SOUTH CHINA SEA (Sept. 6, 2020) Sailors assigned to the forward-deployed amphibious assault ship USS America (LHA 6) refuel an AH-1Z Viper helicopter assigned to the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron (VMM) 262 (Reinforced) during a visit, board, search and seizure exercise. America, flagship of the America Amphibious Ready Group, assigned to Amphibious Squadron Eleven, along with the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, is operating in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of responsibility to enhance interoperability with allies and partners and serve as a ready response force to defend peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Vincent E. Zline)

PHILIPPINE SEA (Aug. 6, 2020) A CV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft attached to the Air Force 21st Special Operations Squadron lands on the flight deck of the amphibious assault ship USS America (LHA 6). America, flagship of the America Expeditionary Strike Group, is operating in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of responsibility to enhance interoperability with allies and partners and serve as a ready response force to maintain security and stability in the Indo-Pacific region. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Walter Estrada)

PACIFIC OCEAN (Aug. 19, 2020) Landing Craft, Utility 1666, from Navy Beach Unit (NBU) 7 enters the well deck of the amphibious transport dock ship USS New Orleans (LPD 18). New Orleans, part of the America Expeditionary Strike Group, is operating in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations to enhance interoperability with allies and partners, and serves as a ready response force to defend security and stability in the Indo-Pacific region. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Kelby Sanders)

7.62x51mm battle rifle.

EDIT 10/19/15 - Replaced the pistol grip with an ergonomic version, enhancing stability and accuracy.

A powerful battle rifle developed and manufactured by Barton Precision Industries, the BR-28 combines simplicity with precision.

Created from a mix of SC-2010 and ACE-21 parts, it features the receiver, handguard and sights of the former, and the stock, magazine and mag release of the latter. Combined, it creates an easy to use platform that has found favor with law enforcement and criminals alike.

Its main drawback is its low rate of fire of 600 RPM. Paltry by today's standards, but sufficient enough to provide sustained. accurate fire. However, there are proposed future iterations with increased fire rates.

This particular BR-28 is equipped with a bipod-grip combo, muzzle brake, and a Barton Precision 5.5x magnification "EZ-Scope".

The General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon is a single-engine supersonic multirole fighter aircraft originally developed by General Dynamics (now Lockheed Martin) for the United States Air Force (USAF). Designed as an air superiority day fighter, it evolved into a successful all-weather multirole aircraft. Over 4,600 aircraft have been built since production was approved in 1976. Although no longer being purchased by the U.S. Air Force, improved versions are being built for export customers. In 1993, General Dynamics sold its aircraft manufacturing business to the Lockheed Corporation, which in turn became part of Lockheed Martin after a 1995 merger with Martin Marietta.

The Fighting Falcon's key features include a frameless bubble canopy for better visibility, side-mounted control stick to ease control while maneuvering, an ejection seat reclined 30 degrees from vertical to reduce the effect of g-forces on the pilot, and the first use of a relaxed static stability/fly-by-wire flight control system which helps to make it an agile aircraft. The F-16 has an internal M61 Vulcan cannon and 11 locations for mounting weapons and other mission equipment. The F-16's official name is "Fighting Falcon", but "Viper" is commonly used by its pilots and crews, due to a perceived resemblance to a viper snake as well as the Colonial Viper starfighter on Battlestar Galactica which aired at the time the F-16 entered service.

In addition to active duty in the U.S. Air Force, Air Force Reserve Command, and Air National Guard units, the aircraft is also used by the USAF aerial demonstration team, the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds, and as an adversary/aggressor aircraft by the United States Navy. The F-16 has also been procured to serve in the air forces of 25 other nations. As of 2015, it is the world's most numerous fixed-wing aircraft in military service.

In 1989 a two-year study began regarding possible mid-life upgrades for the USAF's and European Partner Air Forces' (EPAF's) F-16A/Bs. The resulting F-16 Mid-Life Update (MLU) package was designed to upgrade the cockpit and avionics to the equivalent of that on the F-16C/D Block 50/52; add the ability to employ radar-guided air-to-air missiles; and to generally enhance the operational performance and improve the reliability, supportability and maintainability of the aircraft. Aircraft receiving this set of updates are designated F-16AM or F-16BM.

Development began in May 1991 and continued until 1997; however, the USAF withdrew from the MLU program in 1992, although it did procure the modular mission computer for its Block 50/52 aircraft.

The first of five prototype conversions flew on 28 April 1995, and installation of production kits began in January 1997. The original plans called for the production of 553 kits (110 for Belgium, 63 for Denmark, 172 for the Netherlands, 57 for Norway, and 130 for the USAF), however, final orders amounted to only 325 kits (72 for Belgium, 61 for Denmark, 136 for the Netherlands, and 56 for Norway). The EPAFs redesignated the F-16A/B aircraft receiving the MLU as F-16AM/BM, respectively. Portugal later joined the program and the first of 20 aircraft was redelivered on 26 June 2003, with another 20 going through the update incountry at this time. In recent years, Chile, Jordan, and Pakistan have purchased surplus Dutch and Belgian F-16AM/BM for their air forces.

Development of new software and hardware modifications continues under the MLU program. The M3 software tape was installed in parallel with the Falcon STAR structural upgrade to bring the F-16AM/BM up to the standards of the USAF's Common Configuration Implementation Program (CCIP). A total of 296 M3 kits (72 for Belgium, 59 for Denmark, 57 for Norway, and 108 for the Netherlands) were ordered for delivery from 2002–2007; installation is anticipated to be completed in 2010. A M4 tape has also been developed that adds the ability to use additional weapons and the Pantera targeting pod; Norway began conducting flying combat operations in Afghanistan with these upgraded aircraft in 2008. A M5 tape is in development that will enable employment of a wider array of the latest smart weapons, and the first aircraft upgraded with it are due to be delivered in 2009. In 2015 tape M7 was implemented.

PHILIPPINE SEA (Jan. 27, 2021) Aviation Boatswains Mate (Handling) 3rd Class Russell Edgar, from Salt Lake City, left, and Chief Warrant Officer Brad Anthony, from Anthony, Fla., perform a P-25 drive-through aboard the forward-deployed amphibious assault ship USS America (LHA 6). America, flagship of the America Expeditionary Strike Group, along with the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, is operating in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of responsibility to enhance interoperability with allies and partners, serving as a ready response force to defend peace and stability in the Pacific region. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Kelsey Culbertson)

+++ 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 Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star was the first jet fighter used operationally by the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) during World War II. Designed and built by Lockheed in 1943 and delivered just 143 days from the start of design, production models were flying, and two pre-production models did see very limited service in Italy just before the end of World War II. The XP-80 had a conventional all-metal airframe, with a slim low wing and tricycle landing gear. Like most early jets designed during World War II—and before the Allies captured German research data that confirmed the speed advantages of swept-wings—the XP-80 had straight wings similar to previous propeller-driven fighters, but they were relatively thin to minimize drag at high speed.

For the Luftwaffe the F-80E had become obsolete, and to reduce the number of operational aircraft types, the remaining German aircraft, a total of 34, were in 1965 passed through to the Türk Hava Kuvvetleri (Turkish air force) as part of international NATO military support, where they remained in service until 1974 and were replaced by third generation F-4E Phantom II fighter jets.

General characteristics:

Crew: 1

Length: 36 ft 9 1/2 in (11.23 m)

Wingspan: 37 ft 6 in (11.44 m) over tip tanks

Height: 13 ft 5 1/4 in (4.10 m)

Wing area: 241.3 sq ft (22,52 m²)

Empty weight: 10,681 lb (4.845 kg)

Max. takeoff weight: 18,464 lb (8.375 kg)

Zero-lift drag coefficient: 0.0134

Frontal area: 32 sq ft (3.0 m²)

Powerplant:

1× Allison J33-A-39 centrifugal compressor turbojet with 4,600 lbf (20 kN) dry thrust

and 27.0 kN (6,070 lbf) thrust with afterburning

Performance:

Maximum speed: 1,060 km/h (660 mph, 570 kn)

Cruise speed: 439 mph (707 km/h, 381 kn)

Range: 825 mi (1,328 km, 717 nmi)

Ferry range: 1,380 mi (2,220 km, 1,200 nmi)

Service ceiling: 50,900 ft (15,500 m)

Rate of climb: 7,980 ft/min (40.5 m/s)

Time to altitude: 20,000 ft (6,100 m) in 4 minutes 50 seconds

Lift-to-drag: 17.7

Wing loading: 51.3 lb/sq ft (250 kg/m²)

Thrust/weight: 0.249 dry

0.328 with afterburner

Armament:

4× 0.79 in (20 mm) M24 cannon (190 rpg)

2x wing tip auxiliary tanks with 225 US gal (187 imp gal; 850 l) each

Underwing hardpoints for a total ordnance load of 4,800 lb (2.200 kg), including

2× 1,000 lb (454 kg) bombs, up to 4× pods with nineteen unguided Mighty Mouse FFARs each,

and/or up to 8× 5” (127 mm) HVAR unguided air-to-ground rockets

The kit and its assembly:

The idea of a swept-wing F-80 had been lingering on my idea list for a while, and I actually tried this stunt before in the form of a heavily modified F-94. The recent “Fifties” group build at whatifmodellers.com and a similar build by fellow forum member mat revived the interest in this topic – and inspired by mat’s creation, based on a T-33 fuselage, I decided to use the opportunity and add my personal interpretation of the idea.

Having suitable donor parts at hand was another decisive factor to start this build: I had a Heller T-33 in store, which had already been (ab)used as a donor bank for other projects, and which could now find a good use. I also had an F-80 canopy left over (from an Airfix kit), and my plan was to use Saab J29 wings (from a Matchbox kit) because of their limited sweep angle that would match the post-WWII era well.

Work started with the fuselage; it required a completely new cockpit interior because these parts had already gone elsewhere. I found a cockpit tub with its dashboard from an Italeri F4U, and with some trimming it could be mounted into the reduced cockpit opening, above the OOB front landing gear well. The T-33’s rear seat was faired of with styrene sheet and later PSRed away. The standard nose cone from the Heller T-33 was used, but I added gun ports for the new/different cannon armament.

