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Arriva London Ltd.:
DW411 was retrofitted with a new driveline, as a testbed for what would become the Wrightbus StreetDeck. The original 6-cyl Cummins ISBe engine was replaced with the Mercedes-Benz (Daimler) OM934. The vehicle caught fire shortly after arrival to the London fleet in 2011, so instead of being written off, she was given a new lease of life, and a slightly different identity!
VDLbus DB300 (Daimler) /
Wrightbus Gemini 2DL (10.5m)
H41/24D - 2011
Clapton Common, Stamford Hill (A107)
Saturday 1st August 2015
This is/was the testbed aircraft for the 777 engine, shown in the #2 position.
03/03/1970 - Pan Am - N744PA
09/03/1992 - General Electric - N747GE
Airbus A380-861
MSN 004 [Engine Alliance testbed]
F-WWDD 'VNO'
Airbus S.A.S.
Copyright © 2012 A380spotter. All rights reserved.
Boeing's Maritime Surveillance Aircraft testbed machine. This aircraft was one of Boeing's own corporate jet fleet and is testing the systems fit for the Challenger 605 MSA. The MSA will carry similar camera, radar, communications and electronic sensor systems to those fitted to the P-8 Poseidon, as a lower cost alternative.
Photographed taking off from Farnborough, the landing gear just starting to cycle.
Sometime in the next several years, the Lowline project intends to take over an abandoned subway stop and turn it into a green space. They'll pipe sunlight into the space using special tubes and grow all sorts of plants. This space served as a testbed and publicity vehicle.
Airbus A380-841
MSN 001
F-WWOW '001 GD' [Prototype/Rolls-Royce Trent testbed]
Airbus S.A.S.
Copyright © 2014 A380spotter. All rights reserved.
A prototype mobile suit, which serves as the intermediary design between the 1st-generation GN-000 0 Gundam and the 3rd-generation GN-001 Gundam Exia. It is a testbed for a number of experimental technologies, incorporated in pursuit of a greater general utility versus the 0. The GN Drive control mechanism differs from that of 0 Gundam, and benchmarks with both higher output and higher instability. The two ear-like protrusions that extend backwards from the sides of the head structure appear to be a design feature unique to the Astraea, but their purpose is thus far unknown. Later on while testing the GN-001 Gundam Exia's future armaments Gundam Astraea's face has been covered with a black mask to disguise the fact that it's a Gundam till the day Celestial Being reveals itself.
(info from gundam wiki)
..apologies for the poor focus.
Airbus A380-861
MSN 004 [Engine Alliance testbed]
F-WWDD 'VNO'
Airbus S.A.S.
Reference shot.
Taken with my Nokia N86 8MP mobile.
The USAAF began research into a jet bomber as early as 1943, issuing a specification for an all-jet bomber that could fly at 550 mph at 45,000 feet with a range of 3500 miles. Boeing, Consolidated, North American and Martin all submitted proposals, all with conventional straight wings and wing-mounted jets. Boeing’s proposal had six engines in the forward fuselage to lower drag, which the USAAF rejected as a fire hazard. Work stalled on the project until after the war ended in Europe and American engineers discovered German research into swept wings. This solved a myriad of problems, and Boeing was able to move the engines into pods beneath the wing, with four of the engines in two pylon-mounted pods and the other two slung under the wingtips. The USAAF accepted this design as the XB-47.
The first XB-47 Stratojet was flown in December 1947, and was so revolutionary that test pilots were apprehensive about flying it. The wing was very thin to reduce drag, and would flex as much as five feet up and down; because of the thinness of the wing, the landing gear was mounted in tandem in the aircraft, in a position that the XB-47 would be at the right angle for takeoff while sitting still. It was also fast, exceeding the original specification by 50 mph. In early test flights, the XB-47 regularly outran chase aircraft.
If anything, the Stratojet was too fast: it had such a high landing speed that Boeing had to attach a dragchute, and more or less invent anti-lock brakes to slow it down. In contrast, it was sluggish if attempting a fully-loaded takeoff, and eventually (in the B-47E), water injection was added along with provision for Jet-Assisted Take Off (JATO) rocket bottles to get it into the air more efficiently. Once in the air, however, the B-47 flew magnificently, and its speed was such that it only had twin 20mm cannon in the tail for defense.
