By T. W. Windeatt. (Read at Torquay, July, 1893.)

The little town and ancient borough of Totnes has during its lengthened history been the birthplace of men, not a few of whom have made their mark in the world, and not the least of these is one born in the present century – Wills, the Australian explorer – whose name deserves to be enshrined in the Transactions of this Association.

William John Wills was born in Totnes on the 5th January, 1834, being the son of William Wills, a surgeon then practising in Totnes, and Sarah, youngest daughter of William Galley, an old and respected inhabitant.* They both spent the latter part of their lives in and died at Torquay. As a boy Wills seems to have early developed an enquiring and thoughtful mind. His father says he was never a child in the common acceptation of the term, as he gave early indication of diligence and discretion scarcely compatible with the helplessness and simplicity of such tender years. He was educated at the Ashburton Grammar School, where he went as a boarder when eleven years of age, and of which school Mr. Paige, who still survives, was then the head master. A deep cutting in one of the benches in the old chapel of St Lawrence, then and now the schoolhouse, “W. J. WILLS” is still to be seen and records his sojourn there. Mr. Fabyan Amery, one of his schoolfellows, speaks of him as having always been a very scientific boy, and very observant of natural phenomena, which he always tried to get some scientific reason for. There appears to have been nothing remarkable in his progress at school, though his master commended his steady diligence and uniform propriety of conduct Mr. Paige remarked on one occasion to his father, “It vexes me that John does not take a top prize, for I see by his countenance that he understands as much, if not more, than any boy in my school; yet from want of readiness in answering he allows very inferior lads to win the tickets from him.”

* Henry Le Visconte, who was first lieutenant in the Erebus, and perished in the Franklin Expedition, was first cousin to Mrs. Wills.

He left school when sixteen and commenced to study medicine in his father’s surgery. In 1852 he studied practical chemistry under Dr. John Stenhouse at St. Bartholomew’s Hospital, who spoke of him as one of his most promising pupils, and ventured the assurance that in two years he would be second to none in England in practical chemistry.

In 1852 Dr. Wills determined to join the exodus then pouring out from England to Australia, engaged as medical attendant on board the Ballaarat, and arranged to take out the subject of my sketch, and a younger brother Tom with him. A few days after this arrangement was made Wills came to his father, and with that expression in his countenance so peculiarly his own, said, “My dear father, I have a favour to ask of you. I see my mother is grieving, although she says nothing, at our all leaving her together. Let Tom and me go alone. I will pledge myself to take care of him.” After a consultation this new plan was agreed upon. Dr. Wills released himself from his engagement with Messrs. Simpkins and Marshall for the Ballaarat, and secured two berths for the boys in one of Mr. W. S. Lindsay’s ships, which at that time were conveying living freights to Melbourne, their Channel port of departure being Dartmouth.

Wills’s love of knowledge in its details is evidenced by a story told by his father of him at this time. “I found,” he said, “that William had shortly before sailing expended some money on a quantity of stuff rolled up like balls of black rope-yarn, and exclaimed with astonishment, ‘In the name of goodness, are you going to chew or smoke all the way to Australia?'” for the commodity was the good old pigtail tobacco. He said smiling, “This is to make friends with the sailors. I intend to learn something about a ship by the time we reach our destination.” His mode of proceeding, as he told his father, was first to secure the good graces of the crew through the persuasive medium of the pigtail; then to learn the name and use of every rope, and of every part of the ship’s tackle from stem to stern. He thus soon acquired the art of splicing and reefing, and was amongst the first to go aloft in a storm, and to lend a hand in taking in topsails.

On arriving in Australia the two lads obtained situations as shepherds at Deniliquin, about 200 miles from Melbourne, at £30 a year and their rations. In August, 1853, Dr. Wills reached Melbourne, but it was some two months after landing before he ascertained his sons’ location, and joined them at their sheep station. William subsequently removed to Ballarat with his father, where he remained twelve months attending to patients in his father’s absence, and opening a gold office, where he perfected a plan of his own for weighing specimens containing quartz and gold in water, so as to find the quantity of each component. His thoughts and conversation were, however, constantly reverting to the interior of the great continent, and to the hope that he would some day undertake the journey to the Gulf of Carpentaria. In 1856 Wills obtained an appointment under Mr. F. Byerly, a gentleman in the Survey Department, and under him he commenced to learn surveying. A letter of advice as to the study of science written to his youngest brother at Totnes while he was engaged on a survey at an out station (St. Arnaud) evidenced his earnest love of science, and the following paragraph in it, referring to the study of astronomy, which I venture to think worth quoting, shows he had no difficulty in reconciling science and religion:

“As the great object of the science is the correction of error and the investigation of truth, it necessarily leads all those that feel an interest in it to a higher appreciation and desire for truth; and you will easily perceive that a man having a knowledge of all these vast worlds, so much more extensive than our own, must be capable of forming a far higher estimate of that Almighty Being who created all these wonders than one who knows nothing more than the comparatively trifling things that surround us on earth.”

Another paragraph at the end of this letter speaks for itself, and gives us the key to the man:

“One other piece of advice I must give you before I shut up; that is, never try to show off your knowledge, especially in scientific matters. It is a sin that certain persons we know have been guilty of. The first step is to learn your own ignorance, and if ever you feel inclined to make a display, you may be sure you have as yet learned nothing.”

In 1860 an expedition was organized by the colony of Victoria for the exploration of Australia, and to ascertain the nature of the interior of the great continent, which was then a sealed book; for up to that time the efforts towards exploration had been confined to lonely wanderings through the outer boundaries of the unknown continent, and opinions varied as to whether the interior was a vast inland sea, as Oxley and the first of the explorers believed, or whether it was a stony desert unfit for man and beast, as Sturt concluded.