For a different look with an afterburner engine I modified the tail section under the stabilizers, which was retained because of its characteristic shape. A generous section from the tail was cut away and replaced with the leftover jet pipe from an Italeri (R)F-84F, slightly longer and wider and decorated with innards from a Matchbox Mystère IV. This change is rather subtle but changes the F-80 profile and appears like a compromise between the F-80 and F-94 arrangements.

The T-33 wings were clipped down to the connection lower fuselage part. This ventral plate with integral main landing gear wells was mounted onto the T-33 hull and then the Saab 29 wings were dry-fitted to check their position along the fuselage and to define the main landing gear wells, which had to be cut into them to match their counterparts from the aircraft’s belly.

Their exact position was eventually fixed when the new swept stabilizers, taken from a Hobby Boss F-86, were mounted to the tail. They match well with the swept wings, and for an odd look I kept their dihedral.

The fin was eventually replaced, too – mat’s build retained the original F-80 fin, but with all other surfaces swept I found that the fin had to reflect this, too. So, I implanted a shortened Italeri (R)F-84F fin onto the original base, blended with some PSR into the rest of the tail.

With all aerodynamic surfaces in place it was time for fine-tuning, and to give the aircraft a simpler look I removed the dog teeth from the late Tunnan's outer wings, even though I retained the small LERXs. The wing tips were cut down a little and tip tanks (probably drop tanks from a Hobby Boss F-5E) added – without them the aircraft looked like a juvenile Saab 32!

The landing gear was mostly taken over from the Heller T-33, I just added small consoles for the main landing gear struts to ensure a proper stance, because the new wings and the respective attachment points were deeper. I also had to scratch some landing gear covers because the T-33 donor kit was missing them. The canopy was PSRed over the new opening and a new ejection seat tailored to fit into the F4U cockpit.

A final addition was a pair of pods with unguided FFARs. AFAIK the Luftwaffe did not use such weapons, but they’d make thematically sense on a Fifties anti-bomber interceptor - and I had a suitable pair left over from a Matchbox Mystère IV kit, complete with small pylons.

Painting and markings:

Since the time frame was defined by the Fifties, early Luftwaffe fighters had to carry a bare metal finish, with relatively few decorations. For the F-80E I gave the model an overall base coat with White Aluminum from a Dupli Color rattle can, a very nice and bright silver tone that comes IMHO close to NMF. Panels were post-shaded with Revell 99 (Aluminum) and 91 (Iron Metallic). An anti-glare panel in front of the windscreen was painted in the Luftwaffe tone RAL 6014, Gelboliv (Revell 42).

For some color highlights I gave the tip tanks bright red (Feuerrot, RAL 3000; Revell 330) outer halves, while the inner halves were painted black to avoid reflections that could distract the pilot (seen on a real Luftwaffe T-33 from the late Fifties). For an even more individual touch I added light blue (Tamiya X-14, Sky Blue) highlights on the nose and the fin, reflecting the squadron’s color code which is also carried within the unit emblem – the Tamiya paint came closest to the respective decal (see below).

The cockpit interior was painted with zinc chromate green primer (I used Humbrol 80, which is brighter than the tone should be, but it adds contrast to the black dials on the dashboard), the landing gear wells were painted with a mix of Humbrol 80 and 81, for a more yellowish hue. The landing gear struts became grey, dry-brushed with silver, while the inside of the ventral air brakes were painted in Feuerrot, too.

Then the model received an overall washing with black ink to emphasize the recessed panel lines, plus additional panel shading with Matt Aluminum Metallizer (Humbrol 27001), plus a light rubbing treatment with grinded graphite that emphasized the (few leftover) raised panel lines and also added a dark metallic shine to the silver base. Some of the lost panel lines were simulated with simple pencil strokes, too.

The decals/markings primarily came from an AirDoc aftermarket sheet for late Fifties Luftwaffe F-84Fs. The tactical code (“BB-xxx” was then assigned to the WaSLw 10 as unit code, but this soon changed to a similar but different format that told about the unit’s task as well as the specific unit and squadron within it; this was replaced once more by a simple xx+yy code that was only connected to a specific aircraft with no unit reference anymore, and this format is still in use today) was puzzled together from single letters/digits from the same decal set. Some additional markings like the red band on the fuselage had to be scratched, but most stencils came from an all-bare-metal Luftwaffe F-84F.

After some more detail painting the model was sealed with semi-gloss acrylic paint, just the anti-glare panel and the di-electric fairings on the nose and the fin tip became matt.

A thorough kitbashing build, but the result looks quite plausible, if not elegant? The slightly swept wings suit the F-80 with its organic fuselage shape well, even though they reveal the designs rather baroque shape. There’s a sense of obsolescence about the F-80E, despite its modern features? The Luftwaffe markings work well on the aircraft, too, and with the red and blue highlights the machine looks more attractive despite its simple NMF livery than expected.

The Fieldmann HotchMA92 is a recoil, gas assisted, heavy machine gun. It fires the custom 8mm HotchNess round, an overcharged variant on the traditional 8mm round. This gives the round enough backforce to cycle the weapon and rotate the 4 barrels.

Caliber: 8mm Hotchness

Capacity: Belt Fed

RoF: 850 rounds per minute

Length of sustained fire: 6 hours given ammunition

(Yea, the tripod should be wider I think... it's hard to work on something this big without scrolling the workspace. And the sights are correct, the top of the front sight line up with the center of the rear. The rear is actually a series of 3 circles and the center crosshair. Each circle is set for a different distance if non accurate suppressive fire is needed.

Also going against what has become my norm, this is 95% parts. The only shapes are the barrels, gas tube, and 2 of the barrel clamps. Oh and a single shaded part in the background to fill in some holes.)

Thanks to Noah for some of the inspiration, most notably the tripod. I had to force myself not to use some ideas just it didn't look like I copied you xD

EAST CHINA SEA (July 31, 2020) Sailors connect fueling lines to the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Shiloh (CG 67) from the dry cargo and ammunition ship USNS Alan Shepard (T-AKE-3) during a replenishment-at-sea. Shiloh is forward-deployed to the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations in support of security and stability in the Indo-Pacific. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Isaac Maxwell)

Above the entrance to 30 Rockefeller Plaza

CORAL SEA (July 19, 2021) Marines assigned to the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) stand by in the USS New Orleans (LPD 18) well deck in preparation for combat rubber raiding craft operations as part of Talisman Sabre 2021 (TS21). TS21 is a large-scale, bilateral military exercise conducted biennially across Northern Australia designed to enhance the U.S.-Australia alliance, which is an anchor of peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific. Exercises like this provide effective and intense training to ensure our forces are capable, interoperable, responsive, and combat-ready. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Desmond Parks)

Machine and objective: Canon EOS 450D, Sigma 18-200mm DC OS, Canon Speedlite 430EX II

Locale: España, Sevilla, (en mi terraza).

Photographer: todoUNtipo

Velocidad: 1/200s

ISO: 400

Apertura: f8,0

Focal: 96mm

Please View On Black Por favor

Cuando la vida te presente razones para llorar, demuéstrale que tienes mil y una razones para reír.

When life hands you this reason to mourn, show him you have a thousand and one reasons to laugh.

…Cuando en la vida nos sale algo doblado, torcido o simplemente no nos sale, tenemos que serenarnos, calmarnos y ver las posibles soluciones, si no está en nuestras manos solo tenemos que tener paciencia y ver las soluciones desde otro ángulo, si lo está, solo tenemos que saber como y cuando lo podemos solucionar, es cuestión de paciencia y calma.

(F. Martínez Ledesma).

Como lo único que veo últimamente por todos los lados son gotas, pues apunto otra en la lista, y espero el buen tiempo ansioso.

Dedicada a todos vosotros por seguir ahí, hoy me sumo a la dedicatoria ya que estoy “mu” feliz porque mis pruebas médicas han salido de arte ;)

Coldplay - Clocks

…Nunca me han interesado ni el poder ni la fortuna lo que admiro son las flores que crecen en la basura…

Please don't use this image on websites, blogs or other media without my explicit permission. © All rights reserved.

Stability

With looming threats quelled and strong economic and defence stability being solidified, The Federation enters the next age.

desert; stone; nature; relax; background; zen; sky; balance; way; tranquil; group; rock; pebble; concept; sun; stability; focus; color; selective; hot; rough; infinity; perspective; objects; natural; meditative; travel; weather; relaxation; peaceful; peace; symbol; sunny; spirituality; tradition; beautiful; mountains; canary; islans; surface; blocks; texture; backgrounds; park; landscape; adventure; high; terrain; outdoors; granite; geology; trail; silent; route;

Stability while riding is fair, but event weight distribution is key between the bike and panniers, particularly as all the weight is behind the rear axle.. If one side is heavier than the other, it can induce some wobble in the bars when hitting bumps. When it's dead even, there is little affect on handling

PHILIPPINE SEA (Aug. 20, 2021) A U.S. Marine Corps F-35B Lightning II fighter aircraft attached to Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA 211), embarked on the Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth (R08) prepares for takeoff from amphibious assault ship USS America (LHA 6) during flight operations between the Royal Navy and USS America. The 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit is operating aboard ships of America Expeditionary Strike Group in the 7th fleet area of operations to enhance interoperability with allies and partners and serve as a ready response force to defend peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Malik Lewis)

58/365

Shot some cool stuff today. My Facebook page celebrates its first birthday tomorrow, you should go visit. I'm thinking about doing a give away or something.

