Understated and versatile, the Cora sandals feature delicate leather straps and a flat sole that blends ease with intention. A warm-weather staple, thoughtfully crafted for both casual days and relaxed elegance.

For LaraX, Meshbody Legacy, Reborn and Momma.

TP to Thalia Heckroth

Marketplace

The 'Most Versatile' challenge is set by the Compositionally Challenged Group. Loads of thanks to Linda for setting these themes.

In this month's challenge, 10 member entered 92 photos, and 8 members completed all 10 themes. These members, in play order are: Maria, Sandi, Dave, Linda, Lesley, Simone, Sharon and Andy.

This montage features at least one photo per person, and one photo per theme. To view the complete challenge and entries, click Here.

Normally, I use two photo slots for the title and group icon. But! I thought that with 10 players and 8 maximums, I could use all 18 slots - 2 pics from each of the maximums, and 1 each from the other players. This won't be the new norm, as I miss having the group icon. The title and icon together, breaks up the regimentation, and creates a counter point. It seems that we can have two much regimentation after all.

Swiss-British postcard by News Productions, Baulmes / Stroud, no. 56738, 1996. Photo: Sam Shaw. Caption: Lee Remick, on the Bowery, New York City, 1960.

Lee Remick (1935-1991) was an American actress admired for her versatility and beauty. Her best-known films include A Face in the Crowd (1957), Anatomy of a Murder (1959), Wild River (1960), and Days of Wine and Roses (1962).

Lee Ann Remick was born in Quincy, Massachusetts, in 1935. Her parents were Francis Edwin Remick, a department store owner, and Margaret Patricia Waldo, an actress. Remick studied acting at Bernard College in Manhattan New York and at the Actor's Studio, known for its method acting. Only 16, she made her Broadway debut in 1953 with 'Be Your Age' alongside Conrad Nagel. Remick went on to appear in musicals such as 'Oklahoma!' by Oscar Hammerstein and Richard Rodgers and 'Show Boat'by Oscar Hammerstein and Jerome Kern. From 1953, she was seen on television in live dramas. She made her film debut in A Face in the Crowd (Elia Kazan, 1957). While making the film in Arkansas, Remick stayed with a local relative where she practised her baton tricks daily so she could portray herself credibly as a majorette alongside her opposite actor Walter Matthau. Her next role was also southern: Eula Varner, the hot-blooded daughter-in-law of Will Varner (Orson Welles) in The Long, Hot Summer (Martin Ritt, 1958). She emerged as a real star in the role of an apparent rape victim whose husband is tried for killing her attacker in Anatomy of a Murder (Otto Preminger, 1959), where she starred opposite James Stewart. Then she reunited with director Elia Kazan for The Wild River (1960) with Montgomery Clift.

Lee Remick played the leading female role alongside Yves Montand in Sanctuary (Tony Richardson, 1961). Remick was nominated for an Oscar for her portrayal of Jack Lemmon's alcoholic wife in The Days of Wine and Roses (Blake Edwards, 1962). In 1962, under contract to Fox, she was approached to replace Marilyn Monroe in George Cukor's Something's Got to Give. The idea was finally abandoned. When Marilyn died, the film remained unfinished. Remick appeared in the 1964 Broadway musical 'Anyone Can Whistle', with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book and direction by Arthur Laurents, which ran for only a week. Remick's performance is captured on the original cast recording. This began a lifelong friendship between Remick and Sondheim, and she later appeared in the 1985 concert version of his musical 'Follies'. Lee received a Tony Award nomination in 1966 for her portrayal of a blind woman terrorised by a gang of drug smugglers in the play 'Wait Until Dark', written by Frederick Knott, under the direction of Arthur Penn and co-starring Robert Duvall. It was a big success and ran for 373 performances. In the film version, Wait Until Dark (Terence Young, 1967), Audrey Hepburn played the role of the blind Suzy Hendrix. Remick starred in No Way to Treat a Lady (Jack Smight, 1968) with Rod Steiger and George Segal, The Detective (Gordon Douglas, 1968) with Frank Sinatra, and Hard Contract (S. Lee Pogostin, 1969) with James Coburn In 1969, she left the USA to settle in London with her second husband, director Kip Gowens.

Lee Remick was married twice. Her first husband, with whom she had a son and a daughter, was Bill Colleran, an American television producer. Her second husband was the British film producer Kip Gowens. She appeared in the British comedy Loot (Silvio Narizzano, 1970). It is based on the play of the same name by Joe Orton and stars Richard Attenborough. She won Golden Globe Awards for the TV film The Blue Knight (1973), and for playing the title role in the miniseries Jennie: Lady Randolph Churchill (1974). For the latter role, she also won the BAFTA TV Award for Best Actress, and enormous popularity. In the cinema, she starred in films such as The Omen (Richard Donner, 1976) opposite Gregory Peck, one of the biggest hits of the year. Remick followed it up with leading actress roles in Telefon (Don Siegel, 1977), with Charles Bronson; The Medusa Touch (Jack Gold, 1978) with Richard Burton, and The Europeans (James Ivory, 1978), based on the novel by Henry James. With her husband Kip Gowens, she worked on a number of television movies including The Women's Room (1980), and Rearview Mirror (1984). In 1988 Lee Remick formed a production company with partners James Garner and Peter K. Duchow. Lee Remick died in 1991 in Los Angeles, California, at the age of 55 from the effects of kidney and liver cancer. A very weak, almost unrecognisable Lee made one of her last public appearances three months before her death, to receive her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, located at 6104 Hollywood Boulevard. She was cremated at Westwood Memorial Park. Her children, Kate (1959) and Matt Colleran (1961), sang the title song from one of her Broadway musical shows 'Anyone Can Whistle'.

Sources: Ed Stephan (IMDb), Wikipedia (French, Dutch, and English), and IMDb.

And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.

Instagram__heterotopia

Trying the new amazing 24mm Gmaster Sony lens. Extremely versatile and just perfect.

In Africa, where resources are much more scarce, recycling is a way of life and no scrap of material goes to waste. These are flattened strips of aluminum taken from the necks of discarded liquor bottles. Strung together they form this textile-like sculpture that recalls the woven and pieced designs of "kente", a traditional type of African Asante or Ewe royal cloth

Born in Ghana, El Anatsui currently lives in Nigeria. His work reflects his awareness of both the international contemporary art market and what he terms "classical" African art. Emerging as an artist during the vibrant West African post-independence art movements of the 1960s and 1970s, El Anatsui has gone on to receive international acclaim for his constantly evolving and highly experimental sculpture.

Photographed on display at the De Young Fine Arts Museum in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, California

This is a part of the series of the diving fishermen gathering mussels off the coast of Kerala.

The divers use this versatile wooden canoe called Catamaran for this activity. These are planks of curved wood which are lashed together and rowed with a 4 feet flat splint of bamboo.

The fishing catamarans remain out all night long in the deep seas . Here the catamaran is in the open sea but about 6-10 feet away from a huge rock face at the bottom of which the mussels are tethered. A most dangerous place to be as the sea water seethes and hurls itself in a periodic rhythm of fury. It is a fine art that these fishermen follow to time their dives with the rhythm of the breaking waves so that they do not get wiped out.

All shots taken on my recent trip to Kovalam, Kerala. Perched on the precarious rock face at about 0700-0830 AM

Dates

Taken on March 6, 2008 at 8.04AM IST (edit)

Posted to Flickr March 10, 2008 at 9.41PM IST (edit)

Replaced on Flickr March 10, 2008 at 1.08AM IST

Exif data

Camera Nikon D70

Exposure 0.004 sec (1/250)

Aperture f/7.1

Focal Length 130 mm

Exposure Bias 0 EV

Flash No Flash

DSC_1776 le cu exp sharpfill sat up crop

Belgian postcard, no. 950. Photo: Warner Bros.

American actress Eleanor Parker (1922-2013) appeared in some 80 films and television series. She was nominated three times for the Academy Award for Best Actress, for Caged (1950), Detective Story (1951) and Interrupted Melody (1955). Her role in Caged also won her the Volpi Cup for Best Actress at the Venice Film Festival. One of her most memorable roles was that of the Baroness in The Sound of Music (1965). Her biographer Doug McClelland called her ‘Woman of a Thousand Faces’, because of her versatility.

