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Tabitha Smith was raised in Roanoke, Virginia. Her parents divorced while she was still young and her father remarried. Her relationship with her parents was tumultuous at best, and further declined after her mutant powers manifested.
Her friends had already given Tabitha the nickname Boom-Boom, due to her 'highly explosive' personality. When her mutant power developed, she discovered she could create balls of explosive combustive energy.
During a time of high social anxiety, distrust and fear over mutants, her parents were not pleased that their daughter was a mutant who would randomly destroy things with her time-bombs. Boom-Boom's father was violently angry at the situation and, at one point, Tabitha blew up his TV dinner.
Enraged, he beat her and she ran away from home. She tried to make it using her powers adopted the code name “Time Bomb”.
Boom-Boom used her power to detonate telephone booths and vending machines to collect small change. She used the money to buy a train ticket to New York where she hoped to find a secret mutant school.
However, as the train passed through Washington DC it suddenly flew apart, safely placing everyone and their belongings on the floor.
In the confusion Boom-Boom spotted a man walking down the railroad tracks and realized that he had caused the train's peaceful destruction.
She joined the Beyonder as he continued his journey, thinking that he was a mutant. That night he created an instant camp site, and the two swapped life stories;
Boom-Boom explained how things had been difficult, but that she wasn't ready to give up like her friends who had rotted away slowly on drugs. She had devised a game to give yourself 10 points for every bad thing that happens to you.
Their conversation convinced the Beyonder to leave for his own dimension, and as the two hugged Boom-Boom sneaked a time-bomb down the back of his pants. It detonated after he returned to his empty dimension, but he wasn't angry for long.
The next day, the Beyonder found Boom-Boom hitchhiking and gave her a ride to New York. He decided to take her to Xavier's School for the Gifted in Westchester, as the X-Men's mansion was the secret mutant school she had heard rumors of.
However, when she arrived at the school, the combined forces of the X-Men and New Mutants attacked the Beyonder, who was bored by yet another mutant attack and drove off. Boom-Boom fled the ensuing chaos, and ended up wandering through the nearby woods alone and depressed. She called for the Beyonder, who should have been aware that his name was being mentioned.
When he didn't answer, Boom-Boom threatened to commit suicide. After her first bluff failed, she made a genuine attempt to commit suicide by creating the largest time-bomb she could muster. The bomb detonated, but she wasn't harmed; Boom-Boom had been saved by the Beyonder.
To cheer her up, he drove his car through space, where other alien life-forms recognized his power. When Boom-Boom casually pointed out that the Celestials didn't move, let alone acknowledge his power, the Beyonder flew up into space and threatened to destroy everything unless the Celestials recognized his presence.
The Celestials reacted at the last moment, diving to attack the Beyonder. He casually brushed them aside and returned to the boardwalk with Boom-Boom as if nothing had happened. Being confronted by gigantic aliens was scary enough, but the Beyonder's flippant attitude to destroy everything terrified Boom-Boom.
In an effort to calm her down, the Beyonder manipulated her body and face. At first he made her more pretty, and then he aged her into a 21 year-old.
However, still scared by his abundant power, Boom-Boom demanded that he return her to normal. Once they were back on Earth, Boom-Boom left the Beyonder.
Returning to New York City, Boom-Boom called the Avengers' hotline and warned them about the Beyonder. In a sad parting, Tabitha led him into an ambush. The heroes attacked him. Once again, she was left alone, and the Beyonder had lost his only friend.
Boom-Boom was still homeless and wandered around the city until she was discovered by the Vanisher. He recruited her into his gang of teen aged street thieves, the Fallen Angels, where she relished the chance to use her time-bombs as a distraction while the others would pick pockets and steal purses. The Vanisher became lazy and reaped the benefits of all their hard work.
Tired of his lazy attitude she called X-Factor who the public believed to be a human group of mutant hunters.
The Vanisher soon disappeared when Iceman & Beast arrived dressed as mutant hunters.
Instead of fighting the Vanisher, they found Boom-Boom who placed one of her time-bombs down the back of Iceman's shirt.
They chased her around town until she reached a dead-end. Although she bluffed them with a non-exploding time-bomb, they scolded her and made her cry.
She lamented of her broken family and having lost her only friend, the Beyonder. Although she didn't really need much training to use her powers, Iceman & Beast took her back to X-Factor to learn self-control and restraint of her powers.
While staying with X-Factor, Boom-Boom had a crush on Iceman. This, combined with her rowdy personality, meant that she could not resist the chance to cause trouble for either Iceman or Beast, his best friend.
After she, Skids & Rusty saw Cyclops talking to himself, she went to fetch Iceman & Beast. However, when they ignored her she left a time-bomb in one of Beast's experiments to get their attention. As they chased her through the building her old friend Ariel appeared through a teleportal-doorway, stealing Boom-Boom away for an adventure with her old team, the Fallen Angels.
There Boom-Boom met Sunspot and Warlock, who had run away from the New Mutants, and she developed a crush on Jamie Madrox even though he was still dating Siryn.
They lazed around their base in the Beat Street Club and feasted on stolen fast food. Soon they followed Ariel into an adventure in space, where her over-enthusiastic use of her powers landed her into trouble.
She was experimented on by a race of aliens who wanted to know the secret of mutation. Boom-Boom was rescued by her new friends, and helped coach Chance to use her new mutant powers. Ultimately, Boom-Boom chose to return and face the music back at X-Factor.
However, upon Boom-Boom's return the X-Factor complex had been attacked by 'smile-face' soldiers from The Right. She found Caliban unconscious, and stowed away on board the Right's jet where she met Rictor who had been restrained and had his powers neutralized.
She realized that the other kids from X-Factor would also be tied-up & powerless, so she remained hidden. Upon landing, Boom-Boom managed to follow them to the Arlington Interactive Science Museum where she would blend in with the regular school kids.
However, she was discovered while playing around with one of the hands-on exhibits which was secretly a mutant detector.
Boom-Boom managed to sneak into the Right's secret base before their soldiers located her, and used her time-bombs to remove the power inhibitor helmets from Rictor, Rusty and the other kids. However, they were soon cornered by Cameron Hodge, leaving Boom-Boom hanging onto Rictor's legs as he held on to the edge of a broken bridge.
Their only options were to pull themselves up and be captured again, or drop to their deaths. Rictor, who had previously been tortured by The Right, preferred to die than go through the experience all over again, but it was Boom-Boom's pleas that she didn't want to die which stopped him from committing suicide. Although Boom-Boom was imprisoned along with the other kids, they were soon rescued by the adult members of X-Factor.
As soon as the fight against the Right had concluded, the adults were mysteriously teleported away, leaving the kids to make a long journey back to New York.
When they had returned, their old home had been destroyed and replaced by Apocalypse's Ship. However, soon after the Ship repaired itself after the battle against Apocalypse and his Horsemen, the Ship began to attack anyone inside it. Artie used his telepathic based powers to lead the way into the Ship's main brain, and indicated that the Ship had been enslaved.
Boom-Boom used a precisely aimed time-bomb to free the Ship's mind from the bonds controlling it, allowing Ship to verbally communicate with X-Factor for the first time. The adults were then able to work in conjunction with Ship to remove the bomb that Apocalypse had left to destroy them and the Ship.
After that, Ship was happy for all of X-Factor and their wards to live there, and would often provide any facilities that they asked for. On one occasion Ship gave them a high net to play Volley Bomb with an over-sized dud time-bomb.
On another occasion, when Boom-Boom was shouting at the others for using her records as pizza trays, Ship locked the kids in their den. X-Factor's roster had been reduced to just Iceman, Cyclops and Marvel Girl.
While the three of them were under attack from aliens who had cloned the Avengers, they had given Ship strict instructions not to let the kids out. Boom-Boom, Rictor and Rusty had to break down each door with their powers until they could convince ship that as X-Factor were out-numbered that they needed their help.
The kids had the element of surprise, and quickly dispatched the Carbon Copy Avengers.
Boom-Boom was pleased that she easily defeated the fake Thor by throwing a time-bomb up on the replica Mjolnir as it returned to its' master.
During Christmas, the X-Factor kids appeared on the local news. As X-Factor had become local celebrities, many people sent in presents for X-Factor and their wards.
Even though it was only Christmas Eve Boom-Boom began opening presents in a materialistic frenzy. When Rictor & the others insisted that they give the presents to those who had less than they did, Boom-Boom put up a fight, but slowly relented when they agreed she could keep her new sweater.
She then helped the others sneak out with a trolley loaded in presents, and was ready with her time-bombs to frighten off local street thugs.
It wasn't until all of X-Factor's wards were separated that they gave themselves a group name; the X-Terminators. Boom-Boom, Skids & Rictor had been sent to Angel's old boarding school, but left in the middle of the night when a boy named Taki appeared in his flying car.
He claimed that Artie & Leech had been kidnapped by demons and wanted their help to save them. Taki adapted his flying car to be powered by Boom-Boom's time-bombs, and soon they were on their way to battle legions of demons who had been unleashed from Limbo during the Inferno.
On route to Manhattan the kids stopped to 'borrow' refreshments and clothes from some local stores. While Taki paid for everything, Boom-Boom gave the team a stylish new make-over.