Facebook | Instagram | Tumblr

A battle between spearmen in a dream represents a blow of fate, a mishap, or a calamity. The way to avoid such a mishap is by spending money and efforts on God’s path. Such a battle also could mean an attack against one’s religion,a calumny, or mocking another person’s faith, or speaking ill of righteous people, or being sarcastic about religion, or it could mean slander, defamation, confuting someone, defaming him, vilification, or making libelous statements against someone. If one sees himself stabbing someone with a spear, a sword, a lance, or a wooden post in a dream, it means making or publishing libelous statements about someone, and in that case, he is the assailant and he is liable for his actions, also he will be subjected to the same destiny. If one stabs, wounds, or threatens someone with any of the above weapons, or if he points them toward the other person but does not attack him in the dream, it means that he will be tempted to slander or defame him, then he will withhold himself from doing so. If one sees people fighting with spears in a dream, it means that a plague will strike that place, or it could mean rising prices. If one sees them rebelling against the government in the dream, it means that prices will fall….

In a dream, a lance represents a branch of wood, stability based on one’s strength, or stepping away from the wrong path. A lance in a dream also represents a woman, a child, testifying to the truth, or going on a journey. A lance in one’s hand in a dream represents a grand son or a blessed son who will grow to preside over people and defend them with his own life. A broken lance in a dream represents an incurable deficiency or a disease that will inflict one’s child. Carrying a lance while riding a horse in a dream means authority with honor. If someone denies his ownership of a lance in a dream, it means an accident or a betrayal. If the lance belongs to a brother, then it means a calamity. If one does repair a broken lance in a dream, it means recovering from an illness. A lance without a spearhead in a dream means the death of one’s brother or child. A lance in a dream also represents a brother or a friend who will part with his brother or friend, or it could mean loss of one’s job. Walking with a lance in one’s hand in the middle of a marketplace in a dream means walking or strolling with one’s son. As for a pregnant woman, a metal lance means that she will deliver a girl, and that she will receive a gift of money or a present after her birth from other daughters. Carrying a lance with a flag raised on top of it in a dream means attaining a position that will earn fame. If one is challenged by someone holding a lance against him in a dream, it means that someone will hurt him with his words, or slander his family. Owning an extra lance in a dream means having a brother or a friend who will stand for one’s defence when needed. A long spear means injustice, or it could mean good health. If one bleeds from a wound caused by a lance in a dream, it means that he will be compensated for pain and suffering, or that he will return home from a longjourney. Multiple wounds from a lance in a dream mean financial compensation, though the source of money is loathsome. Fighting one’s enemies with a lance means earning dirty money. A person holding a lance in a dream also represents a teacher, an educator, or someone who helps his brothers and friends. (Also see Javelin)…

dreamingthedreams.com/meanings/spear/

books.google.fr/books?...

Evelyn Underhill - 2012 - ‎Aperçu - ‎Autres éditions

There is a further excuse for this apparently eccentric proceeding, however, in the fact that the language of alchemy was ... Then there is the Vessel, or Athanor, in which the transmutation of base metal to gold took place : an object whose exact nature is veiled in much mystery. ... terms, is more often than not disguised in a strange heraldic and zoological symbolism dealing with Lions, Dragons, Eagles, ...

Must attribute with link to: www.ptpioneer.com

Image of a girl working out Outside In a park doing dumbbell military presses while sitting on a stability ball.

When defenses against the most immediate forms of mental disturbance have been raised, the assimilation of the principles of "right conduct" arouses in the mind an "intimate, unalloyed joy" joined with the stability and sureness of one who feels himself in a state of "justice." For which we are given the simile of a lawfully crowned king who knows that his enemies are routed and that there is no threat of any kind to his sovereignty. We have also acquired the strengthened "neutrality" or "sidereality" of the mind that, thanks to the fourfold contemplation, has further freed itself and is now at the center of all its experience, both internal and external. At this point we undertake the really cathartic action whose aim is to neutralize, by degrees, any possibility of "combustion" and of self-abandonment to the multiple variety of "contacts."

Contacts wound; contacts consume by exciting the fire that burns the body and the mind, which nourishes the samsaric stem and prostrates the higher principle. "The fool, struck by force, perishes; the wise man, when struck, does not tremble," he remains intact, remains unshakable, remains elusive; we must become like the wise man. It is a question, then, of dealing a blow at the transcendental "desire" that lurks in the visual and other senses, in the khandha (the groups of the personality), in the elements, and which is corruption, disease, suppuration. All this must naturally take place, not on the psychological or moral plane, but on the existential and metaphysical one. The beginning of the process of alteration lies in the senses, which are likened to so many "wounds." (…) In order to "bandage the wounds" and neutralize the infection provoked by contacts, we must ensure that "the internal sight, the internal smelling, the internal hearing, the internal tasting, the internal touching, the internal thinking are not distracted," that is to say, that we are present in the sixfold seat of the senses in such a way that we can immediately prevent any self-relaxation, self-attachment, self-intoxication, any luring of ourselves by enjoyment. There will be, then, no further building of combinations, at first in the fundamental stem of the will, and then in the five stems of the personality." This is the essence of the new work of catharsis.

This work is based on what is known as the "watch over the doors of the senses," for which the canonical formula is: "Upon perceiving a form with the eye, the ascetic conceives no inclination, no interest. Since craving and aversion and damaging and harmful thoughts soon overcome the man who lives with the eye unguarded, he remains vigilant, he guards the eye, he remains vigilant over the eye." Upon hearing a sound with the ear, upon smelling an odor with the nose, upon tasting a flavor with the tongue, upon touching a contact with the body, upon representing to himself a mental state with the mind, he conceives no inclination, he conceives no interest. Since craving and aversion and damaging and harmful thoughts soon overcome the man who lives with his mind unguarded, he remains vigilant, he guards the mind, he remains vigilant over the mind." To fail in this vigilance at some point is to suffer the fate of the tortoise: when the tortoise unthinkingly put out one of its limbs a jackal seized it by that limb and carried it off to its ruin.

In this matter then, we have to come to grips with the samsaric entity with which we are associated and that constitutes our double, composed of thirst. A continually tightening circle closes round it. It is effectively likened to an enemy who, knowing that he cannot openly defeat his adversary, gets himself employed by him as a servant and gains his confidence so that he may then defeat him by treachery: this is the part that the illusory "I," created by identification, plays in us until the time of initiation into the doctrine of the Ariya.

That the discipline of the watch over the senses or binding the wounds leads to a higher liberation is shown by the simile of the man who has at a crossroads a thoroughbred team and can guide them wherever he pleases. The man who does not know or who forgets this practice is dominated by forms, sounds, smells, tastes, contacts, and thoughts, instead of being their master.

In another way this discipline can also he summed up by the word silentium: "to gird oneself with silence," silence in the technical and initiatory sense. Impressions are arrested at the periphery, at the limit of the senses. Between them and the "I" there is now a distance, a zone of "silence." We thus become endowed with that form of silence that consists of not pronouncing either the exterior word or the interior word, and this in turn implies not hearing, not seeing, not imagining. This theme has also been expressed in a popular form. It is, in fact, the deeper, hidden significance of the well-known statuette of the three sacred monkeys, one with the ears closed, one with the mouth closed, and one with the eyes closed: speak not, hear not, see not. And we may here also recall the curious hermetical formula: "Who has ears, let him open them [in the sense of a close watch on every impression], who has a mouth, let him keep it shut [in the sense of the aforesaid silence, of calm, intangible 'neutrality']."

It is thus that the conditions for further liberation and then for awakening the extrasamsāric principle are consolidated.

As the natural counterpart of the watch on the doors of the senses, a world of disintoxication is carried out within the zone that is now isolated, in order to eliminate or reduce those internal smoldering embers of agitation and self-identification that may be made to burst into life by external contacts. This is what is known as the removal of the five nīvarana, a term that means a "dross," a "hindrance," or an "impediment." The five nīvarana are: desire (kāmacchanda); hate or anger (vyāpāda); slothful idleness (thīna-middha); pride and impatience (uddhacca- kukkucca); doubtful uncertainty (vicikicchā).

The action of these five hindrances is clearly indicated by the following similes: it is like trying to look at one's reflection in water wherein all kinds of colors are mixed (desire), or in boiling water (hate and anger), or in water full of mud and moss (slothful idleness), or in water agitated by the wind (pride and impatience), or finally, in dark and murky water (doubt). Removal is effected by direct action of the mind on the mind, together with accurate and calm self-examination. The discipline is described in the texts in the following manner.

The ascetic finds a solitary place and begins to meditate. A well-known yoga position is counseled: sit with legs crossed and body straight upright. This traditional Indo-Aryan position is, however, only suitable if one is so accustomed to it that it is quite natural and requires no special effort and does not produce fatigue. In general, the position recommended for this, as for other contemplations, must be one of equilibrium, which does not have to be changed; it must have a kind of symbolical meaning of self-awareness and it must not demand efforts that would distract the mind.

It is fundamentally a more advanced development of the states already induced by sīla or "right conduct." The aim here is obviously to bring us to a deeper zone by means of the strengthened power of internal vision that we have gained through the preceding disciplines. It is a matter of attacking, to some degree, the sankhara, that is to say, the innate and congenital tendencies that come, in part, from the extra-individual heredity that we have assumed.

Here, too, the purity achieved at certain moments comes to be developed until it has almost attained a state of permanency. This is how we must understand what is known as the "threefold watch": "by day, walking and sitting, turn the mind away from disturbing things; in the first watch of the night, walking and sitting, turn the mind away from disturbing things; in the middle watch of the night, lie down on the right side, like the lion, one foot on the other, bringing to mind the hour of waking; in the last watch of the night, after arising, walking or sitting, turn the mind away from disturbing things."

This is a kind of continuous examination of consciousness. The yama, the watches of the night that are recognized in this discipline consist, according to the Buddhist tradition, of four hours each; the first runs from six until ten in the evening, the second from ten until two in the morning, the third from two to six in the morning. Thus, strictly speaking, the period of true sleep or of the state that in the common man would correspond to sleep is restricted to four hours only, from ten in the evening until two in the morning. In this we must not see an "ascetic" discipline in the Western sense of mortification: on the contrary, it is natural that in advancing along the road of illumination the need for sleep is considerably reduced, and this reduction produces no ill effect. Here, too, a unilateral "authoritarian" intervention would only serve to create states of fatigue and inattention unfavorable for spiritual life by day.

