+++ 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:

During the 1950s, Hindustan Aircraft Limited (HAL) had developed and produced several types of trainer aircraft, such as the HAL HT-2. However, elements within the firm were eager to expand into the then-new realm of supersonic fighter aircraft. Around the same time, the Indian government was in the process of formulating a new Air Staff Requirement for a Mach 2-capable combat aircraft to equip the Indian Air Force (IAF). However, as HAL lacked the necessary experience in both developing and manufacturing frontline combat fighters, it was clear that external guidance would be invaluable; this assistance was embodied by Kurt Tank.

 

In 1956, HAL formally began design work on the supersonic fighter project. The Indian government, led by Jawaharlal Nehru, authorized the development of the aircraft, stating that it would aid in the development of a modern aircraft industry in India. The first phase of the project sought to develop an airframe suitable for travelling at supersonic speeds, and able to effectively perform combat missions as a fighter aircraft, while the second phase sought to domestically design and produce an engine capable of propelling the aircraft. Early on, there was an explicit adherence to satisfying the IAF's requirements for a capable fighter bomber; attributes such as a twin-engine configuration and a speed of Mach 1.4 to 1.5 were quickly emphasized, and this led to the HF-24 Marut.

 

On 24 June 1961, the first prototype Marut conducted its maiden flight. It was powered by the same Bristol Siddeley Orpheus 703 turbojets that had powered the Folland Gnat, also being manufactured by HAL at that time. On 1 April 1967, the first production Marut was delivered to the IAF. While originally intended only as an interim measure during testing, HAL decided to power production Maruts with a pair of unreheated Orpheus 703s, meaning the aircraft could not attain supersonic speed. Although originally conceived to operate around Mach 2 the Marut in fact was barely capable of reaching Mach 1 due to the lack of suitably powerful engines.

 

The IAF were reluctant to procure a fighter aircraft only marginally superior to its existing fleet of British-built Hawker Hunters. However, in 1961, the Indian Government decided to procure the Marut, nevertheless, but only 147 aircraft, including 18 two-seat trainers, were completed out of a planned 214. Just after the decision to build the lukewarm Marut, the development of a more advanced aircraft with the desired supersonic performance was initiated.

 

This enterprise started star-crossed, though: after the Indian Government conducted its first nuclear tests at Pokhran, international pressure prevented the import of better engines of Western origin, or at times, even spares for the Orpheus engines, so that the Marut never realized its full potential due to insufficient power, and it was relatively obsolescent by the time it reached production.

Due to these restrictions India looked for other sources for supersonic aircraft and eventually settled upon the MiG-21 F-13 from the Soviet Union, which entered service in 1964. While fast and agile, the Fishbed was only a short-range daylight interceptor. It lacked proper range for escort missions and air space patrols, and it had no radar that enabled it to conduct all-weather interceptions. To fill this operational gap, the new indigenous HF-26 project was launched around the same time.

 

For the nascent Indian aircraft industry, HF-26 had a demanding requirements specification: the aircraft was to achieve Mach 2 top speed at high altitude and carry a radar with a guided missile armament that allowed interceptions in any weather, day and night. The powerplant question was left open, but it was clear from the start that a Soviet engine would be needed, since an indigenous development of a suitable powerplant would take much too long and block vital resources, and western alternatives were out of reach. The mission profile and the performance requirements quickly defined the planned aircraft’s layout: To fit a radar, the air intakes with movable ramps to feed the engines were placed on the fuselage flanks. To make sure the aircraft would fulfill its high-performance demands, it was right from the outset powered by two engines, and it was decided to give it delta wings, a popular design among high-speed aircraft of the time – exemplified by the highly successful Dassault Mirage III (which was to be delivered to Pakistan in 1967). With two engines, the HF-26 would be a heavier aircraft than the Mirage III, though, and it was planned to operate the aircraft from semi-prepared airfields, so that it would receive a robust landing gear with low-pressure tires and a brake parachute.

 

In 1962 India was able to negotiate the delivery of Tumansky RD-9 turbojet engines from the Soviet Union, even though no afterburner was part of the deal – this had to be indigenously developed by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). However, this meant that the afterburner could be tailored to the HF-26, and this task would provide HAL with valuable engineering experience, too.

Now knowing the powerplant, HAL created a single-seater airframe around it, a rather robust design that superficially reminded of the French Mirage III, but there were fundamental differences. The HF-26 had boxy air intakes with movable ramps to control the airflow to the two engines and a relatively wide fuselage to hold them and most of the fuel in tanks between the air ducts behind the cockpit. The aircraft had a single swept fin and a rather small mid-positioned delta-wing with a 60° sweep. The pilot sat under a tight canopy that offered - similar to the Mirage III - only limited all-round vision.

The HF-26's conical nose radome covered an antenna for a ‘Garud’ interception radar – which was in fact a downgraded Soviet ‘Oryol' (Eagle; NATO reporting name 'Skip Spin') system that guided the HF-26’s main armament, a pair of semi-active radar homing (SARH) ‚Saanp’ missiles.

 

The Saanp missile was developed specifically for the HF-26 in India but used many components of Soviet origin, too, so that they were compatible with the radar. In performance, the Saanp was comparable with the French Matra R.530 air-to-air missile, even though the aerodynamic layout was reversed, with steering fins at the front end, right behind the SARH seaker head - overall the missile reminded of an enlarged AIM-4 Falcon. The missile weighed 180 kg and had a length of 3.5 m. Power came from a two-stage solid rocket that offered a maximum thrust of 80 kN for 2.7 s during the launch phase plus 6.5 s cruise. Maximum speed was Mach 2.7 and operational range was 1.5 to 20 km (0.9 to 12.5 miles). Two of these missiles could be carried on the main wing hardpoints in front of the landing gear wells. Alternatively, infrared-guided R-3 (AA-2 ‘Atoll’) short-range AAMs could be carried by the HF-26, too, and typically two of these were carried on the outer underwing hardpoints, which were plumbed to accept drop tanks (typically supersonic PTB-490s that were carried by the IAF's MiG-21s, too) . Initially, no internal gun was envisioned, as the HF-26 was supposed to be a pure high-speed/high-altitude interceptor that would not engage in dogfights. Two more hardpoints under the fuselage were plumbed, too, for a total of six external stations.

 

Due to its wing planform, the HF-26 was soon aptly called “Teer” (= Arrow), and with Soviet help the first prototype was rolled out in early 1964 and presented to the public. The first flight, however, would take place almost a year later in January 1965, due to many technical problems, and these were soon complemented by aerodynamic problems. The original delta-winged HF-26 had poor take-off and landing characteristics, and directional stability was weak, too. While a second prototype was under construction in April 1965 the first aircraft was lost after it had entered a spin from which the pilot could not escape – the aircraft crashed and its pilot was killed during the attempt to eject.

 

After this loss HAL investigated an enlarged fin and a modified wing design with deeper wingtips with lower sweep, which increased wing area and improved low speed handling, too. Furthermore, the fuselage shape had to be modified, too, to reduce supersonic drag, and a more pronounced area ruling was introduced. The indigenous afterburner for the RD-9 engines was unstable and troublesome, too.

It took until 1968 and three more flying prototypes (plus two static airframes) to refine the Teer for serial production service introduction. In this highly modified form, the aircraft was re-designated HF-26M and the first machines were delivered to IAF No. 3 Squadron in late 1969. However, it would take several months until a fully operational status could be achieved. By that time, it was already clear that the Teer, much like the HF-24 Marut before, could not live up to its expectations and was at the brink of becoming obsolete as it entered service. The RD-9 was not a modern engine anymore, and despite its indigenous afterburner – which turned out not only to be chronically unreliable but also to be very thirsty when engaged – the Teer had a disappointing performance: The fighter only achieved a top speed of Mach 1.6 at full power, and with full external load it hardly broke the wall of sound in level flight. Its main armament, the Saanp AAM, also turned out to be unreliable even under ideal conditions.

 

However, the HF-26M came just in time to take part in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 and was, despite its weaknesses, extensively used – even though not necessarily in its intended role. High-flying slow bombers were not fielded during the conflict, and the Teer remained, despite its on-board radar, heavily dependent on ground control interception (GCI) to vector its pilot onto targets coming in at medium and even low altitude. The HF-26M had no capability against low-flying aircraft either, so that pilots had to engage incoming, low-flying enemy aircraft after visual identification – a task the IAF’s nimble MiG-21s were much better suited for. Escorts and air cover missions for fighter-bombers were flown, too, but the HF-26M’s limited range only made it a suitable companion for the equally short-legged Su-7s. The IAF Canberras were frequently deployed on longer range missions, but the HF-26Ms simply could not follow them all the time; for a sufficient range the Teer had to carry four drop tanks, what increased drag and only left the outer pair of underwing hardpoints (which were not plumbed) free for a pair of AA-2 missiles. With the imminent danger of aerial close range combat, though, During the conflict with Pakistan, most HF-26M's were retrofitted with rear-view mirrors in their canopies to improve the pilot's field of view, and a passive IR sensor was added in a small fairing under the nose to improve the aircraft's all-weather capabilities and avoid active radar emissions that would warn potential prey too early.

 

The lack of an internal gun turned out to be another great weakness of the Teer, and this was only lightly mended through the use of external gun pods. Two of these cigar-shaped pods that resembled the Soviet UPK-23 pod could be carried on the two ventral pylons, and each contained a 23 mm Gryazev-Shipunov GSh-23L autocannon of Soviet origin with 200 rounds. Technically these pods were very similar to the conformal GP-9 pods carried by the IAF MiG-21FLs. While the gun pods considerably improved the HF-26M’s firepower and versatility, the pods were draggy, blocked valuable hardpoints (from extra fuel) and their recoil tended to damage the pylons as well as the underlying aircraft structure, so that they were only commissioned to be used in an emergency.

 

However, beyond air-to-air weapons, the HF-26M could also carry ordnance of up to 1.000 kg (2.207 lb) on the ventral and inner wing hardpoints and up to 500 kg (1.100 lb) on the other pair of wing hardpoints, including iron bombs and/or unguided missile pods. However, the limited field of view from the cockpit over the radome as well as the relatively high wing loading did not recommend the aircraft for ground attack missions – even though these frequently happened during the conflict with Pakistan. For these tactical missions, many HF-26Ms lost their original overall natural metal finish and instead received camouflage paint schemes on squadron level, resulting in individual and sometimes even spectacular liveries. Most notable examples were the Teer fighters of No. 1 Squadron (The Tigers), which sported various camouflage adaptations of the unit’s eponym.

 

Despite its many deficiencies, the HF-26M became heavily involved in the Indo-Pakistan conflict. As the Indian Army tightened its grip in East Pakistan, the Indian Air Force continued with its attacks against Pakistan as the campaign developed into a series of daylight anti-airfield, anti-radar, and close-support attacks by fighter jets, with night attacks against airfields and strategic targets by Canberras and An-12s, while Pakistan responded with similar night attacks with its B-57s and C-130s.

The PAF deployed its F-6s mainly on defensive combat air patrol missions over their own bases, leaving the PAF unable to conduct effective offensive operations.  Sporadic raids by the IAF continued against PAF forward air bases in Pakistan until the end of the war, and interdiction and close-support operations were maintained. One of the most successful air raids by India into West Pakistan happened on 8 December 1971, when Indian Hunter aircraft from the Pathankot-based 20 Squadron, attacked the Pakistani base in Murid and destroyed 5 F-86 aircraft on the ground.

The PAF played a more limited role in the operations, even though they were reinforced by Mirages from an unidentified Middle Eastern ally (whose identity remains unknown). The IAF was able to conduct a wide range of missions – troop support; air combat; deep penetration strikes; para-dropping behind enemy lines; feints to draw enemy fighters away from the actual target; bombing and reconnaissance. India flew 1,978 sorties in the East and about 4,000 in Pakistan, while the PAF flew about 30 and 2,840 at the respective fronts.  More than 80 percent of IAF sorties were close-support and interdiction and about 45 IAF aircraft were lost, including three HF-26Ms. Pakistan lost 60 to 75 aircraft, not including any F-86s, Mirage IIIs, or the six Jordanian F-104s which failed to return to their donors. The imbalance in air losses was explained by the IAF's considerably higher sortie rate and its emphasis on ground-attack missions. The PAF, which was solely focused on air combat, was reluctant to oppose these massive attacks and rather took refuge at Iranian air bases or in concrete bunkers, refusing to offer fights and respective losses.

 

After the war, the HF-26M was officially regarded as outdated, and as license production of the improved MiG-21FL (designated HAL Type 77 and nicknamed “Trishul” = Trident) and later of the MiG-21M (HAL Type 88) was organized in India, the aircraft were quickly retired from frontline units. They kept on serving into the Eighties, though, but now restricted to their original interceptor role. Beyond the upgrades from the Indo-Pakistani War, only a few upgrades were made. For instance, the new R-60 AAM was introduced to the HF-26M and around 1978 small (but fixed) canards were retrofitted to the air intakes behind the cockpit that improved the Teer’s poor slow speed control and high landing speed as well as the aircraft’s overall maneuverability.

A radar upgrade, together with the introduction of better air-to-ai missiles with a higher range and look down/shoot down capability was considered but never carried out. Furthermore, the idea of a true HF-26 2nd generation variant, powered by a pair of Tumansky R-11F-300 afterburner jet engines (from the license-built MiG-21FLs), was dropped, too – even though this powerplant eventually promised to fulfill the Teer’s design promise of Mach 2 top speed. A total of only 82 HF-26s (including thirteen two-seat trainers with a lengthened fuselage and reduced fuel capacity, plus eight prototypes) were built. The last aircraft were retired from IAF service in 1988 and replaced with Mirage 2000 fighters procured from France that were armed with the Matra Super 530 AAM.

  

General characteristics:

Crew: 1

Length: 14.97 m (49 ft ½ in)

Wingspan: 9.43 m (30 ft 11 in)

Height: 4.03 m (13 ft 2½ in)

Wing area: 30.6 m² (285 sq ft)

Empty weight: 7,000 kg (15,432 lb)

Gross weight: 10,954 kg (24,149 lb) with full internal fuel

Max takeoff weight: 15,700 kg (34,613 lb) with external stores

 

Powerplant:

2× Tumansky RD-9 afterburning turbojet engines; 29 kN (6,600 lbf) dry thrust each

and 36.78 kN (8,270 lbf) with afterburner

 

Performance:

Maximum speed: 1,700 km/h (1,056 mph; 917 kn; Mach 1.6) at 11,000 m (36,000 ft)

1,350 km/h (840 mph, 730 kn; Mach 1.1) at sea level

Combat range: 725 km (450 mi, 391 nmi) with internal fuel only

Ferry range: 1,700 km (1,100 mi, 920 nmi) with four drop tanks

Service ceiling: 18,100 m (59,400 ft)

g limits: +6.5

Time to altitude: 9,145 m (30,003 ft) in 1 minute 30 seconds

Wing loading: 555 kg/m² (114 lb/sq ft)

 

Armament

6× hardpoints (four underwing and two under the fuselage) for a total of 2.500 kg (5.500 lb);

Typical interceptor payload:

- two IR-guided R-3 or R-60 air-to-air-missiles or

two PTB-490 drop tanks on the outer underwing stations

- two semi-active radar-guided ‚Saanp’ air-to-air missiles or two more R-3 or R-60 AAMs

on inner underwing stations

- two 500 l drop tanks or two gun pods with a 23 mm GSh-23L autocannon and 200 RPG

each under the fuselage

  

The kit and its assembly:

This whiffy delta-wing fighter was inspired when I recently sliced up a PM Model Su-15 kit for my side-by-side-engine BAC Lightning build. At an early stage of the conversion, I held the Su-15 fuselage with its molded delta wings in my hand and wondered if a shortened tail section (as well as a shorter overall fuselage to keep proportions balanced) could make a delta-wing jet fighter from the Flagon base? Only a hardware experiment could yield an answer, and since the Su-15’s overall outlines look a bit retro I settled at an early stage on India as potential designer and operator, as “the thing the HF-24 Marut never was”.

 

True to the initial idea, work started on the tail, and I chopped off the fuselage behind the wings’ trailing edge. Some PSR was necessary to blend the separate exhaust section into the fuselage, which had to be reduced in depth through wedges that I cut out under the wings trailing edge, plus some good amount of glue and sheer force the bend the section a bit upwards. The PM Model's jet exhausts were drilled open, and I added afterburner dummies inside - anything would look better than the bleak vertical walls inside after only 2-3 mm! The original fin was omitted, because it was a bit too large for the new, smaller aircraft and its shape reminded a lot of the Suchoj heavy fighter family. It was replaced with a Mirage III/V fin, left over from a (crappy!) Pioneer 2 IAI Nesher kit.

 

Once the rear section was complete, I had to adjust the front end - and here the kitbashing started. First, I chopped off the cockpit section in front of the molded air intake - the Su-15’s long radome and the cockpit on top of the fuselage did not work anymore. As a remedy I remembered another Su-15 conversion I did a (long) while ago: I created a model of a planned ground attack derivative, the T-58Sh, and, as a part of the extensive body work, I transplanted the slanted nose from an academy MiG-27 between the air intakes – a stunt that was relatively easy and which appreciably lowered the cockpit position. For the HF-26M I did something similar, I just transplanted a cockpit from a Hasegawa/Academy MiG-23 with its ogival radome that size-wise better matched with the rest of the leftover Su-15 airframe.

 

The MiG-23 cockpit matched perfectly with the Su-15's front end, just the spinal area behind the cockpit had to be raised/re-sculpted to blend the parts smoothly together. For a different look from the Su-15 ancestry I also transplanted the front sections of the MiG-23 air intakes with their shorter ramps. Some mods had to be made to the Su-15 intake stubs, but the MiG-23 intakes were an almost perfect fit in size and shape and easy to integrate into the modified front hill. The result looks very natural!

However, when the fuselage was complete, I found that the nose appeared to be a bit too long, leaving the whole new hull with the wings somewhat off balance. As a remedy I decided at a rather late stage to shorten the nose and took out a 6 mm section in front of the cockpit - a stunt I had not planned, but sometimes you can judge things only after certain work stages. Some serious PSR was necessary to re-adjust the conical nose shape, which now looked more Mirage III-ish than planned!

 

The cockpit was taken mostly OOB, I just replaced the ejection seat and gave it a trigger handle made from thin wire. With the basic airframe complete it was time for details. The PM Model Su-15s massive and rather crude main landing gear was replaced with something more delicate from the scrap box, even though I retained the main wheels. The front landing gear was taken wholesale from the MiG-23, but had to be shortened for a proper stance.

A display holder adapter was integrated into the belly for the flight scenes, hidden well between the ventral ordnance.

 

The hardpoints, including missile launch rails, came from the MiG-23; the pylons had to be adjusted to match the Su-15's wing profile shape, the Anab missiles lost their tail sections to create the fictional Indian 'Saanp' AAMs. The R-3s on the outer stations were left over from a MP MiG-21. The ventral pylons belong to Academy MiG-23/27s, one came from the donor kit, the other was found in the spares box. The PTB-490 drop tanks also came from a KP MiG-21 (or one of its many reincarnations, not certain).

  

Painting and markings:

The paint scheme for this fictional aircraft was largely inspired by a picture of a whiffy and very attractive Saab 37 Viggen (an 1:72 Airfix kit) in IAF colors, apparently a model from a contest. BTW, India actually considered buying the Viggen for its Air Force!

