In March 2011, MESSENGER became the first spacecraft to orbit the planet Mercury. In July of the same year, the Dawn spacecraft became the first to orbit a main-belt asteroid, Vesta. Both MESSENGER and Dawn are missions in the Discovery program, NASA's lowest-cost category of planetary mission.

 

The image above shows Mercury on the left, and Vesta on the right. Both surfaces are marked by impact craters, but the most immediately noticeable difference is that Vesta has a much more irregular shape. This is a consequence of Mercury's far larger gravity, which has squeezed the planet into a sphere. Vesta's weak gravity is less able to overcome the strength of the rocks. Mercury's mass is about 1300 times greater than that of Vesta.

 

The MESSENGER spacecraft is the first ever to orbit the planet Mercury, and the spacecraft's seven scientific instruments and radio science investigation are unraveling the history and evolution of the Solar System's innermost planet. Visit the Why Mercury? section of this website to learn more about the key science questions that the MESSENGER mission is addressing. During the one-year primary mission, MDIS is scheduled to acquire more than 75,000 images in support of MESSENGER's science goals.

 

Dawn Vesta image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA

 

MESSENGER Mercury image credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington

 

NASA image use policy.

 

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

 

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The Alaska Marine Highway System's "Malaspina" southbound from Skagway.

A wide-field view of the Milky Way stretching from the constellation Sagittarius (The Archer) northward to the constellation Aquila (The Eagle). This photo reveals many of the dark nebulae and interstellar dust clouds that obscure both the center of our galaxy and the star clouds that form the spiral-shaped disk of the Milky Way (seen edgewise from our solar system's location in the galaxy).

 

This image is best viewed in the Flickr light box (press the "L" key to toggle the light box or click the following link):

 

View On Black

 

Captured on August 24, 2011 between the hours of 10:19PM and 10:26PM PDT from a dark-sky location using a Nikon D5100 DSLR and a Nikkor 24mm AI 1:2.8 lens (ISO 6400, 10 seconds x 25 or four minutes and 10 seconds total exposure integration time, aperture not recorded).

 

Image stack created with DeepSkyStacker (25 "light" frames and 14 "dark" frames) with final adjustments done in Photoshop CS3.

 

All rights reserved.

Certainly, it was Storm's type of weather! A band of showers were approaching from the west. By the way, Storm is my car shown here if you guys were wondering lol. The weather may get even more interesting soon as a low-pressure system closes in... Pic taken from around San Jose, CA right by the Reid-Hillview Airport. Anyway, who's ready to storm chase? (Tuesday early evening, March 9, 2021; 5:02 p.m.)

 

*Weather forecast/update: Interesting weather was in store for the state… A low-pressure area off the coast was dropping southeastward, parallel to the coastline of the state. This day thru Wednesday, NorCal was to see periods of rain & ‘cold’ thunderstorms. This low-pressure system’s center was forecast to drift right over the Bay Area, ushering in an unstable airmass aloft, perfect for t-storm development. Hail, thunder & lightning was especially likely on Wednesday. Skies were forecast to clear out Thursday. Friday & Saturday look sunny with above normal temps. By Sunday afternoon & early Monday, another low-pressure area was to bring a chance of more precipitation to the north state…Is a Miracle March still in the making?

The weathered hulk of the Park Royal B44D bodied 1959 British United Traction RETB1/2 trolleybus built by Leyland Motors (UK) that saw its last service runs on the Farmers' trolleybus route in Auckland in September 1980 at the time of the system's closure, captured sitting on a lifestyle property on the Foxton-Foxton Beach Rd. on Friday afternoon, 26 January 2018.

Would appear to be on the move, maybe for scrap.

 

Was acquired by the Foxton Trolleybus Museum in 1993.

Was later sold by Ian Little to the owner of a lifestyle property on the Foxton-Foxton Beach Road (1994? following an electrical fire which rendered it kaput) where it has since languished in open storage and also remained for many years as the only Auckland trolleybus example left in Foxton since the return to Auckland of Park Royal-bodied No. 120 from the Foxton trolleybus museum in February 2009, which since then has seen No. 127 as the sole Auckland example left in the Foxton, albeit not sited at the Foxton museum.

 

Ex Auckland 127 was the latest acquisition for the Foxton Trolleybus Museum in 1993 and it had been sitting intact on an Auckland property since its withdrawal in September 1980 at the closure of the Auckland system, and was being used as a sleepout. Incredibly, on arrival in Foxton after an 11-hour tow south, it needed only a quick check before the poles went up and it could run under power on the Foxton museum system.

 

Auckland No. 127 was the last trolleybus to operate on the pioneer Farmers free bus trolleybus route (of 1938) from Wyndham St. to Hobson St. on the last day of revenue service of the Auckland trolleybus system on Friday, 26 September 1980. It left Hobson St. Special for the City Depot (Gaunt St.) at 9pm.

 

ARA No. 127, working the Farmers Free Bus service, in Queen Street near Victoria Street West, June 25, 1980....

www.flickr.com/photos/lwdemery/14061583027/in/faves-51227...

 

Auckland No. 127 captured on the last day of the Farmers Free Bus service in September 1980......

www.flickr.com/photos/54165483@N07/5966154312/in/photolis...

 

Auckland 127 on the Foxton lifestyle property in 1997.....

www.flickr.com/photos/51227209@N03/5560715850/in/photolis...

  

Bob Cabana, NASA associate administrator, deliver remarks during a press conference ahead of the launch of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket, Wednesday, May 18, 2022, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Boeing’s Orbital Flight Test-2 will be Starliner’s second uncrewed flight test and will dock to the International Space Station as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Program. The mission, currently targeted for launch on 6:54 p.m. ET on May 19, will serve as an end-to-end test of the system's capabilities. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket with Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft onboard is seen on the launch pad at Space Launch Complex 41 ahead of the Orbital Flight Test mission, Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2019 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The Orbital Flight Test with be Starliner’s maiden mission to the International Space Station for NASA's Commercial Crew Program. The mission, currently targeted for a 6:36 a.m. EST launch on Dec. 20, will serve as an end-to-end test of the system's capabilities. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

Manufacturer: BAE Systems

Operator BAE Systems / Royal Saudi Air Force:

Type: Mk165 Hawk (ZB122)

Event / Location: Delivery Flight / Warton Aerodrome

Once more, new pics from a old kit (from ~2009), from which I originally had only taken three shots.

 

This is another, fictional major conversion of an Aoshima (ex Gunze Sangyo) stock PA-36 kit. This one has no OAV paradigm (much like the former "Guntos" conversion), it is rather the interpretation of an idea on the basis of a Dorvack Powered Armor.

 

This time, the idea or theme was “Russian battle tank”, with both modern and historic elements. Another, separate idea was to apply a brown color scheme to a PA – and finally, both came together in this model.

 

The inspiration for a Russian version came originally when I saw MiG Production’s KV-X2 resin kit (anyone remember?) of a fictional 4-legged tank which carries a modified KV-2 tank turret on top. This thing looked steampunk, but blunt and IMHO totally unbalanced, and until today I wonder where a driver would be located? "Ground pressure” or “ballistic windows” obviously had also not been anything the designer(s) had ever heard of. But… what if a Dorvack PA would accompany it?

 

Additionally, I was reading a very interesting book about modern battle tanks, 'Kampfpanzer - heute und morgen', written by Rolf Hilmes in 2007, highly recommended if you are into tank technology. It offered lots of state-of-the art picture material and also technical information, as well as insights into design philosophies of modern military combat vehicles around the world.

 

The final inspirational spark lured finally in my bathroom! One morning, while pondering about these ideas, I used my deo, and... saw the lines and forms of the can’s spray head! *BINGO*! This form would be a perfect addition to a basic PA-36 kit, changing its helmet lines into a much bulkier design. Consequently, the 'PA-36S' (the 'S' suffix was inspired by the famous Russian WWII shtormovik ground attack planes) project was born. And its name would also fit: “Nove горбун”, or “gorbach”, which means “hunchback” in Russian language – also a reminiscence, to the Ilyushin Il-20 ground attack aircraft prototype.

 

Work started quickly. The spray head from the can was surprisingly easy to transplant, even though major putty work was necessary to make the lines flush. The spray head's plastic was also a bit waxy (I suppose it is PVC), but with super glue and the help of Tamiya putty, everything held together. Surprisingly, the parts fitted well, and the result looks really COOL and pretty different from the round standard PA design – but still consistent.

 

From there, I incorporated many Russian tank design elements. Since Russian battle tanks are primarily designed for assault/charge attacks, I decided that the front would need extra protection. The new bulky head already suggests this, but as an additional measure I applied reactive armour plating on the upper body and the front areas, wherever possible/plausible and where it would not hamper mobility – keeping the look in line with the Russian KONTAKT system.

The necessary explosive plates were cut from 1mm polystyrol plates, glued onto the hull, sanded with a brass brush on a mini drill in order to achieve a softer and irregular look, and finally the bolts were manually added with small tips of casein glue.

 

Further modifications include custom knee caps/protectors. These are parts from a plundered Gundam Endless Waltz “Serpent Custom” kit in 1:144 scale, adapted to their new position and embedded with putty. From the same kit also come the shoulder shields – also modified, dented and put on extenders on the upper arms, so that there is room between them and the arm. The idea behind them is to offer additional protection from hollow explosive charges for the hull, esp. the shoulder and air intake area. These new shields actually had to be added, because the original horizontal shoulder shields in front of the jet pack’s air intakes could not be fitted anymore – the air intakes were replaced by scrap parts from an Airfix Kamov Ka-25 helicopter in 1:72. This helicopter kit also donated two searchlights, which were added on the PA’s front hull.

 

Furthermore, many small details were changed or added. First of all, a new visor unit with 3 lenses was implanted in the front with a protective frame. These parts come from a PAM-74AM’s hand weapon, and they give the PA-36S quite a grunty retro look. On the PA’s top, the typical hump on the left side was replaced by a bigger/longer piece (a 1:48 scale WWII bomb half). On the back, a heat exchanger (for those cold Russian nights…) was placed and surrounded by reactive armour plates. If I remember correctly, this part comes from the horrible 1:72 'Aliens' Dropship kit from Halcyon and was modified. The PA-36's typical pipelines on the right shoulder were replaced with more rustic, self-made pieces. These hoses are actually made from Christmas tree decoration: fine metal coils, which were fitted onto a steel thread and then cut and bent into shape.

The feet also received some tuning, making them broader in order to improve the PA’s weight distribution in the field and offer improved hold. These parts come from an ESCI 1:72 Jagdpanzer IV kit (track and side skirt parts).

 

For active defensive measures, I added an IR decoy device on a pole on the PA's back. This thing looks similar to the current Russian ARENA radar defence system's sensor boom. Additionally, on the PA’s helmet sides and on the back, small laser detectors were added, inspired by the similar real Russian SCHTORA (russ. Штора, “curtain”) system. In case of enemy detection and laser designation, the system will trigger IR smoke dischargers (on the PA, four smoke mortars are placed on the left shoulder – parts from an Arii 1:100 Super Valkyrie) for emergency defence.

 

For armament, I settled for the standard R6 gun which comes with the stock kit, but also modified it for a beefier look. While the basis was kept, a short barrel extension was added and a nozzle brake (from a PAM-74C “Dunc” kit) put in the front. The idea was to create a gun with a smaller calibre, which would not only fire “slow” HE ammunition (which I suppose the R6 cannon uses – it looks like a mortar or howitzer), but faster AP shells. The impressive nozzle break is supposed to catch the stronger recoil of this different weapon concept, and it looks good ;)

On the blank (an ugly!) back of the gun, some technical parts were added which “simulate” recoil and gas pressure compensators. The huge, basically empty box on top of the gun (A visor unit? A camera? A bread basket?) received 3 lenses which double the PA’s new 3-lobed visor unit. Finally, a set of flexible, fabric-covered cables connects the gun with an adapter box on the PA’s breast (the original PA-36 has a small flap under its visor for this purpose). This gun then received my personal designation R6M, “M” for modified , an authentic Russian suffix.

 

From the beginning, this PA conversion was to be painted in a single colour. Since all-green PA’s frequently appear in the TV series (see e. g. episode 14 & 16) and will definitively show up in my collection, I settled on brown. Another factor was the background picture (see above), which had much influence on the kit's finish. And finally, since I have seen several pictures of all-brown/dark sand Russian WWII tanks, the single brown colour seemed to be plausible. Mmm… brown. Or better: коричневый цвет!

 

The basic overall tone is Tamiya’s XF-64 “Red Brown”, everywhere. Some details like the inside of the visor unit were painted with Testor’s 2002 “Burnt Umber” from the figure colour series for extra contrast. The joints received a mix of Gold (Testors 1144), a bit gun metal (Humbrol 53) and Burnt Umber.

 

After a first turn of dry painting with Humbrol 186 and 118, decals were applied. Numbers and unit markings come from a 1:35 scale WWII Russian tank sheet from German decal specialist Peddinghaus. The many light grey Russian labels come from the vast decal sheet of Italieri/Testor’s MiG-37 “Ferret B” kit in 1:72 scale, and typical Dorvack markings come from the original PA-36 and a spare PAM-74 decal sheet. Sadly, most of them disappeared under the final coat of snow...

“Nose art” on the HD-R6M gun consists of a hand-written “плохая новость”, which simply means “Bad news”. What else to expect from this tank on legs? But this, too, unfortunately disappeared under the snow.

 

After a matte varnish coat the kit received a thorough black ink wash in order to point out the reactive armour plating. Then, several turns with dry paint, including hemp, gulf war sand, light grey, sand and chocolate (Humbrol 168, 187, 64, 63 and 98, respectively) were applied to point out the many surface details. Some dents and blank edges were added with dry-brushed silver, but sparsely. Also, some smoke was simulated with black and dark grey paint (Humbrol 33 and 32), and as a final step some rust and oil was simulated with water-based acrylic paint in burnt umbra and sienna.

 

In order to enhance the heavy duty impression (and remind of harsh conditions this piece might encounter), the PA finally received a mud treatment around its legs. Plaster, mixed with grass filament, fine sand and water-based mixing colour, was prepared in a shallow bowl and the kit’s feet simply stumped into this artificial sludge – leaving the mud and splashes wherever they might end up.

From above, the kit then received a coat or light snow, made from coloured joint mortar (white, plaster is too grayish!), rinsed through a fine mesh onto the kit which was sprayed with water.

 

Finally, I must say that this kit was an interesting experience. On one side, it surely was plain fun to convert such a kit into something very different, seeing a vague idea taking shape. But on the other side, this project also has the more or less serious claim to incorporate realistic defence technology – and while building the kit, I became aware how tricky it actually is to construct and protect something like a tank from various battlefield dangers, and how naïve mecha can come along.

MTS 1900s

 

1900

 

In the first part of the new century there is impressive growth in the streetcar system. Two new operating divisions on Imperial Avenue in Downtown (1911) and Adams Avenue in Normal Heights (1915) open to accommodate this growth.

 

1905

 

Spreckels builds a new power generating plant to operating the expanding streetcar network.

 

1906

 

Third Avenue Streetcar Line begins operation from Market Street up Third to Fir Street to the luxurious Hotel Florence.

SDER operates 798,152 car miles in this year.

 

1907

 

Third Avenue Streetcar Line extended to Washington Street and future Mission Hills community, and is briefly renamed Mission Hills Line. The streetcar line was the genesis of the new Mission Hills suburb.

 

Mission Hills Route 3: Building a Community Around a Street Car Line (page 1,2) provides a brief history of how transit contributed to one of San Diego's most vital neighborhoods.

 

One-way fare between San Diego and National City is $0.10 on the National City and Otay Railway (NC&O) Route.

 

1910

 

Spreckels forces a ballot initiative to amend his charter with the City of San Diego to give him more than 25 years on his leases to operate streetcar service. With this greater security he is able to acquire major loans for service expansion and infrastructure.

 

1911

 

Spreckels builds second power generating plant at Kettner and E Street when the plant built in 1905 no longer can handle the capacity.

 

1915

 

Panama-California Exposition in Balboa Park spurs next phase of transportation growth. A new electric car service is constructed up 12th Street to the Park's entrance with 101 new cars from St. Louis Car Company.

 

SDER operates 3,521,571 car miles in this year.

 

San Diego's original Victorian-style train depot is demolished and replaced with a new Mission-style Santa Fe Depot building. The new Santa Fe Depot continues to be used through the 20th century and into the 21st century, serving as a station for Amtrak, Coaster, and San Diego Trolley trains.

 

1916–1918

 

The "Great Flood" of 1916 washes out several rail lines.

 

Despite the rapid growth of the rail system it faces many challenges. Private auto ownership starts to increase and with it, auto drivers become jitney drivers, cruising streetcar lines for passengers.