With attentive care of the "wounds" and with action taken against the hindrances or impediments, the zone of "silence" is strengthened, and a gradual interior increase of the extrasamsāric quality takes place therein; this increase should he aided by illuminated effort and it is related to the aforesaid "seven awakenings". These "awakenings" are the positive counterpart of the cathartic or prophylactic action, that is to say, they are a "defence against intoxication produced by action." The canonical formula is: "[The ascetic] rightly causes the awakening of mindfulness derived from detachment, derived from dispassion, derived from cessation [of the flux], ending in renunciation, he causes the awakening of investigation -of inflexible energy- of enthusiasm -of calm- of concentration -of equanimity, of these awakenings derived from detachment, derived from dispassion, derived from cessation, ending in renunciation."

Various interpretations of the place of these awakenings in the whole development are, nevertheless, possible. Their sense as a whole, indeed, reflects that of the four jhānas, of the contemplation that is to be performed in complete detachment from external experience. Here, however, we may understand them on a more relative plane, as a kind of transfiguration and liberation of faculties that are already pervaded by the element of bodhi, whence the expression bojjhanga. It must be realized that we are not dealing with a simple schematic enu¬meration, but rather with a series in which the meditation whereby they are appre¬hended should pursue an intimate causal linking of the single terms so that we are naturally led on from one to the next, and so that in the one we see the integration and resolution of its predecessors. Thus, we must first achieve nondistracted medita¬tion: then we must awaken the state of "mindfulness," fix it in the mind, develop it, master it, and see how this state leads to the second awakening and passes into "investigation," which may find support in some element of the doctrine; this inves¬tigation, when developed, fixed, extended, and mastered must lead on to the awak¬ening of "inflexible energy," whose perfect conquest should herald a state of spe¬cial, purified "enthusiasm," of purified joy. By further developing the meditation, we should realize that this enthusiasm, this joy, awakened and perfectly developed in a body that is becoming calm, in a mind that is becoming calm, will become resolved and liberated in the next awakening, which is that of "calm." When calm has been developed, extended, fixed, and mastered, "concentration" awakens; this, in its turn, when completely developed, becomes established and shines forth in the "equanimity" that is the seventh awakening.

These form a series of landmarks in meditation that is concerned with realization and they are connected by an inherent continuity. Through these, one is led in another way to the confirmation of what was already becoming established in the satipatthāna, the fourfold contemplation of detachment, that is to say, one is led to that impassibility that is qualified as "pure, clear, ductile, flexible, resplendent," but which has nothing to do-it should be noted-with the indifference of a blunt mind, with the indifference "of a fool, of an ignorant man, of an inexpert common man." For our part, we think it opportune to add that the state in question must on no account be confused with apathy, and that it develops together with a feeling of purified intellectualized and heroic joy, although this may at first seem difficult to understand. The Bhagavadgītā says: "When the mind, lamed by ascesis, becomes quiet; when [the ascetic], seeing the self in the self, rejoices in himself, knows that boundless joy which, transcending the senses, can only be ap¬prehended by the intellect and, when fixed in it, does not stir from the truth ... he knows that this detachment from union with pain is called yoga." At the same time, Buddhism speaks of a pleasure that is "like dung" when compared to that based on detachment, calm, and illumination (thus two kinds of joy are considered and contrasted. the one bound to life in the world, to mania, to enjoyment, the other to ascesis or to ultramundane states of detachment and of freedom from mania; and it is said that the second is the higher joy. "Extinction is the greatest joy.")

Furthermore, such sequences as these are frequent: "In the ascetic joy arises; this joy makes him blissful; being blissful, his body becomes calm: with the body calmed, serenity arises; in this serenity the mind comes to rest, becomes concentrated"; this is a preparation for the four jhāna. This is another sequence that has the character of a connected series, developing in an upward sense, not unlike that which, through the twelve nidana, led us downward to samsāric existence. The point of departure of this new series is, in fact, the state of suffering, of agitation, of contingency, which corresponds to the last nidāna of the descending path. Beyond it, there is the state of confidence; this leads to purified joy; then follows serenity, which gives place to bliss, passing on to equanimity - the term used here literally means also to vanish, to cease being in a place: it is a question of detached equilibrium. In this text the supreme realization has behind it a linked series in which special states of liberated joy play a particular part: a kind of joy that Plato contrasted with all mixed and conditioned forms of joy or of pleasure.

Let us quote another text that represents the state at which we may reckon to have arrived at this point of our exposition: „Concentration which knows neither increase nor decrease, which is not based on wearisome subjugation, which, because of its detached nature is constant, because of its constancy is full of bliss, because of its bliss cannot be destroyed — such concentration has suprene wisdom as its result.”

This should destroy the idea that the path of awakening is arid and desolate, that it kills all joy, that it offers only renunciation and destruction. That everyone whose furthest horizon is still within the effective, samsarically conditioned world should have this idea is quite natural but is of very little account.

A text reminds us that only an Awakened One can comprehend the Awakened One. An expressive simile demonstrates this: two companions leave a city together and reach a rock that one of them climbs. He says to the other: "I see from up here a wonderful view of gardens, woods, fields, and lakes," but the other retorts: "It is impossible, it is inadmissible, friend, that from up there you can see all that." Then the companion standing on the rock comes down, takes the other by the arm, makes him climb up on the rock and. after he has recovered his breath, asks him: "What do you then see, friend, standing on the rock?" The other replies: "I see a wonderful view of gardens, woods, fields, and lakes." "And your previous opinion?" "While I was obstructed by this great rock, I could not see what is now visible." It concludes: it is impossible that what is knowable, discernible, capable of achievement, capable of realization through detachment can be known, discerned, achieved, realized by one who lives among desires and who is consumed by desires." Quite apart from the higher "sidereal" principle. the Buddhist also knows the kind of joy that is contentedness, rejoicing, jubilation, enthusiasm, exultation, transport of the spirit and that, among others, is considered as "a factor of the great awakening”.

[Countering those who believe that the Buddhist road is one of desolation and aridity, Louis de La Vallée-Poussin most opportunely writes: “We must, rather, recognise that India is difficult when it comes to being and bliss; that as she puts being beyond existence, so she puts bliss beyond sensation.”]

--------

Julius Evola: The Doctrine of Awakening - Part II., Chapter 4. - Sidereal Awareness: The Wounds Close (excerpt)

EAST CHINA SEA (Aug. 5, 2020) An MH-60S Seahawk helicopter assigned to Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 25 conducts underway replenishment training with the forward-deployed amphibious assault ship USS America (LHA 6). America, flagship of the America Expeditionary Strike Group, is operating in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of responsibility to enhance interoperability with allies and partners and serve as a ready response force to maintain security and stability in the Indo-Pacific region. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Matthew Cavenaile)

PHUKET, Thailand (June 8, 2019) The amphibious assault ship USS Boxer (LHD 4) anchors off the coast of Phuket during a scheduled port visit. The Marines and Sailors of the 11th Marines Expeditionary Unit are deployed to the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations to support regional stability, reassure partners and allies, and maintain a presence postured to respond to any crisis ranging from humanitarian assistance to contingency operations. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Dalton S. Swanbeck)

Must attribute with link to: www.ptpioneer.com

Image of a girl working out Outside doing stability ball dumbbell chest press In a sunny park.

OKINAWA, Japan (Aug. 27, 2020) Landing Craft, Air Cushion 10, center, assigned to Naval Beach Unit 7, arrives at White Beach from the amphibious dock landing ship USS Germantown (LSD 42). Germantown, part of America Expeditionary Strike Group, 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit team, is operating in the 7th Fleet area of operations to enhance interoperability with allies and partners, and serves as a ready response force to defend peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Taylor DiMartino)

INDIAN OCEAN (Nov. 3, 2020) Lt. Yuma Kuwata, from Yokohama, Japan, monitors surface contacts while standing watch in the combat information center aboard the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS John S. McCain (DDG 56) during an anti-submarine warfare training evolution as part of Malabar 2020. Malabar is an India-led multinational exercise designed to enhance cooperation between Indian Navy (IN), Royal Australian Navy (RAN), Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) and U.S. maritime forces. Australian, Indian, Japanese and American maritime forces routinely operate together in the Indo-Pacific, fostering a cooperative approach toward regional security and stability. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Markus Castaneda/Released)

Photo taken at Southport Gold Coast Australia.

A Yashica 500mm Mirror Lens adapted to a Nikon D700 full frame DSLR. Hand held camera with my elbows resting on a park table for stability.

+++ 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 1948, a swept wing version of the F-84 was created with the hope of bringing performance to the level of the F-86. The last production F-84E was fitted with a swept tail, a new wing with 38.5 degrees of leading-edge sweep and 3.5 degrees of anhedral, and a J35-A-25 engine producing 5,300 pound-force (23.58 kN) of thrust. The aircraft was designated XF-96A and flew on 3 June 1950. Although the airplane was capable of 602 knots (693 mph, 1,115 km/h), the performance gain over the F-84E was considered minor. Nonetheless, it was ordered into production in July 1950 as the F-84F Thunderstreak. The F-84 designation was eventually retained because the fighter was expected to be a low-cost improvement of the straight-wing Thunderjet with over 55 percent commonality in tooling.

A handful F-96Bs were camouflaged during the late Sixties with the USAF’s new SEA scheme, but most aircraft retained their original bare metal finish with more or less colorful unit markings. Due to its limited capabilities and the introduction of the Mach 2 McDonnell F-4 Phantom, the last F-96B was retired from ANG service in 1971.

