Some background:

The VF-1 was developed by Stonewell/Bellcom/Shinnakasu for the U.N. Spacy by using alien Overtechnology obtained from the SDF-1 Macross alien spaceship. Its production was preceded by an aerodynamic proving version of its airframe, the VF-X. Unlike all later VF vehicles, the VF-X (sometimes referred to as VF-X1) was strictly a conventional/non-transformable jet aircraft, even though it incorporated many structural components and several key technologies that were vital for the transformable VF-1’s successful development that ran in parallel. Therefore, the VF-X was never intended as an air superiority fighter, but rather a flight-capable analogue test bed and proof of concept for the VF-1’s basic layout and major components. In this role, however, the VF-X made vital contributions to systems’ development that were later incorporated into the VF-1’s serial production and sped the program up considerably.

The fighter remained active in many second line units and continued to show its worthiness years later, e. g. through Milia Jenius who would use her old VF-1 fighter in defense of the colonization fleet - 35 years after the type's service introduction.

General characteristics:

Accommodation: One pilot in a Marty & Beck Mk-7 zero/zero ejection seat

Length 14.23 meters

Wingspan 14.78 meters (at 20° minimum sweep)

Height 3.84 meters

Empty weight: 13.25 metric tons

Standard T-O mass: 18.5 metric tons

Power Plant:

2x Shinnakasu Heavy Industry/P&W/Roice FF-2001 thermonuclear reaction turbine engines, output 650 MW each, rated at 11,500 kg in standard or in overboost (225.63 kN x 2)

4 x Shinnakasu Heavy Industry NBS-1 high-thrust vernier thrusters (1 x counter reverse vernier thruster nozzle mounted on the side of each leg nacelle/air intake, 1 x wing thruster roll control system on each wingtip);

Performance:

Top speed: Mach 2.71 at 10,000 m; Mach 3.87 at 30,000+ m

Thrust-to-weight ratio: empty 3.47; standard T-O 2.49; maximum T-O 1.24

Armament:

None installed, but the VF-X had 4x underwing hard points for a wide variety of ordnance, plus a ventral hardpoint for a Howard GU-11 55 mm three-barrel Gatling gun pod with 200 RPG, fired at 1,200 rds/min or other stores like test instruments

The model and its assembly:

Another submission to the “Prototypes” group build at whatifmodelers.com in July 2020. Being a VF-1 fan (and have built maybe twenty o these simple Arii kits), adding a VF-X was, more or less, a must – even more so because I had a suitable Valkyrie Fighter kit at hand for the conversion. As a side note, I have actually built something quite similar from a VF-1D many years ago: a fictional, non-transformable advanced trainer, without knowing about the VF-X at all.

Thanks to the “Macross - Perfect Memory” source book, the differences between the transformable VF-1 and its early testbed were easy to identify:

- Fixed legs with faired ducts from the intakes on (thighs)

- Ankle recesses disappeared

- Less and slightly different panel lines on the back and on the nose

- ventral head unit deleted and a respective fairing installed instead

- Levelled underside (shoulder fairings of the folded arms were cut down)

- Leg attachment points on the nose deleted

- No small, circular vernier thrusters all around the hull

- Some new/different venting grills (created mostly with 0.5mm black decal stripes)

Beyond the changes, the VF-1A was basically built OOB. Thankfully, the VF-X already features the later VF-1’s vectored thrust nozzles/feet, so that no changes had to be made in this respect. A pilot figure was added to the cockpit for the beauty pics, and after the flight scenes had been shot, the canopy remained open on a swing arm for static display. For the same reason, the model was built with the landing gear extended.

As a test aircraft, the underwing pylons and their AMM-1 ordnance were left away and the attachment points hidden with putty. I also omitted the ventral gun pod and left the aircraft clean. However, for the flight scene pictures, I implanted an adapter for a display holder made from wire.

In order to emphasize the test vehicle character of the VF-X, I gave the model a scratched spin recovery parachute installation between the fins, using a real world F-22 testbed as benchmark. It consists of styrene profiles, quite a delicate construction. For the same reason I gave the VF-X a long sensor boom on the nose, which changes the Valkyrie’s look, too. Finally, some small blade antennae were added to the nose and to the spine behind the cockpit.

Painting and markings:

To be honest, I have no idea if there was only a single VF-X prototype in the Macross universe, or more. Just one appears in the TV series in episode #33, and lack of suitable information and my personal lack of Japanese language proficiency prevents any deeper research. However, this would not keep me from inventing a personal interpretation of the canonical VF-X, especially because I do not really like the original livery from the TV series: an overall light grey with some simple black trim and “TEST” written on the (fixed) legs. Yamato did an 1:60 scale toy of the VF-X, but it was/is just a VF-1 with a ventral fairing; they added some shading to the basic grey – but this does not make the aircraft more attractive, IMHO.

When I looked at the original conceptual drawing of the VF-X in the “Macross - Perfect Memory” source book, however, I was immediately reminded of the F-15 prototypes from the Seventies (and this program used a total of twelve machines!). These featured originally a light grey (FS 36375?) overall base, to which bright dayglo orange markings on wings, fins and fuselage were soon added – in a very similar pattern to the VF-X. I think the VF-X livery was actually inspired by this, the time frame matches well with the production of the Macross TV series, too, and that’s what I adapted for my model.

In order to come close to the F-15 prototype livery, I gave “my” VF-X an overall basic coat of RAL 7047 “Telegrau 4”, one of German Telekom’s corporate colors and a very pale grey that can easily be mistaken for white when you do not have a contrast reference.

The cockpit received a medium grey finish, the ejection seat became black with brown cushions; the pilot figure is a 1:100 seated passenger from an architecture supplies, painted like an early VF-1 pilot in a white/blue suit. The jet nozzles/feet were painted with Revell 91 (Iron) and later treated with grinded graphite for a more metallic finish. The landing gear became classic white (I used Revell 301, which is a very pure tone, as contrast to the RAL 7047 on the hull), the air intake ducts and the internal sections of the VG wings were painted with dark grey (Revell 77).

For some diversity I took inspiration from the Yamato VF-X toy and added slightly darker (Humbrol 166, RAF Light Aircraft Grey) areas to the hull and the legs. Next, the panel lines were emphasized through a thinned black ink wash, but I did no panel post shading so that the VF-X would not look too dirty or worn.

Onto this basis I applied the orange dayglo markings. On the wings and fins, these were painted – they were applied with spray paint from a rattle can, involving lots of masking. The leading edges on wings and fins were created with grey decal sheet material, too. At this stage, some surface details and more fake panel lines were added with a soft pencil.

The orange cheatline under the cockpit is a personal addition; I found that some more orange had to be added to the nose for visual balance, and I eventually went for the simple, trimmed stripe (TL Modellbau material) instead of trying to apply decal sheet material around the jagged air intakes (F-15 prototype style). The black “TEST”, “VFX” and “U.N. Spacy” markings were designed at the computer and printed on clear inkjet decal paper. Even though the “real” VF-X does not feature the UNS “kite” insignia, I decided to add them to the model. These come from the OOB sheet, which also provided most (slightly yellowed) stencils.

Finally, the model was sealed with a coat of matt acrylic varnish (Italeri).

A rather different VF-1 project (and it is – to my astonishment – #28 in my 1:100 VF-1 Fighter mode collection!!!), with more changes to the basic model kit than one might expect at first sight. VF-X and VF-1 differ considerably from each other, despite identical outlines! However, I like the outcome, and I think that going a different route from the canonical grey/black livery paid out, the bright orange markings really make this VF-X stand out, and it looks IMHO more like a testbed than the “real” aircraft from the TV series.

ex German Air Force Lockheed F-104G CCV at the Wehrtechnische Studiensammlung in Koblenz, Germany.

