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A Priest in Haridwar tries to take a holy bath by anchoring to a barrier placed to help the pilgrims tackle the formidable current of the Ganges.
I finally got a picture of all my big girls.
I had to use a bit of picnik editing since it's so dark in there. LOL
From left to right:
Guava- waiting for some pink mohair hair. She is a custom by ardentcurse. I love her Barb. Thank you!
Saffy- A Melly Kay custom. I'm so in awe of her beauty. Thank you Melly!
Heather Sky - She is a stock girl with Ana Karina's chips. :)
Adorable Aubrey- Lucy. My beloved Feonalita custom.
1972 KB- Melody Rose Byrn. Natural Beauty and holy grail girl for me.
Nostalgic Pop- Another natural beauty in all her shiny glory. She has many factory flaws even though I got her brand new. She is loved as she is, but maybe one day she will get a slight spray matte.
Rainy Day Parade - My first holy grail girl. She is also my experiment girl and has nostrils and a mouth carved all the way up to her brain. LOL
Mango - My other Melly Kay custom. Total beauty. And I got her because mangoes are my favorite fruit. ^________^
ADG - I got her for my baby daughter whom does play with her.... very roughly! This ADG is a very tough girl and has taken some very hard falls from the high chair and baby crib. I know my daughter will cherish her... at least I hope so. *tee hee hee*
A simple scene that grabbed my attention while looking out onto Wakomata Lake after our fish fry. The path of the currents and the clouds played together nicely, making for an interesting composition.
Nikon D810
Nikkor AF-S 70-200mm f/2.8 VR
Mercedes 814D Nouvelle coach seen in Williams coaches brecon's yard on a wet day. this coach is currently up for sale
I'm currently working on a template for arealight's commander helmet, so far I have about an hour into it and I still need to tweak it a bit. I'm not going to do a template for the fin, I think it's to small and will be a pain to apply the decals.
Currently, the fountain is rotating through several vivid colors. The colors change from left to right, creating opportunities to capture some interesting intermediates.
11/2016
A short list of things I'm doing, thinking about, and loving here: www.lindsaycrandall.com/2014/12/currently/
BIG 5. Elephant. Madikwe Game Reserve. South Africa. Nov/2020
Elephant
Elephants are large mammals of the family Elephantidae and the order Proboscidea. Three species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant (Loxodonta africana), the African forest elephant (L. cyclotis), and the Asian elephant (Elephas maximus). Elephants are scattered throughout sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. Elephantidae is the only surviving family of the order Proboscidea; other, now extinct, members of the order include deinotheres, gomphotheres, mammoths, and mastodons.
All elephants have several distinctive features, the most notable of which is a long trunk (also called a proboscis), used for many purposes, particularly breathing, lifting water, and grasping objects. Their incisors grow into tusks, which can serve as weapons and as tools for moving objects and digging. Elephants' large ear flaps help to control their body temperature. Their pillar-like legs can carry their great weight. African elephants have larger ears and concave backs while Asian elephants have smaller ears and convex or level backs.
Elephants are herbivorous and can be found in different habitats including savannahs, forests, deserts, and marshes. They prefer to stay near water. They are considered to be a keystone species due to their impact on their environments. Other animals tend to keep their distance from elephants while predators, such as lions, tigers, hyenas, and any wild dogs, usually target only young elephants (or "calves"). Elephants have a fission–fusion society in which multiple family groups come together to socialise. Females ("cows") tend to live in family groups, which can consist of one female with her calves or several related females with offspring. The groups are led by an individual known as the matriarch, often the oldest cow.
Males ("bulls") leave their family groups when they reach puberty and may live alone or with other males. Adult bulls mostly interact with family groups when looking for a mate and enter a state of increased testosterone and aggression known as musth, which helps them gain dominance and reproductive success. Calves are the centre of attention in their family groups and rely on their mothers for as long as three years. Elephants can live up to 70 years in the wild. They communicate by touch, sight, smell, and sound; elephants use infrasound, and seismic communication over long distances. Elephant intelligence has been compared with that of primates and cetaceans. They appear to have self-awareness and show empathyfor dying or dead individuals of their kind.