 

WWI increases the cost of railway construction materials by 50 to 150 percent.

 

1920

 

Spreckels announces plans to discontinue service on several rail lines to offset expenses, leading to approval of zone fares.

 

Nickel Zone fares introduced. There are two zones: "inner" and "outer."

 

Spreckels purchases new streetcars that requires only one driver/conductor instead of two. Older cars were retrofitted to reduce labor costs.

 

Spreckels sells his power generating plants to Consolidated Gas and Electric Company. From this point, power for streetcars will be purchased from the utility company.

 

1922

 

The first motor bus goes into service, operating between National City and Chula Vista. "Number One" has hard rubber tires, two-wheel mechanical brakes, a four-cylinder engine and a plywood body. There are three buses, one manufactured by Flagel and two by the Reo company.

 

1923

 

Bus drivers make between 27¢ and 33¢ per hour.

 

Spreckels begins the last major rail line expansion to Mission Beach (Belmont Park), Pacific Beach, and La Jolla. $2,500,000 is spent on rails, Spanish Mission terminals and substations, and Egyptian Revival stations. $800,000 is spent to purchase 50 new cars. Construction is completed in 1925.

 

1930

 

Buses begin to replace street cars from Ocean Beach to La Jolla.

 

222 new buses are added to the fleet.

 

Bus drivers make approximately $4.83 per day.

 

The Great Depression of the 1930s negatively impacts ridership; revenue goes down but the SDER is able to weather the economic downturn.

 

1935

 

California Pacific International Exposition opens in Balboa Park without the need for expanded transit service, as had been necessary with the Panama Pacific Exposition two decades earlier.

 

1940

 

WWII turns San Diego into a "boom town" again. Defense related industries revitalize the city, as do an influx of military personnel.

 

Ridership on public transit increases 600 percent during the war years. Any piece of equipment that rolls on rails or runs on tires is pressed into service to handle the enormous demand.

Used transit vehicles are purchased from around the nation. More electrical power is needed and substations are built, one in the basement of the Spreckels Theater Building on Broadway.

Some bus routes are operated haphazardly, frequently with no set schedule – just run as fast and as frequently as they can.

 

For the first time, women are hired to drive transit vehicles. This practice is discontinued when the war ends.

 

The 2.5 million dollar rail line built in the 1920s to the beaches is ripped out along with the elaborate stations and terminals and replaced with a bus line.

 

1942

 

Streetcar and bus lines carry 94 million people, ridership increases lead to more than 146 million trips in 1944.

1946

 

San Diego and Electric Railway begins to phase out streetcar lines and replace them with bus routes.

 

1947

 

Only three streetcar lines remain in operation.

 

1948

 

Vintage San Diego Transit Logo, used prior to the adoption of the system's unified MTS logo. The Logo was used both on bus stops and buses themselves.

 

Jesse L. Haugh purchases the San Diego Electric Railway Company from the Spreckels interests. San Diego Electric Railway Company's name is changed to San Diego Transit System. A new emblem and motto, "Safety, Courtesy, Service" are introduced by the San Diego Transit System.

 

1949

 

April 23: New General Motors buses parade down Broadway to mark the retirement of streetcars, making San Diego the first major California city to convert to an all-bus transit system.

 

April 24: At 5:35 am the most senior operator at San Diego Transit, N.A. Holmquist, drives car No. 446 into the Adams Avenue car barn, ending rail transit in San Diego. Operator Holmquist and car No. 446 retire at the same time. It will be just over three decades, until July 1981, before rail transit will roll through San Diego again.

 

1950

 

During the 1950s Jesse Haugh makes a concerted effort to update the transit system and improve service.

 

April: Haugh replaced 58 percent of the bus fleet with the most modern motor coaches available at the time. Accidents are reduced by 33 percent.

 

1953

 

Haugh invests $1.5 million to improve the San Diego-Coronado Ferry and bus service.

 

1955

 

Ridership is the same as it was in 1940s (before the boom of World War II) even though the population has doubled. Nationwide, transit has lost an average of 47 percent of its ridership.

Drivers make $2.10 per hour.

 

Haugh establishes a charter department to increase revenues and purchases over-the-road charter coaches with washrooms, tables, and refreshment centers.

 

1957

 

In a joint transit/business partnership, Haugh begins the Marston Fashion Bus. Marston's is the city's premier department store from the late 19th century through the 1960s. The Fashion Bus has dressing rooms and its own foldout runway ramp.

 

Haugh is named president of the American Transit Association.

 

1959

 

San Diego Transit celebrates its ten-year anniversary under Haugh ownership. During the past ten years it has operated 107,504,296 revenue miles, carried 155,100,249 passengers, consumed 8,271,943 gallons of diesel fuel, and won six national safety awards.

 

1966

 

A specially formed Transit Task Force recommend that the City of San Diego acquire the transit system.

 

June: Voters approve the City's purchase of San Diego Transit System along with a property tax assessment of $0.10 per $100 assessed evaluation to fund its future operations.

 

1967

 

San Diego Transit becomes a non-profit corporation with the City of San Diego. It carries 18.4 million passengers on 23 routes with 150 buses. The base fare is $0.30 plus $0.10 per zone.

 

1969

 

Ridership dips to 18.9 million from 21.5 million in 1968.

 

1970

 

New Federal subsidies allow San Diego Transit to reduce the $0.35 base fare (plus an additional $0.10 per zone up to 8 zones) to a flat $0.25 fare.

 

1976

 

SB 101 becomes law; MTDB formed.

 

1977

 

San Diego Transit carries over 30 million passengers on 44 routes with a fleet of 350 buses and a flat-rate fare of $0.35.

 

1979

 

MTDB Board Member Maureen O'Connor negotiates purchase of SD&AE Railway for $18.1 million.

 

Annual ridership in this decade increases from 18 million to 35 million.

 

1980

 

San Diego Trolley, Inc. (SDTI) formed.

 

1981

 

July 19: San Diego Trolley's inaugural run takes place on the 15.9-mile "South Line" (now "Blue Line") between Centre City San Diego (downtown) and the San Ysidro International Border on a primarily single-track alignment with four passing tracks.

 

July 26: San Diego Trolley begins revenue service. The operating day begins at 5:02 am and ends at 9:01 pm; service operates every 20 minutes; the fleet consists of 14 light-rail vehicles (LRVs); the service carries approximately 10,000 passengers per day.

 

Regional Monthly Ready Pass introduced.

 

MTDB negotiates its first sale/leaseback transaction worth $1.7 million.

 

1982

 

Ten LRVs are added to fleet.

 

1983

 

San Diego Trolley begins 15-minute service on the South Line; average daily ridership is over 14,000.

 

1984

 

June 1: MTDB breaks ground on a 4-mile Trolley extension east from 12th & Imperial to Euclid Avenue. The extension will be the first leg of the "East Line" (now "Orange Line").

July: San Diego Trolley begins new distance-based zone fare structure with fares ranging from 50¢ to $1.

 

RailTex named operator of San Diego and Imperial Valley Railroad freight railroad service.

 

Express bus service begins operating on the new I-15 High-Occupancy-Vehicle (HOV) lanes. (The service is provided by County Transit System.)

 

1985

 

The City of San Diego transfers its ownership of San Diego Transit Corporation to MTDB.

 

The MTDB Board expands from seven to 15 members.

 

MTDB negotiates a $1.3 million sale/leaseback transaction.

 

1986

  

MTS logo used from 1986 to 2005.

 

Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) logo adopted.

 

One-, Two-, and Three-Day Tripper passes are introduced.

 

San Diego Trolley takes delivery of five new LRVs.

 

March 23: San Diego Trolley begins 30-minute service on the 4.5-mile "East Line" (now "Orange Line") to Euclid Avenue.

 

May: The Transit Store opens at Broadway & Fifth Avenue in downtown San Diego. The new sales and customer service center is a joint operation of San Diego Transit and MTDB.

 

July: Over 5,000 San Diegans attend the "Century of Service" Pops concert in the Gaslamp Quarter, celebrating San Diego Transit's 100 years of public transit service.

 

October: A new station opens at Bayfront/E Street in Chula Vista on San Diego Trolley's South Line.

 

November 17: MTDB breaks ground on the next 11.7-mile extension of the East Line.

 

1987

 

The bus-only San Diego State University (SDSU) Transit Center opens.

Construction begins on the 10-story James R. Mills Building, which is built above the 12th & Imperial Station in downtown San Diego.

 

November: San Diego voters approve a 20-year local sales tax increase called TransNet. The bill authorized a 1/2-percent addition to the local sales tax that is split with 1/3 for highways, 1/3 for local roads, and 1/3 for public transit projects.

 

1988

 

San Diego Trolley takes delivery of 20 new LRVs.

 

The parking lot at National City's 8th Street Trolley Station is expanded.

 

1989

 

January: MTDB, San Diego Trolley, and several County of San Diego departments move to the James R. Mills Building at 12th & Imperial Station.

 

MTDB assumes regulatory responsibility for taxis in the City of San Diego.

San Diego Transit's Kearny Mesa Bus Division opens.

 

May 12: San Diego Trolley begins service on the "East Line" (now "Orange Line") extension from Euclid Avenue to Spring Street in La Mesa.

 

June 23: San Diego Trolley begins service on the East Line extension from Spring Street to El Cajon Transit Center.

 

Average daily Trolley ridership increases to more than 48,000.

Bus and Trolley ridership in this decade grows from 35 million in 1980 to 54 million in 1989.

 

1990

 

San Diego Trolley begins service on the "East Line" (now "Orange Line") extension from Columbia Street (later replaced by America Plaza) to 12th & Imperial via the Bayside Corridor.

MTDB negotiates a $1.6 million sale/leaseback transaction.

 

The Classroom Day Tripper, offering deep discounts for youth and school group field trips, is introduced.

 

San Diego Trolley sets a new, single-day ridership record of 71,790.

 

1991

 

Governor Pete Wilson (formerly San Diego Mayor) inaugurates the start of San Diego Trolley's 7.5-minute peak-period service on the South Line.

 

America Plaza Transfer Station and the 32-story One America Plaza Building open at Broadway & Kettner Blvd., replacing the Columbia Street Station.

 

APTA announces San Diego Trolley will receive the 1991 Public Transportation System Outstanding Achievement Award for systems utilizing 50 peak-hour vehicles or less.

San Diego Trolley carries its 90 millionth rider.

 

1992

 

The Adopt-A-Bus Stop Program begins.

 

MTDB and NCTD jointly purchase Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe (AT&SF) Railway right-of-way in San Diego County.

 

San Diego Trolley begins service on the "South Line" (now "Blue Line") extension from America Plaza to County Center/Little Italy Station with an intermediate stop at Santa Fe Depot.

 

1993

 

South Bay Bus Maintenance Facility in Chula Vista is acquired.

 

1995

 

Compressed natural gas (CNG) buses are placed into service on San Diego Transit and MTDB-contracted bus routes. 97 new CNG buses are added to the fleet.

 

The Transit Store relocates to 102 Broadway (at First Avenue) in downtown.

 

San Diego Trolley takes delivery of 52 new LRVs. These LRVs are a new model (SD-100) with higher performance than the existing fleet of U2s.

 

MTDB complete a bus sale/leaseback transaction for $540,000 and an LRV sale/leaseback transaction for $10.7 million.

 

August 26: San Diego Trolley begins service on the "East Line" (now "Orange Line") extension from El Cajon Transit Center to Santee Town Center. Revenue service begins August 28.

 

1996

 

San Diego Transit celebrates its 110th Anniversary; San Diego Trolley celebrates its 15th Anniversary.

 

June 15: San Diego Trolley begins service on the "North Line" (now "Blue Line") extension from County Center/Little Italy Station to Old Town Transit Center. Revenue service begins June 16. The North Line is through routed with the South Line.

 

The Adult Education Center joint development project breaks ground at National City's 24th Street Trolley station.

 

1997

 

Full "MTS Access" ADA complementary paratransit service is implemented.

 

The MTDB-contracted "Inland Breeze" bus service, funded through FasTrak revenue, begins service on the I-15 HOV lanes.

 

San Diego Trolley renames the South/North Line as the Blue Line and the East Line as the Orange Line. Trolley station identification numbers are reclassified from a letter and one or two numbers to two numbers and either a wave (Blue Line) or sun (Orange Line).

 

November 22: San Diego Trolley begins service on the "Blue Line" extension from Old Town Transit Center to Mission San Diego. Revenue service begins November 23.

 

1998

 

San Diego Trolley has record ridership of 219,000 to National Football League's Super Bowl XXXII and 140,000 to Major League Baseball's World Series.

 

1999

 

San Diego Trolley's Mission Valley East (MVE) extension from Mission San Diego to Grossmont Center breaks ground.

 

Congress authorizes $325 million for MVE and Mid-Coast Trolley extensions. (The Mid-Coast extension would run from Old Town Transit Center north to Balboa Avenue and UCSD.)

Commute service begins on the San Diego-Coronado Ferry.

 

MTS bus and trolley annual ridership grows from 60 million in 1990 to 84 million in 1999.

 

Wikipedia Quotes

After bringing a string of loaded gons down from the quarries high up at Websterville, a pair or Vermont Rail System units (GMCR GP9 804 and VTR GP40-2 307) is in the processes of turning on the wye at Montpelier Junction. They've just reversed direction on the tail behind the little wood ex CV depot and are starting around the north leg.

 

The former CV branch into downtown Montpelier (2 miles distant) was built in 1849 by predecessor company Vermony Central and saw branch line passenger service to Barrer until 1938. In 1958 the CV sold the branch to Sam Pinsly's Montpelier and Barre short line.

 

The state purchased these rails in 1980 when the M&B petitioned for abandonment, and they've had multiple contract operators over the years until finally setting on Vermont Rail System's Washington County Subsidiary about two decades ago.

 

Montpelier Junction

Berlin, Vermont

Friday April 24, 2020

Bus 65 (recently outshopped in this livery) is working a special tour to commemorate the closure of the Ipswich trolleybus system twenty years earlier (the last day was actually 23rd. August 1963 but the tour was staged on the nearest available weekend date). It's frightening to think that 2013 will mark the 50th. anniversary of the system's closure!

The bus is standing on the turning circle at the junction of Adair Road and Bramford Road (adjacent to the now demolished "Waveney" pub). Because of the railway bridge over Bramford Road, only single deck trolleybuses could be used on this route, one reason why it became the first service to go over to motorbus operation in 1953.

After the disaster that was the Grouse I, the URE commissioned EP Industries to design a new system instead of relying on their in-house production and design crews. Using modified plans for the Grouse, EP Industries crafted the Grouse II, a far superior version. The system's limbs remain very similar to the original's, but the torso was completely reworked. In addition, the head was outfitted with better armor and sensor systems, bringing it up to date with the Greco-Roman's Gladius systems. Small changes to the Grouse II's armor and mechanics have made it more agile and sturdy than ever before.

 

Even though the orbital defense force is still made primarily of modified Grouse I's, the Grouse II can be outfitted with a variant version of the original jetpack, allowing for atmospheric and sub-orbital flight.

 

So I fixed up the grouse a bit, mostly making the chest a bit less chubby. I'm pretty satisfied with how it turned out. As always, fits a fig.

 

Likes and comments are highly appreciated. Thanks for viewing!

The shipping container has been removed from the second of two Northrop Grumman-manufactured aft exit cones to arrive for the Space Launch System’s solid rocket boosters inside the Rotation, Processing and Surge Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Dec. 9, 2019. The right aft exit cone was shipped from Promontory, Utah. It will be checked out and prepared for the Artemis I uncrewed test flight. The aft exit cones sit at the bottommost part of the twin boosters. The cones help provide added thrust for the boosters, while protecting the aft skirts from the thermal environment during launch. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

NASA image use policy.

 

A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket with Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft aboard is seen as it is rolled out of the Vertical Integration Facility to the launch pad at Space Launch Complex 41 ahead of the Orbital Flight Test-2 (OFT-2) mission, Wednesday, May 18, 2022 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Boeing’s Orbital Flight Test-2 will be Starliner’s second uncrewed flight test and will dock to the International Space Station as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Program. The mission, currently targeted for launch at 6:54 p.m. ET on May 19, will serve as an end-to-end test of the system's capabilities. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

Black Noddy on the old seawall. Tern Island in the French Frigate Shoals, Hawaii.

 

Camera: Olympus OM-1

Lens: Olympus OM-System S Zuiko MC Auto-Zoom f/4 35-70mm. Yellow filter.

Film: Adox HR-50

Developer: Beerenol (Rainier Beer)

Engine (chassis): International Red Diamond 501 six cylinder gas

Transmissions: five speed main & two speed auxiliary

Engine (crane): Continental six cylinder gas

 

Crane was operated out of the state canal system's Lockport, New York facility.