Eleanor Jean Parker was born in 1922, in Cedarville, Ohio. She was the daughter of Lola (Isett) and Lester Day Parker. Her family moved to East Cleveland, Ohio, where she attended public schools and graduated from Shaw High School. She appeared in a number of school plays. When she was 15 she started to attend the Rice Summer Theatre on Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts. After graduation, she moved to California and began appearing at the Pasadena Playhouse. There she was spotted by a Warners Bros talent scout, Irving Kumin. The studio signed her to a long-term contract in June 1941. She was cast that year in They Died with Their Boots On (Raoul Walsh, 1941), but her scenes were cut. Her actual film debut was as Nurse Ryan in the short Soldiers in White (B. Reeves Eason, 1942). She was given some decent roles in B films, Busses Roar (D. Ross Lederman, 1942) and The Mysterious Doctor (Benjamin Stoloff, 1943) opposites John Loder. She also had a small role in one of Warner Brothers' biggest productions for the 1943 season, the pro-Soviet Mission to Moscow (Michael Curtiz, 1943) as Emlen Davies, daughter of the U.S. ambassador to the U.S.S.R (Walter Huston). On the set, she met her first husband, Navy Lieutenant. Fred L. Losse, but the marriage turned out to be a brief wartime affair. Parker had impressed Warners enough to offer her a strong role in a prestige production, Between Two Worlds (Edward A. Blatt, 1944), playing the suicidal wife of Paul Henreid's character. She played support roles for Crime by Night (William Clemens, 1944) and The Last Ride (D. Ross Lederman, 1944). Then she got the starring role opposite Dennis Morgan in The Very Thought of You (Delmer Daves, 1944). She was considered enough of a ‘name’ to be given a cameo in Hollywood Canteen (Delmer Daves, 1944). Warners gave her the choice role of Mildred Rogers in a new version of Somerset Maugham's Of Human Bondage (Edmund Goulding, 1946), but previews were not favourable and the film sat on the shelf for two years before being released. She had her big break when she was cast opposite John Garfield in Pride of the Marines (Delmer Daves, 1945). However, two films with Errol Flynn that followed, the romantic comedy Never Say Goodbye (James V. Kern, 1946) and the drama Escape Me Never (Peter Godfrey, 1947), were box office disappointments. Parker was suspended twice by Warners for refusing parts in films – in Stallion Road (James V. Kern, 1947), where she was replaced by Alexis Smith and Love and Learn (Frederick De Cordova, 1947). She made the comedy Voice of the Turtle (Irving Rapper, 1947) with Ronald Reagan, and the mystery The Woman in White (Peter Godfrey, 1948). She refused to appear in Somewhere in the City (Vincent Sherman, 1950) so Warners suspended her again; Virginia Mayo played the role. Parker then had two years off, during which time she married and had a baby. She turned down a role in The Hasty Heart (Vincent Sherman, 1949) which she wanted to do, but it would have meant going to England and she did not want to leave her baby alone during its first year.

Eleanor Parker returned in Chain Lightning (Stuart Heisler, 1950) with Humphrey Bogart. Parker heard about a women-in-prison film Warners were making, Caged (John Cromwell, 1950), and actively lobbied for the role. She got it, won the 1950 Volpi Cup for Best Actress at the Venice Film Festival and was nominated for an Academy Award. She also had a good role in the melodrama Three Secrets (Robert Wise, 1950). In February 1950, Parker left Warner Bros. after having been under contract there for eight years. Parker had understood that she would star in a film called Safe Harbor, but Warner Bros. apparently had no intention of making it. Because of this misunderstanding, her agents negotiated her release. Parker's career outside of Warners started badly with Valentino (Lewis Allen, 1951) playing a fictionalised wife of Rudolph Valentino for producer Edward Small. She tried a comedy at 20th Century Fox with Fred MacMurray, A Millionaire for Christy (George Marshall, 1951). In 1951, Parker signed a contract with Paramount for one film a year, with an option for outside films. This arrangement began brilliantly with Detective Story (William Wyler, 1951) playing Mary McLeod, the woman who doesn't understand the position of her unstable detective husband (Kirk Douglas). Parker was nominated for the Oscar in 1951 for her performance. Parker followed Detective Story with her portrayal of an actress in love with a swashbuckling nobleman (Stewart Granger) in Scaramouche (George Sidney, 1952), a role originally intended for Ava Gardner. Wikipedia: “Parker later claimed that Granger was the only person she didn't get along with during her entire career. However, they had good chemistry and the film was a massive hit. “MGM cast her into Above and Beyond (Melvin Frank, Norman Panama, 1952), a biopic of Lt. Col. Paul W. Tibbets, Jr. (Robert Taylor), the pilot of the aircraft that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. It was a solid hit. While Parker was making a third film for MGM, Escape from Fort Bravo (John Sturges, 1953), she signed a five-year contract with the studio. She was named as star of a Sidney Sheldon script, My Most Intimate Friend and of One More Time, from a script by Ruth Gordon and Garson Kanin directed by George Cukor, but neither film was made. Back at Paramount, Parker starred with Charlton Heston as a 1900s mail-order bride in The Naked Jungle (Byron Haskin, 1954), produced by George Pal. Parker returned to MGM where she was reunited with Robert Taylor in an Egyptian adventure film, Valley of the Kings (Robert Pirosh, 1954), and a Western, Many Rivers to Cross (Roy Rowland, 1955). MGM gave her one of her best roles as opera singer Marjorie Lawrence struck down by polio in Interrupted Melody (Curtis Bernhardt, 1955). This was a big hit and earned Parker a third Oscar nomination; she later said it was her favourite film. Also in 1955, Parker appeared in the film adaptation of the National Book Award-winner The Man with the Golden Arm (Otto Preminger, 1955), released through United Artists. She played Zosh, the supposedly wheelchair-bound wife of heroin-addicted, would-be jazz drummer Frankie Machine (Frank Sinatra). It was a major commercial and critical success. In 1956, she co-starred with Clark Gable in the Western comedy The King and Four Queens (Raoul Walsh, 1956), also for United Artists. It was then back at MGM for two dramas: Lizzie (Hugo Haas, 1957), in the title role, as a woman with a split personality; and The Seventh Sin (Ronald Neame, 1957), a remake of The Painted Veil in the role originated by Greta Garbo and, once again, intended for Ava Gardner. Both films flopped at the box office and, as a result, Parker's plans to produce her own film, L'Eternelle, about French resistance fighters, did not materialise.

Eleanor Parker supported Frank Sinatra in a popular comedy, A Hole in the Head (Frank Capra, 1959). She returned to MGM for Home from the Hill (Vincente Minnelli, 1960), co-starring with Robert Mitchum, then took over Lana Turner's role of Constance Rossi in Return to Peyton Place (José Ferrer, 1961), the sequel to the hit 1957 film. That was made by 20th Century Fox who also produced Madison Avenue (H. Bruce Humberstone, 1961) with Parker. In 1960, she made her TV debut, and in the following years, she worked increasingly in television, with the occasional film role such as Panic Button (George Sherman, Giuliano Carnimeo, 1964) with Maurice Chevalier and Jayne Mansfield. Parker's best-known screen role is Baroness Elsa Schraeder in the Oscar-winning musical The Sound of Music (Robert Wise, 1965). The Baroness was famously and poignantly unsuccessful in keeping the affections of Captain Georg von Trapp (Christopher Plummer) after he falls in love with Maria (Julie Andrews). In 1966, Parker played an alcoholic widow in the crime drama Warning Shot (Buzz Kulik, 1967), a talent scout who discovers a Hollywood star in The Oscar (Russell Rouse, 1966), and a rich alcoholic in An American Dream (Robert Gist, 1966). However, her film career seemed to go downhill. A Playboy Magazine reviewer derided the cast of The Oscar as "has-beens and never-will-be". From the late 1960s, she focused on television. In 1963, Parker appeared in the medical TV drama about psychiatry The Eleventh Hour in the episode Why Am I Grown So Cold?, for which she was nominated for an Emmy Award. She also appeared in episodes of Breaking Point (1964). And The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1968). In 1969–1970, Parker starred in the television series Bracken's World, for which she was nominated for a 1970 Golden Globe Award. Parker also appeared on stage in the role of Margo Channing in Applause, the Broadway musical version of the film All About Eve. In 1976, she played Maxine in a revival of The Night of the Iguana. Her last film role was in a Farrah Fawcett bomb, Sunburn (Richard C. Sarafian, 1979). Subsequently, she appeared very infrequently on TV, most recently in Dead on the Money (Mark Cullingham, 1991). Eleanor Parker was married four times. Her first husband was Fred Losee (1943-1944). Her second marriage to Bert E. Friedlob (1946-1953) produced three children Susan Eleanor Friedlob (1948), Sharon Anne Friedlob (1950), and Richard Parker Friedlob (1952). Her third marriage was to American portrait painter Paul Clemens, (1954-1965) and the couple had one child, actor Paul Clemens (1958). Her fourth marriage with Raymond N. Hirsch (1966-2001) ended when Hirsch died of oesophagal cancer. She was the grandmother of actor/director Chasen Parker. Eleanor Parker died in 2013 at a medical facility in Palm Springs, California of complications of pneumonia. She was 91. Parker was raised a Protestant and later converted to Judaism, telling the New York Daily News columnist Kay Gardella in August 1969, "I think we're all Jews at heart ... I wanted to convert for a long time."

Sources: Jon C. Hopwood (IMDb), Wikipedia and IMDb.

And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.

My dad use to have a collection of PG teapots and now I have a couple of them.

Taken for CC Most Versatile for Feb 2019 but added a texture too for the CC Week 6 Texture challenge

CC Most Versatile - Herbs

While on a Farm Tour in the State of Washington I noticed an amazing thing. Inside a greenhouse I saw cherry tomatoes trained to grow vertically on a string, which made excellent use of the space. With the plants mostly off the ground, space was freed up to grow other things beneath them. In this case, several rows had basil plants growing at their base.

If you have ever jumped the gun and planted basil plants too early and had them die off too soon like I have, you would know that they really like warmth. The greenhouse is heated which allows the farmers to offer produce at times when those only growing row crops outside cannot do. The tomatoes will be ripening in the fall and the basil looks ready to use now, though no doubt will still be good next month.

Compositionally Challenged September Most Versatile - All Color, Lavender

Model Miss Versatile

Photo Sophie Merlo

It is fun, convenient and versatile.

owner since 2/2019

Type

Compact digital still camera with built-in flash, 65x Optical, 4x Digital and 260x Combined Zoom with Optical Image Stabilizer

21mm - 1365 mm - 5460 mm

608g. 127 x 91 x 117 mm - 21-1365mm - Fully Articulated Screen

Considering the SX70 HS is such a feature-packed camera, its control layout is fairly simple and logical.