However, Taki was kidnapped by Crotus and given to N'Astirh to create a machine which would enable the demon sorcerer to create faster & more complex spells.
As the X-Terminators flew in Taki's adapted flying machines to stop the demon, they were joined by the New Mutants.
The two young teams teamed well and together with the they closed the portal to Limbo and restored normality to the streets of New York. Afterwards, Boom-Boom and Rictor teamed-up with the remaining New Mutants to help save Magik from her Darkchilde destiny.
During the Inferno, Xavier's School for the Gifted had been destroyed leaving New Mutants homeless. They returned to X-Factor's ship in the hopes of finding a place to rest.
Instead, the X-Terminators had been exploring underwater and discovered an ancient horn. All the X-Terminators had taken it in turns to blow the horn, but had failed to make a noise. When it was Boom-Boom's turn, her lungs managed to blast a mighty note out of the horn.
Unexpectedly the horn had summoned a giant sea monster from the deep and it began to drag Ship under water. The New Mutants arrived in time to help, and with the aid of Namor they managed to destroy the giant squid. Boom-Boom found that her time-bombs moved slowly underwater, because of the resistance caused by the water.
However, they put her power to more effective use when Sunspot & Warlock threw them like torpedoes. Having successfully worked together for a second time, the New Mutants accepted the X-Terminators' offer to stay with them on board Ship.
Soon after the X-Terminators accepted an offer to join the New Mutants. For a little while they hung around on board Ship, using their powers on each other to train. Boom-Boom would throw time-bombs into the air while Cannonball flew through the obstacle course that Warlock created. Beast, Cyclops & Iceman berated her for endangering Cannonball with her time-bombs. She protested that they were duds & she knew that nothing could harm Cannonball though his blast field. Cannonball re-assured the members of X-Factor that he knew Boom-Boom would never do anything to harm him. Marvel Girl believed that Boom-Boom had matured, but Iceman was more jaded and stated that she'd found someone new to have a crush on.
When the New Mutants returned the infant Illyana Rasputin to her parents in Russia, Mirage & her Pegasus Brightwind were suddenly struck down by a mysterious disease.
They rushed her back to New York where Ship recommended that they visit Doctor Strange. Boom-Boom objected to an implication that she was too immature to talk to Doctor Strange. However, the doctor couldn't see them as he was meant to be dead.
She didn't believe Wong's claims and threw a time-bomb into the Sanctum Sanctorum, which was defused by the Doctor while hiding in the shadows. He observed how both Boom-Boom & Rictor were arguing, and he recognized how they were both particularly sensitive to the evil magic that was effecting Mirage.
Mirage regained consciousness, but was possessed by an evil fiery spirit. She attacked the local citizens and the New Mutants. With Doctor Strange's help, she was able to fight the spirit and encase herself in ice.
He then teleported the New Mutants to Asgard. There, Boom-Boom continued to complain about how much she hated it in Asgard. The others tried to cheer her up, but when Sunspot attempted to show off how his strength was amplified they were attacked by dwarves.
Boom-Boom freaked out and was unable to fight. Even though the dwarves turned out to be allies from the New Mutants previous adventure in Asgard, Boom-Boom was still unable to warm up to her new allies. When they were attacked by a troop of possessed Valkrior, Rictor had to taunt Boom-Boom into fighting by calling her a cowardly dwarf.
However, the New Mutants were captured by Moonstar, who couldn't fight the demonic spirit any longer. They were taken to Hela's fortress and held in a magic cell that froze their bodies like statues.
Despite being unable to move, Boom-Boom could still talk. Her complaints about Cannonball's leadership angered Wolfsbane who snapped back. This irritated Boom-Boom so much that she held a grudge against Wolfsbane for many weeks afterward, as she couldn't stand her attitude.
It also caused Boom-Boom to create a time-bomb; the cell had frozen their bodies, but not their mutant powers. Unfortunately, Boom-Boom couldn't move away from the time-bomb as it rolled underneath her and exploded.
She fell into the store room under their cell, where she was free to move. Boom-Boom was tempted to leave the others behind, but begrudgingly detonated the rest of the floor and freed the rest of the team.
As the New Mutants escaped they found Prince Hrimhari imprisoned in another cell. They quickly freed him, and fled Hela's fortress. However, they were soon divided into two teams. Boom-Boom was forced to travel Asgard with Warlock and Hrimhari.
The wolf-prince was often frustrated by Boom-Boom's ignorance of Asgard, and she was quick to anger when he spoke to her as if she as dumb. However, they managed to effectively work together by using his lupine strength to hurl her time-bombs at aerial enemies.
They received advice from the Hildy, who told them to find Tiwaz the giant sorcerer who lived in the icy wastes. Boom-Boom was knocked unconscious during a brief fight with ice giants, so when she woke in the icy lair of Tiwas she mistook him for another ice giant.
She threw a time-bomb at him, but he turned it into a living ice-statue of a fairy. Although Tiwaz was unable to join Boom-Boom's small team, he was kind and Boom-Boom liked him.
She began to see a friendlier and magical side to Asgard, and gave Tiwaz a kiss goodbye. He sent them to the hive of Queen Ula. There Boom-Boom's team saved the Warriors Three from execution and recruited Queen Ula's swarm as an army to fight Hela.
Boom-Boom, Hrimhari & Warlock led the combined forces of the Warriors Three, Queen Ula's swarm, Balder the Brave, and Karnilla's kingdom of living statues into battle. The other New Mutants stopped Moonstar from executing Odin while he slumbered in his Odinsleep.
They were rewarded with banquets, and Boom-Boom developed a crush on Fandral the Dashing. However, they soon left Asgard and returned to New York.
While Boom-Boom was traveling across Asgard looking for an army to fight Hela, Rictor & Wolfsbane had grown close. Wolfsbane confronted Rictor with the fact that he was attracted to Boom-Boom. He surprised her by saying that Boom-Boom's gregarious attitude was a front to hide her self-doubts.
Rictor confessed to Wolfsbane that Boom-Boom had saved his life (when he was ready to commit suicide instead of being captured by the Right) and therefore he wanted to save her. He had made attempts to ask Boom-Boom out in the past, but she had been oblivious to his emotions and often thought he was too childish.
However, Rictor & Wolfsbane had grown attracted to each other by the time the New Mutants had arrived back on Earth.
When Moira MacTaggert (possessed by the Shadow King) demanded that Wolfsbane should return to Muir Island immediately, Rictor tried his best to console her. Boom-Boom couldn't stand Wolfsbane's wholesome attitude, but accompanied Cannonball & Sunspot on a shopping trip to buy Wolfsbane a farewell present.
Boom-Boom pictures herself wearing diamond earrings, but was scared off by the prices.
She then found a crystal wolf figurine which seemed perfect for Wolfsbane. As they made their way home, they came across members of Freedom Force attacking a man with a cybernetic arm.
They rushed to his defence, but instead he started to command them in combat. Having defeated Freedom Force with Cable's help, they took him back to Ship where he convinced Moira MacTaggert to leave Wolfsbane under his command.
He then returned the team to the site of Xavier's School for the Gifted, where they began to live in the surviving underground complex.
Boom-Boom grew quickly grew jealous of Rictor's growing romance with Wolfsbane. She designed herself a sexy little dress to be her new uniform.
The boys all swooned over her, but Rictor was oblivious because he was too busy talking to Wolfsbane. Rictor commented that he wasn't attracted to Boom-Boom in her new outfit because she was more like a sister to him. Offended, Boom-Boom argued with Rictor until Wolfsbane calmed her down by complimenting her daring new outfit.
Boom-Boom continued to hold a grudge against Wolfsbane, even though Wolfsbane was unaware of it. However, Boom-Boom did care for her. When Wolfsbane's mind had been swapped with that of herself from a fantasy alternate universe, the New Mutants all thought she had gone insane.
Cable refused to let any medical professionals see to her, so Wolfsbane had been left to scream and cry herself to sleep. Boom-Boom would watch over her as she slept and take her food & blankets. Yet, she did object when the reality-displaced Princess Rain stopped half-way through a passionate rant to mock Boom-Boom's name.
Although she wouldn't openly admit it, Boom-Boom had grown protective of Wolfsbane and admired her passion.
On a mission to Madripoor, the New Mutants teamed up with Sunfire to fight Stryfe's Mutant Liberation Front and stop his plans to taint the world's water supplies with the deadly drug Sleet.
Typically, Boom-Boom was instantly attracted to Sunfire. When the team split into two, she enjoyed being included in the aerial assault team and rode on Warlock's back. Boom-Boom remained oblivious to the others when they reasoned that she had been excluded from Cable's stealthy ground team. However, the aerial team were soon apprehended despite putting up a good fight.
They were bound and left hanging by their wrists in a warehouse on the docks, with Warlock & Sunspot held together and Boom-Boom & Cannonball held together.
There, Dragoness flirted with Cannonball and kissed him before she left. Boom-Boom was outraged at how Cannonball was attracted to Dragoness. She grew angry when he commented on how good Dragoness' kiss was, that Boom-Boom spun him around and planted a kiss on him to prove she was better.
What she wasn't aware of was that he'd been teasing her; Cannonball had played along with Dragoness to steal the keys to their manacles, but continued his charade when Boom-Boom had over-reacted.
