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Alpha Auer's installation "Listen …" at "Topophonia: 4 Realizations in sound" strongly overwhelmed by SaveMe Oh's particelshows.
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From the description:
TOPOPHONIA: 4 Realizations in Sound
HUMlab at Umea University in Sweden has generously provided this Yoshikaze "Up in the Air" Residency. I'm very grateful to Goodwind Seiling and HUMlab for the opportunity to participate in this program.
My idea for this residency was to ask 3 fellow artists each to create an artwork all using the same concept. I would also create my own version. (Although, my version shouldn't be thought of as 'definitive'.)
The concept is simple: use **sounds only** to guide an avatar around a build. I asked them to avoid providing visual cues for avatars to use in reaching whatever kind of goals the artists envisioned.
You will find four completely different pieces, four totally different visions of what that initial concept suggested. To me, the fact that our four versions are so different is tremendously exciting. It is further proof that the artist's mind is unlimited in its ability to make sense of the world, and to convey that sense to others.
Please be sure to visit all four installations. You will find TP kiosks on each level, and on the ground if you should somehow end up there. Have fun!
Oberon Onmura
January, 2013
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The "Somewhere in sl" picture series (or "The Adventures of WuWai in Second Life") is my guide and bookmark folder to wonderful, artful, curious or in other way remarkably sims of second life with travel guide WuWai Chun.
For the full review of this action figure please check it out here → bitly.com/1Bp4VMZ
Facebook page → www.facebook.com/locustblogsite
i've realized a lot being away at college
a lot.
and most of it seems so unreal to be true.
im glad i can spot the truth
also
“Once the realization is accepted that even between the closest human beings infinite distances continue, a wonderful living side by side can grow, if they succeed in loving the distance between them which makes it possible for each to see the other whole against the sky.”
- Rainer Maria Rilke
(third in a series...)
PLEASE NOTE: i apologize for the large copyright stamp placed on this photo...while i understand it is distracting and takes away from the image, this and many other photographs of mine have been stolen and are being used for profit. This is the only way I can protect my work...thank you for understanding!!!
I just discovered all the image editing tools... the 'photoshop' if you will (though I did this in aperture).
I haven't done this kind of stuff since film/darkroom days, mostly because I hadn't found a need. but I discovered that a lot of the stuff I've been doing with hdr is actually available just because of the high bit rate of the raw files. I never bothered to bother with them before.
anyway: this is an example. just by using the 'development' process on the raw file I got almost all of the range I needed. (btw: the previous image of the backhoe is the same process only via adobe dng development).
I also realized, looking at the pic, that even though I'm miserable most of the time, and probably totally crazy too, I don't think I'm in a bad place, once I step back and look at it.
I got this cute car, and I was spending a winter thursday out tootling around. I've got a set of window sashes that I'm going to turn into art and 40lbs of birdseed. and I'm in a state/place where I can stop and take pictures of a construction site for no reason other than that I wanted to.
what makes me particularly happy regarding this pic is that I was able to get the bright orange of the near side of the car out of the shadows and bring the sky down to blue. I really like those colors against each other. doing it via HDR would have sacrificed detail and it takes a while and it's a pain to take the frames correctly. much nicer this way.
This is the realization of the pattern I created for a hungarian bride using hungarian embroidery elements. The henna is Tunisian style where like in Yemen gall ink is used to high light the henna.
Khidab is a Gall ink which is employed in Yemen mainly in the mountainous regions around the capital Sanaa instead of henna. For an account how it is made you can download an article:
Yemeni Women’s Body Painting with Black Gall Ink Khidab, Production Methods,
from my colleage Dr. Hanne Schönig at www.henna-und-mehr.de/pdf/Khidabartikel_eu.pdf; (Englisch)
or www.henna-und-mehr.de/pdf/schoenig_deutsch.pdf (German)
If you like to see original Yeminite bodypaintings with this ink visit: www.henna-und-mehr.de/de/khidabslide.html (German) or
Note about this photograph: (rant inserted in July, 2015)
As you can see this photo has been up for nearly 8 years and, as of late, I had come to the realization that there are sleezy operators on the internet who will stop at nothing to make money on their sites by swiping other's work and displaying ads and giving NO attribution or credit to the original creator. I had originally posted this photo on Flickr and realized that it was getting more views than all of my other photos combined. So I set out to document what it was that made this particular building famous in my patently verbose way. I noticed that the more I typed and especially after adding links, the more views it got.
Originally on Google image search, it wended its way up to the first place if one searched for "Scranton Prep". That was not really my intention as the School itself should have top billing. I would settle for row 5 or 6 on page 1! Anyway, one day a couple of years ago, it fell totally off the Google radar and was only available if one was to add "Flickr" in the query. I don't really care as I am not really interested in the number of views though I found it interesting that this particular photo got so many views.
So then, in the interest of appeasing the Google gods and obtaining their algorithmic absolution, I put the same photo on Panaramio, another google property. This also allowed it to be viewed in Google Earth which I thought would get me the indulgence I was seeking on Google image search. Wrong!
So along comes this sleeze bag operator from the Czech republic by the moniker mapio.com which was using my photo (along with others that they swiped including the Scranton Fire Department) as background for their commercial pages, which, from what I can tell is a source of revenue as they display text ads for mostly educational sites.
Instead of my Flickr photo working its way back up, they chose my image which was expropriated by mapio (interestingly, they swiped it from Panaramio! - I don't know or care if Google is aware of it) Interestingly, even though I deleted my photo from Panaramio, it is still displayed on the top row of pictures (not in full resolution though) of Google image search though no longer on the mapio site as a background. Further, if one goes to mapio.com there is no way to leave feedback as in "I don't appreciate that you stole my photo without attribution".
If you go to their plain vanilla web address, mapio.com, you would not realize that they do more than rent out apartments in London without further digging. It is ironic that Google image search continues to display the mapio photo as if it belongs there even though they swiped it from Panaramio and it is no longer there! That obviously means that mapio has the photo cached.
That is the real reason for this rant. At the very minimum, any site wanting to use anyone else's photo or other media, should request permission to do so. I have had a few requests for that type of thing and I was glad to do so. Also, my photo not need to be the #1 photo (it is and has been on Yahoo image search which uses Bing as their search engine). I do not need to be embarrasingly successful...
Update 5-15-15
Though you can see an an approximation of the above image at google images, it is now a low resolution version hosted by flip.life (whoever they are) and, if one was to click on the "View Page" for further information, there is no information, in fact there is no photo!
Update: 5-16-15
Of all things, my actual Flickr photo is the one displayed on google images once again. It shows that, with persistence, one can take control of one's internet presence even if it is via a circuitous and devious route.
-- END of RANT --
Just sit back and eat the popcorn and enjoy our main feature...
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--------------------- The Scranton Preparatory School ------------------------
---------------------------------- aka Scranton Prep ----------------------------------
----- 1000 Wyoming Avenue in Scranton, Pennsylvania, USA -----
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The vantage point of this photo is through the fence abutting the railroad tracks behind the school's athletic field; the school itself is seen beyond the field and Wyoming Avenue. One of two relatively recent (2005+) additions can be seen to the left of the main building. It is actually the second iteration of wings built on the site of the former outdoor basketball courts and, like the smaller former wing, houses a gymnasium. The complementary addition on the right contains science laboratories and a lecture hall. That addition is not as large because it does not have the depth (from front to back) as it abuts a car dealership.
The Scranton Preparatory School, "Prep", was founded in 1944 by the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits) and was originally located in the 300 block of Wyoming Avenue. Its first home was a building next to the Cathedral rectory which had been vacated by the University of Scranton (formerly Saint Thomas College) when the university relocated to larger quarters at the Scranton estate in the area of Madison Avenue and Linden Street. That building is gone; its replacement is a prayer garden.
Prep later moved to a building at the east corner of the same block at the intersection of Wyoming Avenue and Mulberry Street. That building formerly housed the Thompson Private Hospital.
.The school remained there until 1961 when the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania decided to widen Mulberry Street resulting in the demolition of the building. There was a two-year temporary relocation to a building at the University of Scranton while a new site was located. An ideal candidate was located in the 1000 block of Wyoming Avenue at the site of the former Women's Institute of Domestic Arts and Sciences* (see footnote below) , a branch of the International Correspondence Schools. The school relocated to that building, pictured here, in 1963.
. Prep's enrollment grew substantially in 1971 as a result of the additional students from the all-girls' Marywood Seminary whose building had been destroyed by fire. Prior to the combination, Prep had been an all-boys' school. The current enrollment for the school (2016-17) is 775 students.
. If this building looks somewhat familiar, you may have seen its image in the old Popular Mechanics among others. Page three of the magazine was many times a full page advertisement for the International Correspondence Schools (ICS), which advertised heavily in popular technical magazines and had their headquarters in Scranton. The building was featured in the upper left corner of their study manuals and and there was nearly always a likeness of one of their manuals in the advertisement. Too, there was usually a bright yellow, double tear-off postage-paid return card for those interested in furthering their education in "The World's Schoolhouse". (Who or what was the second one for??!).
. The athletic field in the foreground of the above photo was previously occupied by a factory known as Haddon Craftsmen, the printing subsidiary of ICS. It occupied the entire block across the street from the Women's Institute. In perhaps the ultimate example of addressing simplicity and a study of worker/management dichotomy , the Women's Institute's address was 1000 Wyoming Avenue and Haddon's address was 1001 Wyoming Avenue. It pretty much boiled down to the boys being on one side of the street and the girls on the other. Amazing things can happen when there is one building per block on each side.
Haddon printed the course books for the correspondence courses as well as other textbooks for Intext (The International Textbook Company), the parent company of ICS that supplied textbooks used in college courses. In its latter days before it closed, Haddon Craftsmen was spun off from Intext and printed, among other things, paperback book selections for the Book of the Month Club.
.One mysteriously vanished detail of the demolition of the Haddon Craftsmen printing plant is an historical marker honoring Thomas J. Foster, the founder of ICS, which adorned the plant on the Wyoming Avenue side. In a rather grandiose proclamation, it stated that ICS was the "World's Schoolhouse". You can see an image of the plaque along with a comprehensive narrative of ICS's raison d'etre here. A rendering of the Haddon Craftsmen printing plant can be seen here. The vantage point for this image is catty-cornered to Haddon, in other words, if you were in the north corner of Coyer Motors, a tiny Pontiac dealership with room for a single automobile in its showroom. That property is now home to that paragon of fast food haute cuisine, Wendy's.
There is a street off to the left called Institute Way. The volume of mail was such that ICS had its own zone code (15, as in Scranton 15 Penna.) which later became zip code 18515 and is used to this very day by its successor institution Penn Foster . The value of having its own zip code has been largely attenuated, given that the terms "distance learning" and "online learning" have replaced "mail correspondence course" in the parlance of this type of education. Stamps are now optional!
When ICS moved to "new and improved" quarters on Oak Street in North Scranton in 1963, this building became the home of Prep. Along with classrooms and a chapel, it had residential quarters for the Jesuits on the 4th floor and a TV/radio station (not related to the school) in the basement.
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* NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE *
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If you read on, you will see that there is a quiz at the end of this passage. It is recommended that, if one chooses to take the quiz, that it be self-scored.
As you may have NOTICEd, this segment is conveniently perforated so that you can cut and paste it and take it home if desired. If you are already at home, then you are already at home.
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********************* DO NOT attempt to mail it in! **********************
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The following is related only tangentially to the current building and is included for historical and amusement purposes only. It is not required reading for present day Cavaliers.
If you are, or have ever been a Cavalier after 1976 the following is arcane and superfluous information and will not appear on the graduation test. You need not read it!
Those who graduated in or before 1976 will be quizzed on call letters, frequencies, and TV and radio personalities.
One final preface to the next section is that, as usual, the people behind the scenes, the engineers, camera persons, secretaries, and others really deserve a lot of credit for any broadcast organization's success. They are, perhaps by omission and invisibility, the unsung heroes of broadcasting. This is largely because we never hear their names or see fast-scrolling credits which may or may not include them. What we see and hear on a daily basis is the "talent" or on-air personalities who are also essential and, because of their notoriety, appear to be 100% of tele-organizations. So, in a some way, we owe a good deal of gratitude to these invisible people for their contributions.