Source: Wikipedia
Elefante
Os elefantes são animais herbívoros, alimentando-se de ervas, gramíneas, frutas e folhas de árvores. Dado o seu tamanho, um elefante adulto pode ingerir entre 70 a 150 kg de alimentos por dia. As fêmeas vivem em manadas de 10 a 15 animais, lideradas por uma matriarca, compostas por várias reprodutoras e crias de variadas idades. O período de gestação das fêmeas é longo (20 a 22 meses), assim como o desenvolvimento do animal que leva anos a atingir a idade adulta. Os filhotes podem nascer com 90 kg. Os machos adolescentes tendem a viver em pequenos bandos e os machos adultos isolados, encontrando-se com as fêmeas apenas no período reprodutivo.
Devido ao seu porte, os elefantes têm poucos predadores. Exercem uma forte influência sobre as savanas, pois mantêm árvores e arbustos sob controle, permitindo que pastagens dominem o ambiente. Eles vivem cerca de 60 anos e morrem quando seus molares caem, impedindo que se alimentem de plantas.
Os elefantes-africanos são maiores que as variedades asiáticas e têm orelhas mais desenvolvidas, uma adaptação que permite libertar calor em condições de altas temperaturas. Outra diferença importante é a ausência de presas de marfim nas fêmeas dos elefantes asiáticos.
Durante a época de acasalamento, o aumento da produção de testosterona deixa os elefantes extremamente agressivos, fazendo-os atacar até humanos. Acidentes com elefantes utilizados em rituais geralmente são causados por esse motivo. Cerca de 400 humanos são mortos por elefantes a cada ano.
Elefante é o termo genérico e popular pelo qual são denominados os membros da família Elephantidae, um grupo de mamíferos proboscídeoselefantídeos, de grande porte, do qual há três espécies no mundo atual, duas africanas (Loxodonta sp.) e uma asiática (Elephas sp.). Há ainda os mamutes (Mammuthus sp.), hoje extintos. Até recentemente, acreditava-se que havia apenas duas espécies vivas de elefantes, o elefante-africano e o elefante-asiático, uma espécie menor. Entretanto, estudos recentes de DNA sugerem que havia, na verdade, duas espécies de elefante-africano: Loxodonta africana, da savana, e Loxodonta cyclotis, que vive nas florestas. Os elefantes são os maiores animais terrestres da actualidade, com a massa entre 4 a 6 toneladas e medindo em média quatro metros de altura, podem levantar até 10.000 kg. As suas características mais distintivas são as presas de marfim
Fonte: Wikipedia
Madikwe Game Reserve
The Madikwe Game Reserve is a protected area in South Africa, part of the latest park developments in the country. Named after the Madikwe or Marico River, on whose basin it is located, it was opened in 1991 and comprises 750 km2 of bushland north of the small town Groot-Marico up to the Botswana border.
Madikwe Game Reserve lies 90 km north of Zeerust on what used to be farm land, but owing to the poor soil type, farming was not that successful. After extensive research, the South African Government found that this land would best be utilised as a provincial park, to economically uplift this otherwise rather poor area.
The process reintroducing wildlife to the area began in 1992 under the codename Operation Phoenix which relocated entire breeding herds of elephants, Cape buffaloes, south-central black rhinos and southern white rhinos along with various species of antelopes. Following Operation Phoenix, Madikwe has also successfully reintroduce rarer predatory species such as lions, cheetahs, spotted hyenas and Cape wild dogs bringing the total large mammal population of the reserve to over 10 000. There are currently more than 60 species of mammal in the park.
Source: Wikipedia
Reserva do Madikwe
A Madikwe Game Reserve é uma área protegida na África do Sul, parte dos mais recentes desenvolvimentos de parques no país. Batizado em homenagem ao rio Madikwe ou Marico, em cuja bacia está localizado, foi inaugurado em 1991 e compreende 750 km2 de mata nativa ao norte da pequena cidade de Groot-Marico até a fronteira com o Botswana.
A Madikwe Game Reserve fica 90 km ao norte de Zeerust, no que costumava ser terras agrícolas, mas devido ao tipo de solo pobre, a agricultura não teve tanto sucesso. Após uma extensa pesquisa, o governo sul-africano descobriu que esta terra seria melhor utilizada como um parque provincial, para elevar economicamente esta área bastante pobre.
O processo de reintrodução da vida selvagem na área começou em 1992 sob o codinome Operação Fênix, que realocou rebanhos inteiros de elefantes, búfalos do Cabo, rinocerontes-negros do centro-sul e rinocerontes brancos do sul junto com várias espécies de antílopes. Após a Operação Phoenix, Madikwe também reintroduziu com sucesso espécies predatórias mais raras, como leões, chitas, hienas-pintadas e cahorros do mato, elevando a população total de grandes mamíferos da reserva para mais de 10.000. Atualmente, existem mais de 60 espécies de mamíferos no parque
Fonte: Wikipedia (traduçao livre)
Impodimo Game Lodge
Impodimo Game Lodge is set on a rocky ridge overlooking the vistas within the magnificent malaria-free Madikwe Game Reserve of the North West Province of South Africa. The air-conditioned suites at Impodimo Game Lodge are decorated in neutral tones and offer a fireplace and private bathroom with additional outdoor shower.