Mr. Ambrose Kyte, whose name was, however, concealed from the public at the time, offered £1,000 as an inducement to the Government and others to come forward and raise funds for the exploration. Parliament voted £6,000, and subscriptions from the public raised the fund to £9,000. A Committee of the Royal Society undertook the superintendence of the arrangements. Twenty-four camels were imported from India with native drivers, and provisions and stores for twelve months were provided. After considerable delay the choice of a leader fell upon Robert O’Hara Burke. He was forty years of age, an Irishman from county Galway. When quite a youth he served in an Austrian cavalry regiment, and subsequently in the Irish Constabulary and the Police Force of Victoria; possessing bravery and dauntless courage, he had no special aptitude or scientific training to lead such an Expedition. He was enthusiastic and impulsive but was unfortunately without the indispensable experience of a seasoned bushman.

The appointment of second in command fell upon Mr. G. I. Landells, who owed his preferment to the circumstance of his having been employed to bring the camels from India, an appointment, however, which, as the sequel shows, was a most unfortunate one. Wills, who by this time was a seasoned bushman, with great powers of endurance, tendered his services as astronomer and guide without thinking of any distinct post of command, his object being exclusively scientific. Dr. Ludwick Becker was appointed naturalist and artist, Dr. Herman Beckler as botanist and medical adviser. Ten white men, among whom was John King (a private soldier) and three sepoys, were appointed to accompany the Expedition.

The explorers left Melbourne on the 20th August, 1860, amid considerable enthusiasm; nearly the whole population suspending ordinary business, and turning out to witness the start. The mayor of Melbourne publicly addressed them, and wished them God-speed, and through the settled districts their progress, which was slow, was a kind of triumphal march. The route marked out for them was to strike the river Darling, then the lower Barcoo (Cooper’s Creek), and from that point to go northwards to the Gulf of Carpentaria.

Swan Hill, on the Murray, which, properly speaking, was the northern boundary of the colony of Victoria, was reached on September 8th. At Balranald, beyond the Murray, Burke found it impossible to get on any longer with his foreman (Ferguson) and discharged him. He had, however, no sooner rid himself of this troublesome man than Mr. Landells, his second in command, began to sow dissension, and to exhibit insubordination in an unmistakable manner. This reached a crisis by the time they came to Menindie, on the Darling, and after a violent scene Landells resigned, returning to Melbourne full of violent complaints against Burke, and Dr. Beckler was foolish enough to follow Landells’ example of resigning, on the alleged ground that he did not like the way Burke spoke to Landells. Fortunately for Burke’s reputation a very full account of all that took place was written at the time by Wills to Professor Neumayer, and the committee expressed their entire approbation of Burke’s conduct, an opinion shared in by the general public, as evidenced by the newspapers of that date. Burke, on the resignation of Mr. Landells, immediately promoted Wills to the post he had vacated, which appointment the committee confirmed. Here there was perfect union and reciprocal understanding. Neither had petty jealousies or reserved views. The success of the expedition was their object, not personal glory their aim. The leader had every confidence in his second, and the second was proud of his leader. But Mr. Burke committed an error in the selection of Mr. Wright for the third position in command, without any previous knowledge or experience of his capabilities. In this he acted from his impulsive nature, and the consequences bore heavily on his own and Wills’ fate.

Burke then made his second mistake by dividing his party, and on 19th October left Menindie, where he had formed a depot, with about one half of his number, leaving the others behind, and made a rush to the Barcoo. He reached Torowota on 29th October, and from that encampment forwarded a despatch, and an exhaustive surveying report from Wills, to the secretary of the expedition. In his own despatch Burke said:

“I consider myself very fortunate in having Mr, Wills as my second in command. He is a capital officer, zealous and untiring in the performance of his duties, and I trust he will remain my second as long as I am in charge of the expedition.”

Burke sent Wright back to Menindie with instructions to follow him up with the remainder of the camels to Cooper’s Creek, and Wright himself admitted he gave Burke his word to take the remainder of the party out as soon as he arrived at Menindie. This, however, he omitted to do, and unaccountably delayed making any start until the 26th January, 1861, and to this criminal delay may be attributed the whole of the crushing disaster which subsequently overtook the expedition.

Cooper’s Creek, where a camp was formed, was reached on the 11th November. In a letter to one of his sisters from there Wills describes the place as follows:–

“To give you an idea of Cooper’s Creek, fancy extensive flat, sandy plains, covered with herbs dried like hay, and imagine a creek or river, somewhat similar in appearance and size to the Dart above the Weir, winding its way through these flats, having its banks densely clothed with gum trees and other evergreens. So far there appears to be a considerable resemblance, but now for the difference. The water of Cooper’s Creek is only a number of waterholes. In some places it entirely disappears, the water in flood-time spreading all over the flats, and forming no regular channel.”

While awaiting the arrival of the tardy Wright, short explorations of the adjoining country were made, chiefly by Wills, with the view of examining two or three promising routes to the Gulf of Carpentaria. On the last of these trips Wills penetrated eighty miles, and would have gone further, but the men in charge of the camels fell asleep and let them escape, and the return had to be done on foot in a broiling sun of 146 degrees, no shade, and very little water.

Impatient at Wright’s delay, and irritated almost to madness in waiting for him, and seeing the time slipping by, Burke and Wills determined to make a dash for the Gulf of Carpentaria while the opportunity still remained to them.