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--------------------------- TALES OF THE BASEMENT -----------------------------
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.First there was radio...
. In the olden days (the '60s and '70s), the basement of Prep was home to WGBI-TV (later changed to WDAU - channel 22) and WGBI-AM (910 kHz) and later WGBI-FM (101.3 mHz) radio. All were affiliates of the Columbia Broadcasting Sytem (CBS). The stations were owned by the Megargee family whose mainstay was the paper business.
Market penetration by the Megargee Paper Company, paper-wise, was such that its ubiquity ensured that no matter in which area restroom one chose to relieve oneself, it was assured that the label on the toilet paper and paper towel dispensers bore their brand.
.In the real olden days and after several frequency changes, WQAN (a Scranton Times/Lynett media company) and WGBI-AM (a Megargee of paper fame station) both broadcasted on 880kHz, the former from dawn until noon and the latter from noon until signoff. The stations operated at 1000 watts during the daytime and 500 watts at night.
.WQAN and WGBI shared the 880kHz frequency from the early 1930s until 1941 when the shared frequency was changed to 910kHz. This continued until 1948 when WQAN was allotted the 630kHz slot.
Urban legend has it that WQAN stood for "We Quit At Noon". That may be the actual derivation of the station's call letters. WQAN's call letters were changed to WEJL in January of 1954, the letters EJL being the initials of the newspaper's publisher Edward J. Lynett. According to the same urban legend types, the letters GBI in WGBI stood for "God Bless the Irish".
WGBI AM kept the 910kHz frequency and continued to use it for many years. Its mainstay was (both!) country and western music with the usual news and weather reports.
When Entercom lost its lease on WBZU's transmitter site on Davis Street in South Scranton in 2006, (WBZU is the current call letters of WGBI's 910kHz frequency) it set the stage for an ironic twist of fate. It turns out that WBZU and WEJL (formerly WGBI and WQAN) are once again located, equipment-wise, in the same location. This time, it is in the Scranton TImes building that the twain meet and their their transmitters are in the same room. Both broadcast from the tower atop the Scranton Times building at Penn Avenue and Spruce Street. These stations, which had parted company in 1948 are, once again, broadcasting side by side after a nearly 60 year hiatus!
...then came along that new-fangled invention, the television...
WGBI radio predated the televison station by nearly three decades. WGBI-AM began broadcasting in 1925 and WGBI-TV began in 1953.
In 1958 the McGargee family, the owners of WGBI TV, entered into a limited partnership with the Philadelphia Bulletin newspaper which operated WCAU TV in Philadelphia. The call letters of the TV station were then changed to WDAU. The Bulletin opted to sell WCAU, which then became a network O&O (owned and operated) and keep the smaller WDAU when forced by the Federal Communications Commission to divest itself of one of the television stations. The FCC deemed that there was too much signal overlap in the Lehigh Valley (Allentown) area where both signals were available. The partnership was dissolved a year later in 1959, the Bulletin selling its share back to the McGargees.
.In this era, Channel 22 was, hands down, the TV station as, along with the best local news gathering organization, the station was part of the CBS network which was the radio and television network. The local TV competition was WBRE, the NBC affiliate, and WNEP, the ABC affiliate. Too, there was a fair amount of synergy between TV and radio whereby some of the talent, including Tom Reilly and Bill White, among others, appeared on both media. Just imagine, one could watch the 6 o'clock news and on the way to the store in their '57 Chevy hear the same people talking at them!
.The entire TV menu at this time consisted of WDAU-22 (CBS), WBRE-28 (NBC), and WNEP-16 (ABC). Yes children, until WVIA, the PBS affiliate appeared on the scene in 1966, the entire TV world consisted of 3 TV stations! Nearly all broadcast stations, and TV sets for that matter, were black and white prior to 1965.
These were the days before the remote control; the term "couch potato" was not yet vernacular. One, upon hearing the phrase, might have thought that there was a misplaced spud on your davenport. TV viewers did not have the option of swiftly rotating though 500 channels of nothingness; three were plenty. One effect of the actual effort required to change channels is that people, many times, left their set tuned to a single station for an entire night. Too, it was a contest among the networks to see if they could lure you into leaving the dial set to their station.
.To add to the complexity of owning a set, there were many older TVs which received VHF only and in order to receive the UHF stations (those from 14 to 83), one needed a "converter box" as all TV stations in the Great Northeast (PA) were UHF. The converter box was a little box which sat atop the TV through which the antenna wire was routed, some electronic mumble jumble took place and then the resultant signal was routed to the TV via channel 3. These boxes (why are there always boxes involved with TV?) also had a separate electrical plug as they contained tubes. The TV was tuned to channel 3 (sound familiar?!!) and then one tuned the set through the converter box.
.As a bonus, semi-off topic, aside, I present the following:
Did you know that the TVs of old, the ones with the cathode ray tubes, (the analog ones) could be used to detect tornadoes or other storms in your area? It seems that storms broadcast on channel 2, much as channel 2 did. The method involved tuning the set to channel 13 and turning the brightness down just to where the screen was darkened and then tuning the set to channel 2. If there was a storm in the area, with each lightning strike, you would see the corresponding spikes on your CRT (here we are using the TV in monitor mode and hopefully you do not live in a city where there is an actual channel 2 broadcasting to spoil the fun). If there was an approaching tornado, the entire screen would glow so you knew to unplug your set and proceed directly to your tornado shelter. Maybe it would be best to place the TV in your tornado shelter and watch it until the power went out. By the way, there is nothing preventing you from trying this out if you have an old set lying aroud the house which has not been sacrificed due to our penchant for more pixels and the latest and greatest 3D 16384p 60" 7.1 theatre surround sound flat screen HD TV screens. Compare this product description with "da tube" which pretty much described a TV set in days gone by.
.For those of you who might be inclined to think that the previous passage was fabricated so that I might up my tube cred and continue my propensity for verbosity, which, given the lack of brevity in this mere photo description (!) seems not out of the realm of possibility, see the following link: Storms on TV
.End of bonus segment, now back to our regularly scheduled program
.Though their signals were easy to pick up in Scranton and Wilkes-Barre "metro areas", it was nearly impossible to get a signal outside of these urban areas. It seems that the undulating topography of heynaville (for clarification and further information on everything heyna, see Tutorial on Heynabonics ), otherwise known as Northeastern Pennsylvania, wreaks havoc on the electromagnetic emissions known as television signals. Simply stated, the folks out in the boonies could not get the TV signals.
.At this juncture in the annals of TV, a person in a metro area could easily get TV signals using a bow tie or rabbit-ear indoor antenna. The main problem with the "stronger" signal in these areas is that sometimes the signal could "ghost", a phenomenon whereby the viewer would not only see the intended transmission but, at times, a slightly off-registration "ghost" of the picture. These ghosts were caused by TV signals reflecting off large buildings or other objects. Many of these aberrations could be resolved by having someone else move the antenna about while you observed the screen. The best picture, it seems, always managed to leave the antenna holder/adjuster in a Twister-like body position and there were the predictable gripes as he/she put the antenna in a position "about" where it was optimum.
.Those in the intermediate area, say 8 to 10 miles away, depending on topography, could get a reasonable facsimile of a picture with an outdoor, roof-mounted antenna. It was found that wrapping a bit of aluminum foil around the antenna lead-in wire aided in minor adjustments to the picture. So if you needed to get rid of a minor ghost or snowy picture, the picture could be adjusted by sliding the foil up or down the wire as needed. People outside this range were able to get signals mostly through sheer will power and the expenditure of a goodly amount of funds for outdoor, roof-mounted antennae.
At this point, the only things keeping one from a clear TV picture were electromagnetic pulses, coronal mass ejections leading to minor EMPs), snow, fog, the cold war, high winds, communists, and rain. Reception, along with the dreaded horizontal and vertical hold adjustments on the TV required perseverance and experimentation if one was to be an avid TV watcher.
...it was then decreed that all TVs must have a coaxial cable attached and thus ended "free" TV as we knew it...
To solve the problem of lack of, or, at best, lousy, signal, the stations employed "translators" (no these were not people who translated heynabonics to English for the broadcasts!). These were additional broadcast towers distributed around NEPA (northeast Pennsylvania) to allow folks in say, Palmerton, Slatedale, and Slatington to get a reasonable semblance of a signal. These were not received on the regular station number, 22 in the case of WDAU, but rather, say for example, channel 18 in Clarks Summit or 52 in Hop Bottom.
Coincident with the rise of the translator, there was another industry, in its nascent stage, supplying TV signals to those who still had no reception. It was something called cable TV (or, in broadcast parlance, Community Antenna Television, or CATV) whose mission was to carry the local stations out to the valleys to the south and west where reception was otherwise impossible. This amounted to a guy locating an antenna on top of a mountain where he could receive the signal, amplify it by electronic means, and sell the signal to customers who were along the route of the wire. The charge was $2.00 per month for the service. They too had all of 3 stations on their schedule, though some subscribers in the southern reaches could get additional stations from the Philadelphia or New York areas.
Yes folks, cable TV was invented here in hard coal country in the little 'burgh of Mahanoy City so that an appliance store owner could sell more TVs. Though you may curse your Comcast or Time Warner cable bill, without cable it was impossible for a goodly segment of the population to receive any moving pictures on the television and for others to receive a clear signal.
Service Electric, which started operations in 1948 and still in business today, was a pioneer in the field. That may be why the first official broadcast of HBO was made from New York to Wilkes Barre in 1972 on Service Electric, a fact attested to on a bronze plaque on Public Square in Wilkes Barre.
--Yet another bonus, semi-off topic aside:
Certain areas in the Pocono mountains such as Tobyhanna and Mount Pocono were TV heaven. You could, with a moderate investment in an external VHF/UHF outdoor antenna, receive all the New York and Philadelphia stations plus the local UHF stations. Nearly the entire VHF dial from 2 to 13 had available stations. The quality of the signal depended on the weather and the amount spent on the antenna. Those with the best reception had the full dresser Channel Master fish bone antenna with the 360 degree rotating motor for VHF. You would turn on the desired station and turn the direction dial to the direction of the source station. Most times these directions were either known or actually marked on the rotation control knob. Some of the stations available were WCBS, KYW, WNBC, WNEW, WPVI, WABC, WOR, WCAU, WPIX, and WNET. It was like having cable before cable!
-- End of bonus segment. We now rejoin our regularly scheduled blurb which is already in progress.
.An odd situation was caused by the expensive AT&T/Bell System leased line to New York City for WDAU to recieve network programming. Rather than pay what they considered the exorbitant fee, a microwave relay system was set up to receive broadcast signal from WCBS in New York. This system was not unlike the system set up for cable TV where a receiver was placed on a mountain top and the signal was amplified. In this case, instead of being fed into a cable system, the signal was passed along to the next microwave tower in the chain. In the case of WDAU, the primary receiver was in Effort, PA in the Poconos and the signal was then beamed to the transmitter building atop the West Mountain in Scranton.
A problem occurred when WDAU had to sync with the CBS network for national programming. The engineers in the studio weren't able to see the WCBS signal and therefore an engineer had to be stationed at the transmitter to effect the changes as needed. This all had to be done with precise timing rather than cues from the station. Presumably there also had to be a switch at the commercials so those in Scranton would see commercials for da Acme and the Scranton Dry and not Crazy Eddie's commercials which were, as self-proclaimed, totally insane.
WDAU was not alone in having a cobbled-together system as similar methods were employed by WBRE in getting NBC's signal from New York to Wilkes-Barre and WNEP in getting ABC's signal from New York to Avoca. A side effect of all this cobbled-togetherness was that the TV signals' quality was, from time to time, not quite up to broadcast standards and there were the predictable complaints.
...they somehow all managed to operate in the cramped quarters....
When the local news made its debut on WDAU and other local TV stations, it was uncharted territory; they were flying by the seat of their pants, so to speak. The segments were 15 minutes long and consisted largely of the newsman reading reporter-generated news or copy from the newspaper. These documents were either held in his hand or laid on the desk, either of which required the anchor to be looking down a good deal of the time. There would be an occasional quick look up at the camera, hoping that his newspeak buffer did not run dry or his reading and speaking would get out of sync.
