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While the F-16A had proven a success, its lack of long-range missile and true all-weather capability hampered it, especially in projected combat against the Warsaw Pact over Central Europe. General Dynamics began work on the upgraded F-16C/D version, with the first Block 25 F-16C flying in June 1984 and entering USAF service that September.
Externally, the only ways to tell apart the F-16C from the F-16A is the slightly enlarged base of the tail and a UHF radio antenna at the base of the tail. The intake is also slightly larger, though later marks of the F-16A also have this feature. Internally, however, the F-16C is a significantly different aircraft. The earlier APG-66 radar was replaced by the APG-68 multimode radar used by the F/A-18, which gave the F-16C the same capability to switch between ground-attack and dogfight mode and vastly improved all-weather capability. Cockpit layout was also changed in response to pilots’ requests, with a larger Heads-Up Display and movement of the radar display to eye level rather than between the pilot’s legs on the F-16A. The F-16C would also have the capability to carry the AIM-120 AMRAAM, though it would not be until 1992 that the missile entered service. Other small upgrades were made throughout the design, including the engine.
The Block 25 initial production was superseded by the Block 30 F-16C in 1987, which gave it better navigation systems, and the capability to carry the either the General Electric F110 or the Pratt and Whitney F100 turbofan. The Block 40/42 “Night Falcon” followed in 1988, equipped with LANTIRN night attack pods, followed by the Block 50/52, which was a dedicated Wild Weasel variant. In USAF service, the latter are semi-officially known as F-16CG and F-16CJ variants.
The F-16C had replaced the F-16A in nearly all overseas USAF units by the First Gulf War in 1991, and as a result, the aircraft was among the first deployed to the theater in August 1990. During the war, the F-16C was used mainly in ground attack and strike sorties, due to delays in the AIM-120, but it performed superbly in this role. USAF F-16s finally scored kills in the F-16C, beginning in 1992, when an Iraqi MiG-23 was shot down over the southern no-fly zone; the victory was also the first with the AMRAAM. Four Serbian G-4 Super Galebs were shot down over Bosnia in 1994. F-16Cs had replaced the F-16A entirely in regular and Reserve USAF service by 1997, and further service was seen over Kosovo, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Libya by 2012. Subsequent upgrades to USAF F-16Cs with GPS allow them to carry advanced precision weapons such as JSOW and JDAM.
Whatever the variant, the F-16 is today the most prolific combat aircraft in existence, with 28 nations operating the type (17 of which operate F-16Cs). Over 4450 have been built, with more in production; the F-16C is also license-produced by Turkey and South Korea. It also forms the basis for the Mitsubishi F-2 fighter for Japan, though the F-2 is significantly different, with a longer nose and larger wing. Though the USAF projects that the F-16C will be replaced by the F-35 beginning in 2020, it will likely remain in service for a very long time.
Built as the sixth production F-16A, 75-0750 never formally reached the USAF. Instead, it was converted as a permanent testbed to serve with General Dynamics and NASA's Advanced Fighter Technology Integration aircraft. Redesignated NF-16A as a test aircraft, the AFTI F-16 would serve from 1981 to 2000 in various roles, testing new avionics and technologies. The AFTI was among the first aircraft to use "glass" cockpit technology, computer touch-screens, voice-activated flight controls, helmet-mounted targeting, advanced ground-collision avoidance systems, and entirely fly-by-wire controls, with no hydraulic or manual backups. When the test program was brought to an end in 2000, the AFTI project had contribued significantly to more advanced F-16 variants, the F-22 Raptor, and the F-35 Lightning II. Afterwards, it was donated to the National Museum of the USAF at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio.
Since the NMUSAF already has a F-16A on display (in Thunderbird colors), it was something of a surprise to see one in the Experimental Aircraft Gallery. The AFTI F-16's differences are readily seen: the extended fuselage spine (similar but not as thick as the F-16E/F/I), and the FLIR infrared sensor at the wing root. It is painted in standard USAF F-16 camouflage, aside from the bright blue test colors. "Power By Wire" refers to its entirely fly-by-wire microprocessor flight controls, while the JSF patch on the tail refers to the F-35 project.
The Space Shuttle in the background is not a real Shuttle--it is one of several full-scale mockups built for ground training.
Looks like N-G's Broad-Area Maritime Surveillance test ship is now pulling double-duty for N-G's bid for the renewed Aerial Common Sensor program.
The X-34 Technology Testbed Demonstrator being delivered to NASA Dryden FRC. The X-34 will demonstrate key vehicle and operational technologies applicable to future low-cost reusable launch vehicles. 16 April 1999
NASA Armstrong Fact Sheet: X-34 Advanced Technology Demonstrator
NASA's X-34 program was initiated in 1996 to provide a low-cost advanced technology flight demonstration test bed vehicle for space access and to demonstrate a streamlined management approach with a rapid development schedule and limited testing.
Initiated and managed by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, the program's objective was to build and demonstrate a space access vehicle with greater reliability than was currently available, while reducing the cost of launching payloads into orbit from $10,000 per pound to about $1,000 per pound.
To accomplish this, the craft had several unique features: lightweight composite airframe structures; reusable composite propellant tanks, tank insulation; advanced thermal protection systems capable of surviving subsonic flights through inclement weather; integrated low-cost avionics, including differential Global Positioning System and Inertial Navigation System; and integrated automated vehicle health monitoring and checkout.
A completely new rocket motor, the reusable Fastrac engine, was to be the X-34's power. It was designed and developed by Marshall Space Flight Center engineers and built by NASA's industry partners.
The unmanned X-34 was expected to fly at speeds up to eight times the speed of sound and reach altitudes of approximately 50 miles before descending to a controlled landing on a runway, similar to landings performed by the space shuttles. Three airframes were planned, designated A-1, A-2, and A-3, but only two airframes were completed before the project was canceled.
Following initial testing by the builder, the first X-34 arrived at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, CA, in the late 1990s to begin a series of captive-carry and unpowered flights that would lead to actual powered test flights. The craft was to have an automatic landing system, linked to GPS, enabling it to fly a mission profile and land itself.
The first X-34 captive carry flight, using Orbital Sciences Corporation's Lockheed L-1011 as the mothership, took place on June 29, 1999. NASA and its partner completed two more captive-carry flights later that same year. The vehicle never flew again.
A joint NASA/Orbital Sciences Corporation review of the project in 2000 revealed the need to redefine the project's approach, scope, budget and schedule. Among risks identified were inadequate system testing, single-string avionics, and the lack of auto-land validation. To ensure safety and mission success of the X-34 would have required increased government technical insight, hardware testing and integrated systems assessments.
As a result, the projected cost of completing the X-34 program at an acceptable level of risk rose significantly above the planned budget. NASA determined that the benefits to be derived from continuing the X-34 program did not justify the cost, and that Space Launch Initiative (SLI) funds should be applied to higher priority needs.
In March 2001 NASA announced that no funds for the X-34 program under the SLI would be provided, and the cooperative agreement between NASA and Orbital Sciences Corp. of Dulles, Va., for the X-34 program expired on March 31, 2001. The two completed X-34s and components for the third vehicle were transferred in 2002 to the U.S. Air Force and placed in long-term storage pending use for potential future testing or display at the Edwards Air Force Base museum.
