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A Northrop Grumman Antares rocket is seen as it rolls out to Pad-0A, Monday, April 15, 2019 at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. Northrop Grumman’s 11th contracted cargo resupply mission with NASA to the International Space Station will deliver about 7,600 pounds of science and research, crew supplies and vehicle hardware to the orbital laboratory and its crew. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)
Ousted by the low-floor revolution, a brace of new to Manchester Volvo B10s await their fates at Lillyhall.
Date: 1908
Source Type: Postcard
Publisher, Printer, Photographer: Unknown
Postmark: December 31, 1908, San Pierre, Indiana
Collection: Steven R. Shook
Remark: The original Dunn's Bridge was erected during the 1880s by Isaac Dunn, a native of Maine residing in Jasper County, as a means of moving his farming equipment from one side of the Kankakee River to the other side.
In an article published in the October 23, 1897, issue of The Westchester Tribune, an individual signing themselves as “A Taxpayer” had become annoyed with the fact that P. E. Lane of the Lane Bridge & Iron Works, who was from Illinois, was receiving numerous contracts to construct bridge spans throughout Porter County. “A Taxpayer” complained that the county commissioners were allowing “old iron of the World’s Fair, corroded, rusty, and full of holes” to be “dumped on the people of Porter county.”
In this same article, it is also mentioned that the auditor of Porter County had paid the Lane Bridge & Iron Works on November 13, 1895, for the construction of “Dunn’s bridge.” Thus, Dunn’s Bridge was constructed in November and December of 1895 by the Lane Bridge & Iron Works using iron originating from buildings that were razed after the conclusion of the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago.
Between 1895 and 1897, the Lane Bridge & Iron Works had constructed at least six other bridges using discarded World’s Fair iron in Porter County.
Three of these bridges were located in Westchester Township, one being the bridge over Coffee Creek in Chesterton where today’s Porter Avenue now spans this creek, another spanning the Little Calumet River on today's Brummitt Road (just west of the Brummitt School), and the third being located just west of the present day Howe Road bridge over the Little Calumet River.
One thirty-six foot long trestle bridge was constructed in Morgan Township over Crooked Creek on present day Indiana State Road 49, just north of County Road 500 South. Another bridge was built in Washington Township just west of present day County Road 400 East along Indiana State Road 2. Finally, in Jackson Township, the Lane Bridge & Iron Company constructed a bridge where present day Mander Road spans Coffee Creek, which was replaced in the 1970s.
Dunn’s Bridge is the only known surviving bridge that the Lane Bridge & Iron Works built in Porter County. In 1895, Porter County paid Lane Bridge & Iron Works $3,613.45 for the materials to construct Dunn's Bridge. It is unclear from the source of this information as to whether this represented one-half of the materials costs, with Jasper County paying the other one-half, or if this amount was the total cost of materials.
The iron bridge span seen in this image was erected to replace the original wood bridge structure built by Isaac Dunn. It has long been rumored that the Dunn's Bridge iron framing was constructed from iron trusses taken from the world's first Ferris wheel that operated at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Illinois. This rumor is untrue since the top of the bridge arch flattens out and, more importantly, the 1893 Ferris wheel from the World's Columbian Exposition was removed to St. Louis, Missouri, for use at the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition - being dynamited on May 11, 1906, and sold for scrap. Thus, the bridge's construction predated the dismantling of the Ferris wheel by many years.
The bridge trusses did indeed originate from the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition, but they originated from one or more of the domed or barrel-arched structures that were dismantled after the exposition. One persistent theory is that the arches for Dunn's Bridge were obtained from the dismantled Administration Building from the World's Columbian Exposition.
Sources:
The Chesterton Tribune, Chesterton, Porter County, Indiana; December 25, 1897; Volume 14, Number 37, Page 1, Columns 1-2. Column titled "The News of the Week. Taxpayer of Valparaiso Throws a Bombshell Into Camp by Claiming the County Commissioners Have a New Bird to Throw Money at."
Nichols, Kay Folsom. 1965 The Kankakee: Chronicle of an Indiana River and Its Fabled Marshes. Brooklyn, New York: Theodore Gaus' Sons, Inc. 209 p.