98+36 (formerly 23+91, c/n 8100) was a testbed for MBB's Control Configured Vehicle (CCV) flight control system.

See this locomotive in the video here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3oxDV2lg1s

Having just worked the "Cumbrian Mountaineer" over Shap, preserved London, Midland & Scottish Railway Princess Royal 6201 'Princess Elizabeth' readies itself for departure with empty stock bound for the adjacent sidings on what was her last railtour before overhaul.

The Princess Royal class were a set of 13 4-6-2 Pacific locomotives designed by William Stanier and built at Crewe Works between 1933 and 1935 to be the prime motive power on the West Coast Mainline between London Euston, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool and Glasgow, including the famous Royal Scot premier express service. At first, two prototypical locomotives were built in 1933, followed by 11 production locomotives in 1935. These were later complimented by a fleet of 38 Coronation Pacific locomotives built between 1937 and 1948, which later went on to be arguably the most power steam locomotives ever built for the British Railway network.

One of the original prototypes however was retained for use as a testbed for a new Turbine Locomotive project to help improve the efficiency of the engines, later being unofficially dubbed 'Turbomotive'. The engine was fitted with turbines instead of cylinders, with the forward turbine containing 18 rows of blading, resulting in an output of 2,400hp, corresponding to running at 62 mph (100 km/h). The turbine was designed to operate into a maximum back-pressure of 2 psi, allowing a conventional double blast-pipe to provide the boiler draught, and eliminating draught fans, which always seemed to give a disproportionate amount of trouble.

The reverse turbine had 4 rows of blades. It was engaged by a dog clutch, activated when the reverser lever being set to "0". This was originally steam-operated by a small piston and cylinder. This locomotive was later rebuilt as a conventional classmate in 1952, using new mainframes and a spare set of cylinders from one of the Coronation Pacifics, and was numbered 46202, later to be named 'Princess Anne'.

6201, LMS lot number 99, was built at Crewe for the sum of £11,675 (£685,000 today) and named Princess Elizabeth, after the then Duke of York’s eldest daughter, currently our Queen Elizabeth II, leaving the works on 3rd November 1933.

Throughout the years the Princess Royal's continued to ply their trade on the West Coast services, but the years of World War II took their toll on the fleet. The beautiful Crimson Lake was replaced by Wartime Black, and the prestige manner that these locomotives had been accustomed to was stripped away as the railways were rationalised as part of the war effort. Work hours increased, and maintenance turns reduced, meaning these engines were being forced to the very limit of their design to keep Britain moving.

With the end of the war in 1945 the workload began to decrease, but the railways had paid the price. The beauty and lavish luxury of the pre-war companies had been stripped and would never return, with all of Britain's main railway companies now almost bankrupt and working a fleet of very tired engines on a poorly maintained railway network. In 1948 the Labour Government nationalised these companies to create British Railways, hoping to modernise the network and rebuild the overworked system.

The Princess Royals and their more powerful sisters the Coronation Pacifics continued to work hard as the implementation of diesels gathered pace. Early diesels however were underpowered and suffered heavily from reliability issues, meaning on many occasions the steam locomotives that they intended to replace actually came to their rescue!

It was not all plain sailing though for the Princess Royals in the 1950's, as this decade was littered with many fatal accidents. On 21 September 1951, locomotive No.46207 Princess Arthur of Connaught was hauling an express passenger train that was derailed at Weedon, Northamptonshire due to a defective front bogie on the locomotive, resulting in the deaths of 15 people and the injury of 35.

This was followed a year later by what would turn out to be the worst rail accident in the whole of British history. On 8 October 1952, an express passenger train hauled by Coronation Class, 46242 'City of Glasgow' overran signals on a train from Perth to London Euston, striking the rear of a stopped Tring to Euston commuter train at Harrow and Wealdstone station in North London. The ensuing wreckage was then struck by a northbound Liverpool express, hauled by Jubilee Class 45637 'Windward Islands', and recently rebuilt ex-Turbomotive Princess Royal 46202 'Princess Anne', which had only entered service two months earlier. In the chaos that followed, a total of 112 people were killed and 340 were injured, with 46202 obliterated in the accident, the first and only member of the class to be lost in an accident.

The late 50's however began to see the end of these engines as good, reliable diesels began to be introduced to replace them, followed closely by electric traction on the West Coast Mainline out of Euston. In 1961 the first members of the class were withdrawn from service, including 6201, which was placed in store in March 1961, but returned to service in May of that year due to poor diesel reliability.

As more diesels were delivered, in October of the same year 6201 was again placed into storage at Carlisle Kingmoor. However, again in January 1962 6201 was returned to traffic to cover for diesel failures and continued to work until September 1962 where it was once again placed into storage. It was subsequently withdrawn by BR in October 1962 and purchased by Roger Bell. The last of the locomotives to be withdrawn was class premier and original prototype number 62000 'The Princess Royal', which was withdrawn in November 1962 and subsequently scrapped. In all, only two locomotives were preserved, number 6203 'Princess Margaret Rose' and 6201 'Princess Elizabeth'.

46201 was bought by the then Princess Elizabeth Locomotive Society straight from BR service when withdrawn in 1962. Initially kept at the Dowty Railway Preservation Society's premises at Ashchurch in Gloucestershire, and then subsequently at the Bulmers Railway Centre in Hereford. When the Bulmers Centre closed in the 1990s, the loco moved to the East Lancashire Railway. Since April 2009 it has been based at the Crewe Heritage Centre. On 3 June 2012, Princess Elizabeth's whistle signalled the start of the Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant while the locomotive was standing on Battersea Railway Bridge. The Queen was made aware of the locomotive and waved to the crew on the footplate. On 11 July 2012 Princess Elizabeth hauled the Royal Train from Newport to Hereford and again from Worcester to Oxford as part of the Diamond Jubilee Tour. 6201 was withdrawn from service in July 2012 for a piston and valve examination at the Tyseley Locomotive Works and after repairs, she returned to service on 17 November hauling the "Cumbrian Mountaineer" from Carnforth to Carlisle. She was withdrawn for overhaul at the end of December 2012 having completed her longest period of operation in preservation.

Some background:

The VF-1 was developed by Stonewell/Bellcom/Shinnakasu for the U.N. Spacy by using alien Overtechnology obtained from the SDF-1 Macross alien spaceship. Its production was preceded by an aerodynamic proving version of its airframe, the VF-X. Unlike all later VF vehicles, the VF-X (sometimes referred to as VF-X1) was strictly a conventional/non-transformable jet aircraft, even though it incorporated many structural components and several key technologies that were vital for the transformable VF-1’s successful development that ran in parallel. Therefore, the VF-X was never intended as an air superiority fighter, but rather a flight-capable analogue test bed and proof of concept for the VF-1’s basic layout and major components. In this role, however, the VF-X made vital contributions to systems’ development that were later incorporated into the VF-1’s serial production and sped the program up considerably.

The fighter remained active in many second line units and continued to show its worthiness years later, e. g. through Milia Jenius who would use her old VF-1 fighter in defense of the colonization fleet - 35 years after the type's service introduction.