 

Photo courtesy of Auctions International.

Jupiter's (and the solar system's) largest moon Ganymede in front of Jupiter. Color-composite assembled from narrow-angle camera images captured by Cassini on Jan. 2, 2001 in UV, green, and methane-band filters from a distance of 9.15 million km (5.68 million miles). Ganymede is about 1 million km from Jupiter.

Brand new Type 45 destroyer HMS Duncan begins sea trials off Scotland.

 

Duncan, the Royal Navy’s sixth and final powerful new Type 45 Destroyer, has put to sea for the first time (August 31) for trials where a blend of Royal Navy, Ministry of Defence and BAE Systems personnel will put her through her paces.

 

Following her departure from BAE System’s Scotstoun shipyard in Glasgow, Duncan quickly set about testing her speed and manoeuvrability, which will see the 7500-tonne destroyer taken to over 30 knots and turning very tight figure-of-eights.

 

Duncan will also spend four weeks at sea trialling her power and propulsion systems as well as her highly capable weapons systems. A second period of sea trials, set to take place later in the year, will test Duncan’s combat systems and sensors in order to ensure she joins the other Type 45s already commissioned and based in Portsmouth, in pristine condition next year.

 

Captain Henry Duffy, Captain Surface Ships, said:, This is a significant milestone in Duncan's programme. We wish her every success as we look forward to welcoming her to join the rest of her sister ships into the Portsmouth Flotilla next year.”

 

This image is available for high resolution download at www.defenceimages.mod.uk subject to the terms and conditions of the Open Government License at www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/. Search for image number 45154285.jpg

 

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Photographer: LA(Phot) Stu Hill

Image 45154285.jpg from www.defenceimages.mod.uk

 

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The Zagreus...

 

After winning the grand prix rally at the outer orbit, Vield's homeworld Bensin was attacked by the Deepness. He must fly back to save his little brother, unfortunately the only ship that he can take is the one that he can't control, because of its A.I. system's upgraded prejudice program.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

Vectrex

Manufacturer Smith Engineering

Type Video game console

Generation Second generation

Retail availability NA November 1982

 

EU May 1983

JP June 1983

Media ROM cartridge

CPU Motorola MC68A09 @ 1.5 MHz

Controller input Two

 

The Vectrex is an 8-bit video game console that was developed by Western Technologies/Smith Engineering. It was licensed and distributed first by General Consumer Electric (GCE), and then by Milton Bradley Company after their purchase of GCE. It was released in November 1982 at a retail price of 199 USD ($430 compensated for inflation); as Milton Bradley took over international marketing the price dropped to 150 USD and then 100 USD shortly before the video game crash of 1983.The Vectrex exited the market in early 1984.

 

Unlike other non-portable video game consoles, which connected to televisions and rendered raster graphics, the Vectrex has an integrated vector monitor which displays vector graphics. The monochrome Vectrex uses plastic screen overlays to generate color and various static graphics and decorations. At the time, many of the most popular arcade games used vector displays, and GCE was looking to set themselves apart from the pack by selling high-quality versions of games such as Space Wars and Armor Attack.

 

Vectrex comes with a built in game, the Asteroids-like Minestorm. Two peripherals were also available for the Vectrex, a light pen and a 3D imager.

 

The Vectrex was also released in Japan under the name Bandai Vectrex Kousokusen.

 

While it is a mainstay of disc-based console systems today, the Vectrex was part of the first generation of console systems to feature a boot screen, which also included the Atari 5200 and Colecovision.

 

System features and innovations

 

The Vectrex was the first system to offer a 3D peripheral (the Vectrex 3D Imager), predating the Sega Master System's SegaScope 3D by about six years. Also, early units have a very audible "buzzing" from the built-in speaker that will change as graphics are generated on screen. This is due to a lack of shielding between the built-in CRT and the speaker wiring and was eventually resolved in later production models. This idiosyncrasy has become a familiar characteristic of the machine.

 

Several companies offered or included Vectrex software in their products or promotions. The liquor company Mr. Boston gave out a limited number of customized cartridges of Clean Sweep. The box had a Mr. Boston sticker on it. The overlay was basically the regular Clean Sweep overlay with the Mr. Boston name, logo, and copyright info running up either side. The game itself had custom text, and the player controlled a top hat rather than a vacuum.

 

Some of the Vectrex's games feature unusual qualities or innovations, and new games are still being produced today by homebrew video game programmers.

 

The game built into the Vectrex, Minestorm, would crash at level 13. However, on some machines the game would continue much farther, with levels containing very unusual characteristics. The game would come to an ultimate end at its highest level, in which more mines were laid than would hatch. Consumers who complained to the company about the crash at the 13th level received a replacement cartridge in the mail. Entitled MineStorm II, it was the fixed version of the Vectrex's built in game. However, not many wrote to the company about it due to no advertisement of any sort, making MineStorm II one of the rarest cartridges for the Vectrex system.

  

German:

  

Das Vectrex ist eine Spielkonsole, die 1982 auf den Markt kam. Auffälligstes Merkmal ist der eingebaute Hochformat-S/W-Bildschirm zur Ausgabe der Vektorgrafik. Dieser Kompaktaufbau führte zur Einstufung durch Fachzeitschriften in eine eigene Kategorie: Mini-Arcade. Federführender Entwickler war Jay Smith, welcher bereits 1979 das Microvision Handheld für MB entwarf. Hergestellt und veröffentlicht wurde die Konsole in den USA von General Consumer Electric (GCE) ab 1982. In Europa und Japan übernahm MB den Vertrieb. 1984 stellte MB den Vertrieb ein.

 

Aufbau:

 

Das Vectrex war, ähnlich wie der Ur-Mac der Firma Apple, ein „alles-in-einem“-Gerät. Der mitgelieferte Controller fand in einer dafür vorgesehenen Halterung an der Frontseite Platz, so dass das Gerät an einem integrierten Tragegriff transportiert werden konnte. Im ROM war mit Minestorm, einem Asteroids-Klon, bereits ein Spiel vorhanden.

 

Weitere Spielmodule konnten über einen Einschub an der rechten Seite eingesteckt werden. An der Vorderseite befanden sich 2 Anschlüsse für zwei Controller sowie der Ein-/Ausschalter, der gleichzeitig als Lautstärkeregler diente. Die Bedienelemente des Controllers waren ein analoger Joystick und vier nebeneinander angeordnete Knöpfe.

 

Jedem Spiel lag eine Overlay-Folie bei, welche in eine entsprechende Halterung vor die Bildröhre gesteckt wurde. Dadurch konnten zum einen statische Strukturen (Gebäude, Bildschirmfenster) ohne spezielle Kennzeichnung voneinander abgegrenzt werden, zum anderen konnten einzelne Bereiche eingefärbt werden. Der Unterschied des Spieleindrucks mit oder ohne Overlay ist erstaunlich. Das Konzept wurde von Jay Smith bereits beim Microvision-Handheld verwendet.

 

Der Rechnerteil bestand aus einem mit 1,5 MHz getakteten Motorola-6809-Mikroprozessor mit 1 KB RAM und 8 KB ROM (4 KB „Executive“ und 4 KB für Minestorm). Als Soundchip kam ein AY-3-8912 von General Instrument zum Einsatz. Der Bildaufbau erfolgte komplett CPU-gesteuert, d. h. die CPU steuerte in Echtzeit das Zeichnen auf dem Schirm über eine X/Y-Ansteuerung der Bildröhre.

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

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

  

Some background:

In the late 1970s the Mikoyan OKB began development of a hypersonic high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft. Designated "Izdeliye 301" (also known as 3.01), the machine had an unusual design, combining a tailless layout with variable geometry wings. The two engines fueled by kerosene were located side by side above the rear fuselage, with the single vertical fin raising above them, not unlike the Tu-22 “Blinder” bomber of that time, but also reminiscent of the US-American SR-71 Mach 3 reconnaissance aircraft.

 

Only few and rather corny information leaked into the West, and the 301 was believed not only to act as a reconnaissance plane , it was also believed to have (nuclear) bombing capabilities. Despite wind tunnel testing with models, no hardware of the 301 was ever produced - aven though the aircraft could have become a basis for a long-range interceptor that would replace by time the PVO's Tupolew Tu-28P (ASCC code "Fiddler"), a large aircraft armed solely with missiles.

 

Despite limitations, the Tu-28P served well in its role, but the concept of a very fast interceptor aircraft, lingered on, since the Soviet Union had large areas to defend against aerial intruders, esp. from the North and the East. High speed, coupled with long range and the ability to intercept an incoming target at long distances independently from ground guidance had high priority for the Soviet Air Defence Forces. Even though no official requirement was issued, the concept of Izdeliye 301 from the Seventies was eventually developed further into the fixed-wing "Izdeliye 701" ultra-long-range high-altitude interceptor in the 1980ies.

 

The impulse for this new approach came when Oleg S. Samoylovich joined the Mikoyan OKB after having worked at Suchoi OKB on the T-60S missile carrier project. Similar in overall design to the former 301, the 701 was primarily intended as a kind of successor for the MiG-31 Foxhound for the 21st century, which just had completed flight tests and was about to enter PVO's front line units.

 

Being based on a long range cruise missile carrier, the 701 would have been a huge plane, featuring a length of 30-31m, a wing span of 19m (featuring a highly swept double delta wing) and having a maximum TOW of 70 tons! Target performance figures included a top speed of 2.500km/h, a cruising speed of 2.100km/h at 17.000m and an effective range of 7.000km in supersonic or 11.000km in subsonic mode. Eventually, the 701 program was mothballed, too, being too ambitious and expensive for a specialized development that could also have been a fighter version of the Tu-22 bomber!

 

Anyway, while the MiG-31 was successfully introduced in 1979 and had evolved in into a capable long-range interceptor with a top speed of more than Mach 3 (limited to Mach 2.8 in order to protect the aircraft's structural integrity), MiG OKB decided in 1984 to take further action and to develop a next-generation technology demonstrator, knowing that even the formidable "Foxhound" was only an interim solution on the way to a true "Four plus" of even a 6th generation fighter. Other new threats like low-flying cruise missiles, the USAF's "Project Pluto" or the assumed SR-71 Mach 5 successor “Aurora” kept Soviet military officials on the edge of their seats, too.

 

Main objective was to expand the Foxhound's state-of the-art performance, and coiple it with modern features like aerodynamic instability, supercruise, stealth features and further development potential.

 

The aircraft's core mission objectives comprised:

- Provide strategic air defense and surveillance in areas not covered by ground-based air defense systems (incl. guidance of other aircraft with less sophisticated avionics)

- Top speed of Mach 3.2 or more in a dash and cruise at Mach 3.0 for prolonged periods

- Long range/high speed interception of airspace intruders of any kind, including low flying cruise missiles, UAVs and helicopters

- Intercept cruise missiles and their launch aircraft from sea level up to 30.000m altitude by reaching missile launch range in the lowest possible time after departing the loiter area

 

Because funding was scarce and no official GOR had been issued, the project was taken on as a private venture. The new project was internally known as "Izdeliye 710" or "71.0". It was based on both 301 and 701 layout ideas and the wind tunnel experiences with their unusual layouts, as well as Oleg Samoylovich's experience with the Suchoi T-4 Mach 3 bomber project and the T-60S.

 

"Izdeliye 710" was from the start intended only as a proof-of-concept prototype, yet fully functional. It would also incorporate new technologies like heat-resistant ceramics against kinetic heating at prolonged high speeds (the airframe had to resist temperatures of 300°C/570°F and more for considerable periods), but with potential for future development into a full-fledged interceptor, penetrator and reconnaissance aircraft.

 

Overall, “Izdeliye 710" looked like a shrinked version of a mix of both former MiG OKB 301 and 701 designs, limited to the MiG-31's weight class of about 40 tons TOW. Compared with the former designs, the airframe received an aerodynamically more refined, partly blended, slender fuselage that also incorporated mild stealth features like a “clean” underside, softened contours and partly shielded air intakes. Structurally, the airframe's speed limit was set at Mach 3.8.

 

From the earlier 301 design,the plane retained the variable geometry wing. Despite the system's complexity and weight, this solution was deemed to be the best approach for a combination of a high continuous top speed, extended loiter time in the mission’s patrol areas and good performance on improvised airfields. Minimum sweep was a mere 10°, while, fully swept at 68°, the wings blended into the LERXes. Additional lift was created through the fuselage shape itself, so that aerodynamic surfaces and therefore drag could be reduced.

 

Pilot and radar operator sat in tandem under a common canopy with rather limited sight. The cockpit was equipped with a modern glass cockpit with LCD screens. The aircraft’s two engines were, again, placed in a large, mutual nacelle on the upper rear fuselage, fed by large air intakes with two-dimensional vertical ramps and a carefully modulated airflow over the aircraft’s dorsal area.

 

Initially, the 71.0 was to be powered by a pair of Soloviev D-30F6 afterburning turbofans with a dry thrust of 93 kN (20,900 lbf) each, and with 152 kN (34,172 lbf) with full afterburner. These were the same engines that powered the MiG-31, but there were high hopes for the Kolesov NK-101 engine: a variable bypass engine with a maximum thrust in the 200kN range, at the time of the 71.0's design undergoing bench tests and originally developed for the advanced Suchoj T-4MS strike aircraft.

With the D-30F6, the 71.0 was expected to reach Mach 3.2 (making the aircraft capable of effectively intercepting the SR-71), but the NK-101 would offer in pure jet mode a top speed in excess of Mach 3.5 and also improve range and especially loiter time when running as a subsonic turbofan engine.

 

A single fin with an all-moving top and an additional deep rudder at its base was placed on top of the engine nacelle. Additional maneuverability at lower speed was achieved by retractable, all-moving foreplanes, stowed in narrow slits under the cockpit. Longitudinal stability at high speed was improved through deflectable stabilizers: these were kept horizontal for take-off and added to the overall lift, but they could be folded down by up to 60° in flight, acting additionally as stabilizer strakes.

 

Due to the aircraft’s slender shape and unique proportions, the 71.0 quickly received the unofficial nickname "жура́вль" (‘Zhurávl' = Crane). The aircaft’s stalky impression was emphasized even more through its unusual landing gear arrangement: Due to the limited internal space for the main landing gear wells between the weapons bay, the wing folding mechanisms and the engine nacelle, MiG OKB decided to incorporate a bicycle landing gear, normally a trademark of Yakovlew OKB designs, but a conventional landing gear could simply not be mounted, or its construction would have become much too heavy and complex.

 

In order to facilitate operations from improvised airfields and on snow the landing gear featured twin front wheels on a conventional strut and a single four wheel bogie as main wheels. Smaller, single stabilizer wheels were mounted on outriggers that retracted into slender fairings at the wings’ fixed section trailing edge, reminiscent of early Tupolev designs.

 

All standard air-to-air weaponry, as well as fuel, was to be carried internally. Main armament would be the K-100 missile (in service eventually designated R-100), stored in a large weapons bay behind the cockpit on a rotary mount. The K-100 had been under development at that time at NPO Novator, internally coded ‘Izdeliye 172’. The K-100 missile was an impressive weapon, and specifically designed to attack vital and heavily defended aerial targets like NATO’s AWACS aircraft at BVR distance.

 

Being 15’ (4.57 m) long and weighing 1.370 lb (620 kg), this huge ultra-long-range weapon had a maximum range of 250 mi (400 km) in a cruise/glide profile and attained a speed of Mach 6 with its solid rocket engine. This range could be boosted even further with a pair of jettisonable ramjets in tubular pods on the missile’s flanks for another 60 mi (100 km). The missile could attack targets ranging in altitude between 15 – 25,000 meters.

 

The weapon would initially be allocated to a specified target through the launch aircraft’s on-board radar and sent via inertial guidance into the target’s direction. Closing in, the K-100’s Agat 9B-1388 active seeker would identify the target, lock on, and independently attack it, also in coordination with other K-100’s shot at the same target, so that the attack would be coordinated in time and approach directions in order to overload defense and ensure a hit.

 

The 71.0’s internal mount could hold four of these large missiles, or, alternatively, the same number of the MiG-31’s R-33 AAMs. The mount also had a slot for the storage of additional mid- and short-range missiles for self-defense, e .g. three R-60 or two R-73 AAMs. An internal gun was not considered to be necessary, since the 71.0 or potential derivatives would fight their targets at very long distances and rather rely on a "hit-and-run" tactic, sacrificing dogfight capabilities for long loitering time in stand-by mode, high approach speed and outstanding acceleration and altitude performance.