Construction

15 elements in 11 groups (3 UD lenses, 1 double-sided aspherical lens)

10.0fps Fast Continuous Shooting

You can shoot at maximum resolution of 5184 x 3888 pixels with aspect ratios of 1:1, 4:3, 3:2 and 16:9.

SWEEP PANORAMA

2360k dot Viewfinder Resolution

Both RAW Shooting, Full RAW or Compact RAW,( CR2, CR3)

- plus ALO preset (Standard, medium, strong) or off.

4K - 3840 x 2160 Max Video Resolution

Tele: F 6.50 at 1365 mm

Remote control with a smartphone

-

All-in-one with the looks of a DSLR and the weight and flexibility of a fixed-lens camera. Capture everything from distant details to macro shots without lens changes.

Bridges are, by their nature, versatile ‘everyman’ cameras.

Its snappy 65x zoom make it ultra convenient.

The SX70HS also boasts the latest image processor, the DIGIC 8 – the very same chip that powers the EOS R.

Still, the 35mm equivalent focal range of 21-1365mm (with a variable aperture of f/3.4-6.5) is an obvious highlight of the camera.

This camera is a great travel camera and performs exceedingly well for what it is designed to do.

How a Point-and-Shoot Became

My New Best Friend

Canon PowerShot SX70 HS Digital Camera Deluxe Kit.

I too believe the introductory price to be fair and reasonable.

Comprising the essentials needed to begin shooting, the Canon PowerShot SX70 HS

Digital Camera Deluxe Kit from xxx bundles the long-zoom point-and-shoot with a fast memory card, a spare rechargeable lithium-ion battery, and a camera bag

plus

Filter Circular 67mm and Canon SX Filter- Adapter.

FA-DC67A Filteradapter.

Home

www.canon.co.uk/cameras/powershot-sx70-hs/

Capture special moments in stunning style with the PowerShot SX70 HS, the top of Canon’s bridge range, with DSLR looks and latest tech.

/

Photography /

Digital Cameras /

Point & Shoot Cameras /

Canon PowerShot SX70 HS

Canon PowerShot SX70 HS Digital Camera

Characterized by its impressive reach, the PowerShot SX70 HS from Canon is a flexible point-and-shoot offering high-resolution imaging and a wide-ranging 65x zoom lens. The 20.3MP CMOS sensor pairs with the DIGIC 8 image processor to afford stills shooting at up to 10 fps for working with moving subjects, and also enables recording UHD 4K video content as well as producing 4K time-lapse movies. For working in a variety of shooting situations, the 65x optical zoom covers a wide-angle to super-telephoto focal length range, and is complemented by five stop-effective image stabilization to minimize the appearance of camera shake for sharper handheld shooting. Benefitting the imaging capabilities, this camera also incorporates a 2.36m-dot OLED electronic viewfinder for clear eye-level shooting and built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth permit seamless wireless control and sharing capabilities.

20.3MP CMOS Sensor and DIGIC 8 Image Processor A 20.3MP CMOS sensor pairs with the DIGIC 8 image processor to realize notable image quality and speed to permit stills shooting at up to 10 fps, UHD 4K video recording, and in-camera 4K time-lapse movie creation. Together, the sensor and processor also produce clean image quality and enhanced sensitivity with minimal noise for working in difficult lighting conditions. 65x Zoom Lens and Image Stabilization An expansive 65x optical zoom lens offers a wide-angle to super telephoto 21-1365mm equivalent focal length range to suit working with a wide variety of subjects. This extensive reach is complemented by a versatile image stabilization system that minimizes the appearance of camera shake by up to five stops. Body Design and Wireless Connectivity A 2.36m-dot OLED electronic viewfinder is available as a clear and bright means for eye-level monitoring.

Built-in Wi-Fi allows you to wirelessly share your photos and movies with a linked smartphone or tablet as well as remotely control the camera from the mobile device by using the Camera Connect app.

Mobile devices can also connect to the camera using Bluetooth for remotely adjusting settings and gaining a live view image from your smartphone or tablet. Bluetooth connectivity also allows you to use your smartphone's location data to geotag your photos, and the date can also be stamped on your imagery for easy reference.

Other Camera Features Zoom Framing Assist automatically zooms in or out to keep a subject within the frame and in focus when using longer focal lengths.

PS

only in Standard PicStyle

the cam's UI

offers sliders for

Sharpness - (includes NR) 0 -7

Contrast, +/-2

Saturation +/-2

and

Color Tone (color of human skin). +/-2

and free Color space! Option

WB - White Blance

A1, M1

4.0,0,0 - normal NR

Eagle1effi:

suggest

6,1,2,-2

plus ALO high

or FD fine Detail , sunny

7,2,2,-2 - but lowest NR, noise reduction

plus ALO (Standard, medium, strong)

or off for best Details!

Written by my sister:

We got into Cabbage Patch Kids in July 2021 and were sort of on a blind shopping mission. It was a franchise we'd had plenty of exposure to (we had two CPK dolls, possibly a third, as kids, plus our Memere had one), but knew very little about. Shelly randomly decided that it was the time to take something she'd always wanted to dabble in and start getting into it. Well, she said she was just going to buy a collector book or two...but we all know what that REALLY meant. In the first few days of having Baby Martin, pictured far right as a very cute fireman, I was looking for clothes for him and Shelly's dream "softie" doll. I happened to see three of these onesies on Mercari--Goody Gardner, Splashy Painter, and Handy Carpenter. It was late at night and Shelly was in bed and was just sort of, "Oh yeah, that's cute..." (she was mostly still asleep). I figured I'd bring up the topic of the career themed onesies in the morning. After looking at the onesies, Shelly agreed they were too cute to ignore. They were all from the same seller, but listed separately. (Why she mailed them in three separate envelopes is beyond me.) Now, even though we were sort of new to Cabbies, we've been doll people as far back as I can remember. These onesies made me think of Barbie fashion packs on cards that wound up being sold at the Dollar Store when department stores had too many--a budget clothing line, sold separately, not sold on dolls. They lacked the embroidery and appliques of the fancier pieces, but were still clearly genuine CPK. I noted that they all had a career theme and had seen the fireman onesie in listings as well. I thought they were some kind of budget fashion line. I was not surprised, therefore, when Shelly's books arrived in the mail and one had a picture of the back of the fashion card, showing all six fashions and their names. I knew right then, "I want the set and I want it soon." By then, I'd seen the cowboy outfit in listings (but hadn't associated it with the others) and knew of the fireman onesie. By the end of our first two weeks as CPK collectors, we'd developed a "taste" for certain things. We'd unintentionally found ourselves almost exclusively into 80s Coleco dolls and fashions as well as anything Babyland. (If we lived near it....we'd be in T-R-O-U-B-L-E.) We loved softies and it didn't seem what year they were made and these onesies, along with the animal sleepers, were in our sought after list. (In fact, the CPK lots we bought online were all to obtain either these onesies or animal sleepers, with the exception of the Preemie lot.) I loved all three of our first career onesies and Baby Martin modeled them all within days of their arrival. I stalked the others every day online, but it wasn't until September that we wrangled the others. Dad taught us all about emotional shopping. Having a bad day? Buy a Barbie. Bored? Go shopping. Restless? Shopping. Mad at someone from school/work/general life? Buy something. Well, my guinea pig Ayalla died very unexpectedly one Sunday morning. Beside myself with grief, I turned to...shopping. I spent even more time cruising the web than usual that day. Granted, as the Dr. Petvet outfit popped up on Mercari for the same price I'd paid for the first three, it's safe to say I'd have found it and bought it, even if Ayalla hadn't died. The next day, however, my friend/supervisor at my second job felt SO bad for me (I went to tell her about how we lost Ayalla and wound up hysterically sobbing...which is why I meant to text people the day before, so I wouldn't show up hysterically crying) that she let me leave an hour early. Even though I'd had half a mind to stay at work--because it would keep me busy/not thinking of Ayalla, I figured going home early to spend time with Shelly might cheer her up (and it actually really helped me too). So, I went home and realized that I was home in time to bid on this great ebay lot I'd been watching with some animal sleepers/other stuff. Well, cornering that lot somehow got us both thinking "We're only missing two of the career onesies and two animal sleepers now." Shelly searched to see how cheap we could get the Fire Fighter and Sassy Sheriff fashions. She found a lot with both, and a spare Goody Gardner. (It's the one in the photo--it's a little brighter in color than our old one, but pretty stretched out.) We decided it was cheaper than buying either separate and it would make us both quite happy. So, that is how we went from only half the career onesies to all the career onesies in just days. I really love this line for a multitude of reasons. For one thing, as far as I know, of the old Coleco fashions, I think it is the only wave of fashions that wasn't also packaged on dolls. (The animal sleepers were repackaged on dolls later.) I also love how versatile they are. Most are gender neutral or fairly so. (Okay, the gardening one is a bit girly, but it can work.) They fit well on Preemies AND Kids, which is fantastic. What gets me most is the cuteness!!! I love how some look like they have bottles in their pockets. They are bright, colorful, and super fun! I can't envision these cute babies actually "working," but they can pretend to. I had a blast picking out models/props for this photo. (I got to raid my stuffed animal holder.) Dennis Paul makes such a cute little sheriff, though there's nothing sassy about him. Anna Teresa's eyes look amazing with Splashy Painter. There's no cuter handyman than Daniel Joseph. Wendy's got green eyes AND a green thumb. Tucker gets to be a pet AND a vet. (We both wanted him to be this model!) Some of the animals on his outfit look like Koosas. And of course, Baby Martin got to be our first ever "model" for career onesies, so it was only right that he was included in the photo. Plus, I owe it to him big time for making him try on dresses to see how they'd fit his sisters while waiting for them to come in the mail. He deserves to be in this photoshoot, and in a masculine roll to boot!