The Westchester Tribune, Chesterton, Porter County, Indiana; October 23, 1897; Volume 14, Number 28, Page 1, Columns 3-5. Column titled "Those Iron Bridges. A Correspondent Asks Pertinent Questions About Them. And is Answered With the Testimony Given by Chairman Fulton of the County Board of Commissioners, Who Makes Some Startling Admissions."
Copyright 2022. Some rights reserved. The associated text may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior written permission of Steven R. Shook.
The contract for route 214 (Highgate Village-Moorgate) passed from Metroline to Go-Ahead London General from Saturday 17th August. All new contracts for single-deck routes operating into the Central London ULEZ (Ultra-Low Emissions Zone) now call for all-electric vehicles, in this case 10.2m BYD/ADL Enviro200EVs which are operated out of Northumberland Park Depot.
SEe81 pauses at the Parliament Hill Fields stop on its way from Highgate to Moorgate on Monday 19th August. This was where the 615 trolleybus, the predecessor to the 214 bus, would have commenced its journey from 1937 until 31st January 1961. Indeed the 214 is still very similar to the trolleybus route it replaced, apart from the extension to Highgate Village which occurred in December 1993. There was also a brief Monday-Friday extension to London Bridge between October 1989 and August 1992.
What happens when two models are contracted to do the same photoshoot by mistake? Harry Emmalong, the unfortunate fashion photographer found out when sisters Flambo and Gissles Lank turned up at the same time.
The plan had been a simple shot, featuring an armchair by the newly formed furniture company, Shabby Sheik. However, both women were determined they should be the model employed, not accepting it to be a back-office mistake.
Harry said "Frankly, I just let them argue it out amongst themselves. There was much squealing from the back room, and afterwards I found tufts of hair all over the floor. But I wasn't going to get involved".
Eventually, Harry took this shot of the pair trying to force themselves into the same chair. It was as good he was going to get that day, especially as they broke the chair.
Shabby Sheik were delighted with the picture, and paid both girls half the amount.
On receiving the news of this, there was much squealing from the back room.
Just about worked…
Remaining naked of company branding so far, Central Connect ADL Enviro200MMC YX16OBS (317) heads along Dunmow Road in Bishops Stortford whilst working a duty on Route 323 towards Great Dunmow 17/01/26
The era of the pastoralists in the Crystal Brook area was dominated by the Bowman family. This area appealed to pastoralists as the Rocky River (which rises beyond Laura) joins the Broughton River near where Crystal Brook now stands. The first run in the district, called the Crystal Brook run (560 square miles) was taken up by William Younghusband and Peter Ferguson in 1842. It included the site of present day Port Pirie. Younghusband and Ferguson decided to survey part of their run and establish a town in 1848. They sold some of the land (85 acres) to Emmanuel Solomon and Matthew Smith, who established Solomontown. Around 1850 the leasehold was “sold” to the Bowman brothers with 25,000 sheep, 3,400 cattle and 200 horses for £50,000! The partnership between the three Bowman brothers was dissolved in 1864 following the Surveyor General’s new evaluation of their leasehold. George Goyder raised the annual lease from £514 to £3,420. One Bowman brother left for Tasmania, one for Poltalloch on Lake Alexandrina and another for Campbell Park on Lake Albert. The last remaining brother had his Crystal Brook run resumed by the government for closer settlement in 1873. The original homestead with a fine slate roof is part of Bowman Park, a state Native Fauna Park, controlled by the government. Many station buildings from the pastoral era still exist in this park. .
Surveying of the land for agriculture began in 1873 with town blocks being sold at auction shortly after this and the Hundred of Crystal Brook being declared. The town grew phenomenally in the first few years. The railway from Port Pirie arrived in 1877 sealing a prosperous future of the town. It continued on to Gladstone and to Peterborough by 1880. Many public buildings were erected in the years between 1877 and 1880. The first two storey construction in the town was completed in 1875 for E.H. Hewett, a butcher. At one stage this became the town’s bakery and it still has a basement oven. Today it is the National Trust Museum. By the time of the 1881 census Crystal Brook had 496 residents, making it the 12th largest town in the areas north of Adelaide.