Our passion has always been to bring the most amazing experiences to our guests and with that in mind the Elephant Hide was born. Merging ultra luxury with incredible game viewing right on your doorstep.
Our guests get to enjoy a fully stocked bar, Italian coffee and air-conditioned comfort whilst they soak up the wildlife just meters away. It is the perfect spot to watch wildlife, big and small, up close with minimum disturbance to their natural behaviour. The hide is a photographers dream, offering an excellent vantage point in complete comfort and safety to get that award-winning shot or just to marvel at the unfolding drama of the waterhole
Source: Impodimo Game Lodge website
Impodimo Game Lodge
O Impodimo Game Lodge está situado em uma crista rochosa com vista para a magnífica Reserva Madikwe, livre de malária, na Província Noroeste da África do Sul. As suítes com ar-condicionado do Impodimo Game Lodge são decoradas em tons neutros e oferecem lareira e banheiro privativo com chuveiro adicional ao ar livre.
Nossa paixão sempre foi levar as experiências mais incríveis aos nossos hóspedes e foi pensando nisso que nasceu o Esconderijo de Elefante. Combinando ultra luxo com incrível visualização de animais bem na sua porta.
Nossos hóspedes podem desfrutar de um bar totalmente abastecido, café italiano e conforto do ar-condicionado, enquanto absorvem a vida selvagem a poucos metros de distância. É o local perfeito para observar animais selvagens, grandes e pequenos, de perto com o mínimo de perturbação ao seu comportamento natural. O hide é o sonho dos fotógrafos, oferecendo um excelente ponto de vista com total conforto e segurança para obter aquela foto premiada ou simplesmente para se maravilhar com o drama que se desenrola no poço
Source: Impodimo Game Lodge website (tradução livre)
This animation shows the circulation of ocean currents around the western Antarctic ice shelves. The shelves are indicated by the rainbow color; red is thicker (greater than 550 meters), while blue is thinner (less than 200 meters).
Warm ocean currents attacking the underside of ice shelves are the dominant cause of recent ice loss from Antarctica, a new study using measurements from NASA's Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite (ICESat) revealed.
An international team of scientists used a combination of satellite measurements and models to differentiate between the two known causes of melting ice shelves: warm ocean currents thawing the underbelly of the floating extensions of ice sheets and warm air melting them from above. The finding, published today in the journal Nature, brings scientists a step closer to providing reliable projections of future sea level rise.
To read more go to: www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/currents-ice-loss.html
Credit: NASA/Goddard CGI Lab
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission.
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Another collage of all my dolls that I currently own, plus their head sculpts right on the picture along with their names!
I'm getting closer to buying the Impldoll Azalea finally, but I haven't quite taken the plunge yet. I'm sure I will soon though!
Current views of the Chambers St station on the J, opened in 1913, on Friday, Aug 7, 2026
(Marc A. Hermann / MTA)
Current aerial view showing buildings at 105th Street between Amsterdam and Columbus Avenues that have diagonal footprints reflecting the original right-of-way for the Old Croton Aqueduct, NYC’s first municipal drinking water supply.
The leading edge of a denser turbidity current as it intrudes into less dense clean water. The edge develops a pattern of lobes and clefts due to an instability.
See
www.physics.utoronto.ca/~nonlin/turbidity/turbidity.html
Photo by Jerome Neufeld
The Yorkshire Wildlife Park was built on land formerly occupied by the 260-acre (110 ha) Brockholes Farm Visitor Centre, and currently occupies about 100 acres (40 ha) of the site. Cheryl and Neville Williams and business partner John Minion purchased the site in 2008 with funding from Lloyds TSB Commercial, private investment, and a Yorkshire Forward grant. The site was renovated over the 2008–2009 winter, and officially opened by Justin Fletcher, MBE (also known as Mr Tumble from CBeebies) on 4 April 2009.
In February 2010, the park rescued 13 lions from a Romanian zoo and, after their quarantine period, released them into the newly built 10-acre (4.0 ha) Lion Country enclosure.