 

Anyway, provisions were made to carry a Gsh-301-250 gun pod on a retractable hardpoint in the weapons bay instead of a K-100. Alternatively, such pods could be carried externally on four optional wing root pylons, which were primarily intended for PTB-1500 or PTB-3000 drop tanks, or further missiles - theoretically, a maximum of ten K-100 missiles could be carried, plus a pair of short-range AAMs.

 

Additionally, a "buddy-to-buffy" IFR set with a retractable drogue (probably the same system as used on the Su-24) was tested (71.2 was outfitted with a retractable refuelling probe in front of the cockpit), as well as the carriage of simple iron bombs or nuclear stores, to be delivered from very high altitudes. Several pallets with cameras and sensors (e .g. a high resolution SLAR) were also envisioned, which could easily replace the missile mounts and the folding weapon bay covers for recce missions.

 

Since there had been little official support for the project, work on the 710 up to the hardware stage made only little progress, since the MiG-31 already filled the long-range interceptor role in a sufficient fashion and offered further development potential.

A wooden mockup of the cockpit section was presented to PVO and VVS officials in 1989, and airframe work (including tests with composite materials on structural parts, including ceramic tiles for leading edges) were undertaken throughout 1990 and 1991, including test rigs for the engine nacelle and the swing wing mechanism.

 

Eventually, the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 suddenly stopped most of the project work, after two prototype airframes had been completed. Their internal designations were Izdeliye 71.1 and 71.2, respectively. It took a while until the political situation as well as the ex-Soviet Air Force’s status were settled, and work on Izdeliye 710 resumed at a slow pace.

 

After taking two years to be completed, 71.1 eventually made its roll-out and maiden flight in summer 1994, just when MiG-31 production had ended. MiG OKB still had high hopes in this aircraft, since the MiG-31 would have to be replaced in the next couple of years and "Izdeliye 710" was just in time for the potential procurement process. The first prototype wore a striking all-white livery, with dark grey ceramic tiles on the wings’ leading edges standing out prominently – in this guise and with its futuristic lines the slender aircraft reminded a lot of the American Space Shuttle.

 

71.1 was primarily intended for engine and flight tests (esp. for the eagerly awaited NK-101 engines), as well as for the development of the envisioned ramjet propulsion system for full-scale production and further development of Izdeliye 710 into a Mach 3+ interceptor. No mission avionics were initially fitted to this plane, but it carried a comprehensive test equipment suite and ballast.

 

Its sister ship 71.2 flew for the first time in late 1994, wearing a more unpretentious grey/bare metal livery. This plane was earmarked for avionics development and weapons integration, especially as a test bed for the K-100 missile, which shared Izdeliye 710’s fate of being a leftover Soviet project with an uncertain future and an even more corny funding outlook.

 

Anyway, aircraft 71.2 was from the start equipped with a complete RP-31 ('Zaslon-M') weapon control system, which had been under development at that time as an upgrade for the Russian MiG-31 fleet being part of the radar’s development program secured financial support from the government and allowed the flight tests to continue. The RP-31 possessed a maximum detection range of 400 km (250 mi) against airliner-sized targets at high altitude or 200 km against fighter-sized targets; the typical width of detection along the front was given as 225 km. The system could track 24 airborne targets at one time at a range of 120 km, 6 of which could be simultaneously attacked with missiles.

 

With these capabilities the RP-31 suite could, coupled with an appropriate carrier airframe, fulfil the originally intended airspace control function and would render a dedicated and highly vulnerable airspace control aircraft (like the Beriev A-50 derivative of the Il-76 transport) more or less obsolete. A group of four aircraft equipped with the 'Zaslon-M' suite would be able to permanently control an area of airspace across a total length of 800–900 km, while having ultra-long range weapons at hand to counter any intrusion into airspace with a quicker reaction time than any ground-based fighter on QRA duty. The 71.0, outfitted with the RP-31/K-100 system, would have posed a serious threat to any aggressor.

 

In March 1995 both prototypes were eventually transferred to the Kerchenskaya Guards Air Base at Savasleyka in the Oblast Vladimir, 300 km east of Mocsow, where they received tactical codes of '11 Blue' and '12 Blue'. Besides the basic test program and the RP-31/K-100 system tests, both machines were directly evaluated against the MiG-31 and Su-27 fighters by the Air Force's 4th TsBPi PLS, based at the same site.

 

Both aircraft exceeded expectations, but also fell short in certain aspects. The 71.0’s calculated top speed of Mach 3.2 was achieved during the tests with a top speed of 3,394 km/h (2.108 mph) at 21,000 m (69.000 ft). Top speed at sea level was confirmed at 1.200 km/h (745 mph) indicated airspeed.

Combat radius with full weapon load and internal fuel only was limited to 1,450 km (900 mi) at Mach 0.8 and at an altitude of 10,000 m (33,000 ft), though, and it sank to a mere 720 km (450 mi) at Mach 2.35 and at an altitude of 18,000 m (59,000 ft). Combat range with 4x K-100 internally and 2 drop tanks was settled at 3,000 km (1,860 mi), rising to 5,400 km (3,360 mi) with one in-flight refueling, tested with the 71.2. Endurance at altitude was only slightly above 3 hours, though. Service ceiling was 22,800 m (74,680 ft), 2.000 m higher than the MiG-31.

 

While these figures were impressive, Soviet officials were not truly convinced: they did not show a significant improvement over the simpler MiG-31. MiG OKB tried to persuade the government into more flight tests and begged for access to the NK-101, but the Soviet Union's collapse halted this project, too, so that both Izdeliye 710 had to keep the Soloviev D-30F6.

 

Little is known about the Izdeliye 710 project’s progress or further developments. The initial tests lasted until at least 1997, and obviously the updated MiG-31M received official favor instead of a completely new aircraft. The K-100 was also dropped, since the R-33 missile and later its R-37 derivative sufficiently performed in the long-range aerial strike role.

 

Development on the aircraft as such seemed to have stopped with the advent of modernized Su-27 derivatives and the PAK FA project, resulting in the Suchoi T-50 prototype. Unconfirmed reports suggest that one of the prototypes (probably 71.1) was used in the development of the N014 Pulse-Doppler radar with a passive electronically scanned array antenna in the wake of the MFI program. The N014 was designed with a range of 420 km, detection target of 250km to 1m and able to track 40 targets while able to shoot against 20.

 

Most interestingly, Izdeliye 710 was never officially presented to the public, but NATO became aware of its development through satellite pictures in the early Nineties and the aircraft consequently received the ASCC reporting codename "Fastback".

 

Until today, only the two prototypes have been known to exist, and it is assumed – had the type entered service – that the long-range fighter had received the official designation "MiG-41".

  

General characteristics:

Crew: 2 (Pilot, weapon system officer)

Length (incl. pitot): 93 ft 10 in (28.66 m)

Wingspan:

- minimum 10° sweep: 69 ft 4 in (21.16 m)

- maximum 68° sweep: 48 ft 9 in (14,88 m)

Height: 23 ft 1 1/2 in (7,06 m )

Wing area: 1008.9 ft² (90.8 m²)

Weight: 88.151 lbs (39.986 kg)

 

Performance:

Maximum speed:

- Mach 3.2 (2.050 mph (3.300 km/h) at height

- 995 mph (1.600 km/h) supercruise speed at 36,000 ft (11,000 m)

- 915 mph (1.470 km/h) at sea level

Range: 3.705 miles (5.955 km) with internal fuel

Service ceiling: 75.000 ft (22.500 m)

Rate of climb: 31.000 ft/min (155 m/s)

 

Engine:

2x Soloviev D-30F6 afterburning turbofans with a dry thrust of 93 kN (20,900 lbf) each

and with 152 kN (34,172 lbf) with full afterburner.

 

Armament:

Internal weapons bay, main armament comprises a flexible missile load; basic ordnance of 4x K-100 ultra long range AAMs plus 2x R-73 short-range AAMs: other types like the R-27, R-33, R-60 and R-77 have been carried and tested, too, as well as podded guns on internal and external mounts. Alternatively, the weapon bay can hold various sensor pallets.

Four hardpoints under the wing roots, the outer pair “wet” for drop tanks of up to 3.000 l capacity, ECM pods or a buddy-buddy refueling drogue system. Maximum payload mass is 9000 kg.

  

The kit and its assembly

The second entry for the 2017 “Soviet” Group Build at whatifmodelers.com – a true Frankenstein creation, based on the scarce information about the real (but never realized) MiG 301 and 701 projects, the Suchoj T-60S, as well as some vague design sketches you can find online and in literature.

This one had been on my project list for years and I already had donor kits stashed away – but the sheer size (where will I leave it once done…?) and potential complexity kept me from tackling it.

 

The whole thing was an ambitious project and just the unique layout with a massive engine nacelle on top of the slender fuselage instead of an all-in-one design makes these aircraft an interesting topic to build. The GB was a good motivator.

 

“My” fictional interpretation of the MiG concepts is mainly based on a Dragon B-1B in 1:144 scale (fuselage, wings), a PM Model Su-15 two seater (donating the nose section and the cockpit, as well as wing parts for the fin) and a Kangnam MiG-31 (for the engine pod and some small parts). Another major ingredient is a pair of horizontal stabilizers from a 1:72 Hasegawa A-5 Vigilante.

 

Fitting the cockpit section took some major surgery and even more putty to blend the parts smoothly together. Another major surgical area was the tail; the "engine box" came to be rather straightforward, using the complete rear fuselage section from the MiG-31 and adding the intakes form the same kit, but mounted horizontally with a vertical splitter.

 

Blending the thing to the cut-away tail section of the B-1 was quite a task, though, since I not only wanted to add the element to the fuselage, but rather make it look a bit 'organic'. More than putty was necessary, I also had to made some cuts and transplantations. And after six PSR rounds I stopped counting…

 

The landing gear was built from scratch – the front wheel comes mostly from the MiG-31 kit. The central bogie and its massive leg come from a VEB Plasticart 1:100 Tu-20/95 bomber, plus some additional struts. The outriggers are leftover landing gear struts from a Hobby Boss Fw 190, mated with wheels which I believe come from a 1:200 VEB Plasticart kit, an An-24. Not certain, though. The fairings are slender MiG-21 drop tanks blended into the wing training edge. For the whole landing gear, the covers were improvised with styrene sheet, parts from a plastic straw(!) or leftover bits from the B-1B.

 

The main landing gear well was well as the weapons’ bay themselves were cut into the B-1B underside and an interior scratched from sheet and various leftover materials – I tried to maximize their space while still leaving enough room for the B-1B kit’s internal VG mechanism.

The large missiles (two were visible fitted and the rotary launcher just visibly hinted at) are, in fact, AGM-78 ‘Standard’ ARMs in a fantasy guise. They look pretty Soviet, though, like big brothers of the already not small R-33 missiles from the MiG-31.

 

While not in the focus of attention, the cockpit interior is completely new, too – OOB, the Su-15 cockpit only has a floor and rather stubby seats, under a massive single piece canopy. On top of the front wheel well (from a Hasegawa F-4) I added a new floor and added side consoles, scratched from styrene sheet. F-4 dashboards improve the decoration, and I added a pair of Soviet election seats from the scrap box – IIRC left over from two KP MiG-19 kits.

The canopy was taken OOB, I just cut it into five parts for open display. The material’s thickness does not look too bad on this aircraft – after all, it would need a rather sturdy construction when flying at Mach 3+ and withstanding the respective pressures and temperatures.

  

Painting

As a pure whif, I was free to use a weirdo design - but I rejected this idea quickly. I did not want a garish splinter scheme or a bright “Greenbottle Fly” Su-27 finish.

With the strange layout of the aircraft, the prototype idea was soon settled – and Soviet prototypes tend to look very utilitarian and lusterless, might even be left in grey. Consequently, I adapted a kind of bare look for this one, inspired by the rather shaggy Soviet Tu-22 “Blinder” bombers which carried a mix of bare metal and white and grey panels. With additional black leading edges on the aerodynamic surfaces, this would create a special/provisional but still purposeful look.

 

For the painting, I used a mix of several metallizer tones from ModelMaster and Humbrol (including Steel, Magnesium, Titanium, as well as matt and polished aluminum, and some Gun Metal and Exhaust around the engine nozzles, partly mixed with a bit of blue) and opaque tones (Humbrol 147 and 127). The “scheme” evolved panel-wise and step by step. The black leading edges were an interim addition, coming as things evolved, and they were painted first with black acrylic paint as a rough foundation and later trimmed with generic black decal stripes (from TL Modellbau). A very convenient and clean solution!

 

The radomes on nose and tail and other di-electric panels became dark grey (Humbrol 125). The cockpit tub was painted with Soviet Cockpit Teal (from ModelMaster), while the cockpit opening and canopy frames were kept in a more modest medium grey (Revell 57). On the outside of the cabin windows, a fat, deep yellow sealant frame (Humbrol 93, actually “Sand”) was added.

 

The weapon bay was painted in a yellow-ish primer tone (seen on pics of Tu-160 bombers) while the landing gear wells received a mix of gold and sand; the struts were painted in a mixed color, too, made of Humbrol 56 (Aluminum) and 34 (Flat White). The green wheel discs (Humbrol 131), a typical Soviet detail, stand out well from the rather subdued but not boring aircraft, and they make a nice contrast to the red Stars and the blue tactical code – the only major markings, besides a pair of MiG OKB logos under the cockpit.

 

Decals were puzzled together from various sheets, and I also added a lot of stencils for a more technical look. In order to enhance the prototype look further I added some photo calibration markings on the nose and the tail, made from scratch.

  

A massive kitbashing project that I had pushed away for years - but I am happy that I finally tackled it, and the result looks spectacular. The "Firefox" similarity was not intended, but this beast really looks like a movie prop - and who knwos if the Firefox was not inspired by the same projects (the MiG 301 and 701) as my kitbash model?

The background info is a bit lengthy, but there's some good background info concerning the aforementioned projects, and this aircraft - as a weapon system - would have played a very special and complex role, so a lot of explanations are worthwhile - also in order to emphasize that I di not simply try to glue some model parts together, but rather try to spin real world ideas further.

 

Mighty bird!

Rainy and windy weather was observed late this afternoon in San Jose, CA. I miss this weather... It feels like it's been forever since I've seen rain!

 

Weather scenario/details:

At last, rain was finally making a return to California after a very dry February! Certainly, we were in for a lot of it! Although we were still in a drought, all this rain equals hazardous conditions... It may be too much of a good thing...

 

Here's a weather rundown: Why the sudden rains? An atmospheric river event was in store for California for early March 2016... Despite a very dry and mild February, a major pattern change toward a much wetter weather pattern was imminent. The 1st strong system of the series had hit by the first weekend of the month, bringing heavy rain, gusty winds, and heavy mountain snow. Wind & flood advisories were also issued with the first system of the series. The 1st system's strong cold front had approached the Bay Area by Saturday afternoon. Strong southerly winds have developed as the front passed thru. While this rain was to help replenish depleted water reservoirs and put a dent in the long-standing drought, the large amount of rain in a short time frame would lead to flooding and mudslides. Despite its drawbacks, the rainfall was beneficial to the state's water supply. Impacts from the 1st strong system had brought heavy rain & wind to my area in San Jose, CA. The 2nd system was expected to arrive by Sunday night and into Monday. At the time, the 2nd system appeared a bit stronger, bringing in more heavy rain, according to forecasters. Looks like this was El Nino's last hurrah this winter! Is a 'Miracle-March' imminent? Drive safe & stay dry out there, guys.

 

(Footage filmed Saturday, March 5, 2016 from around San Jose, CA)

Dark, stormy skies this afternoon as a low pressure system slowly starts to depart the region. This same system had brought convective thunderstorms to the region this week. Pic taken from around San Jose, CA.

 

Weather update:

Thunderstorms have erupted throughout the state this week, courtesy of a very slow moving low pressure system. This system's eastward movement was very slow and the counter clockwise flow around the low had kept us in a rainy, unsettled weather pattern the past couple days or so. However, things were to start to dry out. By Monday of the following week, high pressure was forecast to be back along the coast...

 

(Saturday afternoon, May 7, 2016; 1:08 p.m.)

GP40's and GP40-2's seemed to be the backbone of Chessie System's locomotive fleet, at least in Chicago. Here's an example as a westbound hits the diamonds at Stateline on its way to Barr Yard. Guess which state I'm standing in....not the state the train is in. Weird, isn't it? OK, OK, so it isn't.....

Engineers successfully evaluated a failure scenario of Orion’s parachute system in which only two of the system’s three orange and white main parachutes deploy after several other parachutes in the system used to slow and stabilize Orion endure high aerodynamic stresses ahead of a safe landing. The test occurred Dec. 15 at the U.S. Army Proving Ground in Yuma, Arizona. A mock capsule was dropped from a C-17 aircraft at 35,000 feet in altitude to enable the right conditions for the test. It was the fifth of eight tests to qualify Orion’s parachute system for flights with astronauts beginning with Exploration Mission-2. Credit: NASA

Frigatebird in flight on Tern Island in the French Frigate Shoals, Hawaii.