General characteristics:

Accommodation: One pilot in a Marty & Beck Mk-7 zero/zero ejection seat

Length 14.23 meters

Wingspan 14.78 meters (at 20° minimum sweep)

Height 3.84 meters

Empty weight: 13.25 metric tons

Standard T-O mass: 18.5 metric tons

Power Plant:

2x Shinnakasu Heavy Industry/P&W/Roice FF-2001 thermonuclear reaction turbine engines, output 650 MW each, rated at 11,500 kg in standard or in overboost (225.63 kN x 2)

4 x Shinnakasu Heavy Industry NBS-1 high-thrust vernier thrusters (1 x counter reverse vernier thruster nozzle mounted on the side of each leg nacelle/air intake, 1 x wing thruster roll control system on each wingtip);

Performance:

Top speed: Mach 2.71 at 10,000 m; Mach 3.87 at 30,000+ m

Thrust-to-weight ratio: empty 3.47; standard T-O 2.49; maximum T-O 1.24

Armament:

None installed, but the VF-X had 4x underwing hard points for a wide variety of ordnance, plus a ventral hardpoint for a Howard GU-11 55 mm three-barrel Gatling gun pod with 200 RPG, fired at 1,200 rds/min or other stores like test instruments

The model and its assembly:

Another submission to the “Prototypes” group build at whatifmodelers.com in July 2020. Being a VF-1 fan (and have built maybe twenty o these simple Arii kits), adding a VF-X was, more or less, a must – even more so because I had a suitable Valkyrie Fighter kit at hand for the conversion. As a side note, I have actually built something quite similar from a VF-1D many years ago: a fictional, non-transformable advanced trainer, without knowing about the VF-X at all.

Thanks to the “Macross - Perfect Memory” source book, the differences between the transformable VF-1 and its early testbed were easy to identify:

- Fixed legs with faired ducts from the intakes on (thighs)

- Ankle recesses disappeared

- Less and slightly different panel lines on the back and on the nose

- ventral head unit deleted and a respective fairing installed instead

- Levelled underside (shoulder fairings of the folded arms were cut down)

- Leg attachment points on the nose deleted

- No small, circular vernier thrusters all around the hull

- Some new/different venting grills (created mostly with 0.5mm black decal stripes)

Beyond the changes, the VF-1A was basically built OOB. Thankfully, the VF-X already features the later VF-1’s vectored thrust nozzles/feet, so that no changes had to be made in this respect. A pilot figure was added to the cockpit for the beauty pics, and after the flight scenes had been shot, the canopy remained open on a swing arm for static display. For the same reason, the model was built with the landing gear extended.

As a test aircraft, the underwing pylons and their AMM-1 ordnance were left away and the attachment points hidden with putty. I also omitted the ventral gun pod and left the aircraft clean. However, for the flight scene pictures, I implanted an adapter for a display holder made from wire.

In order to emphasize the test vehicle character of the VF-X, I gave the model a scratched spin recovery parachute installation between the fins, using a real world F-22 testbed as benchmark. It consists of styrene profiles, quite a delicate construction. For the same reason I gave the VF-X a long sensor boom on the nose, which changes the Valkyrie’s look, too. Finally, some small blade antennae were added to the nose and to the spine behind the cockpit.

Painting and markings:

To be honest, I have no idea if there was only a single VF-X prototype in the Macross universe, or more. Just one appears in the TV series in episode #33, and lack of suitable information and my personal lack of Japanese language proficiency prevents any deeper research. However, this would not keep me from inventing a personal interpretation of the canonical VF-X, especially because I do not really like the original livery from the TV series: an overall light grey with some simple black trim and “TEST” written on the (fixed) legs. Yamato did an 1:60 scale toy of the VF-X, but it was/is just a VF-1 with a ventral fairing; they added some shading to the basic grey – but this does not make the aircraft more attractive, IMHO.

When I looked at the original conceptual drawing of the VF-X in the “Macross - Perfect Memory” source book, however, I was immediately reminded of the F-15 prototypes from the Seventies (and this program used a total of twelve machines!). These featured originally a light grey (FS 36375?) overall base, to which bright dayglo orange markings on wings, fins and fuselage were soon added – in a very similar pattern to the VF-X. I think the VF-X livery was actually inspired by this, the time frame matches well with the production of the Macross TV series, too, and that’s what I adapted for my model.

In order to come close to the F-15 prototype livery, I gave “my” VF-X an overall basic coat of RAL 7047 “Telegrau 4”, one of German Telekom’s corporate colors and a very pale grey that can easily be mistaken for white when you do not have a contrast reference.

The cockpit received a medium grey finish, the ejection seat became black with brown cushions; the pilot figure is a 1:100 seated passenger from an architecture supplies, painted like an early VF-1 pilot in a white/blue suit. The jet nozzles/feet were painted with Revell 91 (Iron) and later treated with grinded graphite for a more metallic finish. The landing gear became classic white (I used Revell 301, which is a very pure tone, as contrast to the RAL 7047 on the hull), the air intake ducts and the internal sections of the VG wings were painted with dark grey (Revell 77).

For some diversity I took inspiration from the Yamato VF-X toy and added slightly darker (Humbrol 166, RAF Light Aircraft Grey) areas to the hull and the legs. Next, the panel lines were emphasized through a thinned black ink wash, but I did no panel post shading so that the VF-X would not look too dirty or worn.

Onto this basis I applied the orange dayglo markings. On the wings and fins, these were painted – they were applied with spray paint from a rattle can, involving lots of masking. The leading edges on wings and fins were created with grey decal sheet material, too. At this stage, some surface details and more fake panel lines were added with a soft pencil.

The orange cheatline under the cockpit is a personal addition; I found that some more orange had to be added to the nose for visual balance, and I eventually went for the simple, trimmed stripe (TL Modellbau material) instead of trying to apply decal sheet material around the jagged air intakes (F-15 prototype style). The black “TEST”, “VFX” and “U.N. Spacy” markings were designed at the computer and printed on clear inkjet decal paper. Even though the “real” VF-X does not feature the UNS “kite” insignia, I decided to add them to the model. These come from the OOB sheet, which also provided most (slightly yellowed) stencils.

Finally, the model was sealed with a coat of matt acrylic varnish (Italeri).

A rather different VF-1 project (and it is – to my astonishment – #28 in my 1:100 VF-1 Fighter mode collection!!!), with more changes to the basic model kit than one might expect at first sight. VF-X and VF-1 differ considerably from each other, despite identical outlines! However, I like the outcome, and I think that going a different route from the canonical grey/black livery paid out, the bright orange markings really make this VF-X stand out, and it looks IMHO more like a testbed than the “real” aircraft from the TV series.

This was a testbed shot for the E200MMC which was in hot pursuit, however the demonstrator didn't come out so well in Nottingham, but more than happy that this one did!!

773 enters Nottingham Victoria Bus Station with a Two having arrived in from Cotmanhay Farm, Ilkeston and Wollaton.

Fully functional, 1/6th scale model of the JWST mirror in optics testbed.

Credit: NASA

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Scaled Composites 401

Looking immaculate after a recent repaint, 6110 is pictured in Coleshill Parkway Station Car Park, to take up standby duties for Rail Replacements. These were operating to Birmingham New Street for CrossCountry, whilst more engineering works were carried out, presumably for HS2. Rumour has it this bus was used as a testbed for the new grey livery design now being used on the rest of the fleet.

Hams Travel Ltd., Flimwell:

Dennis Enviro300 SFD113 (12.0m)

N45F - 12/2007

Originally built in 2000 as part of the testbed for what would become the TransBus Enviro300, launched in 2003. Registered as a 57-plate once the bus was purchased by the current owners, Hams Travel of Flimwell. This unique E300 will be leaving the fleet in the next couple of weeks, having been sold in part exchange for a new Volvo coach.

