View allAll Photos Tagged Refinement
The third variation on my Elephant frame design. This is the third archetype of the squad. It's a refinement of the build I originally posted for the April MMMIG.
Mobile Frame Zero: Rapid Attack Stats: 2Rh+d8 (claws) 2B (cupa*) 1Gd8 (no ranged weapons) 2W.
*Computer Uplink Predictive Algorithim
Land Rover and renowned Magnum photographer Jonas Bendiksen have revealed the first in a series of unique works entitled ‘Ultimate Vistas’, extraordinary landscape photographs captured with help from the world’s ultimate SUV: the Range Rover.
my latest works in progress. The paint is still a bit globby and in need of refinement. Madeline Hatter and sparkling princess rapunzel.
Seminar on Quality of Life: The Final Frontier
We, at Sir H. N. Reliance Foundation Hospital on behalf of the Department of Oncology Services take this opportunity to invite you to an enriching and interactive seminar on Quality of Life: The Final Frontier.
The Medical Oncology Department at Sir H. N. Reliance Foundation Hospital And Research Centre provides best medical treatment ,chemotherapy, diagnostic services & medical treatment for various cancers.
Radiation Oncology Department at Sir H. N. Reliance Foundation Hospital and Research Centre offers high precision radiotherapy treatments to all cancer survivors.
Instruction Manual for Android Users of RFHApp©
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Seminar on Quality of Life
Oil refinery plant and gas industrial factory, this immage can use for chemistry, technologe and petrochemical concept.
Chassis n° 15993
Zoute Sale - Bonhams
Estimated : € 240.000 - 300.000
Sold for € 241.500
Zoute Grand Prix 2021
Knokke - Zoute
België - Belgium
October 2021
"Each new Ferrari model brings some noteworthy advance over previous ones. The GTC/4's is mechanical refinement. Less mechanical thrash comes through from the engine room than in any previous Ferrari, and the controls are smoother and lighter than ever, making the car deliciously easy to drive well. And the lack of mechanical clatter does not deprive us of entertainment; there's just the right amount of purr from the four tailpipes, and when working hard in its upper rev range the engine sings the familiar and beautiful V12 song." - Road & Track.
A short-lived interim model that bridged the gap between production of the 365GT 2+2 and 365 GT4 2+2, the 365 GTC/4 was first shown at the Geneva Motor Show in 1971. A contemporary of the awe-inspiring Daytona, the 365 GTC/4 used a similar chassis and a wet-sump version of the former's 4,390 cc four-cam V12 in a slightly lower - 320bhp - state of tune, which was coupled to a conventional five-speed gearbox rather than the Daytona's transaxle. Cylinder heads revised to accommodate side-draught carburettors enabled stylist Pininfarina to achieve an elegant, low profile bonnet line. "In all, a graceful, clean and understated design with subtleties one discovers only by looking it over carefully. One might say this model is a Ferrari for the mature enthusiast," observed R&T.
Altogether more civilised and easy to drive than the heavy Daytona, the rapid 365 GTC/4 came with ZF power steering and servo-assisted brakes as standard, the option of air conditioning, and an especially luxurious interior featuring individual reclining front seats and occasional rear seats. In spite of the increasing emphasis on refinement, the 365 GTC/4 gave nothing away to its rivals in the performance stakes, racing through the standing quarter mile in under 16 seconds on its way to a top speed in excess of 150mph (241/km/h). By the time the model was withdrawn in October 1972, production had totalled only 500 units, making the 365 GTC/4 eminently collectible today.
According to the accompanying Massini Report copy, chassis '15993' was delivered new via the Florence-based Ferrari concessionaire, Nocentini Automobili SpA to its first owner, a resident of the Tuscan capital, Mr Giancarlo Bossi Pucci, with the Italian licence plates 'FI 638534'. The specified colour combination was Grigio Argento (silver grey) with black leather interior, the same as today.
The first owner did not keep the car for long and sold it on 9th February 1973 to SCA Genova Società Costruzioni Autostrada in Genova. They in turn sold the Ferrari in 1976 to its third owner, a Carlo Massa of Turin, who kept the car until 1991 when he sold it to a Mr Renna of Palermo, Sicily. Subsequently the Ferrari changed hands again, passing to the collection of Luigi Compiano of Treviso. As is well known, his collection was confiscated by the Italian Guardia di Finanza in 2013 and sold at auction in Milan in November 2016, where the current owner purchased the car for € 308,000.
Subsequently, the owner had the car serviced at the official Ferrari dealer Rosso Corsa in Milan, who also fitted new tyres and had the car Ferrari Classiche Certified. The invoice for the service including the certification amounted to no less than € 16,100 and is dated April 2017. A further € 1,932 was spent at a local specialist for cleaning and setting up the carburettors. Described by the vendor as in excellent condition throughout, this beautiful Ferrari is offered with its original leather pouch and owner's manual; Italian registration documents; and the aforementioned Massini Report, invoice copies, and Ferrari Classiche certification (confirming matching chassis, engine, and colours).
iGeigie - world premiere of a portable Geiger Counter with iPhone dock.
- Glass Geiger Tube detects beta and gamma radiation
- Runs on a mophie juice pack
- iGeiger app computes Counts Per Minute (CPM)
- Breadboard architecture allows for continueing upgrades and refinements
- Interface with iPhone through line-in interface
- Ability to call the iGeigie and listen to clicks !
Visit www.rdtn.org and support our Kickstarter project kck.st/hMXtdM to build a hardware monitoring network for radiation in Japan.
Subscribe to RDTN.or Flickr group for seeing measurements by RDTN probes - www.flickr.com/groups/rdtn/ and get live measurement tweets on @RDTNprobes
Measurements from the iGeigie are uploaded here: www.flickr.com/photos/rdtn0007/
Based on an earlier prototype: www.flickr.com/photos/nokton/5602623700/in/photostream/
See more here: blog.rdtn.org/2011/04/14/a-little-of-what-weve-been-up-to/
Released under Creative Commons non commercial attribution license.
Lingerie Shop - Refinement, subtlety and sensuality
Slurl : maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Halaa/28/224/22
Designers Comete Clary & Tiphaine Auer
Manager :Elhan Resident
Photograph : Just Castaignede
For adoption :D - please pm me if interested. Redressed and restyled but i can accept offer for nude doll also :)
Turkish cuisine could be described as a fusion and refinement of Turkic, Arabic, Greek and Persian cuisines. It’s based mainly on meat and vegetables. While the generous use of spices has declined since Ottoman times, it remains a fragrant and aromatic cuisine, with thyme, mint, allspice, pepper, cumin, cinnamon and tomato paste all featured prominently. Vegetables dishes are typically prepared with meat. Eggplant is used in many popular recipes, including karniyarik and islim kebabi. Fried eggplant is a summertime favorite, and vegetables cooked in olive oil are very common. (wikipedia) Türk mutfağının klasik ürünleri yaprak sarma, bamya, taze fasulye, tas kebabı, patlıcan-biber kızartma, haşlama, incik kebabı, kurufasulye, fırın köfte, patlıcan kebabı, izmir köfte, tavuk fırın, patates kızartması, ıspanak, pilav, patates püresi, et sote. ANKARA (2007)
NO PHOTOSHOP PHOTOGRAPHY
InterClassics 2019
Maastricht, Netherlands.
Following Lancia’s reorganisation in 1955, the Flaminia line was introduced as the successor to the legendary Aurelia. It entered production in 1957 and not only employed an updated version of the DeVirgilio V-6 and rear-mounted transaxle but also adopted an unequal-length double-wishbone front suspension to replace the sliding pillar front suspension Lancia had used since the 1922 Lambda. These modifications endowed the Flaminia with refinement and poise and served as the basis for a broad model range. In addition to the factory-built berlina, Flaminias also were available as a coupé from Pinin Farina, as the GT and GT Convertible from Touring, and in the form of a more sporting variant from Zagato.
The alloy-bodied Flaminia Sport debuted at the 1958 Turin Auto Show in 2.5-litre, 119-brake horsepower form, and it was one of Zagato’s most successful designs of the era, as it featured the carrozzeria’s classic rakish lines and double-bubble roof. In 1961, the 2.5-litre engine was updated with three Weber double-downdraft carburettors, increasing brake horsepower to 140.
This 1962 Lancia Flaminia Sport 3C Zagato is an original Belgian car, matching numbers. Registered for the first time in 11/01/1963 and still has a Belgian registration. Etn. Mannès, the first official Lancia importer in Belgium, imported the car for Mr. De Crop who was the first owner of the Lancia Flaminia Sport 3C Zagato. Later the car was bought by Mr. Van Auwegem who was a Lancia dealer in Ghent, Belgium. The current owner is the 3rd owner of this car, and he has kept it for 17 years. This car is one of 6 that was new delivered in Belgium and only 174 examples were built. The car is in its original colour combination and comes with the original jack. 2458 cc engine with 3 carburettors. Recently, the bodywork has been stripped and repainted internally and externally. The mechanics have also been completely restored as well as the interior. The interior was restored with new carpets, new headlining and the leather seats were also renewed.
For sale: € 420.000
For more information: www.classic-car-service.be
The original Garhawk fighters had simple vectored thrust adjustors, but over time the newer models - for some reason - became increasingly complex with an antler shaped vectoring system that did the same job as the original but now was somehow supposed to be twice as cool.
Using some lime this time, I sketched out a small starfighter, which as usual could use some refinements.
Despite the fact that I like the look, this design has multiple problems such as flimsy wing attachment points and a cockpit box that requires you to remove legs. The last problem is fixable provided I had a free 2x3 in lime, which I don't, and I'm sure there is another attachment point that would sturdy up the wings some how but.......think I'll just move on to the next one.
"To live content with small means; to seek elegance rather than luxury, and refinement rather than fashion; to be worthy, not respectable, and wealthy, not, rich; to listen to stars and birds, babes and sages, with open heart; to study hard; to think quietly, act frankly, talk gently, await occasions, hurry never; in a word, to let the spiritual, unbidden and unconscious, grow up through the common--this is my symphony."
~William Henry Channing
==========================================
Clearing my archives. This Bulan, Sorsogon beach scene was taken near the town pier/dock.
+++ 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:
As the Egyptian border was threatened by an Italian and German invasion during the Second World War, the Royal Air Force established more airfields in Egypt. The Royal Egyptian Air Force was sometimes treated as a part of the Royal Air Force, at other times a strict policy of neutrality was followed as Egypt maintained its official neutrality until very late in the war. As a result, few additional aircraft were supplied by Britain, however the arm did receive its first modern fighters, Hawker Hurricanes and a small number of Curtiss P-40 Tomahawks. In the immediate post-war period, cheap war surplus aircraft, including a large number of Supermarine Spitfire Mk.IXs were acquired.
Following the British withdrawal from the British Protectorate of Palestine and the establishment of the State of Israel on 14 May 1948, Egyptian forces crossed into Palestine as part of a wider Arab League military coalition in support of the Palestinians against the Israelis. During 1948–1949, Egypt received 62 refurbished Macchi C.205V Veltro (Italian: Greyhound) fighters. The C.205 was an Italian World War II fighter aircraft built by the Aeronautica Macchi. Along with the Reggiane Re.2005 and Fiat G.55, the Macchi C.205 was one of the three "Serie 5" Italian fighters built around the powerful German Daimler-Benz DB 605 engine.
The C.205 Veltro was a refinement of the earlier C.202 Folgore. With a top speed of some 640 km/h (400 mph) and equipped with a pair of 20 mm cannon as well as two 12.7 mm Breda machine guns, the Macchi C.205 had been highly respected by Allied and Axis pilots alike. Widely regarded as one of the best Italian aircraft of World War II, it proved to be extremely effective, destroying a large number of Allied bombers, and it proved capable of meeting fighters such as the North American P-51D Mustang on equal terms.
For the Egyptian order, eight C.205 and 16 C.202 were upgraded to C.205 standard in May 1948. In February 1949, three brand new and 15 ex-C.202, and in May another ten C.205 and C.202 each were brought to the Egyptian C.205 standard. This last contract was not finalized, though: Israeli secret services reacted with a bombing in Italy, which at the time was supplying both Israel and the Arab states, which, among others, destroyed Macchi facilities and damaged Egyptian C.205s still on order.
Only 15 completed Macchis were delivered to Egypt before the end of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, seeing brief combat against the Israeli Air Force. The new Veltros were fully equipped, while the Folgore conversions were armed with only two 12.7 mm Breda machine guns. They were the lightest series of the entire production, and consequently had the best performance, but were seriously under-armed. Some Veltros, equipped with underwing bomb racks were used in ground-attack sorties against Israeli targets.
This left the Egyptian air force with a lack of capable fighters, so that Egypt ordered nineteen additional Fiat G.55 fighters from Italian surplus stocks and searched for ways to remedy the situation, since the relations with Great Britain had severely suffered under the Arab-Israeli War. This led to the plan to build and develop aircraft independently and just based on national resources, and eventually to the Helwan HA-100, Egypt’s first indigenous combat aircraft – even though it was rather a thorough upgrade program than a complete new construction.
Opened in late 1950 to manufacture airplanes, the Helwan Aircraft Factory, located in the South of Cairo, took on the challenge to create a domestic, improved fighter from existing C.205 and C.202 airframes in Egyptian service and its Fiat engines still available from Italy. The resulting Helwan HA-100 retained most of the forward fuselage structure of the C.205 with the original engine mounts, as well as the wings, but measures were taken to improve aerodynamics and combat value. One of these was the introduction of a new (yet framed) bubble canopy, which afforded the pilot with a much better all-round field of view and also improved the forward view while taxiing. This modification necessitated a lowered spine section, and wind tunnel tests suggested a deteriorated longitudinal stability, so that the tail section was completely redesigned. The fin was considerably enlarged and now had a square outline, while the stabilizers were raised into an almost cruciform tail configuration and also enlarged to improve the aircraft’s responsiveness to directional changes. The wings were clipped to improve handling and roll characteristics at low to medium altitudes, where most dogfights in the Arab-Israeli War had taken place.
The HA-100 retained the license-built Daimler Bent DB 605 from Italy, but to adapt this Fiat Tifone engine to the typical desert climate in Egypt with higher ambient temperatures and constant sand dust in the air, the HA-100 received an indigenous dust filter, a more effective (and larger) ventral radiator and a bigger, single oil cooler that replaced the C.205’s small drum coolers under the engine, which were very vulnerable, esp. to ground fire from light caliber weapons. To gain space in the fuselage under the cockpit for new fuel tank, both radiator and oil cooler were re-located to positions under the inner wings, similar in layout to early Supermarine Spitfire Marks.
While the HA-100 left the drawing boards and an initial converted C.205 went through trials, relations with Britain had been restored and the official state of war with Israel ensured that arms purchases continued. This gave the REAF an unexpected technological push forward: In late 1949, Egypt already received its first jet fighter, the British Gloster Meteor F4, and shortly after some de Havilland Vampire FB5s, which rendered the HA-100 obsolete. Nevertheless, the project was kept alive to strengthen Egypt’s nascent aircraft industry, but the type was only met with lukewarm enthusiasm.
The first HA-100 re-builds were delivered to 2 Sqn Royal Egyptian Air Force at Edku (East of Alexandria) in mid-1951, painted in a camouflage scheme of Dark Earth and Middle Stone with Azure Blue undersides, using leftover RAF material from WWII. Later, REAF 1 Sqn at Almaza near Cairo received HA-100s, too. Eventually, around forty HA-100s were built for the REAF until 1952. The only export customer for the HA-100 was Syria: sixteen machines, rejected by the REAF, were delivered in early 1952, where they served alongside former RAF Spitfire F.Mk.22s.
The REAF HA-100s only had a short career, but they eventually faced frontline duties and fired in anger. This also marked their last deployments, which occurred during the early stages of the Suez Crisis in 1956.
Only about 15 HA-100s of REAF No. 2 Squadron were still in flying condition due to quickly worsening engine spares shortages, and the aircraft had, in the meantime, been hardwired to carry up to four “Sakr” unguided 122mm rockets on the underwing hardpoints. Due to their agility at low altitude, the HA-100s were primarily used for ground attacks and low-level reconnaissance duties. On their missions the aircraft still performed well, but at that time, all Egyptian aircraft had been stripped off of their camouflage and were operated in a bare metal finish – a poor decision, since the glinting airframes were highly visible both in the air and on the ground. Consequently, the vintage propeller aircraft became easy targets, resulting high losses, and the HA-100s were grounded. They were officially retired by April 1957, after the end of the Suez conflict, and scrapped.
General characteristics:
Crew: 1
Length: 9,10 m (29 ft 10 in)
Wingspan: 10.01 m (32 ft 9½ in)
Height: 3.52 m (11 ft 6¼ in)
Wing area: 16.8 m² (181 sq ft)
Airfoil: root: NACA 23018 (modified); tip: NACA 23009 (modified)
Empty weight: 2.695 kg (5,936 lb)
Gross weight: 3.621 kg (7,975 lb)
Max takeoff weight: 4.100 kg (9,030 lb)
Powerplant:
1× Fiat RA.1050 R.C.58 Tifone (license-built Daimler Bent DB 605) V-12 inverted liquid-cooled piston
engine with 1,100 kW (1,500 hp), driving a 3-bladed constant-speed propeller#
Performance:
Maximum speed: 642 km/h (399 mph, 347 kn) at 7,200 m (23,600 ft)
Cruise speed: 400 km/h (250 mph, 220 kn)
Range: 950 km (590 mi, 510 nmi)
Service ceiling: 11,500 m (37,700 ft)
Time to altitude: 3,000 m (9,800 ft) in 2 minutes 40 seconds
Wing loading: 202.9 kg/m2 (41.6 lb/sq ft)
Armament.
2× 12.7 mm (.5 in) Breda-SAFAT machine guns, 400 RPG, in the nose
2× 20 mm MG 151 cannon, 250 RPG, in the outer wings
2× underwing hardpoints for 160 kg (350 lb) each for bombs or four 122mm Sakr unguided rockets
The kit and its assembly:
This oddity was spawned from curiosity – when read about the lightweight Helwan HA-300 fighter from the early Sixties, I wondered when and how the Egyptian aircraft industry had started? I was even more curious because I had already attributed a what-if model, the purely fictional (and later) HA-410 fighter bomber, to Egyptian engineering. So, I researched Helwan’s origins, checked the time frame of its establishment and eventually came across the REAF’s post-WWII C.205 Veltros. What if there had been an indigenous update program…?