 

Camera: Olympus OM-1

Lens: Olympus OM-System S Zuiko MC Auto-Zoom f/4 35-70mm.

Film: Kodak Ektachrome E100D Expired 10/20

Developer: The Darkroom

After chasing a coal train up to Shay Maine, I stopped at the location of the former Illinois Traction System's Substation at Loveless.

 

The framework of the building itself is still in great shape, even if all the components for generating electric are long gone. What I believe to have been duct work for cooling fans (I imagine it get quite hot inside when things were humming along...) on top of the build are now starting to rust and topple. Not bad considering that stuff was probably last used at least 50 years ago.

 

I took the chance to take several details shots inside and out and will be posting them over the next few days.

 

-Illinois Traction System Loveless Substation

-NS (ex-C&NW/IT) Monterey Mine Lead, near MP ME4

-Wheeler Rd Crossing, S of Carlinville, IL

-June 20, 2015

 

IMG_9860_edited-1

Gróðurhúsin á Laugalandi eru um 3600 fermetrar. Jarðhiti er á svæðinu og er notast við eigin vatnsveitu og hita gróðurhúsin upp með vatni frá hvernum. Gróðurhúsin eru raflýst og gúrkurnar ræktaðar árið um kring.

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine watches as a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket with Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft onbaord launches from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Friday, Dec. 20, 2019, from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The uncrewed Orbital Flight Test launched at 6:36 a.m. EST and is Starliner’s maiden mission to the International Space Station for NASA's Commercial Crew Program. The mission will serve as an end-to-end test of the system's capabilities. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

It’s 320 lbs of heavy metal from the Aletai meteorite found in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China, first in 1898 and then this additional masses as recently as 2021. (I call it 2021 A Space Oddity)

 

It was the molten iron-nickel core of a shattered planet, presumably from the early epoch of our solar system’s formation. The long crystals you see throughout were formed in space, and requiring cooling rates of a couple degrees Celsius per million years!

 

The composition of Aletai is so unique that no other samples in the world’s meteorite collection are comparable. It is one of two meteorites classified as Iron IIIE-anomalous (with higher gold, cobalt and iridium than typical).

 

The composition of Aletai is so unique that no other samples in the world’s meteorite collection are comparable. It is one of two meteorites classified as Iron, IIIE-anomalous. Aletai irons are characterized by higher Au and Co contents and unexpected Ir contents that do not fall on extrapolation of the Au-Ir trend of the other IIIE irons.

 

In aggregate, the mass of Atelai found so far, 74,480kg, is the largest known on Earth. And it is by far and away the largest meteorite debris scattering field found on the planet, believed to be due to its unique stone-skipping-like trajectory off the atmosphere on entry (see diagram below).

 

It took months of work to cut and stabilize by the masterful Craig Zilmen (see below for action shots). Exposing the crystal patterns in the smooth metal takes an HF acid etch. Craig: “The weight is a major factor in everything from cutting to finishing and makes etching particularly challenging because there’s no way to access all sides simultaneously and etching requires an incredibly uniform application of acid or any runs/streaks will be obvious.”

 

Then, the monolith was stabilized using reverse electrolysis for over 6 months to make it highly resistant to rust. The base is the untreated rough exterior of Atelai as it has looked for ~ 2 million years.

A view courtesy of tranzpress nz and captured in the months following the official opening of the Foxton Trolleybus Museum system in December 1988 of preserved Wellington City Transport British United Traction RETB1 trolleybus No. 107 of 1964 operating on the system along Main St.

It wasn't to be until August 1989 that I got to check out the Foxton Trolleybus Museum undertaking for the first time.

 

No. 107 ended its days in preservation as a smokers room at the Post Office Hotel next door to the trolleybus museum (it had been leased to the hotel by the museum), and just prior to the passing of Ian Little in 2008, was moved to a property in Bergin Rd. near the Foxton racecourse for storage after new management at the hotel no longer wanted it on the property.

During the time that the Foxton museum was under the stewardship of the late Wayne Little, No. 107 was finally towed away for scrapping on 30/5/2010 in a rundown condition after some years languishing in open storage.

 

PARKED TROLLEYBUS USED TO DEFY PUB SMOKING BAN

NZ Herald, 1 February 2005

Graham Wrigley has parked an old trolleybus leased from the Foxton trolleybus museum next door alongside his pub in an attempt to get round the smoking ban.

Mr Wrigley, who runs the Post Office Hotel in Foxton, says he will not give up on the ploy even if it means going to jail.

"I know they will try to prosecute me eventually," he said. "They can send me to jail if they like. I won't mind. I need the holiday."

But MidCentral Health smoke-free officer Robert Holdaway the bus ploy would not work as a means of getting around anti-smoking legislation which came into force on December 10, 2004.

Dr Holdaway said the Smoke-free Environments Amendment Act requires licensees to "take all reasonably practicable steps to ensure that no person smokes at any time in a part of the premises that is not an open area".

He added: "I would certainly not be encouraging other publicans to scour local wreckers' yards for old buses."

However, Mr Wrigley argued that the bus, which he set up alongside an outdoor smoking area, was not "part of the premises".

"In America they set up limos outside the bars and smoke there," he said. "This is the same thing. The bus is mobile and you could probably drive it down the street if you want.

"There are 13 windows and two doors that are wide open. The wind goes howling through there sometimes, so you couldn't get more of an open area than that."

Mr Wrigley said he'd heard of a publican in Wairarapa who had responded to the suggestion that people could smoke in their hotel rooms by setting up a special "Room 12".

 

Wellington 107 businfo details...

www.businfo.nz/index.php?R=15407&OP=2

 

Wellington No. 107 running to Foxton Beach...

www.flickr.com/photos/51227209@N03/6108039797

 

THE FOXTON TROLLEYBUS SYSTEM

17 December 1988 was a red-letter day for the small borough of Foxton, in the Manawatu, where the world's smallest trolleybus system was inaugurated - the first museum trolleybus line running in public streets.

8y 11 am on Saturday 17th, three trolleybuses were lined up outside the Borough Council Chambers at Foxton – No. 77 (ex Dunedin) 107 (ex Wellington) and 48 (ex Wellington), with plenty of British flags hanging from the overhead wires adding to a festive occasion, a very large crowd of several thousand gathered for the opening of a new trolleybus system.

During the opening ceremony there were several speakers, the first a captain from the Salvation Army blessed the new system, followed by speeches by the Chairman of the Local Town Council, the Central Development Agency, Mr. Ian Little J.P. Q.J.M., Mr. Fraser, Mayor of Foxton, and finally Mrs. Annette King, M.P. who cut the ribbon declaring the system open. Dunedin trolleybus No 77 was the first official trolleybus to commence service, conveying invited guests, followed by Wellington trolleybuses Nos. 107 and 48. After the official run the invited guests participated in a luncheon at the Borough Council Chambers.

For the rest of the day the 3 trolleybuses were later joined by Dunedin No.10 giving free rides to all around the new circuit. There was a carnival atmosphere as the whole town came out for the occasion with the shops remaining open for the who l e day in this normally sleepy Manawatu township . A further parade during the day of local floats included the rubber-tyred horse tram, that formerly operated in Dunedin, but is now known as the "Pride of Foxton".

The opening wa s vlell represented by many members of the Wellington Tramway Museum and one THS member.

This trolleybus line was the dream come true for one man particularly Mr. Ian Little, a dedicated trolleybus enthusiast, and a former president of the Wellington Tramway Museum, who over the last few years has acquired a vast stockpile of overhead fittings and equipment and also collected a fleet of former New Zealand trolleybuses. He has virtually single handedly built and financed this Foxton system.

Ian Little had originally planned to build a trolleybus line at Featherston in the Wairarapa, but after experiencing local problems, sought another town finding the people of Foxton welcoming his scheme.

The present system, as built, consists of a trolleybus depot which is a new steel framed, corrugated iron shed which can house up to six trolleybuses. This is built on a rear section along an alleyway off the Main Street. The overhead then runs across the main road almost diagonally to Wharf Street and by use of a trailing point joins the trolleybus circuit. Wharf Street is a sealed road-way and down at the bottom it reaches the Manawatu River where the line turns and snakes its way along Harbour Street, which is rather picturesque. At present this road is not sealed.

This is the first time trolleybuses have operated on unsealed roads since the last section of Travis Road on the North Beach line in Christchurch was sealed in 1933/34. However this will not be for long as Harbour Street is to be sealed during 1989. At the end of Harbour Street the line turns up a nice steep rise as it briefly turns into Union Street and then into Main Street where it runs along the left hand side of this wide road past the Borough Council Chambers back to Wharf Street mixing with traffic in the main street. The whole line is most scenic.

During construction of the system great co-operation was received from the Horowhenua Power Board who arranged the concrete overhead poles which were new ex NZR poles not suitable for the railway electrification project, and in conjunction with Ian Little, these were all erected by the Board. The majority of the system's overhead is hung from side bracket arms of a new design built locally placed neatly in a nice row along Main Street. All the corners are of span wire construction using wooden spacer bars and pull offs identical to the style used quite extensively in Dunedin. 99% of the overhead came from the closed Dunedin system - all Ohio Brass. Only three sweeps have been used on the system. The span wires are all of the modern insulated parafil type now used extensively in Wellington. The new overhead fittings acquired for the ill-fated ARA system have not been used as the hangers were found to be much inferior to the old Ohio brass type. During construction Ian was short of 1 mile of overhead running wire to complete the line. Unfortunately he was not able to purchase any from the Wellington City Corporation, and as the firm formerly manufacturing new overhead in New Plymouth is now closed, he had to fly to Melbourne and purchase 1 mile of tramway wire from the M.T.A.

All the overhead and bracket arms were erected at no cost to the council by Ian Little and a few helpers. The high standard of the overhead construction is a credit to all concerned.

To power the system, a power plant has been built utilising an ex Wellington trolleybus motor connected to a 30 h.p. electric generator which is capable of powering two trolleybuses satisfactorily. Another ex Wellington trolleybus motor connected to a diesel generator has been mounted on a trailer which can be towed behind a trolleybus when away from the wires.

On opening day both generators were connected together and provided enough power to operate four trolleybuses simultaneously. Although at present the world's smallest trolleybus system, it may not. have the smallest fleet, as a considerable number of operable trolleybuses have been acquired, many of the Wellington ones which should never have been withdrawn from service in the capital city.

As only a few trolleys can be housed at the present depot the rest are stored at the NZR depot compound in Main Street. At the present time the fleet consists of 15 trolleybuses:

Trolleybus No. 117 was sold by the WCC and was converted into the 'Trolley Chef' cafe in Thorndon, Wellington, where it was used as a dining room together with another trolley. After the cafe closed it was purchased by Ian Little's son, Wayne, who converted it back into a trolleybus and once again runs under the wires, but although,is still in 'cafe' pink livery. Ian's son also owns another trolley No. 66 at Porirua. Two further trolleybuses ex Wellington Nos. 80 and 85 are stored under cover on a farm at Foxton, eventually to be used on the museum line too.

As well as the trolleybuses the museum has two overhead tower wagons ex Dunedin (one diesel, one petrol) for erecting and maintaining the overhead, as well as a tractor for towing trolleybuses. The trolleybus line is now part of a trust run by the Motor Coach Museum Trolleybus Trust. It will operate regularly on Wednesdays and Sundays and at other times by arrangement. - Tramway Topics, January-February 1989.

 

IAN LITTLE – A RETROSPECT

By Peter Rendall, published in Trolleybus (UK), Volume 47, No. 565, August 2008

Ian Foster Little was born in Dunedin more than seventy years ago, and from an early age exhibited an interest in public transport. I was once told by Hubie Hobbs, an early Otago area operator, that he used to see this little boy standing at Lookout Point obviously watching the buses grind by. He once offered the boy a ride but it was declined - perhaps even then Ian’s bias for electric traction was showing. He did, however, many years in the future acquire one of Hubie’s buses for his collection. In the mid to late 1960s Ian was working for Wellington City Transport as a trolleybus driver, and became closely involved with the group that was setting up the tramway museum in Queen Elizabeth Park.

In not too many years he was chairman of the Board and pushed the development of the tramway along. This also included helping to organise the demolition of the New Plymouth trolleybus system (a saga about which many tales are related after a few ales), and the erection of a relatively short lived circle of trolleybus overhead at the tramway where he could operate the New Plymouth Crossley 1, Auckland Farmers 2 and DCT No 1.

Along the way there was a major dispute between members of the museum, and Ian left to open the Miramar Motor Coach museum. This occupied various sites in Miramar and over time changed into more of a charter operation using older buses. Ian left the WCCT and began Community Transport Services with a fleet of mainly ex Dunedin Leylands. CTS became the local operator linking the new development of Whity (north of Wellington) with its nearest railway station on the suburban service - Plimmerton. After some years the electric traction bug surfaced again and Ian moved to Featherston where a start was made to develop a trolleybus line on the local streets. This was not greeted with universal acclaim, and was actively opposed by a number of locals and the local council, so Ian moved to Foxton.

The rest, as they say, is history. A circuit of trolley overhead round one town block, with a single pair extension ending in a reversing triangle by the local chicken processor, and another single pair off a trailing frog that you reversed down to access the bus shed.

Visitors were always welcomed, and often offered a drive, which in the early days entailed firing up the trusty Leyland diesel which sat on a trailer coupled to a trolleybus traction motor ... which was then used to generate the current to enliven the system. In later days a more conventional rectifier system was used to provide current.

A risk all visitors faced was to be dragged into the local radio station, Radio Foxton, another of Ian’s passions - where he would interview you for the edification and delectation of the listening audience. A character indeed, who leaves a large space to be filled.

 

Ian Foster Little was born in Dunedin, November 2, 1931. From his first marriage he had three sons and two daughters. In 1975 he married Christina Knowler with whom he had two sons and one daughter. Ian died in Hutt Hospital on July 15, 2008, aged 76, after a fall.

   

ASSEMBLY OF THE ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING INTEGRATED ENERGY (AMIE) 3D-PRINTED HOUSE.

 

Oak Ridge National Laboratory combines clean energy technologies into a 3D-printed building and vehicle to showcase a new approach to energy use, storage and consumption. It is a model for energy-efficient systems that link buildings, vehicles and the grid. ORNL team worked with industrial partners to manufacture and connect a natural-gas-powered hybrid electric vehicle with a solar-powered building to create an integrated energy system. The project's energy control center manages the system's electrical demand and load by balancing the intermittent power from the building's 3.2-kilowatt solar array with supplemental power from the vehicle.

  

For more information or additional images, please contact 202-586-5251.

The San Francisco Muni's 2019 heritage weekend September 7-8 featured the public debut of former Sacramento-Clay Line Car 19, built in 1883 by the Central Pacific Railroad Company in Sacramento. Now fully restored, it is the system's oldest (and largest) operating cable car. The weekend's festivities included public operation of the car on all of the surviving cable lines, including the non-revenue trackage.

 

More on this car's unique history can be found here: www.sfmta.com/blog/cable-car-19-make-historic-debut-muni-...

ASSEMBLY OF THE ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING INTEGRATED ENERGY (AMIE) 3D-PRINTED HOUSE.

 

Oak Ridge National Laboratory combines clean energy technologies into a 3D-printed building and vehicle to showcase a new approach to energy use, storage and consumption. It is a model for energy-efficient systems that link buildings, vehicles and the grid. ORNL team worked with industrial partners to manufacture and connect a natural-gas-powered hybrid electric vehicle with a solar-powered building to create an integrated energy system. The project's energy control center manages the system's electrical demand and load by balancing the intermittent power from the building's 3.2-kilowatt solar array with supplemental power from the vehicle.

 

For more information or additional images, please contact 202-586-5251.

 

With the lightweight aluminium front and rear axles from the BMW M3/M4 models, forged 19-inch aluminium wheels with mixed-size tyres, M Servotronic steering with two settings and suitably effective M compound brakes, the new BMW M2 Coupe has raised the bar once again in the compact high-performance sports car segment when it comes to driving dynamics. The electronically controlled Active M Differential, which optimises traction and directional stability, also plays a significant role here. And even greater driving pleasure is on the cards when the Dynamic Stability Control system’s M Dynamic Mode (MDM) is activated. MDM allows wheel slip and therefore moderate, controlled drifts on the track.

  

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NASA Image

 

Astronomy has merged with Geological Sciences Spacecraft to study Mercury smallest planet,after Pluto planet.