Benenden Coachworks Yard

Sunday 21st May 2017

"This NC-130B-1-LM, S/N 57-0526, was the second B model Hercules manufactured by Lockheed Corporation of Marietta, Georgia (Lockheed Number 3502). It was delivered to the US Air Force as a JC-130B in February 1959 and assigned to the 6515th Organizational Maintenance Squadron for flight testing at Edwards AFB, California, on November 29, 1960.

While with the 6515th the aircraft was used for jet-assisted take-off (JATO) testing, then it was turned over to the 6593rd Test Squadron's Operating Location No. 1 at Edwards.

The plane spent the next seven years supporting the top secret Corona Program. The "J" status and prefix were removed from the aircraft in October 1967.

On May 31, 1973 the aircraft was transferred to the 6593rd Test Squadron of the 6594th Test Group at Hickam AFB, Hawaii. There it was modified to perform mid-air retrieval of satellites and other objects as they floated back to Earth beneath parachutes, under the "Falling Star" project and others. The aircraft was also used to recover high altitude air samples in various locations around the world.

The plane was acquired by the 6514th Test Squadron at Hill AFB on January 19, 1987. While assigned with that unit the plane was used as an electronic testbed and as a cargo transport. On January 27, 1994 the aircraft was finally retired, with over 11,000 flight hours, and made its final move to Hill Aerospace Museum." - www.hill.af.mil/About-Us/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/3972...

A close up of 37901 passing Magor nr Newport on a train of steel. 37901 was originally 37150 this loco was one of the four chosen for the initial 37/9 series which was to be a testbed for the proposed Class 38. The Class 38 never happened but a larger version of the 37/9 Mirrlees power units were used in the Class 60. The modifications included ballast weighting upto 120 Tons, EE Generator replaced with a Brush Alternator and reprofiling of the roof sections to accomodate the power unit and exhaust differences. It entered Crewe works in February 1986 for a major overhaul which included fitting of Mirrlees power unit. It left Crewe in October 1986 and was named 'Mirrlees Pioneer' at Cardiff Canton on the 3rd December 1986. It was stored unserviceable in November 1998, entering preservation at Llangollen Railway in 2003. Taken on the 09.03.1987

In 1972 Volvo Presented its rolling safety laboratory, the VESC. It was meant to work as both an experimental vehicle and as a testbed for future safety features, such as anti-lock brakes, airbags and telescopic action bumpers. The front end of the car remained almost unchanged into the 240/260 models of 1974. Technical features based on the 140 series.

Volvo Museum

Arendals Skans

405 08 Göteborg

Sweden

July 2012

Handley Page HP.115 XP841 on display appropriately under Concorde 002's wing at the Fleet Air Arm Museum, Yeovilton.

The HP.115 was a testbed aircraft built in the early 1960's as part of the research programme to develop a supersonic transport (SST) aircraft which would eventually evolve into Concorde. It was designed specifically to test the low speed handling characteristics of the tailless delta wing configuration chosen for the SST.

The sole aircraft, XP841 flew for the first time in August 1961 from Royal Aircraft Establishment Bedford. It continued in service with the RAE through to 1974, providing useful data relating to low speed operations with the delta wing, particularly on takeoff and landing. In 1964 it was joined in the Concorde development programme by the BAC 221 (modified Fairy Delta 2) which was used for high speed research.

The HP.115 was powered by a single Bristol Siddeley Viper turbojet and featured a 75 degree sweep delta wing with planform and aerofoil section representative of that expected to be used for the future SST. It also had a fixed landing gear. The u-shaped pipe over the wing leading edge is the outlet from the smoke generator, which allowed airflow over the wing to be observed.

For many years the District Railway, officially entitled the Metropolitan District Railway and that was promoted to complete what is now the Circle line of the Lonodn Underground thus 'matching' the northern section constructed and operated by the Metropolitan Railway, oversaw the issue of various maps of the Metropolis that were offered for public sale. These, needless to say, heavily promoted the company's lines and services as well as other railways and omnibus lines operated 'in connection' with their services - often in quite wilful ignorance of alternatives!

This, from 1903, shows some still familiar District line services along with sections of lines that have seen services withdrawn, transferred or indeed closed such as the services beyond Addison Road (Olympia) towards Latimer Road via Uxbridge Rd station. This issue also shows the original layout of lines around Hounslow, subsequently altered as well as now being part of the Piccadilly line as well as the Uxbridge section, beyond South Harrow, that was under construction and that the MDR would eventually run under powers obtained to have right of use of the Metropolitan's Uxbridge extension that would open in 1904.In fact the section of line running off from Mill Hill Park (now Acton Town) through the largely open fields of Middlesex was to be the testbed in these years for the four-rail electrification system adopted for the wider London Underground system following the purchase of the MDR by American interests to assist in the development of deep tube lines and the infusion of US finance and know-how. The reverse of the map shows various announcements and tables of services and fares. This includes the famous and long-standing through trains from stations on the District direct to Southend on Sea via the London, Tilbury & Southern Railway.

This map would have been priced a half-penny had it been sold but it appears, as was quite common, slightly cropped and folded tipped into a 1903 Black's Guide Book to "Around London".

Boeing 747-446 ( 26355 / 1024 )

General Electric Testbed . Ex JA8910 Japan Airlines ( delivered 29.3.94 ) , first flight 7.3.94 , delivered 30.12.10 ( to G.E. as N356AS , re-registered to N747GF on 2.11.11 ) . Morning arrival on runway 06 for the Airshow .

In 1972 Volvo Presented its rolling safety laboratory, the VESC. It was meant to work as both an experimental vehicle and as a testbed for future safety features, such as anti-lock brakes, airbags and telescopic action bumpers. The front end of the car remained almost unchanged into the 240/260 models of 1974. Technical features based on the 140 series.

Volvo Museum

Arendals Skans

405 08 Göteborg

Sweden

July 2012

Zhukovsky, 31 August 1993.

An old model Su-15 Flagon that was (still?) used as a testbed.

Row 44 is a Westlake Village, California-based company providing in-flight broadband connectivity for the passengers, cockpit and crew of commercial aircraft.

So why an Albatros testbed? Row 44 discovered that the curvature atop the fuselage is the same as the top of a Boeing 737.

XV Patrick Blackett (X01) is an experimental ship used by the Royal Navy as a testbed for new technologies, including unmanned underwater vehicles and unmanned surface vehicles.

Her namesake is Patrick Blackett, a Royal Navy veteran and Nobel Prize-winning British physicist.

The Ship has her own QR Code

Pictured here arriving at Portsmouth Naval Base, where the ship is currently based

10/2014 - La Grange, IL

EMDX 92 (former SD89MAC) testbed sitting outside the EMD plant.

If you're going to attempt this photo, be quick and don't step foot on their grass. EMD and their security are not the slightest bit railfan-friendly.

Boeing 737-297(Adv) cn: 21740 / ln/ 562 ff: 15-03-1979

N70724 Aloha Airlines 29-03-1979 "Queen Kapiolani"

N70724 Pan Am (leased) 22-09-1983 "Clipper Spreeathen"

N70724 Aloha Airlines 29-07-1988 returned

4X-AOT IAI ELTA Electronics Radar Testbed 15-09-1995

std TLV 2013

Scanned from original negativ film, seen arriving on route opening from LHR.

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

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

Some background:

The Northrop Grumman-IAI F-24 is the latest reincarnation of the USAF "Lightweight Fighter Program" which dates back to the 1950ies and started with the development of Northrop's F-5 "Freedom Fighter".