Consequently, this conversion’s basis is a C.205V kit from Delta 2. This kit is based upon a unique mold, quite similar to the later Italeri kit, but it is different and has some curious solutions. For instance, the landing gear struts are mounted into the wings with L-shaped attachment pegs – as if the landing gear is supposed to be retractable. Odd, but very stable. Another weird solution: the wing gun barrels are attached to the wings together with massive plastic wedges that fit into respective openings. Another quite rigid construction, even though it calls for trimming and PSR. Beyond these quirks, the kit is quite nice. It comes with a convincing mix of recessed panel lines and raised rivet heads. Some parts are a bit soft in shape, though, e. g. the cowling fairings, but overall I am positively surprised.
To change the aircraft’s look I did some conversions, though. The most obvious change is the new tail section, which was transplanted wholesale from a KP Yak-23 and had the C.205’s tail wheel attachment section transplanted from the Delta 2 kit. Originally, I wanted to move the whole cockpit forward, but then just replaced canopy and spine section with a clear part from a Hobby Boss MiG-15 and putty. Other, rather cosmetic changes include clipped wing tips to match the Yak-23’s square tail surfaces shape, and the C.205’s small elliptic stabilizers were replaced with tailored, slightly bigger parts from the scrap box. A bigger/deeper radiator and a different oil cooler replaced the original parts, and I placed them under the inner wings behind the landing gear wells. Both donors come from Spitfires, even though from different kits (IIRC, the oil cooler from an AZ Models Mk. V kit and the radiator from a FROG Mk. XIV). The flaps were lowered, too, because this detail was easy to realize with this kit.
Painting and markings:
The HA-100 received a contemporary camouflage, the RAF Tropical Paint Scheme consisting of Dark Earth and Middle Stone with Azure Blue undersides. The pattern was adapted from RAF Spitfires, and Modelmaster (2052 and 2054) and Humbrol (157) enamels were used, with a light overall black ink washing and some post panel shading. Being a former Italian aircraft, I painted the cockpit in a typical, Italian tone, a very light grayish green called “Verde Anticorrosione“, which was used during WWII on many interior surfaces – I used a mix of Revell 59 with some 45. The landing gear and the respective wells became aluminum (Humbrol 56), though.
One challenge became the characteristic black-and-white REAF ID bands on the wings. These were improvised with generic decal material from TL-Modellbau: on a 1 cm wide black band I simply added two white 2.5 mm stripes, for a very good result. Most other markings belong to an early REAF MiG-15, taken from a Microscale omnibus sheet for various MiG fighters. This provided the green-trimmed white fuselage band, the roundels and the fin flash, and a white spinner completed the REAF ID markings. Unfortunately the decals turned out to be brittle (ESCI-esque...) and disintegrated upon the first attempt to apply them, so I tried to save them with Microsol Decal Film, and this actually worked like a charm, even though the resurrected decals did not adhere well to the model's surface. The REAF 2 Squadron emblem comes from a vintage PrintScale Hawker Hurricane sheet, the white code letter on the fuselage came from an Xtradecal RAF codes sheet, and the black Arabic serials came from a Begemot sheet for MiG-29s.
The kit received some soot stains around the exhaust ports and the gun muzzles and was finally sealed with matt acrylic varnish (Italeri).
Even though it’s just a modded Macchi C.205, the result looks …different. From certain angles the aircraft reminds a lot of a P-51D Mustang, like one of the lightweight prototypes? The Egyptian markings add a confusing touch, though, and while the bodywork is not perfect, I am happy with the result. The Yak-23 tail fits perfectly, and with the narrow wings the HA-100 also reminds a bit of the two-engine Westland Whirlwind?
+++ DISCLAIMER +++
Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based on authentic facts. BEWARE!
Some background:
The РТАК-30 attack vintoplan (also known as vintokryl) owed its existence to the Mil Mi-30 plane/helicopter project that originated in 1972. The Mil Mi-30 was conceived as a transport aircraft that could hold up to 19 passengers or two tons of cargo, and its purpose was to replace the Mi-8 and Mi-17 Helicopters in both civil and military roles. With vertical takeoff through a pair of tiltrotor engine pods on the wing tips (similar in layout to the later V-22 Osprey) and the ability to fly like a normal plane, the Mil Mi-30 had a clear advantage over the older models.
Since the vintoplan concept was a completely new field of research and engineering, a dedicated design bureau was installed in the mid-Seventies at the Rostov-na-Donu helicopter factory, where most helicopters from the Mil design bureau were produced, under the title Ростов Тилт Ротор Авиационная Компания (Rostov Tilt Rotor Aircraft Company), or РТАК (RTRA), for short.
The vintoplan project lingered for some time, with basic research being conducted concerning aerodynamics, rotor design and flight control systems. Many findings later found their way into conventional planes and helicopters. At the beginning of the 1980s, the project had progressed far enough that the vintoplan received official backing so that РТАК scientists and Mil helicopter engineers assembled and tested several layouts and components for this complicated aircraft type.
At that time the Mil Mi-30 vintoplan was expected to use a single TV3-117 Turbo Shaft Engine with a four-bladed propeller rotors on each of its two pairs of stub wings of almost equal span. The engine was still installed in the fuselage and the proprotors driven by long shafts.
However, while being a very clean design, this original layout revealed several problems concerning aeroelasticity, dynamics of construction, characteristics for the converter apparatuses, aerodynamics and flight dynamics. In the course of further development stages and attempts to rectify the technical issues, the vintoplan layout went through several revisions. The layout shifted consequently from having 4 smaller engines in rotating pods on two pairs of stub wings through three engines with rotating nacelles on the front wings and a fixed, horizontal rotor over the tail and finally back to only 2 engines (much like the initial concept), but this time mounted in rotating nacelles on the wing tips and a canard stabilizer layout.
In August 1981 the Commission of the Presidium of the USSR Council of Ministers on weapons eventually issued a decree on the development of a flyworthy Mil Mi-30 vintoplan prototype. Shortly afterwards the military approved of the vintoplan, too, but desired bigger, more powerful engines in order to improve performance and weight capacity. In the course of the ensuing project refinement, the weight capacity was raised to 3-5 tons and the passenger limit to 32. In parallel, the modified type was also foreseen for civil operations as a short range feederliner, potentially replacing Yak-40 and An-24 airliners in Aeroflot service.
In 1982, РТАК took the interest from the military and proposed a dedicated attack vintoplan, based on former research and existing components of the original transport variant. This project was accepted by MAP and received the separate designation РТАК-30. However, despite having some close technical relations to the Mi-30 transport (primarily the engine nacelles, their rotation mechanism and the flight control systems), the РТАК-30 was a completely different aircraft. The timing was good, though, and the proposal was met with much interest, since the innovative vintoplan concept was to compete against traditional helicopters: the design work on the dedicated Mi-28 and Ka-50 attack helicopters had just started at that time, too, so that РТАК received green lights for the construction of five prototypes: four flyworthy machines plus one more for static ground tests.
The РТАК-30 was based on one of the early Mi-30 layouts and it combined two pairs of mid-set wings with different wing spans with a tall tail fin that ensured directional stability. Each wing carried a rotating engine nacelle with a so-called proprotor on its tip, each with three high aspect ratio blades. The proprotors were handed (i.e. revolved in opposite directions) in order to minimize torque effects and improve handling, esp. in the hover. The front and back pair of engines were cross-linked among each other on a common driveshaft, eliminating engine-out asymmetric thrust problems during V/STOL operations. In the event of the failure of one engine, it would automatically disconnect through torque spring clutches and both propellers on a pair of wings would be driven by the remaining engine.
Four engines were chosen because, despite the weight and complexity penalty, this extra power was expected to be required in order to achieve a performance that was markedly superior to a conventional helicopter like the Mi-24, the primary Soviet attack helicopter of that era the РТАК-30 was supposed to replace. It was also expected that the rotating nacelles could also be used to improve agility in level flight through a mild form of vectored thrust.
The РТАК-30’s streamlined fuselage provided ample space for avionics, fuel, a fully retractable tricycle landing gear and a two man crew in an armored side-by-side cockpit with ejection seats. The windshield was able to withstand 12.7–14.5 mm caliber bullets, the titanium cockpit tub could take hits from 20 mm cannon. An autonomous power unit (APU) was housed in the fuselage, too, making operations of the aircraft independent from ground support.
While the РТАК-30 was not intended for use as a transport, the fuselage was spacious enough to have a small compartment between the front wings spars, capable of carrying up to three people. The purpose of this was the rescue of downed helicopter crews, as a cargo hold esp. for transfer flights and as additional space for future mission equipment or extra fuel.
In vertical flight, the РТАК-30’s tiltrotor system used controls very similar to a twin or tandem-rotor helicopter. Yaw was controlled by tilting its rotors in opposite directions. Roll was provided through differential power or thrust, supported by ailerons on the rear wings. Pitch was provided through rotor cyclic or nacelle tilt and further aerodynamic surfaces on both pairs of wings. Vertical motion was controlled with conventional rotor blade pitch and a control similar to a fixed-wing engine control called a thrust control lever (TCL). The rotor heads had elastomeric bearings and the proprotor blades were made from composite materials, which could sustain 30 mm shells.
The РТАК-30 featured a helmet-mounted display for the pilot, a very modern development at its time. The pilot designated targets for the navigator/weapons officer, who proceeded to fire the weapons required to fulfill that particular task. The integrated surveillance and fire control system had two optical channels providing wide and narrow fields of view, a narrow-field-of-view optical television channel, and a laser rangefinder. The system could move within 110 degrees in azimuth and from +13 to −40 degrees in elevation and was placed in a spherical dome on top of the fuselage, just behind the cockpit.
The aircraft carried one automatic 2A42 30 mm internal gun, mounted semi-rigidly fixed near the center of the fuselage, movable only slightly in elevation and azimuth. The arrangement was also regarded as being more practical than a classic free-turning turret mount for the aircraft’s considerably higher flight speed than a normal helicopter. As a side effect, the semi-rigid mounting improved the cannon's accuracy, giving the 30 mm a longer practical range and better hit ratio at medium ranges. Ammunition supply was 460 rounds, with separate compartments for high-fragmentation, explosive incendiary, or armor-piercing rounds. The type of ammunition could be selected by the pilot during flight.
The gunner can select one of two rates of full automatic fire, low at 200 to 300 rds/min and high at 550 to 800 rds/min. The effective range when engaging ground targets such as light armored vehicles is 1,500 m, while soft-skinned targets can be engaged out to 4,000 m. Air targets can be engaged flying at low altitudes of up to 2,000 m and up to a slant range of 2,500 m.
A substantial range of weapons could be carried on four hardpoints under the front wings, plus three more under the fuselage, for a total ordnance of up to 2,500 kg (with reduced internal fuel). The РТАК-30‘s main armament comprised up to 24 laser-guided Vikhr missiles with a maximum range of some 8 km. These tube-launched missiles could be used against ground and aerial targets. A search and tracking radar was housed in a thimble radome on the РТАК-30’s nose and their laser guidance system (mounted in a separate turret under the radome) was reported to be virtually jam-proof. The system furthermore featured automatic guidance to the target, enabling evasive action immediately after missile launch. Alternatively, the system was also compatible with Ataka laser-guided anti-tank missiles.
Other weapon options included laser- or TV-guided Kh-25 missiles as well as iron bombs and napalm tanks of up to 500 kg (1.100 lb) caliber and several rocket pods, including the S-13 and S-8 rockets. The "dumb" rocket pods could be upgraded to laser guidance with the proposed Ugroza system. Against helicopters and aircraft the РТАК-30 could carry up to four R-60 and/or R-73 IR-guided AAMs. Drop tanks and gun pods could be carried, too.
When the РТАК-30's proprotors were perpendicular to the motion in the high-speed portions of the flight regime, the aircraft demonstrated a relatively high maximum speed: over 300 knots/560 km/h top speed were achieved during state acceptance trials in 1987, as well as sustained cruise speeds of 250 knots/460 km/h, which was almost twice as fast as a conventional helicopter. Furthermore, the РТАК-30’s tiltrotors and stub wings provided the aircraft with a substantially greater cruise altitude capability than conventional helicopters: during the prototypes’ tests the machines easily reached 6,000 m / 20,000 ft or more, whereas helicopters typically do not exceed 3,000 m / 10,000 ft altitude.
Flight tests in general and flight control system refinement in specific lasted until late 1988, and while the vintoplan concept proved to be sound, the technical and practical problems persisted. The aircraft was complex and heavy, and pilots found the machine to be hazardous to land, due to its low ground clearance. Due to structural limits the machine could also never be brought to its expected agility limits
During that time the Soviet Union’s internal tensions rose and more and more hampered the РТАК-30’s development. During this time, two of the prototypes were lost (the 1st and 4th machine) in accidents, and in 1989 only two machines were left in flightworthy condition (the 5th airframe had been set aside for structural ground tests). Nevertheless, the РТАК-30 made its public debut at the Paris Air Show in June 1989 (the 3rd prototype, coded “33 Yellow”), together with the Mi-28A, but was only shown in static display and did not take part in any flight show. After that, the aircraft received the NATO ASCC code "Hemlock" and caused serious concern in Western military headquarters, since the РТАК-30 had the potential to dominate the European battlefield.
And this was just about to happen: Despite the РТАК-30’s development problems, the innovative attack vintoplan was included in the Soviet Union’s 5-year plan for 1989-1995, and the vehicle was eventually expected to enter service in 1996. However, due to the collapse of the Soviet Union and the dwindling economics, neither the РТАК-30 nor its civil Mil Mi-30 sister did soar out in the new age of technology. In 1990 the whole program was stopped and both surviving РТАК-30 prototypes were mothballed – one (the 3rd prototype) was disassembled and its components brought to the Rostov-na-Donu Mil plant, while the other, prototype No. 1, is rumored to be stored at the Central Russian Air Force Museum in Monino, to be restored to a public exhibition piece some day.
General characteristics:
Crew: Two (pilot, copilot/WSO) plus space for up to three passengers or cargo
Length: 45 ft 7 1/2 in (13,93 m)
Rotor diameter: 20 ft 9 in (6,33 m)
Wingspan incl. engine nacelles: 42 ft 8 1/4 in (13,03 m)
Total width with rotors: 58 ft 8 1/2 in (17,93 m)
Height: 17 ft (5,18 m) at top of tailfin
Disc area: 4x 297 ft² (27,65 m²)
Wing area: 342.2 ft² (36,72 m²)
Empty weight: 8,500 kg (18,740 lb)
Max. takeoff weight: 12,000 kg (26,500 lb)
Powerplant:
4× Klimov VK-2500PS-03 turboshaft turbines, 2,400 hp (1.765 kW) each
Performance:
Maximum speed: 275 knots (509 km/h, 316 mph) at sea level
305 kn (565 km/h; 351 mph) at 15,000 ft (4,600 m)
Cruise speed: 241 kn (277 mph, 446 km/h) at sea level
Stall speed: 110 kn (126 mph, 204 km/h) in airplane mode
Range: 879 nmi (1,011 mi, 1,627 km)
Combat radius: 390 nmi (426 mi, 722 km)
Ferry range: 1,940 nmi (2,230 mi, 3,590 km) with auxiliary external fuel tanks
Service ceiling: 25,000 ft (7,620 m)
Rate of climb: 2,320–4,000 ft/min (11.8 m/s)
Glide ratio: 4.5:1
Disc loading: 20.9 lb/ft² at 47,500 lb GW (102.23 kg/m²)
Power/mass: 0.259 hp/lb (427 W/kg)
Armament:
1× 30 mm (1.18 in) 2A42 multi-purpose autocannon with 450 rounds
7 external hardpoints for a maximum ordnance of 2.500 kg (5.500 lb)
The kit and its assembly:
This exotic, fictional aircraft-thing is a contribution to the “The Flying Machines of Unconventional Means” Group Build at whatifmodelers.com in early 2019. While the propulsion system itself is not that unconventional, I deemed the quadrocopter concept (which had already been on my agenda for a while) to be suitable for a worthy submission.
The Mil Mi-30 tiltrotor aircraft, mentioned in the background above, was a real project – but my alternative combat vintoplan design is purely speculative.
I had already stashed away some donor parts, primarily two sets of tiltrotor backpacks for 1:144 Gundam mecha from Bandai, which had been released recently. While these looked a little toy-like, these parts had the charm of coming with handed propellers and stub wings that would allow the engine nacelles to swivel.
The search for a suitable fuselage turned out to be a more complex safari than expected. My initial choice was the spoofy Italeri Mi-28 kit (I initially wanted a staggered tandem cockpit), but it turned out to be much too big for what I wanted to achieve. Then I tested a “real” Mi-28 (Dragon) and a Ka-50 (Italeri), but both failed for different reasons – the Mi-28 was too slender, while the Ka-50 had the right size – but converting it for my build would have been VERY complicated, because the engine nacelles would have to go and the fuselage shape between the cockpit and the fuselage section around the original engines and stub wings would be hard to adapt. I eventually bought an Italeri Ka-52 two-seater as fuselage donor.
In order to mount the four engines to the fuselage I’d need two pairs of wings of appropriate span – and I found a pair of 1:100 A-10 wings as well as the wings from an 1:72 PZL Iskra (not perfect, but the most suitable donor parts I could find in the junkyard). On the tips of these wings, the swiveling joints for the engine nacelles from the Bandai set were glued. While mounting the rear wings was not too difficult (just the Ka-52’s OOB stabilizers had to go), the front pair of wings was more complex. The reason: the Ka-52’s engines had to go and their attachment points, which are actually shallow recesses on the kit, had to be faired over first. Instead of filling everything with putty I decided to cover the areas with 0.5mm styrene sheet first, and then do cosmetic PSR work. This worked quite well and also included a cover for the Ka-52’s original rotor mast mount. Onto these new flanks the pair of front wings was attached, in a mid position – a conceptual mistake…
The cockpit was taken OOB and the aircraft’s nose received an additional thimble radome, reminiscent of the Mi-28’s arrangement. The radome itself was created from a German 500 kg WWII bomb.
At this stage, the mid-wing mistake reared its ugly head – it had two painful consequences which I had not fully thought through. Problem #1: the engine nacelles turned out to be too long. When rotated into a vertical position, they’d potentially hit the ground! Furthermore, the ground clearance was very low – and I decided to skip the Ka-52’s OOB landing gear in favor of a heavier and esp. longer alternative, a full landing gear set from an Italeri MiG-37 “Ferret E” stealth fighter, which itself resembles a MiG-23/27 landing gear. Due to the expected higher speeds of the vintoplan I gave the landing gear full covers (partly scratched, plus some donor parts from an Academy MiG-27). It took some trials to get the new landing gear into the right position and a suitable stance – but it worked. With this benchmark I was also able to modify the engine nacelles, shortening their rear ends. They were still very (too!) close to the ground, but at least the model would not sit on them!
