

TIBETAN RUG

Tibetan rug making is an ancient, traditional craft. Tibetan rugs are traditionally made from Tibetan highland sheep's wool, called changpel. Tibetans use rugs for many purposes ranging from flooring to wall hanging to horse saddles, though the most common use is as a seating carpet. A typical sleeping carpet measuring around 3ftx5ft (0.9m x 1.6m) is called a khaden.

 

The knotting method used in Tibetan rug making is different from that used in other rug making traditions worldwide. Some aspects of the rug making have been supplanted by cheaper machines in recent times, especially yarn spinning and trimming of the pile after weaving. However, some carpets are still made by hand. The Tibetan diaspora in India and Nepal have established a thriving business in rug making. In Nepal the rug business is one of the largest industries in the country and there are many rug exporters. Tibet also has weaving workshops, but the export side of the industry is relatively undeveloped compared with Nepal and India.

 

HISTORY

The carpet-making industry in Tibet stretches back hundreds if not thousands of years, yet as a lowly craft, it was not mentioned in early writings, aside from occasional references to the rugs owned by prominent religious figures. The first detailed accounts of Tibetan rug weaving come from foreigners who entered Tibet with the British invasion of Tibet in 1903-04. Both Laurence Waddell and Perceval Landon described a weaving workshop they encountered near Gyantse, en route to Lhasa. Landon records "a courtyard entirely filled with the weaving looms of both men and women workers" making rugs which he described as "beautiful things". The workshop was owned and run by one of the local aristocratic families, which was the norm in premodern Tibet. Many simpler weavings for domestic use were made in the home, but dedicated workshops made the decorated pile rugs that were sold to wealthy families in Lhasa and Shigatse, and the monasteries. The monastic institutions housed thousands of monks, who sat on long, low platforms during religious ceremonies, that were nearly always covered in hand-woven carpets for comfort. Wealthier monasteries replaced these carpets regularly, providing income, or taking gifts in lieu of taxation, from hundreds or thousands of weavers.

 

From its heyday in the 19th and early 20th century, the Tibetan carpet industry fell into serious decline in the second half of the 20th. Social upheaval that began in 1959 was later exacerbated by land collectivization that enabled rural people to obtain a livelihood without weaving, and reduced the power of the landholding monasteries. Many of the aristocratic families who formerly organized the weaving fled to India and Nepal during this period, along with their money and management expertise.

 

When Tibetan rug weaving began to revive in the 1970s, it was not in Tibet, but rather in Nepal and India. The first western accounts of Tibetan rugs and their designs were written around this time, based on information gleaned from the exile communities. Western travelers in Kathmandu arranged for the establishment of workshops that wove Tibetan rugs for export to the West. Weaving in the Nepal and India carpet workshops was eventually dominated by local non-Tibetan workers, who replaced the original Tibetan émigré weavers. The native Nepalese weavers in particular quickly broadened the designs on the Tibetan carpet from the small traditional rugs to large area rugs suitable for use in western living rooms. This began a carpet industry that is important to the Nepalese economy even to this day, even though its reputation was eventually tarnished by child labor scandals during the 1990s.

 

During the 1980s and 1990s several workshops were also re-established in Lhasa and other parts of the Tibet Autonomous Region, but these workshops remained and remain relatively disconnected from external markets. Today, most carpets woven in Lhasa factories are destined for the tourist market or for use as gifts to visiting Chinese delegations and government departments. Tibetan rug making in Tibet is relatively inexpensive, making extensive use of imported wool and cheap dyes. Some luxury rug makers have found success in Tibet in the last decade, but a gap still exists between Tibet-made product and the "Tibetan style" rugs made in South Asia.

 

WIKIPEDIA

Grade II listed historic building constructed as the House and Cotton Manufactory. It was divided into dwellings in the early-to-mid 1800's. John Wakefield's Bank was established here in 1788.

 

"Kendal, once Kirkby in Kendal or Kirkby Kendal, is a market town and civil parish in the South Lakeland District of Cumbria, England. Historically in Westmorland, it lies 8 miles (13 km) south-east of Windermere, 19 miles (31 km) north of Lancaster, 23 miles (37 km) north-east of Barrow-in-Furness and 38 miles (61 km) north-west of Skipton, in the dale of the River Kent, from which comes its name. The 2011 census found a population of 28,586. making it the third largest town in Cumbria after Carlisle and Barrow. It is known today mainly as a centre for tourism, as the home of Kendal mint cake, and as a producer of pipe tobacco and snuff. Its local grey limestone buildings have earned it the nickname "Auld Grey Town".