IAF aircraft were and are known for their exotic and sometimes gawdy paint schemes, and with IAF MiG-21 “C 992” there’s even a very popular (yet obscure) aircraft that sported literal tiger stripes. The IAF Viggen model was surely inspired by this real aircraft, and I adopted something similar for my HF-26M.

 

IAF 1 Squadron was therefore settled, and for the paint scheme I opted for a "stripish" scheme, but not as "tigeresque" as "C 992". I found a suitable benchmark in a recent Libyian MiG-21, which carried a very disruptive two-tone grey scheme. I adapted this pattern to the HA-26M airframe and replaced its colors, similar to the IAF Viggen model, which became a greenish sand tone (a mix of Humbrol 121 with some 159; I later found out that I could have used Humbrol 83 from the beginning, though...) and a very dark olive drab (Humbrol 66, which looks like a dull dark brown in contrast with the sand tone), with bluish grey (Humbrol 247) undersides. With the large delta wings, this turned out to look very good and even effective!

 

For that special "Indian touch" I gave the aircraft a high-contrast fin in a design that I had seen on a real camouflaged IAF MiG-21bis: an overall dark green base with a broad, red vertical stripe which was also the shield for the fin flash and the aircraft's tactical code (on the original bare metal). The fin was first painted in green (Humbrol 2), the red stripe was created with orange-red decal sheet material. Similar material was also used to create the bare metal field for the tactical code, the yellow bars on the splitter plates and for the thin white canopy sealing.

 

After basic painting was done the model received an overall black ink washing, post-panel shading and extensive dry-brushing with aluminum and iron for a rather worn look.

The missiles became classic white, while the drop tanks, as a contrast to the camouflaged belly, were left in bare metal.

 

Decals/markings came primarily from a Begemot MiG-25 kit, the tactical codes on the fin and under the wings originally belong to an RAF post-WWII Spitfire, just the first serial letter was omitted. Stencils are few and they came from various sources. A compromise is the unit badge on the fin: I needed a tiger motif, and the only suitable option I found was the tiger head emblem on a white disc from RAF No. 74 Squadron, from the Matchbox BAC Lightning F.6&F.2A kit. It fits stylistically well, though. ;-)

 

Finally, the model was sealed with matt acrylic varnish (except for the black radome, which became a bit glossy) and finally assembled.

  

A spontaneous build, and the last one that I completed in 2022. However, despite a vague design plan the model evolved as it grew. Bashing the primitive PM Model Su-15 with the Academy MiG-23 parts was easier than expected, though, and the resulting fictional aircraft looks sturdy but quite believable - even though it appears to me like the unexpected child of a Mirage III/F-4 Phantom II intercourse, or like a juvenile CF-105 Arrow, just with mid-wings? Nevertheless, the disruptive paint scheme suits the delta wing fighter well, and the green/red fin is a striking contrast - it's a colorful model, but not garish.

I took this photo with my Canon EOS Rebel T6 to fulfill Requirement 2. While at the beach, I decided to test out the blurring of the foreground by lowering the shutter speed of my camera (1/4) and taking a picture of the constantly moving waves. Right after a wave hit the shore, I took the shot, and it captured the white foam as it was pulled back into the sea across the sand. Because it was a rather bright scene with white clouds in the background, I made the aperture small (f/22.0) and the ISO small as well (100). Afterwards, it was a bit underexposed, so I adjusted the contrast and exposure through Lightroom.

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

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

  

Some background:

The Hawker Fury was an evolutionary successor to the successful Hawker Typhoon and Tempest fighters and fighter-bombers. The Fury's design process was initiated in September 1942 by Sydney Camm, one of Hawker's foremost aircraft designers, to meet the Royal Air Force's requirement for a lightweight Tempest Mk.II replacement. The fuselage was broadly similar in form to that of the Tempest, but was a fully monocoque structure, while the cockpit level was higher, affording the pilot better all-round visibility.

 

The project was formalized in May 1943, which required a high rate of climb of not less than 4,500 ft/min (23 m/s) from ground level to 20,000 feet (6,096 m), good fighting maneuverability and a maximum speed of at least 450 mph (724 km/h) at 22,000 feet (6,705 m). The armament was to be four 20mm Hispano V cannon with a total capacity of 600 rounds, plus the capability of carrying two bombs each up to 1,000 pounds (454 kg).

In April 1943, Hawker had also received Specification N.7/43 from the Admiralty, who sought a navalized version of the developing aircraft. In response, Sidney Camm proposed the consolidation of both service's requirements under Specification F.2/43, with the alterations required for naval operations issued on a supplemental basis. Around 1944, the aircraft project finally received its name; the Royal Air Force's version becoming known as the Fury and the Fleet Air Arm's version as the Sea Fury.

 

A total of six prototypes were ordered; two were to be powered by Rolls-Royce Griffon engines, two with Centaurus XXIIs, one with a Centaurus XII and a final one as a test structure. Hawker used the internal designations P.1019 and P.1020 respectively for the Griffon and Centaurus versions, while P.1018 was also used for a Fury prototype with a Napier Sabre IV. The first Fury to fly, on 1 September 1944, was NX798 with a Centaurus XII with rigid engine mounts, powering a Rotol four-blade propeller. Second on 27 November 1944 was LA610, which had a Griffon 85 and a Rotol six-blade contra-rotating propeller.

 

With the end of the Second World War in Europe in sight, the RAF began cancelling many aircraft orders. Thus, the RAF's order for the Fury was cancelled, but development of the type was continued as the Sea Fury. The rationale behind this was the fact that many of the Navy's carrier fighters were either Lend-Lease Chance-Vought Corsair or Grumman Hellcat aircraft and thus to be returned, or, in the case of the Supermarine Seafire, had considerable drawbacks as naval aircraft such as narrow undercarriages. The Admiralty opted to procure the Sea Fury as the successor to these aircraft instead of purchasing the lend-lease aircraft outright.

 

The first Sea Fury prototype first flew at Langley, Berkshire, on 21 February 1945, powered by a Centaurus XII engine. This prototype had a "stinger"-type tailhook for arrested carrier landings, but lacked folding wings for storage. The second prototype flew on 12 October 1945 and it was powered by a Bristol Centaurus XV that turned a new, five-bladed Rotol propeller and did feature folding wings. A third prototype was powered by a Griffon 85 with a chin radiator and drove a six blade contraprop, similar to LA610 from 1944. Specification N.7/43 was modified to N.22/43, now representing an order for 200 aircraft.

Both engine variants showed virtually identical performance. While the Centaurus-powered Sea Fury had more power and was slightly lighter than the Griffon-powered variant, the latter had better aerodynamics and, thanks to the contra-rotating propeller, better low-speed handling characteristics.

 

In order to expand production of the new naval fighter as quickly as possible, Sea Fury variants with different engines were produced at different factories: 100 were to be built as F Mk. X, powered by the Centaurus engine, at Boulton-Paul's Wolverhampton factory, and another 100, powered now by a Griffon 130 with a two-stage, three-speed supercharger and fuel injection, were to be built as F Mk. XII at Hawker's Dunsfold factory.

 

Things did not unfold smoothly, though: the manufacturing agreement with Boulton-Paul was ended in early 1945 and all work on the Centaurus-powered Sea Fury transferred to Hawker Aircraft's facilities at Kingston. As a consequence, production of the F Mk. X was delayed and only the Griffon-powered F Mk. XII made it to frontline units until summer 1945, but, in fact, only a mere 50 aircraft left Dunsfold until the end of hostilities, all of them were immediately transferred to the FAA’s Pacific theatre of operations. The first twelve airframes went on board of the newly built HMS Pioneer, a Colossus class aircraft carrier, which set sails for Australia in May 1945 and then operated along the Northern coast of New-Guinea. In the vicinity of Manus Island the Sea Furies were operated by NAS 1834, replacing Corsair II and IV fighters, and they were the only machines of this type to become involved in aerial combat and CAS missions. In August 1945 the machines were transferred to HMS Indomitable; based on this carrier, they supported the liberation of Hong Kong, arriving after a landing party from HMCS Prince Robert had taken the Japanese surrender. These were among the last combat missions of the war.

 

The Sea Fury Mk. X came too late for any frontline involvement. In fact, the first machine of this variant eventually first flew on 31 January 1946, and immediately upon completion of the first three airframes, the flight testing program began at Kingston. It was soon discovered that the early Centaurus engine suffered frequent crankshaft failure due to a poorly designed lubrication system, which led to incidents of the engine seizing while in mid-flight. The problem was resolved when Bristol's improved Centaurus 18 engine replaced the earlier engine variant, but this further hampered the program.

 

From the Griffon-powered Sea Fury F Mk. XII, only 92 aircraft from the initial N.22/43 order batch of 100 were actually produced, and they did not serve long in front line units. One factor was the high-powered Griffon engine, which was prone to failure and its liquid-coolant system was not free from trouble, either. On the other side, the technically less complicated Centaurus-powered Sea Fury F. Mk. X became available in 1947 and it showed more development and also export potential, so that the Mk. XII was retired from Royal Navy units until 1949. Some of the aircraft were stored, though, and eventually handed over or sold to friendly nations.

Altogether, the Sea Fury was produced with some 875 aircraft built (number varies by source)—including prototypes and 61 two-seat T.20 trainers. Sea Furies also served in Korea and they were the last front-line piston-engine aircraft operated by the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm.

  

General characteristics:

Crew: One

Length: 37 ft 3 in (11.37 m)

Wingspan: 38 ft 4​ ¾ in (11.69 m)

Height: 15 ft 10​1⁄2 in (4.84 m)

Wing area: 280 ft2 (26.01 m²)

Empty weight: 9,325 lb (4,233 kg)

Loaded weight: 12,510 lb (5,680 kg)

Max. takeoff weight: 14,760 lb (6,700 kg)

 

Powerplant:

1× Rolls Royce Griffon 130 liquid-cooled V-12 engine;

maximum output of 2,420 hp (1,805 kW) at 5,000 ft (1,524 m)

 

Performance:

Maximum speed: 460 mph (400 knots, 740 km/h) at 18,000 ft (5,500 m)

Range: 700 mi (609 nmi, 1,126 km) with internal fuel;

1,040 mi (904 nmi, 1,674 km) with two 90 gal. drop tanks

Service ceiling: 35,800 ft (10,910 m)

Rate of climb: 4,320 ft/min (21.9 m/s)

 

Armament:

4× 20 mm (.79 in) Hispano Mk V cannon in the outer wings with 150 RPG

Up to 12× 3 in (76.2 mm) unguided rockets and/or bombs or drop tanks

for an ordnance of 2,000 lb (907 kg)

  

The kit and its assembly:

Building this kit was a spontaneous decision - but since it would fit well into the RAF Centenary Group Build at whatifmodelers.com, I used to occasion to motivate myself and create this conversion as submission #5 to the GB.

 

This build was originally triggered by a Sea Fury model, recently built by fellow user knightflyer from whatifmodelers.com: a "normal" Sea Fury in late-war FAA markings. I found the resulting aircraft pretty sexy, but wondered how I could add a personal twist? While doing some research into the Sea Fury's development I stumbled upon the Griffon-powered Fury prototype LA610, a pretty ugly aircraft with a gaping radiator intake and a menacing six blade contraprop. This one, in FAA colors...?

 

The kit is the PM Model Sea Fury, in this case an Airfix re-boxing, but this does not change anything. The kit is simple, is a bit crude (e.g. the wings trailing edges are rather massive), but it goes together well.

The conversion included a better seat for the cockpit, a dashboard, a split canopy for open display, and some rhinoplasty: the OOB Centaurus and its five blade propeller went into the spares box. Instead, a resin power egg from Red Roo for an Australian Avro Lincoln was installed in the nose. To be honest, the engine is actually a Merlin with a chin radiator, but the piece's overall outline and the radiator just look perfect for something close to the LA610 prototype! Some body sculpting was necessary to create a smooth transition in front of the cockpit, and the OOB exhaust arrangement from the Centaurus was "recycled" as radiator outlets, just very similar to LA610.

 

The contraprop is a mash-up: The spinner (which fits onto the resin engine very well, only a little trimming was necessary) comes from a Special Hobby model of a late Griffon-powered Spitfire; there are several boxings of this kit for different variants, but the main sprues are virtually identical, so that a lot of spares, including propeller variants like the six blade Rotol propeller, are available. This specific propeller is not functional, though. Both propeller sections are intended to be glued together and onto the kit’s nose, only for static build and presentation. That’s a bit disappointing, so I modified the parts with holes and a styrene axis that fits into another deep hole in the resin engine block, so that both propellers can spin – and they actually do, even though it only works when I blow into the propeller from a certain angle.

The propeller blades were replaced, too, because the original Spitfire parts turned out to be too short, on the massive Sea Fury and the gaping radiator intake maw they looked undersized. So I dug out a Novo Shackleton from the donor bank and used the blades from one of its engines for my conversion.

 

Another small modification concerns the arrestor hook: with the Special Hobby Spitfire kit at hand and its many optional parts, I added a Seafire hook to the rudder’s base, instead of the later Sea Fury’s separate hook under the rudder, for a slight retro feeling.

The flaps were lowered and the wings’ VERY thick trailing edges trimmed down significantly. The leading edges were slightly modified, too, in an attempt to get rid of their square OOB shape.

 

The ordnance was slightly modified, too: I added a pair of pylons under the wings with 500 lb bombs instead of the OOB drop tanks (I assume that these large blobs are rather ferry tanks?), the 3in missiles and their launch rails are OOB.

  

Painting and markings:

No real surprises: standard late WWII FFA colors (Dark Sea Grey/Dark Slate Grey/Sky) livery without quick ID markings on the wings and stabilizers. Basic paints were Tamiya XF-54 (Dark Sea Grey, a relatively light interpretation of the tone), Modelmaster 2056 (Dark Slate Grey, lighter than Humbrol's 224) and Tamiya XF-21 (Sky, a rather intense variation of the greenish tone). The cockpit interior was painted in RAF Cockpit Green (Humbrol 78) – it’s a bit of a guess, but AFAIK the interior of British combat aircraft was changed to black after the end of WWII? The landing gear wells were painted in the same tone, using late WWII Fairey Fireflies as benchmark.

The kit received a light blank ink wash, some post-shading treatment and dry-brushing with FS 36231 and Faded Olive Drab from Modelmaster, as well as Humbrol 90 underneath. Some more detail brushing with even lighter tones was added, too.

 

The decals/markings actually belong to a lend lease F4U during the final weeks of the war; I found the red tactical code quite interesting, even though HMS Pioneer, where the aircraft was based, was only a repair carrier, not an active combat platform for aircraft operations? Well, it’s whifworld, after all…

 

Another individual detail are the overpainted areas on fuselage, wings and fins, where the aircraft had carried standard RAF roundels upon delivery, and for the Pacific TO, the roundels were changed en route on short notice, maybe with paints from US supplies. Consequently, the overpainted sections were created with slightly different shades of the basic camouflage colors, namely Humbrol 125 (FS 36118, which was frequently used on FAA lend lease aircraft), Tamiya XF- (Olive Drab) and a mix of Humbrol 90 and 95 for the underside. Any white ID bands on the wings were left away, just the spinner’s segments were painted in black and white.

I used, according to the benchmark F4U, blue-and-white FAA roundels with USN-style white bars, but modified them with a very small, white central disc.

 

The wings on the picture satisfy requirement two because of the wings 2-D structure. For this photo, I went to lightroom, changing the photo to black ad white. I then colored in the wing to a bright blue, emphasizing the 2-D element on the photo. The wings give a nice geometric shape of lines and circles. I also avoided giving the wing shadow to deliver requirement 2. This also satisfies requirement five because of the pop on color. The mood of this photo is very youthful and innocent, explaining how kids are very imaginative and less caring for judgment.

Hosts and guests of the U.S. AFRICOM C4ISR Senior Leader Conference tour a winery in the hills above Vicenza, Italy, Feb. 3, 2011.

 

U.S. Army Africa photo by David Ruderman

 

U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) hosted its second annual C4ISR Senior Leaders Conference Feb. 2-4 at Caserma Ederle, headquarters of U.S. Army Africa, in Vicenza, Italy.

 

The communications and intelligence community event, hosted by Brig. Gen. Robert Ferrell, AFRICOM C4 director, drew approximately 80 senior leaders from diverse U.S. military and government branches and agencies, as well as representatives of African nations and the African Union.

 

The conference is a combination of our U.S. AFRICOM C4 systems and intel directorate,” said Ferrell. “We come together annually to bring the team together to work on common goals to work on throughout the year. The team consists of our coalition partners as well as our inter-agency partners, as well as our components and U.S. AFRICOM staff.”

 

The conference focused on updates from participants, and on assessing the present state and goals of coalition partners in Africa, he said.

 

“The theme for our conference is ‘Delivering Capabilities to a Joint Information Environment,’ and we see it as a joint and combined team ... working together, side by side, to promote peace and stability there on the African continent,” Ferrell said.

 

Three goals of this year’s conference were to strengthen the team, assess priorities across the board, and get a better fix on the impact that the establishment of the U.S. Cyber Command will have on all members’ efforts in the future, he said.

 

“With the stand-up of U.S. Cyber Command, it brings a lot of unique challenges that we as a team need to talk through to ensure that our information is protected at all times,” Ferrell said.

 

African Union (AU) representatives from four broad geographic regions of Africa attended, which generated a holistic perspective on needs and requirements from across the continent, he said.

 

“We have members from the African Union headquarters that is located in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; we have members that are from Uganda; from Zambia; from Ghana; and also from the Congo. What are the gaps, what are the things that we kind of need to assist with as we move forward on our engagements on the African continent?” Ferrell said.

 

U.S. Army Africa Commander, Maj. Gen. David R. Hogg, welcomed participants as the conference got under way.

 

“We’re absolutely delighted to be the host for this conference, and we hope that this week you get a whole lot out of it,” said Hogg.

 

He took the opportunity to address the participants not only as their host, but from the perspective of a customer whose missions depend on the results of their efforts to support commanders in the field.

 

“When we’re talking about this group of folks that are here — from the joint side, from our African partners, from State, all those folks — it’s about partnership and interoperability. And every commander who’s ever had to fight in a combined environment understands that interoperability is the thing that absolutely slaps you upside the head,” Hogg said.

 

“We’re in the early stages of the process here of working with the African Union and the other partners, and you have an opportunity to design this from the end state, versus just building a bunch of ‘gunkulators.’ And so, the message is: think about what the end state is supposed to look like and construct the strategy to support the end state.

 

“Look at where we want to be at and design it that way,” Hogg said.

 

He also admonished participants to consider the second- and third-order effects of their choices in designing networks.

 

“With that said, over the next four days, I hope this conference works very well for you. If there’s anything we can do to make your stay better, please let us know,” Hogg said.

 

Over the following three days, participants engaged in a steady stream of briefings and presentations focused on systems, missions and updates from the field.

 

Col. Joseph W. Angyal, director of U.S. Army Africa G-6, gave an overview of operations and issues that focused on fundamentals, the emergence of regional accords as a way forward, and the evolution of a joint network enterprise that would serve all interested parties.

 

“What we’re trying to do is to work regionally. That’s frankly a challenge, but as we stand up the capability, really for the U.S. government, and work through that, we hope to become more regionally focused,” he said.

 

He referred to Africa Endeavor, an annual, multi-nation communications exercise, as a test bed for the current state of affairs on the continent, and an aid in itself to future development.

 

“In order to conduct those exercises, to conduct those security and cooperation events, and to meet contingency missions, we really, from the C4ISR perspective, have five big challenges,” Angyal said.