International interest for the F-24A is already there: in late 2013 Grumman stated that initial talks have been made with various countries, and potential export candidates from 2015 on are Taiwan, Singapore, Thailand, Finland, Norway, Australia and Japan.

General F-24A characteristics:

Crew: 1 pilot

Length: 47 ft 4 in (14.4 m)

Wingspan: 27 ft 11.9 in / 8.53 m; with wingtip missiles (26 ft 8 in/ 8.13 m; without wingtip missiles)

Height: 13 ft 10 in (4.20 m)

Wing area: 36.55 m² (392 ft²)

Empty weight: 13.150 lb (5.090 kg)

Loaded weight: 15.480 lb (6.830 kg)

Max. take-off weight: 27.530 lb (12.500 kg)

Powerplant

1× General Electric F404-GE-402 turbofan with a dry thrust of 11,000 lbf (48.9 kN) and 17,750 lbf (79.2 kN) with afterburner

Performance

Maximum speed: Mach 2+

Combat radius: 300 nmi (345 mi, 556 km); for hi-lo-hi mission with 2 × 330 US gal (1,250 L) drop tanks

Ferry range: 1,490 nmi (1715 mi, 2759 km); with 3 × 330 US gal (1,250 L) drop tanks

Service ceiling: 55,000 ft (16,800 m)

Rate of climb: 52,800 ft/min (255 m/s)

Wing loading: 70.0 lb/ft² (342 kg/m²)

Thrust/weight: 1.09 (1.35 with loaded weight & 50% fuel)

Armament

1× 20 mm (0.787 in) M199A1 3-barreled Gatling cannon in the lower fuselage with 400 RPG

Eleven external hardpoints (two wingtip tails, six underwing hardpoints, three underfuselage hardpoints) and a total capacity of 11.000 lb (4.994 kg) of missiles (incl. AIM 9 Sidewinder and AIM 120 AMRAAM), bombs, rockets, ECM pods and drop tanks for extended range.

The kit and its assembly:

A spontaneous project. This major kitbash was inspired by fellow user nighthunter at whatifmodelers.com, who came up with a profile of a mashed-up US fighter, created “out of boredom”. The original idea was called F-21C, and it was to be a domestic successor to the IAI Kfirs which had been used by the US as aggressor aircraft in USN and USMC service for a few years.

As a weird(?) coincidence I had many of the necessary ingredients for this fictional aircraft in store, even though some parts and details were later changed. This model here is an interpretation of the original design. The idea was spun further, and the available parts that finally went into the model also had some influence on design and background.

I thank nighthunter for sharing the early ideas, inviting me to take the design to the hardware stage (sort of…) and adapting my feedback into new design sketches, too, which, in return, inspired the model building process.

Well, what went into this thing? To cook up a F-24 à la Dizzyfugu you just need (all in 1:72):

● Fuselage from a Hasegawa X-29, including the cockpit and the landing gear

● Fin and nose cone from an Italeri F-16A

● Inner wings from a (vintage) Hasegawa MiG-21F

● Outer wings from a F-4 (probably a J, Hasegawa or Fujimi)

The wing construction deviates from nighthunter’s original idea. The favorite ingredients would have been F-16XL or simple Mirage III wings, but I found the composite wing to be more attractive and “different”. The big F-16XL wings, despite their benefit of a unique shape, might also have created scale/size problems with a F-20 style fuselage? So I built hybrid wings: The MiG-21 landing gear wells were filled with putty and the F-4 outer wings simply glued onto the MiG inner wing sections, which were simply cut down in span. It sounds like an unlikely combo, but these parts fit together almost perfectly! In order to hide the F-4 origins I modified them to carry wingtip launch rails, though, which were also part of nighthunter’s original design.

The AAW technology detail mentioned in the background came in handy as it explains the complicated wing shape and the fact that the landing gear retracts into the fuselage, not into the wings, which would have been more plausible… Anyway, there’s still room for a simpler export version, with Mirage III or Kfir C.2/7 wings, and maybe canards?

Using the X-29 as basis also made fitting the new wings onto the area-ruled fuselage pretty easy, as I could use the wing root parts from the X-29 to bridge the gap. The original, forward-swept wings were just cut away, and the remains used as consoles for the new hybrid delta wings. Took some SERIOUS putty work, but the result is IMHO fine.

The bigger/square X-29 air intakes were taken over, and they change the look of the aircraft, making it look less F-5-ish than a true F-20 fuselage. For the same reason I kept the large fairing at the fin base, combining it with a bigger F-16 tail, though, as a counter-balance to the new, bigger wings. Again, the F-16 fin was/is part of nighthunter’s idea, so the model stays true to the original concept.

For the same reason I omitted the original X-29 nose, which is rather pointy, sports vanes and a large sensor boom. The F-16 nose was a plausible choice, as the AN/APG-80 is also carried by late Fighting Falcons, and its shape fits well, too.

All around the hull, some small details like radar warning sensors, pitots and air scoops were added. Not really necessary, but such thing add IMHO to the overall impression of such a fictional aircraft beyond the prototype stage.

Cockpit and landing gear were taken OOB, I just added a pilot figure and slightly modified the seat.

The ordnance was puzzled together from the scrap box, the AIM-9Ls come from the same F-4 kit which donated its outer wings, the AIM-120s come from an Italeri NATO weapons kit. The drop tanks belong to an F-16.

Painting and markings:

At first I considered an F-24I in IAF markings, or even a Japanese aircraft, but then reverted to one of nighthunter’s initial, simple ideas: an USAF aircraft in the “Hill II” paint scheme (F-16 style), made up from three shades of gray (FS 36118, 36270 and 36375) with low-viz markings and stencils. Dutch/Turkish NF-5A/Bs in the “Hill II” scheme were used as design benchmarks, too. It’s a simple livery, but on this delta wing aircraft it looks pretty interesting. I used enamels, what I had at hand: Humbrol 127 and 126, and Modelmaster's 1723.

A light black ink wash was applied, in order to em,phasize the engraved panel lines, in contrast to that, panels were manually highlighted through dry-brushed, lighter shades of gray (Humbrol 27, 166 and 167).

“Hill II” also adds to a generic, realistic touch for this whif. Doing an exotic air force thing is rather easy, but creating a convincing whif for a huge military machinery like the USAF’s takes more subtlety, I think.

The cockpit was painted in medium Gray (Dark Gull Grey, FS 36231, Humbrol 140), as well as the radome. The landing gear and the air intakes were painted white. The radome was painted with Revell 47 and dry-brushed with Humbrol 140.

Decals were puzzled together from various USAF aircraft, including sheets from an Airfix F-117, an Italeri F-15E and even an Academy OV-10D.

Tadah: a hardware tribute to an idea, born from boredom - and the aircraft does not look even bad at all? What I wanted to achieve was to make the F-24 neither look like a F-20, nor a Saab Gripen clone, as the latter comes close in overall shape, size and design.

Culprit: www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCE4efjHIVM

At this point I'm pretty much just using the model as a testbed. Finished never, etc.

Airbus A380-861

MSN 004 [Engine Alliance testbed]

F-WWDD 'VNO' ['#A380' 'iflyA380.com' decals]

iflya380.com/

Airbus S.A.S.

Copyright © 2016 A380spotter. All rights reserved.

www.farnborough.com

+++ 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 Folland 150 was directly inspired by the (modest) successes experienced by the Saro SR./A.1, a jet-powered flying boat fighter that went through trials in the late 1940ies.

In 1960, WS685 was also used for the development and tests of hydroskis, while its sister ship was retired and used for spares. This program lasted until 1963, and after that, the worn-out airframe was scrapped, too.