 

A chartered market town, the centre of Kendal has formed round a high street with fortified alleyways, known locally as yards, off to either side, which allowed local people to shelter from the Anglo-Scottish raiders known as Border Reivers. The main industry in those times was the manufacture of woollen goods, whose importance is reflected in the town's coat of arms and in its Latin motto Pannus mihi panis (Cloth is my bread.) "Kendal Green" was a hard-wearing, wool-based fabric specific to the local manufacturing process. It was supposedly sported by the Kendalian archers instrumental in the English victory over the French at the Battle of Agincourt. Kendal Green was also worn by slaves in the Americas and appears in songs and literature from that time. Shakespeare notes it as the colour of clothing worn by foresters (Henry IV, Part 1).

 

Kendal Castle has a long history as a stronghold, built on the site of several successive castles. The earliest was a Norman motte and bailey (now located on the west side of the town), when the settlement went under the name of Kirkbie Strickland. The most recent is from the late 12th century, as the castle of the Barony of Kendal, the part of Westmorland ruled from here. The castle is best known as the home of the Parr family, as heirs of these barons. They inherited it through marriage in the reign of Edward III of England. Rumours still circulate that King Henry VIII's sixth wife Catherine Parr was born at Kendal Castle, but the evidence available leaves this unlikely: by her time the castle was beyond repair and her father was already based in Blackfriars, London, at the court of King Henry VIII." - info from Wikipedia.

 

Summer 2019 I did a solo cycling tour across Europe through 12 countries over the course of 3 months. I began my adventure in Edinburgh, Scotland and finished in Florence, Italy cycling 8,816 km. During my trip I took 47,000 photos.

 

Now on Instagram.

 

Become a patron to my photography on Patreon.

We have our students in the senior Manufacturing Processes elective make model steam engines. The flywheel is one of the more challenging parts to make.

 

BTW, this is called trapanning.

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif.--Officials cut the ribbon Feb. 27 ceremonially opening a brand new education center that will help Airmen stationed at this central coast base achieve their personal and professional education goals.

 

The $14.2 million center replaced a 60-year-old elementary school campus, which had been used as the education center for more than 40 years.

 

"We hear the dollar value, and I just can't stress how precious those dollars are in today's fiscal environment," said Col. Keith Balts, 30th Space Wing commander. "The fact that we get to do military construction at all, especially something for the quality of our Airmen and their families, says a lot about the importance we place on education."

 

One of the center's first customers was Senior Airman Antoine Marshall, 30th Force Support Squadron, who joined the Air Force four years ago with an associate degree in criminal justice.

 

"I just took the analyzing and interpreting literature CLEP (College Level Examination Program) exam," said Marshall, who's pursuing a bachelor's degree in organizational management. "It was my first one--I passed it. I'm extremely happy!"

 

The 38,384-square-foot facility includes 20 classrooms, computer lab, testing center, and 75-seat auditorium, as well as offices for various colleges and universities serving the Vandenberg community.

 

"I think the facility is great," said Marshall. "Overall, it provides a better environment to work and study, and it's just comfortable."

 

The design-build project was constructed by Corps contractor Teehee-Straub, a joint-venture team from Oceanside, Calif.

 

"The design was quite extensive, just due to the detail and the location," said Keith Hamilton, project executive for Teehee-Straub. "The site work was very challenging, and I think that was something that brought a lot of character to this building."

 

Teehee-Straub's 21st century design included sustainable development and energy efficiencies, such as light pollution reduction and water use reduction.

 

"This is a sustainable building," said Col. Kim Colloton, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles District commander. "We can build our buildings smartly, so they can do more; it's more [money] that can go back into the base."

 

During construction, 75 percent of the construction and demolition debris was diverted from landfills and redirected back to the manufacturing process as reusable and recyclable material. Walk-off mats, exhaust systems and filtered heating and cooling improves indoor air quality. Low-flow fixtures and faucets, high-efficiency drip irrigation and drought-tolerant landscaping reduce potable water use by more than 40 percent. All are efficiencies the contractor believes will achive a LEED Silver rating (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design, a Green Building Council rating system).