 

“You heard General Hogg this morning talk about ‘think about the customer’ — you’ve got to allow me to be able to get access to our data; I’ve got to be able to get to the data where and when I need it; you’ve got to be able to protect it; I have to be able to share it; and then finally, the systems have to be able to work together in order to build that coalition.

 

“One of the reasons General Ferrell is setting up this joint information enterprise, this joint network enterprise . . . it’s almost like trying to bring together disparate companies or corporations: everyone has their own system, they’ve paid for their own infrastructure, and they have their own policy, even though they support the same major company.

 

“Now multiply that when you bring in different services, multiply that when you bring in different U.S. government agencies, and then put a layer on top of that with the international partners, and there are lots of policies that are standing in our way.”

 

The main issue is not a question of technology, he said.

 

“The boxes are the same — a Cisco router is a Cisco router; Microsoft Exchange server is the same all over the world — but it’s the way that we employ them, and it’s the policies that we apply to it, that really stops us from interoperating, and that’s the challenge we hope to work through with the joint network enterprise.

 

“And I think that through things like Africa Endeavor and through the joint enterprise network, we’re looking at knocking down some of those policy walls, but at the end of the day they are ours to knock down. Bill Gates did not design a system to work only for the Army or for the Navy — it works for everyone,” Angyal said.

 

Brig. Gen. Joseph Searyoh, director general of Defense Information Communication Systems, General Headquarters, Ghana Armed Forces, agreed that coordinating policy is fundamental to improving communications with all its implications for a host of operations and missions.

 

“One would expect that in these modern times there is some kind of mutual engagement, and to build that engagement to be strong, there must be some kind of element of trust. … We have to build some kind of trust to be able to move forward,” said Searyoh.

 

“Some people may be living in silos of the past, but in the current engagement we need to tell people that we are there with no hidden agenda, no negative hidden agenda, but for the common good of all of us.

 

“We say that we are in the information age, and I’ve been saying something: that our response should not be optional, but it must be a must, because if you don’t join now, you are going to be left behind.

 

“So what do we do? We have to get our house in order.

 

“Why do I say so? We used to operate like this before the information age; now in the information age, how do we operate?

 

“So, we have to get our house in order and see whether we are aligning ourselves with way things should work now. So, our challenge is to come up with a strategy, see how best we can reorganize our structures, to be able to deliver communications-information systems support for the Ghana Armed Forces,” he said.

 

Searyoh related that his organization has already accomplished one part of erecting the necessary foundation by establishing an appropriate policy structure.

 

“What is required now is the implementing level. Currently we have communications on one side, and computers on one side. The lines are blurred — you cannot operate like that, you’ve got to bring them together,” he said.

 

Building that merged entity to support deployed forces is what he sees as the primary challenge at present.

 

“Once you get that done you can talk about equipment, you can talk about resources,” Searyoh said. “I look at the current collaboration between the U.S. and the coalition partners taking a new level.”

 

“The immediate challenges that we have is the interoperability, which I think is one of the things we are also discussing here, interoperability and integration,” said Lt. Col. Kelvin Silomba, African Union-Zambia, Information Technology expert for the Africa Stand-by Force.

 

“You know that we’ve got five regions in Africa. All these regions, we need to integrate them and bring them together, so the challenge of interoperability in terms of equipment, you know, different tactical equipment that we use, and also in terms of the language barrier — you know, all these regions in Africa you find that they speak different languages — so to bring them together we need to come up with one standard that will make everybody on board and make everybody able to talk to each other,” he said.

 

“So we have all these challenges. Other than that also, stemming from the background of these African countries, based on the colonization: some of them were French colonized, some of them were British colonized and so on, so you find that when they come up now we’ve adopted some of the procedures based on our former colonial masters, so that is another challenge that is coming on board.”

 

The partnership with brother African states, with the U.S. government and its military branches, and with other interested collaborators has had a positive influence, said Silomba.

 

“Oh, it’s great. From the time that I got engaged with U.S. AFRICOM — I started with Africa Endeavor, before I even came to the AU — it is my experience that it is something very, very good.

 

“I would encourage — I know that there are some member states — I would encourage that all those member states they come on board, all of these regional organizations, that they come on board and support the AFRICOM lead. It is something that is very, very good.

 

“As for example, the African Union has a lot of support that’s been coming in, technical as well as in terms of knowledge and equipment. So it’s great; it’s good and it’s great,” said Salimba.

 

Other participant responses to the conference were positive as well.

 

“The feedback I’ve gotten from every member is that they now know what the red carpet treatment looks like, because USARAF has gone over and above board to make sure the environment, the atmosphere and the actual engagements … are executed to perfection,” said Ferrell. “It’s been very good from a team-building aspect.

 

“We’ve had very good discussions from members of the African Union, who gave us a very good understanding of the operations that are taking place in the area of Somalia, the challenges with communications, and laid out the gaps and desires of where they see that the U.S. and other coalition partners can kind of improve the capacity there in that area of responsibility.

 

“We also talked about the AU, as they are expanding their reach to all of the five regions, of how can they have that interoperability and connectivity to each of the regions,” Ferrell said.

 

“(It’s been) a wealth of knowledge and experts that are here to share in terms of how we can move forward with building capacities and capabilities. Not only for U.S. interests, but more importantly from my perspective, in building capacities and capabilities for our African partners beginning with the Commission at the African Union itself,” said Kevin Warthon, U.S. State Department, peace and security adviser to the African Union.

 

“I think that General Ferrell has done an absolutely wonderful thing by inviting key African partners to participate in this event so they can share their personal experience from a national, regional and continental perspective,” he said.

 

Warthon related from his personal experience a vignette of African trust in Providence that he believed carries a pertinent metaphor and message to everyone attending the conference.

 

“We are not sure what we are going to do tomorrow, but the one thing that I am sure of is that we are able to do something. Don’t know when, don’t know how, but as long as our focus is on our ability to assist and to help to progress a people, that’s really what counts more than anything else,” he said.

 

“Don’t worry about the timetable; just focus on your ability to make a difference and that’s what that really is all about.

 

“I see venues such as this as opportunities to make what seems to be the impossible become possible. … This is what this kind of venue does for our African partners.

 

“We’re doing a wonderful job at building relationships, because that’s where it begins — we have to build relationships to establish trust. That’s why this is so important: building trust through relationships so that we can move forward in the future,” Warthon said.

 

Conference members took a cultural tour of Venice and visited a traditional winery in the hills above Vicenza before adjourning.

 

To learn more about U.S. Army Africa visit our official website at www.usaraf.army.mil

 

Official Twitter Feed: www.twitter.com/usarmyafrica

 

Official YouTube video channel: www.youtube.com/usarmyafrica

  

This photo fulfilled the requirement 4 - Show the action with a burst

 

I took this photo at Lucky strike when my friend was playing the bowling and using my sony a6000 with E PZ 16-55mm lens. I used shutter speed of 1/13s but high ISO of 3200 to track the motion trail of my friends in the super dark enviornment. I used the burst mode and this helped me to freeze the fast movements and show people the story of playing the bowling. I zoomed in the lens and made the focal length of 27 mm and I set the aperture at f/4.5 to balance the ISO.

 

Since I used the software to blend 3 photos in the same picture and then I lost the EXIF to show beside.

Drawing on the experience of the Korean War, in 1952 the US Navy issued a requirement for an all-weather fighter. The requirement was stringent: the aircraft would have to be supersonic, and yet still be able to have a landing speed no greater than 100 mph for carrier operations. The Vought aircraft company (formerly Chance-Vought and later Ling-Temco-Vought), smarting from the utter failure of the F6U Pirate and F7U Cutlass, needed something to save the company, and so staked everything on the V-383 design. It was certainly ahead of its time, using area rule for supersonic performance, a dogtoothed wing for stability, an all-moving tail, and titanium to lower weight.

 

The most important innovation, however, was the variable-incidence wing: when taking off or approaching a carrier, the wing could be angled upwards, allowing the V-383 to retain plenty of lift while keeping the cockpit level—an important consideration coming aboard a carrier. For weapons, the V-383 would use a standard 1950s-era mix of 20mm cannon and an underfuselage tray of rockets. With the AIM-9 Sidewinder missile beginning to enter service, Vought added two fuselage-mounted hardpoints for those as well. Though it faced stiff competition, the V-383 won the contract in 1953 as the XF8U-1 Crusader, which first flew in March 1955. Development was smooth and uneventful, and F8U-1s began reaching the fleet in 1957.

 

Fighter pilots fell in love with the Crusader for its nimble handling, high speed, and sleek appearance, but they also found it was a handful to fly. Even with the variable wing, it landed hard and fast on carriers, leading to enough accidents that it initially earned the nickname “Ensign Eliminator.” Deploying the variable wing at high speeds would cause the Crusader to go instantly out of control and disintegrate. Because of its length and low-mounted intake, carrier deck crews referred to it as the “Alligator,” and it was difficult to move around, especially on the smaller World War II-era Essex-class carriers it was often assigned to. Though faster and far more manueverable than its contemporaries--the F3H Demon, F4D Skyray, and F11F Tiger—it was also less forgiving. Problems with stability led Vought to add ventral fins in the F8U-3 variant, which also deleted the rocket tray, as it was seldom used. Despite all the problems, its performance was phenomenal: Crusaders were used to set a number of flight records in the early 1960s.

 

The Crusader would get its combat baptism in the Cuban Missile Crisis, when Key West and Guantanamo Bay-based RF-8As made low-level runs into Cuban airspace to confirm the existence of Soviet nuclear missiles. It would be Vietnam, however, where the F-8 would make its reputation. Though the F-4 Phantom II was supposed to be the last word in fleet air defense design, the eventual replacement of the Crusader, the F-4’s lack of internal cannon and relatively poor dogfight manueverability put it at a disadvantage against less advanced, yet smaller and more nimble North Vietnamese MiG-17 and MiG-21 fighters.

 

The F-8, on the other hand, was equal to the MiG-21 in all respects and, if it couldn’t turn with the MiG-17, it had better performance in the vertical and could stay with the MiG in long fights. F-8s would claim 19 MiGs during the Vietnam War for the loss of only three in air combat, a kill ratio unmatched by any other American aircraft. Though the majority of kills were actually made with Sidewinders, the fact that the F-8 still had four cannon as a backup gave pilots the confidence to stay in combat and engage in close-range dogfighting, although the cannon had a tendency to jam in high-speed turns. It was no wonder that Crusader pilots proudly proclaimed, “When you’re out of F-8s, you’re out of fighters.” In South Vietnam, Navy and Marine Corps pilots used the F-8 for attack missions, which, despite not really being designed for it, it proved to be superb in the close air support role, dropping bombs or firing rockets, and making gun passes at increasingly close proximity to friendly troops. 170 F-8s would be lost to all causes during Vietnam.

 

The F-4’s shortcomings and the F-8’s ability kept the Crusader in the fleet, longer than anticipated—the F-8 would become the first aircraft in US Navy history to remain in service over 20 years. Subsequent F-8H and F-8J variants would remain in service until the end of the Vietnam conflict, and in fleet service until 1976, and in Reserve units for a little longer; reconnaissance RF-8Gs were the last American Crusaders in service, and were not retired until 1987. Even then, the type persisted in service: though ex-Navy F-8H Crusaders supplied to the Philippine Air Force were grounded about the same time due to a lack of spares, French Aeronavale F-8(FN) Crusaders would remain in service until 2000 after almost forty years of service, including participation in the Bosnian and Kosovo conflicts of the 1990s; these aircraft were replaced by Dassault Rafales, two generations ahead of the venerable F-8. Of 1219 Crusaders built, today 17 are known to survive, none flyable.

 

An early F8U-1A (redesignated F-8A in 1962), BuNo 145349 joined the fleet in 1960, assigned to VF-62 ("Boomerangs") aboard the USS Shangri-La (CV-38) until 1964, when it was reassigned to VF-162 ("Hunters") aboard USS Oriskany (CV-34). It didn't remain on the ship long, and never saw combat: after only a few short months aboard the Oriskany, it was reassigned to VU-7, a utility squadron. It was retired in 1968 while assigned to NAS Olathe, Kansas. At some point in the 1980s, it was donated to the Pueblo Weisbrod Museum in Colorado.

 

After being outside for awhile, 145349 was nicely restored in the colors it wore while with VF-162 aboard the Oriskany--though 145394 was not there to see it, VF-162 was heavily involved in operations over Vietnam. It looks a little naked without weapons pylons, but this view shows the F-8's four 20mm cannons quite well. It's always a treat to see a F-8, especially one in good condition.

+++ 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:

The Hawker Typhoon was a British single-seat fighter-bomber, produced by Hawker Aircraft. It was intended to be a medium-high altitude interceptor, as a replacement for the Hawker Hurricane, but several design problems were encountered and it never completely satisfied this requirement.

 

Even before Hurricane production began in March 1937, Sydney Camm had embarked on designing its successor. Two preliminary designs were similar and were larger than the Hurricane. These later became known as the "N" and "R" (from the initial of the engine manufacturers), because they were designed for the newly developed Napier Sabre and Rolls-Royce Vulture engines respectively. Both engines used 24 cylinders and were designed for over 2,000 hp (1,500 kW); the difference between the two was primarily in the arrangement of the cylinders – an H-block in the Sabre and an X-block in the Vulture. Hawker submitted these preliminary designs in July 1937 but were advised to wait until a formal specification for a new fighter was issued.

 

In March 1938, Hawker received from the Air Ministry, Specification F.18/37 for a fighter which would be able to achieve at least 400 mph (640 km/h) at 15,000 feet (4,600 m) and specified a British engine with a two-speed supercharger. The armament fitted was to be twelve 0.303” Browning machine guns with 500 rounds per gun, with a provision for alternative combinations of weaponry. The basic design of the Typhoon was a combination of traditional Hawker construction, as used in the earlier Hawker Hurricane, and more modern construction techniques; the front fuselage structure, from the engine mountings to the rear of the cockpit, was made up of bolted and welded duralumin or steel tubes covered with skin panels, while the rear fuselage was a flush-riveted, semi-monocoque structure. The forward fuselage and cockpit skinning was made up of large, removable duralumin panels, allowing easy external access to the engine and engine accessories and most of the important hydraulic and electrical equipment.

 

The Typhoon’s service introduction in mid-1941 was plagued with problems and for several months the aircraft faced a doubtful future. When the Luftwaffe brought the new Focke-Wulf Fw 190 into service in 1941, the Typhoon was the only RAF fighter capable of catching it at low altitudes; as a result it secured a new role as a low-altitude interceptor.

 

By 1943, the RAF needed a ground attack fighter more than a "pure" fighter and the Typhoon was suited to the role (and less-suited to the pure fighter role than competing aircraft such as the Spitfire Mk IX). The powerful engine allowed the aircraft to carry a load of up to two 1,000 pounds (450 kg) bombs, equal to the light bombers of only a few years earlier. Furthermore, from early 1943 the wings were plumbed and adapted to carry cylindrical 45 imp gal (200 l; 54 US gal) drop tanks increasing the Typhoon's range from 690 miles (1,110 km) to up to 1,090 miles (1,750 km). This enabled Typhoons to range deep into France, the Netherlands and Belgium.

 

From September 1943, Typhoons were also armed with four "60 lb" RP-3 rockets under each wing. Although the rocket projectiles were inaccurate and took considerable skill to aim and allow for ballistic drop after firing, "the sheer firepower of just one Typhoon was equivalent to a destroyer's broadside".

By the end of 1943, eighteen rocket-equipped Typhoon squadrons formed the basis of the RAF Second Tactical Air Force (2nd TAF) ground attack arm in Europe. In theory, the rocket rails and bomb-racks were interchangeable; in practice, to simplify supply, some used the rockets only, while other squadrons were armed exclusively with bombs, what also allowed individual units to more finely hone their skills with their assigned weapons.

 

The Typhoon was initially exclusively operated in the European theatre of operations, but in 1944 it was clear that a dedicated variant might become useful for the RAF’s operations in South-East Asia. In the meantime, Hawker had also developed what was originally an improved Typhoon II, but the differences between it and the Mk I were so great that it was effectively a different aircraft, and it was renamed the Hawker Tempest. However, as a fallback option and as a stopgap filler for the SEAC, Hawker also developed the Typhoon Mk. IV, a tropicalized late Mk. I with a bubble canopy and powered by the new Bristol Centaurus radial engine that could better cope with high ambient temperatures than the original liquid-cooled Sabre engine. The Centaurus IV chosen for the Typhoon Mk. IV also offered slightly more power than the Sabre and the benefit of reduced vulnerability to small arms fire at low altitude, since the large and vulnerable chin cooler could be dispensed with.

 

3,518 Typhoons of all variants were eventually built, 201 of them late Mk. IVs, almost all by Gloster. Once the war in Europe was over Typhoons were quickly removed from front-line squadrons; by October 1945 the Typhoon was no longer in operational use, with many of the wartime Typhoon units such as 198 Squadron being either disbanded or renumbered.

The SEAC’s few operational Mk IVs soldiered on, however, were partly mothballed after 1945 and eventually in 1947 handed over or donated to regional nascent air forces after their countries’ independence like India, Pakistan or Burma, where they served as fighters and fighter bombers well into the Sixties.

 

The Burmese Air Force; initially only called “The military”, since there was no differentiation between the army’s nascent servies, was founded on 16 January 1947, while Burma (as Myanmar was known until 1989) was still under British rule. By 1948, the fleet of the new air force included 40 Airspeed Oxfords, 16 de Havilland Tiger Moths, four Austers, and eight Typhoon Mk. IVs as well as three Supermarine Spitfires transferred from the Royal Air Force and had a few hundred personnel.

The Mingaladon Air Base HQ, the main air base in the country, was formed on 16 June 1950. No.1 Squadron, Equipment Holding Unit and Air High Command - Burma Air Force, and the Flying Training School, were placed under the jurisdiction of the base. A few months later, on 18 December 1950, No. 2 Squadron was formed with nine Douglas Dakotas as a transport squadron. In 1953, the Advanced Flying Unit was formed under the Mingaladon Air Base with de Havilland Vampire T55s, and by the end of 1953 the Burmese Air Force had three main airbases, at Mingaladon, Hmawbi, and Meiktila, in central Burma.

 

In 1953, the Burmese Air Force bought 30 Supermarine Spitfires from Israel and 20 Supermarine Seafires as well as 22 more Typhoon Mk. IVs from the United Kingdom. In 1954 it bought 40 Percival Provost T-53s and 8 de Havilland Vampire Mark T55s from the United Kingdom and two years later, in 1956, the Burmese Air Force bought 10 Cessna 180 aircraft from the United States. The same year, 6 Kawasaki Bell 47Gs formed its first helicopter unit. The following year, the Burmese Air Force procured 21 Hawker Sea Fury aircraft from the United Kingdom and 9 de Havilland Canada DHC-3 Otters from Canada. In 1958, it procured 7 additional Kawasaki Bell 47Gs and 12 Vertol H-21 Shawnees from the United States. Five years later, No. 503 Squadron Group was formed with No. 51 Squadron (de Havilland Canada DHC-3 Otters and Cessna 180s) and No. 53 Squadron (Bell 47Gs, Kaman HH-43 Huskies, and Aérospatiale Alouettes) in Meiktila.

 

When the non-Burman ethnic groups pushed for autonomy or federalism, alongside having a weak civilian government at the center, the military leadership staged a coup d'état in 1962, and this was the only conflict in which the aging Burmese Typhoons became involved. On 2 March 1962, the military led by General Ne Win took control of Burma through a coup d'état, and the government had been under direct or indirect control by the military since then. Between 1962 and 1974, Myanmar was ruled by a revolutionary council headed by the general. Almost all aspects of society (business, media, production) were nationalized or brought under government control under the Burmese Way to Socialism, which combined Soviet-style nationalization and central planning, and also meant the end of operation of many aircraft of Western origin, including the last surviving Burmese Typhoons, which were probably retired by 1964. The last piston engine fighters in Burmese service, the Hawker Sea Furies, are believed to have been phased out in 1968.