General characteristics:

Crew: 2

Length: 54t 11 1/2 in (16,77 m) incl. pitot

Wingspan: 33 ft 7.25 in (10,25 m)

Height: 16 ft 9 in (5,11 m)

Wing area: 350 sq ft (37,55 m²)

Empty weight: 13,810 lb (6.264 kg)

Gross weight: 21,035 lb (9.541 kg)

Max takeoff weight: 28,000 lb (12.701 kg)

Powerplant:

1× Wright J65-W-18 turbojet with 8,600 lbf (34 kN) dry thrust and 10,500 lbf (47 kN) with afterburner

Performance:

Maximum speed: 695 mph (1,119 km/h, 604 kn, Mach 1.1) at 35,000 ft (10,668 m)

Cruise speed: 577 mph (928 km/h, 501 kn)

Range: 810 mi (1,304 km, 704 nmi) combat radius with two droptanks

Service ceiling: 49,000 ft (15,000 m)

Rate of climb: 16,300 ft/min (83 m/s)

Wing loading: 86 lb/sq ft (423 kg/m²)

Armament:

No internal guns;

6× underwing hardpoints for a total ordnance load of up to 6,000lb (2,727 kg), including

a pair of 191.5 US gal (727 l) or 375 US gal (1.429 l) drop tanks on the inner stations

and a mix of AIM-4 Falcon (up to six), MB-1 Genie (up to two) and/or pods with

nineteen 2.75”/70 mm FFAR unguided missiles each (up to four) on the outer stations

The kit and its assembly:

This fictional missing link between the RF-84F and the F-105 was conceived for the Fifties Group Build at whatifmodellers.com, an era when the USAF used a wide variety of interceptor aircraft types and technical advancements were quick and significant – in just a decade the interceptor evolved from a subsonic machine gun-toting aircraft to a guided weapons carrier platform, capable of Mach 2.

The F-96B (I re-used Republic’s dropped designation for the swept-wing F-84F) was to display one of the many “in between” designs, and the (R)F-84F was just a suitable basis for a conversion similar to the T-33-derived F-94, just more capable and big enough to carry the nuclear Genie missile.

The basis became Italeri’s vintage RF-84F kit, a rather simple affair with raised panel lines and a mediocre fit, plus some sinkholes. This was, however, heavily modified!

Work started with the implantation of a new tandem cockpit, taken wholesale from a Heller T-33. Fitting the cockpit tub into the wider Thunderflash hull was a bit tricky, putty blobs held the implant in place. The canopy was taken from the T-33, too, just the RF-84F’s original rear side windows were cut away to offer sufficient length for the longer clear part and the cockpit side walls had to be raised to an even level with the smaller windscreen with the help of styrene strips. With these adapters the T-33 canopy fitted surprisingly well over the opening and blended well into the spine.

The camera nose section lost its tip, which was replaced with the tail cone from a Matchbox H.S. Buccaneer (actually its air brake), and the camera windows as well as the slant surfaces that held them were PSRed away for a conical shape that extended the new pointed radome. Lots of weight in the nose and under the cockpit floor ensured a safe stance on the OOB landing gear.

The rear section behind the air brakes became all-new; for an afterburner I extended and widened the tail section and implanted the rear part from a B-66 (Italeri kit, too) engine nacelle, which received a wider nozzle (left over from a Nakotne MiG-29, a featureless thing) and an interior.

To balance the longer nose I also decided to enlarge the tail surfaces and replaced the OOB fin and stabilizers with leftover parts from a Trumpeter Il-28 bomber – the fin was shortened and the stabilizers reduced in span to match the rest of the aircraft. Despite the exotic source the parts blend well into the F-84’s overall design!

To add supersonic credibility and to connect the design further with the later F-105 I modified the air intakes and cut them into a raked shape – quite easy to realize. Once the wings were in place, I also added small splitter plates, left over from an Airfix BAC Strikemaster.

As an interceptor the armament had to be adapted accordingly, and I procured the quartet of IR-guided Falcons as well as the Genie duo from an Academy F-89. The large drop tanks were taken OOB from the Italeri kit. The Genies were mounted onto their massive Scorpion pylons under the outer wings of the F-96B, while the Falcons, due to relatively little space left under the wings, required a scratched solution. I eventually settled for dual launchers on small pylons, mounted in front of the landing gear wells. The pylons originally belong to an ESCI Ka-34 “Hokum” helicopter kit (they were just short enough!), the launch rails are a halved pair of F-4 Sidewinder rails from a Hasegawa air-to-air weapons set. With everything on place the F-96B looks quite crowded.

Painting and markings:

The machine would represent a late Fifties USAF type, so that the paint options were rather limited if I wanted to be authentic. ADC Grey was introduced in the early Sixties, SEA camouflage even later, so that bare metal became a natural choice – but this can be quite attractive! The model received an overall coat with acrylic “White Aluminum” from the rattle can, plus some darked panels all over the hull (Humbrol 56 for good contrast) and an afterburner section in Revell 91 (Iron Metallic) and Humbrol’s Steel Metallizer. The radome became deep black, the anti-glare panel in front of the windscreen olive drab (Revell 46). Light grey (Revell 75) was used for some small di-electric fairings.

Interior surfaces (cockpit and landing gear wells) were painted with Zinc Chromate primer (I used Humbrol 80), while the landing gear struts became silver-grey (Humbrol 56) and the inside of the covers as well as the air brakes were painted in bright red (Humbrol 19).

Once basic painting was done the model received a black ink washing and was rubbed with grinded graphite to emphasize the raised panel lines, and the material adds a nice dark metallic shine to the silver base coat.

Another challenge was to find suitable unit markings for the Fifties era in the decal vault, which would also fit onto the model. After a long search I eventually settled for rather simple markings from a 325th FIS F-102 from an Xtradecal sheet, which only features a rather timid fin decoration.

Finding other suitable standard markings remained demanding, though. Stars-And-Bars as well as the USAF taglines were taken from the Academy F-89 that also provided the ordnance, most stencils were taken from the OOB Italeri sheet and complemented by small markings from the scrap box. The biggest problem was the creation of a matching serial number. The “FF” code was originally used for P/F-51D Mustangs during the Korea War, but after the type had been phased out it might have been re-used? The letters as well as the serial number digits were created from various markings for USAF F-100s, also from an Xtradecal sheet.

Once the decals had been applied the model was sealed with semi-gloss acrylic varnish, except for the radome, the anti-glare panel as well as the walking areas on the wings as well as parts of the afterburner section, which were coated with matt varnish.

A rather straightforward conversion, even though finishing the project took longer than expected. But the result looks surprisingly natural and plausible. Lots of PSR was needed to modify the fuselage, though, especially the tail section was not easy to integrate into the Thunderflash’s hull. Sticking to the simple NMF livery paid IMHO out, too: the livery looks very natural and believable on the fictional aircraft, and it suits the F-84’s bulbous shape well.

Body & Head

Kalhene - ANYA BENTO fitted mesh Body + Head Updated v2.2 Demo is available

Skin: 7 Deadly s[K]ins - BOM - CHILE marshmellow

Izzie's Free BOM Updates III - LeLutka - Cheek Freckles (light) 70% past gift

Eyes: Le Forme Natural green Mesh Eyes Access GIFT

Eyes: LOGO Crystal Eyes - Blue 1 eBENTO Cake 3rd Anniversary

Izzie's - Free BOM Updates II - LeLutka - Eye Crease + Little Liner past gift

:.Fudge:. Opening Gift* Cute Poses! PLUS Bonus Poses & Make-up! - Peach Icecream Lip Smudge MP Gift

Hair:Tentacio Saturday Night Hair Dark Brown Gacha 50L a go

Hairbase: *barberyumyum*hairbase(Brown)in a group gift hair box

Clothing

Jeans: Scandalize Nessiha Jeans Nude (pack of 2) JEANS.JEAN. MAITREYA 15L current hunt prize

Sweater: :: No Cabide :: Lis Sweater - HUD 20 Models MP Gift

Shoes: Ingenue :: Haru Flats [LARA] :: Cotton Candy [SL17B] past gift

Accessories

Earrings: Bears Gone Wild SL17B - Stud bEarRing Left - by Randy Firebrand past gift

Ring: Chop Zuey Gift - Bling Ring - TxChnge

Pets

Forest Fashion Friends - Baby Fox (RARE) by JIAN Gacha 50L a go

Pose

an lar [poses] The Walled Series - Five MP Gift

Location

Breath of Nature, Serena Falls

photo rights reserved by B℮n

Khao Hin Thoen Stone Park is located in Prachuap Khiri Khan province in the narrowest part of Thailand, which is only 15 kilometers wide, close to the border with Myanmar Burma. Khao Hin Theun Stone Park is a hilly area where many large granite stones are stacked naturally. The fact that these large rocks appear to remain balanced despite their size and weight reminds us of the delicate balance and stability in nature. It is a reminder of the forces of nature and the unique geological processes that create such formations. These formations are often the result of centuries of geological processes, including erosion, sedimentation, landslides and other forces. It's amazing how nature can create these complex structures over time. From the top of the hill you can enjoy breathtaking panoramic views of the Gulf of Thailand and the surrounding coastline. Just a few kilometers away, at the Singkhon checkpoint, is the border with Myanmar; a route with rich historical significance as it once served as a military trail during the late Ayutthaya period. At the summit there is also a secluded temple built between three large massive granite boulders. Essentially an open cave, this temple is a hidden gem maintained by a lone monk. This venerable monk, now 78 years old, has been living here in solitude for more than 40 years. The temple and living area are built into the large boulders. Surrounded by lush green forests, this open temple cave also offers an opportunity to enjoy the natural beauty and tranquility. Hiking trails are available for those who want to enjoy the natural environment. The peaceful surroundings and natural beauty make it a popular place for meditation and contemplation.

Khao Hin Thoen Stone Park, situated near Hua Hin,. The park is a remarkable natural wonder where numerous colossal boulders are ingeniously stacked, creating an extraordinary and unique attraction. As you explore, you'll discover narrow pathways that meander amidst these immense rocks and boulders. The ultimate ascent to the mountain's summit is well worth the challenging journey, as the vistas that await are genuinely awe-inspiring. From this vantage point, you can behold the Gulf of Thailand in the distance and gaze upon the picturesque landscape of the Hua Hin region below. The ascent itself is an unforgettable experience. Along the way, you'll encounter strangely shaped boulders and rocks, precariously balanced atop one another, leaving you in wonderment, as if they might teeter and tumble at any moment. Photo of Kanitha, Chada, BieJee and Chi.