Free from their manacles, they rejoined the other New Mutants, Sunfire & Wolverine and soon destroyed the weapons and Sleet stored inside the warehouse. Afterwards, Boom-Boom and Cannonball became a couple and dated for many years to follow.
Under Cable's guidance the New Mutants had became more militaristic and confident in combat even without their mutant powers.
The X-Men were believed to be dead because of televised events in Dallas, but they soon returned to live in the mansion with the New Mutants.
The younger mutants resented being treated as second class citizens by their elders, and having to share their space and time with a team who had abandoned them. Boom-Boom & Rictor were among the most vocal, especially when the X-Men refused to let them train in the Danger Room giving priority to testing Storm's abilities in her child-like body.
While relaxing on the lawn and playing games in the summer sun, Boom-Boom, Rictor, Wolfsbane, Warlock and Storm were ambushed and kidnapped by Genoshan magistrates.
Storm prevented one of Boom-Boom's time-bombs from striking a magistrate, because she had recognized that he was the missing X-Man, Havok. Boom-Boom would constantly remind her of this later, while they were left powerless in prison.
However, by the time Cable and the X-Men reached the lawn, there was nothing left of Boom-Boom or the others. They had been transported to Genosha, stripped of their powers & clothes and were due to stand trial for the "crimes" that the X-Men had previously committed in Genosha years earlier.
During their imprisonment, Boom-Boom and the others offered to give their life-force to Warlock in order to keep him alive long enough for the X-Men to save them.
However, Cameron Hodge had joined forces with the Genoshan government and he killed Warlock in an effort to steal his shape-shifting abilities. Boom-Boom later escaped and used her training to survive on the streets of Genosha.
Even with Cable's training, neither Boom-Boom nor Rictor stood a chance of survival against heavily armed magistrates, but they were saved by Jubilee, Wolverine and Psylocke.
The two adults left the New Mutants under Jubliee's care, which aggravated Boom-Boom as her powers and personality were very similar to Jubilee's.
Eventually when they regained their powers they were instrumental in destroying Cameron Hodge's data banks, and therefore weakened him enough for the X-Men to gain the upper hand.
After the events of Hodge's X-Tinction Agenda had subsided, Wolfsbane was left on Genosha. She asked Boom-Boom to take Warlock's ashes back to America and scatter them over Cypher's grave. Boom-Boom honored the memory and death of her friend accordingly.
Under Cable's leadership the New Mutants had already become a more militant team. Warlock had died in Genosha and Wolfsbane was forced to stay behind. Upon their return to the school they also lost Rictor & Sunspot. However Boom-Boom stayed with Cable & Cannonball, and watched as Cable recruited newer & more aggressive members.
When Shatterstar arrived and attacked them, Boom-Boom begged Cable not to hit in the face. She was wary of Domino (who was Copycat in disguise), and later threatened to use her time-bombs to curl Feral's tail in self-defense. The New Mutants changed their name to X-Force. They would no longer wait for their enemies to find them, but pro-actively pursued villains; something that seemed perfect for her explosive powers.
The team changed its name, and so did Boom-Boom. She was called Boomer instead of Boom-Boom, and she began to wear wrist attachments that would allow her to fire her time-bombs with more accuracy at the enemy. X-Force fought Masque & the Morlocks who had teamed up with the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. It was during this fight that Cannonball seemed to die but had actually become an External. After this her relationship with him intensified although she was never sure what it meant to date someone who seemingly would never die.
However, nothing would prepare her for the confrontation against her former friends. After Stryfe shot Professor Xavier, X-Force were attacked by the newer incarnation of X-Factor, in which they had to fight their old friend Wolfsbane. Boomer was thrilled to see her again, but was shocked to see the change in Wolfsbane's once quiet demeanor into a savage and ferocious animal. Unfortunately, X-Force were defeated by their old friends, and were placed under house arrest in the Danger Room. Of all the members in X-Force, only Cannonball and Boomer were approached by the X-Men to help bring down the Mutant Liberation Front.
Boomer & Cannonball were again forced to fight against old friends; Rusty & Skids. The fight was bitter, and Skids broke Boomer's jaw. Afterwards the others teased her that even with her jaw wired shut, Boomer was still unable to keep quiet. Despite their banter, she still designed new colourful outfits for the rest of the team.
Very quickly X-Force saved Sunspot from Gideon's laboratories, after it transpired that he wasn't the fated External from the New Mutants. Rictor had joined Weapon PRIME hoping to have revenge upon Cable, which put him at odds with his old friends in X-Force. However, he soon realised that Cable was no longer with the team. Therefore both Sunspot & Rictor were reunited with their New Mutants team-mates.
Sadly, Rusty & Skids weren't the only New Mutants who had sided with the Mutant Liberation Front. Moonstar had returned from Asgard and joined the MLF. So when X-Force attacked, she caught them unawares. Rusty & Skids had been brainwashed by Stryfe, but Boomer was shocked that Moonstar had willingly sided with the terrorist team. It was a betrayal of trust that she carried with her for a long time afterwards.
X-Force met up with Cannonball's long-time ex-girlfriend Lila Cheney. Boomer had started dating Cannonball when they believed she had died when teleporting Gosamyr's monstrous family into the local sun, but she had survived and helped the team leave the custardy of the X-Men. Naturally she was jealous of Lila's fame, and was convinced that she would try to steal Cannonball back. However, Lila had a quiet word with Boomer and re-assured her that she was welcome to date Cannonball.
Despite Rictor's machismo attempts to seduce Boomer, she remained faithful to Cannonball. They were a tight couple, but she was kidnapped twice because of their relationship. Together with Siryn and Warpath, Boomer was kidnapped by Gideon and the Externals as they returned to Camp Verde from a shopping trip. They were bound and held on the edge of a cliff. The other members of X-Force had to come & rescue them before they drowned in the rising tide.
Boomer met the rest of Cannonball's family, even though life on the Guthrie family farm was very different for the city girl. It was when Cannonball was trying to get her to swim in the pond that they were suddenly attacked and kidnapped by the Upstart known as Siena Blaze. They were prizes collected in a competition organised by the Gamesmaster. They were temporarily saved by Karma, who had been collected in Madripoor. Boomer couldn't hide her jealousy at Cannonball's joy to see Karma again. However, they were also joined by Rusty, Skids & Moonstar. Although they agreed to set aside their differences to escape, the Gamesmaster saw through their plan and telepathically took control of their bodies. The combined forces of the New Warriors and X-Force were defeated by Boomer and the others, but ultimately they were saved by a gamble between Sam's little sister Paige and the Gamesmaster.
Soon after, Cannonball and Boomer came face-to-face with more Externals. Saul & Absalom paid a visit to the Guthrie farm to discuss Cannonball's responsibilities to the other Externals. Many of their members were dying from the Legacy Virus, and believed that he held the key to finding a cure. Boomer recalled how she had been kidnapped by them previously, so she was quick to threaten Absalom when he grew agitated. The Externals saw her as nothing more than an insect, whose life passed too quickly. Although she remained brave & defiant to them in person, she was still worried about her relationship with someone who was guaranteed to outlive her. After the Externals peacefully parted, she kissed Cannonball and told him that she loved him for the first time.
Cable returned to the team and moved X-Force back to the mansion to strengthen ties with the X-Men. Like the others, Boomer received a new gold & purple uniform, while Cannonball received a promotion to the X-Men. The time that the two spent away from each other began to form cracks in their relationship. Boomer began to skip missions in order to see Cannonball, but he would be forced to leave her alone in the mansion while he aided the X-Men in their next adventure. With nothing else to do, Boomer would visit Sabretooth, who had apparently been reduced to a man-sized kitten after Wolverine lobotomized him with one of his claws. She would routinely take him a bowl of milk, tell him her problems and watch over him as he rollicked in the simulated fields inside the Danger Room. When this was uncovered, her team-mates confronted her, demanding that she cease making the visits for her own safety. Despite what felt like her most rational arguments even Cannonball, Professor X & Storm all insisted that she stop her visits with immediate effect.
The codes to the Danger Room were changed, and with no-one else to turn to Boomer started to turn to her father for attention. She began to make telephone calls to him, but was too afraid to talk as soon as she heard his voice. Eventually she learned that her mother hadn't died but left when she was still little. Unfortunately the combined forces of Sebastian Shaw and Holocaust attacked her father's trailer. Boomer and the rest of X-Force were kidnapped, telepathically brainwashed, and trained to hunt Cable. Even though her mind was restored thanks to a telepathic stunt by Cable, Boomer's father remained hospitalized and in a critical condition.
Returning to the mansion, Boomer began to visit Sabretooth again. However, he had already begun to heal and he waited until her guard was down. His verbal taunts goaded her to destroying his manacles with her powers and he immediately attacked her. Despite being saved by Psylocke, Boomer saw the savage assault she received from Sabretooth. A mixture of her own naivety and the horror of the violence haunted Boomer for a long time after wards. She withdrew to her room, hidden away in the darkness, refusing to see or speak to anyone. She finally emerged from her dark cocoon after having cut her hair, and altered her uniform. Her attitude was moodier, with a more sadistic streak while fighting enemies. Her new codename to go with her new attitude was Meltdown.