At the end of the Main Street (Bowman Street) is Adelaide Square. Like Adelaide, Crystal Brook is also surrounded by parklands, although these have been used for development in places. The railway line divided the town into two parts. Some of the notable or historic buildings in the main street are:
1.The Crystal Brook Hotel on the corner of Railway Terrace was erected in 1878. The upper floor was added in 1910. For some years it was known as Knapman’s Hotel.
2.One of the large department stores was Claridge’s. It eventually became a Eudunda Farmer’s Store.
3.The National Bank site from used from 1876 but is now a private residence. The last a bank to operate here was the Savings Bank of SA. The classical looking bank structure was opened in 1936 for the SA centenary celebrations. It became a Savings Bank of SA in 1943.
4.The Royal Hotel built in 1882 with the upper floor added between 1910 and 1920.
5.Crystal Brook Institute built in 1881. Note the rounded upper windows and door quoin with the rectangular lower windows. Made of local stone. The library service started in 1878 before the Institute built.
6.The Georgian style Elders stock and station agent building was built in the 1930s. It is now a private residence. Note the perfect symmetry and the tiny portico above the front door.
7.In Adelaide Square note the Methodist Church- opened in 1877 and still in use. The unsympathetic front porch was added in 1967. Adjacent to it is a fine Sunday School building which opened in 1912 with FOUR foundation stones laid by four different local ministers and identities.
The District Council of Crystal Brook was established in 1882 and by then the town had a number of town facilities. These included the Crystal Brook School which opened in 1877; the Methodist Church which opened in 1877; and the first Catholic Church which opened in 1879. (The present Catholic Church opened in 1924 when the old church became a Catholic School.)
Growth of the town was based on its industrial development and the employment opportunities this provided. The first blacksmith was started by John & Robert Forgan who had learnt their trades with James Martin of Gawler. Their Crystal Brook foundry and implement works began operations in 1878. In 1884 the business expanded following the death of Robert. John also opened a branch in Port Pirie in 1902. The firm was still operating in 1973 when the town centenary history was written. The first flour mill was built on the corner of Railway Terrace and Cunningham Street in 1880. The flour mill burnt down in 1905 but the chaff mill part of the operations continued until the 1920s when it too burnt down. It was replaced by a motor vehicle dealership and garage.
But the biggest employer in the town was the SA government. In 1885 construction of the Beetaloo Dam, upstream on the Rocky River commenced. The government based its headquarters for the construction team in Crystal Brook. Once this project was completed work began on the Bundaleer reservoir in 1898. This was connected to the Beetaloo system. All the engineers and other workers for water in the mid north were based in Crystal Brook. Next the Baroota Reservoir was started in 1921. The Engineering and Water Supply (E & WS) office has thus been in Crystal Brook since 1892. Since the 1950s Crystal Brook has been the regional head office for E & WS with over 100 employed in the department’s workshops and offices. They are still located on the edge of Adelaide Square. The Highways Department has also had regional headquarters in Crystal Brook since 1943. In the 1970s this department employed 110 people in Crystal Brook. The railways were the other major government employer in the town before the rail standardisation of 1970 which saw the old station complex demolished. Other employment options in the town have been the northern areas radio station which was established in 1932, and the town electricity supply which began providing a service in 1922. The government has also employed health workers at the town hospital since 1925. Today Crystal Brook has a population of 1,600.
It all started when the mortally wounded Arick Havoc of Avalon made a contract with The World...
"In return for my life after death... give me the strength to persevere in my course of action, let me keep breathing... One last breath... To find...
the Super Chalice."
(Coming soon. I just missed the dusk, sadly, the red sky was truly beautiful :/
There's always next time, and at the very least this is still a pretty picture with some nice little forshadowing. In fact, if you look real close you can see the character holding Chekhov's Gun. Speaking of weapons, those are placeholders, I'm bored of them but it's what I had on me :P)
The contract between ESA and Arianespace to launch the ADM-Aeolus satellite was signed on 22 July 2016 by ESA’s Director of Earth Observation Programmes, Josef Aschbacher, (right) and CEO of Arianespace, Stéphane Israël, (left) in the presence of Jan Woerner, ESA Director General, (centre), at ESA headquarters in Paris, France. Aeolus will be launched on a Vega rocket from Europe’s Spaceport near Kourou in French Guiana at the end of 2017. Using novel laser technology, this new mission will provide profiles of wind, aerosols and clouds to advance our understanding of atmospheric dynamics and to improve weather forecasts.