X-34 Specifications & Features:
Length: 58.3 feet
Wingspan: 27.7 feet
Weight unfueled: 18,000 lb
Fuel: LOX/RP-1, 30,000 lb
Main propulsion: 1 Marshall-designed Fastrac engine
Thrust: 60,000 lb
Maximum speed: Mach 8
Maximum altitude: approximately 50 miles
All composite primary and secondary structure
Autonomous flight control, including approach and landing
Final revenue flight for VH-OJU "Lord Howe Island," operating a one-off trip to LAX from Sydney (SYD / YSSY) using flight number QF 99. Reportedly, this airplane is due to become Rolls-Royce's new engine testbed.
Rep. Frank Lucas and University of Oklahoma President James Gallogly, along with about 25 congressional staff members visited the National Weather Center on Thursday, March 21. Their brief tour included the NOAA Storm Prediction Center, NOAA National Weather Service Norman Forecast Office, and the NOAA Hazardous Weather Testbed.
Workers attend a cryogenic insulation training session on Nov. 6, 2018, at the Cryogenics Laboratory at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The training is for personnel who will be working to insulate pipes on the mobile launcher (ML). The ML is equipped with cryogenic fluid lines that will deliver hydrogen and oxygen to NASA's Space Launch System rocket. The lines must be kept well-insulated to maintain temperatures cold enough to keep fluids in a liquid state. In a new process, workers are learning how to pack spaces between pipes with aerogel granules in the same manner as they will on the ML. Photo credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky
CTA Flxible bus 8499, a one-of-a-kind testbed from 1960, now part of CTA's heritage fleet. Seen here in operation in the Loop during the big 75th anniversary celebration 10/1/22. www.transitchicago.com/heritagefleet/
James Fesmire, Ph.D., left, NASA lead engineer for the Cryogenics Testbed, holds a training session on Nov. 6, 2018, at the Cryogenics Laboratory at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The training is for personnel who will be working to insulate pipes on the mobile launcher (ML). The ML is equipped with cryogenic fluid lines that will deliver hydrogen and oxygen to NASA's Space Launch System rocket. The lines must be kept well-insulated to maintain temperatures cold enough to keep fluids in a liquid state. In a new process, workers are learning how to pack spaces between pipes with aerogel granules in the same manner as they will on the ML. Photo credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky
Once again I catch this bird with the sun on the boring side. Honeywell's engine testbed returning to Phoenix Sky Harbor after a late morning test flight.
BAC 111-401AK One Eleven (cn 090) Another Westinghouse testbed over the numbers for 33L. Originally N5044 of American Airlines, and then G-AXCK with Dan-Air London. Taken 10/85
Workers attend a cryogenic insulation training session on Nov. 6, 2018, at the Cryogenics Laboratory at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The training is for personnel who will be working to insulate pipes on the mobile launcher (ML). The ML is equipped with cryogenic fluid lines that will deliver hydrogen and oxygen to NASA's Space Launch System rocket. The lines must be kept well-insulated to maintain temperatures cold enough to keep fluids in a liquid state. In a new process, workers are learning how to pack spaces between pipes with aerogel granules in the same manner as they will on the ML. Photo credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky
Workers practice during a cryogenic insulation training session on Nov. 6, 2018, at the Cryogenics Laboratory at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The training is for personnel who will be working to insulate pipes on the mobile launcher (ML). The ML is equipped with cryogenic fluid lines that will deliver hydrogen and oxygen to NASA's Space Launch System rocket. The lines must be kept well-insulated to maintain temperatures cold enough to keep fluids in a liquid state. In a new process, workers are learning how to pack spaces between pipes with aerogel granules in the same manner as they will on the ML. Photo credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky
Workers attend a cryogenic insulation training session on Nov. 6, 2018, at the Cryogenics Laboratory at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The training is for personnel who will be working to insulate pipes on the mobile launcher (ML). The ML is equipped with cryogenic fluid lines that will deliver hydrogen and oxygen to NASA's Space Launch System rocket. The lines must be kept well-insulated to maintain temperatures cold enough to keep fluids in a liquid state. In a new process, workers are learning how to pack spaces between pipes with aerogel granules in the same manner as they will on the ML. Photo credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky
Boeing 737-683
cn: 28297 / ln: 30
ff: 02-03-1998 N1786B
02-03-1998 N35135 rr Boeing testbed for C of A for the B737-600 series
21-01-1999 SE-DNS SAS "Signe Viking" config CY112
28-07-2001 LN-RRY rr SAS "Signe Viking"
02-2005 Painted in SAS Braathens colours as the first 736, and opf SAS Braathens from 01-04-2005 (allthough AoC change to CNO was officially made 20-04-2006 for LN-RRY ).
01-07-2007 LN-RRY SAS Norge "Signe Viking", op in SAS Braathens ciolours,
cfr photo as it departs from rwy 19L in september 07.
SAS Norge colour update was not before 12-2008 (!)
01-10-2009 Scandinavian Airlines - SAS tfd, "Signe Viking" config CY120
Again: LN-RRY did not get updated to std SAS colours before 2013 (.... )
07-08-2019 wfu and std ENGM/OSL, after 20,5 years in SAS service
27-08-2019 Departed ENGM/OSL at 13:20 pm as SK9121 to St. Athan EGSY/DGX for part-out and scrap
Handley Page HP.115 XP841 at the Fleet Air Arm Museum, Yeovilton.
The HP.115 was a testbed aircraft built in the early 1960's as part of the development program for the supersonic transport (SST) aircraft which would eventually become Concorde. It was designed to test the low speed handling characteristics of the tailless delta wing configuration.
This was the sole HP.115 built and flew for the first time in August 1961 from RAE Bedford, and continued in service through to 1974. In 1964 it was joined in the Concorde development program by the BAC 221 (modified Fairy Delta 2) which was used for research in the high speed regime and which is also displayed alongside the HP.115 at at Yeovilton.
The HP.115 was powered by a single Bristol Siddeley Viper turbojet and featured a 75 degree sweep delta wing with similar planform and aerofoil section expected to be used on the full size SST. It also had a fixed landing gear. The canister under the wing and u-shaped black pipe extending from it over the wing leading edge is the smoke generator, which allowed airflow over the wing to be observed.
The success of the AC-47 Spooky COIN aircraft in Vietnam led to consideration given to an upgraded version in a larger, newer aircraft—the AC-47s already approaching 30 years old during the war. The C-130 was the natural choice, and in 1967 a JC-130A testbed was modified as a gunship. It was initially given the callsign Super Spooky, but later changed to Spectre. After successful operational trials over both South Vietnam and the Ho Chi Minh Trail in Laos, several more C-130As and C-130Es were modified to Project Spectre standard, mounting four GAU-2/A 7.62mm Minigun gatling cannons and four M61A1 Vulcan 20mm gatling cannons. A few were in turn modified by removing two of the Vulcans in favor of two Bofors 40mm cannon for use against armored targets under Project Surprise Package.
Besides their heavy weaponry, the AC-130s also had a comphrensive electronics suite, consisting of night vision equipment, FLIR, improved avionics and navigation equipment, and a digital fire-control system. In addition, AC-130s also carried a modified MAD sensor called Black Crow, which allowed the gunships to detect spark plugs used by North Vietnamese trucks. Following the end of the Vietnam War, the USAF retired all other gunship designs but kept the AC-130 in service, standardizing them as the AC-130H with two Vulcans, a single Bofors, and a M102 105mm howitzer, as the gatlings and the 40mm cannon had proven inadequate against hardened targets (such as tanks) or area attacks.