Though it did not have the bombload of the earlier B-36 Peacemaker and its successor, the B-52 Stratofortress, the B-47 bridged the gap between the two. To compensate for lesser range (mitigated by aerial refueling), B-47s were based in a ring around the Soviet Union, from freezing Thule AB in Greenland to sweltering Sidi Slimane in Morocco. As Soviet defenses became more potent, the B-47 force was switched from high-level bombing to low-level penetration, using the Stratojet’s speed to dash to the target, snap upwards into a climb, and literally toss a nuclear bomb onto its target; besides giving defenses less time to react, it also bought time for the B-47 to escape the nuclear shockwave. It also shortened the lifespan of the Stratojet force, leading to an extensive refit program in 1958 to repair the damage done to wing spars and airframes.
By the early 1960s, the stress of low-level flight and newer designs, as well as improvements in missile design, had rendered the B-47 largely obsolete. The last bomber B-47Es were retired by 1965, followed by the RB-47H and EB-47L by 1969. Only a handful of test aircraft remained until the type’s final grounding in 1977. Of 2032 B-47s built, only 32 survive today in museums.
B-47E 53-2104 was delivered to the USAF's 310th Bomb Wing at Smoky Hill AFB, Kansas in 1954, and remained there until it was modified to a NB-47E experimental testbed in either 1960 or 1965, possibly operating from Edwards AFB, California, and in 1969 was loaned to the US Navy. A pylon was installed outboard of the left wing main engine pod, and various engines were mounted on the pylon for testing; 53-2104 carried a TF34 turbofan that was being tested for the S-3 Viking program. When it was finally retired in 1977, 53-2104 was the last operational B-47 in the world. It was stored for a time at MASDC before being donated to the Pueblo Weisbrod Museum in the 1980s.
Today, 53-2104 shows a little wear and tear from being out in the open, but is still in good shape. (There has even been talk of restoring it to flight status, given when it was finally grounded, though this would be extremely expensive to do.) Interestingly enough, it still technically belongs to the US Navy. According to one of the docents, the museum found some spare tires for the aircraft from USAF stocks, and planned to install them on 53-2104, but learned they had to have Navy permission before doing so!
As a NB-47E, it lacks tail guns, and the engine test pylon can be made out between the left wing's engines, though it's hard to see against the trees. This picture was taken in June 2020.
Airbus A380-861
MSN 004 [Engine Alliance testbed]
F-WWDD 'VNO'
Airbus S.A.S.
Copyright © 2010 A380spotter. All rights reserved.
Airbus A380-861
MSN 004 [Engine Alliance testbed]
F-WWDD 'VNO'
Airbus S.A.S.
Copyright © 2010 A380spotter. All rights reserved.
Airbus A380-861
MSN 004 [Engine Alliance testbed]
F-WWDD 'VNO'
Airbus S.A.S.
Copyright © 2010 A380spotter. All rights reserved.
The ZELL programme was developed at Edwards AFB by Lockheed to launch a functioning Starfighter from a stationary position. It would have been used in the case of a pre-emptive nuclear strike by Warsaw Pact forces on German airfields. Over US $25M was spent on the programme which transferred to Germany with many successful launches from an air base near Munich. It was cancelled in 1966 due to the operational difficulties of transporting & loading a ZELL Starfighter, low crosswind tolerance and a lack of range for the returning aircraft if all the usual runways had been destroyed. This is the only ZELL-equipped Starfighter in the world and carries the markings of the original German test machine.
The Luftwaffen Museum, located at the former RAF Gatow airfield, is an excellent large collection covering all aspects of German military aviation. Unfortunately, only one of seven hangers is actually open to the public (Hanger three). Hanger 1 is the restoration area, but Hanger 7 clearly has a "50 years of the Luftwaffe" display inside with some good aircraft, but is no longer open to the public. Other interesting aircraft can be glimpsed inside hanger 6 too through windows and doors.
Its a real pity, because what is on display is excellent.
Argonne's wheeled Modular Automotive Technology Testbed (MATT) is outfitted with scalable motor components, extensive instrumentation and a rapid prototyping control system to allow testing of plug-in hybrid electric vehicle systems. Pictured are (left) Ted Bohn, Neeraj Shidore and Henning Lohse-Busch, all of Argonne's Center for Transportation Research.
Read the full story here »
View more about Argonne's transportation research at www.transportation.anl.gov.
Photo courtesy of Argonne National Laboratory.