Khao Hin Thoen Stone Park ligt in de provincie Prachuap Khiri Khan in in het smalste stukje van Thailand, dat slechts 15 kilometer breed is, dichtbij de grens met Myanmar (Birma). Khao Hin Theun Stone Park is een heuvelachtig gebied waar veel grote granieten stenen op natuurlijke wijze zijn gestapeld. Het feit dat deze grote rotsen in evenwicht lijken te blijven, ondanks hun omvang en gewicht, herinnert ons aan de delicate balans en stabiliteit in de natuur. Het is een herinnering aan de krachten van de natuur en de unieke geologische processen die dergelijke formaties creëren. Deze formaties zijn vaak het resultaat van eeuwenlange geologische processen, waaronder erosie, sedimentatie, aardverschuivingen en andere krachten. Het is verbazingwekkend hoe de natuur door de tijd heen deze complexe structuren kan creëren. Vanaf de top van de heuvel kunt u genieten van adembenemende panoramische uitzichten op de Golf van Thailand en de omliggende kustlijn. Slechts enkele kilometers verderop, bij het Singkhon-controlepunt, ligt de grens met Myanmar; een route met een rijke historische betekenis, omdat deze ooit dienst deed als militair pad tijdens de late Ayutthaya-periode. Op de top is ook een afgelegen tempel gebouwd tussen drie grote massieve granieten rotsblokken. Deze tempel, in wezen een open grot, is een verborgen juweeltje dat wordt onderhouden door een eenzame monnik. Deze eerbiedwaardige monnik, nu 78 jaar oud, verblijft hier al meer dan 40 jaar in eenzaamheid. De tempel en het woongedeelte zijn in de grote rotsblokken gebouwd. Deze open tempelgrot is omgeven door weelderige groene bossen en biedt ook de mogelijkheid om te genieten van de natuurlijke schoonheid en rust. Er zijn wandelpaden beschikbaar voor degenen die willen genieten van de natuurlijke omgeving. De rustige omgeving en de natuurlijke schoonheid maken het een populaire plek voor meditatie en contemplatie. Foto van Kanitha, Chada, BieJee en Chi.

L2.05W0.82H1.14M120 • Cₓ0.2 • 0.5MW, 3,156Nm @12kHz, η>99%

EVBM18kg Li₂O₂ 40M୧ 720MJ • 679kph • 0-100kph→0.5s 5.665g₀

If you rode the rest of your life and really became the best that you could be, you would never ride like l ride.

S.S. LaBeouf in W.O. Stone 2010: WS: Money never sleeps.

Cfr. notes (1-18) over the above image.

NOTES

1. Windscreen-integrated MR-HUD + 3D holographic dashboard. 2. C-ABS, AWTVS, s-ϑ-v sensors on front & rear wheels. 3. Öhlins FGR300 Carbon ⌀60×S130 mm AS front fork. 4. 355mm T5 CCTi front brake vented discs. 5. Brembo GP5 front brake 4-piston fixed calipers. 6. 220mm T5 CCTi rear brake vented disc @ dx side. 7. Brembo GP5 rear brake 2-piston fixed caliper @ dx side. 8. BST GP Tek front + rear wheels (1.7+2.4 Kg). 9. 120/60ZR17 front tire. 10. 200/55ZR17 rear tire. 11. 525 17/46 drive chain. 12. 66.4° steering head angle. 13. 200° front/rear cameras. 14. Öhlins Carbon BDB50 S117mm AS rear shock absorber. 15. AWARHD. 16. M winglets provide 160N @300kph. 17. ϑ°ₘₐₓ 70°. 18. Lateral battery packs with the additional function of gyroscopic stabilizers.

Pₘₐₓ = Fₓ v = 2⁻¹ Cₓ A ρ vₘₐₓ³ → vₘₐₓ = ∛(2Pₘₐₓ Cₓ⁻¹ A⁻¹ ρ⁻¹) ≅ 678.6 km/h (A, frontal area ≅ 0.5 m²). Actual performance would depend on various factors, including aerodynamics, traction, and mechanical limitations. In this simplified model, v primarily depends on P and Cₓ rather than on M, and vₘₐₓ remains the same even with a slightly higher OAM.

REFERENCES

D.A. Vincenzi & al. 2024: Human factors in simulation & training.

M. Ghafarian & al. 2023: Dynamic Vehicular Motion Simulators.

B. González-Arcos & P.J. Gamez-Montero 2023: MotoGP airflow redirectors.

K. Wiński & A. Piechna 2022: Sport motorcycle CFD.

E. Frœse & al. 1985: Le parc (Street Hawk OST).

D. Byrne & al. 1983: This must be the place.

K. Gamble & al. 1973: For the love of money.

ÆM · EGP 2019 · 無限 神電八 2019 TT0 · LS218 2013 · ZM DSR-BF

BMW ÆM 2017 · DUCATI V21L · MOTOROiD 2017 · I/MI-B · TF · SA

Stark Varg SM 2025

The model from BlueBrixx is neither stable nor nice. The front wheels are fake and the stability is worse. So I really had to change a lot of stuff. But now the steam engine is looking fine. Next step is to make it run smoothly ;-) 3D-printed rods are ordered, so the wheel area will also be updated...

WATERS SOUTH OF JAPAN (June 16, 2016) A Phalanx Close-In Weapons System (CIWS) fires during a live fire exercise aboard the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Chancellorsville (CG 62). Chancellorsville is on patrol with the USS Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of responsibility supporting security and stability in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Andrew Schneider/Released)

PHILIPPINE SEA (Sept. 19, 2020) Seaman Hau Tran, from Killeen, Texas, walks the well deck of the amphibious transport dock ship USS New Orleans (LPD 18) searching for foreign object debris before the ship conducts amphibious operations. New Orleans, part of Expeditionary Strike Group Seven (ESG 7), along with the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, is operating in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of responsibility to enhance interoperability with allies and partners and serve as a ready response force to defend peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Kelby Sanders)

10th July 2016

ZM137 RAF F35B Lightning II demonstrating incredible stability in the hover during the Sunday display at RIAT 2016

.

ON APRIL 10 1978, at the age of twenty-four Judy Cameron became the first female Air Canada pilot.

Gosh, it was a risky move. The only other “big player” airline to consider the similar venture of a female pilot, was American Airlines. Quietly, Air Canada had reviewed NASA’s conclusions with regard to “emotional stability” and female astronauts.

NASA had discovered and documented their results. Women were just as calm, just as logical, and just as disciplined as men at the helm. The ancient Canadian airline was sold—they would go with Judy.

But this IS the alternate universe we live in, the one, you know, where Air Canada Flight 621 crashed in Castlemore, ON on this day, July 5, 1970, killing all 109 passengers and crew.

One of those Air Canada stewardesses that perished that awful day was a Denise Goulet and had she NOT died, I believe Denise—not Judy—would have been Air Canada’s first female pilot.

Judy Cameron decidedly took to flying even after a joker-pilot took her up on her first flight, did some spins, stalled his airplane (a Cessna 150) and then pretended he had to do a forced landing…because well, the airplane was now in trouble (component failure or he faked an inability to restart his engine) and to save their lives—they must land immediately!

Judy was scared as hell during the whole flight!

However, when the traumatic flight was over and she was safely on the ground Judy immediately knew…she just had to get her pilot’s license.

Judy took five years to rack up the necessary flying hours and flight experience…on various aircraft (including multi-engine ones) to even be considered as a pilot for any airline. By 1978 she had accumulated the flying experience that Air Canada couldn’t overlook—so she was indeed hired, and history was made. Air Canada had its first female pilot.

In contrast, Air Canada stewardess, Denise Goulet, by age twenty-two already had many parachute jumps under her belt. Her first jump was at age seventeen. And while she had been a stewardess for just shy of three years, she had disclosed to family and friends that she too had committed to getting her pilot’s licence. And fam and friends knew once Denise set her sights on a goal—she would achieve it.

That said, Denise had one huge advantage over Judy.

Denise’s father, Henri-Paul Goulet, was already a commercial pilot! Qualified not just on airplanes, but helos (helicopters) as well. Not many pilots had this dual certification then, or now.

You can bet that once Denise had gotten her private pilot’s licence, her pilot dad would have pulled out all the stops. Commercial pilot's license next…then her multi-engine rating and experience on multiple aircraft. Certainly, on jets. Maybe even helicopters.

Assuming the same career timeline—Denise would have been qualified and been commercial pilot status ready—early, by 1975. Three years before Judy.

By 1978, Denice would have been twenty-nine with far greater flight experience, and the chronologically more mature pilot.

Also, again, it cannot be understated how much attention, flying experience, and extra help Denise would have received through her father. A huge advantage…over and above any advantage Judy actually got.

Think of Walter and Wayne Gretzky, and you’ll start to understand the Henri-Paul and Denise Goulet connection.

Alas, it was not to be.

On July 5th, 1970 that fateful day, a call from Air Canada came into the Goulet residence at around 10 am.

That call would be answered by Denise’s eleven-year-old sister, Louise Goulet who was there at home, alone with her mother, Pauline (nee Roux). And, moments after Louise handed the phone over to her mother…their world came crashing in.

Simultaneously, Denise’s brother Andre who had borrowed Luke Gruninger’s Mustang to pick up Denise at the Los Angeles airport (LAX) waited for her flight to arrive. The trio was going to spend time together visiting California, seeing the younger generation sites. In August, Pauline and Denise were going to tour California together.

As Andre waited at the airport, it was finally announced that Flight 621 had crashed in Canada—with no survivors.

What most folks don’t really get about Air Canada’s Flight 621 crash IS that it was the Canadian parallel or equivalent newsworthy event to the JFK assassination in America!

That’s right.

Ask anyone in the USA what they were doing when they got the news that their much-loved president, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, had been assassinated.

They’ll tell you exactly where they were and what they were doing—and then they'll recall their immediate grief from that very news!

Well, I’ve talked with many, many, folks about the Air Canada DC-8 “stretch” crash in Woodbridge then (Brampton now).