Burke again divided his small party, and taking Wills, King, and Grey, one horse, six camels, and three months’ provisions, started on Sunday, the 16th December, for a dash across the continent. Four men – Brahe, Patten, McDonnough, and Dost Mahomet – with six camels and twelve horses, were left at the camp at Cooper’s Creek, which was made a depot, and Brahe placed in charge until the arrival of Wright or some other person duly appointed by the committee to take command of the remainder of the expedition at Menindie. A surveyor was expected to be sent on to assist Wills, and plenty of work was laid out for all until the return of Burke and Wills – Brahe receiving the most positive orders to remain at Cooper’s Creek until this took place, three or four months being named as the possible time of absence.

Wills strongly advised a direct course northward for the exploring party, but Burke hesitated to adopt it unless he could feel confident of a supply of water. The more westerly course was therefore adopted at the commencement of the journey; but after a day or two they turned to the east, and scarcely deviated throughout from the 141st degree of east longitude.

Wills kept a diary giving a full account of the journey to the Gulf from the start to February, 1861, which contains very interesting details of each day’s progress. The first point the explorers made for was Eyre’s Creek, and on their first day’s journey they came upon a large tribe of blacks, who, Wills says, came pestering them to go to their camp and have a dance, and nothing but a threat to shoot them would keep them away. They were fine-looking men, but decidedly not of a warlike nature. The explorers crossed Sturt’s supposed “stony desert”, and did not find it the melancholy waste or bad travelling they were led to expect.

On 20th December they came upon a large camp of not less that forty or fifty blacks, who brought them presents of fish, for which they gave them beads and matches. On Christmas-eve they reached Gray’s Creek, and took a day’s rest to celebrate the festival. Their camp was really an agreeable place, an oasis in the desert; for there they had all the advantage of food and water attendant on the position of a large creek or river, free from the annoyance of the ants, flies, and mosquitoes invariably met with amongst timber or heavy scrub. The following day they struck a magnificent creek coming from the N.N.W., and this they followed until the 30th, by which time it had tended considerably to the N.E. This stream has since received the name of “Burke’s Creek”. The country adjacent they found an alternation of sand ridges and grassy plains. On 8th January they came into green and luxuriant country, improving at every step. Flocks of pigeons rose and flew, and fresh plants and rich vegetation met the eye on every side. On the 10th, passing over fine open plains, they came to the main creek in those flats, “Patten’s Creek”, flowing along the foot of a stony range. From here they pushed on over fairly good country, coming repeatedly upon blacks in their way, some of whom, being surprised by the explorers coming suddenly upon them, fled, dreadfully frightened. On the 30th January, 1861, having got to within a comparatively short distance of the shores of Carpentaria, Burke and Wills determined to leave Gray and King in charge of the camels, one of whom, having got logged in the creek, had already been left behind, and to proceed onwards on foot, leading the horse. The river or creek down which they passed, and which was quite salt, is named in the journal the Cloncurry. The channel making a sudden turn. Wills remarked that it might be a new river. “If it should prove so,” said Burke, “we will call it after my old friend Lord Cloncurry.”

In crossing Billy’s Creek the horse got bogged in a quicksand, and was with difficulty rescued. They came again on blacks, who shuffled off, and near their fire was a fine hut, the best they had ever seen, built on the same principle as those at Cooper’s Creek, but much larger and more complete. Hundreds of wild geese, plovers, and pelicans were enjoying themselves in the watercourses on the marshes, the water of which was too brackish to be drunk. They then soon came to a channel through which the sea-water entered. Here they passed three blacks, who pointed out unasked the best way down. Next morning they started at daybreak for the sea, leaving the horse behind short hobbled. Here Wills’ diary, from which I have been quoting, abruptly ends, and was not resumed until the 19th February, when they had already started on their fatal homeward journey. Burke did not keep any regular journal, but in his notes, under date of the 28th March, 1861, he says: “At the conclusion of the report it would be as well to say that we reached the sea, but could not obtain a view of the open ocean, although we made every endeavour to do so.” There is no doubt whatever that the two explorers reached the verge of the northern ocean.*

* In the account of McKinlay’s Expedition from Adelaide, in August, 1861, it is mentioned that when he, in the following February, found himself on the Gulf of Carpentaria, dense walls of mangrove barred his way to the shore, and there can he little doubt that it was the same obstacle which prevented Burke and Wills from viewing the open sea.

Having thus accomplished the grand object of their expedition Burke and Wills rejoined Gray and King, where they had left them with the camels, and the four proceeded together on the return journey on the 13th February. Wills’ notes on their scamper back to Cooper’s Creek are brief but powerful. An incessant rainfall made the country boggy, and added to their troubles. On the 2nd March, at Salt-bush Camp, they found Golah, the camel which they had been obliged to leave behind on the outward journey. It was thin and miserable, and had fretted at finding itself left behind, but began to eat as soon as it saw the other camels.

On 5th March Burke became ill from eating part of a large snake which they had killed, and poor Golah, being completely done up, and unable to come on, even when pack and saddle were taken off, had to be finally left behind. On 13th March it rained so heavily that Wills had to put his watch and field-book in the pack to keep them dry. All the creeks became flooded, and the poor travellers had to seek shelter under some fallen rocks. Their journey was now slow, as they had to keep on the stony ridge instead of following the flats, which were very boggy owing to the rain. On the 20th they commenced to lighten the loads of the camels by leaving 60 lbs. weight of things behind. Rain continued to fall in torrents, and the ground they passed over was at times either full of water or covered with slimy mud. The names given to some of their camps by Wills – viz., “Humid Camp”, “Muddy Camp”, “Mosquito Camp”, show some of the trials they had to encounter. Gray, who had been complaining of dysentery, stole some of the flour, and was punished by Burke. Five days after this (March 30th) the camel Boocha was killed for food at a place which by gentle irony they called “Boocha’s Rest”; and on the 10th April the horse, which was reduced and knocked up from want of food, was killed also. Down to the 17th nothing very noteworthy is recorded.