In 2011, the zoo opened Land of the Tigers, which contains two pools and a waterfall and was created next to a wetland reserve. Visitors view the tigers from a 150-metre (490 ft) long raised walkway, with the tiger enclosure on one side of the walkway and the wetlands on the other.
In March 2012, the park opened Leopard Heights, a £300,000 open-topped enclosure that lets visitors view the Amur leopards from an 8-metre (26 ft) viewing tower or from ground level through a 10-metre (33 ft) long glass wall. The 6,000-square-metre (65,000 sq ft) enclosure is claimed to be the largest leopard enclosure in the world. In July 2014, the park opened a large enclosure for polar bears, named Project Polar, with the first bear being 500 kg male Victor; a second arrived in March 2015 called Pixel, who is Victor's grandson. On 15 April 2015, Yorkshire Wildlife Park announced that one of its Amur tigers had given birth to three cubs on 29 March 2015. A video of the birth was released on the park's official Facebook and Twitter page. The park has become a popular attraction in its first few years, starting in 2009 with only 66,000 visitors; it hosted 323,000 in 2011. The Yorkshire Wildlife Park, commonly referred to as YWP, is a wildlife park located in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, in England. It was built on the site of Brockholes Farm Visitor Centre, which closed to the public in November 2008. The park prides itself on being 'The UK's Number 1 Walkthrough Wildlife Adventure'.Yorkshire Wildlife Park is a member of the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums (BIAZA) and the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA).
Lion Country
Lion Country was opened in May 2010 to house 13 African lions, which were acquired from Oradea Zoological Garden in Romania in February 2010. The lions had been kept in small enclosures and poor living conditions, and were in poor health as the Romanian zoo could not adequately care for them. Today, Lion Country is still home to the eight remaining lions, which are housed as three separate prides across the three enclosures.
Lemur Woods
Lemur Woods is a walk-through enclosure with lots of trees, housing groups of ring-tailed and black-and-white ruffed lemurs. The lemurs can often be seen climbing high in the trees, or sunbathing on the ground.
African Plains African Plains is a large, savannah-like paddock displaying different African animals such as Ankole cattle, ostriches, Rothschild's giraffes, lechwe, and common eland. In the enclosure, they also have endangered Grevys Zebras which they are doing a lot of conservation with, as they are very rare. They also have a large, grassy paddock for 2 young male critically endangered black rhinoceros, that have a large house at the back of the paddock as well as several mud wallows and piles of browse in the paddock, which has been made to look like the African savannah.
Land of the Tigers
Land of the Tigers houses four Amur tigers: three adults, named Sayan, Vladimir, and Tschuna; and one cub, called Hope. Hope had two brothers, but they were sent off to other zoos so they can have cubs of their own. The enclosure features two pools and a waterfall, as well as a 150-metre walkway for visitors. The tigers can often be seen playing together or even climbing trees, which they seem to enjoy a lot.
Project Polar
Opened in August 2014, Project Polar houses four male polar bears named Victor, Pixel, Nissan and Nobby. These are the only polar bears in an English zoo. A fifth polar bear, named Tongki, is due to arrive at the park in November 2018. The largest enclosure is ten acres in size and features two pools, the largest of which is eight metres deep and contains 25.5 million gallons of water. This is one of the largest polar bear enclosures in the world.
South America Viva
South America Viva is a walk-through enclosure displaying several South American species, including Patagonian mara, common squirrel monkeys, Azara's agouti, common rhea and capybara. There are also separate enclosures housing six-banded armadillo, South American coati, giant anteaters, common marmosets and giant otters, which are situated near a South America-themed restaurant called "iCaramba!".
Baboon Reserve
Yorkshire Wildlife Park - Baboon Reserve
Opened in Easter 2013, the Baboon Reserve houses a troop of Guinea baboons which came from Edinburgh Zoo.
Leopard Heights
Leopard Heights houses four Amur leopards: two adults, named Drake and Freya; and their two cubs born in June 2015. The enclosure is 6000 square metres in size, features climbing frames up to ten metres tall, and cost £300,000 to build.
Other animals
Other notable animals in the park's collection include Bennett's wallabies, African wild dogs, visayan warty pigs, red river hogs, Bactrian camels, addax, meerkats, yellow mongooses, okapi and the newest attraction, Ussuri brown bears.
The Arizona sunlight makes this in-ground Endless Pool look even more stunning. The compact pool uses counter-current technology to let you swim in place (like a treadmill for swimmers). That saves space in this Tuscon yard for extra seating for family fun and entertaining.