  

General characteristics:

Crew: One

Length: 32 ft 6 in (9.93 m)

Wingspan: 41 ft 7 in (12.67 m)

Height: 15 ft 4 in (4.67 m)

Wing area: 279 sq ft (25.9 m²)

Airfoil: root: NACA 2219; tip: NACA 2213

Empty weight: 8,840 lb (4,010 kg)

Gross weight: 11,400 lb (5,171 kg)

Max takeoff weight: 13,250 lb (6,010 kg) with two 1,000 lb (450 kg) bombs

 

Powerplant:

1× Bristol Centaurus IV 18-cylinder air-cooled radial engine with 2,210 hp (1,648 kW) take-off

power, driving a 4-bladed Rotol constant-speed propeller

 

Performance:

Maximum speed: 412 mph (663 km/h, 358 kn) at 19,000 ft (5,800 m)

Stall speed: 88 mph (142 km/h, 76 kn)

Range: 510 mi (820 km, 440 nmi) with two 500 lb (230 kg) bombs;

690 mi (1,110 km) "clean";

1,090 mi (1,750 km) with two 45 imp gal (200 l; 54 US gal) drop tanks.[65]

Service ceiling: 35,200 ft (10,700 m)

Rate of climb: 2,740 ft/min (13.9 m/s)

Wing loading: 40.9 lb/sq ft (200 kg/m²)

Power/mass: 0.20 hp/lb (0.33 kW/kg)

 

Armament:

4× 20 mm (0.787 in) Hispano Mk II cannon in the outer wings with 200 rpg

Underwing hardpoints for 8× RP-3 unguided air-to-ground rockets,

or 2× 500 lb (230 kg) or 2× 1,000 lb (450 kg) bombs or a pair of drop tanks

  

The kit and its assembly:

The Hawker Typhoon is IMHO an overlooked WWII aircraft, and it’s also “underwiffed”. I have actually built no single Typhoon in my 45 years of model kit building - time to change that!

Inspiration was a lot of buzz in the model kit builder community after KP’s launch of several Hawker Tempest kits, with all major variants including the Sabre- and Centaurus-powered types. While the Tempest quickly outpaced the Typhoon in real life and took the glory, I wondered about a Centaurus-powered version for the SEA theatre of operations – similar to the Tempest Mk. II, which just came too late to become involved in the conflict against the Japanese forces. A similar Typhoon variant could have arrived a couple of months earlier, though.

 

Technically, this conversion is just an Academy Hawker Typhoon Mk Ib (a late variant without the “car door”, a strutless bubble canopy and a four-blade propeller) mated with the optional Centaurus front end from a Matchbox Hawker Tempest. Sounds simple, but there are subtle dimensional differences between the types/kits, and the wing roots of the Matchbox kit differ from the Academy kit, so that the engine/fuselage intersection as well as the wing roots called for some tailoring and PSR. However, the result of this transplantation stunt looked better and more natural than expected! Since I did not want to add extra fairings for air carburetor and oil cooler to the Wings (as on the Tempest), I gave the new creation a generous single fairing for both under the nose – the space between the wide landing gear wells offered a perfect location, and I used a former Spitfire radiator as donor part. The rest, including the unguided missiles under the wings was ordnance, was taken OOB, and the propeller (from the Academy kit) received an adapter consisting of styrene tubes to match it with the Matchbox kit’s engine and its opening for the propeller axis.

  

Painting and markings:

This was initially a challenge since the early Burmese aircraft were apparently kept in bare metal or painted in silver overall. This would certainly have looked interesting on a Typhoon, too – but then I found a picture of a Spitfire (UB 421) at Myanmar's Air Force Museum at Naypyidaw, which carries camouflage – I doubt that it is authentic, though, at least the colors, which markedly differ from RAF Dark Green/Dark Earth and the bright blue undersides also look rather fishy. But it was this paint scheme that I adapted for my Burmese Typhoon with Modelmaster 2027 (FS 34096, B-52 Dark Green, a rather greyish and light tone) and 2107 (French WWII Chestnut, a reddish, rich chocolate brown tone) from above and Humbrol 145 (FS 35237, USN Gray Blue) below – a less garish tone.

 

As usual, the model received a black ink washing and post-panel-shading for dramatic effect; the cockpit interior became very dark grey (Revell 06 Anthracite) while the landing gear became Medium Sea Grey (Humbrol 165), as a reminder of the former operator of the aircraft and its painting standards. The red spinner as well as the red-and-white-checkered rudder were inspired by Burmese Hawker Sea Furies, a nice contrast to the camouflage. It's also a decal, from a tabletop miniatures accessory sheet. This contrast was furthermore underlined through the bright and colorful national markings, which come from a Carpena decal sheet for exotic Spitfires, just the tactical code was changed.

 

After some signs of wear with dry-brushed silver and some graphite soot stains around the exhausts and the guns the model was sealed with matt acrylic varnish.

  

Voilà, a whiffy Hawker Typhoon – and it looks better than expected. Not only does the brawny Centaurus look good on the rather burly Typhoon, the transplantation worked out better than expected, too. However, with the radial engine the Typhoon looks even more like an Fw 190 on steroids?

 

This one is my favorite photo recently. I shot this in the golden garden beach with my friend. This fulfills the 1st requirement since I use a 1/400s which is a high shutter speed in order to capture the moment when the water of the waves freezes. In the center was my lensball. I use a 50mm/f1.8 lens on this since it was sharp enough. I also set the ISO to 100 to decrease noise points.

 

The reflection of sunlight is just amazing on the lensball. Post-processing with color editings in Lightroom and Nik-collections.

 

I took this photo with my Canon EOS Rebel T6 to fulfill Requirement 1. I found it easy to find S-curves around where I walked all week, the only thing I found difficult was capturing the entirety of the S in my frame.

While on our walkabout on Thursday, I saw this in the pathway and placed myself about ten feet from the end of the S. This particular S-curve serves as a sense of distance because we can see the decreasing thickness of the gravel path.

I think this picture can also fulfill Requirement 4 - Texture, because the grass and hay on the side of the path, and also the gravel fulfills the texture aspect.

This image satisfies requirement 3 - Panorama. For this image I used my phone to capture a panorama. It was very overcast and drizzly this day so unfortunately the sky is very washed out. I attempted to compensate for this by setting the pre-exposure/white balance level lower by focusing into a tree with sparse branches so it could try and meter near a "mid-point" between the sky and grass. This was about the best I could get while simultaneously getting the composition I wanted, the two trees to either side and the gentle downward arc of the tree line from the top two corners. In order to neither over or under expose the image I had to place the horizon near the center of the original image image, which I've cropped here to manually place lower in the frame.

Opened 1906 by St Joseph sisters as Orphanage, extensions 1912, 1917 & 1927, boys only from 1941, became Junior Boys Home 1960, closed 1980m used as aboriginal community centre 1985, closed 2019.

 

“The Sisters of St. Joseph have for some years conducted at Largs Bay a sanatorium which has been of great service to girls from the country and invalids seeking rest and quiet near the seaside. The house and grounds they occupied until recently have proved too small for their increasing requirements. Consequently the Archbishop availed himself of an opportunity of purchasing, at a very moderate figure, the fine two-story dwelling-house and extensive grounds belonging to Mrs. Harrold, and situated just opposite the Largs Pier Hotel, facing the bay. The house has ample accommodation, and the grounds which comprise nearly an acre, are nicely laid out, with gardens, summer houses, hot houses, shed, &c. The situation is an ideal one; and the Sisters are to be congratulated on the acquirement of the new home, into which they are moving this week.” [Southern Cross 5 Oct 1906]

 

“the Archbishop has established an Orphanage at Largs Bay, whither the children are sent, after they are three years old.” [Southern Cross 26 Jul 1907]

 

“St. Joseph's Sanitorium, Largs Bay. . . the beautiful building was entirely changed into a Catholic Orphanage.” [Southern Cross 13 Sep 1907]

 

“About two years ago our much esteemed and charitable Archbishop purchased, on advantageous terms, a large house and grounds, situated on the Esplanade, Largs Bay, for the Sisters of St. Joseph. The building. . . is now conducted by the Sisters as an orphanage, for which purpose it is admirably suited. . . During the past year nearly 50 orphans have been provided for at the institution, and there are 22 there at present. These have all to be fed, clothed, and educated from the very limited funds at the disposal of the Sisters.” [Southern Cross 12 Jun 1908]

 

“St. Joseph's Orphanage, Largs Bay. . . a large and flourishing garden, which supplies the whole orphanage with vegetables. The house is commodious, well furnished throughout, and beautifully situated, with every convenience for outdoor recreation, has a western, aspect, and, being on the Esplanade, commands a magnificent view of the sea. . . There are facilities for sea bathing.” [Register 14 Oct 1908]

 

“Largs Bay. . . Since the orphanage had been established 234 children had gone through the institution. At present 74 orphans were in residence.” [Advertiser 20 May 1912]

 

“A handsomely built schoolroom, well lighted, well ventilated, and with plenty of accommodation, has just been completed at the rear of the Sisters of St. Joseph's Orphanage, at Largs Bay.” [Daily Herald 21 May 1912]

 

“Archbishop Spence will bless and open the new wing of St. Joseph's Orphanage, Largs Bay. . . The children under the care of the little Band of sisters of St. Joseph at Largs Bay now number 100. For a long time this faithful band of seven sisters have had to contend with great disabilities owing to the lack of a laundry and proper kitchen. . . For years and years washing had to be done out in the yard, as there was no laundry. . . Children of all classes and creeds are admitted. . . From early when the bell rings at half-past 5 o'clock, till 8 o'clock, when it rings again for prayers, the work of training, teaching, mending, and sewing goes on, in addition to the ordinary household tasks. . . The girls are taught sewing and domestic duties. . . Any special talents or gifts they may have are fostered, and Mr. Meegan, the violinist, in giving his services as a voluntary instructor, has quite a promising little orchestra in full rehearsal. . . The children wear no uniform, nor is their hair cropped. . . There is no State aid, in spite of the fact that the Government would have to provide for all the children of our orphanages if the good Sisters decided to shut their doors. . . The new wing which adjoins the refectory consists of two stories, the low portion comprising kitchen and laundry and the upper part a large dormitory to hold 40 beds, with a large balcony. The Sisters would be grateful for any assistance in furnishing the dormitory, and any one providing one bed or more will be doing something that will be especially pleasing.” [Southern Cross 9 Nov 1917]

 

“Dr. R. W: Spence (Archbishop of Adelaide) will lay the foundation stone of the extensions at St. Joseph's Orphanage at the corner of the Esplanade and Harrold Street, Largs Bay, on Sunday afternoon. The new building, which has been designed by Messrs. Woods, Bagot, Jory, and Laybourne-Smith, architects. . . will link up the two existing buildings on the site. The wing will be constructed entirely of brick. . . On the ground floor provision has been made for several classrooms and sewing rooms. . . [and a] large and well-ventilated recreation room. . . On the upper floor there will be four large dormitories.” [Port Adelaide News 11 Mar 1927]

 

“In 1903 the Sisters of St. Joseph opened a small sanatorium at Largs Bay, and .three years later, feeling the need of an orphanage there, they approached the late Archbishop O'Reilly on the subject. They wished to take children at the sanatorium, but the Archbishop said they must have a larger house and grounds. As a result in 1906 a house was purchased at a cost of £2600, Later smother building was secured, together with a large area of land. The two buildings were afterwards connected by the new wing and other additions were made.” [Southern Cross 30 Nov 1928]

 

“St. Joseph’s Orphanage, Largs Bay. . . the Archbishop of Adelaide (Most Rev. Dr. M. Beovich blessed and opened additions, including a large balcony, on the two-storied dormitory section.” [Advertiser 6 May 1940]

 

“Under the new arrangement, the good Nuns will still have care of the girls and the small boys, while the bigger boys will be handed over to the Brothers of St. John the Baptist in their new institution at Brooklyn Park.” [Southern Cross 6 Jun 1941]

 

“Largs Bay Largs Bay. . . a sports day will be held in the orphanage grounds. The programme will consist of a physical culture display by the boys, followed by competitive house events. The Boys' Town Band will render items during the afternoon. . . It is many years since an event of this kind has been held at the orphanage. . . Charge of admission will be 1/-.” [Southern Cross 28 Jul 1950]

 

“We, the boys of Largs Bay Orphanage, wish to convey our greetings for Christmas and New Year to our many friends who have remembered us throughout the year, to the various clubs and societies who have been to us a Father Christmas all the year. The sisters join with us in saying to one and all a sincere ‘Thank You’.” [Messenger, Port Adelaide 23 Dec 1954]

 

I took this photo in auto mode with flash. For the lighting, I just used one single light in the ceiling above the piano to imitate a spotlight. I honestly had a little bit of trouble with this requirement because I had difficulty taking a decent picture I liked with the flash. In photoshop, I changed the brightness, saturation, and exposure. With the lighting and flash, the subject's face ended up looking really discolored and orange on the top half of the face. I tried to decrease the orangeness by adding a blue filter to the top half of the face in photoshop.

www.trestons.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Need-for-Spee...

Need for Speed System requirements for PC version announced

www.trestons.com/2016/02/20/gaming/need-for-speed-system-...

Testing the process of installing RTMs into the final cryostat assembly. In this process, a combination of mechanical RTMs as well as engineering grade RTMs (fully functional RTMs with CCD sensors that don’t quite meet science requirements) were used. (Travis Lange/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory)

What would become arguably the most successful fighter aircraft since World War II started modestly, and like many late 20th-Century fighter designs, as a result of lessons learned in the Vietnam War. Among those lessons was that large, heavy fighters were not always the answer: the F-4 Phantom II, while a superlative aircraft, had often found itself outclassed by smaller, more nimble North Vietnamese MiG-17s and MiG-21s. The call for the US Air Force to develop its own lightweight fighter was spearheaded by fighter pilot and air combat theorist John Boyd. At first, Boyd’s proposals were dismissed by the USAF, who feared losing funding for the F-15 Eagle then in development. Boyd and others were able to convince the USAF of the usefulness of a light, cheap fighter as a complement to the heavy, expensive F-15, and finally the USAF agreed to issue a requirement for a Lightweight Fighter (LWF)—though with no guarantee that it would actually buy it.

 

Both General Dynamics and Northrop responded with designs, which would become the YF-16 and YF-17 Cobra. The first YF-16 was rolled out in December 1973, and first flew in January of the next year—accidentally, as the prototype veered off the runway and the test pilot felt it safer to takeoff rather than try to steer it back. The YF-16 won the flyoff against the YF-17, and the USAF selected it to go into service as the F-16 Fighting Falcon. Simultaneously, the YF-16 won a flyoff for the Multinational Fighter; the MNF was planned to be the successor to a number of aircraft in NATO service, and the competition between the YF-16, YF-17, France’s Mirage F.1M, and the SEPECAT Jaguar was fierce. Once selected, production of the F-16 would be vastly expanded, with it not only being produced in the United States, but also in the Netherlands and Belgium as well (to be followed later by Turkey and South Korea). In a short time, the F-16 had come a long way.

 

Production F-16s differed from the prototype by being slightly larger and heavier, though the initial production batch retained the “small tail” tailplanes of the prototype. Though heftier than the prototype, the F-16 retained the basis of Boyd’s ideal lightweight fighter: it was extremely maneuverable, to the point that a number of early F-16s crashed as the aircraft could take more than the pilot. Its maneuverability is due both to a favorable thrust-weight ratio and its deliberately unstable design: the F-16 was one of the first fighters to employ a wholly-fly-by-wire control system, with the hydraulic controls of older fighters being replaced by microprocessors controlled by a central computer. The microprocessors are able to make the dozens of decisions per second required by the design. For this reason, the F-16 is also known as the “Electric Jet.” General Dynamics had attempted to mitigate these effects on the pilot by reclining the ejection seat backwards and moving the control stick to the side. The pilot also has superb visibility due to the F-16’s bubble canopy.

 

The Fighting Falcon’s baptism of fire would not take long. Israel, which had been among the first to purchase the F-16, scored the type’s first air-to-air kill over Lebanon in 1981, as well as its first significant strike mission, the raid on Iraq’s Osirak reactor. In the following year, Israeli F-16s scored possibly as many as 30 victories over Syrian MiGs during the 1982 Lebanon War. Pakistani F-16s were to see limited action during the Soviet-Afghan War, shooting down 10 Afghani and Soviet aircraft that strayed into Pakistan’s airspace. For the United States, the F-16 would see its first action in the First Gulf War, though here the USAF used the Falcon’s large payload in strike missions; USAF F-16s saw no aerial action during this conflict.

 

By the early 1990s, the USAF relegated its F-16A models to the Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve, reequipping its units with later mark F-16Cs. Many of the ANG’s F-16As were upgraded to ADF standard. The last USAF F-16A left service around 2000; aircraft not placed in storage at AMARC in Arizona have been sold to other nations, while some are scheduled for conversion to QF-16 drones.

 

F-16As are among the most prolific fighters in the world, in service worldwide, flown by ten nations, three of which are in NATO. These aircraft (save those flown by Venezuela) have been significantly upgraded to F-16 MLU (Mid-Life Upgrade) standard, making them equivalent to F-16Cs. Besides Israeli and Pakistani kills in the type, a Dutch F-16AM shot down a Serbian MiG-29 during the Kosovo War in 1999. Other NATO F-16AMs have seen service over Bosnia, Kosovo, and Afghanistan. These older models of F-16s will remain in service until probably 2020 at least, to be replaced by the F-35A Lightning II.

 

This is obviously not an "accurate" F-16A, but one of Hasegawa's parody "Eggplanes"--a chibi (baby) version of the F-16. Hasegawa began putting these out in the 1970s, and recently began reissuing them, along with newer aircraft. I started building these for fun, but wanted to do something a little different from the norm--so I did a 120th Fighter Wing (Montana ANG) F-16. The buffalo skull tail logo is hand-painted, along with the "Montana" tail stripe. The decals are from the kit; the real 80-0486 served with the 8th TFW at Kunsan, South Korea, and was the first F-16 deployed there. It wears standard F-16 camoufalge of gunship gray and light ghost gray, along with two (albeit stubby) AIM-9 Sidewinders.

 

This one was fun, but later I would just paint out the canopy.

The Class of 2023 completes their Affirmation Ceremony and commits to their Active Duty requirement in the Army. (U.S. Army Photo by CDT Alexa Zammit)

Not long after the F-4C Phantom II entered USAF service in the early 1960s, the service issued a requirement for a heavy, all-missile equipped interceptor with variable-sweep wings and a top speed of nearly Mach 3. This requirement was soon cancelled, however, due to two events: the Vietnam War and the flight of the Soviet MiG-25 Foxbat. Over North Vietnam, the heavy, all-missile F-4 had found itself at a disadvantage against smaller, lighter, gun-equipped MiG-17s, while the new Foxbat was erroneously thought to be a generation ahead of anything then in American service, both agile and capable of Mach 3 performance.