On that day – the beginning of the end – Wills records the death of Gray, whom the others had thought to be shamming. The survivors sorrowfully buried him in the lonely bush: they were so weak that it was with difficulty they could dig a grave sufficiently deep to lay him in. After a day’s delay to rest their wearied limbs they pushed on, but in a most exhausted state, straining every nerve to reach the goal of their arduous labours, their legs almost paralysed, so that it was a trying task to walk a few yards. Four days afterwards they were cheered by the sight of the familiar landmarks of their old camp at Cooper’s Creek. King describes in vivid language the delight of Burke when he thought he saw the depot camp. “There they are!” he shouted. “I see them.” But, alas! the wish was father to the thought. There was no one there. Lost and bewildered in amazement, he appeared like one stupefied when the horrible truth that the camp had been deserted burst upon him. He was quite overwhelmed, and flung himself on the ground broken-hearted. Wills looked about him in all directions, and presently turning to King said, “They are gone”, and pointing a short way off added, “There are the things they have left.” Calm and quiet as ever, he never once, as King testified, showed the slightest anger or loss of command of himself.

On a tree was marked “Dig 21st April”, and from under it a box was extracted containing provisions, and a bottle with a note from Brahe conveying the mortifying intelligence that he had only seven hours before abandoned the depot, and was encamped fourteen miles away, that he had remained four months at Cooper’s Creek, and that Wright had not turned up with the supplies. The explorers felt that, exhausted as they were, it was useless to attempt to overtake Brahe. They rested for two days, and on the morning of Thursday, April 23rd, Burke, Wills, and King, strengthened by the provisions they had found, resumed their journey. Wills and King were desirous of following their track out from Menindie, but unfortunately Burke preferred striking for the South Australian stations, having heard it positively stated at a meeting of the Royal Society that there were settlers within 100 miles of Cooper’s Creek. Wills deferred to his leader, and so they went to their destruction, making for Adelaide via Mount Hopeless (ominous name). There was, in fact, nothing to commend this route, while everything was in favour of that by the Darling. The one road they knew nothing of, the other was familiar to them, and as a matter of fact the nearest police station on the Adelaide line of march was distant between four and five hundred miles. Before starting Wills’ journals were buried in the cache, with the following note from Burke:

“Depot No. 2, Cooper’s Creek Camp, 65.

“The return party from Carpentaria, consisting of myself, Wills, and King (Grey dead), arrived here last night and found that the depot party had only started on the same day. We proceed on to-morrow, slowly down the creek towards Adelaide by Mount Hopeless, and shall endeavour to follow Gregory’s track; but we are very weak. The two camels are done up, and we shall not be able to travel faster than four or five miles a day. Grey died on the road from exhaustion and fatigue. We have all suffered much from hunger. The provisions left here will, I think, restore our strength. We have discovered a practicable route to Carpentaria, the chief position of which lies in the 140° of east longitude. There is some good country between this and the Stony Desert. From thence to the tropics the land is dry and stony. Between the Carpentaria a considerable portion is rangy, but well watered and richly grassed. We reached the shores of Carpentaria on the 11th of February, 1861. Greatly disappointed at finding the party here gone.

“(Signed) Robert O’Hara Burke, Leader.

“April 22nd, 1861.

“P.S. – The camels cannot travel, and we cannot walk, or we should follow the other party. We shall move very slowly down the creek.”

By slow stages the doomed explorers moved on day by day through what was little better than a desert. The second and third days they came upon some friendly blacks, who gave them fish. On 28th April one of the two remaining camels got bogged by the side of a water hole, and it being impossible to get him out, he was shot the next day, his flesh providing them with food. On May 7th the remaining camel would not rise even without any load on its back, and after making every attempt to get him up they had to leave him to himself. Burke and Wills then went down the creek to reconnoitre, and fortunately fell in with some blacks fishing, who gave them food and took them to their camp, where they passed two nights. Some days after, being pressed for food, several excursions were made to find the blacks again, but without success. On May 17th, however, King unexpectedly came upon the nardoo plant, the seed of which is powdered by the natives and baked into a cake. This discovery raised their spirits, as they considered that with this food they would be able to support themselves, even if they had to remain on the creek and wait for assistance from town. On 27th May Wills started alone to the depot at Cooper’s Creek to see if any relief had arrived.

Brahe – who, it will be remembered, deserted his post at the depot only seven hours before the wearied explorers returned there – fell in with Wright’s party at Balloo on his way to the Darling on the 28th or 29th April, and on the 3rd May Wright started with him for the depot, which they actually reached on the 9th. It seemed fated, however, that blunder should succeed blunder, for here they remained but a quarter of an hour, and casting but a hurried glance around came to the conclusion that the depot had not been visited in the interval, and with fatal and criminal neglect never even opened the cache. Had they done so the papers and letters deposited would have been found, and all would yet have been well. Wills, who had met natives on the way, and been given food by them, arrived at Cooper’s Creek on this return visit on the 30th May, and naturally enough failed to discover it had been re-visited by Wright and Brahe, who had left no record behind them. He opened the cache, buried the remainder of his journal and letters, with the following touching note:–

“Depot Camp, May 30th.