The first recollections these people comment on is usually that it was a Sunday morning. Or, that it was such a beautiful day outside. Next, they'll recall exactly what they were doing at the moment they learned the shocking news of the Toronto area air disaster.

Usually, that news came over the radio, since everyone listened to the radio back then, at least in the background. And then there was a personal sorrow and a realization of their inability to help in any way. But their hearts and prayers were with the victim's families.

So many lives lost and no survivors! And so close to Toronto. And then the inevitable question—how did this crash happen?

That’s what this Air Canada plane crash meant to Canadians at the time. It was a sad and riveting moment for the entire nation.

From Patricia Harding,

“Denise and I trained together as Air Canada Flight Attendants in Montreal. She was a lovely person. I was in Vancouver on a stopover when we heard the news of the crash. We were grief-stricken and so traumatized that we were unable to work our flight back home. We had to stay in Vancouver and were flown home a couple of days later. The flight crew were all known to us and were like family. We were young and had so many dreams for the future. I have never forgotten and I will carry her memory with me always.”

From Nancy Holloway Gunson,

"I was working a C. P. Air flight that fateful day from Vancouver to Montreal. Before take off, we didn't receive any newspapers to hand out to passengers (these were the days when newspapers published 3 times a day and Vancouver was also 3 hours behind Toronto's time) and I remember asking a ground crew member why, and he told that there weren't any. I thought that that was very odd. Little did I realize that the crash was front page news.

My heart aches for those who perished. Denise Goulet was a beautiful young woman."

Look at the picture above of Denise Goulet.

If ever there was someone full of hope and promise it was Denise.

Her Air Canada stewardess picture is courtesy of Denise’s younger sister, Louise who answered the fateful call from Air Canada on that day.

And sadly, but truly, Denise is standing in front of an Air Canada DC-8 just like the one she perished in.

From the Walsingham poem,

“But true love is a durable fire,

In the mind ever burning.

Never sick, never old, never dead,

From itself never turning.”

Sir Walter Ralegh

Check here, on July 5, 2020, after 7 pm:

www.flickr.com/photos/78215847@N00/albums/721576246894922...

ADD A CONDOLENCE to the FLIGHT 621 FAMILIES, or a LOVED ONE from FLIGHT 621, or a MEMORY of a PERSONAL EVENT related to the crash…at the City of Brampton's permanent Flight 621 site…SEE: www.brampton.ca/EN/City-Hall/Protocol-Office/Brampton-Rem...

REST IN PEACE passengers and crew of Flight 621:

Adams, Celine Fradette

Adams, Pierre J

Beaudin, Gaetan

Belanger, Mrs.

Belanger, Jacques

Belanger, Jean

Belanger, Roland

Belanger, Rosanne

Benson, Helen

Benson, Leonard

Benson, Mary

Benson, Richard

Bertrand, Ginette

Boosamra, Lynn

Boulanger, Guy

Bradshaw, Dollie

Cedilot, Robert J

Chapdeleine, Jeannine

Chapdeleine, Joanne

Chapdeleine, Mario

Charent, Jean Maurice

Clarke, Devona Olivia

Cote, Francine

Daoust, Yolande

Desmarais, Brigitte

Desmarais, G

Dicaire, Alice (Marie)

Dicaire, Gilles

Dicaire, Linda

Dicaire, Luke

Dicaire, Mark

Dion, Suzanne

Dore, Jacqueline

Earle, Lewella

Earle, Linda

Filippone, Francesco

Filippone, Linda

Filippone, Marie

Gee, Bernard

Goulet, Denise M

Grenier, Madeleine

Growse, Diana Cicely

Growse, Jane

Growse, Roger

Hamilton, Karen E

Hamilton, Peter Cameron

Herrmann, Ronald Alvin

Hill, Harry Gordon

Holiday, Claude

Houston, Irene Margaret

Houston, Wesley

Jakobsen, Vagn Aage

Labonte, Gilles

Leclaire, Marie Rose

Leclaire, Oscar

Leduc, Henri W

Lepage, Claudette

Mailhiot, Claire Gagnon

Mailhiot, Gerald Bernard

Maitz, Gustave

Maitz, Karoline

McKettrick, Winnifred

McTague, John

Medizza, Carla

Mohammed, Dolly

Molino, Antonio

Molino, Michael (Michel)

Moore, Frederick T

Partridge, Andrea

Partridge, Carnie (Carnis) Ann

Partridge, Cyril Wayne

Phillips, Kenneth William

Poirier, Rita

Raymond, Gilles

Raymond, Martial

Robert, Aline

Robert, Georges E

Robidoux, Lionel

Rowland, Donald

Silverberg, Marci

Silverberg, Merle

Silverberg, Steven

Simon, Istvan

Simon, Mark

Smith, Dwight Lee

St. Laurent, Blanche

Stepping, Glenn Thomas

Sultan, Celia

Sultan, Jerald. M

Sultan, Robert. L

Szpakowicz, Borys

Szpakowicz, Serge

Tielens, Carmen

Tielens, Frederick

Tournovits, George

Tournovits, Soula (Athanasia)

Weinberg, Carla

Weinberg, Rita

Weinberg, Wendy

Whittingham, Jennifer

Whittingham, John

Whittingham, Reginald

Whybro, Mary Baker

Wieczorek, Hildegund

Witmer, Edgar

Wong, Ngar-Quon

Wong, Suzie

Wong, Wong (Mansing)

Woodward, Dallas J

© 2019 Paul Cardin - Friends of Flight 621

(to be refined further at a later date)

the battle of tewkesbury 1471

The Battle of Tewkesbury, which took place on 4 May 1471, was one of the decisive battles of the Wars of the Roses. The forces loyal to the House of Lancaster were completely defeated by those of the rival House of York under their monarch, King Edward IV. The Lancastrian heir to the throne, Edward, Prince of Wales, and many prominent Lancastrian nobles were killed during the battle or were dragged from sanctuary two days later and immediately executed. The Lancastrian king, Henry VI, who was a prisoner in the Tower of London, died or was murdered shortly after the battle. Tewkesbury restored political stability to England until the death of Edward IV in 1483.

DAVOS/SWITZERLAND, 24JAN14 - Philipp M. Hildebrand (L), Vice-Chairman, BlackRock, United Kingdom and Mario Draghi (R), President, European Central Bank, Frankfurt discuss during the session 'The Path from Crisis to Stability' at the Annual Meeting 2014 of the World Economic Forum at the congress centre in Davos, January 24, 2014.

WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM/swiss-image.ch/Photo Remy Steinegger

HONG KONG (April 20, 2019) U.S. 7th Fleet flagship USS Blue Ridge (LCC 19) arrives for a port visit in Hong Kong. Blue Ridge is the oldest operational ship in the Navy and, as U.S. 7th Fleet command ship, is operating in support of security and stability in the Indo-Pacific Region. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Mar’Queon A. D. Tramble)

The new road plate experiment continues. Still a heavy WIP, but it's coming together really well. Stability is proving not to be much of an issue. I'm gonna need to order even more tiles, though.

There is now a fully underground Ninja Turtle Sewer Lair beneath Playset Street. The top of the street can be removed for access to the large lair beneath. I plan on detailing it with a kitchen area and some weapons racks later on. Plus, the entire block section can be removed for access to the sewer tunnels running under Grayskull and Ghostbusters HQ.

It's the first shot I post here from my vacation with my darling in Karlovy Vary [Carlsbad] , it's a spa city situated in western Bohemia, Czech Republic, on the confluence of the rivers Ohře and Teplá, approximately 130 km (80.78 miles) west of Prague. It is named after King of Bohemia and Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV, who founded the city in 1370. It is historically famous for its hot springs (13 main springs, about 300 smaller springs, and the warm-water Teplá River).

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

Canon 50D

Canon 50mm f1.8II

Me on Facebook

OKINAWA, Japan (Jan. 18, 2021) A landing craft air cushion assigned to Navy Beach Unit 7 delivers a Marine M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, assigned to the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, to the well deck of amphibious transport dock ship USS New Orleans (LPD 18). New Orleans, part of the America Amphibious Ready Group, along with the 31st MEU, is operating in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of responsibility to enhance interoperability with allies and partners and serve as a ready response force to defend peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Kelby Sanders)

A young couple walking the coastline enjoying a beautiful sunset in Corona Del Mar California.

Stability provided by a Really Right Stuff BH40 and Gitzo GT0531 tripod

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

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

Some background:

A monitor is a class of relatively small warship that is lightly armoured, often provided with disproportionately large guns, and originally designed for coastal warfare. The term "monitor" grew to include breastwork monitors, the largest class of riverine warcraft known as river monitors and was sometimes used as a generic term for any turreted ship. In the early 20th century, the term "monitor" included shallow-draft armoured shore bombardment vessels, particularly those of the Royal Navy: the Lord Clive-class monitors carried guns that fired the heaviest shells ever used at sea and saw action against German targets during World War I.

Two small Royal Navy monitors from the First World War, Erebus and Terror survived to fight in the Second World War. When the requirement for shore support and strong shallow-water coastal defence returned, new monitors and variants such as coastal defence ships were built. Allied monitors saw service in the Mediterranean in support of the British Eighth Army's desert and Italian campaigns, and they were part of the offshore bombardment for the Invasion of Normandy in 1944.

On 12 June she returned to Portsmouth to rearm, but her guns were worn out again, so she was ordered to sail to Rosyth via the Straits of Dover. She evaded German coastal batteries, partly due to effective radar jamming, but hit a mine 28 miles off Harwich early on 13 June. The explosion ripped her bow apart, leaving a gaping leak, and she sank within just a couple of minutes. Only 57 men of Ludgar’s crew survived.