Reshade 0.18.1 Framework Extreme Eyecancer Mod Testbed 0.2B
Blackfire's mod + TOD + Reli2
Ini tweaks + POM enabled
Lite TOD, light shadows, nohud, dof %25-50, adjusted brightess, contrast and gamma + exposure. MSAA Disabled. SSAO enabled.
80º FoV,
Custom helmet mesh lens texture (reworked)
------
Framework Config
SweetFX
{ SMAA
Tonemap
Vibrance
Film Grain
Letterbox }
McFX
{ Fisheye CA }
GemFX
{ LensDirt
Ambient Light + ambient light controls for Bloom, Lens and vibrance + advanced eye adaptation }
& Improved performance again, render mode 8bit
Not seeing war service this B-17 was sold as scrap in 1947 and sold on to Pratt & Witney for use as a flying testbed. On completion of this work the airframe was donated to the Connecticut Aeronautical Historic Association until an October 1979 tornado blew a Grumman Albatross into this B-17! Using fuselage parts from 44-85813 she was restored to flight and did so in 2004. Operated by the Liberty Foundation she toured to the UK in 2008 as seen above. An engine fire in 2011 forced the aircraft to land in a field at Sugar Grove, Illinois, and whilst the occupants were able to safely evacuate, the airframe was extremely badly damaged by fire. The usuable remains are still under rebuild at this time utilising the forward fuselage and parts of a donor B-17, 44–83387.
ex Thunderbird Aviation Douglas ERA-3B Skywarrior
144832/ N162TB, one of several converted test machines awaiting their fate at Mojave, Ca 18th October 1996
Sad to think most succumbed to the scrapman!
35mm transparency scanned with a Plustek 7600i Ai film and neg scanner, photo-shop and then Neat Image
Avro RJ100 G ETPS flying testbed departing RIAT Fairford for Boscombe Down 22/07/24. Initially delivered to BA Cityflyer Express as G BZAY in Apr 2000, ETPS but operated by QinetiQ.
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
Airbus A380-861
MSN 004 [Engine Alliance testbed]
F-WWDD 'VNO'
Airbus S.A.S.
Copyright © 2010 A380spotter. All rights reserved.
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
Goodbye, Signe!
Gulfstream's G800 prototype/testbed diverted into MSP today on account of poor weather at CID; sadly the large probe up front has been removed, but was interesting to see a couple of window plugs with some sort of equipment installed.
N800G (SAV-MSP) Feb 12, 2025
Airbus A380-861
MSN 004 [Engine Alliance testbed]
F-WWDD 'VNO'
Airbus S.A.S.
Copyright © 2010 A380spotter. All rights reserved.
Given that jet fighters might be tricky to fly for pilots used to flying propeller aircraft, let alone new trainee pilots, Lockheed proposed in 1945 that a two-seat conversion trainer be built for the P-80 Shooting Star. The US Army Air Force rejected the idea on cost grounds, citing that the T-6 Texan already in service would be sufficient enough. After a series of fatal crashes of the P-80, the USAAF revisited Lockheed’s proposal, which included extending the P-80’s fuselage by three feet, extending the canopy backwards, and adding a second cockpit with full flight controls. This aircraft, designated first TP-80C on its maiden flight in March 1948, then TF-80C, then finally T-33A, would go on to be far more successful than the fighter it was based on.
The T-33 was designed to be simple, robust, and easy to fly for trainee pilots, though it was intended at first to be only used for propeller-qualified pilots to transition into jets. As propeller aircraft were mostly phased out of the independent US Air Force’s inventory, the service made the decision to go to an “all-jet” training syllabus, and as a result pilots began flying T-33s in flight school.
The “T-Bird,” as it became known, could still be unforgiving in certain circumstances, and was less forgiving as the T-37 Tweet or the T-38 Talon that would eventually replace it. It also was an aircraft for practical jokers: the in-and-outs of the T-33 was something only experienced pilots knew well, and trainees could be subjected to all kinds of tricks by the instructor pilot. The T-33 was, however, eminently reliable. Even after it was withdrawn from training units in the mid-1950s, it soldiered on as a “hack” aircraft for units, a familiarization aircraft, advanced trainer, and aggressor aircraft, especially in Air Defense Command and Air National Guard units.
Well into the 1980s, T-33s could be found in frontline USAF units, and it was said that, when the last F-16 was retired, the pilot would hitch a ride home in a T-Bird. While this did not prove true, it was not off by much—the last USAF T-33s did not leave the inventory until around 1988.