Cable returned to the team and moved X-Force back to the mansion to strengthen ties with the X-Men. Like the others, Boomer received a new gold & purple uniform, while Cannonball received a promotion to the X-Men. The time that the two spent away from each other began to form cracks in their relationship. Boomer began to skip missions in order to see Cannonball, but he would be forced to leave her alone in the mansion while he aided the X-Men in their next adventure. With nothing else to do, Boomer would visit Sabretooth, who had apparently been reduced to a man-sized kitten after Wolverine lobotomized him with one of his claws. She would routinely take him a bowl of milk, tell him her problems and watch over him as he rollicked in the simulated fields inside the Danger Room. When this was uncovered, her team-mates confronted her, demanding that she cease making the visits for her own safety. Despite what felt like her most rational arguments even Cannonball, Professor X & Storm all insisted that she stop her visits with immediate effect.
No Caption Provided
The codes to the Danger Room were changed, and with no-one else to turn to Boomer started to turn to her father for attention. She began to make telephone calls to him, but was too afraid to talk as soon as she heard his voice. Eventually she learned that her mother hadn't died but left when she was still little. Unfortunately the combined forces of Sebastian Shaw and Holocaust attacked her father's trailer. Boomer and the rest of X-Force were kidnapped, telepathically brainwashed, and trained to hunt Cable. Even though her mind was restored thanks to a telepathic stunt by Cable, Boomer's father remained hospitalized and in a critical condition.
Returning to the mansion, Boomer began to visit Sabretooth again. However, he had already begun to heal and he waited until her guard was down. His verbal taunts goaded her to destroying his manacles with her powers and he immediately attacked her. Despite being saved by Psylocke, Boomer saw the savage assault she received from Sabretooth. A mixture of her own naivety and the horror of the violence haunted Boomer for a long time after wards. She withdrew to her room, hidden away in the darkness, refusing to see or speak to anyone. She finally emerged from her dark cocoon after having cut her hair, and altered her uniform. Her attitude was moodier, with a more sadistic streak while fighting enemies. Her new codename to go with her new attitude was Meltdown.
With her new change in character came added control over her powers. The time-bombs were no longer spherical, but were any malleable shape she wished for. She could even re-absorb any energy that she didn't detonate. She single-handedly defeated the Blob after he had received power enhancements, and when the team attacked a SHIELD helicarrier she detonated several explosives around the vehicle in mid air at the same time. This shattered the hull in several places simultaneously allowing the team access to the helicarrier and ultimately saved Cyclops. However,soon after she was quickly rendered unconscious and placed into stasis by Operation: Zero Tolerance's Prime Sentinels. Once rescued, Domino left the team and the others rejected new civilian identities from Cable; Meltdown in particular objected to the prospect of becoming 'Nancy Forrester'. Therefore X-Force with Dani Moonstar went on the road without any guidance.
However, her more severe attitude added with the reduced time she spent with her boyfriend meant her relationship with Cannonball began to suffer. While on the road with X-Force Meltdown continued to write to Cannonball. Living in close quarters with the others, she began to grow closer to Sunspot. In a letter home, she invited Cannonball to join them at the Burning Man festival. At the desert festivities she began to play with her powers in public to gain attention & applause from the crowd. Caught up in the revelry, Meltdown & Sunspot soon found themselves dancing and kissing. Although no-one saw them, they both felt guilt-ridden by the time Cannonball arrived. However, it wasn't long before he caught his best friend kissing his girlfriend, and flew away hurt and enraged. Although ashamed of what they had done Meltdown and Sunspot became a couple. This made her a particular target when the whole team has been kidnapped by Reignfire (uncovering the truth behind Sunspot's clone).
It was a long time before any form of reconciliation, but eventually Sam rejoined the team he had previously led. In Cable's place, X-Force took on a new leader; Pete Wisdom, a British born mutant and former Black Air agent. While Cable's teachings were aggressively militaristic, Wisdom taught the team sly skills to oppose black ops and underground organizations. It was on one such mission that the team appeared to perish in an earth shattering explosion. However, the team had faked their death.
Despite the devastating events known as M-Day, Meltdown was one of the mutants that retained their powers. Gradually she gave up the name and attitude of Meltdown. Calling herself Boom Boom again, she grew her hair long, and returned to being the shopaholic city girl. Boom Boom was recruited by H.A.T.E. (Highest Anti-Terrorism Effort) and joined NextWave. However, when she and her new team-mates discovered that H.A.T.E. was actually run by S.I.L.E.N.T. part of the Beyond Corporation. They rebelled and took off on their own, fighting U.W.M.D.s (Unusual Weapons of Mass Destruction), Fin Fang Foom, Broccoli Men, killer koalas, Dirk Anger, Forbush Man, and ultimately Devil Dinosaur. During her time with NextWave, Boom Boom seems to have lost all of her military and black ops training, as her head is filled with pointless celebrity gossip. However, this brain inactivity saved the team from Forbush Man's crippling psychic attack.
Boom Boom was spotted in San Francisco soon after the X-Men moved there from New York. There, she insisted on verbally relieving all her troubles on to Beast, much to his chagrin. During a shopping trip, the former Chinese freedom-fighter Nuwa appeared as she was stealing from a local store. Boom Boom over-reacted and accidentally destroyed the goods on sale with a time-bomb. Without any information on Nuwa, Boom Boom was caught off-guard and sent to sleep by her opponent's mutant powers. With a little help from Beast, Boom Boom used the internet to research her opponent and (after complaining about how Nuwa had more friends on "FaceSpace" than she did) planned how to defeat her. Returning to the local fashion stores, Boom Boom soon found Nuwa. Immediately she feigned drowsiness, and appeared to fall unconscious. However, as Nuwa was leaving the scene of the crime, Boom Boom revealed that she was able to fight off the psionic sleep attack by drinking copious amounts of coffee. As Nuwa's powers no longer had any effect on Boom Boom, she was conscious and clear-headed enough to create her time-bombs and quickly defeat the Chinese mutant.
Some time later, Boom Boom was part of the Leper Queen's plans to undermine Bastion's control over her. Bastion had used the Leper Queen & her Sapien League to kidnap explosive mutants, injected them with the Legacy Virus, and released them. The virus would react in their mutants bodies, causing them to detonate killing thousands of innocent people. Bastion would then organise stories of mutant attacks to flood the media channels.
The New X-Men Surge and Hellion had been drugged, kidnapped, injected with the Legacy Virus & sent to the UN Building. However, the Leper Queen hated how Bastion controlled her & how thousands of innocent humans were dying. Therefore, when Boom Boom was drugged & kidnapped she wasn't sent to any public sites. Boom Boom was kept as bait, to lure X-Force to the Leper Queen and orchestrate their movements into killing her; an overly complex suicide bid to escape Bastion's control.
Boom Boom was kept sedated, tied to a chair, with the needle in her neck, ready to inject the Legacy Virus. When X-Force arrived they confronted the Leper Queen & demanded Boom Boom's instant release. However, the Leper Queen refused to let go. During the skirmish, Cyclops radioed a message to Wolverine. Cyclops had located located Cable & Hope in the future, & that mission took priority. Despite Wolverine's vehement protests & the team's valiant efforts to defeat the Leper Queen, Cyclops ordered Beast to teleport X-Force into the future.
Without X-Force to stop her, the Leper Queen's plan had failed. Confronted by the realisation that she would still be under Bastion's control, she began laughing maniacally. As Boom Boom slowly began to regain consciousness, the Leper Queen confessed that she was supposed to die in order for the kids to live. Her plans in ruins, the Leper Queen shot Boom Boom at point blank range in the head, seemingly killing her instantly.
When X-Force arrived in the future, they had remained in the same place. X-23 used her Adamantium claws to mark the concrete pavement with a large X. After defeating Stryfe & ensuring Hope's survival, X-Force began to return to the present, scattered around New York. Before removing their temporal displacement devices X-Force divided into teams to save Hellion & Surge at the UN Building, and Boom Boom in the Leper Queen's lair. X-23 returned the spot where she had carved an X into the floor and removed her time device. As she flew backwards through time, X-23 began to hear the slow groans of Boom Boom regaining consciousness and the Leper Queen's maniacal laughter. However, instead of confessing her failure, the Leper Queen was suddenly distracted by a strange noise behind her. When she turned to see what caused the noise, X-23 fell through the dimension rift and began shot the Leper Queen through the head & chest.
Still incapacitated by the Leper Queen's drugs, Boom Boom slowly regained consciousness. X-23 had ensured that Boom Boom wasn't executed by the Leper Queen, before falling unconscious after the exertion from the Messiah War & the ravages of time travel. Suddenly, an explosion was heard outside the Sapien League's hideout and agents of HAMMER invaded the building. Still heavily sedated, Boom Boom managed to inform the HAMMER agents that she'd been drugged. She tried to warn them about the other mutant kids who'd been primed to detonate, but the drugs in her body caused her to stumble over her words. Instead, the HAMMER agents took X-23 into custody.
Despite Agent Morale's reassurances that she would be taken to a hospital, Agent Young ordered there should be no witnesses to X-23's arrest. Two HAMMER agents were assigned to collect a genetic sample from Boom Boom, but one of them attempted to rape her instead. Arriving in the nick of time, Warpath showed no mercy & killed both HAMMER agents. Saved yet again & safe in her friends' arms, Boom Boom fell unconscious once more.