At this point in TV history, TV studios (also known as "sets") were rather primitive. Instead of having green screens , which enabled "chroma key", a method of cutting and pasting the talent's image superimposed over other graphics, the backdrop consisted of a textured, glittered wall. The field reporters were not giving live updates with the attendant graphics for their names and story lines; these were all shot on site on film and processed back at the station. In the weather segment, there were no dynamically updated, full color doppler radar weather updates. The highs, lows, and weather fronts were magnets arranged on a display board map.
These were the days before the teleprompter, chryron, chroma key, superimposed picture-in-picture and all the other equipment which give today's news broadcasts a very polished appearance.
What was remarkable was that, in this limited space, along with TV and radio studios and the requisite control rooms, there was a film processing area and a film library (Who can forget those "Movie for a Sunday Afternoon" etc. where cowboys and indians, Lawrence of Arabia type, and infinite World War 2, movies were played until the film reels wore out??!).
This was an era before ENG (Electronic News Gathering) where the live remote via microwave and later satellite was still a dream. The news was captured entirely on film shot by the photographers at the scene and rushed to the station and processed, hopefully in time for the next news broadcast. Submarine designers or NASA could surely have taken a clue on space utilization from this organization, where every cubic inch had to matter!
...and, as with all empires, it too must fall...
.Alas all of the former McGargee broadcasting empire has morphed into other entities. WDAU-TV was sold to Keystone Broadcasters in 1984 and redesignated WYOU. They initially moved broadcasting operations to the former Kresge's store which abutted the Scranton Dry Goods store on Lackawanna Avenue.
.That change also marked the end of the common ownership of the TV and radio stations. WYOU - the former WDAU (Channel 22 (13) - CBS affiliate), is currently owned by Mission Broadcasting and operated by the same company, Nexstar, that owns WBRE (Channel 28 (11) - NBC affiliate) in Wilkes-Barre. Both TV stations are currently located in the same building on Franklin Street near Public Square.
One downside to the WYOU/WBRE merger is that, upon the consolidation of the studios to Franklin Street in Wilkes Barre and the relocation of all their transmitters to Penobscot Mountain near Mountaintop, they decided to do away with all of their translators. Contrast that with WNEP which still maintains several translators reaching all the way to State College in the middle of the state and one can easily see why WYOU/WBRE are a distant 2nd and 3rd place finishers when it comes to audience size in the NEPA market. The Nexstar philosophy is that 90% of the people watching their station(s) are receiving it on cable therefore they don't need the expense of multiple translators.
.The radio stations were sold to Entercom in the early 1990s. WGBI-FM (101.3mHz) which had a soft rock format is now WGGY in Pittston doing a country thing. WGBI-AM (910khz) which was unabashedly country is now part of the greater WILK AM/FM conglomerate. It has a talk format that simulcasts in Wilkes Barre, Scranton, and Hazleton, and has a nearly 50 mile monopoly on talk radio in the region.
WGBI AM now bears the undignified moniker of WBZU AM and is merely, to use TV jargon, a translator. Though running on the classic 910kHz frequency, it is a tool with no personality of its own. Johnny Cash, Hank Snow, Ferlin Husky, and Merle Haggard surely are not tuned to BZU in their respective places of rest.
When WDAU moved out of Prep in 1984, its new home was the former Kresge's 5 and 10 Cent Store (note the F. W. Woolworth store further up the block, about the 4th iteration of Woolworth's opened by C. S. Woolworth mentioned at the outset of this description) downtown on Lackawanna Avenue. It remained there until Southern Union, a gas and oil conglomerate whose operations were largely located in Texas, through the beneficence of a hometown boy, bought the property and demolished Kresge's to build their expensive and fleeting headquarters. WYOU/WBRE then moved their Scranton operations next door to a corner of the Scranton Dry Goods building at Wyoming and Lackawanna Avenues. These days, WYOU, the formerly fabulously fantastic WDAU plays second fiddle to its ugly big sister WBRE.
...and that, folks, is the brief, concise history of a diminished broadcasting empire whose greatness will live on only in our memories and imaginations (and of course on Flickr!).
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------------------------------------ UPDATES ----------------------------------------------
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This will be updated periodically as the various internets and time allow.
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Update April 3, 2009
WYOU announced that they will no longer be doing local news. They will offer Judge Judy or some similar tripe in its place. Sadly, they probably will have higher ratings.
Further Update sometime later 2012
WYOU once again has local news. It is a simulcast with its sister station WBRE. The only difference in the newscasts is the superimposed logo at the bottom right corner of the screen identifying the station one happens to be viewing.
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---------------------- New and Improved: Quizzes -----------------------------
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This section will be updated periodically and I will post an email address where you can send your test for grading.
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WDAU quiz:
1. The main news anchor for much of the 60s was:
a. Mark Hiller
b. John Glough
c. Derry Bird
d. Perry Como
e. David DeCosmo
f. Franklin D. Coslett
g. John Perry
h. Hoyt Keiser
i. Tom Powell
j. Tom Bigler
k. Joey Shaver
l. Jerry Griffin
j. Bill O'reilly
2. A typical news/weather/sports lineup in the 60s would include (pick 3):
a. Vince Sweeny
b. Bill White
c. Harry West
d. Jack Doneger
e. Bill Flanagan
f. Nolan Johannes
g. Debbie Dunlavey
h. Jim Mustard
i. John Perry
j. Joe Zone
k. Tom Reilly
l. Lorri Lewis
m. J. Kristopher
n. Phil Cummins
o. Joe Dobbs
p. John Glawe
q. Bob Carroll
3. The signoff (Remember when TV stations actually signed off?) for WDAU started with:
a. The national anthem
b. "Hey all you coal miners out there..."
c. "From the basement of Scranton Prep..."
d. "Serving the industrial valleys of Pennsylvania..."
e. "That's all for today..."
4. The nearest donut/coffee shop to (and possibly half of the customer base of) WDAU was:
a. Mr. Donut
b. Curry Donut
c. Krispy Kreme
d. Dunkin Donuts
5. The official licensees of WDAU/WGBI was/were:
a. Roy Stauffer's Chevrolet
b. Megargee Paper Co.
c. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Broadcasting Inc.
d. International Correspondence TV Inc.
e. Coyer Motors
f. Scranton Broadcasters Inc.
g. Burne Oldsmobile
6. During Station Identification (yet another "remember those"? questions), along with the call letters, channel number, and location, the following was shown:
a. A commercial
b. Public Service Announcements
c. Time and Temperature
d. Current Mine Subsidence information
e. School Closings
7. As part of WDAU's signoff each night, a video of an Air Force plane flying at high speed and altitude and accompanied by a (rather dramatic) poem by John Gillespie Magee was shown. The poem, whose last stanza is excerpted here:
Up, up the long, delirious burning blue
I've topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace
Where never lark, or ever eagle flew —
And, while with silent, lifting mind I've trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.
was shown just prior to the national anthem. That poem was called:
a. Flying High
b. Hang 'em High
c. Twelve O'clock High
d. High Flight Poem
8. This is a quasi off-topic question: (quasi because it surely was reported on by WDAU) : The out-of-contol truck, the one popularized in Harry Chapin's immortal ballad "30,000 Pounds of Bananas", after overturning and disgorging its contents, came to a screeching halt at:
a. Chick's Diner
b. The beer distributor across from Chick's diner
c. The intersection of Harrison Avenue and Moosic Street
d. The intersection of Irving Avenue and Moosic Street
e. 1001 Wyoming Avenue
9. The very last image broadcast each day before the transmitter was turned off and the picture went to snow was:
a. A picture of the building
b. A picture of Madge Megargee Holcomb, the station owner
c. A test pattern
d. A random picture of paper products from the Megargee Paper Company
e. Live TV shot of Scranton Prep and WDAU staff schmoozing over coffee and doughnuts at Krispy Kreme
f. A live shot of the Krispy Kreme donut shop showing late night WDAU employees drinking coffee
10. The weather segment at WDAU was often sponsored by firms such as Bell Telephone or gasoline distributors. At one point, an oil company sponsored the segment which required the weatherman to use a car antenna as his pointer. Atop the antenna was a red ball. That sponsor was:
a. Shell
b. Texaco
c. Hess
d. Atlantic
e. Mobil
f. Sinclair
g. Esso
11. WDAU and WGBI had their transmitter on:
a. Penebscot Mountain
b. Bald Mountain, west of Scranton
c. Mountain Top
d. Colocated with WEJL atop the Scranton Times tower
e. Mount Pocono
12. WGBI radio's format was:
a. Hard Rock
b. Talk
c. Heavy Metal
d. Country and Western
e. Classical
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I will post the answers out there in internetville once I figure out what they are.
Update 4-12-13
Since this seems like just as good an internet as any, the answers are:
1. g 2. ibk 3. d 4. c 5. f 6. c 7. d 8. d 9. c 10. d 11. b 12. d
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Finally, if the Tales of the Basement has whetted your appetite for all things WDAU, a most excellent (former) TV station, a most excellent site is maintained by a former WDAUer:
Go there and you can Catch 22.
+++ DISCLAIMER +++
Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based on historical facts. BEWARE!
Some background:
Due to the restrictions of the Versailles treaties, the Reichswehr was already dealing with the increasing mobilization and motorization of the army after the end of the First World War. The realization that the speed of the troop units required appropriate equipment was available early on. However, the Reichswehr suffered from financial constraints and during the Weimar Republic the industry only had limited capacity for series production of larger, armored vehicles.
Nevertheless, at that time the Sd.Kfz. 3 (unarmored half-track transport vehicle/1927), the ARW (eight-wheel car/1928) and the ZRW (ten-wheel car/1928) provided fundamental experience. The findings of these tests and the troop testing with the Sd.Kfz. 3 enabled a more precise specification of the new vehicles to be developed. The "heavy" armored cars were primarily intended for the reconnaissance units of the new armored forces.
The incipient rearmament could only start with a "cheap" solution, though. A three-part armored structure for the chassis of commercially available off-road trucks was developed by the Army Weapons Office, Dept. WaTest 6, in cooperation with the company Deutsche Eisenwerke AG. The typical truck chassis featured front-wheel steering and a driven bogie at the rear (4x6 layout). In June 1929, the companies Magirus, Daimler-Benz and Büssing-NAG were commissioned to develop the desired armored car from it. If you consider that this truck class was developed for a payload of 1.5t, you can already conclude from this that the vehicles, which are now equipped with a significantly heavy armored structure, had little off-road mobility. Even if the appearance of the vehicles supplied by the different manufacturers was similar, there were external distinguishing features by which the manufacturer could be identified. The vehicles were tested in the Reichswehr from 1932 and introduced later.
One of the four crew members (driver, commander, gunner, radio-operator) was used as a reverse driver: with the narrow streets of the time and a turning circle of between 13 and 16m, this function was essential for a truck-sized heavy reconnaissance vehicle. The chassis had the excellent ladder-type configuration, able to withstand the stress of rough rides at high speed. The scout car was 5570 mm long, 1820 mm wide, 2250 mm high and weighed 5.35, 5.7 or 6 tons, depending on the manufacturer. The hull was made of welded steel armor, 5 to 14.5 mm (0.2-0.57 in) thick depending on the angle (bottom to front) with well-sloped plates. The armament consisted of a 2 cm KwK 30 with 200 rounds and a MG 13 with 1300 rounds in a manually operated turret. The fuel supply was 90, 105 or 110 liters, but with a consumption of about 35 or 40 liters per 100 km, this resulted in a completely inadequate range for a scout car.
Having no true alternatives at hand, the armored 4x6 car was accepted and became known as the Sd.Kfz. 231 (6-wheel), and it was subsequently developed into two more vehicles. Up until 1937, 123 vehicles were built as Sd.Kfz. 231 reconnaissance cars and Sd.Kfz. 232 radio trucks. A further 28 were manufactured as Sd.Kfz. 263 (Panzerfunkwagen) command vehicles.