Outfits in photo from left to right:

-Fire Fighter

-Handy Carpenter

-Goody Gardener

-Splashy Painter

-Sassy Sheriff

-Dr. Petvet

The caption reads "Ricky Renee: A versatile and outstandingly versatile impersonator of International Stature"

Thank you for viewing, faving or commenting on my images, have a great day! (Affinity Pro for editing)

Google search: 'The term umbrella is traditionally used when protecting oneself from rain, while parasol is used when protecting oneself from sunlight.'

A ferry from Hong Kong Central Piers to Cheung Chau: Easter Sunday 2025

Carrizo Plain, San Luis Obispo County

Versatile Eyeshadow Collection, is a set available for Lelutka EvoX, sold in the BOM version - FATPACK for 69L

ᴛʀʏ ᴀ ᴅᴇᴍᴏ ʙᴇғᴏʀᴇ ᴘᴜʀᴄʜᴀsᴇ

taxi: maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/VELOUR/70/206/2010

Some background:

Simple, efficient and reliable, the Regult (リガード, Rigādo) was the standard mass production mecha of the Zentraedi forces. Produced by Esbeliben at the 4.432.369th Zentraedi Fully Automated Weaponry Development and Production Factory Satellite in staggering numbers to fill the need for an all-purpose mecha, this battle pod accommodated a single Zentraedi soldier in a compact cockpit and was capable of operating in space or on a planet's surface. The Regult saw much use during Space War I in repeated engagements against the forces of the SDF-1 Macross and the U.N. Spacy, but its lack of versatility against superior mecha often resulted in average effectiveness and heavy losses. The vehicle was regarded as expendable and was therefore cheap, simple, but also very effective when fielded in large numbers. Possessing minimal defensive features, the Regult was a simple weapon that performed best in large numbers and when supported by other mecha such as Gnerl Fighter Pods. Total production is said to have exceeded 300 million in total.

At the end of Space War I in January 2012, production of the Regult for potential Earth defensive combat continued when the seizure operation of the Factory Satellite was executed. After the war, Regults were used by both U.N. Spacy and Zentraedi insurgents. Many surviving units were incorporated into the New U.N. Forces and given new model numbers. The normal Regult became the “Zentraedi Battle Pod” ZBP-104 (often just called “Type 104”) and was, for example, used by Al-Shahal's New U.N. Army's Zentraedi garrison. The related ZBP-106 was a modernized version for Zentraedi commanders, with built-in boosters, additional Queadluun-Rhea arms and extra armaments. These primarily replaced the Glaug battle pod, of which only a handful had survived. By 2067, Regult pods of all variants were still in operation among mixed human/Zentraedi units.

General characteristics:

Accommodation: pilot only, in standard cockpit in main body

Overall Height: 18.2 meters

Overall Length: 7.6 meters

Overall Width: 12.6 meters

Max Weight: 39.8 metric tons

Powerplant & propulsion:

1x 1.3 GGV class Ectromelia thermonuclear reaction furnace,

driving 2x main booster Thrusters and 12x vernier thrusters

Performance:

unknown

Armament:

None

Special Equipment and Features:

Standard all-frequency radar antenna

Standard laser long-range sensor

Ectromelia infrared, visible light and ultraviolet frequency sensor cluster

ECM/ECCM suite

The kit and its assembly:

I had this kit stashed away for a couple of years, together with a bunch of other 1:100 Zentraedi pods of all kinds and the plan to build a full platoon one day – but this has naturally not happened so far and the kits were and are still waiting. The “Reconnaissance & Surveillance” group build at whatifmodellers.com in August 2021 was a good occasion and motivation to tackle the Tactical Scout model from the pile, though, as it perfectly fits the GB’s theme and also adds an exotic science fiction/anime twist to the submissions.

The kit is an original ARII boxing from 1983, AFAIK the only edition of this model. One might expect this kit to be a variation of the 1982 standard Regult (sometimes spelled “Reguld”) kit with extra parts, but that’s not the case – it is a new mold with different parts and technical solutions, and it offers optional parts for the standard Regult pod as well as the two missile carrier versions that were published at the same time, too. The Tactical Scout uses the same basis, but it comes with parts exclusive for this variant (hull and a sprue with the many antennae and sensors).

I remembered from a former ARII Regult build in the late Eighties that the legs were a wobbly affair. Careful sprue inspection revealed, however, that this second generation comes with some sensible detail changes, e. g. the feet, which originally consisted of separate toe and heel sections (and these were hollow from behind/below!). To my biggest surprise the knees – a notorious weak spot of the 1st generation Regult kit – were not only held by small and flimsy vinyl caps anymore: These were replaced with much bigger vinyl rings, fitted into sturdy single-piece enclosures made from a tough styrene which can even be tuned with small metal screws(!), which are included in the kit. Interesting!

But the joy is still limited: even though the mold is newer, fit is mediocre at best, PSR is necessary on every seam. However, the good news is that the kit does not fight with you. The whole thing was mostly built OOB, because at 1:100 there's little that makes sense to add to the surface, and the kit comes with anything you'd expect on a Regult Scout pod. I just added some lenses and small stuff behind the large "eye", which is (also to my surprise) a clear part. The stuff might only appear in schemes on the finished model, but that's better than leaving the area blank.

Otherwise, the model was built in sub-sections for easier painting and handling, to be assembled in a final step – made possible by the kit’s design which avoids the early mecha kit’s “onion layer” construction, except for the feet. This is the only area that requires some extra effort, and which is also a bit tricky to assemble.

However, while the knees appear to be a robust construction, the kit showed some material weakness: while handling the leg assembly, one leg suddenly came off under the knees - turned out that the locator that holds the knee joint above (which I expected to be the weak point) completely broke off of the lower leg! Weird damage. I tried to glue the leg into place, but this did not work, and so I inserted a replacement for the broken. This eventually worked.

Painting and markings:

Colorful, but pretty standard and with the attempt to be authentic. However, information concerning the Regults’ paint scheme is somewhat inconsistent. I decided to use a more complex interpretation of the standard blue/grey Regult scheme, with a lighter “face shield” and some other details that make the mecha look more interesting. I used the box art and some screenshots from the Macross TV series as reference; the Tactical Scout pod already appears in episode #2 for the first time, and there are some good views at it, even though the anime version is highly simplified.

Humbrol enamels were used, including 48 (Mediterranean Blue), 196 (RAL 7035, instead of pure white), 40 (Pale Grey) and 27 (Sea Grey). The many optics were created with clear acrylics over a silver base, and the large frontal “eye” is a piece of clear plastic with a coat of clear turquoise paint, too.

The model received a black ink washing to emphasize details, engraved panel lines and recesses, as well as some light post-shading through dry-brushing. Some surface details were created with decal stripes, e. g. on the upper legs, or with a black fineliner, and some color highlights were distributed all over the hull, e. g. the yellowish-beige tips of the wide antenna or the bright blue panels on the upper legs.

The decals were taken OOB, and thanks to a translation chart I was able to decipher some of the markings which I’d interpret as a serial number and a unit code – but who knows?

Finally, the kit received an overall coat of matt acrylic varnish and some weathering/dust traces around the feet with simple watercolors – more would IMHO look out of place, due to the mecha’s sheer size in real life and the fact that the Regult has to be considered a disposable item. Either it’s brand new and shiny, or busted, there’s probably little in between that justifies serious weathering which better suits the tank-like Destroids.

A “normal” build, even though the model and the topic are exotic enough. This 2nd generation Regult kit went together easier than expected, even though it has its weak points, too. However, material ageing turned out to be the biggest challenge (after all, the kit is almost 40 years old!), but all problems could be overcome and the resulting model looks decent – and it has this certain Eighties flavor! :D

My current album: Chongqing 重庆 2017

Sometimes, I'm a little different.

Seems to work though less than 1m

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Simien Mountains National Park is one of the national parks of Ethiopia. Located in the Semien (North) Gondar Zone of the Amhara Region, its territory covers the Simien Mountains and includes Ras Dashan, the highest point in Ethiopia. It is home to a number of endangered species, including the Ethiopian wolf and the walia ibex, a wild goat found nowhere else in the world. The gelada baboon and the caracal, a cat, also occur within the Simien Mountains. More than 50 species of birds inhabit the park, including the impressive bearded vulture, or lammergeier, with its 10-foot (3m) wingspan.

Despite their ruggedness and altitude, the mountains are dotted with villages linked by tracks. Historically they were inhabited by Ethiopian Jews (the Beta Israel), who after repeated attacks by the zealous Christian Emperors in the 15th century withdrew from the province of Dembiya into the more defensible Semien mountains.

-----

Six days of hiking in the area of Simien mountains, Ethiopia, was an unforgettable experience - I have enjoyed plenty of trekking trips in the past, however this one has been the most versatile and diverse of them all.