Given the chance to recuperate, Boom Boom was later dressed in an old X-Statix t-shirt and interviewed over the whereabouts of X-23. Sassy, annoyed & seemingly uncooperative, Boom Boom hated being treated like a dog. Yet she still managed to recall information she'd heard from the HAMMER agents. Her hazy recollection was enough to help track X-23, and enabled her safe extraction from the Facility.
After being saved from the Leper Queen, Boom Boom was evacuated from Graymalkin Industries along with the rest of the X-Men. During the Dark Avengers' attack, she was teleported to their new home; the floating island of Utopia.
There, Cyclops extended an invitation to all mutantkind to live peacefully on Utopia. When Madrox' X-Factor Investigations arrived, Boom Boom received an unexpected greeting from an old friend. Shatterstar hadn't seen her since they'd left X-Force. Since then, he had discovered the pleasurable experiences of intimate relationships. So when he saw Boom Boom for the first time in years, he pulled her close for a surprise kiss. As Boom Boom had been one of the first humans on Earth to appreciate Shatterstar's pretty face, she didn't object. She & Surge then spent the rest of the day hanging around Shatterstar (with Rictor following closely behind, to keep an eye on him) until X-Factor departed back to New York.
However, life on Utopia wasn't the peaceful utopia for mutantkind it was meant to be. Soon, the X-Men came under attack from a group of Predator X's. The X-Men rallied the forces, resources & powers. During the fight, Boom Boom had fun with her powers, letting loose for the first time in a long time. She used the propulsive force of blasting plasma away from her hands in order to create lift, temporarily defying gravity. The attacking Predators were soon defeated. Boom Boom has continued to live in relative luxury on Utopia, even during the opening events of Second Coming.
When the X-Men's island of Utopia came under attack from Nimrod sentinels, Boom Boom rallied to defend their home.She defended Utopia but preventing the futuristic Sentinels from invading through the subterranean tunnels. She attacked a Nimrod with the help of Sunspot, Husk and Avalanche .She managed to survive the attack, as she was later seen attending Cable's funeral after Hope Summers had defeated Bastion.
Boom Boom has now joined Cable's rogue X-Force team and she helped free a wanted alien from the Raft and prevented an alien fleet coming to Earth to claim the bounty. She is teamed up with Domino on a mission to prevent another disaster after managing to escape from the Avengers due to a distraction from Cable. Boom and Domino kidnap a new mutant, whose powers will manifest in a short time in the future and destroy the hospital. Boom Boom arrives to pick up Domino while simultaneously fending off the cops. Boom manages to empty a bridge they are stuck on of traffic and the kid's powers go off and they fall into the river. Domino calls a boat and they drive off safely.
Boom Boom is next seen with Colossus and Domino where they defeat a giant monster. Boom Boom performs the clean up of the creature, and after its defeat, the three of them regroup with Forge and Dr. Nemesis. They then break into Avengers Mansion to save Cable. She fights the Avengers as Cable is eventually rescued thanks to Hope. Boom Boom is in the new headquarters of X-Force with Forge and Dr. Nemesis. Something happens with Forge during a new neuro-sync device to warn the team of Cable's visions. Boom Boom and Nemesis discover another being is in there with them.
When Karma reformed the New Mutants as a corporate team to investigate paranormal events, Tabitha rejoined the team. After the establishment of Krakoa, the New Mutants became involved with the Shiar Empire. On Earth, anther team was occasionally formed, when Tabitha and Armor helped out with the rescue of Beak and Angel.
Tabitha's habit for changing codenames has led to allies issuing mocking comments, such as Machine Man stating she had about nine codenames and Elsa Bloodstone replying they all "sucked", or Sage telling her that she changed her codenames like others did their underwear, and including "Doctor Madame McSplode" in the list of ones Boom-Boom used during her career, which Tabitha had apparently forgotten.
Powers and Abilities
Boom Boom can psionically create plasma energy which often takes the form of spheres which range in size from marble to large sports balls. She can cause these balls of energy to detonate at will within a 3-10 second time period. She can also absorb the detonations if need be and is now immune to their explosive powers. She also has used wrist launchers which enable her to project her plasma energy across greater distances with explosive force.
⚡ Happy 🎯 Heroclix 💫 Friday! 👽
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A year of the shows and performers of the Bijou Planks Theater.
Secret Identity: Tabitha Smith
Publisher: Marvel
First appearance: Secret Wars II #5 (Nov. 1985)
Created by: Jim Shooter (writer)
Al Milgrom (artist)
Camera: Nikon D3
Lens: Nikkor 200-400mm
Exposure: 0.004 sec (1/250)
Aperture: f/4.0
Focal Length: 400 mm
ISO Speed: 400
No Flash
Kamera Canon EOS 600D
Belichtung 0,004 sec (1/250)
Blende f/5.6
Brennweite 180 mm
ISO-Empfindlichkeit 3200
Second picture of the series Mammatus Attack (Vertical View).
Traveling by car to the countryside, I saw that were forming these unique clouds.
The time I threw up as it was getting dark and these phenomena may last a few minutes.
So taking advantage that I carried into the boot of my car the camera equipment and the newly acquired Samyang 14mm 2.8, I stopped at the first open field I found and capture the moment.
The form acquired the cloud seems like a big monster opened his mouth threatening the existence of our planet.
At first, I thought not to post this picture, because it is not a photograph thought and prepared, and the foreground is a bit apocalyptic, but because of the curious and interesting shape of the clouds, I decided to publish it.
© Copyright: The reproduction, publication, modification, transmission or exploitation of any work contained herein for any use, personal or commercial, without my prior written permission is strictly prohibited.
AB800 through octabox cam left/45 degrees. AB400 bare w/honeycomb grid cam left for slight rim. Triggered w/ PWs. Effects added in PS
I'm very drawn to "Far Side" narrative stories with photography. It helps to have a model who's willing to go as far as you need her/him to go.
LARGE VERSION Brandon Hill Photos All Rights Reserved
Gallery Attacks : Palais de Tokyo une exposition exceptionnelle, parrainée par Olympus, qui met à disposition du public un appareil photo durant la visite. Je demande un modèle pro, pour mitrailler. En contrepartie je remplis une fiche S. On me fait un lavage de cerveau à la bière, on me lâche, arme en main. Devant ce mur plein, je n'ai pu résister, j'ai enlevé quelques cadres... Un simple hommage d'humour noire photographique, pour les victimes.
The A-3B Skywarrior, seen on the left, entered service in the fifties as a nuclear carrier-based bomber, operated by so-called heavy attack squadrons. By the early sixties, its survivability was in doubt, as new Soviet air defences were developed. It was to replaced by a new supersonic bomber, the A-5 Vigilante. When the nuclear roll was transferred to submarine-launched ballistic missiles, these jets were re-rolled as reconnaissance aircraft, known as the RA-5C, seen on the right. Both were some of the largest aircraft to serve on carriers.
The composition of air wings changes over time, but even as new aircraft are introduced, some squadron remain part of the same air wing for many years. Heavy attack units, however, tended to change wings on a regular basis. The heavy attack squadron that was part of Carrier Air Wing 8 aboard USS Forrestal in 1965, flying the A-3 represented by my model, was VAH-6 Fleurs. By coincidence, in 1978, now aboard USS Nimitz, Carrier Air Wing 8 had the same squadron assigned, now renamed RVAH-6 and flying Vigilantes including the one represented by my model.
An Air Force Lockheed Martin F-22 "Raptor" assigned to the 3rd Wing flies over Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, Feb. 27, 2018. The Lockheed Martin F-22 "Raptor" is the U.S. Air Force’s premium fifth-generation fighter asset.
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. 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.
I finally managed to get an image which I think shows the agility and determination of a Sparrowhawk on the attack. The action is extremely fast and unpredictable and almost impossible to follow with a camera at close range. This female was in pursuit of a Jay.
Jokulsarlon - Iceland 2013 - A swarn of arctic terns in attack formation while fishing in the ice lagoon
Caval 'd Brons, Piazza San Carlo, Torino (TO), Piemonte, Italia
The Equestrian monument of Emmanuel Philibert rises in the center of the Piazza San Carlo in central Turin, region of Piedmont, Italy.
The monument was completed (1838) in Paris by Carlo Marochetti.
The monument was erected by King Charles Albert of Savoy, to commemorate the military prowess of one of an ancestor from his dynasty, Emmanuel Philibert, Duke of Savoy. In the statue, the armored duke with a feathered helmet, astride a prancing horse, sheathes his sword, to signify the military feats he competed.
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Il monumento a Emanuele Filiberto di Savoia (in piemontese Caval ëd Brons, cioè cavallo di bronzo) è un monumento equestre a Emanuele Filiberto di Savoia, opera di Carlo Marochetti, e collocato in piazza San Carlo a Torino nel 1838.
Questo monumento è uno dei simboli della stessa città di Torino.
La statua equestre del Duca si erge al centro della piazza con particolare imponenza. Ritrae Emanuele Filiberto nell'atto di ringuainare la spada dopo la gloriosa vittoria ottenuta nella Battaglia di San Quintino, alla quale alludono i sottostanti bassorilievi. La statua poggia su un piedistallo in granito rosso di Baveno, con intagli di bronzo che ornano la base e la cimasa; su ogni lato è presente lo stemma sabaudo con la corona ducale.