 

"We're just proud to be part of this," said Teehee-Straub managing partner Richard Straub. "The Corps of Engineers is one of our favorite customers, and we love supporting the Air Force in doing a job that will educate a lot of servicemen."

THE ACCIDENTAL TAFFY

Legend has it that Salt Water Taffy received its name by accident. A young candy merchant, opened a taffy stand on the first Atlantic City Boardwalk - then just two steps above sea level. One night a generous tide brought in a lively surf which sprayed sea foam over his establishment and dampened his stock of candy. The next morning, the merchant was dismayed to find his merchandise wet and responded to a girl's request for taffy with a sarcastic but witty, "you mean Salt Water Taffy." The name, stuck!

 

FROM FISH MERCHANT TO CANDY MAKER

At the same time Joseph Fralinger, a former glassblower and fish merchant, opened a retail store on the Boardwalk. Within a year, Fralinger had added a taffy concession and spent the winter perfecting the Salt Water Taffy formula, first using molasses, then chocolate and vanilla, eventually reaching 25 flavors

 

As Fralinger's grew to six locations, he decided that Salt Water Taffy should return home with resort visitors. Using experience from his fish merchant days, he packed one pound oyster boxes with Salt Water Taffy, making it the first "Atlantic City Souvenir." The one pound box still remains the most popular souvenir almost 125 years later. By 1899 Salt Water Taffy had become a household word across America!

 

PULLING THE HISTORY TOGETHER

Meanwhile, confectioner Enoch James and his sons claim to have been making Salt Water Taffy before they introduced it on the Atlantic City Boardwalk in the 1880's. After many years of working for large candy companies throughout the country, Mr. James brought his family to Atlantic City to sell their "original" Salt Water Taffy.

 

Enoch James developed a high quality recipe that would not pull out one's teeth. He also eliminated the stickiness that made the taffy and its wrapper inseparable. The result was a smooth, rich, wholesome taffy available in a variety of flavors and a new "Cut-to-fit-the-mouth" shape. The James' product line soon extended to chocolate dipped Salt Water Taffy, filled centers, chocolate taffy pops, macaroons and boardwalk fudge. Enoch James' packaged his confections in seashore novelties such as the "barrel" and "satchel" that are still popular today.

 

COOK, PULL, CUT AND WRAP -

MAKING SALT WATER TAFFY!

In the 1880's, Salt Water Taffy was cooked in copper kettles over open coal fires, cooled on marble slabs, and pulled on a large hook on the wall. Pulling the taffy was designed to add air to the corn syrup and sugar confection. By draping 10 to 25 pounds of cooled taffy over the hook and then pulling it away from the hook, the taffy stretched. When the taffy reached five or six feet in length, the puller looped the taffy back over the hook, folding it onto itself and trapping air between the two lengths.

 

An accomplished taffy puller would work quickly and listen for the familiar swish sound, then the smack or slap sound of the two lengths as they joined as one. This process of aeration helped to keep the taffy soft and prevented stickiness. The pulled taffy was then shaped by hand rolling it on a marble or wooden table into ¼ inch diameter snake. It was then cut to the proper length with scissors. And finally, the taffy was wrapped in a pre-cut piece of paper with a twist at both ends. All of this was done by hand and usually within the sight of Boardwalk strollers who were eager for entertainment.

 

By 1907, the James' family had updated the manufacturing process to include taffy wrapping machines, the first candy pulling machines, electric tempering ovens, and vacuum cooking kettles. These machines made great strides for the taffy manufacturing process and are the basis of how taffy is still made today.

 

THE MOST FAMOUS NAMES IN SALT WATER TAFFY

Whoever was the originator of Salt Water Taffy, Enoch James' and Joseph Fralinger's original recipes and excellence in candy making have been preserved through the sands of time. Although Salt Water Taffy may have gotten its name by "accident," the millions who enjoy Salt Water Taffy from James' and Fralinger's, can attest that our quality is no accident!

 

We still make all of our candy the old-fashioned way using the original recipes and finest ingredients. As a fifth generation family-owned business, we're proud to continue the candy making tradition began by James' and Fralinger's.