As early as 1932, after testing the pilot series, it was clear that the interim solution of "cheap" 6-wheel vehicles would not meet the future requirements of the armored divisions now planned. It was planned that from 1935/36 at least 18 vehicles of a new type that would meet the requirements for off-road mobility and high road speeds should be produced annually. Büssing-NAG had obviously made a good impression with the ARW and was now commissioned to make the revised vehicle ready for series production, which would become the SdKfz. 231 (8-Rad). The overall concept was completed between 1934 and 1935 and already showed all the features of the future type: all 8 wheels driven and steered, the same speed forwards and backwards, ability to change direction in less than 10 seconds, and a turning circle of "only" 10.5m. The vehicle layout was changed, too: the engine bay was relocated to the rear, the crew compartment was placed at the front end. This improved weight distribution, handling, and the field of view for the main forward driver.
The purpose of the new vehicles was identical to that of the earlier heavy 6-wheel vehicles, they were used on the same sites and so the same ordnance inventory designation was adopted, despite the vehicle’s many modifications. The so-called Sd.Kfz. 231 (8-Rad) was armed, corresponding to its 6-Rad counterpart, with a 2cm KwK 30 and the MG 13 (later MG 34) in a rotating turret. Likewise, the Sd.Kfz. 232 (8-Rad) carried a large, curved bow antenna, and there was a Sd.Kfz. 263 (8-Rad) command vehicle, too.
Nevertheless, the Army Weapons Office demanded a short-term solution for a vehicle based on the 4x6 chassis that offered better off-road performance and armament, namely a 37 mm anti-tank gun, with at least comparable range and armor protection. This interim vehicle was supposed to be ready for service in early 1934. Magirus accepted the challenge and proposed the Sd.Kfz. 241, a 4x8 vehicle. It retained the old overall 6-Rad layout with the front engine under a long bonnet, but it had a fourth steered axle added to lower ground pressure and improve the vehicle’s trench bridging capabilities. The powered two rear axles retained the 6-Rad’s twin wheels, so that the vehicle stood on a total of twelve tires with a relatively large footprint. The armored hull was very similar to the Sd.Kfz. 231 6-Rad, but carried a new, bigger turret with a 3.7 cm KwK 30 L/45 gun and an axis-parallel 7.92 mm MG 34 light machine gun.
The box-shaped turret exploited the hull’s width to the maximum and had a maximum armor of 15 mm, no base and the seat of the commander was attached to the tower wall. The commander sat elevated under a raised cupola in the rear section of the turret, just behind the main gun. He had five viewing slits protected by glass blocks and steel slides for all-round visibility. The gunner/loader, standing to the left of the main gun, had to constantly follow the movement of the turret, which was done by hand. In order to support the gunner when slewing the turret, the commander had an additional handle on the right side. The two crew members also had a turret position indicator.
The cannon was fired electrically via a trigger, the machine gun was operated mechanically with a pedal. To aim and view the outside, the gunner had a gun sight to the left of the gun with an opening in the gun mantlet. Standard access to the vehicle was through low double-doors in the vehicle’ flank, but side exit openings in the turret with two flaps each were also frequently used to board it. Another entry was through the commander cupola’s lid.
With all this extra hardware, the Sd.Kfz. 241’s overall weight rose considerably from the late Sd.Kfz. 231 (6-Rad) nearly 6 tons to 7.5 tons. As a consequence, the chassis had to be reinforced and a more powerful engine was used, a 6-cylinder Maybach HL 42 TRKM w carburetor gasoline engine with 4170 cc capacity and 100 hp (74 kW) output at 3000 rpm.
As expected, the Sd.Kfz. 241 was not a success. Even though the first vehicles were delivered in time in mid-1934, its operational value was rather limited. Off-road capability was, due to the extra weight, the raised center of gravity and the lack of all-wheel drive, just as bad as the 6-Rad vehicles, and the more powerful engine’s higher fuel consumption allowed neither higher range, despite bigger fuel tanks, nor a better street performance. The only real progress was the new 3.7 cm KwK 30’s firepower, which was appreciated by the crews, even though the weapon was only effective against armored targets at close range. At 100 m, 64 mm of vertical armor could be penetrated, but at 500 m this already dropped to 31 mm, any angle in the armor weakened its hitting power even further. The weapon’s maximum range was 5.000m, though, and with HE rounds the Sd.Kfz. 241 could provide indirect fire support. Another factor that limited the vehicle’s effectiveness was that the gun had to be operated by a single crew member who had to load and aim at the same time – there was simply not enough space for a separate loader who would also have increased the gun’s rate of fire from six to maybe twelve rounds per minute. The vehicle’s armor was also inadequate and only gave protection against light firearms, but not against machine guns or heavier weapons. On the other side, the cupola on top of the turret offered the commander in his elevated position a very good all-round field of view, even when under full protection – but this progressive detail was not adopted for the following armored reconnaissance vehicles and remained exclusive to German battle tanks.
Only a total of fifty-five Sd.Kfz. 241s were completed by Magirus in Cologne until 1936, when production of the Sd.Kfz. 231 (8-Rad) vehicle family started and soon replaced the Sd.Kfz. 241, which was primarily operated at the Eastern Front in Poland and Czechoslovakia. By 1940, no Sd.Kfz. 241 was left in any frontline army unit, but a few survivors were grouped together and handed over to police units. Their main gun was either completely deleted or sometimes replaced with a second machine gun, and they were used for urban patrols and riot control duties. However, by 1942, no Sd.Kfz. 241 was left over.
Specifications:
Crew: Four (commander, gunner, driver, radio operator/rear driver)
Weight: 7.5 tons (11.450 lb)
Length: 5,85 metres (19 ft 2 in)
Width: 2,20 metres (7 ft 2 ½ in)
Height: 2,78 metres (9 ft 1 in)
Ground clearance: 28.5 cm (10 in)
Suspension: Torsion bar and leaf springs
Fuel capacity: 150 litres (33 imp gal; 40 US gal)
Armor:
8–15 mm (0.31 – 0.6 in)
Performance:
Maximum road speed: 70 km/h (43.5 mph)
52 km/h (32.3 mph) backwards
Operational range: 250 km (155 miles)
Power/weight: 13 PS/ton
Engine:
Maybach HL42 TRKM water-cooled straight 6-cylinder petrol engine with 100 hp (74 kW),
driving the rear pair of axles
Transmission:
Maybach gearbox with 5-speed forward and 4-speed reverse
Armament:
1× 37 mm KwK 30 L/45 cannon with 70 rounds
1× 7.92 mm MG 34 machine gun mounted co-axially with 1.300 rounds
The kit and its assembly:
This fictional armored car was inspired by a leftover rear axles from an Italeri Sd.Kfz. 231 (6-Rad) model that I converted into a fictional half-track variant some time ago. I wondered if the set could be transplanted under an 8-Rad chassis, to create a kind of missing link to the 8x8 successors of the Sd.Kfz. 231 (6-Rad) with a total of twelve tires on four axles.
The basis became a First to Fight 1:72 Sd.Kfz. 231 (8-Rad) kit – a rather simple and robust affair, apparently primarily intended for tabletop purposes. But the overall impression is good, and it would be modified, anyway, even though the plastic turned out to be rather soft/waxy and the parts’ sprue attachment points a bit wacky.
The hull was “turned around” to drive backwards, so that its rear engine ended up in the front. I eventually only used the rear twin wheels from the Sd.Kfz. 231 (6-Rad), but not its single axles and laminated springs. Instead, I first cut the OOB mudguards in two halves, removed their side skirts and glued them onto the lower hull in reversed order, so that the exhausts and their muffler boxes would end up at the rear of the front fenders. With these in place I checked the axles’ position from the OOB ladder chassis, which is a single, integral part, and found that the rear axles’ position had to be moved by 2mm backwards. Cutting the original piece and re-arranging it was easier to scratch a new rear suspension, and the rocker bars had to be shortened to accept the wider twin wheels.
The original small turret with the 20 mm autocannon was deleted and replaced with core elements from a Panzer III turret, left over from previous conversion projects. Wider than any original turret of the Sd.Kfz. 231/232 family, it had to be narrowed by roughly 5mm – I had to cut a respective plug from the turret’s and the mantlet’s middle section, the deformed hatch was covered under a Panzer III commander cupola. To mate the re-arranged turret with the OOB adapter plate to mount it onto the hull, and to add overall stability to the construction, I filled the interior with 2C putty.
The typical storage bin at the turret’s rear was omitted, though, it would have made it too large for the compact truck chassis. The shape was a perfect stylistic match, even though, with the longer gun barrel, the vehicle reminds a lot of the Soviet BA-10 heavy armored car?
Most small details like the bumpers and the headlights were taken OOB, I added a whip antenna base at the rear and mounted two spare wheels at the back, one of them covered with a tarpaulin (made from paper tissue drenched with white glue, this was also used to create the gun mantlet seals).
Painting and markings:
Typical for German vehicles from the early WWII stages the Sd.Kfz. 241 was painted Panzergrau (RAL 7021; I used Humbrol 67, which is authentic, but mixed it with some 125 to create a slightly lighter shade of grey) overall - quite dull, but realistic. To make the vehicle look more interesting, though, I added authentic contemporary camouflage in the form of low-contrast blotches with RAL 8017, a very dark reddish brown, mixed from Humbrol 160 and some 98. Better, but IMHO still not enough.
After the model received a washing with highly thinned red-brown acrylic artist paint I applied the few decals and gave the parts an overall dry-brushing treatment with grey and dark earth. Everything was sealed with matt acrylic varnish. For even more “excitement”, I decided to add a coat of snow.
For the simulated “frosting” I used white tile grout – which has the benefits of being water-soluble, quite sturdy to touch and the material does not yellow over time like gypsum.
First, the wheels, the chassis and the inside of the wheel arches received a separate treatment with relatively dryly mixed tile grout, simulating snow and dirt clusters. Once thoroughly dried, the wheels were mounted. Then the model was sprayed with low surface tension water and loose tile grout was drizzled over hull and turret, creating a flaky coat of fake snow. Once dry again, everything received another coat of matt acrylic varnish to protect and fixate everything further.
A relatively quick build, done in a few days. The First to Fight kit is very simple and went together well, but I’d use something else the next time due to the odd material it was molded with. The outcome of an 4x8 scout car looks quite plausible, though, like the missing link between the Sd.Kfz. 231 and 232 – the unintended similarity with the Soviet BA-10 heavy armored car was a bit surprising, though. And the snow on the model eventually makes it look a bit more interesting, the stunt was worth the effort.
+++ DISCLAIMER +++
Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based on historical facts. BEWARE!
Some background:
Due to the restrictions of the Versailles treaties, the Reichswehr was already dealing with the increasing mobilization and motorization of the army after the end of the First World War. The realization that the speed of the troop units required appropriate equipment was available early on. However, the Reichswehr suffered from financial constraints and during the Weimar Republic the industry only had limited capacity for series production of larger, armored vehicles.
Nevertheless, at that time the Sd.Kfz. 3 (unarmored half-track transport vehicle/1927), the ARW (eight-wheel car/1928) and the ZRW (ten-wheel car/1928) provided fundamental experience. The findings of these tests and the troop testing with the Sd.Kfz. 3 enabled a more precise specification of the new vehicles to be developed. The "heavy" armored cars were primarily intended for the reconnaissance units of the new armored forces.
The incipient rearmament could only start with a "cheap" solution, though. A three-part armored structure for the chassis of commercially available off-road trucks was developed by the Army Weapons Office, Dept. WaTest 6, in cooperation with the company Deutsche Eisenwerke AG. The typical truck chassis featured front-wheel steering and a driven bogie at the rear (4x6 layout). In June 1929, the companies Magirus, Daimler-Benz and Büssing-NAG were commissioned to develop the desired armored car from it. If you consider that this truck class was developed for a payload of 1.5t, you can already conclude from this that the vehicles, which are now equipped with a significantly heavy armored structure, had little off-road mobility. Even if the appearance of the vehicles supplied by the different manufacturers was similar, there were external distinguishing features by which the manufacturer could be identified. The vehicles were tested in the Reichswehr from 1932 and introduced later.