In several places in Persepolis depictions of a lion attacking a bull occur. This is a very ancient motif, predating the 5th C BC founding of Persepolis. The lion is seen in Persepolis as the symbol of absolute power and heroic triumph. The bull is also a symbol of power in ancient Persia and is seen throughout Persepolis on top of columns and guarding gates. The exact meaning of this symbolism has been lost in time and has generated much debate. The symbol occurs at four places on the Apadana staircase to the Great Palace of Darius the Great. The marvellous bas reliefs on the monumental staircases leading to the Apadana Palace fortunately survived the pillaging and burning of the site when Alexander the Great conquered it in 330 BC.
28/10/15 www.allenfotowild.com
a little toad from a fish base . an all closed model shape with mc ... the design is very simple , there is no toes but I wanted to focuse on the togue and the eyes...
fold in one uncut 25/25cm square of tissue paper and duo momigami paper (from origamishop) .
around 2 am saturday downtown las vegas the cops were everywhere and one guy got the shot. there was an old movie called "the attack of the 50 foot woman" that inspired this. the girl is real and was dancing on a bar down the street
St. Patrics Cathedral on 2016 Christmas Eve.
New York’s First Cathedral: The Basilica of St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral
Written by Joyce Mendelsohn, 2001
Edited and updated by James E. Garrity, 2015
The Basilica of St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral is the original Cathedral of the Archdiocese of New York. Since its construction 200 years ago on the corner of Mott and Prince, it has stood as the heart of old New York; a beacon for the Catholic faithful and an American symbol of religious freedom. Originally the center of a once impoverished Irish community, St. Patrick’s has expanded to serve a diverse community of Catholics from Italian, Hispanic, Asian, and various other origins. Today, our Basilica of St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral remains a vital force in the community which proudly unites Catholics through worship, social groups and spiritual guidance.
The History of Catholicism in New York
The history of our city's Catholicism begins in the 17th century with French-born Fr. Isaac Jogues, a Jesuit who landed in New York State. Fr. Jacques was one of the North American Martyrs sent as missionaries to the Quebec Hurons in the early 1640s. He escaped capture and torture by an Iroquois war party in 1643 with the help of Dutch Calvinists who smuggled him by boat to New Amsterdam (later renamed New York) where he was warmly welcomed as “a martyr of Jesus Christ” by Willem Kieft. Father Jogues sailed back to Europe upon learning that 18 different languages were spoken among the settlement population numbering some 500, described as having “the arrogance of Babel.” He later returned as an Iroquois missionary though he was seized and murdered in 1649 by a member of the Mohawk tribe. His canonization was in 1930 by Pope Pius XI.
Peter Stuyvesant proceeded Kieft with openly hostility to public worship by religions other than the Dutch Reformed Church which remained even after the British gained control in 1664 of what became New York. The small Catholic population only gained esteem in 1674, when King James II (a Roman Catholic convert) granted religious liberty to the province which still lacked a its own place of worship. In 1683, King James II appointed an Irish Catholic Colonel Thomas Dongan to govern New York under his “Charter of Liberties and Privileges” which granted religious freedom to all Christians. However, the fall of the Catholic Stuarts in England due to the Protestant “Glorious Revolution” of 1688 drove Dongan from his post, ending the brief religious liberty in the province and ushering in a law in 1700 that prohibited Catholic priests from entering the city as per the provincial assembly. Despite these restrictions, Jesuit Ferdinand Steenmayer snuck into the city to celebrate Mass in secret on several brave occasions.
Upon the anti-Catholic law being repealed (1784) in the now sovereign state of New York, an Irish Capuchin friar Charles Whelan arrived in the city to help organize what would become the first Catholic parish in the independent United States. New York’s Catholic community numbered less than 1,000 of the total 230,000 populating the land from French, Spanish, Portuguese, German, and Irish descent. Nevertheless, the Roman Catholic Church in the City of New York was incorporated in 1785, led by the French consul and largely financed by a donation from King Charles III of Spain. Construction then commenced on the first Catholic house of worship in the city - St. Peter’s Church.
Opening Mass was celebrated on November 1, 1786, in the small, Georgian- style building located on the corner of Barclay and Church streets in lower Manhattan. Severely damaged in the Great Fire of 1835 (a conflagration that raged for three days and destroyed 674 buildings), the original wood frame building was replaced in 1840 by the present monumental granite structure, designed in the classicaltradition.
Pierre Toussaint And Mother Elizabeth Ann Seton
Two extraordinary parishioners are connected with St. Peter’s Church: Pierre Toussaint, who is being considered for canonization, and Mother Elizabeth Ann Seton, the first native-born American saint.
Toussaint, born in Haiti in 1766, was brought as a slave to New York in 1787. When his owners fell upon hard times, he became a successful hairdresser, at the same time quietly waiting on and supporting the household. After the death of his owners, the former slave purchased his wife’s freedom and became a leader of the free black community in New York.
Pierre Toussaint devoted his life to aiding the poor and the sick—opening his home to black orphans, raising funds to support a Catholic orphanage and school, and entering quarantined zones to nurse victims of epidemics that ravaged the city.
Toussaint worshiped at St. Peter’s Church for sixty-six years and was buried in the cemetery of St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral in 1853. In 1989, his remains were removed and brought to St. Patrick’s Cathedral uptown as the first step in the cause for his beatification. Within St. Peter’s Church is a life-size marble statue of Elizabeth Ann Seton, who was born in New York in 1774 into a devout Episcopalian family. At age nineteen, Elizabeth Ann Bayley married wealthy businessman William Seton. They raised a family of five children in a gracious home at 7 State Street facing Battery Park, which is now the Shrine of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton. As a young wife and mother who became deeply involved in assisting the poor, Mrs. Seton was widely known as the “Protestant Sister of Charity.” After her husband’s death, the widow—always deeply spiritual—was drawn to Catholicism and in 1805 was received into the Catholic faith at St. Peter’s Church.
Elizabeth Ann Seton turned for guidance to BishopJohnCarroll. He had been appointed as the first Bishop in the United States in 1789 and in Baltimore presided over America’s first diocese— encompassing all of the thirteen original colonies. At Bishop Carroll’s urging, she moved her family to Baltimore in 1808 to open a Catholic girls’ school—marking the beginning of the Catholic system of parochial schools in the United States. Mother Seton founded the Sisters of Charity—the first Catholic religious order in America. Her order was successful in establishing orphanages and hospitals and developing the parochial school system. Mother Elizabeth Ann Seton died at age fifty- two in 1821 and was canonized by Pope Paul VI in 1975.
Father Antony Kohlmann
In response to the needs of a growing number of Catholic immigrants, Pope Pius VII established the Diocese of New York in 1808, which included all of New York State and a portion of northern New Jersey. Archbishop Carroll chose Alsatian-born Father Antony Kohlmann, along with several of his fellow Jesuits, to organize the new diocese. When Father Kohlmann arrived in the new diocese, he described the Catholic population as consisting “of Irish, some hundreds of French and as many Germans; in all according to the common estimation of 14,000 souls.” A parcel of land on Mott Street on the comer of Prince Street was chosen for the construction of New York’s first Cathedral. It was to rise on land that had been purchased in 1801 and 1803 by St. Peter’s Church for a burial ground. (The graves were removed to another site.) At the time, Canal Street was the northern boundary of the built-up portion of Manhattan. The Cathedral, erected in the midst of meadows, hills, and woodlands, was referred to as the “new church out of town.” (It was still a rural area in 1820 when a fox was caught in the churchyard!) Funds for construction came from large numbers of poor Irish immigrants—at considerable personal sacrifice—and from several wealthy Catholic laymen, including Andrew Morris (an Irish immigrant) —the first Catholic ever to be elected to public office in New York State to serve on the Common Council—and Cornelius Heeney (another immigrant from Ireland), a business partner of John Jacob Astor. On June 8, 1809, Father Kohlmann officiated before an assembled crowd of 3,000 at the laying of the cornerstone for St. Patrick’s Cathedral—the second Roman Catholic Cathedral in America (Baltimore’s Cathedral was the first) and the second Catholic church in New York (after St. Peter’s).
The new Cathedral was the first house of worship in the United States to be dedicated to Ireland’s patron saint, Saint Patrick, who organized the Irish Church in the fifth century. Known as the Apostle of Ireland, Patrick was consecrated as Bishop circa 432. He traveled tirelessly throughout Ireland, preaching, writing, and teaching, converting chiefs and bards, gathering followers, establishing churches and schools, building monasteries, and performing miracles. Since specific rules for canonization were not set down until the tenth century, local veneration of St. Patrick evolved into his sainthood.
The new Cathedral was designed by Joseph Mangin, a French-born architect and engineer, who arrived in New York in 1745 and soon established a reputation as a skilled architect and builder. In 1802, Mangin, along with native- born architect John McComb Jr., won the competition for the design of New York’s present City Hall (completed in 1812) with their plans for an exquisite French Renaissance exterior and a splendid Federal-style interior.