“We have been unable to leave the creek. Both camels are dead, and our provisions are exhausted. Mr. Burke and King are down the lower part of the creek. I am about to return to them, when we shall probably come up this way. We are trying to live the best way we can, like the blacks, but find it hard work. Our clothes are going to pieces fast. Send provisions and clothes as soon as possible.

“W. J. Wills.”

“The depot party having left contrary to instructions, has put us in this fix. I have deposited some of my journals here for fear of accident. “W. J. W.”

Wills then started to rejoin Burke and King. He received kindly assistance on the way from the blacks, and rejoined his companions on 6th June. His diary which he continued to keep was brief but expressive. They had little but nardoo to live upon, and though it allayed the pangs of hunger, it contained little nourishment; the poor fellows were literally starving to death. In his diary under date of 21st June Wills says:–

“I feel much weaker than ever, and can scarcely crawl out of the mia-mia. Unless relief comes in some form or other I cannot possibly last more than a fortnight. It is a great consolation at least, in this position of ours, to know that we have done all we could, and that our deaths were rather be the result of the mismanagement of others than of any rash act of our own. Had we come to grief elsewhere, we could only have blamed ourselves; but here we are returned to Cooper’s Creek, where we had every reason to look for provisions and clothing, and yet have to die of starvation, in spite of the explicit instructions given by Mr. Burke, that the depot party should await our return, and the strong recommendation by the Committee ‘that we should be followed up by a party from Menindie.'”

He suffered much from cold, his clothing was reduced to a wide awake, a merino shirt, a regatta shirt without sleeves, the remains of a pair of flannel trousers, two pairs of socks in rags, and a waistcoat. Wills finding his weakness increasing, it was resolved that Burke and King, as the only chance of saving the party, should go in search of natives, and having collected and pounded sufficient nardoo seed to last Wills for eight days, they constructed a rude shelter of boughs for him, placed water and firewood within his reach, and took a sorrowful farewell of him, Wills giving Burke a letter and his watch for his father, and telling King if he survived Burke to carry out his last wishes. In a postscript to this letter Wills says, “I think to live about four or five days. My spirits are excellent.” On the 29th June Wills made his last entry in his diary, shewing that he maintained his calmness of spirit and resignation to the last.

“Friday, 29th June, 1861. — Clear, cold night; slight breeze from the east; day beautifully warm and pleasant. Mr. Burke suffers greatly from the cold, and is getting extremely weak. He and King start to-morrow up the creek to look for the blacks; it is the only chance we have of being saved from starvation. I am weaker than ever, although I have a good appetite, and relish the nardoo much; but it seems to give us no nutriment, and the birds here are so shy as not to be got at. Even if we got a good supply of fish, I doubt whether we could do much work on them and the nardoo alone. Nothing now but the greatest good luck can save any of us; and as for myself I may live four or five days if the weather continues warm. My pulse is at forty-eighty and very weak, and my legs and arms are nearly skin and bone. I can only look out, like Mr. Micawber, ‘for something to turn up.’ Starvation on nardoo is by no means very unpleasant, but for the weakness one feels, and the utter inability to move one’s self; for as far as the appetite is concerned it gives the greatest satisfaction. Certainly fat and sugar would be more to one’s taste; in fact, those seem to me to be the great stand-by for one in this extraordinary continent – not that I mean to depreciate the farinaceous food, but the want of sugar and fat in all substances obtainable here is so great that they become almost valueless to us as articles of food without the addition of something else.

(Signed) “W. J. Wills.”

We are now, alas ! nearing the end of this ill-fated expedition. Burke and King had not travelled many miles when, on the second day from leaving Wills, Burke gave in from sheer weakness, and died early the next morning. King remained two days to recover strength, and then returned to where they had left Wills, taking back with him three crows he had shot, and nardoo he had discovered, and was shocked to find Wills lying dead in his gunwah, where he would appear to have sunk quietly to rest, but in utter loneliness, a few hours after Burke and King had left him. King buried the corpse with sand, and remained there some days prostrated at the death of his companions, and at being left alone in the vast wilderness. The nardoo running short, and being unable to gather it, he tracked some of the natives by their footprints in the sand, and eventually fell in with a number of them, who were kindly disposed, and so was preserved from the fate of his companions.

The Exploration Committee at Melbourne seem by their supineness to have helped on the final catastrophe. Although informed of the criminal delay of Wright at Menindie, they took no steps to urge his departure from there. Dr. Wills, our hero’s father, unable to bear the suspense in the month of June, walked with a small pack on his shoulders, and a stick in his hand, from Ballarat to Melbourne, a distance of seventy-five miles, and his energetic appeals led to a search party, under Mr. A. W. Howitt, being sent out.