 

Astronomy has merged with Geological Sciences to make new discovery has been interpreted through a lens that of Geological and Planetary Sciences'rocks are formed under the surface of the earth from the metamorphosis when magma erupts onto the surface from volcanoes

You can see Mercury the solar system’s smallest planet,after Pluto planet.

 

NASA's Messenger spacecraft slipped into orbit around Mercury on Thursday, 03-17-2011 Late on St. Patrick’s Day, Eastern time, a spacecraft makes historic voyage to Mercury captured by Mercury's gravity should have at least a year of photography become first object to orbit the planet closest to the Sun, so to study the mineralogy of Mercury, mapping its surface and magnetic and gravitational fields spacecraft has accomplished this engineering and scientific milestone at our solar system's to keep the spacecraft on track for its March 2011 orbit insertion, up-close measurements since Mariner 10 spacecraft's third and final flyby on March 16, 1975. When Mariner 10 flew by Mercury in the mid-1970s.

 

Uploaded by tonynetone on 10 Jul 08, 11.20PM CET.

 

Uploaded by tonynetone on Thursday, 03-20-2011

 

A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket with Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft onboard is seen on the launch pad at Space Launch Complex 41 ahead of the Orbital Flight Test mission, Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2019 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The Orbital Flight Test with be Starliner’s maiden mission to the International Space Station for NASA's Commercial Crew Program. The mission, currently targeted for a 6:36 a.m. EST launch on Dec. 20, will serve as an end-to-end test of the system's capabilities. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

President Joe Biden, joined by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Chair of the Independent Review Commission on Military Sexual Assault Lynn Rosenthal, signs an executive order for 2022 Amendments to the Manual for Courts-Martial, strengthening the military justice system’s response to gender-based violence, Wednesday, January 26, 2022, in the Oval Office. (Official White House Photo by Adam Schultz)

A billboard in Times Square displays a Windows error screen stating that the system's virus definitions are outdated. And some billboard IT guy needs a talking to... this has been showing up for a month! Original photo from Almost Sober.

In the Chihuahuita Barrio. Muni's PCC 1073 matches this El Paso color scheme, one of the system's last before abandonment in 1974. August 16, 2018. © 2018 Peter Ehrlich

+++ 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 XFV (sometimes erroneously referred to as the "Salmon", even though this was actually the name of one of its test pilots and not an official designation) was an American experimental tailsitter prototype aircraft built by Lockheed in the early 1950s to demonstrate the operation of a vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) fighter for protecting convoys.

 

The Lockheed XFV originated as a result of a proposal issued by the U.S. Navy in 1948 for an aircraft capable of vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aboard platforms mounted on the afterdecks of conventional ships. Both Convair and Lockheed competed for the contract, but in 1950 the requirement was revised with a call for a research aircraft capable of eventually evolving into a VTOL ship-based convoy escort fighter. On 19 April 1951, two prototypes were ordered from Lockheed under the designation XFO-1 (company designation was Model 081-40-01). Soon after the contract was awarded, the project designation changed to XFV-1 when the Navy's code for Lockheed was changed from O to V.

 

The XFV was powered by a 5,332 hp (3,976 kW) Allison YT40-A-6 turboprop engine, composed of two Allison T38 power sections driving three-bladed contra-rotating propellers via a common gearbox. The aircraft had no landing gear, just small castoring wheels at the tips of the tail surfaces which were a reflected cruciform v-tail (forming an x) that extended above and below the fuselage. The wings were diamond-shaped and relatively thin, with straight and sharp leading edges – somewhat foretelling the design of Lockheed’s Mach-2-capable F-104 Starfighter.

 

To begin flight testing, a temporary non-retractable undercarriage with long braced V-legs was attached to the fuselage, and fixed tail wheels attached to the lower pair of fins. In this form, the aircraft was trucked to Edwards AFB in November 1953 for ground testing and taxiing trials. During one of these tests, at a time when the aft section of the large spinner had not yet been fitted, Lockheed chief test pilot Herman "Fish" Salmon managed to taxi the aircraft past the liftoff speed, and the aircraft made a brief hop on 22 December 1953. The official first flight took place on 16 June 1954.

Full VTOL testing at Edwards AFB was delayed pending the availability of the 7,100 shp Allison T54, which was earmarked to replace the T40 and power eventual serial production aircraft. But the T54 faced severe development delays, esp. its gearbox. Another problem that arose with the new engine was that the propeller blade tips would reach supersonic speed and therefore compressibility problems.

After the brief unintentional hop, the prototype aircraft made a total of 32 flights. The XFV-1 was able to make a few transitions in flight from the conventional to the vertical flight mode and back, and had briefly held in hover at altitude, but the T40 output was simply not enough to ensure proper and secure VTOL operations. Performance remained limited by the confines of the flight test regime. Another issue that arose through the advancements of jet engine designs was the realization that the XFV's top speed would be eclipsed by contemporary fighters. Additionally, the purely manual handling of the aircraft esp. during landing was very demanding - the XFV could only be controlled by highly experienced pilots.

 

Both Navy and the Marines Corps were still interested in the concept, though, so that, in early 1955, the decision was made to build a limited pre-production series of the aircraft, the FV-2, for operational field tests and evaluation. The FV-2 was the proposed production version (Model 181-43-02), primarily conceived and optimized as a night/all-weather interceptor for point defense, and officially baptized “Solstice”. The FV-2 was powered by the T54-A-16 turboprop, which had eventually overcome its teething troubles and offered a combined power output equivalent of 7,500 shp (5,600 kW) from the propellers and the twin-engines’ residual thrust. Outwardly the different engine was recognizable through two separate circular exhausts which were introduced instead of the XFV’s single shallow ventral opening. The gearbox had been beefed up, too, with additional oil coolers in small ventral fairings behind the contraprops and the propeller blades were aerodynamically improved to better cope with the higher power output and rotation speed. Additionally, an automatic pitch control system was introduced to alleviate the pilot from the delicate control burdens during hover and flight mode transition.

 

Compared with the XFV, the FV-2 incorporated 150 lb (68 kg) of cockpit armor, along with a 1.5 in (38 mm) bullet-proof windscreen. A Sperry Corporation AN/APS-19 type radar was added in the fixed forward part of the nose spinner under an opaque perspex radome. The AN/APS-19 was primarily a target detection radar with only a limited tracking capability, and it had been introduced with the McDonnell F2H-2N. The radar had a theoretical maximum detection range of 60 km, but in real life air targets could only be detected at much shorter distances. At long ranges the radar was mainly used for navigation and to detect land masses or large ships.

Like the older AN/APS-6, the AN/APS-19 operated in a "Spiral Scan" search pattern. In a spiral scan the radar dish spins rapidly, scanning the area in front of the aircraft following a spiral path. As a result, however targets were not updated on every pass as the radar was pointing at a different angle on each pass. This also made the radar prone to ground clutter effects, which created "pulses" on the radar display. The AN/APS-19 was able to lock onto and track targets within a narrow cone, out to a maximum range of about 1 mile (1.5 km), but to do so the radar had to cease scanning.

 

The FV-2’s standard armament consisted of four Mk. 11 20 mm cannon fitted in pairs in the two detachable wingtip pods, with 250 rounds each, which fired outside of the wide propeller disc. Alternatively, forty-eight 2¾ in (70 mm) folding-fin rockets could be fitted in similar pods, which could be fired in salvoes against both air and ground targets. Instead of offensive armament, 200 US gal. (165 imp. gal./750 l) auxiliary tanks for ferry flights could be mounted onto the wing tips.

 

Until June 1956 a total of eleven FV-2s were built and delivered. With US Navy Air Development Squadron 8 (also known as VX-8) at NAS Atlantic City, a dedicated evaluation and maintenance unit for the FV-2 and the operations of VTOL aircraft in general was formed. VX-2 operated closely with its sister unit VX-3 (located at the same base) and operated the FV-2s alongside contemporary types like the Grumman F9F-8 Cougar, which at that time went through carrier-qualification aboard the USS Midway. The Cougars were soon joined by the new, supersonic F-8U-1 Crusaders, which arrived in December 1956. The advent of this supersonic navy jet type rendered the FV-2’s archaic technology and its performance more and more questionable, even though the VTOL concept’s potential and the institutions’ interest in it kept the test unit alive.

 

The FV-2s were in the following years put through a series of thorough field tests and frequently deployed to land bases all across the USA and abroad. Additionally, operational tests were also conducted on board of various ship types, ranging from carriers with wide flight decks to modified merchant ships with improvised landing platforms. The FV-2s also took part in US Navy and USMC maneuvers, and when not deployed elsewhere the training with new pilots at NAS Atlantic City continued.

 

During these tests, the demanding handling characteristics of the tailsitter concept in general and the FV-2 in specific were frequently confirmed. Once in flight, however, the FV-2 handled well and was a serious and agile dogfighter – but jet aircraft could easily avoid and outrun it.

Other operational problems soon became apparent, too: while the idea of a VTOL aircraft that was independent from runways or flight bases was highly attractive, the FV-2’s tailsitter concept required a complex and bulky maintenance infrastructure, with many ladders, working platforms and cranes. On the ground, the FV-2 could not move on its own and had to be pushed or towed. However, due to the aircraft’s high center of gravity it had to be handled with great care – two FV-2s were seriously damaged after they toppled over, one at NAS Atlantic City on the ground (it could be repaired and brought back into service), the other aboard a ship at heavy sea, where the aircraft totally got out of control on deck and fell into the sea as a total loss.

To make matters even worse, fundamental operational tasks like refueling, re-arming the aircraft between sorties or even just boarding it were a complicated and slow task, so that the aircraft’s theoretical conceptual benefits were countered by its cumbersome handling.

 

FV-2 operations furthermore revealed, despite the considerably increased power output of the T54 twin engine that more than compensated for the aircraft’s raised weight, only a marginal improvement of the aircraft’s performance; the FV-2 had simply reached the limits of propeller-driven aircraft. Just the rate of climb was markedly improved, and the extra power made the FV-2’s handling safer than the XFV’s, even though this advancement was only relative because the aircraft’s hazardous handling during transition and landing as well as other conceptual problems prevailed and could not be overcome. The FV-2’s range was also very limited, esp. when it did not carry the fuel tanks on the wing tips, so that the aircraft’s potential service spectrum remained very limited.

 

Six of the eleven FV-2s that were produced were lost in various accidents within only three years, five pilots were killed. The T54 engine remained unreliable, and the propeller control system which used 25 vacuum tubes was far from reliable, too. Due to the many problems, the FV-2s were grounded in 1959, and when VX-8 was disestablished on 1 March 1960, the whole project was cancelled and all remaining aircraft except for one airframe were scrapped. As of today, Bu.No. 53-3537 resides disassembled in storage at the National Museum of the United States Navy in the former Breech Mechanism Shop of the old Naval Gun Factory on the grounds of the Washington Navy Yard in Washington, D.C., United States, where it waits for restoration and eventual public presentation.

 

As a historic side note, the FV-2’s detachable wing tip gun pods had a longer and more successful service life: they were the basis for the Mk.4 HIPEG (High Performance External Gun) gun pods. This weapon system’s main purpose became strafing ground targets, and it received a different attachment system for underwing hardpoints and a bigger ammunition supply (750 RPG instead of just 250 on the FV-2). Approximately 1.200 Mk. 4 twin gun pods were manufactured by Hughes Tool Company, later Hughes Helicopter, in Culver City, California. While the system was tested and certified for use on the A-4, the A-6, the A-7, the F-4, and the OV-10, it only saw extended use on the A-4, the F-4, and the OV-10, esp. in Vietnam where the Mk. 4 pod was used extensively for close air support missions.

  

General characteristics:

Crew: 1

Length/Height: 36 ft 10.25 in (11.23 m)

Wingspan: 30 ft 10.1 in (9.4 m)

Wing area: 246 sq ft (22.85 m²)

Empty weight: 12,388 lb (5,624 kg)

Gross weight: 17,533 lb (7,960 kg)

Max. takeoff weight: 18,159 lb (8,244 kg)

 

Powerplant:

1× Allison T54-A-16 turboprop with 7,500 shp (5,600 kW) output equivalent,

driving a 6 blade contra-rotating propeller

 

Performance:

Maximum speed: 585 mph (941 km/h, 509 kn

Cruise speed: 410 mph (660 km/h, 360 kn)

Range: 500 mi (800 km, 430 nmi) with internal fuel

800 mi (1,300 km, 700 nmi) with ferry wing tip tanks

Service ceiling: 46,800 ft (14,300 m)

Rate of climb: 12,750 ft/min (75.0 m/s)

Wing loading: 73.7 lb/sq ft (360 kg/m²)

 

Armament:

4× 20 mm (.79 in) Mk. 11 machine cannon with a total of 1.000 rounds, or

48× 2.75 in (70 mm) rockets in wingtip pods, or

a pair of 200 US gal. (165 imp. gal./750 l) auxiliary tanks on the wing tips

  

The kit and its assembly:

Another submission to the “Fifties” group build at whatifmodellers-com, and a really nice what-if aircraft that perfectly fits into the time frame. I had this Pegasus kit in The Stash™ for quite a while and the plan to build an operational USN or USMC aircraft from it in the typical all-dark-blue livery from the early Fifties, and the group build was a good occasion to realize it.

 

The Pegasus kit was released in 1992, the only other option to build the XFV in 1:72 is a Valom kit which, as a bonus, features the aircraft’s fixed landing gear that was used during flight trials. The Pegasus offering is technically simple and robust, but it is nothing for those who are faint at heart. The warning that the kit requires an experienced builder is not to be underestimated, because the IP kit from the UK comes with white metal parts and no visual instructions, just a verbal description of the building steps. The IP parts (including the canopy, which is one piece, quite thick but also clear) and the decals look good, though.

 

The IP parts feature flash and uneven seam lines, sprue attachment points are quite thick. The grey IP material had on my specimen different grades of hard-/brittleness, the white metal parts (some of the propeller blades) were bent and had to be re-aligned. No IP parts would fit well (there are no locator pins or other physical aids), the cockpit tub was a mess to assemble and fit into the fuselage. PSR on any seam all around the hull. But even though this sound horrible, the kit goes together relatively easy – thanks to its simplicity.

 

I made some mods and upgrades, though. One of them was an internal axis construction made from styrene tubes that allow the two propeller discs to move separately (OOB, you just stack and glue the discs onto each other into a rigid nose cone), while the propeller tip with its radome remained fixed – just as in real life. However, due to the parts’ size and resistance against each other, the props could not move as freely as originally intended.

Separate parts for the air intakes as well as the wings and tail surfaces could be mounted with less problems than expected, even though - again – PSR was necessary to hide the seams.

  

Painting and markings:

As already mentioned, the livery would be rather conservative, because I wanted the aircraft to carry the uniform USN scheme in all-over FS 35042 with white markings, which was dropped in 1955, though. The XFV or a potential serial production derivative would just fit into this time frame, and might have carried the classic all-blue livery for a couple of years more, especially when operated by an evaluation unit. Its unit, VX-8, is totally fictional, though.

 

The cockpit interior was painted in Humbrol 80 (simulating bright zinc chromate primer), and to have some contrasts I added small red highlights on the fin pod tips and the gun pods' anti-flutter winglets. For some more variety the radome became earth brown with some good weathering, simulating an opaque perspex hood, and I added white (actually a very light gray) checkerboard markings on the "propeller rings", a bit inspired by the spinner markings on German WWII fighters. Subtle, but it looks good and breaks the otherwise very simple livery.

Some post-panel-shading with a lighter blue was done all over the hull, the exhaust area and the gun ports were painted with iron (Revell 91) and treated with graphite for a more metallic shine.

Silver decal stripe material was used to create the CoroGuard leading edges and the fine lines at the flaps on wings and fins - much easier than trying to solve this with paint and brush...

 

The decals were puzzled together from various dark blue USN aircraft, including a F8F, F9F and F4U sheet. The "XH" code was created with single 1cm hwite letters, the different font is not obvious, thanks to the letter combination.

Finally, the model was sealed with semi-gloss acrylic varnish (still shiny, but not too bright), the radome and the exhaust area were painted with matt varnsh, though.

  

A cool result, despite the rather dubious kit base. The Pegasus kit is seriously something for experienced builders, but the result looks convincing. The blue USN livery suits the XFV/FV-2 very well, it looks much more elegant than in the original NMF - even though it would, in real life, probably have received the new Gull Gray/White scheme (introduced in late 1955, IIRC, my FV-2 might have been one of the last aircraft to be painted blue). However, the blue scheme IMHO points out the aircraft's highly aerodynamic teardrop shape, esp. the flight pics make the aircraft almost look elegant!