The plateau lies at the altitude of around 4000m, and the views from the escarpment are incomparable. Grand Canyon is awesome, but this place adds African moods and vibe into the overall picture. Unique, spectacular, unexpected, unknown. Definitely worth visiting.

This is a shot taken during our second day in the area - we hiked from Sankaber camp to a camp called Geech, from which we made a short trip to a viewpoint called Kadavit where we enjoyed a truly magical sunset.

*For December Bonus and December Versatile in the CC group.

Shot for CC's December most versatile - Happy Holidays.

My theme today was "versatile". I drew a complete blank. I seriously had to Google the word to spur any ideas.

This is the corner of my desk - I just liked the pattern it made.

Also for the CC Versatile challenge on Wood.

Beauty and so much more. From en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canna_(plant)#Uses :

The Canna plant's young shoots, young seeds and starchy roots are edible, and the latter can be fermented to make alcoholic drinks. Mature seeds make nice, durable jewelry beads or a purple dye. Old, dead stalks can be used to make paper. Stalk fibers can be woven into rough, jute-like fabrics. Smoke from burning its leaves is an insecticide. No wonder the Thai people give Canna plants to their dads on Father's Day. Most dads like multi-use things. Location: Our back terrace, Riehen BS Switzerland.

Photo stuff: I challenged myself to create a bright sunlight, high-contrast image without blown highlights. Result comes pretty close. Before editing, the highlights in the RAW file looked blown.

In my album: Dan's Flower Power.

Back in the 1980s, the Great Western Railway Preservation Group (GWRPG), which was based in the old Otto Monsted margarine factory next to Southall station, would run shuttles on the freight-only Brentford branch on Bank Holidays. On one such day, Easter Day in 1984, I took the opportunity to ride down this rare freight branch in one of the classic and versatile Class 121 'Bubble Cars' W55034. Here is the unit back at Southall station after completing the journey.

Note the hand-made steps used to disembark the passengers, as there was no passenger platform for the Brentford branch! A Class 47 is caught 'in action' passing through the station with a down express.

Class 121 Pressed Steel Single / 2-car DMUs

Following the success of the Gloucester Singles the Western Region ordered a further batch of sixteen single cars and ten trailers, this time built by Pressed Steel in Linwood (Scotland).

The units took over services originally monopolised by GWR built railcars but as more and more cross country and branch lines closed that work became less and less. Consequently, the class was concentrated around the Reading, Bristol, Cardiff and Plymouth areas. They were used on the West London branch lines, the Severn Beach branch, lines in the Welsh valleys and the Cornish branch lines.

They were very popular for departmental use and preservation, and some vehicles returned to passenger traffic for Chiltern Railways and Arriva Trains Wales. They remained the last type of first generation DMU in mainline passenger use.

The DTS was the equivalant of an unpowered Class 117 DMS, with the same internal arrangement (in both un-gangwayed and gangwayed styles). Again it was all second class seating, the front two saloons were identical to the DMBS with 45 and 20 seats, although there was no door fitted to the dividing partition as both saloons were now smoking. There was a door into the 26 seat non-smoking section which was in the place of the guards van / cab on the DMBS, making a total of 91 seats for the vehicle. The rear seat was the full width seating six.

Only the DTS vehicles were gangwayed, they couldn't use the gangway working with a bubble car but could be used with other classes. The DTS vehicles were renumbered to 54280-9 circa 1983.

Information courtesy of: railcar.co.uk/type/class-121/

Brentford Line The Brentford branch line, also known as the Brentford Dock Line, is a freight-only branch railway line in west London. The route, which opened in 1859, was backed by the Great Western Railway and built by the Great Western & Brentford Railway Company. It ran 4 miles (6.4 km) from Southall to Brentford Dock. In 1964, the line to the wharves was closed. The branch now runs from the Great Western Main Line to a goods yard and waste transfer station in Brentford. More info here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brentford_branch_line

Taken with a Soviet made Zenith TTL SLR.

You can see a random selection of my railway photos here on Flickriver: www.flickriver.com/photos/themightyhood/random/

Belgian postcard. Photo: Warner Bros.

American actress Eleanor Parker (1922-2013) appeared in some 80 films and television series. She was nominated three times for the Academy Award for Best Actress, for Caged (1950), Detective Story (1951) and Interrupted Melody (1955). Her role in Caged also won her the Volpi Cup for Best Actress at the Venice Film Festival. One of her most memorable roles was that of the Baroness in The Sound of Music (1965). Her biographer Doug McClelland called her ‘Woman of a Thousand Faces’, because of her versatility.

Eleanor Jean Parker was born in 1922, in Cedarville, Ohio. She was the daughter of Lola (Isett) and Lester Day Parker. Her family moved to East Cleveland, Ohio, where she attended public schools and graduated from Shaw High School. She appeared in a number of school plays. When she was 15 she started to attend the Rice Summer Theatre on Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts. After graduation, she moved to California and began appearing at the Pasadena Playhouse. There she was spotted by a Warners Bros talent scout, Irving Kumin. The studio signed her to a long-term contract in June 1941. She was cast that year in They Died with Their Boots On (Raoul Walsh, 1941), but her scenes were cut. Her actual film debut was as Nurse Ryan in the short Soldiers in White (B. Reeves Eason, 1942). She was given some decent roles in B films, Busses Roar (D. Ross Lederman, 1942) and The Mysterious Doctor (Benjamin Stoloff, 1943) opposites John Loder. She also had a small role in one of Warner Brothers' biggest productions for the 1943 season, the pro-Soviet Mission to Moscow (Michael Curtiz, 1943) as Emlen Davies, daughter of the U.S. ambassador to the U.S.S.R (Walter Huston). On the set, she met her first husband, Navy Lieutenant. Fred L. Losse, but the marriage turned out to be a brief wartime affair. Parker had impressed Warners enough to offer her a strong role in a prestige production, Between Two Worlds (Edward A. Blatt, 1944), playing the suicidal wife of Paul Henreid's character. She played support roles for Crime by Night (William Clemens, 1944) and The Last Ride (D. Ross Lederman, 1944). Then she got the starring role opposite Dennis Morgan in The Very Thought of You (Delmer Daves, 1944). She was considered enough of a ‘name’ to be given a cameo in Hollywood Canteen (Delmer Daves, 1944). Warners gave her the choice role of Mildred Rogers in a new version of Somerset Maugham's Of Human Bondage (Edmund Goulding, 1946), but previews were not favourable and the film sat on the shelf for two years before being released. She had her big break when she was cast opposite John Garfield in Pride of the Marines (Delmer Daves, 1945). However, two films with Errol Flynn that followed, the romantic comedy Never Say Goodbye (James V. Kern, 1946) and the drama Escape Me Never (Peter Godfrey, 1947), were box office disappointments. Parker was suspended twice by Warners for refusing parts in films – in Stallion Road (James V. Kern, 1947), where she was replaced by Alexis Smith and Love and Learn (Frederick De Cordova, 1947). She made the comedy Voice of the Turtle (Irving Rapper, 1947) with Ronald Reagan, and the mystery The Woman in White (Peter Godfrey, 1948). She refused to appear in Somewhere in the City (Vincent Sherman, 1950) so Warners suspended her again; Virginia Mayo played the role. Parker then had two years off, during which time she married and had a baby. She turned down a role in The Hasty Heart (Vincent Sherman, 1949) which she wanted to do, but it would have meant going to England and she did not want to leave her baby alone during its first year.

Eleanor Parker returned in Chain Lightning (Stuart Heisler, 1950) with Humphrey Bogart. Parker heard about a women-in-prison film Warners were making, Caged (John Cromwell, 1950), and actively lobbied for the role. She got it, won the 1950 Volpi Cup for Best Actress at the Venice Film Festival and was nominated for an Academy Award. She also had a good role in the melodrama Three Secrets (Robert Wise, 1950). In February 1950, Parker left Warner Bros. after having been under contract there for eight years. Parker had understood that she would star in a film called Safe Harbor, but Warner Bros. apparently had no intention of making it. Because of this misunderstanding, her agents negotiated her release. Parker's career outside of Warners started badly with Valentino (Lewis Allen, 1951) playing a fictionalised wife of Rudolph Valentino for producer Edward Small. She tried a comedy at 20th Century Fox with Fred MacMurray, A Millionaire for Christy (George Marshall, 1951). In 1951, Parker signed a contract with Paramount for one film a year, with an option for outside films. This arrangement began brilliantly with Detective Story (William Wyler, 1951) playing Mary McLeod, the woman who doesn't understand the position of her unstable detective husband (Kirk Douglas). Parker was nominated for the Oscar in 1951 for her performance. Parker followed Detective Story with her portrayal of an actress in love with a swashbuckling nobleman (Stewart Granger) in Scaramouche (George Sidney, 1952), a role originally intended for Ava Gardner. Wikipedia: “Parker later claimed that Granger was the only person she didn't get along with during her entire career. However, they had good chemistry and the film was a massive hit. “MGM cast her into Above and Beyond (Melvin Frank, Norman Panama, 1952), a biopic of Lt. Col. Paul W. Tibbets, Jr. (Robert Taylor), the pilot of the aircraft that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. It was a solid hit. While Parker was making a third film for MGM, Escape from Fort Bravo (John Sturges, 1953), she signed a five-year contract with the studio. She was named as star of a Sidney Sheldon script, My Most Intimate Friend and of One More Time, from a script by Ruth Gordon and Garson Kanin directed by George Cukor, but neither film was made. Back at Paramount, Parker starred with Charlton Heston as a 1900s mail-order bride in The Naked Jungle (Byron Haskin, 1954), produced by George Pal. Parker returned to MGM where she was reunited with Robert Taylor in an Egyptian adventure film, Valley of the Kings (Robert Pirosh, 1954), and a Western, Many Rivers to Cross (Roy Rowland, 1955). MGM gave her one of her best roles as opera singer Marjorie Lawrence struck down by polio in Interrupted Melody (Curtis Bernhardt, 1955). This was a big hit and earned Parker a third Oscar nomination; she later said it was her favourite film. Also in 1955, Parker appeared in the film adaptation of the National Book Award-winner The Man with the Golden Arm (Otto Preminger, 1955), released through United Artists. She played Zosh, the supposedly wheelchair-bound wife of heroin-addicted, would-be jazz drummer Frankie Machine (Frank Sinatra). It was a major commercial and critical success. In 1956, she co-starred with Clark Gable in the Western comedy The King and Four Queens (Raoul Walsh, 1956), also for United Artists. It was then back at MGM for two dramas: Lizzie (Hugo Haas, 1957), in the title role, as a woman with a split personality; and The Seventh Sin (Ronald Neame, 1957), a remake of The Painted Veil in the role originated by Greta Garbo and, once again, intended for Ava Gardner. Both films flopped at the box office and, as a result, Parker's plans to produce her own film, L'Eternelle, about French resistance fighters, did not materialise.