Two of the three camels lost on one of the excursions at Cooper’s Creek on the way out were discovered in South Australia and brought to Adelaide. News of this reaching Melbourne excited the interest of the public, and doubtless contributed to the awakened energy of the Committee. In connection with this Mr. Fabyan Amery has contributed a strange and interesting story. He tells me that a Mr. James Wills, who had been a servant at the Ashburton Grammar School, in special attendance upon the boarders, whilst Wills was a pupil there, was, in 1861, residing with his wife, whom he had married in the Colony, on the banks of the Murray river; and one morning Mrs. Wills, casting her eyes around the horizon, spied in the far distance two animals, which with quick feminine decision she declared to be camels. This she mentioned to her husband, who ridiculed the idea, as no camels were ever known in Australia. She persisted in her opinion, and started towards them to satisfy her curiosity. Sure enough they proved to be two camels, undoubtedly two of those who had escaped from the ill-fated expedition, and which, with the wonderful instinct of their species, had sniffed the water at a great distance, and in an almost exhausted state were making for the river. Mrs. Wills went up to them, when the youngest came and ate out of her hand. Her husband immediately gave information to the police, which he understood was forwarded to the Governor of Victoria, and which he always believed led to the despatch of the Relief Expedition. Howitt started early in July, 1861, taking Brahe with him, who had come down with Wright’s despatches, and made all speed to Cooper’s Creek. On 13th September he arrived at the fatal depot, and on the 15th King was discovered sitting in a hut which the natives had made for him. He presented a melancholy appearance, wasted to a shadow, and only distinguishable as a civilized being by the remnants of clothes upon him. As soon as King was well enough to accompany them the relief party proceeded down to the place where Wills died. The remains were found, carefully collected, and interred where they lay, Howitt reading that sublime chapter – 1 Corinthians xi. – and cutting the following inscription on a tree close by to mark the spot:

W. J. WILLS

XLV Yds

W.N.W.

A. H.

Burke’s remains were subsequently discovered and buried, wrapped in a Union Jack. Howitt then returned to Melbourne, taking King with him. He subsequently went back again, disinterred the remains of Burke and Wills, and brought them to Melbourne, where, after lying solemnly in state, they were accorded a public funeral, and so –

“After life’s fitful fever they sleep well.”

No one who has read the simple records of this great expedition, with all its blunders – so successful as far as its great object was concerned, but so fatal as regards the precious lives of the explorers – but must admire the character, actions, and quiet heroism of Wills. None of the blunders which led to the disaster which befell the Expedition are traceable to him. Throughout the toilsome journey he maintained his quiet, equable temperament. Loyal to his leader he deferred to his wishes, never complained of or reflected on others, continued and carefully recorded his scientific observations to the last, and laid himself down to die in utter loneliness in the vast wilderness with perfect resignation and calmness, as if he were but falling asleep in his father’s arms; and “his works do follow him”; for they opened up the way to the march of civilization, and have been rich in results. The greater part of the country he explored is now in a state of cultivation, with homesteads containing prosperous settlers in all directions, and so early as 1867 a stage coach was running not many miles from where he and Burke laid down their lives. The testimony of the colonists to Wills was on all sides that of admiration for his devoted heroism, appreciation of the scientific results achieved by him, and deep regret at the sacrifice of his young and promising life.

Sir Henry Barkly, the Governor of Victoria, in a letter to his mother, said of Wills: “You may rely upon it that the name of William John Wills will go down to posterity, both at home and in this colony, amongst the brightest of those who have sacrificed their lives for the advancement of scientific knowledge and the good of their fellow-creatures.” Dr. Mueller, of the Melbourne Botanical Gardens, who as a tribute to his memory named a new plant in the Australian Flora Eremophila Willsii, “to record by botany the glory never to be forgotten of the intrepid and talented but most unfortunate Wills”, maintained that it was only by his skilful guidance and scientific talents that the great geographic success of the expedition was achieved.

A portion of the city was directed to be thereafter named Wills Street by order of the Governor. A massive obelisk was erected to the memory of the two martyrs in the cemetery where they were buried; and on April 21st, 1866, a monument raised to them by the Victorian Legislature at a cost of £4,000, consisting of a statue of each of these two distinguished explorers, was unveiled by the Governor in Collins Street, one of the principal thoroughfares of Melbourne. The day chosen for the ceremony was the fourth anniversary of the return of Burke and Wills to Cooper’s Creek, and their surviving companion King was present on the occasion, which to him must have been one of mingled sorrow and pleasure.

Wills was not forgotten in his native town. The inhabitants, aided by the contributions of Devonshire men in Australia, erected a granite obelisk on the plains containing this inscription:Inscription on obelisk to W. J. Wills in Totnes

And though more than thirty years have passed since his death Wills is not forgotten in the colony; for only last year one of the colonists from Devon, Mr. Angel, who returned from South Australia on a visit to Totnes, and to his native parish of Littlehempstone, finding the inscription on the memorial becoming obliterated had it renewed on a tablet of white marble let into the granite,* that the coming race may not be unmindful of the patient and courageous life and heroic death of this Devonshire hero, the martyred Wills.

* Since this paper was written Mr. F. Horn, marble mason, of Totnes, has executed a successful medallion of Wills, which has been let into the obelisk above the tablet."

devonassoc.org.uk/devoninfo/wills-the-australian-explorer...

The Curtiss JN-4 was one of the most popular aircraft in the late 1910s and early 1920s. Designed by Englishman Benjamin Thomas, formerly with the Sopwith Aviation Company, it was manufactured by the Curtiss Aeroplane Co. of Hammondsport, New York. The JN built upon the previous Curtiss Model J and Model N series of trainers that had developed before the First World War. The name “Jenny” came from the JN designation and is associated with the American (Curtiss Aeroplane Co.) variants of this aircraft. It was originally developed as a training aircraft in response to a U.S. Army competition seeking a two-seater biplane (student in front, instructor behind) with dual controls. The JN-4 model first appeared in 1916 and sported a 90 hp Curtiss OX-5 water cooled V8 engine. By 1918 a larger 150 hp Hispano-Suiza engine was installed to provide more power. LINK - albertaaviationmuseum.com/in-formation-curtiss-jn-4-jenni...

The Curtiss Model 41 Lark was a commercial biplane manufactured by Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company that was used by pioneering airmail, airline and bush pilots in the 1920s. Patrica Airways operated a Lark for early bushplane operations. The aircraft flew with floats in warm weather, and skis in the winter. The aircraft was pressed into service as an early hearse once, with the cargo needing to be seated upside down in the open seat and secured with haywire.