However, the more complete the model became, the more design flaws turned up. Another mistake is that the front and rear rotors slightly overlap when in vertical position – something that would be unthinkable in real life…
With all major components in place, however, detail work could proceed. This included the completion of the cockpit and the sensor turrets, the Ka-52 cannon and finally the ordnance. Due to the large rotors, any armament had to be concentrated around the fuselage, outside of the propeller discs. For this reason (and in order to prevent the rear engines to ingest exhaust gases from the front engines in level flight), I gave the front wings a slightly larger span, so that four underwing pylons could be fitted, plus a pair of underfuselage hardpoints.
The ordnance was puzzled together from the Italeri Ka-52 and from an ESCI Ka-34 (the fake Ka-50) kit.
Painting and markings:
With such an exotic aircraft, I rather wanted a conservative livery and opted for a typical Soviet tactical four-tone scheme from the Eighties – the idea was to build a prototype aircraft from the state acceptance trials period, not a flashy demonstrator. The scheme and the (guesstimated) colors were transferred from a Soviet air force MiG-21bis of that era, and it consists of a reddish light brown (Humbrol 119, Light Earth), a light, yellowish green (Humbrol 159, Khaki Drab), a bluish dark green (Humbrol 195, Dark Satin Green, a.k.a. RAL 6020 Chromdioxidgrün) and a dark brown (Humbrol 170, Brown Bess). For the undersides’ typical bluish grey I chose Humbrol 145 (FS 35237, Gray Blue), which is slightly lighter and less greenish than the typical Soviet tones. A light black ink wash was applied and some light post-shading was done in order to create panels that are structurally not there, augmented by some pencil lines.
The cockpit became light blue (Humbrol 89), with medium gray dashboard and consoles. The ejection seats received bright yellow seatbelts and bright blue pads – a detail seen on a Mi-28 cockpit picture.
Some dielectric fairings like the fin tip were painted in bright medium green (Humbrol 101), while some other antenna fairings were painted in pale yellow (Humbrol 71).
The landing gear struts and the interior of the wells became Aluminum Metalic (Humbrol 56), the wheels dark green discs (Humbrol 30).
The decals were puzzled together from various sources, including some Begemot sheets. Most of the stencils came from the Ka-52 OOB sheet, and generic decal sheet material was used to mark the walkways or the rotor tips and leading edges.
Only some light weathering was done to the leading edges of the wings, and then the kit was sealed with matt acrylic varnish.
A complex kitbashing project, and it revealed some pitfalls in the course of making. However, the result looks menacing and still convincing, esp. in flight – even though the picture editing, with four artificially rotating proprotors, was probably more tedious than building the model itself!
Collection Refinement #1
My New Year's Resolution was to "refine" my doll collection. I sold a lot of dolls last year, most of which were NRFB. I have over 100 dolls on display and have no where to put new dolls without either 1) Purchasing shelving and making room or 2) Selling off or re-boxing some of the dolls on display. I decided to take each of my dolls and make some decisions about them. This poor girl was purchased on secondary market with her original body. If she was to stay, I knew I would have to do something with the hair and give her a newer body. She is on a FR2 Latino body. I borrowed inspiration from her sister Natural Wonder for the hair. I guess she is staying ...
Abstract: A Universe of combustion powered by en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_matter as being en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyanobacteria that energizes, powers and links the food and combustion chains by means of its role in making N2O (and other combustion gasses) as visualized powering this photo as a sea of examples of theory as the reality of the Universe whereby it is possible 'Billions' are successfully 'Served' so much Bacterial Dark Energy as expressed so many 'Happy Meals' or Big Mac's -- which being so many macromolecules that can be measures in terms of calories that produce heat in the combustion chain or energy in the food chain as measured by Calories and or BTU's here to be understood as Bacterial vs. British Thermal Units here for the illustrative purpose of essays analysis thesis and central 'line of logic' writ in material by the power of Dark Energy of light examined analyzed and explained as being organic in nature and hence the key to understanding the perpetual operation of a Universe that hosts so many McDonald's in 'reality as well as theory'.
As calories produced in Nature are combusted or converted to some other gear in the dark material box that contains explains and radiates; breakfast lunch and dinner by means and method of the 'Fuel, Transmission, and, Breaks on the Speed of Light as Dark Matter Makes the Fast Food Chain Possible in Reality as Well as Theory' perpetually which is my thesis of how bacteria's atomic core acts as the nuclear engine of fast food's 'motor' to power the arrow of time and the expansion of the Universe in the process of the customer service of billions under the Golden Arches' as a example of how my inventor's paradoxical reasoning flows from facts; old and fresh off the presses of Science; by means of reading and remembering the reporting in the: Science News, Wired, New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, et al..
My meal plan over my sales career and beyond has featured heaping helping of a traveling stack of recursive reading material in the form of magazines and newspapers, which got read cover to cover and then re-read for subtext + the answers, while working myriad 'problems' in a wide variety of food and chemical process plants selling machinery to help industries by means better mixing commodities to create value added products, and or by measure of the ingredients constituent 'energy departments' by means their light bending properties as a 'organic lens' by means to focus my learning about applied industrial en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refractometry over the years to form a unique point of view that provides a singular lens to understand the (refractual)-factual information available to all -- which to draw conclusions that, if in fact confirms and explains this thesis, in every aspect) while maintaining the consistency of the 'line of logic' as condensed into the 'nutshell' of the case: which makes possible nutshells --> by which "Nitrous oxide is emitted by bacteria in soils and oceans, and thus has been a part of Earth's atmosphere for millennia. ... Nitrous oxide reacts with ozone in the stratosphere. Nitrous oxide is the main naturally occurring regulator of stratospheric ozone. Nitrous oxide is a major greenhouse gas. Considered over a 100-year period, it has 298 times more impact per unit weight than carbon dioxide. Thus, despite its low concentration, nitrous oxide is the fourth largest contributor to these greenhouse gases. It ranks behind water vapor, carbon dioxide, and methane. Control of nitrous oxide is part of efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions. " - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nitrous_oxide
.
This 'data stack' has been compiled and essayed as way to explain and drive home the point of a insight by means a photo as examples served, to help unify a general understanding of Quantum Mechanics by bringing it into harmony with the Quantum Dynamic via 'tuning' the logical notes so as to produce a harmonic chord into the scientific signal chain. This method seeks to know by mildly obsessively removal of the noise and assorted 'clams' in the music that causes distortion in the current comprehension the fine grain factual that is the Devil complicating the details to render the obvious mysterious (for his own unknown devises) distorting the understanding and comprehension of "Dark Matter and Energy" -- which given it has the power in the the micro to macro over the Universe to 'bend of light' which is "spooky action at a distance" as well in terms of organic chemistry, which contains the energy, power and logical means to run the World Economy as well Solar System in the present, by means drawing on the power of the past in the meta, so as to expand the future at Λ.
The great common denominator is understood to be the organic power of the bonds of atom in action over space and time in the micro and macro to bend light which therefore, hence, consequential powers the present, by means the energy of the past, with exactly enough 'juice' to expand the future at at rate we know as the Cosmological Constant which happens to be the Macro Economic rate of inflation or other activity, when measured precisely over time in a given economy; as explained by Dark Matter and Energy being 'the stuff of the food and combustion chains' literal -- "power and light" -- as represented by a well oiled food chain of, fruits and vegetables, grains, meats, dairy, spice, Tea, and Coffee, with plenty of cooking oil and or motor oil to deliver same about all of which has a refractive index which determines price by means 'refinement, intensity and purity, etc.'.
Hence I conclude the economic activity inside each ingredient has the power to bend light at a given rate which is the power be worth more or less due; the presence or absence of Dark Matter or Energy - as being some 'star stuff' that makes 'gas that goes boom', by means the power of bacteria, at some level to cause a function of taste, smell and or the 'heat of the kitchen' that powers a person, group, or planet to expand at the Cosmological Constant by means the 'secret sauce' of spice on top floating atop a river of coffee, drained daily to achieve a insight into cracking the code that is the redundant power to run a Solar System from the micro to the macro and therefore power 'the program' with enough intensity to handle the business of light bending which I hold to be the answer to the Dark Matter and Energy Riddle™; which; creates, distributes and, bends light, -- by means the power of complimentary quark repair as understood and explained to us by Niels Bohr.
From this line of logic come a bonus answer {answer 'blowing in' the planetary weather patterns[for fun fact reality checking]} -- which is picture 'visualized' (and verbalized) as the 'planetary gearbox' running micro to macro by means the complete set of "planetary gears" -- Earth being the third gear, (counter rotating) as a example of how in this (and every) Solar system, per the Cosmological Principle's planetary rotation is powered by means of rotary evaporation, condensation, and quark repair's energy which explains the precision rotation and counter rotation of the Planets sorting the major elements from the Sun to the Black Hole in the Center Galley and back to Faint Young Star Power, in addition to explaining how the food chain and combustion chains run the worlds markets on so much 'horse power' by means of the food, fuel and mineral supplies which are understood to be 'of this world and more or less constantly 'bug based' to have mass which makes for substance that is organic, ---> then -- perhaps some or all of the Dark Matter and Energy riddle can begin to be considered (re)solved given the existing pieces of the natural machinery explained with out having to invent or discover strange new mysterious here to fore unknown 'matter' or 'stuff' that is the light -- 'illustrated' in its quantum mechanical and dynamic operations.
Therefore, Bacteria micro phylogenetic ilk form the vital cogs in the gearbox of the machinery of the of the perpetual manufacture of all elements of combustion and the biomass of any given hydrocarbon atomic bit and, or molecule that runs this economy or, any given eco or solar system.
Hence, Bacteria self-identifies itself as being THE prime candidate as the engine and (con)vector of Dark Matter and Energy on multiple levels of micro to macro levels and layers of Time and Space -- explained.
Further evidence of 'bacteria power' being a heretofore, 'secret agent' and, or 'sauce' of the hydrogen bonding process; E.g.; www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/08/110810132832.htm
"Hydrogen-Powered Symbiotic Bacteria Found in Deep-Sea Hydrothermal Vent Mussels"
Consequently, to connect the known dots that we as a planet full of various species which are bacterial powered, and therefore 'connected' - because of 'we are, what we eat' technology, it is not too great a leap in logic to see the micro to the macro of what I perceive the food and combustion chain moving along in the form of burgers, cars, people, lights, with the common atomic denominator of complimentary paired quarks of the non combustible expansive atomic core of Bacteria which pumps the N20 'laughing back' in a witches brewing tangled with the incomplete combustion of VOC's aka en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volatile_organic_compound 's which are sorted by means Hawking Radiation with the Dark Matter/Energy being the Bacteria that makes combustion possible on a atomic level to matter at the junction of the CNO cycles where one or another family of Bacteria uses matter as fuel to bind en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nitrus_oxide to en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon , by means the 'intestinal fortitude' of en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyanobacteria functioning as the atomic core of Dark Matter and Energy in its role in combustion process at the atomic level, bring light to life as heat and the building blocks of the food chain where there is no waste whereby matter bound is form and released in Hydrogen bonds of demi-big bang being 'ripped' free and re broken to 'dribble out' and vent safely though a series of (black at night type) holes in the Earths ozone, past the gas giants of the solar system, and or then, back up to the 'mother ship' of a Black Hole in the middle of the galaxy to be reprocessed into basic matter and new stars; imho, and according to my version of the General Unified Theory the remainder of the combusted Matter is spun off from the inferno in a Energy input = Energy output to/fro Earth over Space Time in visual form as a large pile of 'mass equivalence' goes 'up in smoke' c/o Bacteria in concert with the food chain, as ordained by people, and their Stars.
A bacterial 'method of accounting' for the elements of the combustion chains common denominators power supply in the case of everything in the above photo from; the grill, to vehicles fuels, to the lights, to the ingredients served food chain creation, all draw by means the power of bacteria and returning energy to the Sun as organic chemistry in the waste streams returning V.O.C.'s + 'free radicals' back to Black Holes for 'rework' by means the food and combustion chains machinery along with resultant thermal energy as heat - not unlike a watch, all pieces of the machinery are required which to tell time, and or power, key, and, gear the Universes continuously running of a waste free process with zero inefficiencies in the (re) winding of the atomic clockworks of the; en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Phylogenetic_tree.svg by means of the 'arrow of time' being organic and thus a natural explanation and account for the Material Science and Physics of the Past, Present, and, Future expanding the Universe in the micro and macro at the en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmological_constant .
By means of McDonald's cunning control of the food chains macro and micro of ingredients respective half life through the applied combination of combustion and the Bose Einstein condensate as expressed in the freezer and refrigeration processes with the heat of the deep frier and grill wiped clean of 'bugs' by the hygiene process ("If you have time to lean -- you have time to clean")^ to grease the wheels of maximum predictability to add velocity as a expression of 'fast food' running at ultra high velocity of the supply chain, so as to be both profitable and by keeping the flipping quantum burgers and selling them as levers on the 'half life' of life which is so much en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy-mass_equivalence on the 'hoof and or bun' or Dark Matter and Energy fueling the present, driving the futures expansion, while drawing off the power of the past, in the process of repairing the pasts quarks, while moving the industrial age super high speed supply chain fast, from freezer to grill, such that very little spoils in becoming breakfast, lunch or dinner in the many super saturated heartbeats kept in motion - so to speak in praise of the high velocity of the nutrition moving by means of a menu offered at the counter or 24/7 at drive thru that binds and connects a world by 'bill of fare' from a common 'supply chain' to forge the common bond of 'been there, ate that'; got that "Happy Meal" feeling and connectivity by means of 'you are what you eat', as one of the 'billions served' and thus bonded at a atomic level this 'Small World™ is formed and powered said as a gear in the machinery of moving the Universe forward at exactly the Cosmological Constant each burger and fry being a vital thread in the vastness of the fabric of Space which keeps the 'arrow of time' in 'free flight' by means the perpetual power of Dark Matter and Energy.
Bacteria' sub-atomic bond's further self identify themselves as Dark Matter in terms of; en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_energy when busted through the above mentioned data points over Space Time shot though the single cellular 'buns' of the expanse of the power of said Bacteria whose role in the formation of all fuels that have the power and volume and necessary gas byproducts fuel the building blocks and heat the life as we know it of a expanding Universe, as I understand the Grande Scheme as it seems to be -- making more sense every day, in light of the evidence w/o bacteria there is no serving billions and billions over the course of space and time breakfast, lunch, and dinner, anyplace, anytime, anywhere; with perfectly predictable results.
While searching for Bacteria as the missing link in the Dark Material puzzle and or cog in the Universal gear box by searching for evidence that amounts to proof of the above thesis in a late 20st century hydrocarbon fueled economy based and chase scene as a conceptual word problem/thought exercise of the quantum dynamics of the following to power the atomic chain reaction that is the contents of this clip, (and the following cinematic immortal chase scene) from The Blues Brothers film, from the point of the line; 'Hit It': E.g. www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvKs2VLmVnY it is all one vast Cyanobacteria powered Hydrocarbon coming unglued in a cinematic en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chain_reaction set of events that flow from that '...full tank of gas' and those of the Illinois State Police and Chicago Police Department pursuit fleets respective fuel supplies by my estimates and a per this hypothesis, which also can be made as a means of the (bacteria) count for a Dark Matter math made of the original quality of the crude oil or gas sourced as energy not needed to remove it is some sort of V.O.C. or sulfur in the refining processes as I (begin to attempt to) under stand that phase of the hydrocarbon world, by thinking through what Nature did to produce the worlds resource map over time and space in the micro and macro c/o the predictable expansion of the 'Bacteria count' (method of comprehending this system writ large is), that it is the metaphorical and literal chemical keys to the locks that 'unchain' the Energy of the rest of the Dark Material Energies machinery in the subatomic bits as expressed and transmitted in larger life forms of the; en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Phylogenetic_tree.svg by means the turning of the wheels in the perpetual generational workings of the 'circle of life', species specific grade grind.
It is key to my understanding the organic driver of Matter over time and space as the vector of radiant Energy from the Sun up the food chain, with the feed back loop to the source Stars paired quark, and or Black Hole so the Yin Yang of the Universe is observed yet expansion happens at the speed of light curved at the rate of expansion of the this corner of the Universe as defined by its mix of atoms as apples of the proverbial/metaphorical/literal Phylogenetic tree to which all life is connected as "Star stuff" back at some Sun -- in to/fro runs that never stops this and all other local worlds turning by means of the power of quarks in free flight repair.*
Further insight to my thinking on Dark Matter can be achieved though the point of view of the functionality of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange as a thought experiment the price theory calculations of the trading of the relative Dark Material 'bacteriological load' of what wikipedia cites as; "Agricultural Commodity Contracts to include: Live Cattle, Lean Hogs，Feeder Cattle, Class IV Milk, Class III Milk, Frozen Pork Bellies, International Skimmed Milk Powder (ISM), Nonfat Dry Milk, Deliverable Nonfat Dry Milk, Dry Whey, Cash-Settled Butter, Butter, Random Length Lumber, Softwood Pulp, Hardwood Pulp. " - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Mercantile_Exchange hence, whole crops and 'great herds' have their market price known in dollar value and therefore understood by the 'group mind' as expressed by the market on a dynamic basis as a set of outcomes based on decisions which would therefor also enable a Game Theory analysis of the functions of the interplay of bacteria as Dark Matter over Time and Space on the Markets writ large so as to make a certain amount of micro and macro economic sense out of reality to my mind -- as a function of its Dark Matter in motion and working out such things as impacts on crop rotation and micro climate as expressed in soil, flora, fauna, and in the end expressed as the en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_exchange_market as reflected in the worth of a countries economic fortune and political sense as determined by the rest of the world as an expression of the market (volatility expressed as a aspect of the Geo Politic) to put a numerical fine point on this biological bacterial concept as having a economic and political reality in the purest economic bottom line analysis expressed as the "Big Mac Index" www.economist.com/news/2018/07/11/the-big-mac-index where as we know; " en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_politics_is_local " material-logically and economically speaking and understanding the language of 'knowledge being power' to produce breakfast lunch and dinner like as well according to clockwork.