General characteristics:

Crew: 1

Length: 10.44 m (34 ft 5 in)

Wingspan: 8,71 m (28 ft 6 in)

Heigh (keel to fin tip)t: 3.74 m (12 ft 3 in)

Wing area: 19.00 m² (204.5 ft²)

Empty weight: 2,560 kg (5,644 lb)

Max. takeoff weight: 4,235 kg (9,336 lb)

Powerplant:

1× Bristol Siddeley Viper turbojet, rated at 3,100 lbf (14 kN)

Performance:

Maximum speed: 695 km/h (375 knots, 432 mph) at sea level

Cruise speed: 324 km/h (175 knots, 201 mph)

Stall speed: 145 km/h (92 knots, 106 mph) with flaps down

Endurance: 1 hour 45 min

Service ceiling: 30,000 ft (9,150 m)

Armament:

2× 30mm ADEN cannon with 80 RPG in underwing pods

Two overwing hardpoints for 500lb (227kg) each,

e.g. for SNEB rocket pods containing seven 68 mm rockets

or pods with 7.62 mm machine guns

Two underwing hardpoints for 500lb (227kg) each,

for bombs or a pair of 50-Imp Gal (226 litre) drop tanks

The kit and its assembly:

Another submission to the 2016 “In the Navy” Group Build at whatifmodelers.com, and actually the consequence of a spontaneous post/comment on another modeler’s project just called “Royal Navy Gnat”, when the means and degree of navalization were still shrouded in mystery. I suggested a flying boat, inspired by the real Saro SR./A.1 and the Gnat’s high-mounted wings, which make the aircraft – or at least a model of it – suitable for a conversion.

Well, since the other Gnat turned out to become a ZELL aircraft, and I had a Matchbox Gnat in the stash, I decided to take my weird alternative idea to the (model) hardware stage.

Even though it is not obvious, pretty much of the Matchbox Gnat was used for this build, but it is masked under lots of putty and donation parts. These include:

- The lower half of a Smer SC-1 Seahawk float – a bit wide, but perfect in length

- The SC-1 also donated its stabilizer floats

- Leftover parts from a vintage (35+ years!) Matchbox F-14’s stabilizers, used as wing extensions

- Air intakes from a Matchbox F-5A, mounted upside down

- Stabilizers from a Hobby Boss MiG-15

The build went pretty straightforward: after the fuselage was done the SC-1 float was trimmed down and glued under it. Putty conceals the seams, and I am actually surprised how good these parts that were surely never meant to be united went together.

The cockpit features only the front seat, the rear position was omitted. The clear canopy was cut into three pieces, and the rear part glued onto the fuselage and blended into the overall shape with putty.

I felt that the deeper fuselage necessitated bigger wings, and instead of mounting complete donation parts I decided to keep the OOB parts and their shape, but extend them slightly with plugs – these are leftover parts from F-14 stabilizers from former projects, their width, length and also the sweep angle were perfect. In order to keep the relative wing tip position, the wing roots had to be moved forward, so that they ended up close to the cockpit and the air intakes. Again, putty conceals the intersections and was used to blend everything into each other – and with the enlarged wings this converted Gnat reminds a bit of the Me 163 Komet rocket fighter? At least, as long as the stabilizers were not mounted yet.

These come from a MiG-15 – bigger than the OOB parts, which appeared just too small for the bigger wing surface and their new position: in order to keep them clear from spray and the waterline I moved them upwards, together with a bullet fairing into the fin, which was simply divided above the rudder. The resulting fin extension was an appreciated extra, and the new cruciform tail looks very retro.

Placing the original air intakes onto the fuselage I found them to be too susceptible to water ingestion, so I wanted to extend them forward. But instead of using the OOB parts and bridging gaps with styrene pieces and putty, I found an old pair of F-5A air intakes with relative long ducts in the spares box. They were of good shape and size for the conversion, I just mounted them upside down, so that the longer leading edge is now on the intakes’ lower end, looking like a spray protector. A pair of spray dams was added to the nose, too.

How to balance the aircraft while afloat caused some headaches. The initial plan had been to place the SC-1 stabilizer floats with their slender pylons close to the wing tips, but I found this to be a very draggy solution for a jet aircraft.

The solution came while wondering where to place some armament: I used the Gnat’s (shortened) OOB slipper tanks as integral gun pods and modified their rear end into fairings for a semi-retracting float installation. The respective struts were scratched from wire and styrene.

The beaching trolley was highjacked from a vintage Revell F-16 kit (the rather clumsy one that represents the prototypes and which comes with a separate jet engine, its dolly and a small tractor). It was slightly modified and lowered, paper tissue cushions hold the model in place.

Painting and markings:

Since the flying boat version of the tiny Gnat (even if is based on the bigger trainer version!) is already exotic enough I decided to keep the livery true to the post WWII Royal Navy style, with Extra Dark Sea Grey upper surface, Sky undersides and a high waterline. In this case, Humbrol 123 and 95 are the basic tones, later treated with a black ink wash, panel lines drawn with a pencil and some panel shading with Humbrol 79 and 23, respectively. The planning surfaces were in the first place painted/primed with acrylic aluminum, so that later the enamel paint cover could be chipped away, for a lightly worn look.

The cockpit interior was painted in very dark grey (Humbrol 32). Thankfully, no landing gear had to be built and painted, but instead the custom beaching trolley became trainer yellow.

The RN markings come from various sources, and finally the kit was sealed under a coat of semi-matt acrylic varnish.

A funny project, and despite the weird idea and combination of parts the result does not look bad at all – in fact, one could think that it is a design or prop from a 1960’s James Bond movie or a Gerry Anderson creation?

RFA PROTEUS

makes an impressive sight as she departs HM Naval Base, Portsmouth as the winter sun makes an appearance.

RFA Proteus is a ship of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary within His Majesty's Naval Service of the

United Kingdom. Its roles being a platform for Remotely Operated Underwater Vehicles (ROUVs) and a testbed for new specialist capabilities, required for monitoring waters important to UK interests. Acquired in 2023, the ship entered drydock at Cammell Laird for modification into a Multi-Role Ocean Surveillance Ship (MROSS). She formally entered service in October 2023.

Photographic source;

Digital Expression UK (2025)

+++ 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 Folland 150 was directly inspired by the (modest) successes experienced by the Saro SR./A.1, a jet-powered flying boat fighter that went through trials in the late 1940ies.

In 1960, WS685 was also used for the development and tests of hydroskis, while its sister ship was retired and used for spares. This program lasted until 1963, and after that, the worn-out airframe was scrapped, too.

General characteristics:

Crew: 1

Length: 10.44 m (34 ft 5 in)

Wingspan: 8,71 m (28 ft 6 in)

Heigh (keel to fin tip)t: 3.74 m (12 ft 3 in)

Wing area: 19.00 m² (204.5 ft²)

Empty weight: 2,560 kg (5,644 lb)

Max. takeoff weight: 4,235 kg (9,336 lb)

Powerplant:

1× Bristol Siddeley Viper turbojet, rated at 3,100 lbf (14 kN)

Performance:

Maximum speed: 695 km/h (375 knots, 432 mph) at sea level

Cruise speed: 324 km/h (175 knots, 201 mph)

Stall speed: 145 km/h (92 knots, 106 mph) with flaps down

Endurance: 1 hour 45 min

Service ceiling: 30,000 ft (9,150 m)

Armament:

2× 30mm ADEN cannon with 80 RPG in underwing pods

Two overwing hardpoints for 500lb (227kg) each,

e.g. for SNEB rocket pods containing seven 68 mm rockets

or pods with 7.62 mm machine guns

Two underwing hardpoints for 500lb (227kg) each,

for bombs or a pair of 50-Imp Gal (226 litre) drop tanks

The kit and its assembly:

Another submission to the 2016 “In the Navy” Group Build at whatifmodelers.com, and actually the consequence of a spontaneous post/comment on another modeler’s project just called “Royal Navy Gnat”, when the means and degree of navalization were still shrouded in mystery. I suggested a flying boat, inspired by the real Saro SR./A.1 and the Gnat’s high-mounted wings, which make the aircraft – or at least a model of it – suitable for a conversion.