This proved to be a prescient choice, as AC-130s have seen service in every war fought by the United States since Vietnam: Grenada, Panama, both Gulf Wars, Bosnia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, and Libya. During the Panama operation, Spectre crews successfully decapitated Panamanian Defense Force leadership by destroying the PDF’s headquarters, while they were instrumental in stopping an Iraqi armored column during the Battle of Khafji. In Afghanistan in 2001, AC-130s were the first USAF aircraft to see action, and proved so devastating in their first combat, the Battle of Konduz, that the city fell the next day to Northern Alliance forces without a shot. The Spectre’s absence has contributed to battles: the lack of gunship support in the 1993 Battle of Mogadishu, Somalia, was one of the contributing factors to the debacle the battle became.
The Spectre has been continually improved, and current USAF units use AC-130H/U variants. The AC-130U deletes the two Vulcans in favor of a single trainable GAU-12/A Equalizer 25mm gatling cannon, and has a much more advanced sensor suite over the H model. The “U-Boats” use an APQ-180 synthetic aperature radar and GPS-guided fire control, and can attack two targets simutaneously with twice the ammunition storage of the AC-130H. Increasing scarcity of Bofors parts has led to studies for a replacement weapon. It is also planned in the near future to retire the AC-130H for a new version, the AC-130J, based on the MC-130J Combat Shadow II.
The effect of the AC-130 in any form is devastating; no camp or unit defended by Spectres has ever been overrun by an enemy force. The guns of a Spectre can place a bullet on every square foot of a football field every second until the ammunition runs out. The only real weakness of the AC-130 is its vulnerability to ground fire, though most threats to the Spectre from light antiaircraft fire are usually eliminated quickly, while heavier flak can be defeated by escorts. Spectres carry a range of powerful ECM and countermeasures against SAMs, but aside from shoulder-fired SAMs, AC-130s rarely operate in such a high-threat environment and never in areas where enemy fighters could intercept them. Currently, the USAF has a single wing of AC-130s, with AC-130Hs being slated for retirement soon, while the AC-130U will serve for some years to come.
Dad took this picture during the rainy 1976 Bicentennial airshow at Malmstrom AFB. This was the first time we saw a AC-130, especially up close with the ramp open. I'm not sure of the aircraft (it may be 69-6577, which was retired in 2014), but it belonged to the 1st Special Operations Wing, based at Hurlburt Field, Florida.
This is from my "Stupid Airplanes of the Luftwaffe" collection. Huma's 1/72 Junkers Ju-287 FSW testbed represents a highly unlikely design that was actually built and flown towards the end of World War 2.
Panel: Testbeds and Open Innovation in the Public Sector
Speakers: David Clark, Takuya Hirai, Nadia Calviño, Raymond Knops, Veronika Remišová, Marten Kaevats
Photos by Aron Urb
Interesting Royal Navy vessels in and around No.2 Basin, HMNB Portsmouth.
On the outside wall is HMS Severn (P282), a batch one River Class OPV. She is painted in a Western Approaches camouflage scheme, from WW2.
Inside are three P2000 / Archer class patrol boats and two BAE Systems Fast Interceptor / Insertion Craft. These are fast and stealthy boats used by the Special Boat Service. (SBS).
The larger 'triangular' shaped vessel, top right, is XV Patrick Blackett (X01) an experimental ship used by the Royal Navy as a testbed for new technologies, including unmanned underwater vehicles and unmanned surface vehicles. One of these can be seen at her stern.
Another 'autonomous' vessel can be seen bottom left
The success of the AC-47 Spooky COIN aircraft in Vietnam led to consideration given to an upgraded version in a larger, newer aircraft—the AC-47s already approaching 30 years old during the war. The C-130 was the natural choice, and in 1967 a JC-130A testbed was modified as a gunship. It was initially given the callsign Super Spooky, but later changed to Spectre. After successful operational trials over both South Vietnam and the Ho Chi Minh Trail in Laos, several more C-130As and C-130Es were modified to Project Spectre standard, mounting four GAU-2/A 7.62mm Minigun gatling cannons and four M61A1 Vulcan 20mm gatling cannons. A few were in turn modified by removing two of the Vulcans in favor of two Bofors 40mm cannon for use against armored targets under Project Surprise Package.
Besides their heavy weaponry, the AC-130s also had a comphrensive electronics suite, consisting of night vision equipment, FLIR, improved avionics and navigation equipment, and a digital fire-control system. In addition, AC-130s also carried a modified MAD sensor called Black Crow, which allowed the gunships to detect spark plugs used by North Vietnamese trucks. Following the end of the Vietnam War, the USAF retired all other gunship designs but kept the AC-130 in service, standardizing them as the AC-130H with two Vulcans, a single Bofors, and a M102 105mm howitzer, as the gatlings and the 40mm cannon had proven inadequate against hardened targets (such as tanks) or area attacks.
This proved to be a prescient choice, as AC-130s have seen service in every war fought by the United States since Vietnam: Grenada, Panama, both Gulf Wars, Bosnia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, and Libya. During the Panama operation, Spectre crews successfully decapitated Panamanian Defense Force leadership by destroying the PDF’s headquarters, while they were instrumental in stopping an Iraqi armored column during the Battle of Khafji. In Afghanistan in 2001, AC-130s were the first USAF aircraft to see action, and proved so devastating in their first combat, the Battle of Konduz, that the city fell the next day to Northern Alliance forces without a shot.
The Spectre has been continually improved, and current USAF units use AC-130H/U variants. The AC-130U deletes the two Vulcans in favor of a single trainable GAU-12/A Equalizer 25mm gatling cannon, and has a much more advanced sensor suite over the H model. The “U-Boats” use an APQ-180 synthetic aperature radar and GPS-guided fire control, and can attack two targets simutaneously with twice the ammunition storage of the AC-130H.
The effect of the AC-130 in any form is devastating; no camp or unit defended by Spectres has ever been overrun by an enemy force. The guns of a Spectre can place a bullet on every square foot of a football field every second until the ammunition runs out. The only real weakness of the AC-130 is its vulnerability to ground fire, though most threats to the Spectre from light antiaircraft fire are usually eliminated quickly, while heavier flak can be defeated by escorts. Spectres carry a range of powerful ECM and countermeasures against SAMs, but aside from shoulder-fired SAMs, AC-130s rarely operate in such a high-threat environment and never in areas where enemy fighters could intercept them. Currently, the USAF has a single wing of AC-130s, with AC-130Hs being slated for retirement soon, while the AC-130U will serve for some years to come.
55-0014 was built originally as a standard C-130A transport for the 483rd Troop Carrier Wing at Ashiya and Tachikawa, Japan. In 1968, it was converted to an AC-130A Spectre and was assigned to the 16th Special Operations Squadron at Ubon RTAFB, Thailand, where it operated against North Vietnamese forces on the Ho Chi Minh Trail in Laos and Cambodia; it was named "Jaws of Death," a name it would retain until the end of its career.
After its Vietnam service, "Jaws" was transferred to the 919th SOG of the Air Force Reserve at Duke Field, Florida, where most of the AC-130As ended up by the late 1970s. It was due for retirement by the beginning of the First Gulf War (Operation Desert Storm) in 1991, and was one of several 919th AC-130As sent to the theater in Feburary of that year. It flew 23 missions during its month in combat over Kuwait and Iraq, including over the infamous "Highway of Death" near Basra. In 1995, "Jaws" was retired with the rest of the A-models, and was donated to the Museum of Aviation at Robins AFB, Georgia.