Therefore, kindly consider the concept of the 'lines of communication' as a historic reflection of this method of bacterial transmission of the hydrogen and nitrogen bonds by means the; en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spice_Route and its consequence; as a means transmission by mode of market propelled by men moving matter to markets in their bacterial based bodies made of what they ate as they hauling spices in flowing robes more or less doing the bidding of The Bacteria (as matter and antimatter in the form of bodies and antibodies) the runs their Genome as a means of maintaining health and spread direction by means slaying en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maxwell%27s_demon by overwhelming the Demon with the message in the material in the form of the spices transported to form immunity. A soul 'being you are what you ate' is therefore as intense as its 'spice matrix', held together by such things as those same trace nutrients salts that make the whole micro a expression of the en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nutrient_cycle of the macro as seen above in the spice rout 'moving matter'/the en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass-energy_equivalence of dehydrated spice 'on the hoof'/over time and space 'in sickness and health' using the spice to charge the immune system to the stars, and thereby expand the human 'group mind' in the process. So goes bacteria and the immune system running down the en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Efficient_energy_use highway somewhere as the saying, movie title and, quark repair goes; 'Back to the Future" to form the present as the arrow of time accounted for.
Back to present where let's consider for a moment the line of cars at the drive through running on hydrocarbons which are spewing the byproducts of combustion out their exhaust pipes as so much proto-photo-chemical glue bacteria/N2O and then digested by the process into so many VOC's emissions and ozone and or the local Dark Matter mat (you see as dirty snow/particulates) which then tends to coat the local population in a binding network of common chemical bonds care of the haze of bacteria spewed forth bacteria working their digestive magic by making and breaking hydrocarbons into bits of matter to yield energy as well as unintended consequences of letting loose bacteria to form more N2O and thus make matter in a loop, which explains quite a bit in a expanding Universe with that en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faint_young_Sun_paradox in need of resolution as accounting does providing the 'gas' in the form of none other than Bacteria (+and and all other breathing living creatures in the food and combustion chain that use or produce the gasses that run the Natural world to be found in the Phylogenetic tree* that make themselves the self evident candidates for the vital role of Dark Matter in producing Energy, by means of a technical explanation of the organic reality of the engineering of heat, light, beaming billions of 'Argument from Design'^^ burgers with cheese along with life as we know it in concert with a combustion chain made possible by the same of the organic Star powered operating system which is the quantum physics of light derived from the particulate energy of nature -- spinning on the axis of reality that leads to and fro black holes for the final business of quark repair and reseeding as fresh young Star power as the final answer offered to the riddle of the expanding Universe at the observed rate of cosmic inflation.
*Attributions and Notes;
Part of the Title of this essay is a reference from a James Q. Wilson appreciation and quotation in the Wall Street Journal;
online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052970203986604577...
- "The joke about the French philosopher—"We know it works in fact, but will it work in theory?"
Sources and Thanks;
Wikipedia multiple instances as links indicate, The New York Times, The Blues Brothers (movies), The Science News, The Science Daily, The Scientific American, Smithsonian (magazine and websites), Grand Master Cho, Donald Street Jr., (the spirits of) Larry Bird, Bruce Lee, Floyd Little, Keith Moon, Ray Kroc, Kenneth G. Wilson, Niels Bohr, Lewis Alvarez, Hans Bethe, Richard Feynman,Carl Woese, my ancestors, and friends as expressed in the great human spirit as its collection of intellectual marbles of the mind found in the halls of Education, Science and Industry all inclusive. Marbles that can be added to compose the picture of the Universe the in the mosaic of Macro by understanding how the organic bonds of the micro fuel and expand the Big Picture™.
Magazines and Newspapers read with regularity; Wired, New Yorker, New York Times, Atlantic, The Economist, The Science News, Smithsonian, Rolling Stone, Vanity Fair, Wooden Boat, The Guardian, and The Wall Street Journal.
Thanks to the folks, their content provided on pages served by wikipedia, Linkedin, 'The' google and youtube.
All citations and video links are strictly for informational power of navel gazing and educational purposes only.
All brain farts and typos mine. 'Pardon my prose', this is a work in progress and can be read with that in mind and clean through w/o hitting the links then on second pass go in for the hypertext as topically curious.
Note: no entertainment value or incidental rights explicit or implicit assumed by citations to to or fro links contained herein.
Not unlike the original ideas about Dark Matter and Energy or any incidental cosmic-intellectual sod busted along the way of this thought exercise verbalized as semi complete set of insights, to go with the rest of my analysis of the "'Color Theory' of Dark Matter and Energy", are my uncompensated business (in passive-aggressive search of a publisher) that ponders another paragraph on the how the Universe works through the lens that is outside looking in at Bacteria's nuclear material manifesting itself as a function of the expansion of the Universe as powered by nothing less than the Dark Material heart that beats by means the expansive radiant Energy of Cyanobacteria, made oh so edible at McDonald's.
^ "Some people say he (McDonald's founder Ray Kroc) was almost obsessed with cleanliness." - money.howstuffworks.com/mcdonalds1.htm
^^The Argument from Design
www.princeton.edu/~grosen/puc/phi203/design.html
* My topically related hyper-detailed, and 'dense as a young Star' 'Full Report' on why; "'The Dark Side of' Matter and Energy Sets the Speed of Lights Limits, A Photo Essay with Image 'Remixed' by 'Dream 11'"
For clarity, 'roll-over' notes presented as continuous comment moving from the bottom Right to the lower Left by way of the 'Finish Line' in the 'roll-over' mode noting in that order the pickup truck driver, sign, and drive up window as a series of metaphors, folded down to this, with apologies for the technology;
No doubt driver is off working on a en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_deduction proof of Bacteria as Dark Matter and Energy in his spare time, when not otherwise engaged in struggle for survival in the City. Never mind, the guy across the street with the camera did all that in his head; while doing the same. You can check via this intense method, and or by just reading on into this train of a chain reaction of thought that is parked right here in this space.
The "FinishLine" and Time are illusory concepts unless you happen to be en..wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Phelps because it seems more the case as once more or less was stated that;
“Life is a (bacteriological driven) journey, not a destination.”
Not unlike ― Robert Frosts road predating McDonalds and thus 'less traveled' non the less memorable and a immortal 'difference maker', E,g.;
www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-road-not-taken/
The Road Not Taken
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear,
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I marked the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
- Robert Frost
Humans Carry More Bacterial Cells than Human Ones n -- is bunk -- www.sciencenews.org/article/body%E2%80%99s-bacteria-don%E...
Never the less there are bacteria running the health 'code' if you have any grip on -- health and good eating in general to form a whole package that can comprehend the 'body census' POV as formed;
By Melinda Wenner
www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=strange-but-tru...
Digressing but speaking of the search for the Universal source code;
How the Father of Computer Science Decoded Nature’s Mysterious Patterns
In research shortly before his death in 1954, Alan Turing used mathematics to explore how forms emerge, yielding insights that are now being applied to problems like desalination.
Which seems to be confirmed by The New York Times on July 14, 2014 in Personal Health -- as
"We Are Our Bacteria"
By Jane E. Brody; nyti.ms/1zBrZrJ
Further proof in the cosmic 'pudding' of this 'line of logic' applied as matter made as not only burgers, but believe it or not The Bahamas being Cyanoacterial 'born' from the micro to the 'Big Macro'' --> e.g.:
Bahamas Bacteria May Feast on Dust from the Saharan Desert
By Laura Geggel, | July 29, 2014 03:01pm ET
www.livescience.com/47072-sahara-dust-great-bahama-bank.html
and then there is the distinct -
"Possible layout of the quarks in a pentaquark particle. The five quarks might be tightly bound (left). The five quarks might be tightly bound. They might also be assembled into a meson (one quark and one anti quark) and a baryon (three quarks), weakly bound together."
lifeboat.com/blog/2015/08/exotic-pentaquark-particle-disc... --
Therefore logically it follows is understood and hopefully explained here that this is the natural source of the gears that we derive from Nature employs to form essential sub atomic gearing that constitutes the fabric of the Universe which is woven by the (2x2 quarks + 1 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axion )accounted for now as being found present in the form factors of the colors blue and green quarks two each, plus the 'wild red' Axion (that transports the above linked font of information by means the power of "The (micro) RGB Light") manufactured in that thar recurring blue-green en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyanobacteria producing the -- 'show must go on business' -- which in turn forms the 'stage' that is 'all the world' inclusive of the Saharan dust that offers a theoretical physical-chemical explanation of the Bahamas’ paradoxical existence by "Windblown nutrients may fertilize island-building bacteria" as a footprint formed in the macro.
BY Thomas Sumner July 11, 2014
Magazine issue: Vol. 186 No. 3, August 9, 2014
"Dust-fertilized cyanobacteria could also explain the origin of carbonate rocks elsewhere in the ocean that formed over 400 million years ago, before mollusks and corals evolved, Swart says."
www.sciencenews.org/article/saharan-dust-explains-bahamas...
"The rocks here in Oman are
special, this scientist says." -- which is also the point of this essay to provide a full pictorial accounting of the myriad 'common denominators likeness' and suggest formal logical links as they organic chemically occur to support this hypothosis;
--> www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/04/26/climate/oman-rocks...
Yet more people with a beef about burgers in world today due to their perceived supersized impact on climate by means the combustion chain saw of power of being carbon based that make for the thinking linking; beef, cars and climate together as; "The Case for a Carbon Tax on Beef" - nyti.ms/2GCdixI that was argued for on March 17, 2018 as reported By Richard Conniff
in the New York Times.
Therefore it is concluded by this long line of logic that deduces in the final analysis that the electric color coding of quarks in formation and repair that inform and bind the ingredients, that create the matter in the Universe by means the gears of nature being organic running on the many shoulders of the nitrogen building blocks of a army navy and air force of the matter and resultant fuel of hydrogen oxygen helium of a Universe of organic 'bug power' production which forms, binds expands and operate the 'code' of Nature which is borne by light electrically as explained by "Albert Einstein's mathematical description of how the photoelectric effect was caused by absorption of quanta of light in one of his 1905 papers, named "On a Heuristic Viewpoint Concerning the Production and Transformation of Light". "
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photoelectric_effect illustrated.
CJC
Rev. 1/29/18
Things are converging -- I completed first pass at the lower engine areas, and improved some color blocking along the way.
Next up: Off to Bricklink to take care of all those wrong-color bits, a then a lot of fiddly refinement.
Some things changed, but the main superstructure remained the same. Mostly just some details and cosmetic refinements, oh and it's rendered this time lol
At first glance, this probably looks like a repeat. But its actually got about 2 dozen little refinements from the last post. I'm printing this today and thought you might like to see the steps.
The rage these days seems to be to hand blend your brackets so I thought i would give it a quick try. I think i should have have focused on 3 instead of 5 as I had use more gradients to smooth my masks between layers as my hand adjustments were too harsh.
i think with a few more trys and refinements there is allot of promise for the hand blending vs the Photomatix route for some images. One thing I did is I tweaked white white balance and tint between exposures to give some added pop and depth.
Chassis n° ZFFCW56A130134594
Estimated : CHF 1.800.000 - 2.000.000
Sold for CHF 3.105.000 - € 2.833.804
The Bonmont Sale
Collectors' Motor Cars - Bonhams
Golf & Country Club de Bonmont
Chéserex
Switzerland - Suisse - Schweiz
September 2019
"In 1999 we won the manufacturers' championship; in 2000 we added the drivers' championship for the first time in 21 years. We won the last championship of the 20th Century, and the first of the 21st Century. I wanted to celebrate this with a car very much like a Formula 1. After honouring Modena and Maranello, we felt this was the right car to honour the name of our founder." – Luca di Montezemolo, President of Ferrari.
Fortuitously, the Enzo's announcement in mid-summer 2002 coincided with Michael Schumacher clinching that year's Formula 1 drivers' championship for Ferrari, his third in a row for the Italian manufacturer. Indeed, the German superstar had been instrumental in the Enzo's development, contributing much valuable input to the refinement of its driving manners.
Formula 1-derived technology abounded in the Enzo. Its electro-hydraulic six-speed manual transmission had already been seen in other Ferraris and was further refined, changing ratios in a lightning-fast 150 milliseconds, while the steering wheel with its plethora of buttons, lights and switches was guaranteed to make any F1 driver feel at home. Carbon brake discs had been standard F1 equipment for many years, but the Enzo's carbon-ceramic rotors represented a 'first' for a production road car. Double wishbone suspension, or variations thereof, is to be found on virtually every modern supercar, but the Enzo's incorporated pushrod-operated shock absorbers all round, just like a racing car's. In one important respect Ferrari's new sports car was superior to its F1 cousin, incorporating Skyhook adaptive suspension, a type of technology banned from the racetrack since the late 1990s. Constructed entirely from carbon fibre and Kevlar, the monocoque chassis tub was immensely stiff, a necessary requirement of the adaptive suspension.
It may not look like a Formula 1 car but the Enzo benefited from aerodynamic developments made in motor sport's premier category, enabling it to dispense with the rear wing of its F40 and F50 predecessors, employing a state-of-the-art under-body diffuser instead. Harking back to another landmark Ferrari - a Group 5 sports-racer this time - the doors opened upwards and forwards, just like those of the Tipo 512 of 1970. Although not as stark as that of an out-and-out competition car, the Enzo's interior was more functional than that of previous Ferrari road cars, boasting a mix of red leather trim and carbon-fibre panelling. There was not even a stereo system, the (optional) air conditioning being just about the only concession to creature comforts.
The heart of any car though, and especially of a Ferrari, is its engine; that of the Enzo being a 60-degree V12, a configuration long associated with the Italian marque and so the natural choice for a model bearing the name of the company's founder. Deploying four valves per cylinder, variable valve timing, and variable length intake trumpets (the latter another Formula 1 spin-off) this 6.0-litre unit produced a mighty 660bhp, 33 horsepower more than its BMW-powered McLaren F1 rival.
Unleashing all this power in a straight line produced acceleration figures of 0-100km/h (62mph) in a little over 3.5 seconds, with 200km/h (124mph) achievable in 9.5 seconds. Yet applying the brakes hard enough could bring the Enzo back to a standstill in only an additional 5.7 seconds - impressive stuff. The top speed? A little over 350km/h (218mph). Hitherto, Ferrari had shied away from providing 'driver aids' on this type of car but perhaps not surprisingly given this level of performance, opted to fit traction control, anti-lock brakes, and power-assisted steering to the Enzo.
A mere 349 examples of this 'legend in the making' were scheduled for production at a price of around $650,000 (approximately £450,000) apiece, making it the most expensive Ferrari ever made. As it happened, Ferrari ended up making 400 and, needless to say, had no trouble whatsoever in selling them all, one going to His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI.
Testing an Enzo at Ferrari's Fiorano track soon after its announcement in 2002, Car magazine's Mark Walton enthused: "On the move, the Enzo is something else. It sounds absolutely unbelievable – so loud and crisp I can imagine farmers three miles outside Maranello looking up from their fields. It doesn't scream like an F1 car; it howls and bellows like a big-capacity Group C racer..." and that was before he had even sat in the car. Once out on the track, it did not disappoint: "The Enzo lunges forwards so violently that it feels like it could cause brain damage – a big, muscular punch that makes your stomach lurch and your head reel with blood loss.
"As if that crushing power wasn't enough, the steering is unbelievably light, yet still pointy and full of feel. It feels so willing, so utterly in your control as you turn in..." Clearly, the next owner of the pristine example offered here has much to look forward to.
Built for the Canadian market and completed on 10th October 2003, the car offered here is the penultimate Enzo of the 400 cars produced. Finished in yellow with black interior, it has covered a mere 21km from new and in May 2016 was extensively serviced by Modena Cars, Geneva, whose detailed invoice for CHF 79,317 is on file. A detailed specification listing supplied by Ferrari is on file and the car also comes with Equatorial Guinea registration papers and technical inspection. This wonderful Enzo is presented in very good condition throughout; indeed, it is one of the nicest of its kind we have seen.
As is so often the case with limited edition 'instant classics', Ferraris in particular, values have continued to rise since the Enzo's introduction and show no signs of slowing down. An opportunity not to be missed.
Perfect example of what happens when you edit in a hurry.
(full) description later
Lost by Jewel Kilcher
Lost
is a puzzle
of stars
that breathes
like water
and chews
like stone
Alone
is a reminder
of how far
acceptance
is from
understanding
Fear
is a bird
that believes itself
into extinction
Desperation
the honest recognition
of a false truth
Hope
seeing who you really are
at your highest
is who you will become
Grace
the refinement of a
Soul through time
Jewel's poetry just makes me dizzy and breathless. It's so simple and beautiful and she inspires the way I write my poetry too <3
awionline.org/content/fundamentals
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The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) reports that in fiscal year 2010, there were 1,334,693 animals in research. This number included dogs, cats, nonhuman primates, guinea pigs, hamsters, rabbits, pigs and sheep. It does not include rats of the genus Rattus, mice of the genus Mus, or birds—despite the fact that these animals make up the overwhelming majority of animals in research.
Studies with animals include basic research such as genetics, developmental biology and behavioral work, as well as applied research such as biomedical research, xenotransplantation (the transplantation of living cells, tissues or organs from one species to another), and toxicology and drug testing. In addition to research and testing, education is conducted with animals.
Overall, while research with a few species such as hamsters and rabbits appears to be trending down, the number of species other than rats and mice in research is at a five-year high. The number of nonhuman primates in research has increased, as has research conducted with fish, particularly zebrafish.
The number of rats and mice in research is believed to be increasing dramatically—in large part due to studies involving genetic modification. Estimates regarding the number of rats, mice and birds in research range from 25 million to over 100 million. As these animals are excluded from protection under the Animal Welfare Act (AWA), there is no accounting to the USDA or any other federal agency of these millions of lives that are sacrificed for research, testing and teaching.
A tremendous number of rodents in research are the product of genetic engineering. Often the goal is to more closely mimic human diseases. There are welfare issues associated with breeding such animals (a large number of surplus animals are generated to achieve a small number with the desired genome), as well as issues encountered during the conduct of the research—as these animals have a strong potential for suffering and experience high premature death rates.
Most animals sold for research purposes are bred specifically for this purpose. Commercial breeders are licensed “Class A” by the USDA and required to meet minimum standards under the Animal Welfare Act (AWA). Other animals are wild-caught—among them birds, fish, reptiles, amphibians and some mammals as diverse as nonhuman primates, opossum, and deer mice. USDA-licensed “Class B” dealers also serve as middlemen, acquiring animals from other sources and then selling the animals to laboratories. Some dogs and cats are acquired directly from municipal pounds.
All animals in research should be treated as humanely as possible. Rats, mice and birds, in particular, deserve the legal protection afforded other species via the Animal Welfare Act. Researchers doing work with any animal species should use the “3R's” as their guiding principles: replacement (substitution with non-animal methods), reduction (methods of obtaining data using fewer animals), and refinement (methods that alleviate or minimize animal suffering and enhance animal welfare).