General characteristics:

Displacement: 9,090 long tons (9,185 t)

Length: 436 ft (133.1 m) overall

Beam: 97 ft (29.6 m)

Draught: 11 ft 8 in (3.6 m)

Complement: 224

Propulsion:

4× Babcock & Wilcox water-tube boilers, generating a combined 6,000 ihp (4,500 kW) via

triple-expansion steam engines with two shafts

Performance:

Top speed: 16.5 knots (30 km/h; 19 mph)

Range: 2,480 nmi (4,590 km; 2,850 mi)

Armament:

2× twin BL 15-inch L42 Mk I naval guns

8 × single QF 4-inch Mk V naval guns

2 × triple two-pounder (40 mm) anti-aircraft guns

10x single Oerlikon 20mm (0.787 in) anti-aircraft machine cannon

The kit and its assembly:

This was another submission for the "Gunships" group build at whatifmodellers.com in late 2021 - and what would such a competition be without a literal "gunship" in the form of a monitor ship? I had wanted to scratch such a vehicle for a while, and the GB was a good motivation to tackle this messy project.

The idea was to build a post-WWI monitor for the Royal Navy. From WWI, several such ships had survived and they were kept in reserve and service into WWII, some even survived this war after extensive use. However, the layout of a typical monitor ship, with low draft, a relatively wide hull and heavy armament for land bombardments, is rather special and finding a suitable basis for this project was not easy - and I also did not want to spend a fortune just in donor parts.

Then I recently came across Hobby Boss 1:700 kit of the USS Arizona (in its 1941 guise, w/o the hull barbettes), and after some comparison with real British monitors I found my starting point - and it was dirty cheap. Righteously, though, because the model is rather primitive, comparable with the simple Matchbox 1:700 waterline ships. There are also some dubious if not cringeworthy solutions. For instance, in order to provide the superstructures with open windows, the seams between the single levels run right through the windows! WTF? These seams can hardly be hidden, it's really an awkward solution. Another freak detail: the portholes on the lower hull protrude like pockmarks, in real life they'd the 1 1/2 ft (50 cm) deep?! Some details like the cranes on the upper deck are also very "robust", it is, in the end, IMHO not a good model. But it was just the starting for me for "something else"...

Modifications started with shortening the hull. Effectively, I cut out more then 3 1/2 in from the body, which is an integral part with side walls and main deck, basically any straight hull section disappeared, leaving only the bow and stern section. My hope was that these could be simple glued together for a new, wide hull - but this did not work without problems, because the rear section turned out to be a bit wider than the front. What to do...? I eventually solved this problem through wedge-shaped cuts inside of the integral railings. With some force, lots of glue and a stiffening structure inside the new hull could be completed.

Next the original turret bases had to disappear. as well as two of the four anchors and their respective chains on the foredeck. I retained as much of the original superstructure as possible, as it looked quite plausible even for a shorter ship, but since the complete hull basis for it had been gone, some adaptations had to be made. The main level was shortened a little and I had to scratch the substruction from styrene sheet, so that it would match with the stepped new hull.

At the same time I had to defined where the main turret(s) would be placed - and I settled for two, because the deck space was sufficient and the ship's size would make them appear plausible. A huge problem were the turret mounts, though - since a monitor has only little draught, the hull is not very deep. Major gun turrets are quite tall things, on battleships only the turret itself with the guns can be normally seen. But on a monitor they stand really tall above the waterline, and their foundation needs a cover. I eventually found a very nice solution in the form of 1:72 jet engine exhausts from Intech F-16s - I has a pair of these featureless parts in the spares box, and with some trimming and the transplantation of the original turtret mounts the result looks really good.

In the meantime the hull-mounted gun barbettes of USS Arizona had to disappear, together with the pockmarks on the hull. A messy affair with several PSR rounds. Furthermore, I added a bottom to the waterline hull, cut from 0.5 mm styrene sheet, and added plaster and lead beads as ballast.

Most of the superstructure, up to the conning tower, were mostly taken OOB. I just gave the ship a more delicate crane and re-arranged the lifeboats, and added two small superstructures to the rear deck as AA-stations, behind the rear tower - the space had been empty, because USS Arizona carried aircraft catapults there.

For the armament I used the OOB main turrets, but only used two of the three barrels (blanking of the opening in the middle). The 4 in guns were taken OOB to their original positions, the lighter 20 mm AA guns were partly placed in the original positions, too, and four of them went to a small platform at stern. For even more firepower I added two small turrets with three two-pounder AA guns, one on the rear deck and another right in front of the bridge.

Painting and markings:

The ship might look odd in its fragmented multi-colored camouflage - but this scheme was inspired by the real HMS Terror, an monitor that operated in early 1941 on the coast of North Africa and carried a similar makeshift camouflage. This consisted of a multitude of sand and brown tones, applied over an overall light grey base. I mimicked this design, initially giving the ship at first a uniform livery in 507b (Humbrol 64), together with an unpainted but weathered wooden deck (Humbrol 187 plus a washing with sepia ink) and horizontal metal surfaces either in a dark grey (507a, Humbrol 106) or covered with a red-brown coat of Corticene (Humbrol 62). As a personal detail I gave the ship false bow and stern waves on the hull in white. Another personal mod is the light grey (507c, Humbrol 147) conning tower - as mentioned in the background, I found that this light grey would be most useful when the ship itself was hidden behind the horizon from view, and only the conning tower would be directly visible in front of a hazy naval background.

On top of the grey hull I added several other paints, including khaki drab (FS 34087 from Modelmaster), red brown (FS 30118, Humbrol 118), khaki drill (Humbrol 72), mid stone (Humbrol 225) and light stone (Humbrol 121).

The model received an overall washing with dark grey and some rust stains with various brown and red shades of simple watercolors. The waterline was created with long and thin black 1.5 mm decal stripes, a very convenient and tidy solution. Finally, all parts were sealed with matt acrylic varnish, and after the final assembly I also added some rigging to the main mast with heated black sprue material.

Phew, this was quite a challenge, the result looks good overall, but I am not happy with the finish. Ships are not my strength and you see the Hobby Boss kit's flaws and weaknesses everywhere. Then add massive bodywork, and thing look even more shaggy (*sigh*). Nevertheless, the model looks like a typical monitor ship, and when I take the rather crappy USS Arizona kit as basis/benchmark, the "new" HMS Ludgar is not a bad achievement. It's surely not a crisp model, but the impression is good and this is what counts most to me.

PHILIPPINE SEA (Sept. 3, 2020) The amphibious transport dock ship USS New Orleans (LPD 18), left, and the amphibious assault ship USS America (LHA 6), right, conduct a replenishment-at-sea with the dry cargo/ammunition ship USNS Charles Drew (T-AKE 10) with MH-60S Sea Hawk helicopters from the “Archangels” of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 25, Detachment 6. New Orleans and America, part of the America Amphibious Ready Group assigned to Amphibious Squadron 11, along with the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, are operating in the 7th Fleet area of operations to enhance interoperability with allies and partners and serve as a ready response force to defend peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Taylor DiMartino)

There was no ABS, no traction control, no electro-hydraulic paddle shifting, and no stability control. With a 201 mph top speed and 0 to 60 mph in less than four seconds, no one was disappointed with the F40. Ferrari proposed only a limited run of 400 or so F40s, but the model's reception was overwhelming and the run kept growing until 1,315 were built by the time production ended in 1991.

The F40 was a simple machine that, like the greatest Ferraris of the past, relied upon its engine for its performance. Suspension and layout were conventional, and there were no serious attempts to employ cutting-edge technology. The F40 was good, sound, basic design, with a superb twin-turbocharged engine, aerodynamics heavily weighted toward downforce and stability, and generous use of lightweight composite materials. The chassis was - like the 125 built 40 years before - based on two large-diameter steel tubes. They were joined and stiffened by light, compound structures, to be sure, but the basic form was as rudimentary as the ones welded together in the Gilberto shops a generation before.

Competition was not in Ferrari's original plan for the F40, but Daniel Marin, managing director of French Ferrari importer Charles Pozzi SA, took the initiative and authorized Michelotto, the famed Padova Ferrari service centre, to construct a series of F40 LMs for racing under IMSA rules in the U.S. Just 19 were built.

These were followed by five official F40 GT's, also built by Michelotto to regulations for the Italian Supercar Championship and, as F50 GTE's, in the mid-'90s BPR GT series. The BPR Organization adopted air-restrictor regulations to handicap engine output and overall performance, but the lessons learned in the earlier competition F40s were applied to the limits of the rules in building the F40 GT's for these series. These few F40 GT's were much more highly developed race cars that were lighter, had better aerodynamics and sophisticated flat-floor ground effects, full ball-jointed suspensions, quick-fill fuel systems, wider wheels and tires, lower ride heights and other improvements that made them the most sophisticated of all the F40-based race cars, and potentially the fastest when relieved of their air-restrictor trumpets.

The GT programme was adopted by many owners independently and as a result a number of cars were privately converted (from a standard road car) over the years and successfully raced in various championships throughout the world. Such was the effectiveness of the basic design of the F40 that cars were seen out racing at a competitive level right through until the late 90's, when the cars were by then some ten years old! A remarkable feat.

This F40 was supplied new to Italy, being manufactured in 1989 and delivered in 1990 as a standard Non Cat & Non Adjust example. Some years later the car found its way to Japan where it was uprated and it is believed it raced in the Japanese GT series. More recently the car found its way back to Europe and has been subjected to a beautiful restoration at which time the car was repainted, had all four corners stripped and rebuilt, a full engine inspection and service, and an interior retrim.

As such, today the car is UK road registered and presented in superb concours condition throughout but importantly in its "GT" specification. This includes, lightweight clam shells front & rear, lightweight lower rear valence, "LM" style headlights & front clam shell with added radiator extraction ducts, "LM style sill Nasa duct, fully adjustable waste gate, revised engine management, big brakes & wheels, digital race dash, electric passenger window, fully adjustable suspension and "LM" venturi ducts & rear wing.

The car represents a fabulous potential track day assault weapon or even an F40 for the road with a bit more flare! For Enzo Ferrari's 40th anniversary as a constructor under his own name, he gave his design team a very simple instruction: 'Build a car to be the best in the world.' Time has shown that they complied. [DK Engineering web site]

DK Engineering Showcase Day 2015

No stability can be forever without care. At some point a stable link will break.