Read more: Vega to launch ESA’s wind mission
Credit: ESA–Nadia Imbert-Vier, 2016
twitter.com/KeltruckLtd/status/990148390930481152
New #Scania XT G410 joins the Scania only #Prichards fleet #TomPrichard #TomPrichardContacting #Llantrisant #Wales #SouthWales #Cymru #CF72 #ScaniaXT prichardholdings.co.uk
Cracking job, Peter Harris!
#SuppliedByKeltruck keltruckscania.com/suppliedbykeltruck
Contract Mission: Ivan Drackoff - Leader of the Shazir Cell in Bandaud
11.
In one side there is an old beautifull building, which now is the only cafe in the city
Panic Transport (Contracts) Ltd Scania S500, reg. no. MV19 UFD, seen here at the Three Counties Showground, Malvern for Truckfest West Midlands & Wales 2019.
The picture was taken on 30 June 2019.
The contract between ESA and Arianespace to launch the ADM-Aeolus satellite was signed on 22 July 2016 by ESA’s Director of Earth Observation Programmes, Josef Aschbacher, (left) and CEO of Arianespace, Stéphane Israël, (right) in the presence of Jan Woerner, ESA Director General, (centre), at ESA headquarters in Paris, France. Aeolus will be launched on a Vega rocket from Europe’s Spaceport near Kourou in French Guiana at the end of 2017. Using novel laser technology, this new mission will provide profiles of wind, aerosols and clouds to advance our understanding of atmospheric dynamics and to improve weather forecasts.
Read more: Vega to launch ESA’s wind mission
Credit: ESA–Nadia Imbert-Vier, 2016
Este grupo de niñas hace trabajo voluntario para que su escuela esté libre de mosquitos que transmiten el dengue, el zika y el chikungunya. Cada día, ellas revisan el perímetro e instalaciones del centro estudiantil para asegurarse de la adecuada eliminación de las larvas de mosquitos.
Programas educativos como este tienen el propósito de ofrecer a las generaciones más jóvenes información adecuada para que puedan llevar el mensaje a casa y alertar a los padres sobre cómo reducir los criaderos de mosquitos y prevenir las enfermedades que transmiten.
El dengue sigue siendo uno de los grandes desafíos en todo el continente, ya que más de 500 millones de personas están en riesgo de contraer la enfermedad.
Young allies against mosquitoes
This group of girls is volunteering to make sure their school is free from mosquitoes that transmit dengue, zika, and chikungunya. They check the school grounds and facilities every day to ensure that mosquito larvae have been properly removed.
Educational programs like this are aimed at giving young people sufficient information to take the message home and tell their parents how to reduce mosquito breeding sites and prevent the diseases they transmit.
Dengue continues to be one of the biggest challenges facing the entire continent, with more than 500 million people at risk of contracting the disease.
From 2000 the preferred chassis manufacturer for new and replacement vehicles for the First Aberdeen Ltd fleet was Volvo. This came about as a result of a decision to contract out maintenance to a Volvo franchise with First Aberdeen engineering staff transferring to that new contractor. Consequently, plans were made to replace Leyland Atlanteans, Mercedes Benz 0405, Scania and Dennis Dart types with brand new and young second hand buses Volvo buses from other First fleets.
Six new Volvo B7LA / Wright Eclipse Fusion artics and six new Volvo B7TL / Alexander ALX400 double deckers were overshadowed by what eventually amounted to a total of one hundred and seven Volvo B10BLE single deckers, of which thirty-nine were new and sixty-eight were between one and four years old. The second hand vehicles came from First Manchester (twenty-eight) and First Glasgow (forty). Wright Renown bodywork featured on all of the new single deckers and thirty-eight of the second hand acquisitions with just thirty of the forty buses from First Glasgow having Alexander ALX300 bodies. The influx of these new and second hand buses with the consequential disposal of Leyland Atlanteans, Mercedes Benz 0405, Scania and Dennis Darts to other FirstGroup companies spanned a period just short of eighteen months.