Photo credit: Chen, Ho-Wen, supported by Lin, Li-Yih Lab, the Department of Life Science, National Taiwan Normal University, Taiwan, ROC
Experience the exquisite craftsmanship of Jacobean interior architecture at Crewe Hall in Cheshire, England. Admire the intricate beauty of highly carved woodwork, a hallmark of this historic period. From ornate paneling to elaborate ceiling beams, every detail showcases the skilled artistry of the era. Marvel at the intricate motifs and delicate filigree that adorn the grand halls and intimate chambers, transporting you to a bygone age of opulence and refinement. Explore the timeless elegance of Crewe Hall and immerse yourself in the rich heritage of Jacobean design, where every carving tells a story of craftsmanship and tradition.
Some more photoshop refinements to Alan Bullimore's photograph of the final diagram that was displayed in Victoria South signal box.
On signalling scheme plans equipment to be abolished is shaded in green, following that convention I have reinstated parts of the layout that were taken out of use after this diagram was issued.
Green shading was not used on the signalman's diagram, relevant details were simply erased with the darker black notes added.
Earlier diagrams would have shown a direct connection from the Down Main to Bay 12 (and removed Bay 11?), also the 'Siding' next to Up Slow No.2 would have been the Up Goods.
It is curious that whilst the Route Indicators show 'M' (main), 'S' (slow), 'L' (loop) and 'G' (goods), the L.M.R. drawing office has labelled these lines as 'Fast', 'Slow No.1' and 'Slow No.2'.
The number one choice for adventurers, Defender is the definitive expedition vehicle. Its towing ability, massive load capacity, versatile seating for up to seven adults and diesel refinement and economy also make it ideal for leisure trips. The flat floor areas can be swept clean in seconds and the detachable water-resistant carpets allow mud and debris to be simply hosed away.
Wells Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in Wells, Somerset, England, dedicated to St Andrew the Apostle. It is the seat of the Bishop of Bath and Wells, whose cathedra it holds as mother church of the Diocese of Bath and Wells. Built as a Roman Catholic cathedral from around 1175 to replace an earlier church on the site since 705, it became an Anglican cathedral when King Henry VIII split from Rome. It is moderately sized for an English cathedral. Its broad west front and large central tower are dominant features. It has been called "unquestionably one of the most beautiful" and "most poetic" of English cathedrals.
Its Gothic architecture is mostly inspired from Early English style of the late 12th to early 13th centuries, lacking the Romanesque work that survives in many other cathedrals. Building began about 1175 at the east end with the choir. Historian John Harvey sees it as Europe's first truly Gothic structure, breaking the last constraints of Romanesque. The stonework of its pointed arcades and fluted piers bears pronounced mouldings and carved capitals in a foliate, "stiff-leaf" style. Its Early English front with 300 sculpted figures is seen as a "supreme triumph of the combined plastic arts in England". The east end retains much ancient stained glass. Unlike many cathedrals of monastic foundation, Wells has many surviving secular buildings linked to its chapter of secular canons, including the Bishop's Palace and the 15th-century residential Vicars' Close It is a Grade I listed building.
The earliest remains of a building on the site are of a late-Roman mausoleum, identified during excavations in 1980. An abbey church was built in Wells in 705 by Aldhelm, first bishop of the newly established Diocese of Sherborne during the reign of King Ine of Wessex. It was dedicated to St Andrew and stood at the site of the cathedral's cloisters, where some excavated remains can be seen. The font in the cathedral's south transept is from this church and is the oldest part of the present building. In 766 Cynewulf, King of Wessex, signed a charter endowing the church with eleven hides of land. In 909 the seat of the diocese was moved from Sherborne to Wells.
The first bishop of Wells was Athelm (909), who crowned King Æthelstan. Athelm and his nephew Dunstan both became Archbishops of Canterbury. During this period a choir of boys was established to sing the liturgy. Wells Cathedral School, which was established to educate these choirboys, dates its foundation to this point. There is, however, some controversy over this. Following the Norman Conquest, John de Villula moved the seat of the bishop from Wells to Bath in 1090. The church at Wells, no longer a cathedral, had a college of secular clergy.
The cathedral is thought to have been conceived and commenced in about 1175 by Reginald Fitz Jocelin, who died in 1191. Although it is clear from its size that from the outset, the church was planned to be the cathedral of the diocese, the seat of the bishop moved between Wells and the abbeys of Glastonbury and Bath, before settling at Wells. In 1197 Reginald's successor, Savaric FitzGeldewin, with the approval of Pope Celestine III, officially moved his seat to Glastonbury Abbey. The title of Bishop of Bath and Glastonbury was used until the Glastonbury claim was abandoned in 1219.
Savaric's successor, Jocelin of Wells, again moved the bishop's seat to Bath Abbey, with the title Bishop of Bath. Jocelin was a brother of Hugh (II) of Lincoln and was present at the signing of the Magna Carta. Jocelin continued the building campaign begun by Reginald and was responsible for the Bishop's Palace, the choristers' school, a grammar school, a hospital for travellers and a chapel. He also had a manor house built at Wookey, near Wells. Jocelin saw the church dedicated in 1239 but, despite much lobbying of the Pope by Jocelin's representatives in Rome, did not live to see cathedral status granted. The delay may have been a result of inaction by Pandulf Verraccio, a Roman ecclesiastical politician, papal legate to England and Bishop of Norwich, who was asked by the Pope to investigate the situation but did not respond. Jocelin died at Wells on 19 November 1242 and was buried in the choir of the cathedral; the memorial brass on his tomb is one of the earliest brasses in England. Following his death the monks of Bath unsuccessfully attempted to regain authority over Wells.
In 1245 the ongoing dispute over the title of the bishop was resolved by a ruling of Pope Innocent IV, who established the title as the "Bishop of Bath and Wells", which it has remained until this day, with Wells as the principal seat of the bishop. Since the 11th century the church has had a chapter of secular clergy, like the cathedrals of Chichester, Hereford, Lincoln and York. The chapter was endowed with 22 prebends (lands from which finance was drawn) and a provost to manage them. On acquiring cathedral status, in common with other such cathedrals, it had four chief clergy, the dean, precentor, chancellor and sacristan, who were responsible for the spiritual and material care of the cathedral.
The building programme, begun by Reginald Fitz Jocelin, Bishop in the 12th century, continued under Jocelin of Wells, who was a canon from 1200, then bishop from 1206. Adam Locke was master mason from about 1192 until 1230. It was designed in the new style with pointed arches, later known as Gothic, which was introduced at about the same time at Canterbury Cathedral. Work was halted between 1209 and 1213 when King John was excommunicated and Jocelin was in exile, but the main parts of the church were complete by the time of the dedication by Jocelin in 1239.
By the time the cathedral, including the chapter house, was finished in 1306, it was already too small for the developing liturgy, and unable to accommodate increasingly grand processions of clergy. John Droxford initiated another phase of building under master mason Thomas of Whitney, during which the central tower was heightened and an eight-sided Lady chapel was added at the east end by 1326. Ralph of Shrewsbury followed, continuing the eastward extension of the choir and retrochoir beyond. He oversaw the building of Vicars' Close and the Vicars' Hall, to give the men who were employed to sing in the choir a secure place to live and dine, away from the town and its temptations. He had an uneasy relationship with the citizens of Wells, partly because of his imposition of taxes, and he surrounded his palace with crenellated walls, a moat and a drawbridge.
John Harewell raised money for the completion of the west front by William Wynford, who was appointed as master mason in 1365. One of the foremost master masons of his time, Wynford worked for the king at Windsor, Winchester Cathedral and New College, Oxford. At Wells, he designed the western towers of which north-west was not built until the following century. In the 14th century, the central piers of the crossing were found to be sinking under the weight of the crossing tower which had been damaged by an earthquake in the previous century. Strainer arches, sometimes described as scissor arches, were inserted by master mason William Joy to brace and stabilise the piers as a unit.
By the reign of Henry VII the cathedral was complete, appearing much as it does today (though the fittings have changed). From 1508 to 1546, the eminent Italian humanist scholar Polydore Vergil was active as the chapter's representative in London. He donated a set of hangings for the choir of the cathedral. While Wells survived the Dissolution of the Monasteries better than the cathedrals of monastic foundation, the abolition of chantries in 1547 resulted in a reduction in its income. Medieval brasses were sold, and a pulpit was placed in the nave for the first time. Between 1551 and 1568, in two periods as dean, William Turner established a herb garden, which was recreated between 2003 and 2010.
Elizabeth I gave the chapter and the Vicars Choral a new charter in 1591, creating a new governing body, consisting of a dean and eight residentiary canons with control over the church estates and authority over its affairs, but no longer entitled to elect the dean (that entitlement thenceforward belonged ultimately to the Crown). The stability brought by the new charter ended with the onset of the Civil War and the execution of Charles I. Local fighting damaged the cathedral's stonework, furniture and windows. The dean, Walter Raleigh, a nephew of the explorer Walter Raleigh, was placed under house arrest after the fall of Bridgwater to the Parliamentarians in 1645, first in the rectory at Chedzoy and then in the deanery at Wells. His jailor, the shoe maker and city constable, David Barrett, caught him writing a letter to his wife. When he refused to surrender it, Barrett ran him through with a sword and he died six weeks later, on 10 October 1646. He was buried in an unmarked grave in the choir before the dean's stall. During the Commonwealth of England under Oliver Cromwell no dean was appointed and the cathedral fell into disrepair. The bishop went into retirement and some of the clerics were reduced to performing menial tasks.
In 1661, after Charles II was restored to the throne, Robert Creighton, the king's chaplain in exile, was appointed dean and was bishop for two years before his death in 1672. His brass lectern, given in thanksgiving, can be seen in the cathedral. He donated the nave's great west window at a cost of £140. Following Creighton's appointment as bishop, the post of dean went to Ralph Bathurst, who had been chaplain to the king, president of Trinity College, Oxford and fellow of the Royal Society. During Bathurst's long tenure the cathedral was restored, but in the Monmouth Rebellion of 1685, Puritan soldiers damaged the west front, tore lead from the roof to make bullets, broke the windows, smashed the organ and furnishings, and for a time stabled their horses in the nave.
Restoration began again under Thomas Ken who was appointed by the Crown in 1685 and served until 1691. He was one of seven bishops imprisoned for refusing to sign King James II's "Declaration of Indulgence", which would have enabled Catholics to resume positions of political power, but popular support led to their acquittal. Ken refused to take the oath of allegiance to William III and Mary II because James II had not abdicated and with others, known as the Nonjurors, was put out of office. His successor, Richard Kidder, was killed in the Great Storm of 1703 when two chimney stacks on the palace fell on him and his wife, while they were asleep in bed.
By the middle of the 19th century, a major restoration programme was needed. Under Dean Goodenough, the monuments were moved to the cloisters and the remaining medieval paint and whitewash removed in an operation known as "the great scrape". Anthony Salvin took charge of the extensive restoration of the choir. Wooden galleries installed in the 16th century were removed and the stalls were given stone canopies and placed further back within the line of the arcade. The medieval stone pulpitum screen was extended in the centre to support a new organ.
In 1933 the Friends of Wells Cathedral were formed to support the cathedral's chapter in the maintenance of the fabric, life and work of the cathedral. The late 20th century saw an extensive restoration programme, particularly of the west front. The stained glass is currently under restoration, with a programme underway to conserve the large 14th-century Jesse Tree window at the eastern terminal of the choir.
In January 2014, as part of the Bath film festival, the cathedral hosted a special screening of Martin Scorsese's The Last Temptation of Christ. This provoked some controversy, but the church defended its decision to allow the screening.
In 2021, a contemporary sculpture by Anthony Gormley was unveiled on a temporary plinth outside the cathedral.
Since the 13th century, Wells Cathedral has been the seat of the Bishop of Bath and Wells. Its governing body, the chapter, is made up of five clerical canons (the dean, the precentor, the canon chancellor, the canon treasurer, and the archdeacon of Wells) and four lay members: the administrator (chief executive), Keeper of the Fabric, Overseer of the Estate and the chairman of the cathedral shop and catering boards. The current bishop of Bath and Wells is Peter Hancock, who was installed in a service in the cathedral on 7 June 2014. John Davies has been Dean of Wells since 2016.
Employed staff include the organist and master of choristers, head Verger archivist, librarian and the staff of the shop, café and restaurant. The chapter is advised by specialists such as architects, archaeologists and financial analysts.
More than a thousand services are held every year. There are daily services of Matins, Holy Communion and Choral Evensong, as well as major celebrations of Christian festivals such as Christmas, Easter, Pentecost and saints' days. The cathedral is also used for the baptisms, weddings and funerals of those with close connections to it. In July 2009 the cathedral undertook the funeral of Harry Patch, the last British Army veteran of World War I, who died at the age of 111.
Three Sunday services are led by the resident choir in school terms and choral services are sung on weekdays. The cathedral hosts visiting choirs and does outreach work with local schools as part of its Chorister Outreach Project. It is also a venue for musical events such as an annual concert by the Somerset Chamber Choir.
Each year about 150,000 people attend services and another 300,000 visit as tourists. Entry is free, but visitors are encouraged to make a donation towards the annual running costs of around £1.5 million in 2015.
Construction of the cathedral began in about 1175, to the design of an unknown master-mason. Wells is the first cathedral in England to be built, from its foundation, in Gothic style. According to art historian John Harvey, it is the first truly Gothic cathedral in the world, its architects having entirely dispensed with all features that bound the contemporary east end of Canterbury Cathedral and the earlier buildings of France, such as the east end of the Abbey of Saint Denis, to the Romanesque. Unlike these churches, Wells has clustered piers rather than columns and has a gallery of identical pointed arches rather than the typically Romanesque form of paired openings. The style, with its simple lancet arches without tracery and convoluted mouldings, is known as Early English Gothic.
From about 1192 to 1230, Adam Lock, the earliest master-mason at Wells for whom a name is known, continued the transept and nave in the same manner as his predecessor. Lock was also the builder of the north porch, to his own design.
The Early English west front was commenced around 1230 by Thomas Norreys, with building and sculpture continuing for thirty years. Its south-west tower was begun 100 years later and constructed between 1365 and 1395, and the north-west tower between 1425 and 1435, both in the Perpendicular Gothic style to the design of William Wynford, who also filled many of the cathedral's early English lancet windows with delicate tracery.
The undercroft and chapter house were built by unknown architects between 1275 and 1310, the undercroft in the Early English and the chapter house in the Geometric style of Decorated Gothic architecture. In about 1310 work commenced on the Lady Chapel, to the design of Thomas Witney, who also built the central tower from 1315 to 1322 in the Decorated Gothic style. The tower was later braced internally with arches by William Joy. Concurrent with this work, in 1329–45 Joy made alterations and extensions to the choir, joining it to the Lady Chapel with the retrochoir, the latter in the Flowing Decorated style.
Later changes include the Perpendicular vault of the tower and construction of Sugar's Chapel, 1475–1490 by William Smyth. Also, Gothic Revival renovations were made to the choir and pulpitum by Benjamin Ferrey and Anthony Salvin, 1842–1857.
Wells has a total length of 415 feet (126 m). Like Canterbury, Lincoln and Salisbury cathedrals, it has the distinctly English arrangement of two transepts, with the body of the church divided into distinct parts: nave, choir, and retro-choir, beyond which extends the Lady Chapel. The façade is wide, with its towers extending beyond the transepts on either side. There is a large projecting porch on the north side of the nave forming an entry into the cathedral. To the north-east is the large octagonal chapter house, entered from the north choir aisle by a passage and staircase. To the south of the nave is a large cloister, unusual in that the northern range, that adjacent the cathedral, was never built.
In section, the cathedral has the usual arrangement of a large church: a central nave with an aisle on each side, separated by two arcades. The elevation is in three stages, arcade, triforium gallery and clerestory. The nave is 67 feet (20 m) in height, very low compared to the Gothic cathedrals of France. It has a markedly horizontal emphasis, caused by the triforium having a unique form, a series of identical narrow openings, lacking the usual definition of the bays. The triforium is separated from the arcade by a single horizontal string course that runs unbroken the length of the nave. There are no vertical lines linking the three stages, as the shafts supporting the vault rise above the triforium.
The exterior of Wells Cathedral presents a relatively tidy and harmonious appearance since the greater part of the building was executed in a single style, Early English Gothic. This is uncommon among English cathedrals where the exterior usually exhibits a plethora of styles. At Wells, later changes in the Perpendicular style were universally applied, such as filling the Early English lancet windows with simple tracery, the construction of a parapet that encircles the roof, and the addition of pinnacles framing each gable, similar to those around the chapter house and on the west front. At the eastern end there is a proliferation of tracery with repeated motifs in the Reticulated style, a stage between Geometric and Flowing Decorated tracery.
The west front is 100 feet (30 m) high and 147 feet (45 m) wide, and built of Inferior Oolite of the Middle Jurassic period, which came from the Doulting Stone Quarry, about 8 miles (13 km) to the east. According to the architectural historian Alec Clifton-Taylor, it is "one of the great sights of England".
West fronts in general take three distinct forms: those that follow the elevation of the nave and aisles, those that have paired towers at the end of each aisle, framing the nave, and those that screen the form of the building. The west front at Wells has the paired-tower form, unusual in that the towers do not indicate the location of the aisles, but extend well beyond them, screening the dimensions and profile of the building.
The west front rises in three distinct stages, each clearly defined by a horizontal course. This horizontal emphasis is counteracted by six strongly projecting buttresses defining the cross-sectional divisions of nave, aisles and towers, and are highly decorated, each having canopied niches containing the largest statues on the façade.
At the lowest level of the façade is a plain base, contrasting with and stabilising the ornate arcades that rise above it. The base is penetrated by three doors, which are in stark contrast to the often imposing portals of French Gothic cathedrals. The outer two are of domestic proportion and the central door is ornamented only by a central post, quatrefoil and the fine mouldings of the arch.
Above the basement rise two storeys, ornamented with quatrefoils and niches originally holding about four hundred statues, with three hundred surviving until the mid-20th century. Since then, some have been restored or replaced, including the ruined figure of Christ in the gable.
The third stages of the flanking towers were both built in the Perpendicular style of the late 14th century, to the design of William Wynford; that on the north-west was not begun until about 1425. The design maintains the general proportions, and continues the strong projection of the buttresses.
The finished product has been criticised for its lack of pinnacles, and it is probable that the towers were intended to carry spires which were never built. Despite its lack of spires or pinnacles, the architectural historian Banister Fletcher describes it as "the highest development in English Gothic of this type of façade."