Mangin designed a grand and magnificent structure for St. Patrick’s Cathedral—proclaiming the strength and presence of the Catholic community as a force within the city. At the time of construction, it was the largest church building in the city—over 120 feet long and 80 feet wide and rising to a height of 75 feet with an 85-foot inner vault. The Cathedral—with its massive rough-cut stone facade punctuated by niches for statuary, pointed-arch doorways, and a large tracery-ornamented gable window—was one of the first Gothic Revival churches in America. The interior space was marked by tall, clustered iron columns that divided the body of the church into three naves surmounted by Gothic arches. Painted wall surfaces and natural light streaming through tall windows added to the spiritual quality of the interior. The Cathedral formally opened on Ascension Day, May 4, 1815, with a crowd of 4,000 worshippers and dignitaries, including Mayor DeWitt Clinton, and a greater number overflowing into the streets.
The first Bishop appointed to the diocese was Irish-born Richard Luke Concanen.The Napoleonic Wars prevented him from reaching New York and he died in Italy in 1810. The work of governing as administrator of the diocese continued to be carried out by Father Kohlmann, who devoted himself to fund raising and overseeing construction of the Cathedral. He maintained those responsibilities until the arrival in November 1815 of the second Bishop, sixty-five-year-old John Connolly, an Irish Dominican theologian who was held in high repute by both Pius VI and Pius VII. Bishop Connolly directed the construction of several new churches in the diocese and founded an orphanage in a wood-frame building at 32 Prince Street, across from the Cathedral, that was staffed in 1817 by three Sisters of Charity sent to New York by Mother Elizabeth Ann Seton. Pierre Toussaint, a leading financial supporter, generously contributed funds to the orphanage for close to forty years.
The Sisters established St. Patrick’s School in 1822. The original orphanage and school building was replaced in 1826 by the present red-brick convent and school designed in the Federal style and distinguished by an exquisite doorway of the period. For more than 180 years, the Sisters of Charity continued their tradition of service— first in the orphanage and then in St. Patrick’s School. The school had educated generations of Irish, Italian, French, Hispanic, Chinese, and German children. St. Patrick’s School boasted a distinguished roster of graduates—leaders in business, film, theater, arts, teaching, and the full spectrum of vocations and professions. The school (which had been New York’s oldest surviving parochial school) was forced to close in 2010 due to insufficient enrollment. In 1823, Bishop Connolly invited Cuban-born Fr. Felix Varela to New York to start a pastoral ministry among poor Irish immigrants, who made up the majority of the 35,000 Catholics living in the city. Father Varela—a social activist and advocate of Cuban independence—served as pastor in several diocese churches and is best remembered for his staunch support for the Irish in the face of growing anti-Catholic sentiment.
Bishop Connolly’s entire episcopacy was plagued by a severe shortage of priests. He brought Fr. Michael O’Gorman (who he ordained in Ireland before leaving for New York) with him from Ireland, and in 1820, he ordained Fr. Richard Bulger (another Irishman) to the priesthood. Father Bulger thus was the first priest to be ordained in New York City. Fathers Bulger and O’Gorman regularly traveled to New Jersey, to upstate New York, and to Brooklyn on Long Island to celebrate Masses for the Catholics there, since there were no resident priests in those locations at that time. Both Father Bulger and Father O’Gorman became ill in November of 1824 as a result of tending to the sick and dying of the diocese, and they both passed away within a week of each other at their residence on Broadway. They had been living in the same residence as Bishop Connolly, and when they died, the Bishop, who officiated at both of their burials, caught a bad cold and he died a few months later in February of 1825. Fathers O’Gorman and Bulger (and other early priests of the diocese) were buried in the courtyard in front of the church. A commemorative bronze plaque was placed upon the gravesite in 2010.
At the time of Bishop Connolly’s death, the diocese was composed mainly of working class Irish parishioners. The appointment of his successor, Fr. John Dubois—a French educator and missionary—was viewed with disappointment by the Irish community. Forced out of France in 1791 by the French Revolution, Father Dubois arrived in America with letters of introduction from the Marquis de Lafayette to James Monroe and Patrick Henry. Father Dubois settled in Virginia, where he built a church and opened a school in Emmitsburg, Maryland, that became Mount St.Mary’s College. In 1826, when he was consecrated the third Bishop of New York, there were twelve churches in the diocese for a Catholic population of about 150,000, served by only eighteen priests. By 1837, the numbers had grown to thirty-eight churches and forty priests. Plagued by ill health, Bishop Dubois requested a coadjutor. In 1838, the Rev. John Joseph Hughes was elevated to the episcopy as Bishop of Basileopolis at St. Patrick’s Cathedral and was then appointed coadjutor bishop to Dubois. In the following year, he was made administrator-Apostolic of New York. Bishop Dubois died in 1842 at the age of seventy-eight and is buried in front of the Cathedral, as he had personally requested.
St. John Neumann
Six years before his death, Bishop Dubois had welcomed a twenty- five-year-old theological student named John Neumann to the diocese. Neumann—who was canonized by Pope Paul IV in 1977 as America’s first male saint—was born in Bohemia (now the Czech Republic) and attended seminary in Prague. Since his ordination had been delayed by the government, Neumann came to New York as a missionary. The young man was ordained to priesthood at St. Patrick’s on June 28, 1836, and sent to upstate New York to work among German-speaking Catholics. Renowned for his outstanding mission and pastoral work and for his holiness and charity, Neumann was appointed the fourth Bishop of Philadelphia in 1852, where he died in 1860.
The multitudes of Irish Catholics who arrived in New York in the 19th century were mainly uneducated peasants leaving behind an impoverished existence in their native homeland due to harsh British colonial rule. And, after 1845, they were also fleeing from the Great Hunger—the potato famines that killed more than one million Irish and drove some two million more to America. The new immigrants lived in squalor, crowded into rotting structures and wretched tenements, eking out a miserable living, and suffering from disease and extreme poverty. These Famine Irish turned in large numbers to the church for solace.
The fourth Bishop of St. Patrick’s, who succeeded Bishop Dubois in 1842, was himself the son of poor Irish farmers and weavers. In 1817, at age twenty, John Joseph Hughes (born in Annaloughan, County Tyrone)emigrated to the United States and briefly settled in Pennsylvania before entering Mount St. Mary’s College, where he was ordained to the priesthood in 1826. Father Hughes spent the next twelve years in Philadelphia serving as pastor of several churches and was widely admired for his skillful management, strong leadership qualities, and outspoken defense of the church. Arriving in New York in 1838, Father Hughes served first as coadjutor and later administrator-Apostolic of New York. He was appointed a bishop in 1842—the first prelate to be consecrated at St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Bishop Hughes faced two daunting challenges—presiding over a diocese that was experiencing unprecedented growth and protecting Catholics and their churches from the growing hostility of native-born Protestants.
Beginning in the 1830s, the city had experienced several outbreaks of violence led by nativists against Catholics. In 1831, the tiny, wood-frame structure of St. Mary’s Church (the third Catholic church in New York, organized in 1826) on Sheriff Street was burnt to the ground by arsonists. (A substantial stone church, still standing, was built to replace it in 1833 on Grand Street.) The burning of St. Mary’s Church compelled the Trustees of the Cathedral to approve the construction of the brick wall— which surrounds the church—in 1834. Frequent brawls and street riots between Protestants and Catholics led to the founding in 1836 of the Ancient Order of Hibernians (Latin for “Irish”) as a mutual benefit society and self- defense group. In the following years, nativist mobs had advanced on St. Patrick’s several times but were turned back after receiving reports that armed Irish defenders— posted by Bishop Hughes—were stationed along Prince Street and behind those brick walls which had been specifically constructed to protect the Cathedral.
In 1844, James Harper (of the famed Harper publishing family) was elected Mayor of New York as the candidate of the anti-immigrant American Republican Party. At the same time, Protestants and Irish Catholics in Philadelphia clashed in rioting that claimed the lives of some thirty Irishmen and resulted in the burning of Catholic churches and convents. Bishop Hughes vigorously defended the rights of Irish Catholics against this rising movement of bigotry and bloodshed. He organized thousands of Irish men to defend the Cathedral. As a massive anti-Catholic torchlight parade gathered in City Hall Park, ready to march up the Bowery to the Cathedral, he stationed sharpshooters on the protective walls surrounding the building. Bishop Hughes sent a letter to Mayor Harper warning that if any harm came to a single Catholic person or Catholic church, the city would be turned into “a second Moscow” (referring to the burning of Moscow during Napoleon’s invasion in 1812). The Bishop’s powerful message and forceful actions are credited with averting the anticipated violent anti-Catholic outbreak in New York.
In 1851, young men from the neighborhood around the Cathedral organized a militia regiment, known locally as the Second Regiment of Irish Volunteers. It was officially accepted as part of the New York State Militia and designated as the Sixty-Ninth Regiment. Commonly called the “Fighting Irish,” its green insignia was composed of a decorative shield flanked by two Irish wolfhounds standing on a ribbon inscribed with the Regimental motto, “Gentle When Stroked, Fierce When Provoked.” The Sixty-Ninth Regiment served in every campaign from Bull Run to Appomattox during the Civil War and fought in the Spanish-American War and the Mexican Border Campaign. Legendary hero Colonel William “Wild Bill” Donovan, chaplain Father Francis P. Duffy, and poet Joyce Kilmer were with the Regiment in bitter fighting in France during World War I. The “Fighting Sixty- Ninth” has been a fixture in the United States Army ever since and last saw action in Iraq and Afghanistan. Since 1907, the Regiment has been a unit of the New York Army National Guard.