Fleet numbers –
2 – 7 Volvo B7LA artics, 132 – 137 Volvo B7TL double deckers, 601 – 639 new Volvo B10BLE, 640 – 677 / 801 – 830 second hand Volvo B10BLE, (Registration numbers and other details are given below the images of individual vehicles).
In 2002 six Volvo B6-41 / Alexander Dash bodied buses came from Essex Buses Ltd These were allocated fleet numbers 201 – 206.
2001 62162 (677) R337 GHS 20080513ae cpy
+++ DISCLAIMER +++
Nothing you see here is real, even though the model, the conversion or the presented background story might be based on historical facts. BEWARE!
Some background:
After the division of Czechoslovakia by Germany in 1939, Slovakia was left with a small air force composed primarily of Czechoslovak combat aircraft. This force defended Slovakia against Hungary in March 1939, in the Slovak–Hungarian War in March 1939 in which Hungary reoccupied Carpathian Ruthenia and parts of southern Slovakia. In this the SVZ suffered some losses against Royal Hungarian Air Force. Later, the SVZ also took part in the German Invasion of Poland. The SVZ took part in Axis offensives in the Ukraine and Russian Central front sectors of the Eastern Front under the lead of Luftwaffe in the Stalingrad and Caucasus operations. This engagement resulted in great losses of aircraft and personnel, though.
During the World War II, the Slovak Air force was charged with the defense of Slovak airspace, and, after the invasion of Russia, provided air cover for Slovak forces fighting against the Soviet Union on the Eastern Front. For the rest of the war the SVZ fought US Army Air Forces and Royal Air Force raids against Slovakia.
Among the many more or less outdated German aircraft types inherited from the Luftwaffe during the early stages of WWII was a small number of Hs 123 A-1 dive bombers. The Henschel Hs 123 was a small single-seat biplane dive bomber and close-support attack aircraft. The aircraft was designed to meet the 1933 dive bomber requirements for the reborn Luftwaffe. Both Henschel and rival Fieseler (with the Fi 98) competed for the production contract requirement, which specified a single-seat biplane dive bomber. The first prototype, the Hs 123 V1, was cleared for its maiden flight on 1 April 1935; General Ernst Udet, a World War I ace, flew it on its first public demonstration flight on 8 May 1935. The first three Henschel prototypes, with the first and third powered by 485 kW (650 hp) BMW 132A-3 engines and the second by a 574 kW (770 hp) Wright Cyclone, were tested at Rechlin in August 1936. Only the first prototype had "smooth" cowlings; from that point on, all aircraft had a tightly fitting, characteristic cowling that included 18 fairings covering the engine valves. The Henschel prototypes did away with bracing wires and although they looked slightly outdated with their single faired interplane struts and cantilever main landing gear legs attached to smaller (stub) lower wings, the Hs 123 featured an all-metal construction, clean lines and superior maneuverability. Its biplane wings were of a "sesquiplane" configuration, whereby the lower wings were significantly smaller than the top wings.
The overall performance of the Hs 123 V1 prototype prematurely eliminated any chance for the more conventional Fi 98, which was cancelled after a sole prototype had been constructed. During testing, the Hs 123 proved capable of pulling out of "near-vertical" dives; however, two prototypes subsequently crashed due to structural failures in the wings that occurred when the aircraft were tested in high-speed dives. The fourth prototype incorporated improvements to cure these problems; principally, stronger center-section struts were fitted. After it had been successfully tested, the Hs 123 was ordered into production with a 656 kW (880 hp) BMW 132Dc engine.
The Hs 123 was intended to replace the Heinkel He 50 biplane reconnaissance and dive bomber as well as acting as a "stop-gap" measure until the more modern and capable Junkers Ju 87 became available. As such, production was limited and no upgrades were considered, although an improved version, the Hs 123B, was developed by Henschel in 1938. A proposal to fit the aircraft with a more powerful 716 kW (960 hp) "K"-variant of its BMW 132 engine did not proceed beyond the prototype stage, the Hs 123 V5. The V6 prototype fitted with a similar powerplant and featuring a sliding cockpit hood was intended to serve as the Hs 123C prototype.