55-0014 is displayed in the gunship gray scheme used by AC-130s in the 1990s and presently; AC-130As were retrofitted with later four-bladed propellers rather than the three-bladed ones used by the early C-130As. It carries the Spectre nose art used by the AC-130 fleet to this day, with 23 camels for mission markers (these are not the numbers of camels killed by the aircraft!).
It's interesting that, a few days after photographing 55-0014, I got a picture of 54-1623, another AC-130A, this one on display up the road at Dobbins AFB. The two aircraft's careers parallel each other: both were converted at the same time to gunships, both served in Vietnam and Desert Storm, and both were retired to museums in Georgia.
20th July 2007., Phoenix Sky Harbour Airport, Arizona, United States
When this picture was taken this Boeing 720 was the last flying example of its kind.
First flown on 15th September 1961, it changed hands a few times and flew in European skies with Maersk Air of Denmark as OY-APZ
Instead of being preserved in a museum, it was broken up over almost 5 hours on 21st June 2008, as this time-lapse video shows ...
Palomar Observatory is a privately owned astronomical observatory located in San Diego County, California (USA), 145 kilometers (90 mi) southeast of Los Angeles, California, in the Palomar Mountain Range. It is owned and operated by the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) located in Pasadena, California. Research time is granted to Caltech and its research partners, which includes the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and Cornell University.
The observatory operates several telescopes, including the famous 200-inch Hale Telescope (5.1 m) and the 48-inch Samuel Oschin Telescope (1.2 m). In addition, other instruments and projects have been hosted at the observatory, such as the Palomar Testbed Interferometer and the historic 18-inch Schmidt telescope (0.46 m), Palomar Observatory's first telescope, dating from 1936.
History
Hale's vision for large telescopes and Palomar Observatory
Astronomer George Ellery Hale, whose vision created the Palomar Observatory, built the world's largest telescope four times. He published an article in the April 1928 issue of Harper's Magazine called "The Possibilities of Large Telescopes". This article contained Hale's vision for building what was to become the 200-inch Palomar reflector; it was an invitation to the American public to learn about how large telescopes could help answer questions relating to the fundamental nature of the universe. Hale hoped that the American people would understand and support his project. In fact the 200-inch telescope was the most important telescope in the world from 1949 until 1992 when the Keck I telescope (at approximately 10 metres (390 in)) on Mauna Kea in Hawaii became the world's largest.
Hale followed this article with a letter to the International Education Board (later absorbed into the General Education Board) of the Rockefeller Foundation dated April 28, 1928, in which he requested funding for this project. In his letter, Hale stated:
"No method of advancing science is so productive as the development of new and more powerful instruments and methods of research. A larger telescope would not only furnish the necessary gain in light space-penetration and photographic resolving power, but permit the application of ideas and devices derived chiefly from the recent fundamental advances in physics and chemistry."
Etymology
The word palomar is a Spanish term dating from the time of Spanish California that means pigeon house (in the same sense as henhouse). The name may be in reference to the large shoals of pigeons that can be seen during the spring and autumn months atop Palomar Mountain, or reminiscent of an old pigeon-raising facility built there by the Spaniards.
The Hale Telescope
The 200-inch telescope is named after astronomer George Hale. It was built by Caltech with a $6 million grant from the Rockefeller Foundation, using a Pyrex blank manufactured by Corning Glass Works. The telescope (the largest in the world at that time) saw first light January 26, 1949 targeting NGC 2261. The American astronomer Edwin Powell Hubble, perhaps the most important observer of the 20th century, was given the honor of being the first astronomer to use the telescope.
Astronomers using the Hale Telescope have discovered distant objects at the edges of the known universe called quasars and have given us the first direct evidence of stars in distant galaxies. They have studied the structure and chemistry of intergalactic clouds leading to an understanding of the synthesis of elements in the universe and have discovered thousands of asteroids. A one-tenth-scale engineering model of the telescope at Corning Community College in Corning, New York, home of the Corning Glass Works (now Corning Incorporated) was used to discover at least one minor planet, (34419) Corning †.
Architecture and design
Hale Telescope Dome
According to the Observatory's Public Affairs Office, Russell W. Porter was primarily responsible for the Art Deco architecture of the Observatory's buildings, most notably the dome of the 200–inch Hale Telescope. Porter was also responsible for much of the technical design of the Hale Telescope and Schmidt Cameras, producing a series of cross-section engineering drawings that are considered among the finest examples of such work.] Porter worked on the designs in collaboration with many engineers and Caltech committee members. The gleaming white building on Palomar Mountain that houses the 200–inch Hale Telescope is considered by many to be "The Cathedral of Astronomy".
The Palomar Observatory is an active research facility. However, parts of it are open to the public during the day. Visitors can take self-guided tours of the 200-inch telescope daily from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Guided tours of the 200-inch Hale Telescope dome and observing area are available Saturdays and Sundays from April through October. Details are available at the Observatory's web site. There is a visitor's center and a gift shop on the grounds. Behind-the-scenes tours for the public are offered through the community support group, Friends of Palomar support group. Periodic tours are also organized by the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center in San Diego. The observatory is located off State Route 76 in northern San Diego County, California, is two hours' drive from downtown San Diego, and three hours' drive from central Los Angeles ( UCLA, LAX airport ).
During the middle of the Vietnam War, the USAF faced a number of procurement problems. Losses to the F-105 Thunderchief community were mounting to the point that it was thought the aircraft might become “extinct,” while the F-111 Aardvark, which was to replace the F-105, was having numerous teething troubles. Another problem was that the Sandy escort units for rescue helicopters were forced to use Korean War-era ex-US Navy A-1 Skyraiders, which, while good aircraft, were not getting any younger. The USAF needed an aircraft that could replace the A-1 and supplement the F-105 until the F-111 finally reached maturity—and it needed the aircraft immediately, and at low cost. After reviewing a number of options, the USAF settled on the US Navy’s A-7A Corsair II. The Navy’s F-4B had been adapted to USAF standards, and it was felt that the A-7 could be as well. An A-7A was bailed back to LTV for conversion to the USAF-specific A-7D variant.
Though externally little different to the Navy A-7A, the A-7D was actually a significant upgrade. Since the reliability of the TF30 engine was a concern, the D model would use a license-built version of the Rolls-Royce Spey turbofan; as the USAF did not use the 20mm cannon that the Navy preferred, these were deleted in favor of the more common M61 Vulcan 20mm gatling cannon. The refuelling probe was deleted in favor of the USAF-plug style refuelling receptacle. The first A-7D flew in September 1968. So successful was the A-7D in testing that the Navy would adopt a modified version as the A-7E.
Though at first reluctant to fly yet another Navy retread, especially one that was considered remarkably ugly—pilots quickly nicknamed the A-7 the SLUF (Short Little Ugly Fellow)—it soon gained a reputation for easy flying and, like its Navy “brother,” pinpoint bombing accuracy. In wing strength by 1970, it was soon deployed to Vietnam for combat operations, mainly to replace not just the A-1 but also the aging F-100 Super Sabre. USAF pilots found that the A-7 was not well suited to tropical operations: hot-and-high conditions meant that the A-7D took ten miles to generate enough power to climb above 500 feet, while a poor brake system caused it to be a real danger in landing on slick runways.
During Operation Linebacker, the A-7s went to North Vietnam, but only sparingly and usually in as Sandy escorts, which the Corsair II excelled at. They were far more effective in South Vietnam. Alongside Navy A-7Es, USAF A-7Ds brought the curtain down on the Vietnam War by participating in the Mayaguez rescue operation in May 1975, and were among the very last USAF aircraft to leave Southeast Asia. They had complied the best loss ratio of any combat aircraft during the war, with only six A-7Ds lost in over 12,000 missions.