 

The USAF changed its requirement to a lighter aircraft that would include an internal gun, with an emphasis on performance; it rejected a Grumman proposal for a land-based version of the F-14 Tomcat as being too heavy. The new F-X proposal did away with maintenance-intensive swing wings in favor of a more conventional, easier to repair and produce fighter with a high thrust-to-weight ratio and superb performance in the vertical, once more drawing on the Vietnam experience, where North Vietnamese fighters had performed poorly in vertical maneuvers. Almost as much emphasis was given to the F-X’s radar, which had to have look-down, shoot-down capability—another failure of American technology over Vietnam. McDonnell Douglas’ twin-tailed proposal won the F-X competition, despite being roughly the same weight as a F-4E Phantom II, and more expensive; demands for lighter and less expensive fighters as an alternative to this new YF-15 Eagle led to the development of the F-16 Fighting Falcon and F/A-18 Hornet.

 

The first F-15 flew in July 1972 and immediately exhibited superb flight characteristics: for its size, which was slightly larger than a F-4, it was very agile. The combination of powerful turbofan engines and thrust-to-weight ratio made the F-15 one of the first fighters to be able to accelerate in a climb, rather than lose speed. Like the F-4, it used a mix of conformal-fuselage mounted AIM-7 Sparrows and wing rail-mounted AIM-9 Sidewinders, but unlike the F-4, the F-15 was built from the start with an internal 20mm gatling cannon. From a fighter pilot’s standpoint, the best part of the F-15, aside from its phenomenal performance, was the bubbletop canopy, set forward from the wide fuselage, giving superb all-around visibility.

 

The cost of the F-15 was brought into question, especially after the defection of a MiG-25 pilot in 1975 revealed that the Foxbat was nowhere near as capable as originally thought, but this only led the USAF to go with a mix of the F-15 and the less expensive F-16, which would prove to be superb “stablemates” in the decades to come. F-15As entered USAF service in 1976. Almost immediately, the F-15A was supplemented and supplanted by the F-15C, which introduced improved avionics, engines, and radar; F-15As underwent the Multi-Stage Improvement Program (MSIP) beginning in 1983, which rendered them basically identical to F-15Cs, and the two types are indistinguishable externally. The F-15 was also developed into the F-15E Strike Eagle attack aircraft, described separately.

 

Though the F-15 was costly, the F-14 Tomcat was even more expensive, and so Israel chose the Eagle as the replacement for the Mirage III in 1978. Not long after the first Israel F-15As became operational, the Eagle scored its first kills over Syrian MiG-21s in 1979. This was to begin the F-15’s excellent combat record: during the 1982 Lebanon War, Israeli F-15s added 40 more kills over MiG-21s, MiG-23 Floggers, and MiG-25s; Saudi Arabia, which had received F-15s in 1981, added two Iranian F-4Es in 1984.

 

The F-15’s shining moment was during the First Gulf War with Iraq in 1991. Eagles had been among the first aircraft deployed to the Gulf region in what was, at the time, the longest deployment ever undertaken by fighters—a grueling 14-hour flight from Langely AFB, Virginia, to Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, soon after Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait in August 1990. The Eagle fleet, which included Saudi F-15Cs, was added to during Operation Desert Shield; when Desert Storm was unleashed in January 1991, F-15s were in the vanguard, their target the Iraqi Air Force. Over the next six weeks, F-15s achieved air supremacy over Iraq, scoring 34 kills over mostly MiG-23s and MiG-29s, while the Saudis added two Mirage F.1s to the total. Four Yugoslavian MiG-29s fell to F-15 missiles in 1999, bringing the F-15’s tally to 105 kills to date during its career: in return, no F-15s have been lost in aerial combat.

 

The F-15 Eagle remains the backbone of the USAF’s fighter community, despite suffering from a shortage of parts in the late 1990s and increasing age. F-15s have been updated to carry the AIM-120 AMRAAM and AIM-9X, while Israeli F-15s carry a mix of the AMRAAM and the deadly Python IV helmet-guided missile. The F-22 Raptor was meant to wholly replace the F-15, but the cancellation of further F-22 production in 2010 has, as of this writing, left a gap between F-22s in service and F-15s needing to be replaced. As a result, the F-15C may remain in service as late as 2025, with about 70 being updated as “Legacy Eagles”—these aircraft are receiving the same AESA advanced radar as the F-22. Boeing (which absorbed McDonnell Douglas) has also offered an advanced variant of the F-15, the so-called “Silent Eagle” that incorporates features of the F-22 into the F-15E airframe, which is still in production. F-15s also continue to serve with Israel, Saudi Arabia, and Japan. Though getting aged by fighter standards, F-15s will be around for a long time to come.

 

F-15D 85-0133's history is a bit murky, but it is known that it originally flew with the 33rd Tactical Fighter Wing at Eglin AFB, Florida in the 1980s. In the 1990s, it may have been reassigned to the 102nd Fighter Wing (Massachusetts ANG) at Otis ANGB--by 2011, the other Massachusetts ANG unit, the 104th FW at Barnes ANGB, absorbed the 102nd's F-15s, and 85-0133 may have been one of them. In 2016, the aircraft made the trip across the United States to its present home, the 173rd FW (Oregon ANG) at Klamath Falls. There, 85-0133 serves as a lead-in trainer for ANG F-15 pilots.

 

Sad to say, I got a bad angle on this shot and ended up getting a terrible sun glare on 85-0133. As a result, this isn't the most flattering look at the aircraft. It is painted in "Mod Eagle" camouflage and arrived at the Wings Over the Falls airshow clean, with only travel pods under the wings.

MTA Metro-North President Catherine Rinaldi and Long Island Rail Road President Phil Eng are joined by Bike New York President Ken Podziba and Alzheimer’s Association Vice President of Development Joanne Luciano in Grand Central Terminal on Thu., August 12, 2021 to announce the elimination of the need for bike permits on MTA railroads. The change will officially go into effect on September 7, but permits will be waived for the Five Boro Bike Tour on August 22.

 

(Marc A. Hermann / MTA)

Patent drawing requirements to secure scholarly and item property, most are not actually sure how they work.

Read more at thepatentdrawingsfirm.com/how-does-a-patent-work/

This was taken on Bellevue street around midnight. Due to the current condition, the street was super empty and quiet with little to no traffic, which made it easier to do photography from many different angles. For this photo, I chose red to be the main color and desaturated all other colors. We could only see the color pop up from the umbrella in the bottom right corner, from the stop street lights, or hidden somewhere in the store signs.

 

For the setting, I set the aperture at f/4.0 and shutter speed at 4s to capture enough light, with the ISO at 100 to make the photo look smoother. All color desaturation was done in Lightroom.

 

I took this photo with my Canon EOS Rebel T6 to fulfill Requirement 2. I found this assignment to be particularly difficult, because I didn't know how to take a high quality picture in the dark. In this picture, it was completely dark outside except for some mild lights coming from my house to the right, and a faint light in the horizon. I set the shutter speed to 30, sat my camera on a tripod, set a timer for 2 seconds, and shot the picture towards my greenhouse. The picture turned out a lot brighter than I anticipated, especially in the sky where it was practically black. I thought it was cool, because this picture makes it look like it's early in the morning, when in reality it's around 9 or 10 at night.

Not much of a photo, but when you go to Vogel, it is a requirement to walk down to the Lake Trahlyta dam and shoot Blood Mountain (in the distance)...

 

The leaves are late in turning this year, because it's been so warm (even in Pennsylvania they are late). Contrary to what the stupid media says about the drought affecting leaf color, I think it's as gorgeous as ever....

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

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

  

Some background:

In March 1968, in response to the British announcement that it would withdraw its armed forces from the Persian Gulf, Qatar set up armed forces, creating the Qatar Public Security Forces Air Wing (renamed into the Qatar Emiri Air Force in 1974), equipped with two Westland Whirlwind helicopters. In 1971, it acquired a serious combat capability when it purchased three Hawker Hunter jet fighters and, in 1972, four Folland Gnat trainers. All these aircraft were ex-RAF aircraft, both types remained in use until 1981.

 

The Gnat trainer, modified to conform with the RAF’s requirements of Specification T.185D, which had called for an advanced two-seat trainer aircraft that could transition pilots between the current de Havilland Vampire T 11 and operational fighters, conducted its maiden flight from Chilbolton airfield, Hampshire.

Compared with the initial single seat fighter model the trainer model featured several changes, including the adoption of a new wing with additional fuel capacity, which in turn allowed for more internal space within the fuselage to be allocated for additional equipment. A more powerful variant of the Orpheus engine was also used, while the length of the forward fuselage area was increased, and the tail surfaces were enlarged. The inboard ailerons of the fighter variant were reconfigured to an arrangement of outboard ailerons and conventional flaps.

 

On 7 January 1958, an initial contract for the RAF was issued. The Ministry did not place a full production order at first, as they were concerned about the size and ability of the company to take on a large order. Following the take-over of Folland by Hawker Siddeley Aviation (becoming the Hamble division), more and more orders for 30, 20 and 41 trainers were placed between February 1960 and March 1962, receiving the designation Gnat T Mk. 1.

 

The final Gnat T.1 for the RAF was delivered in May 1965, and retirement already started in the mid-Seventies. Most of the retired Gnats were eventually re-grouped at No. 1 School of Technical Training at RAF Halton and other training establishments to be used as ground training airframes, but a few aircraft in good condition were set aside and earmarked to be sold to friendly nations - like Qatar.

 

The revamped Qatari Gnat trainers received slightly more powerful Orpheus 703 turbojets (in order to compensate for the higher ambient temperatures in the Gulf region), updated avionics and improved Martin-Baker GF4 ejection seats.

In order to conduct armed training, these machines were furthermore retrofitted with two extra underwing pylons for light loads (e. g. training bombs, 7.62 mm machine gun pods or light pods with seven unguided air-to-ground missiles), the inner pair of hardpoints remained primarily reserved for the Gnat’s characteristic slipper tanks, since the internal fuel capacity remained unchanged and very limited. Additionally, all machines received gun cameras in fairings under the forward fuselage.

 

The modified machines received the official designation Gnat T.11 and were, after the ferry flight via Luqa, Malta, handed over on 24th of September 1974 and attached to the 1st Fighter Wing at Doha, which also operated Qatar’s Hunter fleet.

 

The Qatari air force began a major expansion in 1979 when it ordered six Alpha Jet trainer/light attack aircraft as replacements for the ageing and rather limited Gnats, and partly also for the Hunters. Delivery and transition was slow, though, and the Gnats soldiered on in their advanced trainer role until 1981.

 

The Alpha Jets order was soon followed by orders for 14 Mirage F1 supersonic jet fighters in 1980, which were delivered between 1980-84, and considerably improved the small air arm’s capabilities. Twelve Gazelle helicopters, armed with HOT anti-tank missiles were received from 1983. Also in 1983, the air force took over the Qatar Police Air Wing.

  

General characteristics:

Crew: 2

Length: 9.69 m (31 ft 9 in)

Wingspan: 7.32 m (24 ft)

Height: 2.94 m (9 ft 7.5 in)

Wing area: 16,3 m² (175 ft²)

Empty weight: 2,333 kg (5,140 lbs. lb)

Max. takeoff weight: 3,918 kg (8,630 lb)

 

Powerplant:

1× Bristol Siddeley Orpheus 703-01 turbojet, rated at 4,850 lbf (21.57 kN)

 

Performance:

Maximum speed: Advertised with 636 mph (1.023 km/h//Mach 0.95) at 31.000 ft,

but the aircraft was actually capable of approximately Mach 1.3

Range: 501 mi.(806 km) on internal fuel only,

1,151 miles (1.853 km) with two 300-liter underwing tanks

Service ceiling: : 48,000 ft. (14,650 m)

 

Armament:

No internal gun; up to 1985 lb (900 kg) of external stores on four underwing hardpoints

  

The kit and its assembly:

This whiffy Gnat trainer is a bit of a follow-up to the Omani Supermarine Swift I have built some time ago. I had some spare Qatar air force decals in the stash and wondered what to do with them – after all, it’s an exotic operator, leaving much room for fantasy creations.

 

When I did some legwork concerning the air force’s origins, I found reference for the Hunters, but thought that the young air force could also have used some trainers? The neat Airfix Vampire T.11 (recently abused for my Mystery Jet build) would have been an option, but, looking at the model’s intended time frame, I deemed the light Gnat T.1 to be the more suitable option – and so I chose the new Airfix Gnat T.1 as basis.

 

The kit was built OOB, and it has nice details. Fit is basically good, but I wonder why this small and simple aircraft model must have such a complicated mould, and why small and delicate parts have to feature such huge and massive sprue attachment points so that getting them off of the sprue and/or cleaning them bears serious hazards of breaking them?

 

Mods were few: some lead in the model’s nose had to be added, the pitot was trimmed down considerably, since the OOB part is rather massive and has virtually no taper, and the canopy was cut into two pieces for open display.

The only “personal” addition are two small extra pylons under the outer wings (from a Heller SEPECAT Jaguar), with bright blue training bombs attached (the four pairs that come with the Matchbox Westland Lysander).

  

Painting and markings:

The more interesting part, even though the scheme and the colors are RAF standard: Light Stone and Dark Earth, coupled with Azure Blue undersides. For the upper tones I referred to the scheme on Finnish Gnat and used Humbrol 94 and 29 while the undersides were painted with Humbrol 89 (Middle Blue); there’s an RAF Azure Blue available (Humbrol 157), but I find it pretty dark, esp. for small scales, and much too “red”. Real world pictures of the Qatari Hunters suggest a more greenish, deep sky blue tone, and 89 comes IMHO pretty close.

 

Since the Qatari aircraft were generally kept in excellent condition, only light shading was done after a black ink washing – more for the dramatic effect than for true weathering. The only deviation from the standard camouflage scheme is the light grey dorsal section. I also considered some day-glo orange quick ID markings on wings and fin, but eventually stayed with the basic paint scheme and markings – the aircraft is so small, I did not want visual overkill.

 

The decals come from several sources: basic markings come from a Qatari alpha Jet from the Carpena “Gulf Air Power” decal set and a Mirage F.1C sheet from FFSMC Productions. The tactical code “QA 25” was created from single decal letters (TL Modellbau), the stencils were mostly taken from the Airfix OOB sheet. Everything pretty “down to earth”.

 

Finally, the kit was sealed with a semi-matt acrylic varnish.

  

A Gnat in desert colors looks somewhat strange when you are used to the Red Arrows or the RAF’s red and white trainers. Anyway, I like the result – also because of the rather exotic Qatari markings, which are raising eyebrows by themselves. But the combo “works”, IMHO. :D

 

This satisfies requirement three because of the hanging chimes dangling on the tree. Because of the shutter and aperture setting, I was able to grab a clear, bright photo of the chime. Because of the 3-D structure of the chime, the sunlight gave a perfect glare on the left side of the chimes developing dimension and structure. I loved how the chime was made out of glass so the audience can see the spherical shapes. The flowers also gave more 3-D elements within the photo due to the shadows and mixture of dark pink and lighter pink on the flowers.

+++ 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:

In the aftermath of the Second World War, Britain identified a threat posed by the jet-powered strategic bomber and atomic weaponry and thus placed a great emphasis on developing aerial supremacy through continuing to advance its fighter technology, even following the end of conflict. Blackburn Aircraft responded to a 1947 Air Ministry requirement for a high-performance night fighter under Air Ministry specification F.44/46. The specification called for a two-seat night fighter that would intercept enemy aircraft at heights of up to at least 40,000 feet. It would also have to reach a maximum speed of no less than 525 kn at this height, be able to perform rapid ascents and attain an altitude of 45,000 feet within ten minutes of engine ignition.

 

Additional criteria given in the requirement included a minimum flight endurance of two hours, a takeoff distance of 1,500 yards, structural strength to support up to 4g manoeuvers at high speed and for the aircraft to incorporate airborne interception radar, multi-channel VHF radio and various navigational aids. The aircraft would also be required to be economical to produce, at a rate of ten per month for an estimated total of 150 aircraft.

 

Blackburn produced several design proposals in the hope of satisfying the requirement. B.47, drawn up in 1946, was essentially a two-seat Meteor with slightly swept wings. A similar design was also offered to the Royal Navy as the B.49. The later-issued B.76 and B.77 of early 1947 had adopted many of the features that would be distinctive of the later Barghest, including the large, swept wings and the engine nacelles moved to the wing roots, integrated into the fuselage. The two projects differed primarily in role: P.76 was a single-seat day fighter with a V-tail, while P.77 was a two-seat night fighter with a radar and a mid-mounted tail plane.

 

The RAF requirements were subject to some changes, mainly in regards to radar equipment and armaments. Blackburn also initiated some changes, as further research was conducted into the aerodynamic properties of the new swept wings and tail surfaces. For propulsion, the new Armstrong Siddeley Sapphire turbojet engine was chosen and the airframe adapted accordingly.

 

On 13 April 1949 the Ministry of Supply issued instructions to three aircraft manufacturers, Blackburn, Gloster and de Havilland, to each construct four airworthy prototypes of their competing designs to meet the requirement, as well as one airframe each for structural testing. These prototype aircraft were the Gloster GA.5, designed by Richard Walker, the de Havilland DH.110, which held the advantage of also being under consideration for the Royal Navy (and became the Sea Vixen), and the Blackburn B.87, which was a refined B.77 with a slimmed-down fuselage and a swept T-tail.

 

The development of all of these designs was considerably delayed through political cost-cutting measures, the number of prototypes being trimmed down to an unworkable level of two each before the decision was entirely reversed! The B.87 was soon christened Barghest and first prototype was structurally completed in 1951. Following a month of ground testing the first prototype conducted its first flight on 26 November 1951 and the second prototype followed in February 1952 (and was in 1953 used for aerodynamic tests that led to the improved Mk. 3, see below). The third prototype, and the first to be fitted with operational equipment including radar and weapons, first flew on 7 March 1953. The fourth airframe was passed to the Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment (A&AEE) in August 1953 for trials.

 

The original Barghest all-weather fighter was equipped with a British AI.17 radar and powered by two Sapphire Sa.5 engines without afterburner, delivering 6,500 lbf (28.91 kN) thrust each. The aircraft did not have built-in weapons, but could carry various weapon packages in a spacious, ventral weapon bay. Options included a tray with four 30 mm ADEN cannon, three retractable pods with a total of 70 unguided Microcell 2 in (51mm) missiles, or a recoilless 4.5 in gun with 7 rounds in a drum magazine, even though this huge weapon, intended against incoming bomber formations at high altitude, never made it beyond the prototype stage and ground tests. Furthermore, four underwing hardpoints could carry drop tanks (on the inner pair of pylons only), bombs or unguided SNEB rocket pods for a total load of 4.000 lb (1.814 kg).

 

The official production order for the Barghest was issued in mid-1953, together with the Gloster GA.5, which became the Javelin – an unusual decision, but the need for an operational all-weather fighter was so dire that two types were procured at the same time in order to fill the defense gaps as quickly as possible and to have a fall back option at hand immediately. While some delays were incurred, the Barghest's status as a "super priority" for production helped to minimize the time involved in producing each aircraft. Production was assisted by a large order placed by the United States Air Force, purchasing aircraft for the RAF as part of the Mutual Defense Aid Program.

 

On 22 July 1954 the first production aircraft took flight at Leeds, and the Barghest F(AW).1 entered service with the RAF in 1956 with 46 Squadron based at RAF Odiham, England. The Barghests were immediately put to use in an intensive flying program, to rapidly familiarize crews with the type. In order to assist conversion training, twelve machines from the initial production batch were converted into dual control trainers. They lacked the radar equipment and were designated T.2.