Eleanor Parker supported Frank Sinatra in a popular comedy, A Hole in the Head (Frank Capra, 1959). She returned to MGM for Home from the Hill (Vincente Minnelli, 1960), co-starring with Robert Mitchum, then took over Lana Turner's role of Constance Rossi in Return to Peyton Place (José Ferrer, 1961), the sequel to the hit 1957 film. That was made by 20th Century Fox who also produced Madison Avenue (H. Bruce Humberstone, 1961) with Parker. In 1960, she made her TV debut, and in the following years, she worked increasingly in television, with the occasional film role such as Panic Button (George Sherman, Giuliano Carnimeo, 1964) with Maurice Chevalier and Jayne Mansfield. Parker's best-known screen role is Baroness Elsa Schraeder in the Oscar-winning musical The Sound of Music (Robert Wise, 1965). The Baroness was famously and poignantly unsuccessful in keeping the affections of Captain Georg von Trapp (Christopher Plummer) after he falls in love with Maria (Julie Andrews). In 1966, Parker played an alcoholic widow in the crime drama Warning Shot (Buzz Kulik, 1967), a talent scout who discovers a Hollywood star in The Oscar (Russell Rouse, 1966), and a rich alcoholic in An American Dream (Robert Gist, 1966). However, her film career seemed to go downhill. A Playboy Magazine reviewer derided the cast of The Oscar as "has-beens and never-will-be". From the late 1960s, she focused on television. In 1963, Parker appeared in the medical TV drama about psychiatry The Eleventh Hour in the episode Why Am I Grown So Cold?, for which she was nominated for an Emmy Award. She also appeared in episodes of Breaking Point (1964). And The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1968). In 1969–1970, Parker starred in the television series Bracken's World, for which she was nominated for a 1970 Golden Globe Award. Parker also appeared on stage in the role of Margo Channing in Applause, the Broadway musical version of the film All About Eve. In 1976, she played Maxine in a revival of The Night of the Iguana. Her last film role was in a Farrah Fawcett bomb, Sunburn (Richard C. Sarafian, 1979). Subsequently, she appeared very infrequently on TV, most recently in Dead on the Money (Mark Cullingham, 1991). Eleanor Parker was married four times. Her first husband was Fred Losee (1943-1944). Her second marriage to Bert E. Friedlob (1946-1953) produced three children Susan Eleanor Friedlob (1948), Sharon Anne Friedlob (1950), and Richard Parker Friedlob (1952). Her third marriage was to American portrait painter Paul Clemens, (1954-1965) and the couple had one child, actor Paul Clemens (1958). Her fourth marriage with Raymond N. Hirsch (1966-2001) ended when Hirsch died of oesophagal cancer. She was the grandmother of actor/director Chasen Parker. Eleanor Parker died in 2013 at a medical facility in Palm Springs, California of complications of pneumonia. She was 91. Parker was raised a Protestant and later converted to Judaism, telling the New York Daily News columnist Kay Gardella in August 1969, "I think we're all Jews at heart ... I wanted to convert for a long time."

Sources: Jon C. Hopwood (IMDb), Wikipedia and IMDb.

And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.

Chattooga Belle Farm

Oconee County, South Carolina

Accessed via Damscus Church Road

An alternate composition of my sunset & tree farm series of late. It is probably apparent to many of you that I've added a new lens to the arsenal. For nearly three years I shot with one lens: a 12-24mm wide angle. I'm now the proud owner of a 70-200mm telephoto lens that I absolutely love (and has been responsible for most of my recent images). The versatility is really fantastic and the lens has opened upentirely new avenues for me. The only disadvantage now: how to swap lenses on the same camera body when in the outdoors? When in the middle of a stream? Hmm.... ;)

www.markvandyke.smugmug.com

Photoshoot with Brittany

The 'Most Versatile' challenge is set by the Compositionally Challenged Group. Lots of thanks to Sharon for setting these themes.

In this month's challenge, 8 members entered 73 photos, and 5 members completed all 10 themes. These members, in play order are: Maria, Sharon, Andy, Lesley and Linda.

This montage features two photos per person, and at least one photo per theme. To view the complete challenge and entries, click Here.

C-FMHR, a Pilatus PC-24, heading south on taxiway "Echo" at Toronto Pearson International Airport in Mississauga, Ontario.

It was arriving from its base at Kelowna, British Columbia.

The coat of arms on the tail belonged to Mark Anthony Group Inc. of Vancouver, British Columbia. The company's other jet was a Bombardier Global 7500 (C-FMHL).

Pilatus markets the PC-24 as "The Super Versatile Jet".

This aircraft was on the Canadian Civil Aircraft Register from October 14, 2020 until April 15, 2024. It then became N233SV.

These work counters have been very handy this past year for several dioramas. I thought of 6 that I used them for (including the shot of mod Stacy with the cacti). They have been so useful and versatile.

Model : Yu Sitic.

www.flickr.com/photos/sitic/

Photo edition and make up by me!

Versatility is my final project after a one year photographic course. All the pictures are made from my old pictures of flowers.

“SHUTTLE VERSATILITY---An artist’s concept of one of the many tasks which the Space Plane will be called upon to perform. In this photograph, the Orbiter has deployed a cannister with space travelers. It is connected to an Earth-orbiting space station. Transfer of the travelers flying on this mission in the 1980s is underway about 240 nautical miles (444 kilometers) above the Hawaiian Islands. Greeting one of the incoming passengers is a vivacious blonde scientist--one of the station’s personnel--while one of the newcomers is a brunette. Provisions will be made in the Modular Space Station to accommodate all scientists, either male or female, and to allow them to conduct their experiments as long as necessary. The station will be supplied by an Orbiter. It is one part of a two-stage vehicle called the Space Shuttle. The other part is the Booster. Together, they represent a new version of NASA space exploration—one that significantly reduces costs of operation. The two are mated in a vertical position on the launch platform. The Orbiter rides piggyback for about three minutes on the Booster, and then separation occurs. This takes place at approximately 33 nautical miles (61.12 kilometers) and the workhorse Booster returns to Earth, landing horizontally on runway, while the sleek Orbiter continues on into space. The Orbiter weighs approximately 900,000 lbs. (or 408,240 kilograms) on the launch pad. Some 245,000 pounds (111,132 kilos) of this is dry weight; the balance is fuel and other inert weight including 25,000 lbs. (11,340 kilograms) of cargo. The Orbiter is the size of a commercial jet aircraft. Upon off-loading cargo, the crew, numbering possibly four, flies the Space Plane back to Earth. They also may land horizontally on runways of 10,000 feet (3,048) or more. The Manned Spacecraft Center’s Jerry Elmore is the artist.”

While very informative & well-written, is that sexist or what? I’m surprised it even depicts the lone black guy aboard the station.

No wonder it wasn’t until 1983 that NASA managed to get both a woman (Sally Ride) into space on STS-7, and the first black man (Guy Bluford) on the very next mission, STS-8!

And while we’re here – it would be nine more years until the first black woman (Mae Jamison) reached orbit aboard STS-47.

The other surprise to me and WIN, unexpectedly, is the overt identification of the artist, and it NOT being Robert McCall. I would not have guessed Mr. Elmore. Unfortunately, he succumbed to the artist’s concept/actual photo combination thing. Oh, wait, one more - ”cannister”?

A U.S. Air Force Lockheed Martin F-22 "Raptor" flies above Royal Australian Air Force Base Tindal, Australia, March 2, 2017. Twelve Lockheed Martin F-22 "Raptors" and approximately 200 U.S. Air Force Airmen participated in the first Enhanced Air Cooperation, an initiative under the Force Posture Agreement between the U.S. and Australia.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor is a fifth-generation, single-seat, twin-engine, all-weather stealth tactical fighter aircraft developed for the United States Air Force (USAF). The result of the USAF's Advanced Tactical Fighter (ATF) program, the aircraft was designed primarily as an air superiority fighter, but also has ground attack, electronic warfare, and signal intelligence capabilities. The prime contractor, Lockheed Martin, built most of the F-22's airframe and weapons systems and conducted final assembly, while Boeing provided the wings, aft fuselage, avionics integration, and training systems.