The sculptures on the west front at Wells include standing figures, seated figures, half-length angels and narratives in high relief. Many of the figures are life-sized or larger. Together they constitute the finest display of medieval carving in England. The figures and many of the architectural details were painted in bright colours, and the colouring scheme has been deduced from flakes of paint still adhering to some surfaces. The sculptures occupy nine architectural zones stretching horizontally across the entire west front and around the sides and the eastern returns of the towers which extend beyond the aisles. The strongly projecting buttresses have tiers of niches which contain many of the largest figures. Other large figures, including that of Christ, occupy the gable. A single figure stands in one of two later niches high on the northern tower.
In 1851 the archaeologist Charles Robert Cockerell published his analysis of the iconography, numbering the nine sculptural divisions from the lowest to the highest. He defined the theme as "a calendar for unlearned men" illustrating the doctrines and history of the Christian faith, its introduction to Britain and its protection by princes and bishops. He likens the arrangement and iconography to the Te Deum.
According to Cockerell, the side of the façade that is to the south of the central door is the more sacred and the scheme is divided accordingly. The lowest range of niches each contained a standing figure, of which all but four figures on the west front, two on each side, have been destroyed. More have survived on the northern and eastern sides of the north tower. Cockerell speculates that those to the south of the portal represented prophets and patriarchs of the Old Testament while those to the north represented early missionaries to Britain, of which Augustine of Canterbury, St Birinus, and Benedict Biscop are identifiable by their attributes. In the second zone, above each pair of standing figures, is a quatrefoil containing a half-length angel in relief, some of which have survived. Between the gables of the niches are quatrefoils that contain a series of narratives from the Bible, with the Old Testament stories to the south, above the prophets and patriarchs, and those from the New Testament to the north. A horizontal course runs around the west front dividing the architectural storeys at this point.
Above the course, zones four and five, as identified by Cockerell, contain figures which represent the Christian Church in Britain, with the spiritual lords such as bishops, abbots, abbesses and saintly founders of monasteries on the south, while kings, queens and princes occupy the north. Many of the figures survive and many have been identified in the light of their various attributes. There is a hierarchy of size, with the more significant figures larger and enthroned in their niches rather than standing. Immediately beneath the upper course are a series of small niches containing dynamic sculptures of the dead coming forth from their tombs on the Day of Judgement. Although naked, some of the dead are defined as royalty by their crowns and others as bishops by their mitres. Some emerge from their graves with joy and hope, and others with despair.
The niches in the lowest zone of the gable contain nine angels, of which Cockerell identifies Michael, Gabriel, Raphael and Uriel. In the next zone are the taller figures of the twelve apostles, some, such as John, Andrew and Bartholomew, clearly identifiable by the attributes that they carry. The uppermost niches of the gable contained the figure of Christ the Judge at the centre, with the Virgin Mary on his right and John the Baptist on his left. The figures all suffered from iconoclasm. A new statue of Jesus was carved for the central niche, but the two side niches now contain cherubim. Christ and the Virgin Mary are also represented by now headless figures in a Coronation of the Virgin in a niche above the central portal. A damaged figure of the Virgin and Christ Child occupies a quatrefoil in the spandrel of the door.
The central tower appears to date from the early 13th century. It was substantially reconstructed in the early 14th century during the remodelling of the east end, necessitating the internal bracing of the piers a decade or so later. In the 14th century the tower was given a timber and lead spire which burnt down in 1439. The exterior was then reworked in the Perpendicular style and given the present parapet and pinnacles. Alec Clifton-Taylor describes it as "outstanding even in Somerset, a county famed for the splendour of its church towers".
The north porch is described by art historian Nikolaus Pevsner as "sumptuously decorated", and intended as the main entrance. Externally it is simple and rectangular with plain side walls. The entrance is a steeply arched portal framed by rich mouldings of eight shafts with stiff-leaf capitals each encircled by an annular moulding at middle height. Those on the left are figurative, containing images representing the martyrdom of St Edmund the Martyr. The walls are lined with deep niches framed by narrow shafts with capitals and annulets like those of the portal. The path to the north porch is lined by four sculptures in Purbeck stone, each by Mary Spencer Watson, representing the symbols of the Evangelists.
The cloisters were built in the late 13th century and largely rebuilt from 1430 to 1508 and have wide openings divided by mullions and transoms, and tracery in the Perpendicular Gothic style. The vault has lierne ribs that form octagons at the centre of each compartment, the joints of each rib having decorative bosses. The eastern range is of two storeys, of which the upper is the library built in the 15th century.
Because Wells Cathedral was secular rather than monastic, cloisters were not a practical necessity. They were omitted from several other secular cathedrals but were built here and at Chichester. Explanations for their construction at these two secular cathedrals range from the processional to the aesthetic. As at Chichester, there is no northern range to the cloisters. In monastic cloisters it was the north range, benefiting most from winter sunlight, that was often used as a scriptorium.
In 1969, when a large chunk of stone fell from a statue near the main door, it became apparent that there was an urgent need for restoration of the west front. Detailed studies of the stonework and of conservation practices were undertaken under the cathedral architect, Alban D. R. Caroe and a restoration committee formed. The methods selected were those devised by Eve and Robert Baker. W. A. (Bert) Wheeler, clerk of works to the cathedral 1935–1978, had previously experimented with washing and surface treatment of architectural carvings on the building and his techniques were among those tried on the statues.
The conservation was carried out between 1974 and 1986, wherever possible using non-invasive procedures such as washing with water and a solution of lime, filling gaps and damaged surfaces with soft mortar to prevent the ingress of water and stabilising statues that were fracturing through corrosion of metal dowels. The surfaces were finished by painting with a thin coat of mortar and silane to resist further erosion and attack by pollutants. The restoration of the façade revealed much paint adhering to the statues and their niches, indicating that it had once been brightly coloured.
The particular character of this Early English interior is dependent on the proportions of the simple lancet arches. It is also dependent on the refinement of the architectural details, in particular the mouldings.
The arcade, which takes the same form in the nave, choir and transepts, is distinguished by the richness of both mouldings and carvings. Each pier of the arcade has a surface enrichment of 24 slender shafts in eight groups of three, rising beyond the capitals to form the deeply undulating mouldings of the arches. The capitals themselves are remarkable for the vitality of the stylised foliage, in a style known as "stiff-leaf". The liveliness contrasts with the formality of the moulded shafts and the smooth unbroken areas of ashlar masonry in the spandrels. Each capital is different, and some contain small figures illustrating narratives.
The vault of the nave rises steeply in a simple quadripartite form, in harmony with the nave arcade. The eastern end of the choir was extended and the whole upper part elaborated in the second quarter of the 14th century by William Joy. The vault has a multiplicity of ribs in a net-like form, which is very different from that of the nave, and is perhaps a recreation in stone of a local type of compartmented wooden roof of which examples remain from the 15th century, including those at St Cuthbert's Church, Wells. The vaults of the aisles of the choir also have a unique pattern.
Until the early 14th century, the interior of the cathedral was in a unified style, but it was to undergo two significant changes, to the tower and to the eastern end. Between 1315 and 1322 the central tower was heightened and topped by a spire, which caused the piers that supported it to show signs of stress. In 1338 the mason William Joy employed an unorthodox solution by inserting low arches topped by inverted arches of similar dimensions, forming scissors-like structures. These arches brace the piers of the crossing on three sides, while the easternmost side is braced by a choir screen. The bracing arches are known as "St Andrew's Cross arches", in a reference to the patron saint of the cathedral. They have been described by Wim Swaan – rightly or wrongly – as "brutally massive" and intrusive in an otherwise restrained interior.
Wells Cathedral has a square east end to the choir, as is usual, and like several other cathedrals including Salisbury and Lichfield, has a lower Lady Chapel projecting at the eastern end, begun by Thomas Witney in about 1310, possibly before the chapter house was completed. The Lady Chapel seems to have begun as a free-standing structure in the form of an elongated octagon, but the plan changed and it was linked to the eastern end by extension of the choir and construction of a second transept or retrochoir east of the choir, probably by William Joy.
The Lady Chapel has a vault of complex and somewhat irregular pattern, as the chapel is not symmetrical about both axes. The main ribs are intersected by additional non-supporting, lierne ribs, which in this case form a star-shaped pattern at the apex of the vault. It is one of the earliest lierne vaults in England. There are five large windows, of which four are filled with fragments of medieval glass. The tracery of the windows is in the style known as Reticulated Gothic, having a pattern of a single repeated shape, in this case a trefoil, giving a "reticulate" or net-like appearance.
The retrochoir extends across the east end of the choir and into the east transepts. At its centre the vault is supported by a remarkable structure of angled piers. Two of these are placed as to complete the octagonal shape of the Lady Chapel, a solution described by Francis Bond as "an intuition of Genius". The piers have attached shafts of marble, and, with the vaults that they support, create a vista of great complexity from every angle. The windows of the retrochoir are in the Reticulated style like those of the Lady Chapel, but are fully Flowing Decorated in that the tracery mouldings form ogival curves.
The chapter house was begun in the late 13th century and built in two stages, completed about 1310. It is a two-storeyed structure with the main chamber raised on an undercroft. It is entered from a staircase which divides and turns, one branch leading through the upper storey of Chain Gate to Vicars' Close. The Decorated interior is described by Alec Clifton-Taylor as "architecturally the most beautiful in England". It is octagonal, with its ribbed vault supported on a central column. The column is surrounded by shafts of Purbeck Marble, rising to a single continuous rippling foliate capital of stylised oak leaves and acorns, quite different in character from the Early English stiff-leaf foliage. Above the moulding spring 32 ribs of strong profile, giving an effect generally likened to "a great palm tree". The windows are large with Geometric Decorated tracery that is beginning to show an elongation of form, and ogees in the lesser lights that are characteristic of Flowing Decorated tracery. The tracery lights still contain ancient glass. Beneath the windows are 51 stalls, the canopies of which are enlivened by carvings including many heads carved in a light-hearted manner.
Wells Cathedral contains one of the most substantial collections of medieval stained glass in England, despite damage by Parliamentary troops in 1642 and 1643. The oldest surviving glass dates from the late 13th century and is in two windows on the west side of the chapter-house staircase. Two windows in the south choir aisle are from 1310 to 1320.
The Lady Chapel has five windows, of which four date from 1325 to 1330 and include images of a local saint, Dunstan. The east window was restored to a semblance of its original appearance by Thomas Willement in 1845. The other windows have complete canopies, but the pictorial sections are fragmented.
The east window of the choir is a broad, seven-light window dating from 1340 to 1345. It depicts the Tree of Jesse (the genealogy of Christ) and demonstrates the use of silver staining, a new technique that allowed the artist to paint details on the glass in yellow, as well as black. The combination of yellow and green glass and the application of the bright yellow stain gives the window its popular name, the "Golden Window". It is flanked by two windows each side in the clerestory, with large figures of saints, also dated to 1340–45. In 2010 a major conservation programme was undertaken on the Jesse Tree window.
The panels in the chapel of St Katherine are attributed to Arnold of Nijmegen and date from about 1520. They were acquired from the destroyed church of Saint-Jean, Rouen, with the last panel having been purchased in 1953.
The large triple lancet to the nave west end was glazed at the expense of Dean Creighton at a cost of £140 in 1664. It was repaired in 1813, and the central light was largely replaced to a design by Archibald Keightley Nicholson between 1925 and 1931. The main north and south transept end windows by James Powell and Sons were erected in the early 20th century.
The greater part of the stone carving of Wells Cathedral comprises foliate capitals in the stiff-leaf style. They are found ornamenting the piers of the nave, choir and transepts. Stiff-leaf foliage is highly abstract. Though possibly influenced by carvings of acanthus leaves or vine leaves, it cannot be easily identified with any particular plant. Here the carving of the foliage is varied and vigorous, the springing leaves and deep undercuts casting shadows that contrast with the surface of the piers. In the transepts and towards the crossing in the nave the capitals have many small figurative carvings among the leaves. These include a man with toothache and a series of four scenes depicting the "Wages of Sin" in a narrative of fruit stealers who creep into an orchard and are then beaten by the farmer. Another well-known carving is in the north transept aisle: a foliate corbel, on which climbs a lizard, sometimes identified as a salamander, a symbol of eternal life.
Carvings in the Decorated Gothic style may be found in the eastern end of the buildings, where there are many carved bosses. In the chapter house, the carvings of the 51 stalls include numerous small heads of great variety, many of them smiling or laughing. A well-known figure is the corbel of the dragon-slaying monk in the chapter house stair. The large continuous capital that encircles the central pillar of the chapter house is markedly different in style to the stiff-leaf of the Early English period. In contrast to the bold projections and undercutting of the earlier work, it has a rippling form and is clearly identifiable as grapevine.
The 15th-century cloisters have many small bosses ornamenting the vault. Two in the west cloister, near the gift shop and café, have been called sheela na gigs, i. e. female figures displaying their genitals and variously judged to depict the sin of lust or stem from ancient fertility cults.
Wells Cathedral has one of the finest sets of misericords in Britain. Its clergy has a long tradition of singing or reciting from the Book of Psalms each day, along with the customary daily reading of the Holy Office. In medieval times the clergy assembled in the church eight times daily for the canonical hours. As the greater part of the services was recited while standing, many monastic or collegiate churches fitted stalls whose seats tipped up to provide a ledge for the monk or cleric to lean against. These were "misericords" because their installation was an act of mercy. Misericords typically have a carved figurative bracket beneath the ledge framed by two floral motifs known, in heraldic manner, as "supporters".
The misericords date from 1330 to 1340. They may have been carved under the direction of Master Carpenter John Strode, although his name is not recorded before 1341. He was assisted by Bartholomew Quarter, who is documented from 1343. They originally numbered 90, of which 65 have survived. Sixty-one are installed in the choir, three are displayed in the cathedral, and one is held by the Victoria and Albert Museum. New stalls were ordered when the eastern end of the choir was extended in the early 14th century. The canons complained that they had borne the cost of the rebuilding and ordered the prebendary clerics to pay for their own stalls. When the newly refurbished choir opened in 1339 many misericords were left unfinished, including one-fifth of the surviving 65. Many of the clerics had not paid, having been called to contribute a total sum of £200. The misericords survived better than the other sections of the stalls, which during the Protestant Reformation had their canopies chopped off and galleries inserted above them. One misericord, showing a boy pulling a thorn from his foot, dates from the 17th century. In 1848 came a complete rearrangement of the choir furniture, and 61 of the misericords were reused in the restructured stalls.
The subject matter of the carvings of the central brackets as misericords varies, but many themes recur in different churches. Typically the themes are less unified or directly related to the Bible and Christian theology than small sculptures seen elsewhere within churches, such as bosses. This applies at Wells, where none of the misericord carvings is directly based on a Bible story. The subjects, chosen either by the woodcarver, or perhaps by the one paying for the stall, have no overriding theme. The sole unifying elements are the roundels on each side of the pictorial subject, which all show elaborately carved foliage, in most cases formal and stylised in the later Decorated manner, but with several examples of naturalistic foliage, including roses and bindweed. Many of the subjects carry traditional interpretations. The image of the "Pelican in her Piety" (believed to feed her young on her own blood) is a recognised symbol for Christ's love for the Church. A cat playing with a mouse may represent the Devil snaring a human soul. Other subjects illustrate popular fables or sayings such as "When the fox preaches, look to your geese". Many depict animals, some of which may symbolise a human vice or virtue, or an aspect of faith.
Twenty-seven of the carvings depict animals: rabbits, dogs, a puppy biting a cat, a ewe feeding a lamb, monkeys, lions, bats, and the Early Christian motif of two doves drinking from a ewer. Eighteen have mythological subjects, including mermaids, dragons and wyverns. Five are clearly narrative, such as the Fox and the Geese, and the story of Alexander the Great being raised to Heaven by griffins. There are three heads: a bishop in a mitre, an angel, and a woman wearing a veil over hair arranged in coils over each ear. Eleven carvings show human figures, among which are several of remarkable design, conceived by the artist specifically for their purpose of supporting a shelf. One figure lies beneath the seat, supporting the shelf with a cheek, a hand and a foot. Another sits in a contorted manner supporting the weight on his elbow, while a further figure squats with his knees wide apart and a strained look on his face.
Some of the cathedral's fittings and monuments are hundreds of years old. The brass lectern in the Lady Chapel dates from 1661 and has a moulded stand and foliate crest. In the north transept chapel is a 17th-century oak screen with columns, formerly used in cow stalls, with artisan Ionic capitals and cornice, set forward over the chest tomb of John Godelee. There is a bound oak chest from the 14th century, which was used to store the chapter seal and key documents. The bishop's throne dates from 1340, and has a panelled, canted front and stone doorway, and a deep nodding cusped ogee canopy above it, with three-stepped statue niches and pinnacles. The throne was restored by Anthony Salvin around 1850. Opposite the throne is a 19th-century octagonal pulpit on a coved base with panelled sides, and steps up from the north aisle. The round font in the south transept is from the former Saxon cathedral and has an arcade of round-headed arches, on a round plinth. The font cover was made in 1635 and is decorated with the heads of putti. The Chapel of St Martin is a memorial to every Somerset man who fell in World War I.
The monuments and tombs include Gisa, bishop; † 1088; William of Bitton, bishop; † 1274; William of March, bishop; † 1302; John Droxford; † 1329; John Godelee; † 1333; John Middleton, died †1350; Ralph of Shrewsbury, died †; John Harewell, bishop; † 1386; William Bykonyll; † c. 1448; John Bernard; † 1459; Thomas Beckington; † died 1464; John Gunthorpe; † 1498; John Still; † 1607; Robert Creighton; † 1672; Richard Kidder, bishop; † 1703; George Hooper, bishop; † 1727 and Arthur Harvey, bishop; † 1894.
In the north transept is Wells Cathedral clock, an astronomical clock from about 1325 believed to be by Peter Lightfoot, a monk of Glastonbury. Its mechanism, dated between 1386 and 1392, was replaced in the 19th century and the original moved to the Science Museum in London, where it still operates. It is the second oldest surviving clock in England after the Salisbury Cathedral clock.
The clock has its original medieval face. Apart from the time on a 24-hour dial, it shows the motion of the Sun and Moon, the phases of the Moon, and the time since the last new Moon. The astronomical dial presents a geocentric or pre-Copernican view, with the Sun and Moon revolving round a central fixed Earth, like that of the clock at Ottery St Mary. The quarters are chimed by a quarter jack: a small automaton known as Jack Blandifers, who hits two bells with hammers and two with his heels. At the striking of the clock, jousting knights appear above the clock face.