With the post-Vietnam retirement of the A-1, F-100, and F-105, the A-7D was left as one of the few USAF attack aircraft, but the USAF planned to end procurement by 1975; postwar budget cuts led to additional Corsair II production to take up the slack. The F-111 had become a long-range strike aircraft, but for anticipated operations in Central Europe, the USAF preferred the development of the A-10 Thunderbolt II over A-7s. As a result, the USAF divested itself of most of its A-7s to the Air National Guard—somewhat to the chagrin of active-duty units, as ANG units began winning the coveted Gunsmoke bombing trophy with their A-7s. A minor upgrade mounting the Pave Penny laser designator to A-7Ds began in 1979.
With the A-10 in large numbers in theater, the USAF chose not to deploy ANG A-7s to the First Gulf War, though small numbers had seen action in Grenada and the 1989 invasion of Panama. At the end of Operation Desert Storm, when the Navy retired their last two squadrons of A-7Es, the USAF decided to do the same, and the A-7D rapidly disappeared from active units in favor of the F-16; the last left USAF service in 1993. A number were passed on to Greece, where it lasted until 2014. Of 1569 A-7s produced, just under half were USAF A-7Ds or two-seat A-7Ks, and today about 18 survive as museum aircraft.
A-7D 71-0342 started off with the 23rd Tactical Fighter Wing at England AFB, Louisiana, arriving just too late to see service in Vietnam. It was not apparently with the 23rd long before it was transferred to first the 57th Fighter Weapons Wing at Nellis AFB, Nevada, then the 355th TFW at Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona. When the 355th reequipped with the A-10, 71-0342 was transferred almost literally across the street to the 162nd TFG (Arizona ANG) at Tucson International Airport. It would remain there until 1990, when it returned to an active-duty USAF unit, the 6512th Test Squadron at Edwards AFB, California, where it served as a testbed. When the A-7D was generally retired from USAF service, 71-0342 was retired in 1992 and donated to the Fairchild AFB, Washington airpark. Later it was declared surplus to Fairchild's needs, and was donated to the Miracle of America Museum in Polson, Montana--quite the journey across the United States.
71-0342 is something of a centerpiece of the Miracle of America Museum, as it is easily seen from US 93, and, along with an ex-Navy T-33B on the opposite corner of the museum lot, is the best preserved of the six or so aircraft at the museum. That said, it has still seen better days: the canopy is badly fogged, the gray and green camouflage carried by many USAF A-7s in the twilight of their careers is beginning to fade, and rust has started to make its appearance. Nonetheless, it still is very much recognizable as an A-7D. It is also displayed with weaponry: an AGM-65 Maverick, a Mk 20 Rockeye cluster bomb, and possibly a Mk 77 napalm canister. An AIM-9 Sidewinder is displayed on the opposite side.
My friend Nate and I visited the Miracle of America Museum in September 2020, and it's definitely worth a stop. I remembered seeing this A-7 when Dad and I visited back in 2004, but this was the first time I had managed to get back since. I apologize for the fence being in the way, but the back lot of the museum is so crowded, it's impossible to get a truly decent shot of the aircraft.
The C111 was a series of experimental automobiles produced by Mercedes-Benz in the 1960s and 1970s. The company was experimenting with new engine technologies, including Wankel engines, Diesel engines, and turbochargers, and used the basic C111 platform as a testbed. Other experimental features included gullwing doors and a luxurious interior with leather trim and air conditioning.
(Wikipedia)
Boeing 737-683
cn: 28297 / ln: 30
ff: 02-03-1998 N1786B
02-03-1998 N35135 rr Boeing testbed for C of A for the B737-600 series
21-01-1999 SE-DNS SAS "Signe Viking" config CY112
28-07-2001 LN-RRY rr SAS "Signe Viking"
02-2005 Painted in SAS Braathens colours as the first 736, and opf SAS Braathens from 01-04-2005 (allthough AoC change to CNO was officially made 20-04-2006 for LN-RRY ).
01-07-2007 LN-RRY SAS Norge tfd, "Signe Viking", op in SAS Braathens colours,
SAS Norge colour update was not before 12-2008 (!)
01-10-2009 Scandinavian Airlines - SAS tfd, "Signe Viking" config CY120
Again: LN-RRY did not get updated to std SAS colours before 2013 (!)
07-08-2019 wfu and std ENGM/OSL, after 20,5 years in SAS service
27-08-2019 Departed ENGM/OSL at 13:20 pm as SK9121 to St. Athan EGSY/DGX for part-out and scrap
Earlier this year I was lucky enough to catch the GE Aircraft Engines 747 doing testing at Colorado Springs. Today I spotted the Honeywell International 720 test aircraft. Not sure what they are here to test, but check out the protrusions on the side of the aircraft in the next photo.
Nicky Fox, director of NASA’s Heliophysics Division, discusses the Space Environment Testbeds payload during a NASA prelaunch technology TV broadcast for the Space Test Program-2 (STP-2) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on June 23, 2019. The payload’s four experiments will reveal the ways local space weather affects spacecraft hardware. It is one of four NASA payloads scheduled to launch on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Launch Complex 39A beginning at 11:30 p.m. EDT on June 24, 2019. STP-2 is managed by the U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center. Photo Credit: NASA/Frank Michaux
The fourth of the 1950s era “Century Series,” the F-104 Starfighter was designed around one single element: speed. Clarence “Kelly” Johnson, head of Lockheed’s famous “Skunk Works” factory, had interviewed US Air Force pilots during the Korean War, seeking their input on any new fighter. Since the pilots reported that they wanted high performance more than anything else, Johnson returned to the United States determined to deliver exactly that: a simple, point-defense interceptor marrying the lightest airframe to the most powerful engine then available, the superb General Electric J79.
When Johnson offered the L-098 design to the USAF in 1952, the service was so impressed that they created an entire competition for the aircraft to be accepted, ostensibly as a F-100 Super Sabre replacement. The Lockheed design had the clear edge, though both North American’s and Northrop’s design went on to be built themselves—the North American F-107A Ultra Sabre and the Northrop T-38 Talon. The USAF purchased the L-098 as the F-104A Starfighter. The design changed very little from initial design to prototype to operational aircraft, which was done in the astonishing time of two years.
When the first F-104As reached the USAF in 1958, pilots quickly found that it was indeed a hot fighter—too hot. The Starfighter’s design philosophy of speed above all else resulted in an aircraft with a long fuselage, T-tail for stability, and small wings, which were so thin that special guards had to be put on the leading edges to avoid injuring ground personnel. Because of its small wing, the F-104 required a lot of runway, and blown flaps (which vents airflow from the engine over the flaps to increase lift) were a necessity; unfortunately, the airflow system often failed, which meant that the F-104 pilot would be coming in at a dangerous rate of speed. Because it was feared that a pilot who ejected from a F-104 would never clear the tail, a downward-ejection seat was fitted, but after killing over 20 pilots, the seat was retrofitted with a more reliable, upward-firing type. The design also was not very maneuverable in the horizontal, though it was difficult to match in the vertical. Its shape earned it the moniker “Missile With a Man In It” and “Zipper.”
One thing pilots did not complain about was its speed—the listed top speed of the F-104 was Mach 2.2, but this was because above that the fuselage would melt. The J79 was a near flawless engine that gave the Starfighter an excellent thrust-to-weight ratio; uniquely, the intake design of the Starfighter gave the engine a bansheelike wail. So superb was the F-104 at level speed and climbing that NASA leased several as trainers for the X-15 program, and in setting a number of speed and time-to-climb records.