Because of its robustness and cheap flyaway price, the T-33 was also popular with foreign air forces: no less than 41 nations operated T-33s at one time or another, and it was license-built in Japan by Kawasaki and in Canada as the CT-133 Silver Star, which differed from US-built aircraft only in using a Rolls-Royce Nene engine. 6557 T-33s were built overall, and today over 80 and possibly as many as a hundred survive, with many still flyable.
51-4120 was built as a standard T-33 trainer, but would never serve in that capacity. Soon after it was delivered to the USAF, it was converted in the early 1950s to a NT-33A testbed with the nose of a F-94A Starfire, and was one of the few T-33s that was air-refuelable. When the Starfire testing period ended, it was loaned to the Cornell University Aeronautical Laboratory (now Calspan) and further converted to a flying simulator. Using a variety of different instruments and flight controls, 51-4120 could be programmed to simulate everything from the X-15 to the F-22. It contributed to the development of every frontline USAF aircraft of the 1980s, including the secret F-117 project.
When it was retired from service in April 1997, 51-4120 was among the last T-33s left in the USAF inventory, and the oldest aircraft still on strength, having served the USAF continually for 45 years. Because of its impressive record, the NT-33 made its final flight to Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, and went on permanent display at the National Museum of the USAF.
Today it is on display in the Experimental Aircraft Gallery next to the YF-23 Black Widow, still carrying 1950s era tail registration markings; it remains in bare metal with international orange panels for testing purposes.
An Airbus A330-900 testbed taxiing to parking at Milwaukee's General Mitchell International Airport. This aircraft (F-WTTE, MSN 1813) had just completed a 3hr 14min test flight near Traverse City, Michigan. This airframe is being used to test aerodynamic performance, engine performance, icing, and airline operations.
Delivered to Pan Am the day after I was born, when this photo was taken it made her 32 years old and one of the oldest flying 747's in the world. She is still flying in 2011 at 39 years old. Sadly her time is now up and GE have purchased an ex JAL 744 to takeover as their testbed aircraft.
Note, this 741 is due in Hong Kong today (March 27th 2011).
This is scan with a cheap printer from a print.
Some of you (who haven't been bored to tears by this Germanium Fever of mine) may remember this guy. Señor Fuzzy. This was my initial Fuzz Face pedal testbed. Equipped with sockets so I could test out transistor pairings. I tried it with some silicon transistors in Q2 that had a much higher gain than the germanium transistor in Q1 and it sounded kind of horrible. Here it is as I tried it over the last couple of days with some 2N5087 transistors to see how Q2 sounded using silicon in the mid-200 range.
You know, I had a photography teacher years ago who used to accuse me of trying to, "Reinvent the Wheel" all the time. Because I couldn't just read about something and move on. I have to go try to make all the mistakes made in the past to see for myself how things work. It's probably a learning disability of some kind, but it's the only way I learn. Anyway, this is kind of like that. I could probably read about someone else's unsuccessful idiocy, but I've gotta do the dummy-work on my own.
BTW, my wife had to help me find this. It's a month old and I already had no idea where I'd put it.
The "Hendrix" mod of replacing the 470R with a 1K really jacks up the gain of Q1. BTW, I obviously skip replacing the 8.2K resistor with an 18K. No need to jack up the gain of Q2 when I'm running hot silicon. I had a 77 hFE AC128 in Q1 and a 246 hFE silicon 2N5087 in Q2 and it was still a raging fuzz machine. I could clean it up by backing down the volume at the guitar, but not with the Fuzz control. Still too bright, too. Had to mess with the treble bleed cap arrangement. A 500 picofarad cap across the Collector and Base of Q2 truncated the silicon brittleness. That seemed to make Q2 just a louder-maker, which is very useful, IMO.
I may be getting to a really cool intersection here. Most AC128 transistors fall into the 60-85 hFE range. So getting a really hot one for Q2 is tough and even getting one hot enough for the standard circuit at Q1 can be trying. Not to mention that the high gain germaniums are frequently hiss machines.
But with the, "Hendrix" mod effectively lowering the bar for Q1 and these 2N5087 silicon transistors turning out to be usable for Q2 (when their response is truncated a bit), this turns into a pretty viable project that can be repeated consistently without spending a fortune on rare transistors.