About 265 aircraft were produced and production of the Hs 123A ended in Autumn 1938. It was flown by the German Luftwaffe during the Spanish Civil War and the early to midpoint of World War II. At the outbreak of hostilities, Hs 123s were committed to action in the Polish Campaign. Screaming over the heads of enemy troops, the Hs 123s delivered their bombs with devastating accuracy. A frightening aspect of an Hs 123 attack was the staccato noise of its engine that a pilot could manipulate by changing rpm to create "gunfire-like" bursts. The Hs 123 proved rugged and able to take a lot of damage and still keep on flying. Operating from primitive bases close to the front lines, the type was considered by ground crews to be easy to maintain, quick to re-equip and reliable even under dire field conditions.
The Polish campaign was a success for an aircraft considered obsolete by the Luftwaffe high command. Within a year, the Hs 123 was again in action in the Blitzkrieg attacks through the Netherlands, Belgium and France. Often positioned as the Luftwaffe's most-forward based combat unit, the Hs 123s flew more missions per day than other units, and again proved their worth in the close-support role. With Ju 87s still being used as tactical bombers rather than true ground support aircraft and with no other aircraft capable of this mission in the Luftwaffe arsenal the Hs 123 was destined to continue in service for some time, although numbers were constantly being reduced by attrition.
The Hs 123 was not employed in the subsequent Battle of Britain as the English Channel proved an insuperable obstacle for the short-ranged aircraft, and the sole leftover operator, II.(Schl)/LG 2, went back to Germany to re-equip with the Messerschmitt Bf 109E fighter bomber (Jabo) variant. The Bf 109E fighter bomber was not capable of carrying any more bombs than the Hs 123. It did, however, have a greater range and was far more capable of defending itself. On the downside were the notoriously tricky taxiing, ground handling, and takeoff/landing characteristics of the Bf 109, which were exacerbated with a bomb load.
At the beginning of the Balkans Campaign, the 32 examples of the Hs 123 that had been retired after the fall of France were taken back into service and handed over to the Slovak Air Force to replace the heavy losses on the Eastern Front after combat fatigue and desertion had reduced the pilots' effectiveness. Most of Slovakia's obsolete biplanes were replaced with modern German combat aircraft, including the Messerschmitt Bf 109, so that the Hs 123s were initially regarded with distrust – but the machines proved their worth in the ensuing battles. The Slovak Hs 123s took part in the Battle of Kursk and supported ground troops, some were outfitted with locally designed ski landing gears which proved to be a very effective alternative to the Hs 123’s spatted standard landing gear which was prone to collect snow and mud and even block. After this deployment at the Russian front, the Slovak Air Force was sent back to defend Slovak home air space, primarily executed with Messerschmitt Bf 109 E and G types, Avia B-534, and some other interceptor types, also helped by Luftwaffe units active in the area.
Being confined to national borders, the Slovak Hs 123s were put in reserve and relegated to training purposes, even though they were occasionally activated to support German ground troops. From late August 1944 the remaining Hs 123s also actively took part in the suppression of the Slovak National Uprising against Germany.
Since Hs 123 production had already stopped in 1940 and all tools had been destroyed, the permanent attritions could not be replaced - due to a lack of serviceable airframes and spare parts the type’s numbers dwindled. When Romania and the Soviet Union entered Slovakia, they organized with some captured aircraft and defectors a local Insurgent Air Force to continue the fight against Axis forces in country, including the last operational Slovak Hs 123s. No aircraft survived the war.
General characteristics:
Crew: 1
Length: 8.33 m (27 ft 4 in)
Wingspan: 10.5 m (34 ft 5 in)
Height: 3.2 m (10 ft 6 in)
Wing area: 24.85 m² (267.5 sq ft)
Empty weight: 1,500 kg (3,307 lb)
Gross weight: 2,215 kg (4,883 lb)
Powerplant:
1× BMW 132Dc 9-cylinder air-cooled radial piston engine with 660 kW (880 hp),
driving a 2-bladed metal variable-pitch propeller
Performance:
Maximum speed: 341 km/h (212 mph, 184 kn) at 1,200 m (3,937 ft)
Range: 860 km (530 mi, 460 nmi) with a 100 l drop tank
Combat range: 480 km (300 mi, 260 nmi) with 200 kg (440.9 lb) of bombs
Service ceiling: 9,000 m (30,000 ft)
Rate of climb: 15 m/s (3,000 ft/min)
Armament:
2× 7.92 mm MG 17 machine guns, 400 rpg
Up to 450 kg (992.1 lb) of bombs under fuselage and wings
The kit and its assembly:
A relatively simple what-if project, and it took a while to figure out something to do with a surplus Airfix Hs 123 A kit in The Stash™ without a proper plan yet. The Hs 123 is an overlooked aircraft, and the fact that all airframes were used during WWII until none was left makes a story in Continental Europe a bit difficult. I also did not want to create a German aircraft – Finland was an early favorite, because I wanted to add a ski landing gear (see below), but since I won’t build anything with a swastika on it this option was a dead end. Then I considered an operator from the Balkans, e. g. Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia or Slovakia – and eventually settled for the latter because of the national markings.