Well, since the other Gnat turned out to become a ZELL aircraft, and I had a Matchbox Gnat in the stash, I decided to take my weird alternative idea to the (model) hardware stage.

Even though it is not obvious, pretty much of the Matchbox Gnat was used for this build, but it is masked under lots of putty and donation parts. These include:

- The lower half of a Smer SC-1 Seahawk float – a bit wide, but perfect in length

- The SC-1 also donated its stabilizer floats

- Leftover parts from a vintage (35+ years!) Matchbox F-14’s stabilizers, used as wing extensions

- Air intakes from a Matchbox F-5A, mounted upside down

- Stabilizers from a Hobby Boss MiG-15

The build went pretty straightforward: after the fuselage was done the SC-1 float was trimmed down and glued under it. Putty conceals the seams, and I am actually surprised how good these parts that were surely never meant to be united went together.

The cockpit features only the front seat, the rear position was omitted. The clear canopy was cut into three pieces, and the rear part glued onto the fuselage and blended into the overall shape with putty.

I felt that the deeper fuselage necessitated bigger wings, and instead of mounting complete donation parts I decided to keep the OOB parts and their shape, but extend them slightly with plugs – these are leftover parts from F-14 stabilizers from former projects, their width, length and also the sweep angle were perfect. In order to keep the relative wing tip position, the wing roots had to be moved forward, so that they ended up close to the cockpit and the air intakes. Again, putty conceals the intersections and was used to blend everything into each other – and with the enlarged wings this converted Gnat reminds a bit of the Me 163 Komet rocket fighter? At least, as long as the stabilizers were not mounted yet.

These come from a MiG-15 – bigger than the OOB parts, which appeared just too small for the bigger wing surface and their new position: in order to keep them clear from spray and the waterline I moved them upwards, together with a bullet fairing into the fin, which was simply divided above the rudder. The resulting fin extension was an appreciated extra, and the new cruciform tail looks very retro.

Placing the original air intakes onto the fuselage I found them to be too susceptible to water ingestion, so I wanted to extend them forward. But instead of using the OOB parts and bridging gaps with styrene pieces and putty, I found an old pair of F-5A air intakes with relative long ducts in the spares box. They were of good shape and size for the conversion, I just mounted them upside down, so that the longer leading edge is now on the intakes’ lower end, looking like a spray protector. A pair of spray dams was added to the nose, too.

How to balance the aircraft while afloat caused some headaches. The initial plan had been to place the SC-1 stabilizer floats with their slender pylons close to the wing tips, but I found this to be a very draggy solution for a jet aircraft.

The solution came while wondering where to place some armament: I used the Gnat’s (shortened) OOB slipper tanks as integral gun pods and modified their rear end into fairings for a semi-retracting float installation. The respective struts were scratched from wire and styrene.

The beaching trolley was highjacked from a vintage Revell F-16 kit (the rather clumsy one that represents the prototypes and which comes with a separate jet engine, its dolly and a small tractor). It was slightly modified and lowered, paper tissue cushions hold the model in place.

Painting and markings:

Since the flying boat version of the tiny Gnat (even if is based on the bigger trainer version!) is already exotic enough I decided to keep the livery true to the post WWII Royal Navy style, with Extra Dark Sea Grey upper surface, Sky undersides and a high waterline. In this case, Humbrol 123 and 95 are the basic tones, later treated with a black ink wash, panel lines drawn with a pencil and some panel shading with Humbrol 79 and 23, respectively. The planning surfaces were in the first place painted/primed with acrylic aluminum, so that later the enamel paint cover could be chipped away, for a lightly worn look.

The cockpit interior was painted in very dark grey (Humbrol 32). Thankfully, no landing gear had to be built and painted, but instead the custom beaching trolley became trainer yellow.

The RN markings come from various sources, and finally the kit was sealed under a coat of semi-matt acrylic varnish.

A funny project, and despite the weird idea and combination of parts the result does not look bad at all – in fact, one could think that it is a design or prop from a 1960’s James Bond movie or a Gerry Anderson creation?

A former LNG SD40-2 passes Riley's Railhouse. This unit was the unit that Burlington Northern used in its Liquified Natural Gas program in the early 90's. It was a testbed unit and ran around with a fuel tender attached all the time. It was sold off after the BNSF merger and went to HLCX Leasing and was stripped of its BN designation but still had the distinct paint job. NS bought a round of HLCX lease units that were of BN heritage and that was one of them! Now it roams in the Chicago area of NS being used to do some heavy hauling. No LNG, no BN paint, but its still a SD40-2 through and through.

4th St

Chesterton, IN

July 18th, 2017

Alicante Airport. 2003

Honeywell International testbed from 2005

23rd August 2018., Dublin Airport, Ireland

The XK120 was launched in roadster form at the 1948 London Motor Show as a testbed and show car for the new Jaguar XK engine. It caused a sensation, which persuaded Jaguar founder and design boss William Lyons to put it into production.

The "120" in its name referred to its 120 mph (193 km/h) top speed (faster with the windscreen removed), which made the XK120 the world's fastest standard production car at the time of its launch.[4]

It was available in two open versions, first as the roadster (designated OTS, for open two-seater, in America), then also as a drophead coupé (DHC) from 1953 – and also as a closed, or "fixed-head" coupé (FHC) from 1951. The DHC was a more deluxe open model, with wind-up windows, and wood-veneer dashboard and interior door caps, as on the FHC.

The roadster was successful in racing.

(Wikipedia)

- - -

Der Jaguar XK 120 war ein zweisitziger Roadster, den Jaguar 1948 als Nachfolger des S.S.100 auf den Markt brachte.

Der Jaguar XK 120 OTS (Open Two Seater, so die etwas umständliche Bezeichnung für den Roadster) besaß einen Sechszylinder-Reihenmotor mit 3442 cm³ Hubraum und 160 bhp.

Ab 1951 gab es den Jaguar XK 120 FHC (Fixed Head Coupé), ein Coupé mit gleicher Motorisierung und 194 km/h Höchstgeschwindigkeit. Bis zur Einstellung 1954 wurden 2678 Stück gebaut.

1953 kam der Jaguar XK 120 DHC (Drop Head Coupé), ein Cabriolet mit gefüttertem Stoffdach und der gleichen Motorisierung, auch als SE, dazu. Es wurde allerdings nur ein Jahr lang angeboten und erreichte in diesem Zeitraum die Stückzahl von 1767 Exemplaren.

(Wikipedia)

Once the fastest production car in the world, the Jaguar XK120 was Jaguar's first new product following the end of the war, being designed in those dark final days of the conflict and being developed over the next three years, making its début in 1948.

The XK120 was launched in open two-seater form at the 1948 London Motor Show as a testbed and show car for the new Jaguar XK engine. The display car was the first prototype, chassis number 670001. It looked almost identical to the production cars except that the straight outer pillars of its windscreen would be curved on the production version. The roadster caused a sensation, which persuaded Jaguar founder and design boss William Lyons to put it into production.