On the outer wall of the transept, opposite Vicars' Hall, is a second clock face of the same clock, placed there just over seventy years after the interior clock and driven by the same mechanism. The second clock face has two quarter jacks (which strike on the quarter-hour) in the form of knights in armour.
In 2010 the official clock-winder retired and was replaced by an electric mechanism.
The first record of an organ at this church dates from 1310. A smaller organ, probably for the Lady Chapel, was installed in 1415. In 1620 an organ built by Thomas Dallam was installed at a cost of £398 1s 5d.
The 1620 organ was destroyed by parliamentary soldiers in 1643. An organ built in 1662 was enlarged in 1786 and again in 1855. In 1909–1910 an organ was built by Harrison & Harrison of Durham, with the best parts of the old organ retained. It has been serviced by the same company ever since.
Since November 1996 the cathedral has also had a portable chamber organ, by the Scottish makers, Lammermuir. It is used regularly to accompany performances of Tudor and baroque music.
The first recorded organist of Wells was Walter Bagele (or Vageler) in 1416. The post of organist or assistant organist has been held by more than 60 people since. Peter Stanley Lyons was Master of Choristers at Wells Cathedral, and Director of Music at Wells Cathedral School in 1954–1960. The choral conductor James William Webb-Jones, father of Lyons's wife Bridget (whom he married in the cathedral), was Headmaster of Wells Cathedral School in 1955–1960. Malcolm Archer was the appointed Organist and Master of the Choristers from 1996 to 2004. Matthew Owens was the appointed organist from 2005 to 2019.
There has been a choir of boy choristers at Wells since 909. Currently there are 18 boy choristers and a similar number of girl choristers, aged from eight to fourteen. The Vicars Choral was formed in the 12th century and the sung liturgy provided by a traditional cathedral choir of men and boys until the formation of an additional choir of girls in 1994. The boys and girls sing alternately with the Vicars Choral and are educated at Wells Cathedral School.
The Vicars Choral currently number twelve men, of whom three are choral scholars. Since 1348 the College of Vicars had its own accommodation in a quadrangle converted in the early 15th century to form Vicar's Close. The Vicars Choral generally perform with the choristers, except on Wednesdays, when they sing alone, allowing them to present a different repertoire, in particular plainsong.
In December 2010 Wells Cathedral Choir was rated by Gramophone magazine as "the highest ranking choir with children in the world". It continues to provide music for the liturgy at Sunday and weekday services. The choir has made many recordings and toured frequently, including performances in Beijing and Hong Kong in 2012. Its repertoire ranges from the choral music of the Renaissance to recently commissioned works.
The Wells Cathedral Chamber Choir is a mixed adult choir of 25 members, formed in 1986 to sing at the midnight service on Christmas Eve, and invited to sing at several other special services. It now sings for about 30 services a year, when the Cathedral Choir is in recess or on tour, and spends one week a year singing as the "choir in residence" at another cathedral. Although primarily liturgical, the choir's repertoire includes other forms of music, as well as performances at engagements such as weddings and funerals.
The cathedral is home to Wells Cathedral Oratorio Society (WCOS), founded in 1896. With around 160 voices, the society gives three concerts a year under the direction of Matthew Owens, Organist and Master of the Choristers at the cathedral. Concerts are normally in early November, December (an annual performance of Handel's Messiah) and late March. It performs with a number of specialist orchestras including: Music for Awhile, Chameleon Arts and La Folia.
The bells at Wells Cathedral are the heaviest ring of ten bells in the world, the tenor bell (the 10th and largest), known as Harewell, weighing 56.25 long hundredweight (2,858 kg). They are hung for full-circle ringing in the English style of change ringing. These bells are now hung in the south-west tower, although some were originally hung in the central tower.
The library above the eastern cloister was built between 1430 and 1508. Its collection is in three parts: early documents housed in the Muniment Room; the collection predating 1800 housed in the Chained Library; and the post-1800 collection housed in the Reading Room. The chapter's earlier collection was destroyed during the Reformation, so that the present library consists chiefly of early printed books, rather than medieval manuscripts. The earlier books in the Chained Library number 2,800 volumes and give an indication of the variety of interests of the members of the cathedral chapter from the Reformation until 1800. The focus of the collection is predominantly theology, but there are volumes on science, medicine, exploration, and languages. Books of particular interest include Pliny's Natural History printed in 1472, an Atlas of the World by Abraham Ortelius, printed in 1606, and a set of the works by Aristotle that once belonged to Erasmus. The library is open to the public at appointed times in the summer and presents a small exhibition of documents and books.
Three early registers of the Dean and Chapter edited by W. H. B. Bird for the Historical Manuscripts Commissioners – Liber Albus I (White Book; R I), Liber Albus II (R III) and Liber Ruber (Red Book; R II, section i) – were published in 1907. They contain with some repetition, a cartulary of possessions of the cathedral, with grants of land back to the 8th century, well before hereditary surnames developed in England, and acts of the Dean and Chapter and surveys of their estates, mostly in Somerset.
Adjacent to the cathedral is a large lawned area, Cathedral Green, with three ancient gateways: Brown's Gatehouse, Penniless Porch and Chain Gate. On the green is the 12th-century Old Deanery, largely rebuilt in the late 15th century by Dean Gunthorpe and remodelled by Dean Bathurst in the late 17th century. No longer the dean's residence, it is used as diocesan offices.
To the south of the cathedral is the moated Bishop's Palace, begun about 1210 by Jocelin of Wells but dating mostly from the 1230s. In the 15th century Thomas Beckington added a north wing, now the bishop's residence. It was restored and extended by Benjamin Ferrey between 1846 and 1854.
To the north of the cathedral and connected to it by the Chain Gate is Vicars' Close, a street planned in the 14th century and claimed to be the oldest purely residential street in Europe, with all but one of its original buildings intact. Buildings in the close include the Vicars Hall and gateway at the south end, and the Vicars Chapel and Library at the north end.
The Liberty of St Andrew was the historic liberty and parish that encompassed the cathedral and surrounding lands closely associated with it.
The English painter J. M. W. Turner visited Wells in 1795, making sketches of the precinct and a water colour of the west front, now in the Tate gallery. Other artists whose paintings of the cathedral are in national collections are Albert Goodwin, John Syer and Ken Howard.
The cathedral served to inspire Ken Follett's 1989 novel The Pillars of the Earth and with a modified central tower, featured as the fictional Kingsbridge Cathedral at the end of the 2010 television adaptation of that novel. The interior of the cathedral was used for a 2007 Doctor Who episode, "The Lazarus Experiment", while the exterior shots were filmed at Southwark Cathedral.
An account of the damage to the cathedral during the Monmouth Rebellion is included in Arthur Conan Doyle's 1889 historical novel Micah Clarke.
The cathedral provided scenes for the 2019–2020 television series The Spanish Princess.
Jewelry is from Opera on the 5th Aurelia. This may be her last appearance in my collection. I decided to sell her after there was a new Vanessa in town.
A big success by any standard both in and out of competition, the Lancia Stratos was developed as a homologation Special for European rallying. After production ceased it became a cult car and is now highly priced as the ‘modern classis' it is. Conceived strictly for rallying, the Lancia Stratos however makes an exciting road car, though it is very far from GT standards in both luxury and refinement.
The concept vehicle responsible for providing the inspiration for the Lancia Stratos Rally car is the Lancia (Bertone) Stratos. The Stratos featured a 1584 cc V4 DOHC with 115 bhp horsepower at 200 rpm. Designed by Marcello Gandini, the same designer responsible for the Lamborghini Countach and Lamborghini Miura, the Stratos concept was a development of the Bertone designed Alfa Romeo Carabo concept from 1968. The Carabo concept was also a Gandini creation.
First revealed at the Turin Motor Show in October of 1970, the Lancia Stratos HF prototype was a styling exercise for Bertone. A futuristic design, the Stratos featured a wedge shaped profile that stood just 33 inches from the ground. Since the vehicle was so low, conventional doors could not be used and instead one accessed the interior of the Stratos by a hinged windscreen. Drivers had to flip up the windscreen and walk into the vehicle. Once inside, visibility was quite restricted since the front windscreen was narrow. The cockpit of the Lancia Stratos was designed specifically for fast forest flying.
The body design was predictably minimal to hold down weight and bulk with its most distinctive features being semi-concealed A-pillars and a door beltline that sharply upswept to the top of the daylight opening. The shape of the resulting unbroken expanse of glass gave the tunnelback roof the appearance of a futuristic crash helmet.
The main body structure was steel, like the chassis, and weight-saving fiberglass was used for tilt-up nose and tail sections. A small box above and behind the powertrain was where cargo space was held. Bins were also molded into the interior door panels for storing helmets.
The same engine utilized on the Lancia 1600 HF Fulvia was used on the Bertone designed Lancia Stratos Zero prototype. A triangular shaped panel hinged upwards to allow access to the mid-mounted engine. Developed for rallying purposes, the legendary Lancia Stratos was unveiled in 1974. The production vehicle Stratos was powered by a 2.4 liter mid-mounted V6 from the Ferrari Dino.
Like no other Lancia before or after, the Lancia Stratos was a shock that left enthusiasts and rally fans breathless. For almost a decade the Stratos streaked across the rally landscape much like a brilliant comet, while discarding past principles, it also fearlessly represented something undeniably new. A phenomenal rally car, the Lancia Stratos set an example to every other car manufacturer in the world. The first viable purpose-built rally car ever built, the Stratos was probably the last purpose-built rally car.
Created by the Bertone coachbuilding company, the Stratos was both radical, yet fully functional. Fiorio realized that for Lancia to continue to compete in the World Rally Championship, the Fulvia HF would need a much more powerful replacement. A the time, four-wheel drive was not an option, so a mid-engined configuration seemed ideal. To reinforce Fiori's convictions, the Bertone show car was featured soon after with a mid-engine Fulvia V4.
The introduction of the Ford mid-engine purpose-built GT70 rally car at the 1971Brussels Motor Show was what truly inspired the impetus behind the Stratos proect. It was after this appearance that Lancia's general manager, Pierugo Gobbato contacted Nuccio Bertone. Though the GT70 was actually never put in production by Ford, it was this that sparked the inspiration of the Lancia Stratos.
As always, there was a minimum production requirement, 500 units for the Lancia Stratos. This was an awkward figure that would necessitate funds for at least semi-permanent tooling as well as design and development. This was a job well suited to the Italian industry. Fiorio masterminded the project, and he envisioned a short, wide coupe with transverse midships drivetrain. Bertone was immediately contracted to style the vehicle and built its unit body/chassis structure.
43 months passed in between the time of conception to the actual birth of the Lancia Stratos. The vehicle was developed to take over and make Lancia the outright world rally champ. The Stratos was both short and wide, with a wheelbase of only 7 feet 1.8 inches, the width of the vehicle was only 5 feet 8.9 inches. Weighing only 1958 lbs, the Stratos was only 3 feet 7.9 inches high. Able to easily exceed 140 mph, the Stratos featured 190 horsepower in roadgoing trim.
Having studied every possible powerteam in the Fiat/Lancia group, Fiorio secured 2.4 liter V-6s and 5-speed transaxles from Ferrari, which was an ideal chouse as they'd be installed exactly as the Dino 246. All-independent suspension, rack-and-pinion steering and four-wheel disc brakes were all specifically designed for the Lancia Stratos.
After 1978 the Stratos was officially retired and no longer was officially entered by the Lancia factory, the vehicle was still going strong. The Lancia team was headed by by Sandro Munari who won its first event as a homologated entry in October of 1974. Mun ari entered alone 40 events with the Lancia Stratos and won 14. The Stratos also won the World Rally Championship in 1974, 1975, and 1976 and remained competitive for another four years. The final major win came in 1979 when a Lancia Stratos entered by the Monaco importer won the famed Monte Carlo Rally. Finally the factory retired the Stratos.
By Jessica Donaldson
[Text from ConceptCarz.com]
www.conceptcarz.com/z21737/Lancia-Stratos-HF.aspx
This Lego miniland-scale Lancia Stratos Rally Racer has been created for Flickr LUGNuts' 100th Build Challenge - our Centenary, titled 'One Hundred Ways to Win!'. In this challenge, a list of 100 challenges is available, kept by the admins. Individuals wishing to enter, request a number from 1-100 (so long as it has not already been requested) - and the admins assign the individual build challenge associated with that number.
In the case of admins entering models - they request that a general LUGNuts member assigns a number - and the admin must build to that challenge number.
In this case, the number 78 was chosen for me, corresponding to the challenge: '78.Any vehicle from the year you were born'. I was born in 1972, the year that the first Stratos rally cars were built, entering in the Rally Championship as Group 5 (un-homologated) entries.
The road cars required to homologate for Group 4 were built through 1973 to 1978.
Chassis n° ZFFCZ56B000125952
Bonhams : the Zoute Sale
Estimated : € 1.300.000 - 1.600.000
Sold for € 1.506.500
Zoute Grand Prix 2019
Knokke - Zoute
België - Belgium
October 2019
"In 1999 we won the manufacturers' championship; in 2000 we added the drivers' championship for the first time in 21 years. We won the last championship of the 20th Century, and the first of the 21st Century. I wanted to celebrate this with a car very much like a Formula 1. After honouring Modena and Maranello, we felt this was the right car to honour the name of our founder." – Luca di Montezemolo, President of Ferrari.
Fortuitously, the Enzo's announcement in mid-summer 2002 coincided with Michael Schumacher clinching that year's Formula 1 drivers' championship for Ferrari, his third in a row for the Italian manufacturer. Indeed, the German superstar had been instrumental in the Enzo's development, contributing much valuable input to the refinement of its driving manners.
Formula 1-derived technology abounded in the Enzo. Its electro-hydraulic six-speed manual transmission had already been seen in other Ferraris and was further refined, changing ratios in a lightning-fast 150 milliseconds, while the steering wheel with its plethora of buttons, lights and switches was guaranteed to make any F1 driver feel at home. Carbon brake discs had been standard F1 equipment for many years, but the Enzo's carbon-ceramic rotors represented a 'first' for a production road car. Double wishbone suspension, or variations thereof, is to be found on virtually every modern supercar, but the Enzo's incorporated pushrod-operated shock absorbers all round, just like a racing car's. In one important respect Ferrari's new sports car was superior to its F1 cousin, incorporating Skyhook adaptive suspension, a type of technology banned from the racetrack since the late 1990s. Constructed entirely from carbon fibre and Kevlar, the monocoque chassis tub was immensely stiff, a necessary requirement of the adaptive suspension.
It may not look like a Formula 1 car but the Enzo benefited from aerodynamic developments made in motor sport's premier category, enabling it to dispense with the rear wing of its F40 and F50 predecessors, employing a state-of-the-art under-body diffuser instead. Harking back to another landmark Ferrari - a Group 5 sports-racer this time - the doors opened upwards and forwards, just like those of the Tipo 512 of 1970. Although not as stark as that of an out-and-out competition car, the Enzo's interior was more functional than that of previous Ferrari road cars, boasting a mix of red leather trim and carbon-fibre panelling. There was not even a stereo system, the (optional) air conditioning being just about the only concession to creature comforts.
The heart of any car though, and especially of a Ferrari, is its engine; that of the Enzo being a 60-degree V12, a configuration long associated with the Italian marque and so the natural choice for a model bearing the name of the company's founder. Deploying four valves per cylinder, variable valve timing, and variable length intake trumpets (the latter another Formula 1 spin-off) this 6.0-litre unit produced a mighty 660bhp, 33 horsepower more than its BMW-powered McLaren F1 rival.
Unleashing all this power in a straight line produced acceleration figures of 0-100 km/h (62 mph) in a little over 3.5 seconds, with 200 km/h (124 mph) achievable in 9.5 seconds. Yet applying the brakes hard enough could bring the Enzo back to a standstill in only an additional 5.7 seconds - impressive stuff. The top speed? A little over 350 km/h (218 mph). Hitherto, Ferrari had shied away from providing 'driver aids' on this type of car but perhaps not surprisingly given this level of performance, opted to fit traction control, anti-lock brakes, and power-assisted steering to the Enzo.
A mere 349 examples of this 'legend in the making' were scheduled for production at a price of around $ 650,000 (approximately £ 450,000) apiece, making it the most expensive Ferrari ever made. As it happened, Ferrari ended up making 400 and, needless to say, had no trouble whatsoever in selling them all, one going to His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI.
Testing an Enzo at Ferrari's Fiorano track soon after its announcement in 2002, Car magazine's Mark Walton enthused: "On the move, the Enzo is something else. It sounds absolutely unbelievable – so loud and crisp I can imagine farmers three miles outside Maranello looking up from their fields. It doesn't scream like an F1 car; it howls and bellows like a big-capacity Group C racer..." and that was before he had even sat in the car. Once out on the track, it did not disappoint: "The Enzo lunges forwards so violently that it feels like it could cause brain damage – a big, muscular punch that makes your stomach lurch and your head reel with blood loss.
"As if that crushing power wasn't enough, the steering is unbelievably light, yet still pointy and full of feel. It feels so willing, so utterly in your control as you turn in..." Clearly, the next owner of the pristine example offered here has much to look forward to.
This fine example of Ferrari's legendary supercar was delivered new from the factory via Charles Pozzi SA to Andorra where it was sold new to the current vendor. The car has covered a mere 26,707 kilometres from delivery and is described by the owner as in excellent condition in every respect. Services have always been performed by a Ferrari dealership, with attention to the smallest detail, replacing parts that showed even the slightest wear. Recently the 4 tires have been changed. The car comes complete with its original luggage, two sets of keys, all of its original paperwork and books, an Andorra registration document, and Ferrari concessionaire service history. The most recent invoice (dated 29th July 2019) from Ferrari Barcelona is for a major service costing € 8,321.
As is so often the case with limited edition 'instant classics', Ferraris in particular, values have continued to rise since the Enzo's introduction and show no signs of slowing down. An opportunity not to be missed.
Land Rover and renowned Magnum photographer Jonas Bendiksen have revealed the first in a series of unique works entitled ‘Ultimate Vistas’, extraordinary landscape photographs captured with help from the world’s ultimate SUV: the Range Rover.
n° 57 of 100
Chassis n° ZA9H12EAYYSF76077
Bonhams
Les Grandes Marques du Monde à Paris
The Grand Palais Éphémère
Place Joffre
Parijs - Paris
Frankrijk - France
February 2023
Estimated : € 2.300.000 - 2.700.000
Unsold
"It's a car with its own personality – or rather its own split personality. Beyond refinement and ease of use is a demon with one eye open waiting for its turn, a car that is scintillatingly fast and hugely demanding, a car that can thrill and terrify in equal measure, a supercar in every sense of the word." – evo.