(The Gazette newspaper - Montreal, Quebec, Canada •

Friday, March 12, 1926) - AIR SERVICE FOR RED LAKE DISTRICT - Company is Formed and Flying Boat and Cruiser Purchased - Red Lake, which was brought within one and half hours of the outer world on March 3, 1926 when the first airplane flight was made in from Hudson, as compared with from ten to twelve days previously, made with dogs, is to have an even better service with the formation yesterday of the Elliot Fairchild Air Service and the purchase of one aeromarine, seven passenger, all metal flying boat, together with a large deluxe cruiser passenger boat. Jack V. Elliot who inaugurated the original service with two machines, spent yesterday in Montreal making arrangements with the Fairchild Aerial Surveys Company of Canada Limited, with the result that a company has been formed and a charter applied for. To date there has been a daily service into Red Lake from Hudson, three planes being in operation and carrying two passengers and 500 pounds of baggage each. They cover the 140 miles separating Hudson and Red Lake in one hour and a half. Air mail is carried from Hudson, the post office address for Red Lake being via Rolling Portage, Ontario. Stamps for the air-mail service may be purchased from the post offices at Hudson (Hudson being the rail road station and Rolling Portage the post office address). Toronto. Winnipeg, Montreal, Ottawa. North Bay, Sudbury, Cobalt, Haileybury and Timiskaming. When navigation opens about May 1, a boat service is to be provided from Hudson to Pineridge, two-thirds the distance from Hudson to Red Lake, and the large flying boats will take passengers, mail and express freight the balance of the distance into Red Lake. Heavier packages and canoes are to be taken in by Indians, who will be brought back by airplane. The passenger cruiser, which has been purchased for the boat service, will have three staterooms with sleeping accommodation for 16 and day accommodation for 50, the journey by water taking seven or eight hours. It has been planned to erect a broadcasting station at Red Lake, Hudson and on the boat so that communications may be kept up between these three and the outer world at all times. President of the new company is Elwood Wilson, M E.I.C., and Jack V. Elliot is vice-president and general manager. LINK - www.newspapers.com/article/the-gazette-air-service-for-re...

(The Daily Sun-Times newspaper - Owen Sound, Ontario, Canada • Monday, March 22, 1926) - NEW AIRPLANE FOR HUDSON TO RED LAKE ROUTE IS ON THE WAY "The Lark" Leaving Buffalo for Toronto and There Will Take on Sleeping Bags, Etc. (Canadian Press Despatch) BUFFALO, N. Y., Mar. 22, 1926 -The new airplane, "'The Lark", to be used in the Lake service, by the Patricia Airway and Exploration company, arrived here shortly after noon, yesterday, from New York, with "Casey" Jones, test pilot for the Curtis Airplanes Corporation, in charge, and two passengers. Frederick Griffin, press writer, and Captain W. R. Maxwell, Director of the Ontario Provincial air service. The Lark expected to continue its northward flight, to-day, by way of Toronto, Sault Ste. Marie, Orient Bay, Sioux Lookout and Hudson. Roy Mitchell will replace Mr. Jones in the pilot's seat from this point. At Toronto the ship will take on snowshoes, sleeping bags, and food, preparation for an overland tramp, in the event of ship coming down unscheduled, in northern territory. LINK - www.newspapers.com/article/the-daily-sun-times-new-airpla...

(The Toronto Star newspaper - Toronto, Ontario, Canada •

Tuesday, June 29, 1926) - RED LAKE MAIL SERVICE - F. E. Davidson of the Patricia Air Service into Red Lake, made an announcement this morning that starting today all mail will be carried into Red Lake via Sioux Lookout instead of via Hudson. All letters should bear the mark "Via Sioux Lookout." The Elliot Fairchild service has been carrying mail since March 20th. From now on the Patricia Air Service will be permitted to issue their own postage stamps. The government intends to redeem the old Elliot-Fairchild stamps but in the meantime old stamps are good for carriage over the Patricia Air Service. The new Patricia stamps can now be purchased at post offices for 25 cents apiece. The Patricia Air Service makes the trip from Sioux Lookout to Red Lake in about 60 minutes. It also makes trips to Woman Lake, Pine Ridge and to Bull Dog Lake, Manitoba. The Elliot Fairchild boat service still continues. LINK - www.newspapers.com/article/the-toronto-star-red-lake-mail...

(The Toronto Star newspaper - Toronto, Ontario, Canada •

Wednesday, June 30, 1926) - Patricia Airways • Exploration- Above is reproduced a facsimile of one of new postal stickers of the Patricia Air Service, operating airplanes into Red Lake. The postmaster has granted the company permission to issue these stickers in future, and they can be procured at any post office for 25 cents apiece. The old Elliot-Fairchild stamps are being redeemed, but can still be used for letters. In future letters to Red Lake should be marked "Via Sioux Lookout." LINK - www.newspapers.com/article/the-toronto-star-patricia-airw...

Sherman Mills Fairchild (April 7, 1896 – March 28, 1971) was an American businessman and investor who founded over 70 companies, including Fairchild Aviation, Fairchild Industries, and Fairchild Camera and Instrument. LINK - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherman_Fairchild

John "Jack" Vernon Elliot (1893 - 1964), was a pilot in the western Ontario area providing passenger service and flights for thrill seekers in the early 1920's. By 1925, he had his own flying school and by purchasing partially completed aircraft, managed to complete his own aircraft. LINK - www.semiofficials.ca/elliot_1.html

Taken at a bar in Oslo.