One of the four crew members (driver, commander, gunner, radio-operator) was used as a reverse driver: with the narrow streets of the time and a turning circle of between 13 and 16m, this function was essential for a truck-sized heavy reconnaissance vehicle. The chassis had the excellent ladder-type configuration, able to withstand the stress of rough rides at high speed. The scout car was 5570 mm long, 1820 mm wide, 2250 mm high and weighed 5.35, 5.7 or 6 tons, depending on the manufacturer. The hull was made of welded steel armor, 5 to 14.5 mm (0.2-0.57 in) thick depending on the angle (bottom to front) with well-sloped plates. The armament consisted of a 2 cm KwK 30 with 200 rounds and a MG 13 with 1300 rounds in a manually operated turret. The fuel supply was 90, 105 or 110 liters, but with a consumption of about 35 or 40 liters per 100 km, this resulted in a completely inadequate range for a scout car.
Having no true alternatives at hand, the armored 4x6 car was accepted and became known as the Sd.Kfz. 231 (6-wheel), and it was subsequently developed into two more vehicles. Up until 1937, 123 vehicles were built as Sd.Kfz. 231 reconnaissance cars and Sd.Kfz. 232 radio trucks. A further 28 were manufactured as Sd.Kfz. 263 (Panzerfunkwagen) command vehicles.
As early as 1932, after testing the pilot series, it was clear that the interim solution of "cheap" 6-wheel vehicles would not meet the future requirements of the armored divisions now planned. It was planned that from 1935/36 at least 18 vehicles of a new type that would meet the requirements for off-road mobility and high road speeds should be produced annually. Büssing-NAG had obviously made a good impression with the ARW and was now commissioned to make the revised vehicle ready for series production, which would become the SdKfz. 231 (8-Rad). The overall concept was completed between 1934 and 1935 and already showed all the features of the future type: all 8 wheels driven and steered, the same speed forwards and backwards, ability to change direction in less than 10 seconds, and a turning circle of "only" 10.5m. The vehicle layout was changed, too: the engine bay was relocated to the rear, the crew compartment was placed at the front end. This improved weight distribution, handling, and the field of view for the main forward driver.
The purpose of the new vehicles was identical to that of the earlier heavy 6-wheel vehicles, they were used on the same sites and so the same ordnance inventory designation was adopted, despite the vehicle’s many modifications. The so-called Sd.Kfz. 231 (8-Rad) was armed, corresponding to its 6-Rad counterpart, with a 2cm KwK 30 and the MG 13 (later MG 34) in a rotating turret. Likewise, the Sd.Kfz. 232 (8-Rad) carried a large, curved bow antenna, and there was a Sd.Kfz. 263 (8-Rad) command vehicle, too.
Nevertheless, the Army Weapons Office demanded a short-term solution for a vehicle based on the 4x6 chassis that offered better off-road performance and armament, namely a 37 mm anti-tank gun, with at least comparable range and armor protection. This interim vehicle was supposed to be ready for service in early 1934. Magirus accepted the challenge and proposed the Sd.Kfz. 241, a 4x8 vehicle. It retained the old overall 6-Rad layout with the front engine under a long bonnet, but it had a fourth steered axle added to lower ground pressure and improve the vehicle’s trench bridging capabilities. The powered two rear axles retained the 6-Rad’s twin wheels, so that the vehicle stood on a total of twelve tires with a relatively large footprint. The armored hull was very similar to the Sd.Kfz. 231 6-Rad, but carried a new, bigger turret with a 3.7 cm KwK 30 L/45 gun and an axis-parallel 7.92 mm MG 34 light machine gun.
The box-shaped turret exploited the hull’s width to the maximum and had a maximum armor of 15 mm, no base and the seat of the commander was attached to the tower wall. The commander sat elevated under a raised cupola in the rear section of the turret, just behind the main gun. He had five viewing slits protected by glass blocks and steel slides for all-round visibility. The gunner/loader, standing to the left of the main gun, had to constantly follow the movement of the turret, which was done by hand. In order to support the gunner when slewing the turret, the commander had an additional handle on the right side. The two crew members also had a turret position indicator.
The cannon was fired electrically via a trigger, the machine gun was operated mechanically with a pedal. To aim and view the outside, the gunner had a gun sight to the left of the gun with an opening in the gun mantlet. Standard access to the vehicle was through low double-doors in the vehicle’ flank, but side exit openings in the turret with two flaps each were also frequently used to board it. Another entry was through the commander cupola’s lid.
With all this extra hardware, the Sd.Kfz. 241’s overall weight rose considerably from the late Sd.Kfz. 231 (6-Rad) nearly 6 tons to 7.5 tons. As a consequence, the chassis had to be reinforced and a more powerful engine was used, a 6-cylinder Maybach HL 42 TRKM w carburetor gasoline engine with 4170 cc capacity and 100 hp (74 kW) output at 3000 rpm.
As expected, the Sd.Kfz. 241 was not a success. Even though the first vehicles were delivered in time in mid-1934, its operational value was rather limited. Off-road capability was, due to the extra weight, the raised center of gravity and the lack of all-wheel drive, just as bad as the 6-Rad vehicles, and the more powerful engine’s higher fuel consumption allowed neither higher range, despite bigger fuel tanks, nor a better street performance. The only real progress was the new 3.7 cm KwK 30’s firepower, which was appreciated by the crews, even though the weapon was only effective against armored targets at close range. At 100 m, 64 mm of vertical armor could be penetrated, but at 500 m this already dropped to 31 mm, any angle in the armor weakened its hitting power even further. The weapon’s maximum range was 5.000m, though, and with HE rounds the Sd.Kfz. 241 could provide indirect fire support. Another factor that limited the vehicle’s effectiveness was that the gun had to be operated by a single crew member who had to load and aim at the same time – there was simply not enough space for a separate loader who would also have increased the gun’s rate of fire from six to maybe twelve rounds per minute. The vehicle’s armor was also inadequate and only gave protection against light firearms, but not against machine guns or heavier weapons. On the other side, the cupola on top of the turret offered the commander in his elevated position a very good all-round field of view, even when under full protection – but this progressive detail was not adopted for the following armored reconnaissance vehicles and remained exclusive to German battle tanks.
Only a total of fifty-five Sd.Kfz. 241s were completed by Magirus in Cologne until 1936, when production of the Sd.Kfz. 231 (8-Rad) vehicle family started and soon replaced the Sd.Kfz. 241, which was primarily operated at the Eastern Front in Poland and Czechoslovakia. By 1940, no Sd.Kfz. 241 was left in any frontline army unit, but a few survivors were grouped together and handed over to police units. Their main gun was either completely deleted or sometimes replaced with a second machine gun, and they were used for urban patrols and riot control duties. However, by 1942, no Sd.Kfz. 241 was left over.
Specifications:
Crew: Four (commander, gunner, driver, radio operator/rear driver)
Weight: 7.5 tons (11.450 lb)
Length: 5,85 metres (19 ft 2 in)
Width: 2,20 metres (7 ft 2 ½ in)
Height: 2,78 metres (9 ft 1 in)
Ground clearance: 28.5 cm (10 in)
Suspension: Torsion bar and leaf springs
Fuel capacity: 150 litres (33 imp gal; 40 US gal)
Armor:
8–15 mm (0.31 – 0.6 in)
Performance:
Maximum road speed: 70 km/h (43.5 mph)
52 km/h (32.3 mph) backwards
Operational range: 250 km (155 miles)
Power/weight: 13 PS/ton
Engine:
Maybach HL42 TRKM water-cooled straight 6-cylinder petrol engine with 100 hp (74 kW),
driving the rear pair of axles
Transmission:
Maybach gearbox with 5-speed forward and 4-speed reverse
Armament:
1× 37 mm KwK 30 L/45 cannon with 70 rounds
1× 7.92 mm MG 34 machine gun mounted co-axially with 1.300 rounds
The kit and its assembly:
This fictional armored car was inspired by a leftover rear axles from an Italeri Sd.Kfz. 231 (6-Rad) model that I converted into a fictional half-track variant some time ago. I wondered if the set could be transplanted under an 8-Rad chassis, to create a kind of missing link to the 8x8 successors of the Sd.Kfz. 231 (6-Rad) with a total of twelve tires on four axles.
The basis became a First to Fight 1:72 Sd.Kfz. 231 (8-Rad) kit – a rather simple and robust affair, apparently primarily intended for tabletop purposes. But the overall impression is good, and it would be modified, anyway, even though the plastic turned out to be rather soft/waxy and the parts’ sprue attachment points a bit wacky.
The hull was “turned around” to drive backwards, so that its rear engine ended up in the front. I eventually only used the rear twin wheels from the Sd.Kfz. 231 (6-Rad), but not its single axles and laminated springs. Instead, I first cut the OOB mudguards in two halves, removed their side skirts and glued them onto the lower hull in reversed order, so that the exhausts and their muffler boxes would end up at the rear of the front fenders. With these in place I checked the axles’ position from the OOB ladder chassis, which is a single, integral part, and found that the rear axles’ position had to be moved by 2mm backwards. Cutting the original piece and re-arranging it was easier to scratch a new rear suspension, and the rocker bars had to be shortened to accept the wider twin wheels.
The original small turret with the 20 mm autocannon was deleted and replaced with core elements from a Panzer III turret, left over from previous conversion projects. Wider than any original turret of the Sd.Kfz. 231/232 family, it had to be narrowed by roughly 5mm – I had to cut a respective plug from the turret’s and the mantlet’s middle section, the deformed hatch was covered under a Panzer III commander cupola. To mate the re-arranged turret with the OOB adapter plate to mount it onto the hull, and to add overall stability to the construction, I filled the interior with 2C putty.
The typical storage bin at the turret’s rear was omitted, though, it would have made it too large for the compact truck chassis. The shape was a perfect stylistic match, even though, with the longer gun barrel, the vehicle reminds a lot of the Soviet BA-10 heavy armored car?
Most small details like the bumpers and the headlights were taken OOB, I added a whip antenna base at the rear and mounted two spare wheels at the back, one of them covered with a tarpaulin (made from paper tissue drenched with white glue, this was also used to create the gun mantlet seals).
Painting and markings:
Typical for German vehicles from the early WWII stages the Sd.Kfz. 241 was painted Panzergrau (RAL 7021; I used Humbrol 67, which is authentic, but mixed it with some 125 to create a slightly lighter shade of grey) overall - quite dull, but realistic. To make the vehicle look more interesting, though, I added authentic contemporary camouflage in the form of low-contrast blotches with RAL 8017, a very dark reddish brown, mixed from Humbrol 160 and some 98. Better, but IMHO still not enough.
After the model received a washing with highly thinned red-brown acrylic artist paint I applied the few decals and gave the parts an overall dry-brushing treatment with grey and dark earth. Everything was sealed with matt acrylic varnish. For even more “excitement”, I decided to add a coat of snow.
For the simulated “frosting” I used white tile grout – which has the benefits of being water-soluble, quite sturdy to touch and the material does not yellow over time like gypsum.
First, the wheels, the chassis and the inside of the wheel arches received a separate treatment with relatively dryly mixed tile grout, simulating snow and dirt clusters. Once thoroughly dried, the wheels were mounted. Then the model was sprayed with low surface tension water and loose tile grout was drizzled over hull and turret, creating a flaky coat of fake snow. Once dry again, everything received another coat of matt acrylic varnish to protect and fixate everything further.
A relatively quick build, done in a few days. The First to Fight kit is very simple and went together well, but I’d use something else the next time due to the odd material it was molded with. The outcome of an 4x8 scout car looks quite plausible, though, like the missing link between the Sd.Kfz. 231 and 232 – the unintended similarity with the Soviet BA-10 heavy armored car was a bit surprising, though. And the snow on the model eventually makes it look a bit more interesting, the stunt was worth the effort.
Day 4 of 30.
Realization!
" But they will never seek for death, on account of the (sins) which their hands have sent on before them. and Allah is well-acquainted with the wrongdoers."
Surah Al-Baqra, Verse 95.
So... I had a realization earlier today about how much life can change in just one year. At this point last year I was still going to school for web design and I was extremely unhappy with the thought of coding and designing my life away.
In 2013 I made an epic and slightly sudden switch to photography and it has been such an amazing journey! There have been so many ups and downs, but all the changes have taught me so much and I have grown in art and also just as a person.