Beginning in 1948, the first 242 cars wore wood-framed open 2-seater bodies with aluminium panels. Production switched to the 112lb heavier all-steel in early 1950. The "120" in the name referred to the aluminium car's 120 mph top speed, which made it the world's fastest production car at the time of its launch. Engine models ranged from a 160bhp DOHC Straight-6 Double SU H6 low end model, to the fastest version which was powered by a 210bhp DOHC Straight-6 Double SU H8, giving the car a top speed of 124mph, which in 1949 was a spectacular feat when compared to the Austins and Morris' of the time.

On 30 May 1949, on the empty Ostend-Jabbeke motorway in Belgium, a prototype XK120 timed by the officials of the Royal Automobile Club of Belgium achieved an average of runs in opposing directions of 132.6 mph with the windscreen replaced by just one small aeroscreen and a catalogued alternative top gear ratio, and 135 mph with a passenger-side tonneau cover in place. In 1950 and 1951, at a banked oval track in France, XK120 roadsters averaged over 100 mph for 24 hours and over 130 mph for an hour, and in 1952 a fixed-head coupé took numerous world records for speed and distance when it averaged 100 mph for a week.

The Motor magazine road-tested an XK120 roadster in November 1949. This pre-production car, chassis number 670001, road-registered as HKV 455, was the first prototype built. It was also the 1948 London Motor Show display model, and had been driven by Prince Bira in the 1949 Silverstone Production Car Race. The magazine reported a top speed of 124.6 mph, acceleration from 0–60 mph in 10.0 seconds and fuel consumption of 19.8 miles per imperial gallon. The car as tested cost £1263 including taxes.

In 1949 the first production roadster, chassis number 670003, was delivered to famous actor Clark Gable.

The XK120 was ultimately available in two open versions, first as an open 2-seater described in the US market as the roadster, then also as a drophead coupé from 1953; and also as a closed, or fixed head coupé from 1951.

Production of the car ended in 1954 after 12,055 examples were constructed, being replaced by the Jaguar XK140. Today you'd be hard pressed to find XK120's on a regular basis, but if you attend car shows like me you'd be likely to find at least one show up.

Most notably though, the car returned to the centre stage of modern motoring through a spectacularly organised and choreographed race between the presenters of Top Gear on their Race to the North, a competition set in a hypothetical 1949 between the primary modes of transport at the time, with James May in the Jaguar XK120, Richard Hammond on a Vincent Blackshadow motorbike, and Jeremy Clarkson on the rebuilt Peppercorn A1 Pacific number 60163 'Tornado'.

This modified Boeing 757-200 is used as an avionics testbed for the F-22 Raptor.

F-WWAI Airbus Industrie Airbus A320-111

F-WWAI Airbus A320-111 Airbus Industrie 22 Feb 1987 Testbed 2x CFMI CFM56-5B4

F-WWFT Airbus A320-111 Airbus Industrie May 1991 Testbed 2x CFMI CFM56-5B4

rr

F-WWBA Airbus A320-111 Airbus Industrie 7 Jan 2001 Testbed 2x CFMI CFM56-5B4 38005A

rr

Aircraft is used to develop enhancements for the A32S aircraft. It has been recently used for a variety of winglet testing.

wfu 29-07-2016

F-WWAI Airbus A320-111 Airbus Industrie Oct 2017 Testbed 2x CFMI CFM56-5B4

rr

Original test-registration reapplied and repainted into original 1987 Airbus livery for preservation at Aeroscopia Museum, Toulouse

F-WWCA Airbus Industrie Airbus A340-642 - cn 360

VIA Rail equipment is seen stripped down at CAD in Lachine. VIA Rail was mandated by a Transport Canada order released on October 19th of last year to do a number of tests on stainless steel cars. While nothing is confirmed, I would expect all of these cars to be scrapped. At left is a testbed built on the frame of VIA 6908,

Testbed 80, Derby, UK

Testbed 80, Derby, UK

Airbus Industrie Airbus A350-941 F-WWYB is departing from Frankfurt for the first time in its history. The aircraft is climbing out of runway 18 as flight AIB103 to Toulouse (TLS).

MSN 005 has had its first flight on 20.06.14. It is powered by 2x Rolls-Royce Trent XWB turbofans and is currently used as a testbed.

Please join my Facebook fan page:

www.facebook.com/pages/Thomas-Becker-Aviation-Photography...

...and there is a Plane Spotting group on Facebook you should visit:

www.facebook.com/groups/planespotting/

Flickr has done some major design changes (which I deeply regret). Are you missing collections in Flickr? Me, too!

But they are not lost, just hidden - you can go there by using one of the following links:

Special Aviation Photos

www.flickr.com/photos/thomasbecker/collections/7215762339...

Airlines of the World

www.flickr.com/photos/thomasbecker/collections/7215760571...

Aviation by Date

www.flickr.com/photos/thomasbecker/collections/7215760307...

Airline Alliances of the World

www.flickr.com/photos/thomasbecker/collections/7215762573...

testbed EC.145T2 D-HADW

Pentacon Praktica Super TL1000

German 35mm SLR.

An ideal (film-based) testbed for my M42 screwmount lenses.

Dirt cheap and the lightmeter might not be working anymore but it has a robust metal vertical focal-plane shutter.

Here with a Multi Coated Pentacon auto 1.8/50mm lens

'Experimental November Seven Eight Seven Romeo Romeo Heavy' off of runway 17L heading back home to Tucson after having a fifth engine, what Rolls Royce calls the 'Pearl 10X', fitted on the right wing. The new Pearl 10X is visible just behind the Trent 1000 in this picture. Fascinating to see three different engines on a five-engine airplane.

c/n 21740/562. In the static exhibition at the Paris airshow at Le Bourget. Radar testbed aircraft.

F-14A.

VF-124.

Miramar NAS, California.

cn 277

To NF-14 testbed.

On display at NAES Lakehurst, NJ.

Fan blade off test

It can’t hurt to ask…

When we were in Las Cruces, my rocket mentor, Tom Atchison, did just that. He got an enthusiastic reply to his unusual proposal to use this mobile missile tracking system to track civilian rockets in a new competition launching this summer. We could use it for an independent audit of launch performance (distinct from the on-board GPS and altimeter logs that all of the rockets will carry).

This mobile EODAS system uses infrared, visible ultraviolet, and thermal sensors to provide “imaging, pyro event detection, and spatial position data from airborne payload delivery systems operating in hazardous environments.”

…not to mention some very cool home videos. =)

Rocket Mavericks is a new international rocketry and civilian space exploration competition. Tom is the founder and describes it well: “if you have heard of the Surf Mavericks, then you can get some idea where we are headed, but rather than surfing, we are focused on rockets.”

(I am trying to help this new non-profit with some enthusiasm and photos.)

Many adults remember Estes rockets fondly when we were kids. 300 million launches of Estes rockets sure leaves an impression. I find that it kindles a love of science – rocket science, that is – in our children. It is deeply inspirational and motivational to a new generation who sometimes wonder where the excitement is in learning physics, math and science in general.

As adults, scientists love to explore the frontiers of the imagination. We all retain some of the magic of that childhood wonder — especially the geeks among us — perhaps rekindled by a new challenge.

N330 EUG was the first Optare Excel to be registered, in November 1995. It is an L1000 model seating 34 passengers.

It was photographed several years later approaching Optare's Rotherham depot at Hellaby whilst running on trade plates.