These 2N5087 transistors are about 50 cents each. The AC128 germanium transistors are closer to being $4 or so each, but that's still pretty reasonable. These pedals can happen at a pretty decent price point if I decide to build some. And of course, this lesson can be used to make the Tone Benders a little meaner, too.
It's kind of amazing how there's an invisible line you cross and you're in Fuzzmax territory, but the inverse is also obviously true. Like, I switched to a 65 hFE AC128 in Q1 and suddenly I had to use both the neck and bridge pickup to get a real fuzz sound. "Not enough gain, Jefe!" But it's really easy to cross into the, "TOO MUCH GAIN, JEFE!!!" territory, too.
This seems to be a very interesting way to build these. They don't mask the sound of your instrument or amp, they clean up when you back off the Volume pot in your guitar and yet you aren't invested in rare transistors and you aren't packing a pair of heat-sensitive germanium transistors that can interact in horrible ways as the temperature changes. Having one more stable component helps make this more useful, as well as more practical. Sounds great, too.
29th November 2012 - The BAE Systems’ Jetstream, known as ‘The Flying Testbed’, is an aerial laboratory. It's a unique aircraft which has been developed to be flown by pilots or as an Uninhabited Air Vehicle (UAV). Racks of computers and control systems in the rear of the aircraft, together with satellite communications, mean it can fly as if it were a UAV without any input from the pilots. This year it is trialing a range of new technologies to be developed under the ASTRAEA programme, including what is believed to be the world’s first autonomous weather avoidance system, in addition to ‘sense and avoid’ technologies and an autonomous emergency landing system.
Airbus A380-861
MSN 004 [Engine Alliance testbed]
F-WWDD 'VNO'
Airbus S.A.S.
Copyright © 2010 A380spotter. All rights reserved.
From my bought collection of images. 3109 - RUP309V - was the testbed for conversion to DAF power. It was later fitted with high backed moquette seats.
The former platform for the Aldwych branch shuttle at Holborn, closed in 1994. Throughout the last 30 years, both stations at either end of the branch have been used for testing advertising and numerous other designs — to the right is a sign advertising the station as St Paul’s and to the left a Virgin Media advert from 2007. Note the original signal cabin down the Aldwych end of the platform — one of two Leslie Green platform-end examples surviving (the other inaccessible at York Road).
I created these illustrations for a video that promotes Philadelphia as the perfect testbed for the google high speed fiber initiative. The video will go live on Friday, but I thought I'd get them up ahead of time. To find out more about the public-private partnership in Philly to promote the City of Firsts as a site for this project, please visit gigabitphilly.com And if you have ideas for how Philly could use an ultra high bandwidth data network that connects individuals, industry, and government, please submit your ideas here. You can also show your support by coming to the press conference with Philadelphia Mayor tomorrow (Thursday, March 25) at 2:30 at City Hall on the 2nd floor. A high speed data network in Philly has the potential to accelerate our medical, film production, university, technology, financial services, and community sectors by letting people share massive amounts of data rapidly---that means rich interactivity, problem solving, and communication. Gigabit Philly Videos GigabitPhilly Site GigabitPhilly Facebook Fanpage Follow GigabitPhilly on Twitter Can you imagine Gigabit Philly? ---Jonny Goldstein
General Electric Boeing 747-121(A/SF) / N747GE (cn 19651/25) / The General Electric classic 747 engine testbed (line number 25, previously registered N744PA)
I created these illustrations for a video that promotes Philadelphia as the perfect testbed for the google high speed fiber initiative. The video will go live on Friday, but I thought I'd get them up ahead of time. To find out more about the public-private partnership in Philly to promote the City of Firsts as a site for this project, please visit gigabitphilly.com And if you have ideas for how Philly could use an ultra high bandwidth data network that connects individuals, industry, and government, please submit your ideas here. You can also show your support by coming to the press conference with Philadelphia Mayor tomorrow (Thursday, March 25) at 2:30 at City Hall on the 2nd floor. A high speed data network in Philly has the potential to accelerate our medical, film production, university, technology, financial services, and community sectors by letting people share massive amounts of data rapidly---that means rich interactivity, problem solving, and communication. Gigabit Philly Videos GigabitPhilly Site GigabitPhilly Facebook Fanpage Follow GigabitPhilly on Twitter Can you imagine Gigabit Philly? ---Jonny Goldstein