Anyways.. I know I don't post on flickr much anymore, but I just wanted to post this little update =) xoxo
In 1960, the US Army came to the realization that it had no real scout helicopter: the OH-13 Sioux could operate effectively in the role, but it was aging and its slow speed made it vulnerable to ground fire. The O-1/L-19 Birddog was a good scout aircraft, but it did not have the mobility of a helicopter. With this in mind, the Army issued a requirement for a Light Observation Helicopter (LOH). The new helicopter needed reasonably high speed, good visibility from the cockpit, and be not too expensive. Bell, Hiller and Hughes all developed prototypes; in 1965, the Army chose Hughes' Model 369 as the OH-6A Cayuse, and placed an order for 1300 helicopters.
The Army was then presented with a problem. Hughes did not have a large factory, and was run by the mercurial and unpredictable Howard Hughes: there was a real concern that Hughes could not deliver the order. Moreover, the Army learned that Hughes had deliberately undercut Bell's and Hiller's bids to win the contract, and as such was taking massive losses on the OH-6. The Army then reopened the competition, and Bell's OH-58A Kiowa won this time: the Army would use both helicopters. As for Hughes, the company would later make up the losses by marketing the OH-6 as the Model 369 and later the Model 500.
The OH-6A entered service in 1966, and was sent to Vietnam soon thereafter. Though given the name Cayuse (as part of the US Army's tradition of naming helicopters after native tribes), this name never stuck: instead, the helicopter was nicknamed Loach, after the LOH project name and its buglike appearance. Loaches were quickly armed with field modification kits to carry machine guns, and were usually paired with the also newly-arrived AH-1 Cobra as a "Pink Team." The job of the Pink Team was to scout ahead of the UH-1 "slicks" carrying troops: the OH-6 would come over at low level to see if it drew ground fire. If it did, it would then call in the AH-1s to attack the enemy position and clear the landing zone. This hunter-killer team proved very effective, if dangerous to the OH-6 crews: of 1420 OH-6s built, 842 were shot down over Vietnam.
Because of the heavy losses over Vietnam, the scout role after the war was gradually taken over by the OH-58A, which was cheaper to buy and easier to maintain. OH-6s began to be passed on to Reserve and National Guard units, but got a new lease on life after 1980: the Army still needed a small helicopter that could land in places the OH-58 or UH-1 could not. The OH-6 was the only aircraft that fit the bill, and several dozen were seconded to Task Force 158 in preparation for an operation to free the American hostages in Tehran, Iran. The hostages were freed by the Iranians themselves in 1980, but the Army recognized the need for an elite force trained in night operations, and renamed the unit Task Force 160--known to its crews as the "Nightstalkers."
TF 160 proved its worth during Operation Prime Chance, the United States' undeclared naval and air war against Iran in 1988, and the OH-6s were redesignated MH-6 (for transport OH-6s) and AH-6 (for armed versions). Nicknamed "Little Birds" by their crews, TF 160 worked closely with the elite and secretive Delta Force, most notably in the Battle of Mogadishu in 1993, where they were the only gunships available to the beleaguered Army forces in the Somalian city. The standard OH-6 has been retired from Army units, but the MH-6 and AH-6 remain in service. The Cayuse also remains operational with Spain and Japan, though in both cases it is being replaced.
Very little can be found on OH-6A 67-16132, though there is a very good chance that it served in Vietnam. Following its return to the United States, 67-16132 was likely passed to the Utah National Guard's 211th Aviation Regiment, and was retired in the late 1980s. It was donated to the Hill Aerospace Museum in Ogden, Utah, where it remained until 2006, but as 67-16132 is an Army helicopter, the USAF donated it to the Fort Douglas Museum in nearby Salt Lake City--which was felt to be more appropriate.
Of Fort Douglas' three helicopters, 67-16132 is the best preserved (though all three are in good condition). It carries standard Army olive drab camouflage, with an air cavalry emblem on the rear fuselage.
I had the sad and sudden realization that I hadn't made any pictures lately. Actually it had a been a few weeks since I had even picked up the camera. So I was determined to head out last night after work, and try to get a few pictures of something. I decided to pay a return visit to the old Springfield Bridge, which isn't that far of a drive from home.
I drove to Conway and met up with Zack, and we then drove north. The bridge is located near the small community of Bono, which just really consists of a church and a few homes. But it would have been the perfect opportunity to play some U2, but sadly I didn't have the Ipod, or even my Achtung Baby cd, so the opportunity was wasted. What was I thinking? Clearly, it was a lack of planning. At least the camera battery had a decent charge in it.
As we got to the bridge, I realized why I hadn't been out to take any pictures lately. It's because it's summer in Arkansas. It was about 94 degrees, with high humidity. So that meant that after a few minutes of being outside, I was already drenched in sweat. Actually saying "drenched" is putting it lightly. It was more like someone took a bucket of sweat and dumped it over my head.
And with that lovely mental image, I present instead this shot of the bridge. It is really a neat place to go and get pictures of, even in the summer heat of Arkansas. The bridge is old - actually it's the oldest vehicular bridge in the state. It was built way back in 1874. It served traffic for over a hundred years, before being replaced by a new bridge just upstream in 1994. After that the old Springfield bridge was abandoned, and left to rust and decay.
To visit it now, you have to very carefully make your way onto the bridge. Several of the wooden planks on the deck are gone, leaving deep holes. Most of the remaining pieces of wood on the bridge deck are severely rotten, which makes trying to cross the bridge very nerve-wracking. I could easily imagine the boards I was walking over suddenly and without warning breaking apart. Which would probably send me straight down into the muddy waters of Cadron Creek below. Luckily everything held up, and we were able to explore the bridge. But it is in pretty bad shape - no telling how much longer it will last. It would be a shame if the bridge became too unstable to cross.
Maletto is on the western side of the Etna to 960 M of altitude. Human settlings, around the actual Maletto, they were had until from the first millennium before Christ. There lived the Siculs, then arrived Greeks, Romans, Byzantines and Arabs, Normans and Swabians. To one of these last, the Manfredi Maletta count, is owed the origin of Maletto. In the 1263, this one did raise on the fortress a strengthened tower, said Castle, about which s picked up a first nucleus of inhabitants. The construction of the actual historical centre was started at the end of XV century, when the districts that are today around the Castle were built. The construction then continued in the first years of the following century with the realization of the baronial palace of the Spatafora and the attached Saint Michael Archangel church, l et alone of stores and of an open gallery, of an inn and of a warehouse. It was however starting from the 1619, when Maletto the king of Spain recognized the title of principality, that the area is developed mostly, assuming the definitive aspect kept to our days. Maletto is the most elevated town of the Etna and of the province of Catania and it reverts nearly for whole in the park of the Etna.The production of the strawberries has made famous Maletto in the world.
Maletto è un comune italiano di 4.029 abitanti della provincia di Catania in Sicilia.Le origini del piccolo comune etneo risalgono al 1263. Esso nacque per interesse di Manfredi di Maletta, parente dell'imperatore Federico I, che edificò su uno sperone roccioso un castello, di cui ancora si conservano i ruderi. Il piccolo borgo fu abbandonato e decadde. L'attuale agglomerato urbano, è frutto della ricostruzione avviata nel 1440, ad opera del principe Spadafora.Ogni anno, nel mese di giugno, Maletto diventa la città delle fragole, richiamando centinaia di turisti e di visitatori. Nel corso della Sagra, le maestranze locali realizzano una gigantesca torta alla fragola di oltre mille chili, che viene offerta a tutti i partecipanti. Durante la manifestazione vengono esposti in appositi stand le fragole in piantine e in cassette e sono offerte come assaggio gratuito ai visitatori. Il frutto matura tra i primi di maggio e la fine di giugno e nell'ambito della sagra sono esposti diversi tipi di fragole: la fragolina di pasticceria, la fragola "rifiorente", che matura da gennaio a dicembre, e la fragola tradizionale, dal sapore più dolce e dall'odore più profumato. La sagra dura tre giorni e si svolge di solito dal venerdì alla domenica.
Mount Etna (Aetna in Latin, also known as Muncibeddu in Sicilian and Mongibello in Italian, a combination of Latin mons and Arabic gibel, both meaning mountain) is an active stratovolcano on the east coast of Sicily, close to Messina and Catania. Its Arabic name was Jebel Utlamat (the Mountain of Fire).Volcanic activity at Etna began about half a million years ago, with eruptions occurring beneath the sea off the coastline of Sicily. 300,000 years ago, volcanism began occurring to the southwest of the present-day summit, before activity moved towards the present centre 170,000 years ago. Eruptions at this time built up the first major volcanic edifice, forming a strato-volcano in alternating explosive and effusive eruptions. The growth of the mountain was occasionally interrupted by major eruptions leading to the collapse of the summit to form calderas.From about 35,000 to 15,000 years ago, Etna experienced some highly explosive eruptions, generating large pyroclastic flows which left extensive ignimbrite deposits. Ash from these eruptions has been found as far away as Rome, 800 km to the north.Sicily's greatest natural attraction is also its highest mountain: Mount Etna, at 10,924 feet, is the most active volcano in Europe and the oldest recorded active volcano in the world.Mount Etna is an active volcano on the east coast of Sicily, close to Messina and Catania. It is the largest active volcano in Europe, currently standing about 3329.6 m (10,924 feet)high, though it should be noted that this varies with summit eruptions; the mountain is 21.6 m (71 ft) lower now than it was in 1865. It is the highest mountain in Italy south of the Alps. Etna covers an area of 1,190 km² (460 square miles) with a basal circumference of 140 km.The fertile volcanic soils support extensive agriculture, with vineyards and orchards spread across the lower slopes of the mountain and the broad Plain of Catania to the south. Due to its history of recent activity and nearby population, Mount Etna has been designated a Decade Volcano by the United Nations.Etna lava stone is a material with unique characteristics: durable, indestructible, resistant to changes in the temperature (it’s a heat conductor), it offers infinite possibilities of uses: flooring, urban furniture, interior design.After the glazing process the product doesn’t get stained, resists to acids and doesn’t require particular maintenance: that’s why lava stone is the ideal material even to make kitchens and bathrooms countertops. The natural stone tends to grey, with the glazing process we can obtain any desired colour. Shapes, sizes and decorations can be customized . The lava stone it is formed by the solidification of cooled magma on the surface of the Etna volcano, in Sicily
L'Etna è un vulcano attivo che si trova sulla costa orientale della Sicilia (Italia), tra Catania e Messina. È il vulcano attivo più alto del continente europeo e uno dei maggiori al mondo. La sua altezza varia nel tempo a causa delle sue eruzioni, ma si aggira attualmente sui 3329.6 m (10,924 feet) s.l.m. Il suo diametro è di circa 45 chilometri.Un tempo era noto anche come Mongibello.In genere le eruzioni dell'Etna pur fortemente distruttive delle cose, non lo sono per le persone se si eccettuano i casi fortuiti o di palese imprudenza come quello dell'improvvisa esplosione di massi del 1979 che uccise nove turisti e ne ferì una decina di altri avventuratisi fino al cratere appena spento. L'Etna è un tipico strato-vulcano che iniziò la sua attività, tra 500 e 700 mila anni fa. La sua lava di tipo basaltico è povera in silice, è molto calda, densa e fluida. Per queste ragioni le eruzioni sono tranquille ed il percorso delle lave prevedibile. La velocità di scorrimento è superiore a quella delle lave acide, più ricche in silice e più viscose e leggere.La lavorazione della pietra lavica, derivante dall’industria estrattiva delle vicine cave dell'Etna, per scopi ornamentali o per materiali da costruzione, diede da vivere a molte famiglie siciliane.I "pirriaturi", anticamente, estraevano lungo i costoni dell'Etna solo strati superficiali di lava perché più porosi e più facilmente lavorabili con arnesi quali la subbia, lo scalpello, la mazzola e il martello. Sul materiale estratto interveniva lo spaccapietre che ricavava lastre di pietra, infine lo scalpellino rifiniva il materiale. Uno degli usi prevalenti cui era destinata la pietra lavica era la pavimentazione delle strade urbane
Designer: Revolutionary Committee of Beijing No. 76 Middle School (北京市七六中革命委员会)
1971, December
Struggling to speed up the realization of mechanized agriculture!