A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket with Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft onboard is seen on the launch pad at Space Launch Complex 41 ahead of the Orbital Flight Test mission, Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2019 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The Orbital Flight Test with be Starliner’s maiden mission to the International Space Station for NASA's Commercial Crew Program. The mission, currently targeted for a 6:36 a.m. EST launch on Dec. 20, will serve as an end-to-end test of the system's capabilities. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

Boeing and NASA teams work around Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft after it landed at White Sands Missile Range’s Space Harbor, Wednesday, May 25, 2022, in New Mexico. Boeing’s Orbital Flight Test-2 (OFT-2) is Starliner’s second uncrewed flight test to the International Space Station as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Program. OFT-2 serves as an end-to-end test of the system's capabilities. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

+++ 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 Grumman Mohawk began as a joint Army-Marine program through the then-Navy Bureau of Aeronautics (BuAer), for an observation/attack plane that would outperform the light and vulnerable Cessna L-19 Bird Dog. In June 1956, the Army issued Type Specification TS145, which called for the development and procurement of a two-seat, twin turboprop aircraft designed to operate from small, unimproved fields under all weather conditions. It would be faster, with greater firepower, and heavier armor than the Bird Dog, which had proved very vulnerable during the Korean War.

 

The Mohawk's mission would include observation, artillery spotting, air control, emergency resupply, naval target spotting, liaison, and radiological monitoring. The Navy specified that the aircraft had to be capable of operating from small "jeep" escort class carriers (CVEs). The DoD selected Grumman Aircraft Corporation's G-134 design as the winner of the competition in 1957. Marine requirements contributed an unusual feature to the design: since the Marines were authorized to operate fixed-wing aircraft in the close air support (CAS) role, the mockup featured underwing pylons for rockets, bombs, and other stores, and this caused a lot of discord. The Air Force did not like the armament capability of the Mohawk and tried to get it removed. On the other side, the Marines did not want the sophisticated sensors the Army wanted, so when their Navy sponsors opted to buy a fleet oil tanker, they eventually dropped from the program altogether. The Army continued with armed Mohawks (and the resulting competence controversy with the Air Force) and also developed cargo pods that could be dropped from underwing hard points to resupply troops in emergencies.

 

In mid-1961, the first Mohawks to serve with U.S. forces overseas were delivered to the 7th Army at Sandhofen Airfield near Mannheim, Germany. Before its formal acceptance, the camera-carrying AO-1AF was flown on a tour of 29 European airfields to display it to the U.S. Army field commanders and potential European customers. In addition to their Vietnam and European service, SLAR-equipped Mohawks began operational missions in 1963 patrolling the Korean Demilitarized Zone.

 

Germany and France showed early interest in the Mohawk, and two OV-1s were field-tested by both nations over the course of several months. No direct orders resulted, though, but the German Bundesheer (Army) was impressed by the type’s performance and its capability as an observation and reconnaissance platform. Grumman even signed a license production agreement with the French manufacturer Breguet Aviation in exchange for American rights to the Atlantic maritime patrol aircraft, but no production orders followed.

 

This could have been the end of the OV-1 in Europe, but in 1977 the German government, primarily the interior ministry and its intelligence agency, the Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND), showed interest in a light and agile SIGINT/ELINT platform that could fly surveillance missions along the inner-German border to the GDR and also to Czechoslovakia. Beyond visual reconnaissance with cameras and IR sensors, the aircraft was to be specifically able to identify and locate secret radio stations that were frequently operated by Eastern Block agents (esp. by the GDR) all across Western Germany, but primarily close to the inner-German border due to the clandestine stations’ low power. The Bundeswehr already operated a small ELINT/ECM fleet, consisting of converted HFB 320 ‘Hansa’ business jets, but these were not suited for stealthy and inconspicuous low flight level missions that were envisioned, and they also lacked the ability to fly slowly enough to locate potential “radio nests”.

 

The pan and the objective were clear, but the ELINT project caused a long and severe political debate concerning the operator of such an aerial platform. Initially, the Bundesheer, who had already tested the OV-1, claimed responsibility, but the interior ministry in the form of the German customs department as well as the German police’s Federal Border Guard, the Bundesgrenzschutz and the Luftwaffe (the proper operator for fixed-wing aircraft within the German armed forces), wrestled for this competence. Internally, the debate and the project ran under the handle “Schimmelreiter” (literally “The Rider on the White Horse”), after a northern German legendary figure, which eventually became the ELINT system’s semi-official name after it had been revealed to the public. After much tossing, in 1979 the decision was made to procure five refurbished U.S. Army OV-1As, tailored to the German needs and – after long internal debates – operate them by the Luftwaffe.

 

The former American aircraft were hybrids: they still had the OV-1A’s original short wings, but already the OV-1D’s stronger engines and its internal pallet system for interchangeable electronics. The machines received the designation OV-1G (for Germany) and were delivered in early 1980 via ship without any sensors or cameras. These were of Western German origin, developed and fitted locally, tailored to the special border surveillance needs.

 

The installation and testing of the “Schimmelreiter” ELINT suite lasted until 1982. It was based on a Raytheon TI Systems emitter locator system, but it was locally adapted by AEG-Telefunken to the airframe and the Bundeswehr’s special tasks and needs. The system’s hardware was stowed in the fuselage, its sensor arrays were mounted into a pair of underwing nacelles, which occupied the OV-1’s standard hardpoints, allowing a full 360° coverage. In order to cool the electronics suite and regulate the climate in the internal equipment bays, the OV-1G received a powerful heat exchanger, mounted under a wedge-shaped fairing on the spine in front of the tail – the most obvious difference of this type from its American brethren. The exact specifications of the “Schimmelreiter” ELINT suite remained classified, but special emphasis was placed upon COMINT (Communications Intelligence), a sub-category of signals intelligence that engages in dealing with messages or voice information derived from the interception of foreign communications. Even though the “Schimmelreiter” suite was the OV-1Gs’ primary reconnaissance tool, the whole system could be quickly de-installed for other sensor packs and reconnaissance tasks (even though this never happened), or augmented by single modules, what made upgrades and mission specialization easy. Beyond the ELINT suite, the OV-1G could be outfitted with cameras and other sensors on exchangeable pallets in the fuselage, too. This typically included a panoramic camera in a wedge-shaped ventral fairing, which would visually document the emitter sensors’ recordings.

 

A special feature of the German OV-1s was the integration of a brand new, NATO-compatible “Link-16” data link system via a MIDS-LVT (Multifunctional Information Distribution System). Even though this later became a standard for military systems, the OV-1G broke the ground for this innovative technology. The MIDS was an advanced command, control, communications, computing and intelligence (C4I) system incorporating high-capacity, jam-resistant, digital communication links for exchange of near real-time tactical information, including both data and voice, among air, ground, and sea elements. Outwardly, the MIDS was only recognizable through a shallow antenna blister behind the cockpit.

 

Even though the OV-1Gs initially retained their former American uniform olive drab livery upon delivery and outfitting in German service, they soon received a new wraparound camouflage for their dedicated low-level role in green and black (Luftwaffe Norm 83 standard), which was better suited for the European theatre of operations. In Luftwaffe service, the OV-1Gs received the tactical codes 18+01-05 and the small fleet was allocated to the Aufklärungsgeschwader (AG) 51 “Immelmann”, where the machines formed, beyond two squadrons with RF-4E Phantom IIs, an independent 3rd squadron. This small unit was from the start based as a detachment at Lechfeld, located in Bavaria/Southern Germany, instead of AG 51’s home airbase Bremgarten in South-Western Germany, because Lechfeld was closer to the type’s typical theatre of operations along Western Germany’s Eastern borders. Another factor in favor of this different airbase was the fact that Lechfeld was, beyond Tornado IDS fighter bombers, also the home of the Luftwaffe’s seven HFB 320M ECM aircraft, operated by the JaBoG32’s 3rd squadron, so that the local maintenance crews were familiar with complex electronics and aircraft systems, and the base’s security level was appropriate, too.

 

With the end of the Cold War in 1990, the OV-1Gs role and field of operation gradually shifted further eastwards. With the inner-German Iron Curtain gone, the machines were now frequently operated along the Polish and Czech Republic border, as well as in international airspace over the Baltic Sea, monitoring the radar activities along the coastlines and esp. the activities of Russian Navy ships that operated from Kaliningrad and Saint Petersburg. For these missions, the machines were frequently deployed to the “new” air bases Laage and Holzdorf in Eastern Germany.

 

In American service, the OV-1s were retired from Europe in 1992 and from operational U.S. Army service in 1996. In Germany, the OV-1 was kept in service for a considerably longer time – with little problems, since the OV-1 airframes had relatively few flying hours on their clocks. The Luftwaffe’s service level for the aircraft was high and spare parts remained easy to obtain from the USA, and there were still OV-1 parts in USAF storage in Western German bases.

 

The German HFB 320M fleet was retired between 1993 and 1994 and, in part, replaced by the Tornado ECR. At the same time AG 51 was dissolved and the OV-1Gs were nominally re-allocated to JaboG 32/3. With this unit the OV-1Gs remained operational until 2010, undergoing constant updates and equipment changes. For instance, the machines received in 1995 a powerful FLIR sensor in a small turret in the aircraft’s nose, which improved the aircraft’s all-weather reconnaissance capabilities and was intended to spot hidden radio posts even under all-weather/night conditions, once their signal was recognized and located. The aircrafts’ radio emitter locator system was updated several times, too, and, as a passive defensive measure against heat-guided air-to-air missiles/MANPADS, an IR jammer was added, extending the fuselage beyond the tail. These machines received the suffix “Phase II”, even though all five aircraft were updated the same way.

Reports that the OV-1Gs were furthermore retrofitted with the avionics to mount and launch AIM-9 Sidewinder AAMs under the wing tips for self-defense remained unconfirmed, even more so because no aircraft was ever seen carrying arms – neither the AIM-9 nor anything else. Plans to make the OV-1Gs capable of carrying the Luftwaffe’s AGM-65 Maverick never went beyond the drawing board, either. However, BOZ chaff/flare dispenser pods and Cerberus ECM pods were occasionally seen on the ventral pylons from 1998 onwards.

 

No OV-1G was lost during the type’s career in Luftwaffe service, and after the end of the airframes’ service life, all five German OV-1Gs were scrapped in 2011. There was, due to worsening budget restraints, no direct successor, even though the maritime surveillance duties were taken over by Dornier Do 228/NGs operated by the German Marineflieger (naval air arm).

  

General characteristics:

Crew: Two: pilot, observer/systems operator

Length: 44 ft 4 in (13.53 m) overall with FLIR sensor and IR jammer

Wingspan: 42 ft 0 in (12.8 m)

Height: 12 ft 8 in (3.86 m)

Wing area: 330 sq. ft (30.65 m²)

Empty weight: 12,054 lb (5,467 kg)

Loaded weight: 15,544 lb (7,051 kg)

Max. takeoff weight: 18,109 lb (8,214 kg)

 

Powerplant:

2× Lycoming T53-L-701 turboprops, 1,400 shp (1,044 kW) each

 

Performance:

Never exceed speed: 450 mph (390 knots, 724 km/h)

Maximum speed: 305 mph (265 knots, 491 km/h) at 10,000 ft (3,050 m)

Cruise speed: 207 mph (180 knots, 334 km/h) (econ cruise)

Stall speed: 84 mph (73 knots, 135 km/h)

Range: 944 mi (820 nmi, 1,520 km) (SLAR mission)

Service ceiling: 25,000 ft (7,620 m)

Rate of climb: 3,450 ft/min (17.5 m/s)

 

Armament:

A total of eight external hardpoints (two ventral, three under each outer wing)

for external loads; the wing hardpoints were typically occupied with ELINT sensor pods, while the

ventral hardpoints frequently carried 300 l drop tanks to extend loiter time and range;

Typically, no offensive armament was carried, even though bombs or gun/missile pods were possible.

  

The kit and its assembly:

This build became a submission to the “Reconnaissance” Group Build at whatifmodellers.com in July 2021, and it spins further real-world events. Germany actually tested two OV-1s in the Sixties (by the German Army/Bundesheer, not by the air force), but the type was not procured or operated. The test aircraft carried a glossy, olive drab livery (US standard, I think) with German national markings.

However, having a vintage Hasegawa OV-1A in the stash, I wondered what an operational German OV-1 might have looked like, especially if it had been operated into the Eighties and beyond, in the contemporary Norm 83 paint scheme? This led to this purely fictional OV-1G.

 

The kit was mostly built OOB, and the building experience was rather so-so – after all, it’s a pretty old mold/boxing (in my case the Hasegawa/Hales kit is from 1978, the mold is from 1968!). Just a few things were modified/added in order to tweak the standard, short-winged OV-1A into something more modern and sophisticated.

 

When searching for a solution to mount some ELINT sensor arrays, I did not want to copy the OV-1B’s characteristic offset, ventral SLAR fairing. I rather settled for the late RV-1D’s solution with sensor pods under the outer wings. Unfortunately, the OV-1A kit came with the type’s original short wings, so that the pods had to occupy the inner underwing pair of hardpoints. The pods were scratched from square styrene profiles and putty, so that they received a unique look. The Mohawk’s pair of ventral hardpoints were mounted, but – after considering some drop tanks or an ECM pod there - left empty, so that the field of view for the ventral panoramic camera would not be obscured.

 

Other small additions are some radar warning sensor bumps on the nose, some extra antennae, a shallow bulge for the MIDS antenna on the spine, the FLIR turret on the nose (with parts from an Italeri AH-1 and a Kangnam Yak-38!), and I added a tail stinger for a retrofitted (scratched) IR decoy device, inspired by the American AN/ALG-147. This once was a Matchbox SNEB unguided missile pod.

  

Painting and markings:

For the intended era, the German Norm 83 paint scheme, which is still in use today on several Luftwaffe types like the Transall, PAH-2 or CH-53, appeared like a natural choice. It’s a tri-color wraparound scheme, consisting of RAL 6003 (Olivgrün), FS 34097 (Forest Green) and RAL 7021 (Teerschwarz). The paints I used are Humbrol 86 (which is supposed to be a WWI version of RAL 6003, it lacks IMHO yellow but has good contrast to the other tones), Humbrol 116 and Revell 9. The pattern itself was adapted from the German Luftwaffe’s Dornier Do 28D “Skyservants” with Norm 83 camouflage, because of the type’s similar outlines.

 

A black ink washing was applied for light weathering, plus some post-shading of panels with lighter shades of the basic camouflage tones for a more plastic look. The cockpit interior was painted in light grey (Humbrol 167), while the landing gear and the interior of the air brakes became white. The scratched SLAR pods became light grey, with flat di-electric panels in medium grey (created with decal material).

The cockpit interior was painted in a rather light grey (Humbrol 167), the pilots received typical olive drab Luftwaffe overalls, one with a white “bone dome” and the other with a more modern light grey helmet.

 

The decals were improvised. National markings and tactical codes came from TL Modellbau sheets, the AG 51 emblems were taken from a Hasegawa RF-4E sheet. The black walkways were taken from the Mohak’s OOB sheet, the black de-icer leading edges on wings and tail were created with generic black decal material. Finally, the model was sealed with a coat of matt acrylic varnish (Italeri).

  

An interesting result, and the hybrid paint scheme with the additional desert camouflage really makes the aircraft an unusual sight, adding to its credibility.

+++ 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 Grumman Mohawk began as a joint Army-Marine program through the then-Navy Bureau of Aeronautics (BuAer), for an observation/attack plane that would outperform the light and vulnerable Cessna L-19 Bird Dog. In June 1956, the Army issued Type Specification TS145, which called for the development and procurement of a two-seat, twin turboprop aircraft designed to operate from small, unimproved fields under all weather conditions. It would be faster, with greater firepower, and heavier armor than the Bird Dog, which had proved very vulnerable during the Korean War.

 

The Mohawk's mission would include observation, artillery spotting, air control, emergency resupply, naval target spotting, liaison, and radiological monitoring. The Navy specified that the aircraft had to be capable of operating from small "jeep" escort class carriers (CVEs). The DoD selected Grumman Aircraft Corporation's G-134 design as the winner of the competition in 1957. Marine requirements contributed an unusual feature to the design: since the Marines were authorized to operate fixed-wing aircraft in the close air support (CAS) role, the mockup featured underwing pylons for rockets, bombs, and other stores, and this caused a lot of discord. The Air Force did not like the armament capability of the Mohawk and tried to get it removed. On the other side, the Marines did not want the sophisticated sensors the Army wanted, so when their Navy sponsors opted to buy a fleet oil tanker, they eventually dropped from the program altogether. The Army continued with armed Mohawks (and the resulting competence controversy with the Air Force) and also developed cargo pods that could be dropped from underwing hard points to resupply troops in emergencies.