The aircraft was variously designated F-22 and F/A-22 before it formally entered service in December 2005 as the F-22A. Despite its protracted development and various operational issues, USAF officials consider the F-22 a critical component of the service's tactical air power. Its combination of stealth, aerodynamic performance, and situational awareness enable unprecedented air combat capabilities.

Service officials had originally planned to buy a total of 750 ATFs. In 2009, the program was cut to 187 operational production aircraft due to high costs, a lack of clear air-to-air missions due to delays in Russian and Chinese fighter programs, a ban on exports, and development of the more versatile F-35. The last F-22 was delivered in 2012.

Development

Origins

In 1981, the U.S. Air Force identified a requirement for an Advanced Tactical Fighter (ATF) to replace the F-15 Eagle and F-16 Fighting Falcon. Code named "Senior Sky", this air-superiority fighter program was influenced by emerging worldwide threats, including new developments in Soviet air defense systems and the proliferation of the Su-27 Flanker- and MiG-29 Fulcrum-class of fighter aircraft. It would take advantage of the new technologies in fighter design on the horizon, including composite materials, lightweight alloys, advanced flight control systems, more powerful propulsion systems, and most importantly, stealth technology. In 1983, the ATF concept development team became the System Program Office (SPO) and managed the program at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. The demonstration and validation (Dem/Val) request for proposals (RFP) was issued in September 1985, with requirements placing strong emphasis on stealth and supercruise. Of the seven bidding companies, Lockheed and Northrop were selected on 31 October 1986. Lockheed teamed with Boeing and General Dynamics while Northrop teamed with McDonnell Douglas, and the two contractor teams undertook a 50-month Dem/Val phase, culminating in the flight test of two technology demonstrator prototypes, the YF-22 and the YF-23, respectively.

Dem/Val was focused on risk reduction and technology development plans over specific aircraft designs. Contractors made extensive use of analytical and empirical methods, including computational fluid dynamics, wind-tunnel testing, and radar cross-section calculations and pole testing; the Lockheed team would conduct nearly 18,000 hours of wind-tunnel testing. Avionics development was marked by extensive testing and prototyping and supported by ground and flying laboratories. During Dem/Val, the SPO used the results of performance and cost trade studies conducted by contractor teams to adjust ATF requirements and delete ones that were significant weight and cost drivers while having marginal value. The short takeoff and landing (STOL) requirement was relaxed in order to delete thrust-reversers, saving substantial weight. As avionics was a major cost driver, side-looking radars were deleted, and the dedicated infra-red search and track (IRST) system was downgraded from multi-color to single color and then deleted as well. However, space and cooling provisions were retained to allow for future addition of these components. The ejection seat requirement was downgraded from a fresh design to the existing McDonnell Douglas ACES II. Despite efforts by the contractor teams to rein in weight, the takeoff gross weight estimate was increased from 50,000 lb (22,700 kg) to 60,000 lb (27,200 kg), resulting in engine thrust requirement increasing from 30,000 lbf (133 kN) to 35,000 lbf (156 kN) class.

Each team produced two prototype air vehicles for Dem/Val, one for each of the two engine options. The YF-22 had its maiden flight on 29 September 1990 and in flight tests achieved up to Mach 1.58 in supercruise. After the Dem/Val flight test of the prototypes, on 23 April 1991, Secretary of the USAF Donald Rice announced the Lockheed team as the winner of the ATF competition. The YF-23 design was considered stealthier and faster, while the YF-22, with its thrust vectoring nozzles, was more maneuverable as well as less expensive and risky. The aviation press speculated that the Lockheed team's design was also more adaptable to the U.S. Navy's Navalized Advanced Tactical Fighter (NATF), but by 1992, the Navy had abandoned NATF.

Production and procurement

As the program moved to full-scale development, or the Engineering & Manufacturing Development (EMD) stage, the production version had notable differences from the YF-22, despite having a broadly similar shape. The swept-back angle of the leading edge was decreased from 48° to 42°, while the vertical stabilizers were shifted rearward and decreased in area by 20%. To improve pilot visibility, the canopy was moved forward 7 inches (18 cm), and the engine intakes moved rearward 14 inches (36 cm). The shapes of the wing and stabilator trailing edges were refined to improve aerodynamics, strength, and stealth characteristics. Increasing weight during development caused slight reductions in range and maneuver performance.

Prime contractor Lockheed Martin Aeronautics manufactured the majority of the airframe and performed final assembly at Dobbins Air Reserve Base in Marietta, Georgia; program partner Boeing Defense, Space & Security provided additional airframe components as well as avionics integration and training systems. The first F-22, an EMD aircraft with tail number 4001, was unveiled at Marietta, Georgia, on 9 April 1997, and first flew on 7 September 1997. Production, with the first lot awarded in September 2000, supported over 1,000 subcontractors and suppliers from 46 states and up to 95,000 jobs, and spanned 15 years at a peak rate of roughly two airplanes per month. In 2006, the F-22 development team won the Collier Trophy, American aviation's most prestigious award. Due to the aircraft's advanced nature, contractors have been targeted by cyberattacks and technology theft.

The USAF originally envisioned ordering 750 ATFs at a total program cost of $44.3 billion and procurement cost of $26.2 billion in fiscal year (FY) 1985 dollars, with production beginning in 1994. The 1990 Major Aircraft Review led by Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney reduced this to 648 aircraft beginning in 1996. By 1997, funding instability had further cut the total to 339, which was again reduced to 277 by 2003. In 2004, the Department of Defense (DoD) further reduced this to 183 operational aircraft, despite the USAF's preference for 381. A multi-year procurement plan was implemented in 2006 to save $15 billion, with total program cost projected to be $62 billion for 183 F-22s distributed to seven combat squadrons. In 2008, Congress passed a defense spending bill that raised the total orders for production aircraft to 187.

The first two F-22s built were EMD aircraft in the Block 1.0 configuration for initial flight testing, while the third was a Block 2.0 aircraft built to represent the internal structure of production airframes and enabled it to test full flight loads. Six more EMD aircraft were built in the Block 10 configuration for development and upgrade testing, with the last two considered essentially production quality jets. Production for operational squadrons consisted of 37 Block 20 training aircraft and 149 Block 30/35 combat aircraft; one of the Block 35 aircraft is dedicated to flight sciences at Edwards Air Force Base.

The numerous new technologies in the F-22 resulted in substantial cost overruns and delays. Many capabilities were deferred to post-service upgrades, reducing the initial cost but increasing total program cost. As production wound down in 2011, the total program cost is estimated to be about $67.3 billion, with $32.4 billion spent on Research, Development, Test and Evaluation (RDT&E) and $34.9 billion on procurement and military construction (MILCON) in then year dollars. The incremental cost for an additional F-22 was estimated at about $138 million in 2009.

Ban on exports

The F-22 cannot be exported under US federal law to protect its stealth technology and other high-tech features. Customers for U.S. fighters are acquiring earlier designs such as the F-15 Eagle and F-16 Fighting Falcon or the newer F-35 Lightning II, which contains technology from the F-22 but was designed to be cheaper, more flexible, and available for export. In September 2006, Congress upheld the ban on foreign F-22 sales. Despite the ban, the 2010 defense authorization bill included provisions requiring the DoD to prepare a report on the costs and feasibility for an F-22 export variant, and another report on the effect of F-22 export sales on U.S. aerospace industry.

Some Australian politicians and defense commentators proposed that Australia should attempt to purchase F-22s instead of the planned F-35s, citing the F-22's known capabilities and F-35's delays and developmental uncertainties. However, the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) determined that the F-22 was unable to perform the F-35's strike and close air support roles. The Japanese government also showed interest in the F-22 for its Replacement-Fighter program. The Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) would reportedly require fewer fighters for its mission if it obtained the F-22, thus reducing engineering and staffing costs. However, in 2009 it was reported that acquiring the F-22 would require increases to the Japanese government's defense budget beyond the historical 1 percent of its GDP. With the end of F-22 production, Japan chose the F-35 in December 2011. Israel also expressed interest, but eventually chose the F-35 because of the F-22's price and unavailability.

Production termination

Throughout the 2000s, the need for F-22s was debated, due to rising costs and the lack of relevant adversaries. In 2006, Comptroller General of the United States David Walker found that "the DoD has not demonstrated the need" for more investment in the F-22, and further opposition to the program was expressed by Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, Deputy Secretary of Defense Gordon R. England, Senator John McCain, and Chairman of U.S. Senate Committee on Armed Services Senator John Warner. The F-22 program lost influential supporters in 2008 after the forced resignations of Secretary of the Air Force Michael Wynne and the Chief of Staff of the Air Force General T. Michael Moseley.

In November 2008, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates stated that the F-22 was not relevant in post-Cold War conflicts such as irregular warfare operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, and in April 2009, under the new Obama Administration, he called for ending production in FY2011, leaving the USAF with 187 production aircraft. In July, General James Cartwright, Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, stated to the Senate Committee on Armed Services his reasons for supporting termination of F-22 production. They included shifting resources to the multirole F-35 to allow proliferation of fifth-generation fighters for three service branches and preserving the F/A-18 production line to maintain the military's electronic warfare (EW) capabilities in the Boeing EA-18G Growler. Issues with the F-22's reliability and availability also raised concerns. After President Obama threatened to veto further production, the Senate voted in July 2009 in favor of ending production and the House subsequently agreed to abide by the 187 production aircraft cap. Gates stated that the decision was taken in light of the F-35's capabilities, and in 2010, he set the F-22 requirement to 187 aircraft by lowering the number of major regional conflict preparations from two to one.