If the F-104 had gotten a mixed reception at best in the USAF, Lockheed felt that it had potential as an export aircraft. Beating out several excellent British and other American designs in a 1961 competition, every NATO nation except France and Great Britain bought F-104s and manufactured their own as the F-104G; Japan also license-built Starfighters as F-104Js, while still more were supplied to Pakistan and Taiwan. Just as in USAF service, accident rates were incredibly high, particularly in West German and Canadian service—Germany lost 30 percent of its initial batch, and the Canadians over half. Worries that the F-104 was too “hot” for pilots usually transitioning from the F-86 were ignored, and later it was learned why: German, Dutch, and Japanese politicians later admitted to being bribed by Lockheed into buying the Starfighter.
Its high accident rate earned such nicknames as “Widowmaker,” “Flying Coffin,” and “Ground Nail.” Pakistani pilots simply called it Badmash (“Criminal”) and the Japanese Eiko (“Glory,” inferring that it was the easiest way to reach it). German pilots joked that the quickest way to obtain a F-104 was to buy a patch of land and wait.
Nonetheless, once pilots learned how to tame the beast, the accident rates eased somewhat, and NATO pilots discovered that the Starfighter excelled as a low-level attack aircraft: fitted with bomb racks, the F-104 was remarkably stable at low altitude and high speed, and Luftwaffe pilots in particular found that they could sneak up on a target, launch a simulated attack, and be gone before ground defenses could react. The Italians in particular loved the F-104, building their own as the F-104S: these aircraft were equipped with multimode radar and armed with AIM-7 Sparrow and Aspide radar-guided missiles, making them a superb interceptor. Though most NATO nations reequipped their F-104 units with F-16s, F-18s, or Tornados beginning in 1980, the Italian F-104S fleet was continually upgraded and soldiered on until final retirement in 2004. 2578 F-104s were built, mostly F-104Gs; today over 150 survive in museums, with at least ten flyable examples, making it one of the best preserved of the Century Series.
56-0790 was delivered to the USAF in 1957, but never entered service with a frontline unit. Instead, it was assigned to the Air Force Flight Test Center at Edwards AFB, California, for high-speed flight tests, and to act as a chase plane for NF-104s going for speed and altitude records. In 1959, it was returned to Lockheed for a year and converted to a F-104G for testing tactical nuclear weapons delivery. It was returned to AFFTC in 1960, and in 1966 was transferred to NASA directly to replace the NASA F-104 that had been destroyed in a midair collision with the XB-70 Valkyrie. It was reregistered as N820NA, and would perform much the same duties as it had with the USAF, including chase plane duties for the Space Shuttle and YF-12 speed tests. It was retired in 1977 and donated to the Flight Test Museum at Edwards in 1985, and moved to Century Circle in 2007.
I've seen pictures of N820NA, and my stepfather built a model of the aircraft for the Malmstrom AFB Museum, but I had no idea this was that aircraft. (Adding to the confusion is that the Museum of Flight in Seattle has a F-104 painted as N820NA.) While at the Flight Test Museum, N820NA was displayed in its NASA colors, but when it was moved to Century Circle, it was refinished as 56-0790--rather plain, in my opinion, as compared to NASA colors, and giving little hint to its identity as one of the more famous chase Starfighters. The California sun has not been kind either, so it remains to be seen how Edwards will display the aircraft when it moves into their new museum in 2022.
What would become arguably the most successful fighter aircraft since World War II started modestly, and like many late 20th-Century fighter designs, as a result of lessons learned in the Vietnam War. Among those lessons was that large, heavy fighters were not always the answer: the F-4 Phantom II, while a superlative aircraft, had often found itself outclassed by smaller, more nimble North Vietnamese MiG-17s and MiG-21s. The call for the US Air Force to develop its own lightweight fighter was spearheaded by fighter pilot and air combat theorist John Boyd. At first, Boyd’s proposals were dismissed by the USAF, who feared losing funding for the F-15 Eagle then in development. Boyd and others were able to convince the USAF of the usefulness of a light, cheap fighter as a complement to the heavy, expensive F-15, and finally the USAF agreed to issue a requirement for a Lightweight Fighter (LWF)—though with no guarantee that it would actually buy it.
Both General Dynamics and Northrop responded with designs, which would become the YF-16 and YF-17 Cobra. The first YF-16 was rolled out in December 1973, and first flew in January of the next year—accidentally, as the prototype veered off the runway and the test pilot felt it safer to takeoff rather than try to steer it back. The YF-16 won the flyoff against the YF-17, and the USAF selected it to go into service as the F-16 Fighting Falcon. Simultaneously, the YF-16 won a flyoff for the Multinational Fighter; the MNF was planned to be the successor to a number of aircraft in NATO service, and the competition between the YF-16, YF-17, France’s Mirage F.1M, and the SEPECAT Jaguar was fierce. Once selected, production of the F-16 would be vastly expanded, with it not only being produced in the United States, but also in the Netherlands and Belgium as well (to be followed later by Turkey and South Korea). In a short time, the F-16 had come a long way.
Production F-16s differed from the prototype by being slightly larger and heavier, though the initial production batch retained the “small tail” tailplanes of the prototype. Though heftier than the prototype, the F-16 retained the basis of Boyd’s ideal lightweight fighter: it was extremely maneuverable, to the point that a number of early F-16s crashed as the aircraft could take more than the pilot. Its maneuverability is due both to a favorable thrust-weight ratio and its deliberately unstable design: the F-16 was one of the first fighters to employ a wholly-fly-by-wire control system, with the hydraulic controls of older fighters being replaced by microprocessors controlled by a central computer. The microprocessors are able to make the dozens of decisions per second required by the design. For this reason, the F-16 is also known as the “Electric Jet.” General Dynamics had attempted to mitigate these effects on the pilot by reclining the ejection seat backwards and moving the control stick to the side. The pilot also has superb visibility due to the F-16’s bubble canopy.
The Fighting Falcon’s baptism of fire would not take long. Israel, which had been among the first to purchase the F-16, scored the type’s first air-to-air kill over Lebanon in 1981, as well as its first significant strike mission, the raid on Iraq’s Osirak reactor. In the following year, Israeli F-16s scored possibly as many as 30 victories over Syrian MiGs during the 1982 Lebanon War. Pakistani F-16s were to see limited action during the Soviet-Afghan War, shooting down 10 Afghani and Soviet aircraft that strayed into Pakistan’s airspace. For the United States, the F-16 would see its first action in the First Gulf War, though here the USAF used the Falcon’s large payload in strike missions; USAF F-16s saw no aerial action during this conflict.
By the early 1990s, the USAF relegated its F-16A models to the Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve, reequipping its units with later mark F-16Cs. Many of the ANG’s F-16As were upgraded to ADF standard. The last USAF F-16A left service around 2000; aircraft not placed in storage at AMARC in Arizona have been sold to other nations, while some are scheduled for conversion to QF-16 drones.
F-16As are among the most prolific fighters in the world, in service worldwide, flown by ten nations, three of which are in NATO. These aircraft (save those flown by Venezuela) have been significantly upgraded to F-16 MLU (Mid-Life Upgrade) standard, making them equivalent to F-16Cs. Besides Israeli and Pakistani kills in the type, a Dutch F-16AM shot down a Serbian MiG-29 during the Kosovo War in 1999. Other NATO F-16AMs have seen service over Bosnia, Kosovo, and Afghanistan. These older models of F-16s will remain in service until probably 2020 at least, to be replaced by the F-35A Lightning II.