 

In mid-1961, the first Mohawks to serve with U.S. forces overseas were delivered to the 7th Army at Sandhofen Airfield near Mannheim, Germany. Before its formal acceptance, the camera-carrying AO-1AF was flown on a tour of 29 European airfields to display it to the U.S. Army field commanders and potential European customers. In addition to their Vietnam and European service, SLAR-equipped Mohawks began operational missions in 1963 patrolling the Korean Demilitarized Zone.

 

Germany and France showed early interest in the Mohawk, and two OV-1s were field-tested by both nations over the course of several months. No direct orders resulted, though, but the German Bundesheer (Army) was impressed by the type’s performance and its capability as an observation and reconnaissance platform. Grumman even signed a license production agreement with the French manufacturer Breguet Aviation in exchange for American rights to the Atlantic maritime patrol aircraft, but no production orders followed.

 

This could have been the end of the OV-1 in Europe, but in 1977 the German government, primarily the interior ministry and its intelligence agency, the Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND), showed interest in a light and agile SIGINT/ELINT platform that could fly surveillance missions along the inner-German border to the GDR and also to Czechoslovakia. Beyond visual reconnaissance with cameras and IR sensors, the aircraft was to be specifically able to identify and locate secret radio stations that were frequently operated by Eastern Block agents (esp. by the GDR) all across Western Germany, but primarily close to the inner-German border due to the clandestine stations’ low power. The Bundeswehr already operated a small ELINT/ECM fleet, consisting of converted HFB 320 ‘Hansa’ business jets, but these were not suited for stealthy and inconspicuous low flight level missions that were envisioned, and they also lacked the ability to fly slowly enough to locate potential “radio nests”.

 

The pan and the objective were clear, but the ELINT project caused a long and severe political debate concerning the operator of such an aerial platform. Initially, the Bundesheer, who had already tested the OV-1, claimed responsibility, but the interior ministry in the form of the German customs department as well as the German police’s Federal Border Guard, the Bundesgrenzschutz and the Luftwaffe (the proper operator for fixed-wing aircraft within the German armed forces), wrestled for this competence. Internally, the debate and the project ran under the handle “Schimmelreiter” (literally “The Rider on the White Horse”), after a northern German legendary figure, which eventually became the ELINT system’s semi-official name after it had been revealed to the public. After much tossing, in 1979 the decision was made to procure five refurbished U.S. Army OV-1As, tailored to the German needs and – after long internal debates – operate them by the Luftwaffe.

 

The former American aircraft were hybrids: they still had the OV-1A’s original short wings, but already the OV-1D’s stronger engines and its internal pallet system for interchangeable electronics. The machines received the designation OV-1G (for Germany) and were delivered in early 1980 via ship without any sensors or cameras. These were of Western German origin, developed and fitted locally, tailored to the special border surveillance needs.

 

The installation and testing of the “Schimmelreiter” ELINT suite lasted until 1982. It was based on a Raytheon TI Systems emitter locator system, but it was locally adapted by AEG-Telefunken to the airframe and the Bundeswehr’s special tasks and needs. The system’s hardware was stowed in the fuselage, its sensor arrays were mounted into a pair of underwing nacelles, which occupied the OV-1’s standard hardpoints, allowing a full 360° coverage. In order to cool the electronics suite and regulate the climate in the internal equipment bays, the OV-1G received a powerful heat exchanger, mounted under a wedge-shaped fairing on the spine in front of the tail – the most obvious difference of this type from its American brethren. The exact specifications of the “Schimmelreiter” ELINT suite remained classified, but special emphasis was placed upon COMINT (Communications Intelligence), a sub-category of signals intelligence that engages in dealing with messages or voice information derived from the interception of foreign communications. Even though the “Schimmelreiter” suite was the OV-1Gs’ primary reconnaissance tool, the whole system could be quickly de-installed for other sensor packs and reconnaissance tasks (even though this never happened), or augmented by single modules, what made upgrades and mission specialization easy. Beyond the ELINT suite, the OV-1G could be outfitted with cameras and other sensors on exchangeable pallets in the fuselage, too. This typically included a panoramic camera in a wedge-shaped ventral fairing, which would visually document the emitter sensors’ recordings.

 

A special feature of the German OV-1s was the integration of a brand new, NATO-compatible “Link-16” data link system via a MIDS-LVT (Multifunctional Information Distribution System). Even though this later became a standard for military systems, the OV-1G broke the ground for this innovative technology. The MIDS was an advanced command, control, communications, computing and intelligence (C4I) system incorporating high-capacity, jam-resistant, digital communication links for exchange of near real-time tactical information, including both data and voice, among air, ground, and sea elements. Outwardly, the MIDS was only recognizable through a shallow antenna blister behind the cockpit.

 

Even though the OV-1Gs initially retained their former American uniform olive drab livery upon delivery and outfitting in German service, they soon received a new wraparound camouflage for their dedicated low-level role in green and black (Luftwaffe Norm 83 standard), which was better suited for the European theatre of operations. In Luftwaffe service, the OV-1Gs received the tactical codes 18+01-05 and the small fleet was allocated to the Aufklärungsgeschwader (AG) 51 “Immelmann”, where the machines formed, beyond two squadrons with RF-4E Phantom IIs, an independent 3rd squadron. This small unit was from the start based as a detachment at Lechfeld, located in Bavaria/Southern Germany, instead of AG 51’s home airbase Bremgarten in South-Western Germany, because Lechfeld was closer to the type’s typical theatre of operations along Western Germany’s Eastern borders. Another factor in favor of this different airbase was the fact that Lechfeld was, beyond Tornado IDS fighter bombers, also the home of the Luftwaffe’s seven HFB 320M ECM aircraft, operated by the JaBoG32’s 3rd squadron, so that the local maintenance crews were familiar with complex electronics and aircraft systems, and the base’s security level was appropriate, too.

 

With the end of the Cold War in 1990, the OV-1Gs role and field of operation gradually shifted further eastwards. With the inner-German Iron Curtain gone, the machines were now frequently operated along the Polish and Czech Republic border, as well as in international airspace over the Baltic Sea, monitoring the radar activities along the coastlines and esp. the activities of Russian Navy ships that operated from Kaliningrad and Saint Petersburg. For these missions, the machines were frequently deployed to the “new” air bases Laage and Holzdorf in Eastern Germany.

 

In American service, the OV-1s were retired from Europe in 1992 and from operational U.S. Army service in 1996. In Germany, the OV-1 was kept in service for a considerably longer time – with little problems, since the OV-1 airframes had relatively few flying hours on their clocks. The Luftwaffe’s service level for the aircraft was high and spare parts remained easy to obtain from the USA, and there were still OV-1 parts in USAF storage in Western German bases.

 

The German HFB 320M fleet was retired between 1993 and 1994 and, in part, replaced by the Tornado ECR. At the same time AG 51 was dissolved and the OV-1Gs were nominally re-allocated to JaboG 32/3. With this unit the OV-1Gs remained operational until 2010, undergoing constant updates and equipment changes. For instance, the machines received in 1995 a powerful FLIR sensor in a small turret in the aircraft’s nose, which improved the aircraft’s all-weather reconnaissance capabilities and was intended to spot hidden radio posts even under all-weather/night conditions, once their signal was recognized and located. The aircrafts’ radio emitter locator system was updated several times, too, and, as a passive defensive measure against heat-guided air-to-air missiles/MANPADS, an IR jammer was added, extending the fuselage beyond the tail. These machines received the suffix “Phase II”, even though all five aircraft were updated the same way.

Reports that the OV-1Gs were furthermore retrofitted with the avionics to mount and launch AIM-9 Sidewinder AAMs under the wing tips for self-defense remained unconfirmed, even more so because no aircraft was ever seen carrying arms – neither the AIM-9 nor anything else. Plans to make the OV-1Gs capable of carrying the Luftwaffe’s AGM-65 Maverick never went beyond the drawing board, either. However, BOZ chaff/flare dispenser pods and Cerberus ECM pods were occasionally seen on the ventral pylons from 1998 onwards.

 

No OV-1G was lost during the type’s career in Luftwaffe service, and after the end of the airframes’ service life, all five German OV-1Gs were scrapped in 2011. There was, due to worsening budget restraints, no direct successor, even though the maritime surveillance duties were taken over by Dornier Do 228/NGs operated by the German Marineflieger (naval air arm).

  

General characteristics:

Crew: Two: pilot, observer/systems operator

Length: 44 ft 4 in (13.53 m) overall with FLIR sensor and IR jammer

Wingspan: 42 ft 0 in (12.8 m)

Height: 12 ft 8 in (3.86 m)

Wing area: 330 sq. ft (30.65 m²)

Empty weight: 12,054 lb (5,467 kg)

Loaded weight: 15,544 lb (7,051 kg)

Max. takeoff weight: 18,109 lb (8,214 kg)

 

Powerplant:

2× Lycoming T53-L-701 turboprops, 1,400 shp (1,044 kW) each

 

Performance:

Never exceed speed: 450 mph (390 knots, 724 km/h)

Maximum speed: 305 mph (265 knots, 491 km/h) at 10,000 ft (3,050 m)

Cruise speed: 207 mph (180 knots, 334 km/h) (econ cruise)

Stall speed: 84 mph (73 knots, 135 km/h)

Range: 944 mi (820 nmi, 1,520 km) (SLAR mission)

Service ceiling: 25,000 ft (7,620 m)

Rate of climb: 3,450 ft/min (17.5 m/s)

 

Armament:

A total of eight external hardpoints (two ventral, three under each outer wing)

for external loads; the wing hardpoints were typically occupied with ELINT sensor pods, while the

ventral hardpoints frequently carried 300 l drop tanks to extend loiter time and range;

Typically, no offensive armament was carried, even though bombs or gun/missile pods were possible.

  

The kit and its assembly:

This build became a submission to the “Reconnaissance” Group Build at whatifmodellers.com in July 2021, and it spins further real-world events. Germany actually tested two OV-1s in the Sixties (by the German Army/Bundesheer, not by the air force), but the type was not procured or operated. The test aircraft carried a glossy, olive drab livery (US standard, I think) with German national markings.

However, having a vintage Hasegawa OV-1A in the stash, I wondered what an operational German OV-1 might have looked like, especially if it had been operated into the Eighties and beyond, in the contemporary Norm 83 paint scheme? This led to this purely fictional OV-1G.

 

The kit was mostly built OOB, and the building experience was rather so-so – after all, it’s a pretty old mold/boxing (in my case the Hasegawa/Hales kit is from 1978, the mold is from 1968!). Just a few things were modified/added in order to tweak the standard, short-winged OV-1A into something more modern and sophisticated.

 

When searching for a solution to mount some ELINT sensor arrays, I did not want to copy the OV-1B’s characteristic offset, ventral SLAR fairing. I rather settled for the late RV-1D’s solution with sensor pods under the outer wings. Unfortunately, the OV-1A kit came with the type’s original short wings, so that the pods had to occupy the inner underwing pair of hardpoints. The pods were scratched from square styrene profiles and putty, so that they received a unique look. The Mohawk’s pair of ventral hardpoints were mounted, but – after considering some drop tanks or an ECM pod there - left empty, so that the field of view for the ventral panoramic camera would not be obscured.

 

Other small additions are some radar warning sensor bumps on the nose, some extra antennae, a shallow bulge for the MIDS antenna on the spine, the FLIR turret on the nose (with parts from an Italeri AH-1 and a Kangnam Yak-38!), and I added a tail stinger for a retrofitted (scratched) IR decoy device, inspired by the American AN/ALG-147. This once was a Matchbox SNEB unguided missile pod.

  

Painting and markings:

For the intended era, the German Norm 83 paint scheme, which is still in use today on several Luftwaffe types like the Transall, PAH-2 or CH-53, appeared like a natural choice. It’s a tri-color wraparound scheme, consisting of RAL 6003 (Olivgrün), FS 34097 (Forest Green) and RAL 7021 (Teerschwarz). The paints I used are Humbrol 86 (which is supposed to be a WWI version of RAL 6003, it lacks IMHO yellow but has good contrast to the other tones), Humbrol 116 and Revell 9. The pattern itself was adapted from the German Luftwaffe’s Dornier Do 28D “Skyservants” with Norm 83 camouflage, because of the type’s similar outlines.

 

A black ink washing was applied for light weathering, plus some post-shading of panels with lighter shades of the basic camouflage tones for a more plastic look. The cockpit interior was painted in light grey (Humbrol 167), while the landing gear and the interior of the air brakes became white. The scratched SLAR pods became light grey, with flat di-electric panels in medium grey (created with decal material).

The cockpit interior was painted in a rather light grey (Humbrol 167), the pilots received typical olive drab Luftwaffe overalls, one with a white “bone dome” and the other with a more modern light grey helmet.

 

The decals were improvised. National markings and tactical codes came from TL Modellbau sheets, the AG 51 emblems were taken from a Hasegawa RF-4E sheet. The black walkways were taken from the Mohak’s OOB sheet, the black de-icer leading edges on wings and tail were created with generic black decal material. Finally, the model was sealed with a coat of matt acrylic varnish (Italeri).

  

An interesting result, and the hybrid paint scheme with the additional desert camouflage really makes the aircraft an unusual sight, adding to its credibility.

The image above shows a stereographic projection of a mosaic centered on Mercury's north pole. This mosaic is made up of MDIS images acquired during its monochrome, color, monochrome stereo, high-incidence, albedo, three-color, and northern polar campaigns. Above 85 degrees north, the approximate location of the center of Prokofiev crater, many images were averaged together in order to obtain a mostly sunlit mosaic. Permanently shadowed craters at Mercury's poles are host to radar-bright deposits. Tune in on Thursday, November 29, to a NASA news conference about exciting new science results about Mercury's polar regions.

 

The MESSENGER spacecraft is the first ever to orbit the planet Mercury, and the spacecraft's seven scientific instruments and radio science investigation are unraveling the history and evolution of the Solar System's innermost planet. Visit the Why Mercury? section of this website to learn more about the key science questions that the MESSENGER mission is addressing. During the one-year primary mission, MESSENGER acquired 88,746 images and extensive other data sets. MESSENGER is now in a yearlong extended mission, during which plans call for the acquisition of more than 80,000 additional images to support MESSENGER's science goals.

 

Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington

 

NASA image use policy.

 

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

 

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Rainy weather was observed late this afternoon in San Jose, CA. A strong weather system was ushering in widespread moderate to heavy rainfall (and wind) to the area. I miss this weather... It feels like it's been forever since I've seen rain!

 

Weather scenario/details:

At last, rain was finally making a return to California after a very dry February! Certainly, we were in for a lot of it! Although we were still in a drought, all this rain equals hazardous conditions... It may be too much of a good thing...

 

Here's a weather rundown: Why the sudden rains? An atmospheric river event was in store for California for early March 2016... Despite a very dry and mild February, a major pattern change toward a much wetter weather pattern was imminent. The 1st strong system of the series had hit by the first weekend of the month, bringing heavy rain, gusty winds, and heavy mountain snow. Wind & flood advisories were also issued with the first system of the series. The 1st system's strong cold front had approached the Bay Area by Saturday afternoon. Strong southerly winds have developed as the front passed thru. While this rain was to help replenish depleted water reservoirs and put a dent in the long-standing drought, the large amount of rain in a short time frame would lead to flooding and mudslides. Despite its drawbacks, the rainfall was beneficial to the state's water supply. Impacts from the 1st strong system had brought heavy rain & wind to my area in San Jose, CA. The 2nd system was expected to arrive by Sunday night and into Monday. At the time, the 2nd system appeared a bit stronger, bringing in more heavy rain, according to forecasters. Looks like this was El Nino's last hurrah this winter! Is a 'Miracle-March' imminent? Drive safe & stay dry out there, guys.

 

(Footage filmed Saturday, March 5, 2016 from around San Jose, CA)

This image is excerpted from a U.S. GAO report:

www.gao.gov/products/GAO-16-127

 

AIR TRAVEL AND COMMUNICABLE DISEASES: Comprehensive Federal Plan Needed for U.S. Aviation System's Preparedness

 

a) Central and South America region includes the Caribbean.

 

Steve Stich, manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, left, and NASA astronaut Suni Williams are seen as a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket with Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft aboard is seen as it is rolled out of the Vertical Integration Facility to the launch pad at Space Launch Complex 41 ahead of the Orbital Flight Test-2 (OFT-2) mission, Monday, Aug. 2, 2021 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Boeing’s Orbital Flight Test-2 will be Starliner’s second uncrewed flight test and will dock to the International Space Station as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Program. The mission, currently targeted for launch at 1:20 p.m. EDT Tuesday, Aug. 3, will serve as an end-to-end test of the system's capabilities. Williams is scheduled to fly aboard Starliner’s first crew rotation mission. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)