One of the more fascinating aspects of the modern motoring scene is the recent emergence of the small independent supercar manufacturer, many of which have gone from relative obscurity to the status of household names in just a few short years, usually on the back of a product range offering hitherto almost unimaginable levels of performance. Whereas at one time established manufacturers such as Ferrari, Lamborghini, Porsche, Mercedes-Benz, and Aston Martin only had one another to worry about, they now have to contend with the likes of Koenigsegg, De Tomaso and, of course, Pagani.
Succeeding the Zonda, Pagani's latest offering is the Huayra, a mid-engined coupé hailed by Top Gear magazine as 'Hypercar of the Year 2012'. Horacio Pagani was no newcomer to the world of automotive engineering when he built the first Zonda in 1999, for the Argentine-born industrial design graduate had been working with Lamborghini since the mid-1980s, developing the Countach and Diablo road cars and assisting with the Italian manufacturer's Formula 1 engine programme. The Zonda C12 debuted in coupé form at the 1999 Geneva Motor Show, its maker freely acknowledging that its styling had been inspired by the Mercedes-Benz Group C 'Silver Arrow' sports-racers. Mercedes-Benz's influence was more than just skin deep, for the German firm's AMG performance division was responsible for the Zonda's 6.0-litre V12 engine, which was mounted longitudinally amidships in the predominantly carbon fibre body tub. With some 408 horsepower on tap, the C12 was always going to be quick, but performance figures of 0-60mph in 4.2 seconds and 0-100 in 8.2 were simply staggering plus, of course, that all important 200mph (or thereabouts) top speed.
Seemingly small from the outside yet endowed with a comfortable cabin, the C12 provided the basis for a host of derivatives, which emerged from Pagani's factory at San Cesario sul Panaro near Modena (where else?) in strictly limited numbers over the next 11 years.
Its successor, the Huayra - named after a wind god of the South American Quechua people - made its public debut at the Geneva Motor Show in March 2011. Once again, AMG provided the engine, on this occasion a twin-turbocharged 6.0-litre V12 producing a mighty 620bhp and a titanic 737lb/ft of torque. A mind-boggling top speed of around 238mph (383km/h) was claimed for the Huayra, with the 0-60mph dash accomplished in a neck-snapping 2.8 seconds. Power reaches the road via a transversely-mounted Xtrac seven-speed sequential semi-automatic transmission, while the stupendous performance is kept in check by Brembo carbon ceramic disc brakes featuring four-pot callipers all round. It is worthwhile noting the Horacio Pagani chose to stick with a conventional single clutch rather than the more complex and heavier twin-clutch technology favoured by some rivals, reasoning that the considerable saving in weight would result in a better balanced car.
The most significant difference between the Huayra and its Zonda predecessor is the former's use of active aerodynamic aids. These consist of variable front ride height and moveable spoilers at front and rear, their deployment being managed by a dedicated control unit to minimise drag or maximise downforce as required. Under hard braking, the rear spoiler flaps function as an air brake, the front ride height being increased at the same time to counteract weight transfer to the front wheels and thus maintain stability. Cleverly, this system is also used to limit body roll when cornering by raising the 'inside' flaps to generate increased down force on that side only. As had been the case with the Zonda, an open roadster and various limited edition variants followed.
Testing a Huayra in 2013, evo magazine found that even before the ignition key had been turned, the experience of just sitting in the cockpit was almost overwhelming. 'Inside a leather, carbonfibre and aluminium cocoon of obsession, every detail agonised over and beautifully thought out, every material used sympathetically and expertly integrated into this stunning sculpture. The driving position is superb.' Needless to say, the driving experience did not disappoint: 'the engine is just phenomenally powerful and when it's delivering the full 737lb/ft of torque, it scrambles your brain. This is the sort of performance that doesn't dull even with prolonged exposure'.
Pagani's agreement with AMG limited the supply of engines to 100 units, restricting production to only 100 cars, thus guaranteeing the Huayra's instant exclusivity and future collectible status.
Number '57' of the 100 Huayra Roadsters built, this car was delivered new to Denmark and registered in July 2020. The car had been ordered and specified by a Danish car collector, who took delivery but never drove it. He then sold the car to another Danish collector, in whose hands it has covered fewer than 800 kilometres.
Chassis n° ZFFCW56A130134594
Estimated : CHF 1.800.000 - 2.000.000
Sold for CHF 3.105.000 - € 2.833.804
The Bonmont Sale
Collectors' Motor Cars - Bonhams
Golf & Country Club de Bonmont
Chéserex
Switzerland - Suisse - Schweiz
September 2019
"In 1999 we won the manufacturers' championship; in 2000 we added the drivers' championship for the first time in 21 years. We won the last championship of the 20th Century, and the first of the 21st Century. I wanted to celebrate this with a car very much like a Formula 1. After honouring Modena and Maranello, we felt this was the right car to honour the name of our founder." – Luca di Montezemolo, President of Ferrari.
Fortuitously, the Enzo's announcement in mid-summer 2002 coincided with Michael Schumacher clinching that year's Formula 1 drivers' championship for Ferrari, his third in a row for the Italian manufacturer. Indeed, the German superstar had been instrumental in the Enzo's development, contributing much valuable input to the refinement of its driving manners.
Formula 1-derived technology abounded in the Enzo. Its electro-hydraulic six-speed manual transmission had already been seen in other Ferraris and was further refined, changing ratios in a lightning-fast 150 milliseconds, while the steering wheel with its plethora of buttons, lights and switches was guaranteed to make any F1 driver feel at home. Carbon brake discs had been standard F1 equipment for many years, but the Enzo's carbon-ceramic rotors represented a 'first' for a production road car. Double wishbone suspension, or variations thereof, is to be found on virtually every modern supercar, but the Enzo's incorporated pushrod-operated shock absorbers all round, just like a racing car's. In one important respect Ferrari's new sports car was superior to its F1 cousin, incorporating Skyhook adaptive suspension, a type of technology banned from the racetrack since the late 1990s. Constructed entirely from carbon fibre and Kevlar, the monocoque chassis tub was immensely stiff, a necessary requirement of the adaptive suspension.
It may not look like a Formula 1 car but the Enzo benefited from aerodynamic developments made in motor sport's premier category, enabling it to dispense with the rear wing of its F40 and F50 predecessors, employing a state-of-the-art under-body diffuser instead. Harking back to another landmark Ferrari - a Group 5 sports-racer this time - the doors opened upwards and forwards, just like those of the Tipo 512 of 1970. Although not as stark as that of an out-and-out competition car, the Enzo's interior was more functional than that of previous Ferrari road cars, boasting a mix of red leather trim and carbon-fibre panelling. There was not even a stereo system, the (optional) air conditioning being just about the only concession to creature comforts.
The heart of any car though, and especially of a Ferrari, is its engine; that of the Enzo being a 60-degree V12, a configuration long associated with the Italian marque and so the natural choice for a model bearing the name of the company's founder. Deploying four valves per cylinder, variable valve timing, and variable length intake trumpets (the latter another Formula 1 spin-off) this 6.0-litre unit produced a mighty 660bhp, 33 horsepower more than its BMW-powered McLaren F1 rival.
Unleashing all this power in a straight line produced acceleration figures of 0-100km/h (62mph) in a little over 3.5 seconds, with 200km/h (124mph) achievable in 9.5 seconds. Yet applying the brakes hard enough could bring the Enzo back to a standstill in only an additional 5.7 seconds - impressive stuff. The top speed? A little over 350km/h (218mph). Hitherto, Ferrari had shied away from providing 'driver aids' on this type of car but perhaps not surprisingly given this level of performance, opted to fit traction control, anti-lock brakes, and power-assisted steering to the Enzo.
A mere 349 examples of this 'legend in the making' were scheduled for production at a price of around $650,000 (approximately £450,000) apiece, making it the most expensive Ferrari ever made. As it happened, Ferrari ended up making 400 and, needless to say, had no trouble whatsoever in selling them all, one going to His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI.
Testing an Enzo at Ferrari's Fiorano track soon after its announcement in 2002, Car magazine's Mark Walton enthused: "On the move, the Enzo is something else. It sounds absolutely unbelievable – so loud and crisp I can imagine farmers three miles outside Maranello looking up from their fields. It doesn't scream like an F1 car; it howls and bellows like a big-capacity Group C racer..." and that was before he had even sat in the car. Once out on the track, it did not disappoint: "The Enzo lunges forwards so violently that it feels like it could cause brain damage – a big, muscular punch that makes your stomach lurch and your head reel with blood loss.
"As if that crushing power wasn't enough, the steering is unbelievably light, yet still pointy and full of feel. It feels so willing, so utterly in your control as you turn in..." Clearly, the next owner of the pristine example offered here has much to look forward to.
Built for the Canadian market and completed on 10th October 2003, the car offered here is the penultimate Enzo of the 400 cars produced. Finished in yellow with black interior, it has covered a mere 21km from new and in May 2016 was extensively serviced by Modena Cars, Geneva, whose detailed invoice for CHF 79,317 is on file. A detailed specification listing supplied by Ferrari is on file and the car also comes with Equatorial Guinea registration papers and technical inspection. This wonderful Enzo is presented in very good condition throughout; indeed, it is one of the nicest of its kind we have seen.
As is so often the case with limited edition 'instant classics', Ferraris in particular, values have continued to rise since the Enzo's introduction and show no signs of slowing down. An opportunity not to be missed.
A big success by any standard both in and out of competition, the Lancia Stratos was developed as a homologation Special for European rallying. After production ceased it became a cult car and is now highly priced as the ‘modern classis' it is. Conceived strictly for rallying, the Lancia Stratos however makes an exciting road car, though it is very far from GT standards in both luxury and refinement.
The concept vehicle responsible for providing the inspiration for the Lancia Stratos Rally car is the Lancia (Bertone) Stratos. The Stratos featured a 1584 cc V4 DOHC with 115 bhp horsepower at 200 rpm. Designed by Marcello Gandini, the same designer responsible for the Lamborghini Countach and Lamborghini Miura, the Stratos concept was a development of the Bertone designed Alfa Romeo Carabo concept from 1968. The Carabo concept was also a Gandini creation.
First revealed at the Turin Motor Show in October of 1970, the Lancia Stratos HF prototype was a styling exercise for Bertone. A futuristic design, the Stratos featured a wedge shaped profile that stood just 33 inches from the ground. Since the vehicle was so low, conventional doors could not be used and instead one accessed the interior of the Stratos by a hinged windscreen. Drivers had to flip up the windscreen and walk into the vehicle. Once inside, visibility was quite restricted since the front windscreen was narrow. The cockpit of the Lancia Stratos was designed specifically for fast forest flying.
The body design was predictably minimal to hold down weight and bulk with its most distinctive features being semi-concealed A-pillars and a door beltline that sharply upswept to the top of the daylight opening. The shape of the resulting unbroken expanse of glass gave the tunnelback roof the appearance of a futuristic crash helmet.
The main body structure was steel, like the chassis, and weight-saving fiberglass was used for tilt-up nose and tail sections. A small box above and behind the powertrain was where cargo space was held. Bins were also molded into the interior door panels for storing helmets.
The same engine utilized on the Lancia 1600 HF Fulvia was used on the Bertone designed Lancia Stratos Zero prototype. A triangular shaped panel hinged upwards to allow access to the mid-mounted engine. Developed for rallying purposes, the legendary Lancia Stratos was unveiled in 1974. The production vehicle Stratos was powered by a 2.4 liter mid-mounted V6 from the Ferrari Dino.
Like no other Lancia before or after, the Lancia Stratos was a shock that left enthusiasts and rally fans breathless. For almost a decade the Stratos streaked across the rally landscape much like a brilliant comet, while discarding past principles, it also fearlessly represented something undeniably new. A phenomenal rally car, the Lancia Stratos set an example to every other car manufacturer in the world. The first viable purpose-built rally car ever built, the Stratos was probably the last purpose-built rally car.
Created by the Bertone coachbuilding company, the Stratos was both radical, yet fully functional. Fiorio realized that for Lancia to continue to compete in the World Rally Championship, the Fulvia HF would need a much more powerful replacement. A the time, four-wheel drive was not an option, so a mid-engined configuration seemed ideal. To reinforce Fiori's convictions, the Bertone show car was featured soon after with a mid-engine Fulvia V4.
The introduction of the Ford mid-engine purpose-built GT70 rally car at the 1971Brussels Motor Show was what truly inspired the impetus behind the Stratos proect. It was after this appearance that Lancia's general manager, Pierugo Gobbato contacted Nuccio Bertone. Though the GT70 was actually never put in production by Ford, it was this that sparked the inspiration of the Lancia Stratos.
As always, there was a minimum production requirement, 500 units for the Lancia Stratos. This was an awkward figure that would necessitate funds for at least semi-permanent tooling as well as design and development. This was a job well suited to the Italian industry. Fiorio masterminded the project, and he envisioned a short, wide coupe with transverse midships drivetrain. Bertone was immediately contracted to style the vehicle and built its unit body/chassis structure.
43 months passed in between the time of conception to the actual birth of the Lancia Stratos. The vehicle was developed to take over and make Lancia the outright world rally champ. The Stratos was both short and wide, with a wheelbase of only 7 feet 1.8 inches, the width of the vehicle was only 5 feet 8.9 inches. Weighing only 1958 lbs, the Stratos was only 3 feet 7.9 inches high. Able to easily exceed 140 mph, the Stratos featured 190 horsepower in roadgoing trim.
Having studied every possible powerteam in the Fiat/Lancia group, Fiorio secured 2.4 liter V-6s and 5-speed transaxles from Ferrari, which was an ideal chouse as they'd be installed exactly as the Dino 246. All-independent suspension, rack-and-pinion steering and four-wheel disc brakes were all specifically designed for the Lancia Stratos.
After 1978 the Stratos was officially retired and no longer was officially entered by the Lancia factory, the vehicle was still going strong. The Lancia team was headed by by Sandro Munari who won its first event as a homologated entry in October of 1974. Mun ari entered alone 40 events with the Lancia Stratos and won 14. The Stratos also won the World Rally Championship in 1974, 1975, and 1976 and remained competitive for another four years. The final major win came in 1979 when a Lancia Stratos entered by the Monaco importer won the famed Monte Carlo Rally. Finally the factory retired the Stratos.
By Jessica Donaldson
[Text from ConceptCarz.com]
www.conceptcarz.com/z21737/Lancia-Stratos-HF.aspx
This Lego miniland-scale Lancia Stratos Rally Racer has been created for Flickr LUGNuts' 100th Build Challenge - our Centenary, titled 'One Hundred Ways to Win!'. In this challenge, a list of 100 challenges is available, kept by the admins. Individuals wishing to enter, request a number from 1-100 (so long as it has not already been requested) - and the admins assign the individual build challenge associated with that number.
In the case of admins entering models - they request that a general LUGNuts member assigns a number - and the admin must build to that challenge number.
In this case, the number 78 was chosen for me, corresponding to the challenge: '78.Any vehicle from the year you were born'. I was born in 1972, the year that the first Stratos rally cars were built, entering in the Rally Championship as Group 5 (un-homologated) entries.
The road cars required to homologate for Group 4 were built through 1973 to 1978.
As can be seen in some of the images here, not only does the car open and close (a real challenge when you look at the chassis), but it also uses the Lego Group RC Rollerskate - so it can zoom around under its own power.
The World's End beater.
An alder wood reproduction of a beater from 5,530-5,340 ybp. Attaining fibres from flax or bramble, opening chestnut outer casing and pounding tanning leather are all potential uses for this beater made from a softish wood that indicates that its purpose was not intense hammering. The original was found in pieces as the Thames passes Chelsea, with 'World's End' a Chelsea name that may bounce off the Piccadilly Circus 'centre of the world' myth. The original alder beater - now black with time, has a coherent and smooth beating surface, and the 'Flintstone' aspect afforded to this replica may be to entertain the public with an amusing lack of refinement. Displaying the beater next to the idol also makes the viewer look for anthropomorphic elements within a loose reproduction... Might that be a tall neck..? Faint hollow eyes..? A basic body..? Suffice to say the original beater is not at all anthropomorphic and the confusion from the display is simply detrimental to the Dagenham idol which remains rare, early and intriguing in its own right.
The Dagenham idol
From 4,250 ybp, so late neolithic to early bronze age. It is made from Scots pine and stands 46cm high. The idol was found down river from central London in marshland associated with the Thames - just before the river passes the City of London airport. These two reproductions are on display together in a cabinet of the Museum of London, and the original Dagenham Idol is now associated with a castle 80km away to the NE, and moves to keep it local to the discovery spot need to be thought through very seriously. A tight museum of folk and prehistorical anthropomorphs linked to central London via boat trips? The castle museum of Colechester (the idol's current location) has a historical dialogue that is steeped in issues of invasion, with Norman walls overlooking the Temple of Claudius. Just how a rare neolithic anthromorph can gain measure in just such an environment without falling into an invisible mire of invasion/degeneracy fiction traps is difficult to assess. The neolithic is thousands of years before the late bronze and iron ages so unspoken comparison is crass. Finds of this type and date are exceedingly rare on an international scale and need to be viewed from their context.
The asymetrical eye sizes may be due to a folk inattention to detail or, a splinter in one side of the original which was then poorly copied in the reproduction; or an attempt to depict a facial expression. There is a folk tradition that is well known in many of today's countries: 'the evil eye', or 'mauvais œil'. In this popular superstition, some individuals have the power to impart bad luck or other specific events via a particular 'look'. I once translated a recounted story from the Occitane language of an old lady who cast an evil eye that stopped a cow from wanting to enter a field, so the effects can be quite day to day.
People 'read' other people by looking at faces and at their eyes. We watch out for reliable and trustworthy faces. We try to read for fakes. This process may have been even more important prior to writing. A wary soul looks through an opening, a thief looks for an opening... difficult to distinguish between the two, and an easy blur for folk idiom to exploit. Might the Dagenham idol represent a figure offering an evil eye in the face of a ritual narrative? An evil eye by proxi or by second degree?
The idol has no arms. If it is male, then it is also missing a phallus and one might presume that these were added to the wooden frame, perhaps with tissue off-cuts and leather off-cuts and a shaped wooden peg. Arguments that the idol is of a female seem less sure as the female sex is not circular. Arguments put forward in modern texts that the Dagenham idol depicts a shamen switching sexes between male and female seem a little abracadabraesque.
AJM 12.5.19