An early Block 10A F-16A, 79-0402 was delivered to Hill AFB, Utah in 1981. It was modified to carry external cameras and other testing equipment, and used to test ordnance configurations and new weapons for the USAF's F-16s; as such, it was flown by test squadrons attached directly to the base, rather than the base's tenant unit, the 388th Fighter Wing. Somewhat unusually for a F-16 of the early 1980s, it was given not just one name, but two--79-0402 was known both as the "City of Roy" (for the local town of Roy, Utah) and "Little Precious Sweet 16." The names were carried on the ventral fins.
With most of the Block 10s being retired in the early 1990s, 79-0402 was also grounded in 1995. In honor of her long service as a test aircraft, "Little Precious" was mounted on a stand and became the main gate guard for Hill AFB, replacing an earlier F-4D Phantom II. She was removed in 2011 after being repainted in standard F-16 camouflage, replaced with a later F-16, and moved to the Hill AFB Museum. For a time, "Little Precious" was displayed as a standard F-16A, but in 2017, after being moved inside, she was repainted in testbed colors.
Seeing an F-16 painted differently from the standard gray scheme is always interesting, and 79-0402 has been nicely restored in her test colors of overall white, with red panels on the tail, horizontal stabilizers, wings, nose and ventral fins. As a test aircraft, "Little Precious" carried only "HAFB" on the tail rather than a tailcode. I updated my 2019 picture with this one in 2025, taken in Hill's new building.
formerly Leeds CT
Daimler CVG6-30 / Roe
517 (7517 UA)
Used as a Dennis-Voith demonstrator
Manchester 1978
Edwards AFB.
1974
The GE YJ-101 engines had never flown on another aircraft, even an aircraft used as a testbed. Thorough testing provided a very reliable engine right from the start.
However, if they had tested it with another aircraft, they may have found out that there was a thrust defency at altitude, something they did not admit to, until the YF-17 lost the competition. As good as the YF-17 was it still missed a couple of marks that contributed to the loss to the YF-16.
Northrop photo
British Airways Engineering Maintenance Base & Offices.
Technical Block A 'TBA'
Cranford Lane
TW6
Sir E. Owen Williams (1890-1969) 1950-55
English Heritage 'Grade II' listed (1268530)
Airbus A380-861
MSN 004 [Engine Alliance testbed]
F-WWDD 'VNO'
Airbus S.A.S.
Copyright © 2012 A380spotter. All rights reserved.
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory has teamed with 10 computing industry leaders to accelerate the development of powerful next-generation Linux clusters in a project dubbed Hyperion. Hyperion brings together Dell, Intel, Supermicro, QLogic, Cisco, Mellanox, DDN, Sun, LSI and RedHat to create a large-scale testbed for high-performance computing technologies critical to maintaining the aging U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile without underground nuclear testing, and industry’s ability to make petaFLOP/s (quadrillion floating operations per second) computing and storage more accessible for commerce, industry and research and development. Pictured here: Cindy Heer and Marc Stearman check on the Hyperion testbed. Photo by Jacqueline McBride/LLNL
A transporter moves an electronic testbed version of a U.S. Navy Trident D5 submarine-launched ballistic missile from NASA's Kennedy Space Center to the interactive test facility at the Naval Ordnance Test Unit, or NOTU, located at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station adjacent to the space center. The inert missile will be used to evaluate the new facility. The space center, which has transformed into a multi-user spaceport servicing numerous government and commercial launch vehicles, spacecraft and companies, retains numerous transportation hubs including the railway system that connects the center to the Florida mainland and the rest of the Florida East Coast railroad network. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
Palomar Observatory is a privately owned astronomical observatory located in San Diego County, California (USA), 145 kilometers (90 mi) southeast of Los Angeles, California, in the Palomar Mountain Range. It is owned and operated by the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) located in Pasadena, California. Research time is granted to Caltech and its research partners, which includes the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and Cornell University.
The observatory operates several telescopes, including the famous 200-inch Hale Telescope (5.1 m) and the 48-inch Samuel Oschin Telescope (1.2 m). In addition, other instruments and projects have been hosted at the observatory, such as the Palomar Testbed Interferometer and the historic 18-inch Schmidt telescope (0.46 m), Palomar Observatory's first telescope, dating from 1936.
History
Hale's vision for large telescopes and Palomar Observatory
Astronomer George Ellery Hale, whose vision created the Palomar Observatory, built the world's largest telescope four times. He published an article in the April 1928 issue of Harper's Magazine called "The Possibilities of Large Telescopes". This article contained Hale's vision for building what was to become the 200-inch Palomar reflector; it was an invitation to the American public to learn about how large telescopes could help answer questions relating to the fundamental nature of the universe. Hale hoped that the American people would understand and support his project. In fact the 200-inch telescope was the most important telescope in the world from 1949 until 1992 when the Keck I telescope (at approximately 10 metres (390 in)) on Mauna Kea in Hawaii became the world's largest.
Hale followed this article with a letter to the International Education Board (later absorbed into the General Education Board) of the Rockefeller Foundation dated April 28, 1928, in which he requested funding for this project. In his letter, Hale stated:
"No method of advancing science is so productive as the development of new and more powerful instruments and methods of research. A larger telescope would not only furnish the necessary gain in light space-penetration and photographic resolving power, but permit the application of ideas and devices derived chiefly from the recent fundamental advances in physics and chemistry."
Etymology
The word palomar is a Spanish term dating from the time of Spanish California that means pigeon house (in the same sense as henhouse). The name may be in reference to the large shoals of pigeons that can be seen during the spring and autumn months atop Palomar Mountain, or reminiscent of an old pigeon-raising facility built there by the Spaniards.
The Hale Telescope
The 200-inch telescope is named after astronomer George Hale. It was built by Caltech with a $6 million grant from the Rockefeller Foundation, using a Pyrex blank manufactured by Corning Glass Works. The telescope (the largest in the world at that time) saw first light January 26, 1949 targeting NGC 2261. The American astronomer Edwin Powell Hubble, perhaps the most important observer of the 20th century, was given the honor of being the first astronomer to use the telescope.
Astronomers using the Hale Telescope have discovered distant objects at the edges of the known universe called quasars and have given us the first direct evidence of stars in distant galaxies. They have studied the structure and chemistry of intergalactic clouds leading to an understanding of the synthesis of elements in the universe and have discovered thousands of asteroids. A one-tenth-scale engineering model of the telescope at Corning Community College in Corning, New York, home of the Corning Glass Works (now Corning Incorporated) was used to discover at least one minor planet, (34419) Corning †.
Architecture and design
Hale Telescope Dome
According to the Observatory's Public Affairs Office, Russell W. Porter was primarily responsible for the Art Deco architecture of the Observatory's buildings, most notably the dome of the 200–inch Hale Telescope. Porter was also responsible for much of the technical design of the Hale Telescope and Schmidt Cameras, producing a series of cross-section engineering drawings that are considered among the finest examples of such work.] Porter worked on the designs in collaboration with many engineers and Caltech committee members. The gleaming white building on Palomar Mountain that houses the 200–inch Hale Telescope is considered by many to be "The Cathedral of Astronomy".