 

The introduction of the Barghest allowed the RAF to expand its night-fighter activity considerably. During RAF trials, the type proved readily capable of intercepting jet bombers such as the English Electric Canberra and modern jet fighters, over a hundred miles out to sea, and the Barghest turned out to be quite an agile aircraft with good flying characteristics, despite its size. By the end of July 1959, all remaining Meteor squadrons had been converted to the Barghest and the Javelin.

 

After an initial production batch of 48 F(AW).1 fighters and a dozen T.2 trainers, the upgraded F(AW).3 was introduced in October 1956, which featured several changes and improvements. The biggest external change was the introduction of a modified wing with a dog tooth (tested on the 2nd prototype from 1953 onwards), which enhanced airflow and handling at high speed. Furthermore, the tailplane was modified so that either the rudders could be operated at slow speed or, alternatively, the whole stabilizer at high speed. A bulbous aerodynamic fairing on the fin’s top held the more complicated mechanism.

The Barghest F(AW).3 was furthermore equipped with a more capable AI.22 radar (actually a U.S.-made Westinghouse AN/APQ-43 radar) and it was able to carry up to four IR-guided Firestreak AAMs on pylons under the wings, what significantly improved the aircraft's interceptor capabilities. The aircraft now featured a total of six hardpoints, even though the new, outermost pylons could only carry a single Firestreak missile each. The ventral weapon bay was retained, but, typically, only the pack of four Aden cannon was carried.

 

In order to cope with a higher all-up weight and improve overall performance, the F(AW).3 was powered by Sapphire Sa.6 engines, which delivered 23% more thrust and were recognizable by enlarged air intakes of oval shape instead of the original, circular orifices. Stronger engines with afterburners could not be mounted, though – their addition would have required a severe structural change to the aircraft’s rear fuselage, and this lack of development potential eventually favored the Barghest’s rival, the Gloster Javelin.

 

Beyond newly produced F(AW).3 airframes, most F(AW).1s were eventually upgraded to this standard, and a further twelve F(AW).1s were modified into trainers. All T.2 aircraft received the wing and tail upgrade, but retained the weaker Sapphire Sa.5s, and their designation was eventually changed into T.4.

 

Due to its higher development potential, the Gloster Javelin overshadowed the Barghest during its relatively short career. The last Barghest fighter was already withdrawn from service in 1966, with a total of 125 airframes having been produced, while the Javelin, produced in more than 420 units, kept on serving until 1968. Both types were replaced by the Mach 2-capable BAC Lightning interceptor.

However, the experience gathered from the Barghest's early development was successfully used by Blackburn during the Buccaneer development process for the Royal Navy in the mid-Fifties.

  

General characteristics:

Crew: two

Length: 54 ft in (16,49 m)

Wingspan: 40 ft 7 in (12.38 m)

Wing area: 514.7 ft² (47.82 m²)

Height: 14 ft 9 in (4,50 m)

Empty weight: 19,295 lb (8,760 kg)

Gross weight: 29,017 lb (13,174 kg)

Max takeoff weight: 34,257 lb (15,553 kg)

 

Powerplant:

2× Armstrong Siddeley Sapphire Sa.6 engines with 8,000 lbf (35.6 kN) thrust each

 

Performance:

Maximum speed: 606 kn (697 mph; 1,122 km/h) at sea level

Range: 954 mi (1,530 km)

Service ceiling: 52,800 ft (15,865 m)

Rate of climb: 7,000 ft/min (35.6 m/s)

Wing loading: 66 lb/ft² (325 kg/m²)

Thrust/weight: 0.56

 

Armament:

Ventral weapon bay, typically carrying 4× 30 mm (0.79 in) ADEN revolver cannon with 180 RPG;

alternatively, three retractable packs with a total of 70 unguided Microcell 2 in (51mm) missiles

could be carried;

Six underwing hardpoints (The outer pair of pylons could only carry Firestreak AAMs) for a total

ordnance of 4.000 lb (1.814 kg), including up to 4× Firestreak IR-guided AAMs, drop tanks on the

inner pair of pylons, or unguided bombs and SNEB missile pods.

   

The kit and its assembly:

This kitbash model originally started as an early Fifties all-weather fighter for the Royal Navy, and the idea was a Gloster Meteor night fighter fuselage mated with the engines and swept wings from a Blackburn Buccaneer. However, things change and evolve as ideas turn into hardware (for another submission to the 2018 “RAF Centenary” Group Build at whatifmodelers.com), and so this project gradually transformed into an all-weather fighter for the Royal Air Force, as a rival to the Gloster Javelin, and some other fundamental changes to the original plan as things evolved on the work bench.

 

Work started with a Matchbox Gloster Meteor, from which the fuselage (incl. the NF.14 cockpit with its bubble canopy) and tail cone (w/o fin, though) were taken OOB. Then a Matchbox Buccaneer donated its nose cone and the engine pods, together with the inner wing sections. An initial attempt to use the Buccaneer’s fin and stabilizer was made, but it did not work at all (looked horrible and totally unbalanced!). Instead, I used a leftover fin from a Revell 1:200 Concorde because of its retro shape and depth, and waited for the stabilizers until the wings were mounted, so that size, position and proportions would become clearer.

The nose cone had to be squashed, because its OOB oval diameter would not go onto the circular Meteor front end without problems and major PSR. With some force from a vice and internal stabilization through 2C putty the shape could be successfully modified, though, and blended into the fuselage contours. Looks pretty good and fast!

 

Once the engine nacelles were in place, I initially tried the Buccaneer’s OOB outer wings, but I was not really happy with the look. Their shape did not look “right”, they were a bit too large and just very Buccaneer-esque. After a donor bank safari I found a leftover sprue with wings and stabilizers from a Matchbox Hawker Hunter, and after some measurements and trials I found that they could be quite easily adapted to the Buccaneer’s inner wing stubs, even though this called for more serious surgery and PSR work. The latter was also necessary in order to blend the engine nacelles into the slender Meteor fuselage – messy, but feasible.

 

Alas, one challenge leads to the next one: Once in place, the massive engines created a ventral gap, due to the Meteor’s slender tail section. This was eventually filled with the Matchbox Buccaneer’s extra fuel bomb bay door, simply cut away from the kit, trimmed down and transplanted between the engine nacelles. As a side benefit, its bulged shape would now simulate a fairing for a ventral gun pack, somewhat similar to the CF-100’s arrangement. More PSR ensued, though, and between and around the jet exhausts the fuselage had to be fully re-sculpted.

 

The stabilizers also caused some headaches. With the new Hunter swept wings tips, I also needed new, matching stabilizers. I eventually used the Hunter stabilizers from the surplus Matchbox kit sprue. At first I tried to mate them with a shortened central fairing from the Buccaneer, but this did work even less than the whole Bucc tail, and so I scratched a more slender central fairing for the T-tail on top of the Concorde fin from a piece of sprue. Even though the Hunter stabilizers turned out to look a bit diminutive, I stuck with them since they complement the wing shape so well.

 

The benefit of the Buccaneer engine nacelles is that they come with proper landing gear wells, so that only the landing gear had to be improvises and adapted to the new aircraft and its proportions. I wanted to use the Meteor landing gear, but this turned out to be much too short! So I replaced the front wheel with a respective part from a Matchbox Buccaneer. The main wheels from the Meteor kit were retained, but they had to be extended - with a 5mm styrene tube “plug”, which is, thankfully, well hidden behind the covers.

 

Others small changes/additions are ejection seats in the cockpit instead of the Meteor bucket seats, the jet exhausts were drilled open and an interior was added, and some antennae were placed on the aircraft’s hull.

 

The ordnance was to reflect a typical late Fifties RAF fighter, and so the Barghest received a pair of drop tanks (from a Heller SEPECAT Jaguar, with simplified fins) and a pair of Firestreak AAMs (from a Matchbox BAC Lightning) on a pair of launch rails from an Academy MiG-23.

  

Colors and markings:

As per usual, I rather keep complicated whiffs visually simple, so I used the standard RAF scheme of Dark Green/Dark Sea Grey/Light Aircraft Grey on the Barghest, with the Buccaneer’s typical pattern as benchmark. Humbrol enamels (163, 164 and 166) were used for basic painting.

The cockpit interior became Tar Black (Revell 06), while the landing gear and its respective wells were painted in Aluminum (Humbrol 56). The kit received a light black ink washing and mild post-shading – more for a dramatic than a weathering effect, since RAF machines in the Fifties looked very tidy and clean.

The drop tanks received camouflage and the Firestreaks became white, while their clear seeker cones were painted with a mix of silver and translucent blue. The IR sensors were created with thin decal stripes.

 

The decals come primarily from an Xtradecal BAC Lightning sheet (roundels and 19 Sq. markings – the squadron badges are unfortunately quite large, since they belong to a NMF aircraft), most stencils and the tactical code come from an Airfix Venom trainer and an Italeri Tornado.

 

Finally, the kit was sealed with a matt acrylic varnish, a mix of matt and little semi-gloss Italeri varnish, for a sheen finish.

  

A true kitbashing, made from many well-known RAF ingredients and a disturbing look between odd and familiar! A Buccaneer? No, it’s too scrawny. A Javelin? No, it does not have delta wings, and it’s got a tail sting. A de-navalized Sea Vixen? Well, no twin tail, and anything else does not match either... Despite the puzzling details (or because of them?), the Barghest looks disturbingly British and Fifties, as if it had been created from a profound RAF DNA pool – and it actually is! And with lots of putty. ;-)

This exercise provides training across the spectrum of OCS readiness from requirements and development of warfighter staff integration and synchronization through contract execution supporting the joint force commander. (U.S. Air Force Photo by Tech. Sgt. Chad Chisholm/Released)

I took this picture with my Canon EOS Rebel T6 to fulfill Requirements 1 & 4. It fulfills Requirement 1 because you can clearly see the vanishing point where the pillars are about to meet. It also fulfills Requirement 4 with all of the repeated brick patterns.

In Red Square, I was trying to find inspiration to take a picture with a vertical vanishing point. Even though the pillars are a pretty basic picture, I thought the blue sky with clouds could make it a little unique. So I went in the middle of them, pointed my camera vertically to the sky, and took a picture. I set the aperture moderately high, and the ISO low so there would be no noise. I made the shutter speed somewhat quick so there would be no blur of me shaking. Afterwards, I adjusted the contrast and exposure to bring out more of the blue color and define the bricks.

SoulRider.222 / Eric Rider © 2011

 

VEHICLE TYPE: mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive, 2-passenger, 2-door roadster

 

BASE PRICE: $313,350

 

ENGINE TYPE: DOHC 32-valve V-8, aluminum block and heads, port fuel injection

 

Displacement: 263 cu in, 4308cc

Power: 503 bhp @ 8500 rpm

Torque: 347 lb-ft @ 5250 rpm

 

TRANSMISSION: 6-speed manual with automated shifting and clutch

 

DIMENSIONS:

Wheelbase: 102.4 in

Length: 177.6 in

Width: 75.7 in Height: 47.9 in

Curb weight (C/D est): 3300 lb

 

PERFORMANCE (C/D EST):

Zero to 60 mph: 3.4 sec

Standing ¼-mile: 11.5 sec

Top speed (redline limited): 196 mph

 

FUEL ECONOMY (C/D EST):

EPA city/highway: 11/16 mpg

 

NUMBER MADE:

499

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

Ferrari Ownership Requirements 12/7/2020

 

To own a Ferrari would fulfill the fantasy of many car enthusiasts. The famous Italian automaker excels in delivering luxury sports cars that bear a signature and unique exterior without sacrificing performance. This is only half of what makes the cars special though.

 

Ferrari's culture separates the company from other automakers in huge ways, affecting both its owners and the workers behind these miraculous machines. Although the company is one of the most valuable, it cares about something more than just earning money: it’s about making special cars that offer a driving experience unlike any other. When examining the company and its owners, it’s clear they’ve achieved this milestone, even after all these years.

 

Owners have to go to great lengths if they want the latest and greatest cars Ferrari churns out. Employees have to follow rules and regulations if they want to uphold the most important thing to Ferrari—which is not about making cars, but the brand itself. Whether one is a Ferrari owner or an employee that works at their factory plant, everyone has to follow the "Ferrari code."

 

It’s because of these rules that the brand is exclusive and widely coveted among car gurus today. If someone wants to own a Ferrari, they’re going to have to play by the company’s rules. The same goes for employees if they want to work at, what Autoblog notes, a company that won the award for Best Place to Work in Europe for 2007. We’re going to take a look at known rules both owners and employees have to follow if they want to remain in the good graces of Ferrari.

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

20 - Owner Rule: Forced To Sign Contract Agreeing Not To Sell Car

People today become bombarded with agreements written in fine print. Most people don’t have the time or patience to read all that agreements detail though and decide to sign on the line regardless. According to Autoweek, Ferrari in the US makes their customers sign a contract upon purchasing a new vehicle.

 

In that agreement is a clause that prevents owners from reselling their car in the first year. The automaker makes buyers sign this in an attempt to discourage owners from flipping their cars. This is both a reminder to read the fine print and further demonstrates the automaker’s stringent protocol placed upon new owners.

 

19 - Employee Rule: Forbidden From Buying New Cars

Last September, Ferrari unveiled a pair of Roadsters long-time employees can appreciate. Even if the employees want the cars though and can afford them—tough luck. The Drive reports that the company makes their vehicles first and foremost available to the public.

 

One of Ferrari’s executives, Enrico Galliera, had this to say about employees getting second dibs on new cars: “The philosophy is that with such limited production and clients waiting so long to get their car, it's not nice if the car is delivered to employees.” The only exception to this rule are Scuderia Ferrari F1 drivers who can buy one from the company.

 

18 - Owner Rule: Leave The Logos Alone

Ferrari believes that as soon as their car rolls off the production line, it's perfect as is. There’s no shortage of Ferrari owners who feel differently though; here’s photographic proof of owners who took their Ferrari rides for granted. If Ferrari had it their way, they’d opt for owners to leave their iconic logos untouched.

 

According to Tech Dirt, the electronic DJ and artist Deadmau5 got in trouble for covering up his Ferrari logos with custom ones. His 458 Italia “Purrari” sports a blue vinyl wrap that has a Nyan cat painted on the side. It’s a move Ferrari supposedly issued a cease and desist order over.

 

17 - Employee Rule: Communicate On Their Terms

Ferrari has gone to extremes to sell cars before by tampering with some odometers on used cars, so it’s only natural they’d apply radical policies in the workplace as well. It appears that too many employees were reaching for the keyboard on too many occasions instead of opting for old fashioned face-to-face communication.

 

According to The Guardian, the executives at Ferrari advised their employees to “talk to each other more and write less.” Since it should be pretty easy for supervisors to monitor their employees’ computer activity, it's safe to assume workers adhere to this directive in order to stick around.

 

16 - Owner Rule: No Pink Ferraris

Ferrari isn’t fond of pink Ferraris. That’s what Executive Lifestyle reports, despite the company tolerating some customer paint jobs. The disapproval of pink came directly from Herbert Appleroth, the President and CEO of Ferrari Australia. “We do reject the exterior color pink,” Appleroth said, as per the same source.

 

He went on to say that Ferrari would never produce a pink car. Without a doubt, red is the most iconic color they wrap their cars in. At the same time, the company promotes the idea that no two Ferrari rides should be identical, they just wouldn't go so far as to stand out with a pink paint job.

 

15 - Employee Rule: No Discounts On Cars

Working for certain companies has its perks. For one, it allows employees to buy products made and sold by that company at a discounted rate. This luxury, however, is too generous to bestow upon Ferrari employees.

 

According to The Drive, should Scuderia Ferrari F1 drivers choose to purchase a personal Ferrari, they're required to pay full price for it. That puts them in an awkward position, considering it’d be hard to spot team members driving in anything else but a Ferrari; in a way, it forces their employees to invest back into the company without a price concession if they want to properly represent the brand.

 

14 - Owner Rule: Accept Ferrari’s Right To Buy Back Car

In an earlier entry, we noted that Ferrari in the US has made buyers sign a special contract. While that contract discouraged owners from selling their new Ferrari, it also adds another stipulation: the automaker can buy the vehicle back.

 

According to the site Car Keys, if someone wanted to get rid of their LaFerrari Aperta, it’s pursuant for Ferrari to purchase the vehicle back from the owner. It would appear that on the surface, Ferrari would rather the car go to someone who wants it instead of someone who doesn't. This is all part of that special contract owners may sign at the time of their purchase.

 

13 - Employee Rule: Sworn To Prevent Security Leaks

Whether someone is an actor in an upcoming Avengers movie or an employee at Apple, the bigwigs in charge want to keep details under lock and key—that includes any plot spoilers and future product releases. Ferrari is a similar company that’s always making new vehicles while wishing to work in secrecy.

 

To maintain a level of mystery, the whole operation depends on trustworthy employees. According to Kaspersky Lab Daily, something as simple as copying data to a USB drive has to go through an approval process. This in turn discourages employees from going routes that may lead to a security breach and exercises a higher level of caution.

 

12 - Owner Rule: Must Love The Ferrari Brand

The world is full of sides, clubs and camps. Those who are outside of them get picked on unless they join a team, while those inside a base pledge undying loyalty. Ferrari is no different. It’s more than just an automaker—it’s a special culture with its own philosophy, style and following.

 

As the site Car Guy points out, the company sifts through applicants and chooses who gets to buy certain models because they want to make sure their cars are properly taken care of. It’s a sure bet they’re going to pick someone who’s not just a Ferrari fan, but also lives and bleeds the brand.

 

11 - Employee Rule: Prohibited From Sending Certain Group Emails

Expanding further on an earlier point, Ferrari went to great lengths to crack down on employees emailing more instead of talking to each other. As a means to curb digital communication so that employees would talk to each other directly, they added terms to sending emails.

 

As per The Guardian, a spokesman for Ferrari said, “From now on, each Ferrari employee will only be able to send the same email to three people in-house.” This must have been a wake up call for employees at the time and discouraged them from falling into old habits of CCing everyone in the whole company on a single thread.

 

10 - Owner Rule: Buy Not One, Not Two, But Multiple Ferraris

Owning a Ferrari isn’t exactly enough to be a part of the club. As the site Car Guypoints out, it’s more suitable to own several Ferrari cars before one feels part of the bunch. That narrows down the list of potential owners to only a handful around the world with how much they cost.

 

Even older models are going up in value, as the 1964 Ferrari Prototype demonstrates. The same source points out that the most committed owners, at minimum, are the ones who upgrade their old Ferrari to a newer model. It’s not enough to purchase a one-off Ferrari and call it a day if someone wants to be a true fan.

 

9 - Employee Rule: Required To Wear Red And White Uniforms

An amusement park can make its employees wear costumes that match the park’s theme; a restaurant may have its employees wear a vest and bow tie; an office requires business casual attire. Ferrari is like most jobs, requiring its employees adhere to a dress code.

 

According to Freep, those on the manufacturing campus must wear red and white uniforms. They have the company’s iconic yellow logo stitched on, which unites all the employees under the same banner and purpose. There are plenty of people around the world who would love to wear these uniforms, but only a select number ever get to suit up in one.

 

8 - Owner Rule: Be Older Than 40

Despite Ferrari being one of the most famous car brands today, many people aren’t aware of its history or the automaker's philosophy. There are so many facts about the legendary automaker, we dedicated a whole piece to things most people don't know about Ferrari.

 

It’s not unusual for potential owners to go through a rigorous process that feels commensurate to a background check. According to the site Car Keys, automaker won’t hesitate to request a customer’s history of ownership for review. Even more, the same source suggests that Ferrari dealers are more likely to sell a car to a new owner who’s over the age of 40.