In 2010, USAF initiated a study to determine the costs of retaining F-22 tooling for a future Service Life Extension Program (SLEP). A RAND Corporation paper from this study estimated that restarting production and building an additional 75 F-22s would cost $17 billion, resulting in $227 million per aircraft, or $54 million higher than the flyaway cost. Lockheed Martin stated that restarting the production line itself would cost about $200 million. Production tooling and associated documentation were subsequently stored at the Sierra Army Depot, allowing the retained tooling to support the fleet life cycle. There were reports that attempts to retrieve this tooling found empty containers, but a subsequent audit found that the tooling was stored as expected.

Russian and Chinese fighter developments have fueled concern, and in 2009, General John Corley, head of Air Combat Command, stated that a fleet of 187 F-22s would be inadequate, but Secretary Gates dismissed General Corley's concern. In 2011, Gates explained that Chinese fifth-generation fighter developments had been accounted for when the number of F-22s was set, and that the U.S. would have a considerable advantage in stealth aircraft in 2025, even with F-35 delays. In December 2011, the 195th and final F-22 was completed out of 8 test EMD and 187 operational aircraft produced; the aircraft was delivered to the USAF on 2 May 2012.

In April 2016, the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) Tactical Air and Land Forces Subcommittee proposed legislation that would direct the Air Force to conduct a cost study and assessment associated with resuming production of the F-22. Since the production halt directed in 2009 by then Defense Secretary Gates, lawmakers and the Pentagon noted that air warfare systems of Russia and China were catching up to those of the U.S. Lockheed Martin has proposed upgrading the Block 20 training aircraft into combat-coded Block 30/35 versions as a way to increase numbers available for deployment. On 9 June 2017, the Air Force submitted their report to Congress stating they had no plans to restart the F-22 production line due to economic and operational issues; it estimated it would cost approximately $50 billion to procure 194 additional F-22s at a cost of $206–$216 million per aircraft, including approximately $9.9 billion for non-recurring start-up costs and $40.4 billion for aircraft procurement costs.

Upgrades

The first aircraft with combat-capable Block 3.0 software flew in 2001. Increment 2, the first upgrade program, was implemented in 2005 for Block 20 aircraft onward and enabled the employment of Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM). Certification of the improved AN/APG-77(V)1 radar was completed in March 2007, and airframes from production Lot 5 onward are fitted with this radar, which incorporates air-to-ground modes. Increment 3.1 for Block 30 aircraft onward provided improved ground-attack capability through synthetic aperture radar mapping and radio emitter direction finding, electronic attack and Small Diameter Bomb (SDB) integration; testing began in 2009 and the first upgraded aircraft was delivered in 2011. To address oxygen deprivation issues, F-22s were fitted with an automatic backup oxygen system (ABOS) and modified life support system starting in 2012.

Increment 3.2 for Block 35 aircraft is a two-part upgrade process; 3.2A focuses on electronic warfare, communications and identification, while 3.2B includes geolocation improvements and a new stores management system to show the correct symbols for the AIM-9X and AIM-120D. To enable two-way communication with other platforms, the F-22 can use the Battlefield Airborne Communications Node (BACN) as a gateway. The planned Multifunction Advanced Data Link (MADL) integration was cut due to development delays and lack of proliferation among USAF platforms. The F-22 fleet is planned to start receiving Increment 3.2B as well as a software upgrade for cryptography capabilities and avionics stability in May 2019. A Multifunctional Information Distribution System-Joint (MIDS-J) radio that replaces the current Link-16 receive-only box is expected to be operational by 2020. Subsequent upgrades are also focusing on having an open architecture to enable faster future enhancements.

In 2024, funding is projected to begin for the F-22 mid-life upgrade (MLU), which is expected to include new sensors and antennas, hardware refresh, cockpit improvements, and a helmet mounted display and cuing system. Other enhancements being developed include IRST functionality for the AN/AAR-56 Missile Launch Detector (MLD) and more durable stealth coating based on the F-35's.

The F-22 was designed for a service life of 8,000 flight hours, with a $350 million "structures retrofit program". Investigations are being made for upgrades to extend their useful lives further. In the long term, the F-22 is expected to be superseded by a sixth-generation jet fighter to be fielded in the 2030s.

Design

Overview

The F-22 Raptor is a fifth-generation fighter that is considered fourth generation in stealth aircraft technology by the USAF.[91] It is the first operational aircraft to combine supercruise, supermaneuverability, stealth, and sensor fusion in a single weapons platform. The F-22 has four empennage surfaces, retractable tricycle landing gear, and clipped delta wings with reverse trailing edge sweep and leading edge extensions running to the upper outboard corner of the inlets. Flight control surfaces include leading-edge flaps, flaperons, ailerons, rudders on the canted vertical stabilizers, and all-moving horizontal tails (stabilators); for speed brake function, the ailerons deflect up, flaperons down, and rudders outwards to increase drag.

The aircraft's dual Pratt & Whitney F119-PW-100 augmented turbofan engines are closely spaced and incorporate pitch-axis thrust vectoring nozzles with a range of ±20 degrees; each engine has maximum thrust in the 35,000 lbf (156 kN) class. The F-22's thrust-to-weight ratio at typical combat weight is nearly at unity in maximum military power and 1.25 in full afterburner. Maximum speed without external stores is approximately Mach 1.8 at military power and greater than Mach 2 with afterburners.

The F-22's high cruise speed and operating altitude over prior fighters improve the effectiveness of its sensors and weapon systems, and increase survivability against ground defenses such as surface-to-air missiles. The aircraft is among only a few that can supercruise, or sustain supersonic flight without using fuel-inefficient afterburners; it can intercept targets which subsonic aircraft would lack the speed to pursue and an afterburner-dependent aircraft would lack the fuel to reach. The F-22's thrust and aerodynamics enable regular combat speeds of Mach 1.5 at 50,000 feet (15,000 m). The use of internal weapons bays permits the aircraft to maintain comparatively higher performance over most other combat-configured fighters due to a lack of aerodynamic drag from external stores. The aircraft's structure contains a significant amount of high-strength materials to withstand stress and heat of sustained supersonic flight. Respectively, titanium alloys and composites comprise 39% and 24% of the structural weight.

The F-22's aerodynamics, relaxed stability, and powerful thrust-vectoring engines give it excellent maneuverability and energy potential across its flight envelope. The airplane has excellent high alpha (angle of attack) characteristics, capable of flying at trimmed alpha of over 60° while maintaining roll control and performing maneuvers such as the Herbst maneuver (J-turn) and Pugachev's Cobra. The flight control system and full-authority digital engine control (FADEC) make the aircraft highly departure resistant and controllable, thus giving the pilot carefree handling.

Stealth

The F-22 was designed to be highly difficult to detect and track by radar. Measures to reduce radar cross-section (RCS) include airframe shaping such as alignment of edges, fixed-geometry serpentine inlets and curved vanes that prevent line-of-sight of the engine faces and turbines from any exterior view, use of radar-absorbent material (RAM), and attention to detail such as hinges and pilot helmets that could provide a radar return. The F-22 was also designed to have decreased radio emissions, infrared signature and acoustic signature as well as reduced visibility to the naked eye. The aircraft's flat thrust-vectoring nozzles reduce infrared emissions of the exhaust plume to mitigate the threat of infrared homing ("heat seeking") surface-to-air or air-to-air missiles. Additional measures to reduce the infrared signature include special topcoat and active cooling of leading edges to manage the heat buildup from supersonic flight.

Compared to previous stealth designs like the F-117, the F-22 is less reliant on RAM, which are maintenance-intensive and susceptible to adverse weather conditions. Unlike the B-2, which requires climate-controlled hangars, the F-22 can undergo repairs on the flight line or in a normal hangar. The F-22 has a Signature Assessment System which delivers warnings when the radar signature is degraded and necessitates repair. While the F-22's exact RCS is classified, in 2009 Lockheed Martin released information indicating that from certain angles the aircraft has an RCS of 0.0001 m² or −40 dBsm – equivalent to the radar reflection of a "steel marble". Effectively maintaining the stealth features can decrease the F-22's mission capable rate to 62–70%.

The effectiveness of the stealth characteristics is difficult to gauge. The RCS value is a restrictive measurement of the aircraft's frontal or side area from the perspective of a static radar. When an aircraft maneuvers it exposes a completely different set of angles and surface area, potentially increasing radar observability. Furthermore, the F-22's stealth contouring and radar absorbent materials are chiefly effective against high-frequency radars, usually found on other aircraft. The effects of Rayleigh scattering and resonance mean that low-frequency radars such as weather radars and early-warning radars are more likely to detect the F-22 due to its physical size. However, such radars are also conspicuous, susceptible to clutter, and have low precision. Additionally, while faint or fleeting radar contacts make defenders aware that a stealth aircraft is present, reliably vectoring interception to attack the aircraft is much more challenging. According to the USAF an F-22 surprised an Iranian F-4 Phantom II that was attempting to intercept an American UAV, despite Iran's assertion of having military VHF radar coverage over the Persian Gulf.