The Palomar Observatory is an active research facility. However, parts of it are open to the public during the day. Visitors can take self-guided tours of the 200-inch telescope daily from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Guided tours of the 200-inch Hale Telescope dome and observing area are available Saturdays and Sundays from April through October. Details are available at the Observatory's web site. There is a visitor's center and a gift shop on the grounds. Behind-the-scenes tours for the public are offered through the community support group, Friends of Palomar support group. Periodic tours are also organized by the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center in San Diego. The observatory is located off State Route 76 in northern San Diego County, California, is two hours' drive from downtown San Diego, and three hours' drive from central Los Angeles ( UCLA, LAX airport ).
DERA's 'Active Control Technology' test-bed BAe Harrier T.4 XW175 in the static park at the RNAS Yeovilton 'Air Day' on 15th July 2000.
With it's lineage going back to the 'Flying Bedstead' the unique VTOL Harrier was developed from the earlier P.1127 and then the Kestrel. XW175 was the second two-seater Harrier ever to fly and has been used for the VAAC programme for many years down at Boscombe Down.
For more on this unique aircraft's testing check out the following link for an insight by John Farley, BAe's Chief Test-pilot on the Harrier programme:
myweb.tiscali.co.uk/hawkerassociation/hanewsletters/hanew...
Scanned 35mm transparency
Best viewed on black by pressing L
Reshade 0.15 Extreme Eyecancer Mod Testbed 0.1A
Blackfire's mod + TOD + Reli2
Ini tweaks + POM enabled
Lite TOD, light shadows, nohud, dof %25-50, adjusted brightess, contrast and gamma + exposure
80º FoV
SMAA (sweetfx+master effect) FXAA (custom settings)
Tonemap
Lensdirt
Vibrance
GPC Dof
Chromatic Aberration
Grain + noise
Letterbox
I don't even know why. I was too busy thinking if I could stack all these effects I didn't stop to think if I should.
Siemens testbed Vectron 193 971 on its way to Kontiomäki in Northern Finland for tests on a test track at Laajakangas on 19.4.2015. These photos were taken at Malmi near Helsinki.
iCub è un robot androide costruito dall'Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT) di Genova. Alto 104 cm e pesante 22 kg, la sua estetica e funzionalità ricordano quelle di un bambino di circa tre anni.
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iCub is a 1 metre high humanoid robot testbed for research into human cognition and artificial intelligence.
It was designed by the RobotCub Consortium of several European universities and built by Italian Institute of Technology, and is now supported by other projects such as ITALK.[1] The robot is open-source, with the hardware design, software and documentation all released under the GPL license. The name is a partial acronym, cub standing for Cognitive Universal Body. Initial funding for the project was €8.5 million from Unit E5 – Cognitive Systems and Robotics – of the European Commission's Seventh Framework Programme, and this ran for sixtyfive months from 1 September 2004 until 31 January 2010.
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Sito ufficiale IIT:
www.iit.it/en/research/departments/icub-facility.html
Official website IIT:
www.iit.it/en/research/departments/icub-facility.html
Wikipedia italiano:
Wikipedia english:
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Picture taken during the Festival of communication in Camogli September 14, 2014
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Please don't use this image on websites, blogs or other media without my explicit permission. © All rights reserved
You can see my most interesting photo's on flickr: -------> FLICKR click here
You can see my web site as Nikon Photographer Advanced: -------> NPA click here
The NOAA Hazardous Weather Testbed is a joint project of the National Weather Service and the National Severe Storms Laboratory. The HWT provides a conceptual framework and a physical space to foster collaboration between research and operations to test and evaluate emerging technologies and science for NWS operations. The HWT was borne from the “Spring Program” which, for the last decade, has been used to test and evaluate new forecast models, techniques, and products to support NWS Storm Prediction Center forecast operations.
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'.
With the piston-engined Lockheed EC-121 Warning Stars in USAF service beginning to show their age, the USAF issued a dual requirement in 1966 for a jet-powered airborne early warning system and an advanced radar to go with it. Both Boeing and McDonnell Douglas submitted designs based on their successful airliners—the 707 and the DC-8 respectively—while Hughes and Westinghouse competed for the radar.
Because the USAF was familiar with the 707 series thanks to its use of the C-137 Stratoliner and KC-135 Stratotanker, the Boeing proposal was chosen, with two aircraft designated as pre-production EC-137D testbeds. The radar was more problematic, as both companies had submitted superb designs, but eventually Westinghouse won the competition due to its use, revolutionary at the time, of digital programmable battle computers. Though the 30-foot diameter rotating radar dome looked a little incongruous mounted atop the fuselage, it was no detriment to performance and was a huge improvement over that carried by the EC-121; it combined the two radars of the Warning Star into one single piece of equipment and had much better look-down capability as compared to the earlier aircraft.
The interior of the aircraft was fitted with control stations, giving the USAF unmatched battle airspace management capability, thanks to datalinks that connected the E-3 into integrated systems already in place, namely in NATO Central Europe. The APY-1 radar can detect aircraft out to 400 miles, which encompassed most of the European continental airspace, as well as provide some overwater detection capabilities. The range and loiter capability of the E-3 allowed it to remain well behind the battle line for hours on circular “tracks."
After an uneventful testing period with the EC-137Ds, the aircraft was placed in full production as the E-3A Sentry AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control System) in 1975, with the first aircraft entering service in 1977. Throughout the Cold War, USAF E-3s—soon joined by 18 Sentries built specifically for NATO use, based in Germany with Luxembourgian registration—maintained steady patrols from Iceland to Turkey, keeping electronic eyes on Warsaw Pact forces behind the Iron Curtain. The greatest achievement that can be given to these aircraft is probably that their mere presence may have acted as a deterrent, as an all-out surprise attack on NATO bases would have been detected early.
The first combat use of the E-3 would come in 1991, during the First Gulf War with Iraq. USAF and Saudi Arabian E-3s were among the first aircraft to arrive for the buildup to war in Operation Desert Shield, and these aircraft continually kept an eye on Iraqi deployments throughout the six-month prelude to war. This was to come in handy when hostilities began, as the E-3 crews could anticipate Iraqi reactions and vector fighters, mainly F-15 Eagles, to intercept Iraqi fighters before a strike force was threatened. Of the 41 confirmed kills made by Coalition forces in Desert Storm, 38 were done with the assistance of E-3 crews.
The performance of the Sentry made an impression on air forces around the world, resulting in France buying E-3Fs; the United Kingdom had already placed an order for Sentry AEW.2s to replace both the ancient Shackleton AEW.2s in service and the failed Nimrod AEW.1.
While the E-3 had proven itself over Iraq, its electronics were getting dated: by 1995, personal computers had more storage space than the E-3’s 1977-technology machines. This was rectified in a long upgrade program that upgraded all of the Sentry’s electronic systems, as well as giving it enhanced surveillance capability by adding ESM sensors in bulges along the fuselage sides and underneath the nose: besides being able to vector fighters to airborne intercepts and coordinate airstrikes on ground targets, upgraded E-3Cs can now also detect enemy radars and send Wild Weasel SEAD aircraft against them. The newest upgrade, completed in 2001, added GPS to the E-3’s capability. The USAF is currently considering re-engining the E-3 fleet with more fuel efficient high-bypass turbofans, already done in the RAF, French, Saudi, and NATO Sentries. Of the 68 E-3s built or converted, 65 remain in service, three having been lost in accidents.
This Sentry represents an E-3A in its original, “clean fuselage” form. Wearing the patches of two defunct USAF commands—Tactical Air Command and Air Defense Command—this aircraft, like all USAF E-3s in the continental United States, would be assigned to the 552nd Airborne Warning and Control Wing (now the 552nd Air Control Wing), based at Tinker AFB, Oklahoma.