Wei jiasu shixian nongye jixiehua er fendou! (为加速实现农业机械化而奋斗！)
Call nr.: BG E15/452 (Landsberger collection)
More? See: chineseposters.net/themes/tractor-girls
The 11th. Batizado of the Grupo de Capoeira Beija-Flor on July 30th. celebrated the graduation of another 80 children and young people attended in our programme.
Lightly built and a capoeirist of promising talent, Diego proudly shows off the certificate for his third belt after three years of practicing the sport with our group. At this rate he will reach his apprenticeship at an early age.
The efficiency of Capoeira in social programmes is due to its wide-ranging scope to involve the lives of children and young people participating. It is a complete discipline including the use of rules, philosophy, positive group ethics, physical condition, creativity and values of self-esteem.
Once the realization is accepted that even between the closest human beings infinite distances continue, a wonderful living side by side can grow, if they succeed in loving the distance between them which makes it possible for each to see the other whole against the sky.
Rainer Maria Rilke
Special thanks to franak malaie
I think you should press L :)
You can see more of this shooting in my website LDmag.ir
Dear flickr friends,
I've come to the realization that I am SO BUSY! School-work is piling up, my internship is keeping me busy, and holiday season is coming up fast , and as a result of all of these combined, you may (or may not) have noticed a conspicuous lack of self-portraits for the 365 group from me. If you have, you're right. I haven't had time to take any SP's lately, much less any pictures! I decided that I'm going to stop the 365 challenge. I'm actually surprised that I've gotten as far as I have! I was thinking about it the other day and I have 168 pictures left to do. Woah. That number completely overwhelmed me! Hence my decision.
One thing I noticed in a lot of my SP's is that I don't genuinely smile. Here's the deal. I have yellow and stained teeth. They don't look so bad in this picture because the sun was so blaringly bright (yest that's a word), but the reason my teeth are yellow and stained is because a lot of it is genetic. Thanks dad. :) I actually take really good care of my teeth, have tried bleaching, etc. but nothing really seems to work. I've given up at this point on ever having the star-white teeth and I don't even notice anymore. People tell me I have a nice smile, but then I become self-conscious because I know it's then that they've seen my teeth. This is why i don't fully smile in a lot of my SP's and why make such silly faces, so I can distract you! :)
All that said, I'm done with 365, for now. When things start to calm down (like after I graduate!) I might start over. I want to have that feeling of accomplishment of doing this for a year, I don't think I've ever done anything consecutively for a year (well, besides brush my teeth, but we've already talked about that).
I'll still take some SP's every once in a while, but just not every day now. I'm done being stressed out, and it feels kind of nice not have to check another thing off of my list everyday. And I'll definitely take pictures of life that happens around me!
Thanks for all of you, I feel like I have become ten-times better at my pictures because of your comments and suggestions. 365 truly has helped me become a better photographer and I look forward to doing this project again in the future.
*cheers!*
SIC Movie Realization Batman & Batpod. Finally i took it out!!!
Need to make the mini softbox back. Wasnt very keen on doing it after moving. Couldnt set it up nicely. Dont have a mini table.
Towards the end of the Korean War, the USAF came to the realization that their transport fleet was becoming obsolete. The C-46 Commandos and C-47 Skytrains in service were no longer adequate, while the C-119 Flying Boxcar was having difficulties. In 1951, the USAF issued a requirement for a new tactical transport, an aircraft that would need to carry at least 72 passengers, be capable of dropping paratroopers, and have a ramp for loading vehicles directly into the cargo compartment. Moreover, it must be a “clean sheet” design, not a conversion from an existing airliner, and the USAF preferred it be a turboprop design. Five companies submitted designs, and six months later the USAF chose Lockheed’s L-402 design—over the misgivings of Lockheed’s chief designer, Clarence “Kelly” Johnson, who warned that the L-402 would destroy the company. Little was Johnson to know that, fifty years later, the L-402—designated C-130 Hercules by the USAF—would still be in production, and one out of only five aircraft to have over 50 years of service with the original purchaser.
The C-130 was designed to give mostly unfettered access to a large cargo compartment—the ramp forms an integral part of the rear fuselage, the wing is mounted above the fuselage, and the landing gear is carried in sponsons attached to the fuselage itself, while the fuselage has a circular design to maximize loading potential. The high wing also gives the C-130 good lift, especially in “high and hot” situations. The Allison T56 turboprop was designed specifically for the Hercules, and has gone on to become one of the most successful turboprop designs in history.
After two YC-130 prototypes, the Hercules went into production as the C-130A in 1956, to be superseded by the improved C-130B in 1959. The latter became the baseline Hercules variant: C-130As had three-blade propellers and a rounded “Roman” nose, while the B introduced the more familiar, longer radar nose and four-blade propellers. (Virtually all A models were later retrofitted to the long nose, though they kept the three-blade propellers.) In the 50 years hence, the basic C-130 design has not changed much: the C-130E introduced underwing external fuel tanks, while the C-130H has a slightly different wing. Even the new C-130J variant only introduced new engines with more fuel efficient six-bladed propellers: the basic design remains the same. Lockheed also offers stretched versions of the Hercules, initially as a civilian-only option (the L-100-30); the British Royal Air Force bought this version as the C-130K and it was later adopted by other nations, including the United States.
The basic C-130 is strictly a transport aircraft, but the versatility of the aircraft has meant it has been modified into a dizzying number of variants. These include the AC-130 Spectre gunship, the HC-130 rescue aircraft and WC-130 weather reconnaissance version. Other versions include several dozen EC-130 electronic warfare/Elint variants, KC-130 tankers, and DC-130 drone aircraft controllers. The USAF, the US Navy, and the US Marine Corps are all C-130 operators as well. Besides the United States, there are 67 other operators of C-130s, making it one of the world’s most prolific aircraft, with its only rivals the Bell UH-1 Iroquois family and the Antonov An-2 Colt biplane transport. C-130s are also used extensively by civilian operators as well as the L-100 series.
The “Herky Bird,” as it is often nicknamed, has participated in every military campaign fought by the United States since 1960 in one variation or the other. During Vietnam, it was used in almost every role imaginable, from standard transport to emergency bomber: as the latter, it dropped M121 10,000 pound mass-focus bombs to clear jungle away for helicopter landing zones, and it was even attempted to use C-130s with these bombs against the infamous Thanh Hoa Bridge in North Vietnam. (Later this capability was added as standard to MC-130 Combat Talon special forces support aircraft; the MC-130 is the only aircraft cleared to carry the GBU-43 MOAB.) It was also instrumental in resupplying the Khe Sanh garrison during its three-month siege. Hercules crews paid the price as well: nearly 70 C-130s were lost during the Vietnam War. In foreign service, C-130s have also been used heavily, the most famous instance of which was likely the Israeli Entebbe Raid of 1976, one of the longest-ranged C-130 missions in history. C-130s are often in the forefront of humanitarian missions to trouble spots around the world.
As of this writing, over 2300 C-130s have been built, and most are still in service. It remains the backbone of the USAF’s tactical transport service; attempts to replace it with the Advanced Tactical Transport Program (ATTP) in the 1980s and to supplement it with the C-27J Spartan in the 2000s both failed, as the USAF realized that the only real replacement for a C-130 is another C-130.
This C-130E, 63-7861, was delivered to the USAF's 464th Tactical Airlift Wing at Pope AFB, North Carolina in 1964. It may have remained with the 464th until the wing's deactivation in 1971, after which it was transferred to the 435th TAW at Ramstein, West Germany and later the 314th TAW at Little Rock AFB, Arkansas. It was relegated to the 129th Rescue Group (California ANG) at Moffett Field, and was retired in 2006. It was donated to the 153rd Airlift Wing (Wyoming ANG) at Cheyenne afterwards, although 63-7861 never flew with the unit, and the 153rd never flew C-130Es.
That's a bit of nitpicking, though, as the 153rd has done a good job in keeping 63-7861 up. It carries the modern AMC Gray scheme, with the 153rd's present markings on the tail.
EDIT: I got a better picture of 63-7861 in May 2021, so I replaced it. Weirdly enough, we got caught in a thunderstorm this time, too.
Afternoon's fading light glows on boulders of Cleveland National Forest. Hopefully we can make it back to camp before nightfall, but realizing we are further out, with sorer feet than planned...
Towards the end of the Korean War, the USAF came to the realization that their transport fleet was becoming obsolete. The C-46 Commandos and C-47 Skytrains in service were no longer adequate, while the C-119 Flying Boxcar was having difficulties. In 1951, the USAF issued a requirement for a new tactical transport, an aircraft that would need to carry at least 72 passengers, be capable of dropping paratroopers, and have a ramp for loading vehicles directly into the cargo compartment. Moreover, it must be a “clean sheet” design, not a conversion from an existing airliner, and the USAF preferred it be a turboprop design. Five companies submitted designs, and six months later the USAF chose Lockheed’s L-402 design—over the misgivings of Lockheed’s chief designer, Clarence “Kelly” Johnson, who warned that the L-402 would destroy the company. Little was Johnson to know that, fifty years later, the L-402—designated C-130 Hercules by the USAF—would still be in production, and one out of only five aircraft to have over 50 years of service with the original purchaser.
The C-130 was designed to give mostly unfettered access to a large cargo compartment—the ramp forms an integral part of the rear fuselage, the wing is mounted above the fuselage, and the landing gear is carried in sponsons attached to the fuselage itself, while the fuselage has a circular design to maximize loading potential. The high wing also gives the C-130 good lift, especially in “high and hot” situations. The Allison T56 turboprop was designed specifically for the Hercules, and has gone on to become one of the most successful turboprop designs in history.
After two YC-130 prototypes, the Hercules went into production as the C-130A in 1956, to be superseded by the improved C-130B in 1959. The latter became the baseline Hercules variant: C-130As had three-blade propellers and a rounded “Roman” nose, while the B introduced the more familiar, longer radar nose and four-blade propellers. In the 50 years hence, the basic C-130 design has not changed much: the C-130E introduced underwing external fuel tanks, while the C-130H has a slightly different wing. Even the new C-130J variant only introduced new engines with more fuel efficient six-bladed propellers: the basic design remains the same. Lockheed also offers stretched versions of the Hercules, initially as a civilian-only option (the L-100-30); the British Royal Air Force bought this version as the C-130K and it was later adopted by other nations, including the United States.
The basic C-130 is strictly a transport aircraft, but the versatility of the aircraft has meant it has been modified into a dizzying number of variants. These include the AC-130 Spectre gunship, the HC-130 rescue aircraft and WC-130 weather reconnaissance version. Other versions include several dozen EC-130 electronic warfare/Elint variants, KC-130 tankers, and DC-130 drone aircraft controllers. The USAF, the US Navy, and the US Marine Corps are all C-130 operators as well. Besides the United States, there are 67 other operators of C-130s, making it one of the world’s most prolific aircraft. C-130s are also used extensively by civilian operators as well as the L-100 series.
The “Herky Bird,” as it is often nicknamed, has participated in every military campaign fought by the United States since 1960 in one variation or the other. During Vietnam, it was used in almost every role imaginable, from standard transport to emergency bomber. It was also instrumental in resupplying the Khe Sanh garrison during its three-month siege. Hercules crews paid the price as well: nearly 70 C-130s were lost during the Vietnam War. In foreign service, C-130s have also been used heavily, the most famous instance of which was likely the Israeli Entebbe Raid of 1976, one of the longest-ranged C-130 missions in history. C-130s are often in the forefront of humanitarian missions to trouble spots around the world.
As of this writing, over 2300 C-130s have been built, and most are still in service. It remains the backbone of the USAF’s tactical transport service; attempts to replace it with the Advanced Tactical Transport Program (ATTP) in the 1980s and to supplement it with the C-27J Spartan in the 2000s both failed, as the USAF realized that the only real replacement for a C-130 is another C-130.
This version of the C-130 is a HC-130P version, codenamed Combat King. These were designed to support air rescue operations, with dedicated crew and electronics to coordinate rescue missions between the downed aircrew, rescue helicopters, and any escorts or aircraft on station. The squared off nose housed a more advanced radar than the standard C-130. The tanks under the wing were hose/drogue refueling pods for helicopters such as the HH-53 Super Jolly Green Giant. In Vietnam, these aircraft used the callsign "Crown."