 

7 - Employee Rule: Formula 1 Team Must Win

When Scuderia Ferrari struggles, it affects the whole company. The site News.com.au reports that despite being the "most iconic team” in Formula 1 racing, Ferrari was unable to secure a Grand Prix win in 2016. The team only has one remedy when this happens: winning.

 

As F1-Fansite points out, they were able to bounce back in early 2017, with Vettel winning the first race and securing 5 race wins. The Formula 1 team not only represents the automaker but carries the pride of the entire brand. It’s important that they do well in order for the brand to continue thriving.

 

6 - Owner Rule: Treat Fellow Ferrari Owners Like Family

Buying a car from certain automakers, such as Tesla, Porsche or Ferrari, feels like joining a family. When someone purchases a Ferrari, they enter into a brotherhood and sisterhood alongside fellow owners. As the site the Car Guy notes, entering into the Ferrari fraternity means that owners help each other when the need arises.

 

This is one of those unspoken rules the automaker hopes and expects its customers will follow. Even outsiders who don’t own one may find it easy to support someone who does as an expression of their admiration towards the brand. Ferrari owners got to stick together.

 

5 - Employee Rule: Must Adopt The “Formula Uomo” Philosophy

The company not only cares about its customers, but its employees too. They recognize that these are the people that make it all possible. Autoblog reports that Ferrari launched a project called “Formula Uomo” in the 1990s which lays down many of the tenants employees live and breathe by.

 

The same source notes that this philosophy deals with the working conditions, one’s professional growth and personal benefits. Each individual is important and must embody these principles in order for the whole enterprise to work properly. As a Ferrari employee, “Formula Uomo” lays the groundwork for one’s success while working there.

 

4 - Owner Rule: Must Have Fame, Fortune And More

To own some of the world’s best supercars, all it takes is a lot of dough. If that wasn’t enough though, Ferrari raises the bar on what they expect from their owners. Part of what makes their cars so exclusive are the limited number they make. Take the LaFerrari for example, which Wired reports only 499 exist.

 

In order for their cars to get attention, they have to give them to owners who can not only afford them but put them in the spotlight. The same source notes that even high-profile buyers who applied for the vehicle weren't able to land one.

 

3 - Employee Rule: “Clients First”

Ferrari cares about its customers. The company doesn’t treat its clientele as a dollar sign—although they do get a lot of money for the cars they deliver—but instead seeks to make a bond with its owners. The company is like a father who’s entrusted his child with the keys to the treasured car.

 

They want to know their cars are in good hands, which is possible through respect. That’s why they make clients a priority. The Drive reports that Enrico Galliera, a Ferrari executive said, “It is clients first.” Behind those words is a whole company of employees who live by this aim.

 

2 - Owner Rule: Respect Ferrari’s Way Of Doing Things

No one likes obeying rules. If there’s a realm with enough rules as it is, it’s driving on the road. The last thing people want is more rules they have to follow as a car owner. Under the Ferrari umbrella though, there are lots of expectations one has to follow as an owner.

 

That means going with their unique way of doing things. The site Car Keys reports that the automaker’s politics, including their selection process for who they deem is eligible to purchase limited edition cars, is one such rule owners have to follow. It may not be easy to accept, but it’s part of playing the game.

 

1 - Employee Rule: Protect The Brand At All Times

Ferrari has managed to be an independent automaker over the years while still making loads of money. Part of what makes them so successful is the brand’s reputation, which is about making flawless cars that perform well.

 

One of the executives, Stefano Lai, as per Freep said, “My job is to protect the brand as much as possible.” This is a principal that trickles down to employees, affecting their conduct and the image they project in and out of the workplace. Many employees likely have the Ferrari logo on them throughout the day, making them an extension of the company wherever they go. That means they have to watch what they say and do since they represent the company’s image.

 

Sources: Autoblog , Tech Dirt , Wired , Executive Lifestyle , Car Guy , Car Keys , Autoweek , The Drive , Freep, News.com.au , F1-Fansite.

 

www.hotcars.com/rules-ferrari-owners-must-follow-and-the-...

This photo fulfills requirement 5. I took this photo of Seattle on Lake Union, and then cut it out and layered it over this found image of a coffee cup. I then found these cloud/steam images, set the blending mode to lighten, then overlayed and blended them into the image.

This photo took in University village in front of a flower shop meets requirement 3 outdoor natural lighting. I use a low shutter speed at 1/25 and a wide aperture F/4.0 to brightening the whole photo. I like a little over exposure when shooting the portrait because it makes photo clean. The key light is from natural light from right up side. The fill light is from the light in the shop on the left side. The light in the shop is yellow light so the left side face in shadow appears little yellow warm color.

 

Afterwards I use Lightroom to adjust photo by increase brightness a little bit. Mainly adjust on color. The photo is now green yellow color. I increase the green color a lot to create is kind of filter also decrease blue to eliminate the cold color. Makes the background also bright.

Health Insurance Requirements Stock Photo

When using this photo on a website, please include an image credit for www.ekgtechniciansalary.org.

For Example: [Photo credit: EKG Technician Salary]

Nearly 1,000 Students to Participate in WSSU Commencement on May 15

 

WINSTON-SALEM, NC -- Christina Wareâs story is one of the many inspiring testimonials of the nearly 1,000 undergraduate and graduate students from near and afar who are expected to participate in Winston-Salem State Universityâs commencement ceremony on Friday, May 15, at 9:45 a.m., at Bowman Gray Stadium, 1250 South Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive.

  

Academy Award-winning recording artist, activist and actor Common will be the keynote speaker. There are no guest limits or ticket requirements for the ceremony.

  

It is conceivable that Wareâs story of work ethic, undeniable spirit and enthusiasm encapsulates the sentiment of her graduating 2015 classmates.

  

Ware, 43, of Winston-Salem, is quite active on and off campus as a mentor to other students, a member of the non-traditional student organization, the first president of Epsilon Chapter 130 of Tau Sigma National Honor Society at WSSU, a wife and proud mother of two. She is also legally blind. She wants to blaze trails, set examples and raise the bar for others with disabilities.

  

âIn 2007, I lost my eyesight. After a six-month pity party, I decided to continue my education and make a difference for others. Since 2008, I have spent every day of my life proving to society that having a disability does not mean we are weak. I am now an advocate for persons with disabilities,â Ware, a business major, said, "We are not handicapped, we are handy capable!"

  

Ware, who can be described as always pleasant and having an unlimited enthusiasm for life, says every day alive is like Christmas. She demands to be treated like everyone else and has been noted to say, âI may physically fall, but mentally I can get back up and pull a 4.0 semester.â After graduation she wants to start a Kosher/Halal foods business and become active on community boards.

  

The China Connection

 

From the City of Harbin, the capital and largest city of the Heilongjiang province of the People's Republic of China, WSSU Master of Arts in the Teaching of English as a Second Language and Applied Linguistics students Yaowen Xing and Chunling Zhang have found a second home at WSSU and in Winston-Salem. They perhaps have come the farthest distance attend the university.

 

With a population of more than five million people, Harbin is situated in the northeast region of China so close to Russia that only the Songhua River separates the two countries. Nicknamed the Ice City, the average winter temperature is -3.5 °F with annual lows hitting -31.0 °F. Itâs no wonder the students say the warmer weather here in the Piedmont Triad has not been lost in translation with them and itâs one of the things they enjoy.

 

âWe really love the weather in North Carolina, especially the long summer time, since our hometown is so cold with snow for almost 6 months of the year,â Xing, 30, noted. âWe also love the people at WSSU and the faculty who all are nice and it has been a really good experience.â

 

Xing and Zhang, 35, are in America as part of a Chinese education immersion program to help exchange the cultures between China and America. They enjoy working as cultural ambassadors to students in both the cultures. The two came to the U.S. in 2013 and have been teaching at Konnoak Elementary school during the early hours and studying and researching later in the day. âComing to America was a dream for me after learning about it through books, movies and music, and my time here it has been amazing,â Xing said.

 

Zhang, said she didnât know much about WSSU or Historically Black Colleges or Universities (HBCUâs), but after a short time here she knew WSSU would be was special part of life. âI have met many African- Americans who have been friendly and helpful. I now can say I truly have many black friends,â Zhang said. She and Xing have taken advantage of the HBCU experience. They have been often seen attending evening lectures and presentations, sports events, musical and visual arts events. With their WSSU master degrees they will return to China one day in the future to make an impact on teaching and the quality of education there.

  

The All-In Approach

 

Olivia N. Sedwick, 21, a political science major from Indianapolis, has taken âthe all-in approach" to her WSSU experience. The current WSSU student government president (SGA), honorâs student and champion athlete, chose WSSU over other schools she could have attended.

  

Featured in a USA Today article highlighting the HBCU experience released last June, Sedwick is quoted as saying about WSSU, âI fell in love with the school.â She says, âWe talked about things that I had never had the chance to before coming from a predominantly white high school.â

 

Liking the intellectual and social environment, she was comfortable becoming involved around campus. In her first year, a walk-on athlete for the womenâs track and field team, she was a 2013 CIAA Indoor Womenâs Track and Field All-Conference competitor and the WSSU womenâs shot put record holder until earlier this year, although she never competed in the throws until coming to college. In her second year she served as the sophomore class vice president while also being appointed to serve on many committees throughout the university. In that same year, she was a delegate to the UNC Association of Student Governments (UNCASG), representing WSSU students on a state-wide level. At the end of that year, she became the first African-American female elected senior vice president of UNCASG and served in that capacity for the entirety of her third year while being active as the chief of staff for the WSSU student government association that year also. Toward the end of her term in UNCASG, she decided to run for student body president and has served as the voice of the students for the duration of her last year. With all of her activities, she has maintained a 3.95 GPA throughout her time in college.

 

Sedwick has been selected as a UNC General Administration Presidential Intern, which begins in July. Upon completion of the prestigious one-year appointment, Sedwick plans to attend Howard University School of Law.

 

A Drum Major who will March for a Noble Cause

Willie Davis, 22, a social work major from Fayetteville, N.C., who has led WSSUâs Red Sea of Sound Marching Band as a drum major for his senior year, will now march to lead the charge for helping veterans and their families cope with typical and unique challenges of serving in military. Davis will be one of four Cadets with the distinct honor of being commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant U.S. in the U.S. Army during this yearâs commencement ceremony. Despite that professionally Davis will help vets, military and families with things like dealing with emotions, he said, âI donât think I will be ready for the commissioning part (of commencement) emotionally.â

 

Readiness for Davis is an understatement. The youngest of three siblings, who was age 10 when his father died, Davis has been an A average student throughout life. He was in the top ten of his high school class and the first generation in his family to attend college. At WSSU, besides maintaining high academic achievement and serving in the U.S. Army ROTC, Davis has been active with the WSSU Band, the University Choir, a Campus Ambassador, a mentor to freshmen students, vice president of the WSSU chapter of Kappa Kappa Psi National Honorary Band Fraternity, a Veterans Helping Veterans Heal intern and a member of Galilee Missionary Baptist Church in Winston-Salem.

  

After graduation, Davis is going to graduate school at the University of South Carolina. He plans to complete that program in one year and begin his military duties. As a clinical social worker, his responsibilities may range from clinical counseling, crisis intervention, disaster relief, critical event debriefing, teaching and training, supervision, research, administration, consultation and policy development in various military settings. He wants to specialize in helping military veterans who suffer from different traumas such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), paranoid schizophrenia and other conditions.

This photo satisfies requirement 5. The landscape of the Seattle skyline is positioned quite near the bottom of the frame, and too much of the photo is dominated by the sky. In addition, the inclusion of the hill feels somewhat intruding, and can be seen as taking too much space over the skyline.

NRC staff briefs the Commission on the Operator Licensing Program and discusses issues related to licensee training programs, NRC initial licensing examinations, requalification and impacts from new post Fukushima requirements. NRC staff pictured at the table (left to right) Branch Chief, Operator Licensing and Human Performance Mike Junge , Director, Division of Inspection and Regional Support Ho Nieh, Executive Director for Operations Bill Borchardt, Branch Chief for Operator Licensing and Training Jack McHale, and Branch Chief for Region IV Operations Mark Haire.

 

For more information on the Operator Licensing Program go to www.nrc.gov/reactors/operator-licensing.html .

 

Visit the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's website at www.nrc.gov/.

 

To comment on this photo go to public-blog.nrc-gateway.gov/2012/04/01/nrc-moves-its-publ....

 

Photo Usage Guidelines: www.flickr.com/people/nrcgov/

 

Privacy Policy: www.nrc.gov/site-help/privacy.html.

This photo satisfies the 2D requirement, I shot this photo at the statue in red square at UW. I wanted to create a silhouette effect with the statue so I took the photo at a direction where the light wasn’t aiming at the statue. I also used a lower ISO (100) and higher aperture (f/10) to create a darker photo. I also used light room to further decrease the exposure.

CPSC staff meets

with Guandong CIQ staff, including Zhong Bang Qi (center), Chief Director, to provide

an overview of CPSC’s safety requirements for furniture, toys and apparel.

a sweet collection of 8-tracks or a skull and a playboy mag

AFABC proudly supported by Ron Sombilon Gallery and Pac Blue Printingc.

 

www.BCadopt.com

www.PacBluePrinting.com

www.RonSombilonGallery.com

 

.

 

Our Board of Directors

 

AFABC is headed up by a talented and dedicated volunteer Board of Directors, all of whom have a direct adoption connection. The Board includes social workers, lawyers, business owners, and corporate executives. Their vision and passion for adoption propels the organization forward.

 

AFABC is always interested in meeting members and professionals who want to learn more about our Board. If you are interested in becoming a member of our Board, click here to read more about eligibility and responsibility requirements.

 

Our Board Members are:

 

David Egan, President

Robin Sauve, Vice President

David Kuefler, Past President

Marc Tews, Treasurer

Charles Hill, Secretary

 

Members at Large:

 

Vivian Krause, EI Ad Hoc Committee Chair

Elsa Felker, Human resources Committee Chair

Sarah Phillips, Financial Development Committee

Edward Lyszkiewicz, Governance Committee Chair

Harold Schellekens, Director

Nadine Eustache, Director

Susi Proudman, Director

 

If you would like to contact any of the Board members, please email kmadeiros@bcadoption.com.

I took this photo with my Canon EOS Rebel T6 to fulfill Requirement 3. This is an accumulation of 9 photos that I stitched together through Lightroom. The shutter speed is 1/250 sec, so there would be no camera shake as I move my camera from the left to right. I set the aperture lower to f/9 in order to capture more of the far away scenery. My ISO was set to 100 so the picture wouldn't come out blurry. I also used my 75-300mm lens so I could zoom a little farther in order to capture the detail of everything as I moved the camera.

Satisfies requirement 4: Repeated patterns

 

I took this photo in Seattle Public Lirary and I think this pattern is interesting because you will see and perspect different patterns when you seeing. I think the one I shot is like Japanese style wave according to the color and pattern. And my friends that is like fish scale.

 

I used 16mm focal length, aperture size of f/4.0, 1/60 shutter speed and ISO 0f 250.

 

Photo processed through Darktable and I Increased contrast and saturation to get the sharp contrast look.

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Overexposed; 2014 Reno Hot Air Balloons; Rancho San Rafael Park

  

according to wikipedia

 

A hijab or ḥijāb (Arabic: حجاب, (he-zjab)pronounced [ħiˈʒæːb]/[ħiˈɡæːb]) is both the head covering traditionally worn by Muslim women and modest Muslim styles of dress in general.

 

The Arabic word literally means curtain or cover (noun). Most Islamic legal systems define this type of modest dressing as covering everything except the face and hands in public.[1][2] According to Islamic scholarship, hijab is given the wider meaning of modesty, privacy, and morality;[3] the word for a headscarf or veil used in the Qur'an is khimār (خمار) and not hijab. Still another definition is metaphysical, where al-hijab refers to "the veil which separates man or the world from God."[2]

 

Muslims differ as to whether the hijab should be required on women in public, as it is in countries like Iran and Saudi Arabia, or whether it should be banned in schools, as it is in France and Turkey.

  

According to the Encyclopedia of Islam and the Muslim World, the meaning of hijab has evolved over time:

 

The term hijab or veil is not used in the Qur'an to refer to an article of clothing for women or men, rather it refers to a spatial curtain that divides or provides privacy. The Qur'an instructs the male believers (Muslims) to talk to wives of Prophet Muhammad behind a hijab. This hijab was the responsibility of the men and not the wives of Prophet Muhammad. However, in later Muslim societies this instruction, specific to the wives of Prophet Muhammad, was generalized, leading to the segregation of the Muslim men and women. The modesty in Qur'an concerns both men's and women's gaze, gait, garments, and genitalia. The clothing for women involves khumūr over the necklines and jilbab (cloaks) in public so that they may be identified and not harmed. Guidelines for covering of the entire body except for the hands, the feet and the face, are found in texts of fiqh and hadith that are developed later.[4]

 

In Indonesia, notably the nation with the largest Muslim population, and some cultures or languages influenced by it namely Malaysia, Brunei and the Philippines, the term jilbab is used instead with few exceptions to refer to the hijab, as opposed to its "correct" modern Arabic definition. In some cases, colloquial use of the term Jilbab may refer to any pre-Islamic female traditional head-dress.

 

Qur'an

 

The Qur'an instructs both Muslim men and women to dress in a modest way.

 

The clearest verse on the requirement of the hijab is surah 24:30-31, asking women to draw their khimar over their bosoms.[5][6]

 

And say to the believing women that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty; that they should not display their beauty and ornaments except what (must ordinarily) appear thereof; that they should draw their khimar over their bosoms and not display their beauty except to [...] (Qur'an 24:31)

 

In the following verse, Muslim women are asked to draw their jilbab over them (when they go out), as a measure to distinguish themselves from others, so that they are not harassed. Sura 33:59 reads:[6]

 

Those who harass believing men and believing women undeservedly, bear (on themselves) a calumny and a grievous sin. O Prophet! Enjoin your wives, your daughters, and the wives of true believers that they should cast their outer garments over their persons (when abroad) That is most convenient, that they may be distinguished and not be harassed. [...] (Qur'an 33:58–59)

 

Other Muslims take a relativist approach to ħijāb. They believe that the commandment to maintain modesty must be interpreted with regard to the surrounding society. What is considered modest or daring in one society may not be considered so in another. It is important, they say, for believers to wear clothing that communicates modesty and reserve in the situations in which they find themselves.[7]

 

Along with scriptural arguments, Leila Ahmed argues that head covering should not be compulsory in Islam because the veil predates the revelation of the Qur'an. Head-covering was introduced into Arabia long before Muhammad, primarily through Arab contacts with Syria and Iran, where the hijab was a sign of social status. After all, only a woman who need not work in the fields could afford to remain secluded and veiled.[8][9]

 

Leila Ahmed argues for a more liberal approach to hijab. Among her arguments is that while some Qur'anic verses enjoin women in general to Qur'an 33:58–59. “draw their Jilbabs (overgarment or cloak) around them to be recognized as believers and so that no harm will come to them.” and Qur'an 24:31. “guard their private parts... and drape down khimar over their breasts [when in the presence of unrelated men]”, they urge modesty.

 

However according to the vast majority of Muslims Sunni and Shia, al-Mawrid al-Qawrid Arabic dictionary, Hans-Wehr Dictionary of Arabic into English, and the exhaustive ancient Arabic dictionary "Lisan al-arab", (literally the tongue of the Arabs) the word 'Khimar' means and was used to refer to a piece of cloth that covers the head, or headscarf today called 'hijab'.