The kit was built almost OOB, and the Airfix Hs 123 is a nice offering. Yes, it’s a simple kit, but its is IMHO a very good representation, despite the many rivets on the hull, a rather bleak interior and some sinkholes (e. g. on the massive outer wings struts). It goes together well, just a little PSR here and there. I just added a dashboard (scratched from styrene sheet) and modified the OOB 50 kg bombs with extended impact fuzes with a flat, round plate at the tip, so that the bomb itself explodes above soft ground or snow for a bigger blast radius.
The only major modification is a transplanted ski landing gear from a PM Model (Finnish) Fokker D.XXI, which had to be reduced in length to fit under the compact Hs 123. A small tail ski/skid was scratched from styrene sheet material.
Thankfully, the Hs 123 only calls for little rigging – just between the central upper wing supports and there is a characteristic “triangle” wiring in the cowling. All these, together with the wire antenna, were created with heated sprue material.
Painting and markings:
Finland had been a favorite because I would have been able to apply a more interesting paint scheme than the standard Luftwaffe RLM 70/71/65 splinter scheme with a low waterline that was typical for the Hs 123 during WWII. However, as a former Luftwaffe aircraft I retained this livery but decided to add a winter camouflage as a suitable thematic supplement to the skis.
The basic colors became Humbrol 65 underneath and 30 and 75 from above – the latter for a stronger contrast to the Dunkelgrün than Humbrol 91 (Schwarzgrün). Thanks to the additional whitewash mottles, which were inspired by a similar livery seen on a contemporary Bulgarian Avia B.534, I did not have to be too exact with the splinter camouflage.
The cockpit and cowling interior were painted with RLM 02 (Humbrol 240), the propeller blades became Schwarzgrün (Humbrol 91, further darkened with some black) and the bombs were painted in a dark grey (Revell 77) while the small 100 l drop tank became bare aluminum (Revell 99).
However, before the white mottles could be added, the kit received its decals so that they could be painted around the markings, just as in real life. The Slovak national markings had to be scratched, and I used standard white simplified German Balkenkreuze over a cross made from blue decal stripes. Later a separate red decal circle was placed on top of that. The only other markings are the red “7” codes, edged in white for better contrast (from a Heller Bf 109 K) and the fuel information triangles on the fuselage from the Hs 123’s OOB sheet. As an ID marking for an Eastern Front Axis aircraft, I retained the wide yellow fuselage stripe from the OOB, sheet, too, and added yellow tips on the upper wings’ undersides.
The whitewash camouflage was then created with white acrylic paint (Revell 05), applied with a soft brush with a rounded tip. Once this had dried, I treated the surfaces with fine wet sandpaper for a weathered/worn look.
Finally, after some soot stains behind the exhausts and around the machine gun nozzles, the kit was sealed with matt acrylic varnish and the rigging (see above) was done.
The Hs 123 might not be the sexiest aircraft of WWII, but I like this rugged pug which could not be replaced by its successor, the Ju 87, and served in its close support role until literally no aircraft was left. Putting one on skis worked quite well, and the exotic Slovak markings add a special touch – even though the national markings almost disappear among the disruptive whitewash camouflage! The result looks quite plausible, though, and the old Airfix kit is IMHO really underestimated.
Off to San Francisco to continue the Celebration!
Keith: I need to give Lauren a call to give her the good news! She'll be estactic!
Jason: Why don't you fly to New York & tell her in person? I can wind things up here, & meet up with you guys back home for the Holidays!
Keith: Excellent! I think I will!