Bishop Hughes was consecrated as Archbishop of New York in 1850 and continued a vigorous mission of building churches, schools, and hospitals. In 1842, when appointed bishop, he presided over a diocese of fifty churches, forty priests, and 200,000 Catholics. At his death in 1864, the numbers had increased to eighty-five churches, 150 priests, and a population of over 400,000 Catholics.
In a far-seeing move that many ridiculed at the time as “Hughes’ Folly,” the Archbishop proposed the construction of a new Cathedral in an undeveloped area far uptown on Fifth Avenue between 50th and 51st streets. Andrew Morris and Cornelius Heeney had purchased the rural property in 1810 on behalf of Father Kohlmann for the sum of $11,000 for the use of the Jesuit boys’ school that he had started downtown. In 1812, he established a school for girls near the boys’ school, run by the Ursuline nuns. The schools were no longer in existence when Archbishop Hughes laid the cornerstone for the new Cathedral on August 15, 1858.
During the Civil War, Archbishop Hughes served as the envoy of President Lincoln on a successful overseas mission to dissuade European countries from supporting the Confederacy. In gratitude, Lincoln petitioned Pope Pius IX to name Archbishop Hughes as America’s first Cardinal. But the death of this indomitable leader in January 1864 came before that honor could come to pass. His memory was honored by tributes from President Lincoln and other statesmen and his body viewed by over 200,000 common people who solemnly came to worship in the Cathedral. He was entombed in the crypts below the Cathedral and remained there until the “New” Cathedral was completed uptown—his remains were then removed to a crypt there in 1883. The Cathedral uptown holds the remains of all of the archbishops and cardinals that have served the Archdiocese since the death of Archbishop Hughes.
Archbishop Hughes’ successor in 1864 as the second Archbishop of the diocese was Bishop John McCloskey. He was born in Brooklyn in 1810 to Irish immigrant parents (his parents are both interred in the cemetery surrounding the Old Cathedral) and, at age eleven, entered Mount St. Mary’s College in Emmitsburg, distinguishing himself as an outstanding student. After graduation, the fifteen-year-old returned to New York with the intention of pursuing a career in law. But after a near-fatal accident in 1827, the young man decided instead to study for the priesthood. Young McCloskey was under the guardianship of Cornelius Heeney (who dedicated his fortune to the care of poor children at the end of his life), and the young man was taught Latin by Thomas S. Brady (buried in the crypts below the Cathedral). He was taught proper English elocution by Charlotte Melmoth, the first Shakespearean actress to come to America, who opened a school in Brooklyn when her acting career ended. (She was buried in an unmarked grave in the churchyard cemetery surrounding the Cathedral.) McCloskey returned to Emmitsburg as a seminarian and later taught Latin at the college. In 1830, he was ordained to the priesthood at St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral and remained until 1834 before taking a leave to study in Rome. Upon his return, Father McCloskey was instrumental in starting a seminary in Nyack under Bishop Dubois. (The seminary was destroyed by fire just prior to its opening in the 1830s. Arson was suspected, but the case was never investigated fully.) Father McCloskey became the first president of St. John’s College (later renamed Fordham University), founded by Archbishop Hughes in 1841.
Reverend McCloskey served as coadjutor bishop of New York from 1844–1847 and first Bishop of Albany from 1847 to 1864 before his appointment as Bishop to the New York diocese. Later raised to archbishop, he was highly respected as a pioneer in Catholic education and a clergyman of great spiritual strength and humility. During the tenure of Archbishop McCloskey, a disaster of tragic proportions struck on the night of October 6, 1866, when a catastrophic fire destroyed all but the outer walls of the Old Cathedral.
The five-alarm fire began in the packing room (filled with straw and wood shavings) of a porcelain dealer at 44 Crosby Street and quickly spread to nearby buildings. Showers of sparks fell on the lath and plaster roof of St. Patrick’s, which was soon a blazing inferno. As huge fragments of the burning roof crashed down into the sanctuary, filling the building with flames and smoke, a crowd of parishioners, led by Fathers McGeehan and Mullen, rushed inside to remove precious religious articles. They were successful in rescuing the Blessed Sacrament, vestments, several vessels, a number of oil paintings, and silver candlesticks just moments before the entire structure was engulfed by fire.
Archbishop McCloskey resolved to rebuild the Cathedral and commissioned architect Henry Engelbert (known for his designs of the College of Mount Saint Vincent in Riverdale) to reconstruct St. Patrick’s. Engelbert designed a severely plain facade of smooth brown stucco, facing Mott Street, lacking the detail and grace of the original exterior. The splendid interior, however, was rebuilt with a ceiling of ribbed vaults and arches carried on clustered piers. An altar screen of carved figures, representing the Apostles, is surmounted by a pointed arch stained-glass window above a painting of the figure of Christ. Completed in less than two years, the Cathedral was rededicated by Archbishop McCloskey on the Feast of St. Patrick—March 17, 1868.
The foremost ecclesiastical event in the history of St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral took place in the restored structure on April 27, 1875, with the investiture of Archbishop McCloskey as the first American to be named Cardinal. Several Papal emissaries, seven archbishops, twenty bishops, hundreds of priests, and thousands of laymen attended the ceremony of solemnity and celebration. After its construction was completed, His Eminence John Cardinal McCloskey moved his seat uptown to the magnificent new St. Patrick’s Cathedral on Fifth Avenue, which was formally dedicated on May 25, 1879. The historic St. Patrick’s downtown then became a simple parish church.
Since that time, the church has remained the heart of an active parish with an ever-changing population. (Parish boundaries run from Wooster Street to the Bowery, between Hester Street and East Fourth Street.) Beginning in the 1880s, Italian immigrants poured into the area centered on Mulberry Street that came to be known as Little Italy. (Earlier in the 1800s, Lorenzo Da Ponte, who had written librettos for several of Mozart’s operas, lived on Spring Street, and his opulent Funeral Mass took place in the Cathedral in August of 1838.) Large numbers of Hispanic and Chinese newcomers to America make up a significant portion of the present population. Recent years have seen the transformation of previously commercial areas, such as SoHo and NoHo, into residential communities largely populated by people in the arts and media. Currently, many young people are making the entire area their home. Their youthful energy has breathed much life into St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral parish.
As the 200th anniversary of the laying of the cornerstone of the Old Cathedral approached, Msgr. Donald Sakano, who had been appointed pastor of the venerable church in 2007, began to plan for what would be a six-year Bicentennial Celebration (since it took six years for the church o be completed in the early 1800s). Monsignor Sakano marshaled the assistance of historians familiar with church and city history as well as people in the parish community for the purpose of putting together a celebration that would highlight the great history of the church.
A slogan for the Bicentennial Celebration (which we are currently in the midst of) was selected: “Embracing the future as we celebrate our past.”
The Bicentennial Celebration of St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral began with a Mass celebrated by His Excellency, Timothy M. Dolan, Archbishop of New York, held in the Old Cathedral on June 7, 2009, commemorating the 200th anniversary of the laying of the church’s cornerstone. Various church and civic leaders attended Mass and the related events. A parade was held in which, among other events, (a) the Ancient Order of Hibernians, or “AOH,” marched to the church and stood shoulder-to-shoulder around its perimeter wall in commemoration of the AOH’s defense of the church against physical attack by the nativist, anti-Catholic “Know-Nothings” at the request of then-Bishop (later Archbishop) “Dagger John” Hughes and (b) the April 1861 parade of the famed “Fighting 69th” regiment—a unit of the Irish Brigade—as it marched off to the Civil War was re-enacted.
At that same June 7, 2009, Mass celebrating the laying of the cornerstone of the church, Archbishop Dolan announced from the pulpit that an application would be made to the Holy See requesting that St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral be awarded basilica status. This honor is bestowed upon churches that have historical or other kinds of significance for the Catholic Church and which affords certain ceremonial privileges for a church so honored.
It did not take a long time for the application to be honored; His Excellency Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan announced from the altar of the “new” Cathedral at the annual St. Patrick’s Day Mass on March 17, 2010, that His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI had awarded Basilica status to the Old Cathedral, effective (fittingly) on March 17, 2010.
All of the people who have had connections over the years with the Old Cathedral are rightfully proud to learn that this wonderful old church has been so honored by His Holiness Pope Benedict. Old St. Patrick’s is the only church within The Archdiocese of New York to have ever attained Basilica status—a fitting honor for such a historically and ecclesiastically significant edifice within the great City of New York.
Deeply rooted in the community, The Basilica of St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral continues its tradition of providing for the spiritual needs of Catholics of all ages. In 2013, the Basilica once again became a place where Roman Catholics could be buried on the island of Manhattan. A columbarium was erected early in the year for the purpose of accepting the cremated remains of parishioners and friends of the Basilica, and more columbaria are in the building stages as of this writing. Once again, Old St. Patrick’s Cathedral is an honored burial place for the faithful departed of New York City—the exact purpose that the pioneer Catholic community of New York City had originally intended for the land when it was purchased in 1801.