 

Other verses do mention separation of men and women but they refer specifically to the wives of the prophet:

 

Abide still in your homes and make not a dazzling display like that of the former times of ignorance:(Qur'an 33:32–33)

 

And when ye ask of them [the wives of the Prophet] anything, ask it of them from behind a curtain.(Qur'an 33:53)

 

According to Leila Ahmed, nowhere in the whole of the Qur'an is the term hijab applied to any woman other than the wives of Muhammad..[8][10]

 

According to at least two authors, (Reza Aslam and Leila Ahmed) the stipulations of the hijab were originally meant only for Muhammad's wives, and were intended to maintain their inviolability. This was because Muhammad conducted all religious and civic affairs in the mosque adjacent to his home:

 

People were constantly coming in and out of this compound at all hours of the day. When delegations from other tribes come to speak with Prophet Muhammad, they would set up their tents for days at a time inside the open courtyard, just a few feet away from the apartments in which Prophet Muhammad's wives slept. And new emigrants who arrived in Yatrib would often stay within the mosque's walls until they could find suitable homes.[8]

 

According to Ahmed:

 

By instituting seclusion Prophet Muhammad was creating a distance between his wives and this thronging community on their doorstep.[11]

 

They argue that the term darabat al-hijab ("taking the veil"), was used synonymously and interchangeably with "becoming Prophet Muhammad's wife", and that during Muhammad's life, no other Muslim woman wore the hijab. Aslam suggests that Muslim women started to wear the hijab to emulate Muhammad's wives, who are revered as "Mothers of the Believers" in Islam,[8] and states "there was no tradition of veiling until around 627 C.E." in the Muslim community.[8][11]

  

The four major Sunni schools of thought (Hanafi, Shafi'i, Maliki and Hanbali) hold that entire body of the woman, except her face and hands- though many[who?] say face, hands, and feet-, is part of her awrah, that is the parts of her body that must be covered during prayer and in public settings.[13][14]

 

Some Muslims[who?] recommend that women wear clothing that is not form fitting to the body: either modest forms of western clothing (long shirts and skirts), or the more traditional jilbāb, a high-necked, loose robe that covers the arms and legs. A khimār or shaylah, a scarf or cowl that covers all but the face, is also worn in many different styles. Some Salafi scholars encourage covering the face, while some follow the opinion that it is only not obligatory to cover the face and the hands but mustahab (Highly recommended). Other scholars oppose face covering, particularly in the west where the woman may draw more attention as a result. These garments are very different in cut than most of the traditional forms of ħijāb, and they are worn worldwide by Muslims.

 

Detailed scholarly attention has been focused on prescribing female dress. Most scholars agree that the basic requirements are that when in the presence of someone of the opposite sex (other than a close family member - see mahram), a woman should cover her body, and walk and dress in a way which does not draw sexual attention to her. Some scholars go so far as to specify exactly which areas of the body must be covered. In some cases, this is everything save the eyes but most require everything save the face and hands to be covered. In nearly all Muslim cultures, young girls are not required to wear a ħijāb. There is not a single agreed age when a woman should begin wearing a ħijāb; however, in many Muslim countries, puberty is the dividing line.

 

In private, and in the presence of mahrams, the rules on dress are relaxed. However, in the presence of husband, most scholars stress the importance of mutual freedom and pleasure of the husband and wife.[15]

  

The burqa (also spelled burka) is the garment that covers women most completely: either only the eyes are visible, or nothing at all. Originating in what is now Pakistan, it is more commonly associated with the Afghan chadri. Typically, a burqa is composed of many yards of light material pleated around a cap that fits over the top of the head, or a scarf over the face (save the eyes). This type of veil is cultural as well as religious.

 

It has become tradition that Muslims in general, and Salafis in particular, believe the Qur'ān demands women wear the garments known today as jilbāb and khumūr (the khumūr must be worn underneath the jilbāb). However, Qur'ān translators and commentators translate the Arabic into English words with a general meaning, such as veils, head-coverings and shawls.[16] Ghamidi argues that verses [Qur'an 24:30] teach etiquette for male and female interactions, where khumūr is mentioned in reference to the clothing of Arab women in the 7th century, but there is no command to actually wear them in any specific way. Hence he considers head-covering a preferable practice but not a directive of the sharia (law).[17]

[edit] Men's dress

 

Although certain general standards are widely accepted, there has been little interest in narrowly prescribing what constitutes modest dress for Muslim men. Most mainstream scholars say that men should cover themselves from the navel to the knees; a minority say that the hadith that are held to require this are weak and possibly inauthentic. They argue that there are hadith indicating that the Islamic prophet Muħammad wore clothing that uncovered his thigh when riding camels, and hold that if Muħammad believed that this was permissible, then it is surely permissible for other Muslim males.[citation needed]

 

As a practical matter, however, the opinion that Muslim men must cover themselves between the navel and the knees is predominant, and most Muslims believe that a man who fails to observe this requirement during salah must perform the prayer again,[citation needed] properly covered, in order for it to be valid. Three of the four Sunni Madh'hab, or schools of law, require that the knees be covered; the Maliki school recommends but does not require knee covering.

 

According to some hadith, Muslim men are asked not to wear gold jewellery, silk clothing, or other adornments that are considered feminine. Some scholars say that these prohibitions should be generalized to prohibit the lavish display of wealth on one's person.[18]

 

In more secular Muslim nations, such as Turkey or Tunisia, many women are choosing, or being coerced, to wear the Hijab, Burqa, Niqab, etc. because of the widespread growth of the Islamic revival in those areas.[citation needed] Similarly, increasing numbers of men are abandoning the Western dress of jeans and t-shirts, that dominated places like Egypt 20 to 30 years ago, in favour of more traditional Islamic clothing such as the Galabiyya.

 

In Iran many women, especially younger ones, have taken to wearing transparent, colorful and very loosly worn Hijabs instead of Chadors or mantoos to protest but keep within the law of the state.

 

The colors of this clothing varies. It is mostly black, but in many African countries women wear clothes of many different colours depending on their tribe, area, or family. In Turkey, where the hijab is banned in private and state universities and schools, 11% of women wear it, though 60% wear traditional non-Islamic headscarves, figures of which are often confused with hijab.[19] [20][21]

 

In many of the western nations, there has been a general rise of hijab-wearing women. They are especially common in Muslim Student Associations at college campuses.

 

Some Muslims have criticized strict dress codes that they believe go beyond the demands of hijab, using Qur'an 66:1 to apply to dress codes as well; the verse suggests that it is wrong to refrain from what is permitted by God.[cit

  

John Esposito, professor of Islamic Studies at Georgetown University, writes that the customs of veiling and seclusion of women in early Islam were assimilated from the conquered Persian and Byzantine societies and then later on they were viewed as appropriate expressions of Quranic norms and values. The Qur'an does not stipulate veiling or seclusion; on the contrary, it tends to emphasize the participation of religious responsibility of both men and women in society.[22] He claims that "in the midst of rapid social and economic change when traditional security and support systems are increasingly eroded and replaced by the state, (...) hijab maintains that the state has failed to provide equal rights for men and women because the debate has been conducted within the Islamic framework, which provides women with equivalent rather than equal rights within the family."[23]

 

Bloom and Blair also write that the Qur'an doesn't require women to wear veils; rather, it was a social habit picked up with the expansion of Islam. In fact, since it was impractical for working women to wear veils, "A veiled woman silently announced that her husband was rich enough to keep her idle."[24]

[edit] Modern practice

 

Some governments encourage and even oblige women to wear the hijab, whilst others have banned it in at least some public settings.

 

Some Muslims believe hijab covering for women should be compulsory as part of sharia, i.e. Muslim law. Wearing of the hijab was enforced by the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, and is enforced in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and in the Islamic Republic of Iran. The Islamic Emirate required women to cover not only their head but their face as well, because "the face of a woman is a source of corruption" for men not related to them.[25] While some women wholeheartedly embrace the rules, others protest by observing the rules in slipshod or inconsistent fashion, or flouting them whenever possible. Sudan's criminal code allows the flogging or fining of anyone who “violates public morality or wears indecent clothing”, albeit without defining "indecent clothing",

 

Turkey, Tunisia, and Tajikistan are Muslim-majority countries where the law prohibits the wearing of hijab in government buildings, schools, and universities. In Tunisia, women were banned from wearing hijab in state offices in 1981 and in the 1980s and 1990s more restrictions were put in place.[26] The Turkish government recently attempted to lift a ban on Muslim headscarves at universities, but were overturned by the country's Constitutional Court.[27]

 

On March 15, 2004, France passed a law banning "symbols or clothes through which students conspicuously display their religious affiliation" in public primary schools, middle schools, and secondary schools. In the Belgian city of Maaseik, Niqāb has been banned.[28] (2006)

 

On July 13, 2010, France's lower house of parliament overwhelmingly approved a bill that would ban wearing the Islamic full veil in public. There were 335 votes for the bill and only one against in the 557-seat National Assembly.

[edit] Non-governmental

 

Non-governmental enforcement of hijab is found in many parts of the Muslim world.

 

Successful informal coercion of women by sectors of society to wear hijab has been reported in Gaza where Mujama' al-Islami, the predecessor of HAMAS, reportedly used "a mixture of consent and coercion" to "`restore` hijab" on urban educated women in Gaza in the late 1970s and 1980s.[29]

 

Similar behavior was displayed by Hamas itself during the first intifada in Palestine. Though a relatively small movement at this time, Hamas exploited the political vacuum left by perceived failures in strategy by the Palestinian factions to call for a 'return' to Islam as a path to success, a campaign that focused on the role of women.[30] Hamas campaigned for the wearing of the hijab alongside other measures, including insisting women stay at home, segregation from men and the promoting of polygamy. In the course of this campaign women who chose not to wear the hijab were verbally and physically harassed, with the result that the hijab was being worn 'just to avoid problems on the streets'.[31]

 

In France, according to journalist Jane Kramer, veiling among school girls became increasingly common following the 9/11 Attack of 2001, due to coercion by "fathers and uncles and brothers and even their male classmates" of the school girls. "Girls who did not conform were excoriated, or chased, or beaten by fanatical young men meting out Islamic justice."[32] According to the American magazine The Weekly Standard, a survey conducted in France in May 2003 reportedly "found that 77% of girls wearing the hijab said they did so because of physical threats from Islamist groups."[33]

 

In India a 2001 "acid attack on four young Muslim women in Srinagar ... by an unknown militant outfit, [was followed by] swift compliance by women of all ages on the issue of wearing the chadar (head-dress) in public."[34][35][36]

 

In Basra Iraq, "more than 100 women who didn't adhere to strict Islamic dress code" were killed between the summer of 2007 and spring of 2008 by Islamist militias (primarily the Mahdi Army) who controlled the police there, according to the CBS news program 60 Minutes.[37]

 

Islamists in other countries have been accused of attacking or threatening to attack the faces of women in an effort to intimidate them from wearing of makeup or allegedly immodest dress.[38][39][40]

[edit] Hijab by country

  

The veil has become the subject of lively contemporary debate, in Muslim countries as well as within Western countries with Muslim populations. For example, in 2006 British government minister Jack Straw suggested that communication with some of the Muslim members of his constituency would be made significantly easier if they ceased covering their faces.[41] In broader terms, the sweep of the debate is captured by Bodman and Tohidi, stating that 'the meaning of the hijab ranges from a form of empowerment for the woman choosing to wear it to a means of seclusion and containment imposed by others'.[42] The subject has also become highly politicized. There is a diverse range of views on the wearing of the hijab in general. Sadiki interviews a woman who views it as 'submission to God's commandments'.[43] Rubenberg illustrates how even secular women in Muslim countries can be made to wear the veil due to a social or political context.[44] Some criticise the hijab in its own right as a regressive device, such as Polly Toynbee stating that it 'turns women into things'.[45] Faisal al Yafai meanwhile argues that the veil should be debated, but that more pressing issues like political and legal rights of women should be a greater priority.[46]

 

Writers such as Leila Ahmed and Karen Armstrong have highlighted how the veil became a symbol of resistance to colonialism, particularly in Egypt in the latter part of the 19th Century, and again today in the post-colonial period. In The Battle for God, Armstrong writes:

 

“The veiled woman has, over the years, become a symbol of Islamic self-assertion and a rejection of Western cultural hegemony.”[47]

 

While in Women and Gender, Ahmed states:

 

“...it was the discourses of the West, and specifically the discourse of colonial domination, that in the first place determined the meaning of the veil in geopolitical discourses and thereby set the terms for its emergence as a symbol of resistance.”[48]

 

The issue of the veil has thus been “hijacked” to a degree by cultural essentialists on both sides of the divide.[citation needed] Arguments against veiling have been co-opted, along with wider “feminist” discourse, to create a colonial “feminism” that uses questions of Muslim women’s dress amongst others to justify “patriarchal colonialism in the service of particular political ends.”[citation needed] Thus, efforts to improve the situation of women in Muslim (and other non-Western) societies are judged purely on what they wear.[citation needed] Meanwhile, for Islamists, rejection of “Western” modes of dress is not enough: resistance and independence can only be demonstrated by the “wholesale affirmation of indigenous culture”[49]—a prime example being the wearing of the veil.

 

Tracing the Victorian law of coverture, Legal Scholar L. Ali Khan provides a critique of the British male elite that wishes to impose its own "comfort views" to unveil Muslim women from Asia, Africa, and Middle East.[50]

 

In her discussion of findings from interviews of university-educated Moroccan Muslim women who choose to wear the Hijab, Hessini argues that wearing the Hijab is used as a method of separation of women from men when women work and therefore step into what is perceived to be the men’s public space, so in this case, when women have the right and are able to work, a method has been found to maintain the traditional societal arrangements.[51]

 

Academic Rema Hammai quotes a Palestinian woman reflective of an "activist" resistance to "hijabization" in Gaza saying that "in my community it's natural to wear" hijab. "The problem is when little boys, including my son, feel they have the right to tell me to wear it."[52] Similarly Iranian-American novelist Azar Nafisi, author of Reading Lolita in Tehran, Marjane Satrapi, author of the graphic novel Persepolis, and Parvin Darabi, who wrote Rage Against the Veil are some of the famous opponents of compulsory hijab, which was protested when first imposed.[53]

 

Cheryl Benard, writing an opinion piece in Rand Corporation, criticized those who used fear to enforce the hijab and stated that "in Pakistan, Kashmir, and Afghanistan, hundreds of women have been blinded or maimed when acid was thrown on their unveiled faces by male fanatics who considered them improperly dressed."[54]

 

Lubna al-Hussein, a journalist in Khartoum, was arrested by the Public Order Police for wearing trousers. She is protesting the punishment for breaking hijab: forty lashes and an indeterminate fine.

This photo satisfies requirement 2. For this picture, I set up my camera on a tripod and used my camera's 2-second timer to allow me to use both my hands in the photo. I used a slow shutter at 1/8 in shutter priority mode to capture the motion blur of the cards as I riffled them from one hand to the other.

This photo satisfies requirement 5- the golden hour. I took this at the Waterfront Park in Portland, which is one of the best spots to view sunset. I think I probably did not set the camera time properly when I took the picture, but I took it around 8pm at sunset. It was captured in manual mode and I used a small aperture of f/11 to keep everything in focus, but it was still very bright facing the sun so I had to use a fast shutter speed of 1/160s as well. The shadows happened to form diagonal lines across the picture, which helped with composition. For post processing, I increased the contrast and decreased the exposure in Lightroom so that the whole picture is more dramatic. I also tuned up the vibrancy to make the sunshine more golden.

This photo satisfy requirement 3. I took this photo to focus on the 3-D form of the mannequin dressed in a feather attire. I shot this image indoors so I had the settings to ISO 6400 and aperture of f/3.5 to make sure it wasn't too dark. In Adobe LR, I lowered the exposure and increased the contrast and highlights to bring out the form. I also changed the color grading to emphasize the purple, orange, and pink tones of the mannequin's outfit.

Though the F-4B Phantom II had satisfied the US Navy’s requirement for a fleet defense interceptor aircraft, the Navy realized that, like the USAF, it needed a more multirole aircraft; this was especially true of the Marine Corps, which were engaged in close air support efforts over South Vietnam. The F-4B could carry bombs, but not the more specialized precision weapons then entering service, and its accuracy was not as good as it could be. Other operational problems had cropped up with the F-4B, so the Navy ordered McDonnell Douglas to work on an upgrade, which would become the F-4J.

 

Externally, the F-4J could be recognized by three features: the lack of an undernose infrared sensor, larger main landing gear tires, and longer afterburner “cans.” The infrared sensor had been removed from the F-4B because it was no longer needed, and the extra room could be used for the F-4J’s more advanced radar, the APG-59. The uprated engines allowed the F-4J to carry more weaponry, which in turn meant a higher operational weight, which in turn meant that the aircraft would have a higher sink rate when coming aboard a carrier. Since this would also mean that the aircraft would be hitting the deck even harder, larger mainwheels were needed to absorb the shock. Finally, the larger wheels required a redesign of the wheelwells, but this was simplified by McDonnell Douglas adopting the wings of the USAF F-4C for the F-4J.

 

Unlike the USAF’s F-4D, which was a F-4C reworked for better ground attack capability, the F-4J also had significant upgrades to its air-to-air capability. The APG-59 radar, which was better at picking out targets in a look-down, shoot-down situation, was slaved to an AWG-10 fire control system. The J would also have better Sidewinder capability—it could carry both infrared and radar-guided models of the AIM-9—and improved electronic warfare equipment.

 

The first F-4J flew in June 1965 and entered the fleet in October 1966. This allowed the F-4J to see some service during Operation Rolling Thunder, which proved its worth as a fighter and fighter-bomber. The new radar was especially valuable in finding the smaller MiG-17s and MiG-21s of the North Vietnamese, which had become adept at using the mountainous terrain of their nation for concealment. Though the USMC would use the F-4J mainly in the close air support role, with the Navy it was most often used as a fighter, and it excelled in this role.

 

Most F-4Js were in turn upgraded to F-4S variants, allowing them to serve until the late 1980s, having been first replaced by the F-14 Tomcat in fleet defense roles and then the F/A-18 Hornet in all others. The last Navy F-4 left active service in 1987, after which most were converted to QF-4 drones and expended. The F-4J was exported to only one customer, the British Royal Air Force, which bought 15 refurbished F-4Js to replace Phantom FGR.2s sent to defend the Falkland Islands after the Falklands War of 1982. These F-4J(UK)s served until 1990, and were upgraded with British electronics; they were the last F-4Js to see service. Today, of 522 F-4Js produced, about 12 survive, all in museums; only three are unmodified F-4Js.

 

Bureau Number 151497 was originally built as a F-4B in 1964, but was immediately held at the McDonnell Douglas plant as one of three F-4Bs to be converted to YF-4J standard. It would remain at St. Louis until 1970, when it was transferred to the Naval Air Test Facility (NATF) at NAS Lakehurst, New Jersey. It served as a test aircraft there and was retired in 1975, having never served with a Navy line unit. It was donated to the Pima Air and Space Museum in 1982.

 

151497 is the only YF-4J prototype left in existence. It did not share the colorful schemes of Navy aircraft at the time: it is finished in standard Navy/Marine Vietnam-era light gray over white, with the only nod to its assignment being the NATF patch on the tail. It is in superb condition.

Requirement 5: poor composition

For this photo, I used aperture priority mode to regulate depth of field. I used aperture of f/11.0 and ISO of 320 to get enough light and not overexpose the picture. To break the composition rules, I tilted the camera so that the horizon isn’t leveled.

In post-production, I reduced the lights to reduce the sky's exposure.