Currently closed due to the COVID 19 pandemic but this place has survived through a few, not insignificant, other things like The Plague, Spanish Flu and a couple of World Wars. And outlasted a few different monarchs...
The Morris Minor was one of the best selling British cars. It was designed by Sir Alec Issigonis (Smyrna, 1906-1988).
The Morris Minor was presented at the London Motor Show (Earls Court, in October 1948).
At first only a 2-door saloon and a convertible were available. In 1950 a 4-door saloon was added.
In 1953 an estate car was launched: the Minor Traveller. Also a panel van and a pickup truck became for sale.
1098 cc L4 petrol engine.
Performance: 48 bhp.
C. 775 kg.
Production Morris Minor 1000 series: 1948-April 1971.
Production Minor 1000 Series V: 1962-April 1971.
Production Minor 1000 Series V this version: Oct. 1963-Nov. 1970.
Original old Danish reg. number: Nov. 29, 1966.
Since March 31, 2014 at current owner.
Number seen: 2.
Berlin-Siemensstadt, Berlin City Camp, Gartenfelder Strasse, July 25, 2014.
© 2014 Sander Toonen Amsterdam | All Rights Reserved
Current shots from our aquascaping showroom. Come and visit us, we're open! We're working hard on our new display aquariums these days.
Needed to stich the saddle bag by hand because of some mice who made the bag their home while the bike was standing in the garage...
Handlebars need to be taped, fenders placed, wiring connected and then it is finished!
Currently ranking #2 in the world Victor Fernandez E-42 cuts at the 2013 KIA Cold Hawaii PWA world cup in Klitmøller.
The images are rights free provided they are not to be used for third party commercial use. The images can of course be distribute to press and media for editorial use. They can be used by the event and the event sponsors for promotion of the event or for the sponsors brand. Other than that the images can't be used of the event or anyone else for a commercial purpose. For any non-commercial use that is not connected to the event – for example if a member of the public just wants to print one up for their wall or decorate their van with it, please contact the PWA (www.pwaworldtour.com).
Here are images from my recent visit to the Cambo (www.cambo.com) factory in the Netherlands while I was visiting Amsterdam. Rene Rook of Cambo was nice enough to guide me through the entire production process as well as show me some vintage cameras from the companies history and show me their current product line (which was just recently updated at Photokina 2012)
for a full review of the products and a discussion of the images you see here (especially the vintage products) you can read the full article on my website www.brianhirschfeldphotography.com
You can also read my real world review of this camera here: brianhirschfeldphotography.com/2013/08/30/stitching-with-...
More comparisons as my collection grows. Thought this may help others who want to see how Mikahalia looks next to others in her size range. :)
Please pardon Phoebe (far right) -- her head is getting a face-up. :)
I was running a "proper" version of 1.1.4 for a while, but couldn't resist jailbreaking it again, now that ZiPhone makes it so easy. :) Oh MobileCast and MobileScrobbler, how I've missed you!
- Camera phone upload powered by ShoZu
Title : Citania de Briteiros
Date : 600 BCE - 300 CE
Current location : Citania de Briteiros, Braga, Portugal
Description of work : Discovered in 1873 by Francisco Martins Sarmento, Citania de Briteiros is "one of the largest and most impressive Iron Age hillforts in Northern Portugal" (Nash, G. Citania de Briteiros, Current World Archeology 60, 2013: 44). The walled settlement contains foundations of over 150 stone houses. While Citania de Briteiros is unusual among castros in having its houses arranged along streets in a rough grid pattern (MacKendrick, Paul. The Iberian Stones Speak. New York: Funk & Wagnalls, 1969, p. 90), its stone structures and carvings are characteristic of the Celtic Castro culture.
Description of view : stone walls zigzag across the hill
Work type : Architecture and Landscape
Style of work : Prehistoric: Iron Age: Castro
Culture : Castro
Materials/Techniques : Stone
Plants
Source : Pisciotta, Henry
Date photographed : 2006
Resource type : Image
File format : JPEG
Image size : 2048H X 1536W pixels
Permitted uses : This image is posted publicly for non-profit, educational uses, excluding printed publication. Other uses are not permitted. alias.libraries/psu.edu/vius/copyright/publicrightsarch.htm
Collection : Worldwide Building and Landscape Pictures
Filename : WB2013-1026 Briteiros.jpg
Record ID : WB2013-1026
Sub collection : archaeological sites
Copyright holder : Copyright Henry Pisciotta
Pima Air and Space Museum
FIESELER Fi103-A1 (V-1)
HÖELLENHUND
SERIAL NUMBER 121536
Current Markings:
Luftwaffe Flak-Regiment 155(W), France, 1944
As the world's first operational cruise missile the Fi103 was the first of the so-called "Wonder Weapons" that German leaders felt would snatch victory from defeat. The concept of a self-guided flying bomb powered by a pulsejet engine originated in 1942 and quickly captured the attention of the German Luftwaffe, which was suffering high losses in bombers and crews. The Fi103 first flew in December 1942, but problems in both production and operation of the new weapon delayed its first operational use until June 12th 1944 when the first V-1s were fired at London. Eventually, more than 5,800 of the missiles would land in England killing over 8,000 people.