This aircraft, 65-0993, belonged to the 41st Air Rescue and Recovery Squadron, at the time operating from McClellan AFB, California. Dad got this picture on the Malmstrom AFB flightline after it made a fuel stop. It carries the standard Southeast Asia camouflage scheme of C-130s at the time. This aircraft was later modified to a MC-130P Combat Shadow aircraft (with the same role), and was retired from USAF service in 2014. It is currently in storage at AMARC at Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona.
Towards the end of the Korean War, the USAF came to the realization that their transport fleet was becoming obsolete. The C-46 Commandos and C-47 Skytrains in service were no longer adequate, while the C-119 Flying Boxcar was having difficulties. In 1951, the USAF issued a requirement for a new tactical transport, an aircraft that would need to carry at least 72 passengers, be capable of dropping paratroopers, and have a ramp for loading vehicles directly into the cargo compartment. Moreover, it must be a “clean sheet” design, not a conversion from an existing airliner, and the USAF preferred it be a turboprop design. Five companies submitted designs, and six months later the USAF chose Lockheed’s L-402 design—over the misgivings of Lockheed’s chief designer, Clarence “Kelly” Johnson, who warned that the L-402 would destroy the company. Little was Johnson to know that, fifty years later, the L-402—designated C-130 Hercules by the USAF—would still be in production, and one out of only five aircraft to have over 50 years of service with the original purchaser.
The C-130 was designed to give mostly unfettered access to a large cargo compartment—the ramp forms an integral part of the rear fuselage, the wing is mounted above the fuselage, and the landing gear is carried in sponsons attached to the fuselage itself, while the fuselage has a circular design to maximize loading potential. The high wing also gives the C-130 good lift, especially in “high and hot” situations. The Allison T56 turboprop was designed specifically for the Hercules, and has gone on to become one of the most successful turboprop designs in history.
After two YC-130 prototypes, the Hercules went into production as the C-130A in 1956, to be superseded by the improved C-130B in 1959. The latter became the baseline Hercules variant: C-130As had three-blade propellers and a rounded “Roman” nose, while the B introduced the more familiar, longer radar nose and four-blade propellers. In the 50 years hence, the basic C-130 design has not changed much: the C-130E introduced underwing external fuel tanks, while the C-130H has a slightly different wing. Even the new C-130J variant only introduced new engines with more fuel efficient six-bladed propellers: the basic design remains the same. Lockheed also offers stretched versions of the Hercules, initially as a civilian-only option (the L-100-30); the British Royal Air Force bought this version as the C-130K and it was later adopted by other nations, including the United States.
The basic C-130 is strictly a transport aircraft, but the versatility of the aircraft has meant it has been modified into a dizzying number of variants. These include the AC-130 Spectre gunship, the HC-130 rescue aircraft and WC-130 weather reconnaissance version. Other versions include several dozen EC-130 electronic warfare/Elint variants, KC-130 tankers, and DC-130 drone aircraft controllers. The USAF, the US Navy, and the US Marine Corps are all C-130 operators as well. Besides the United States, there are 67 other operators of C-130s, making it one of the world’s most prolific aircraft. C-130s are also used extensively by civilian operators as well as the L-100 series.
The “Herky Bird,” as it is often nicknamed, has participated in every military campaign fought by the United States since 1960 in one variation or the other. During Vietnam, it was used in almost every role imaginable, from standard transport to emergency bomber. It was also instrumental in resupplying the Khe Sanh garrison during its three-month siege. Hercules crews paid the price as well: nearly 70 C-130s were lost during the Vietnam War. In foreign service, C-130s have also been used heavily, the most famous instance of which was likely the Israeli Entebbe Raid of 1976, one of the longest-ranged C-130 missions in history. C-130s are often in the forefront of humanitarian missions to trouble spots around the world.
As of this writing, over 2300 C-130s have been built, and most are still in service. It remains the backbone of the USAF’s tactical transport service; attempts to replace it with the Advanced Tactical Transport Program (ATTP) in the 1980s and to supplement it with the C-27J Spartan in the 2000s both failed, as the USAF realized that the only real replacement for a C-130 is another C-130.
This CC-130H, 130329 of 435 Transport Squadron, stopped in for a visit to Malmstrom AFB in spring 1977, where Dad got this picture. It carries the old Canadian Forces transport scheme of antiglare white over bare metal, with the CAF's "lightning bolt" on the fuselage. At the time, 435 Squadron operated from CFB Edmonton, Alberta, though today they are based at Winnipeg. Sadly, this aircraft crashed in November 1982 with the loss of the entire crew.
Towards the end of the Korean War, the USAF came to the realization that their transport fleet was becoming obsolete. The C-46 Commandos and C-47 Skytrains in service were no longer adequate, while the C-119 Flying Boxcar was having difficulties. In 1951, the USAF issued a requirement for a new tactical transport, an aircraft that would need to carry at least 72 passengers, be capable of dropping paratroopers, and have a ramp for loading vehicles directly into the cargo compartment. Moreover, it must be a “clean sheet” design, not a conversion from an existing airliner, and the USAF preferred it be a turboprop design. Five companies submitted designs, and six months later the USAF chose Lockheed’s L-402 design—over the misgivings of Lockheed’s chief designer, Clarence “Kelly” Johnson, who warned that the L-402 would destroy the company. Little was Johnson to know that, fifty years later, the L-402—designated C-130 Hercules by the USAF—would still be in production, and one out of only five aircraft to have over 50 years of service with the original purchaser.
The C-130 was designed to give mostly unfettered access to a large cargo compartment—the ramp forms an integral part of the rear fuselage, the wing is mounted above the fuselage, and the landing gear is carried in sponsons attached to the fuselage itself, while the fuselage has a circular design to maximize loading potential. The high wing also gives the C-130 good lift, especially in “high and hot” situations. The Allison T56 turboprop was designed specifically for the Hercules, and has gone on to become one of the most successful turboprop designs in history.
After two YC-130 prototypes, the Hercules went into production as the C-130A in 1956, to be superseded by the improved C-130B in 1959. The latter became the baseline Hercules variant: C-130As had three-blade propellers and a rounded "Roman" nose, while the B introduced the more familiar, longer radar nose and four-blade propellers. (Virtually all A models were later retrofitted to the long nose, though they kept the three-blade propellers.) In the 50 years hence, the basic C-130 design has not changed much: the C-130E introduced underwing external fuel tanks, while the C-130H has a slightly different wing. Even the new C-130J variant only introduced new engines with more fuel efficient six-bladed propellers: the basic design remains the same. Lockheed also offers stretched versions of the Hercules, initially as a civilian-only option (the L-100-30); the British Royal Air Force bought this version as the C-130K and it was later adopted by other nations, including the United States.
The basic C-130 is strictly a transport aircraft, but the versatility of the aircraft has meant it has been modified into a dizzying number of variants. These include the AC-130 Spectre gunship, the HC-130 rescue aircraft and WC-130 weather reconnaissance version. Other versions include several dozen EC-130 electronic warfare/Elint variants, KC-130 tankers, and DC-130 drone aircraft controllers. The USAF, the US Navy, and the US Marine Corps are all C-130 operators as well. Besides the United States, there are 67 other operators of C-130s, making it one of the world’s most prolific aircraft, with its only rivals the Bell UH-1 Iroquois family and the Antonov An-2 Colt biplane transport. C-130s are also used extensively by civilian operators as well as the L-100 series.
The “Herky Bird,” as it is often nicknamed, has participated in every military campaign fought by the United States since 1960 in one variation or the other. During Vietnam, it was used in almost every role imaginable, from standard transport to emergency bomber: as the latter, it dropped M121 10,000 pound mass-focus bombs to clear jungle away for helicopter landing zones, and it was even attempted to use C-130s with these bombs against the infamous Thanh Hoa Bridge in North Vietnam. (Later this capability was added as standard to MC-130 Combat Talon special forces support aircraft; the MC-130 is the only aircraft cleared to carry the GBU-43 MOAB.) It was also instrumental in resupplying the Khe Sanh garrison during its three-month siege. Hercules crews paid the price as well: nearly 70 C-130s were lost during the Vietnam War. In foreign service, C-130s have also been used heavily, the most famous instance of which was likely the Israeli Entebbe Raid of 1976, one of the longest-ranged C-130 missions in history. C-130s are often in the forefront of humanitarian missions to trouble spots around the world.
As of this writing, over 2300 C-130s have been built, and most are still in service. It remains the backbone of the USAF’s tactical transport service; attempts to replace it with the Advanced Tactical Transport Program (ATTP) in the 1980s and to supplement it with the C-27J Spartan in the 2000s both failed, as the USAF realized that the only real replacement for a C-130 is another C-130.
This rather plain looking C-130E is actually one of the most decorated Hercules in USAF service. Delievered around 1963 to the USAF as 62-1787, it was assigned to the 374th Tactical Airlift Wing based at Ching Chuan Kang AB, Taiwan, with detachments deployed throughout South Vietnam. On 15 April 1972, using the callsign Spare 617, the crew was sent out to airdrop ammunition to South Vietnamese forces during the Siege of An Loc. As the crew approached the drop zone, Spare 617 was raked by antiaircraft fire that killed the flight engineer, badly wounded loadmaster TSgt. Charles Shaub and the copilot, knocked out two engines, and set the cargo on fire. Despite his wounds, Shaub was able to jettison the ammunition pallets, which exploded just after leaving the aircraft. The pilot, Captain William Caldwell, got the aircraft back to Tan Son Nhut airport on one engine (a third one quit on approach) and with Shaub manually cranking down one of the landing gear. For their actions, Caldwell and Shaub were awarded the Air Force Cross, the second-highest award for gallantry in the USAF.
62-1787 was repaired and returned to service, and continued to serve in the USAF until 2011, when it was finally retired after 48 years of flying; its last unit was the 187th Airlift Wing (Arkansas ANG) at Little Rock AFB. It was donated to the National Museum of the USAF, where it remains today. 62-1787 carries its final color scheme of overall AMC Gray, and retains the 187th AW's "The Rock" tail stripe. Just goes to prove that even the most plain of aircraft has a story to tell.
Preface~ an excerpt from my personality profile... Myers-Briggs format, I am an INTJ.
"INTJs are perfectionists, with a seemingly endless capacity for improving upon anything that takes their interest. What prevents them from becoming chronically bogged down in this pursuit of perfection is the pragmatism so characteristic of the type: INTJs apply (often ruthlessly) the criterion "Does it work?" to everything from their own research efforts to the prevailing social norms. This in turn produces an unusual independence of mind, freeing the INTJ from the constraints of authority, convention, or sentiment for its own sake.
INTJs are known as the "Systems Builders" of the types, perhaps in part because they possess the unusual trait combination of imagination and reliability. Both perfectionism and disregard for authority may come into play, as INTJs can be unsparing of both themselves and the others on the project. Anyone considered to be "slacking," including superiors, will lose their respect -- and will generally be made aware of this."
I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU ARE. I don't care what titles you hold. I don't care who your parents are or were. I don't care how much money you have. I don't care how long you went to school, where you went to school, what you studied or how high your IQ is. I don't care who you know. I don't care who knows you.
I do care, very much, about who YOU are. I care about how you respond and adjust. I care about what you do with what you have (or don't have). I care about how you treat other people, ALL other people.
Just because I may have a respect for your knowledge base, talent, ability or skills does not mean I respect you as a person.
I'll just say that today was full of: Difficulty. Hurt. Enlightenment. Learning. Self Realization. Resolve. Failure. Success.
and leave it at that.
Bonjour,
Spécial Chocolat
Je vous présente ma réalisation:
👑"Aigle Royal" dans toute sa splendeur👑 ️
Hello,
Chocolate Special
I present you my realization:
👑 "Golden Eagle" in all its splendor 👑
Pâtisserie & Chocolaterie Borzeix-Besse
After Self-Realization, I thought i understood all the five principles, but i actually had understood only the 4th Principle the most. Before Gnan, I have faced difficult times during conversation with my sticky file which is my ex-wife, but after Gnan when i happened to speak to her i had immense peace within unlike earlier which is very impressive for me.
Read here more about Self Realization:
In English: www.dadabhagwan.org/self-realization/
In Hindi: hindi.dadabhagwan.org/self-realization/
In Gujarati: www.dadabhagwan.in/self-realization/