Service History:
Probably built in the infamous Mittelwerk underground factory sometime in early 1944. This factory used forced labor from the Buchenwald and Nordhausen Concentration Camps to build V-1 and V-2 missiles. The missile was captured by the First Canadian Army in the summer of 1944 in France and shipped to Canada for study. It was stored by the Canadian government for many years before being sold to a small private museum. In 2005 it was purchased by the Pima Air & Space Museum and brought to Tucson for display.
Technical Specifications:
Wingspan: 17 ft 7 4 in
Length: 27 ft 5 in
Height: 4 ft 8 in
Weight: 4,807 Ibs (loaded)
Maximum speed: 408 mph
Service Ceiling: 8,840 ft
Range: 148 miles
Engine: One Argus 109-104 pulsejet with 807 pounds of thrust Warhead: 1,784 pounds of Amatol 39A
V-1 Launch Site Representation:
The diorama assembled here is intended to convey a general impression of what a V-1 launch site was tike in the early spring of 1944. The V-1 sites were scattered all along the coasts of NW Europe, within range of central England. We see here a pair of Luftwaffe personnel, a Senior Corporal and mechanic, performing inspections of the V-1 and the launch control panel. The launch control unit would have typically been inside a bunker, but is displayed here for easier viewing. The site is surrounded by a thin leafy French forest which is being used to provide a bit of cover from marauding Allied fighter bombers, such as Typhoons & Thunderbolts, and tactical bombers, like the B-25 in the SW corner of this hangar, which were constantly on patrol against V-1 launches, the code for these types of targets was 'Noball'.
Initially V-1 emplacements were permanent style installations, but Allied air power reduced most of these to rubble and forced the Germans to create mobile launch units. The vast majority of V-1s were deployed from mobile units. A launch site like this would not have survived much past early July of 1944.
Pima Air and Space Museum
GENERAL ATOMICS MQ-1B PREDATOR
SERIAL NUMBER 00-3067
Current Markings: 214th Reconnaissance Group, Arizona Air National Guard, Afghanistan 2012
First flown in 1994, the Predator is a medium-altitude, long- endurance, remotely piloted aircraft used predominantly by the US Air Force and the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). The Predator has roots in the GNAT 750, an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) project designed and built by Israeli immigrant Abraham Karem, whose company was bought out by General Atomics. The GNAT caught the attention of the CIA which briefly used them in the former Yugoslavia. In the early 1990s, the Defense Department requested an unmanned intelligence and reconnaissance platform. They decided on the General Atomics RQ-1 Predator and, in 1996, selected the Air Force as the primary operator. Its 24 hour loiter time allowed the ground-based pilot and sensor operator to have a better understanding of the ground situation compared to most manned aircraft.
In 2002 an RQ-1 test launched an AGM-114 Hellfire air-to- ground missile proving it could be used as a strike aircraft. Predators that were built with or upgraded to this ability were designated MQ-1 for its new multirole mission. The quietness of the Predator combined with the supersonic speed of the Hellfire made the MQ-1 the platform of choice for precision strikes and targeted killings of terrorists.
The Air Force retired the last of its Predators in March 2018, replacing it with the larger more capable General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper. It is estimated that Predators flew around 2,000,000 hours in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bosnia, Serbia, Iraq, Yemen, Libya, Syria, and Somalia. In the last 10 years of their service, Predators flew 70,000 sorties and conducted 2,700 strikes.
Technical Specifications:
Wingspan: 55 ft
Length: 27 ft
Height: 7 ft
Weight: 2,250 lbs (loaded)
Maximum Speed: 135 miles per hour
Service Ceiling: 25,000 ft
Range: 770 miles
Engine: 1 Rotax 914F 4-cylinder engine, 115 hp
Remote Crew: 2