501 C/M, 150/f4, flash.

Developed, printed and then digitized from negative.

KMZ Zorki-3

KMZ JUPITER-9 85mm F2

ILFORD HP5+ 400

Self_developed FX-5_Dev

Tight squeeze

Shot with a Canon elan 7

Fujifilm superia 400

Developed at home with a 3 bath kit

Pentax ME Super

SMC 28mm 2.8

Ilford HP5+

Developed in Perceptol

Iwamizawa, Hokkaido.

Pentax MZ-M, SMC-Pentax 135mm F3.5 negative ISO 100 exposed as ISO 200, developed with reversal processing as described before.

Learn DIY development and upgrade to film !

GOVERNOR TOMBLIN PRESENTS $9.3 MILLION IN GRANTS

TO LOCAL GROUPS, COMMUNITY JUSTICE PROGRAMS

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (September 9, 2016) – Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin today presented more than $9.3 million in grant funding to community support groups and justice programs across the state. This funding will be used to develop new programming and enhance existing initiatives to support West Virginia’s communities and state justice system.

“With this needed funding, community programs from all corners of our state will be better equipped to serve children and families and further strengthen West Virginia’s justice system.” Gov. Tomblin said. “We are expanding direct services to victims of crime, putting programs in place to help at-risk youth get back on track and preparing parents with the life skills they need to foster a healthy, nurturing environment to raise their families.”

The total grant funding was allocated as follows:

$7,023,255 in Victims of Crime Act/Victim Assistance Grants - 75 grantees;

$529, 254 in Justice Reinvestment Treatment Supervision Grants - 4 grantees;

$1,203,175 in Justice Assistance Grants - 34 grantees;

$543,222 in Juvenile Justice & Delinquency Grants - 18 grantees.

Victims of Crime Act/Victim Assistance Grants:

BARBOUR

Barbour County Commission $38,936.00

These funds will provide for the salary of a full-time Victim Assistance Coordinator in the Barbour County Prosecuting Attorney's Office to provide direct services to crime victims in Barbour County.

BERKELEY, JEFFERSON, MORGAN

Children's Home Society of West Virginia $35,576.00

These funds will provide for the salary of a full-time Family Advocate to provide direct services to child abuse victims and adult survivors of child sexual abuse in Jefferson, Berkeley, and Morgan Counties.

BROOKE, HANCOCK

A Child's Place CASA, Ltd. $25,090.00

These funds will provide for a portion of the salaries of a part-time CASA Volunteer Coordinator and Program Director to provide direct services to victims of child abuse and neglect in Brooke and Hancock Counties.

CABELL

Cabell County Commission $129,895.00

These funds will provide for the salaries of three full-time Victim Advocates and two part-time Victim Advocates in the Cabell County Prosecuting Attorney's Office to provide direct services to crime victims in Cabell County.

CABELL, WAYNE, KANAWHA, PUTNAM

TEAM for West Virginia Children, Inc. $192,075.00

These funds will provide for a portion of the salaries of a full-time CASA Coordinator for Cabell County, a

Cabell/Wayne CASA Volunteer Coordinator, a Kanawha/Boone/Lincoln Volunteer Coordinator and a

Putnam/Cabell Volunteer Coordinator to provide direct services to child abuse and neglect victims in Cabell, Wayne, Putnam and Kanawha Counties.

CABELL, WAYNE, LINCOLN

Family Service a Division of Goodwill, Inc. $61,748.00

These funds will provide for a portion of the salaries of three part-time Victim Therapists to provide direct services to victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, and child abuse in Cabell, Lincoln, and Wayne Counties.

CABELL, WAYNE, LINCOLN

CONTACT Huntington Inc. $143,338.00

These funds will provide for the salary of a full-time Wayne & Lincoln County Advocate, Campus Victim Advocate, and Community Victim Advocate, and for a part-time Victim Advocate to provide direct services to victims of sexual assault in Cabell, Wayne, and Lincoln.

CABELL, WAYNE, PUTNAM, LINCOLN, MASON

Branches Domestic Violence Shelter, Inc. $292,641.00

These funds will provide for a portion of the salaries of a full-time Social Worker, a Mason County Advocate, a

Putnam County Advocate, a Lincoln County Advocate, Wayne County Advocate, Evening Advocate, Case Manager, and part-time Putnam County Advocate to provide direct services to domestic violence victims in Cabell, Lincoln, Putnam, Wayne, and Mason Counties.

GREENBRIER

Greenbrier County Commission $54,685.00

These funds will provide for the salary of a full-time Victim Services Coordinator in the Greenbrier County Prosecuting Attorney's Office to provide direct services to crime victims in Greenbrier County.

GREENBRIER, MONROE, POCAHONTAS

Child and Youth Advocacy Center $88,469.00

These funds will provide for the salary of a full-time Family Advocate and full-time Forensic Interviewer, and a portion of the salaries of a full-time Therapist and Program Director to provide direct services to child abuse victims and adult survivors of child sexual abuse in Greenbrier, Pocahontas, and Monroe Counties.

GREENBRIER, MONROE, POCAHONTAS

Family Refuge Center $168,120.00

These funds will provide for a portion of the salaries of the full-time Lead Shelter Advocate, a Daytime Shelter

Advocate, Overnight Shelter Advocate, Monroe County Advocate, Pocahontas County Advocate, and part-time Weekend Shelter Advocate, and Victim Advocate to provide direct services to victims of domestic violence and sexual assault in Greenbrier, Monroe, and Pocahontas Counties.

GREENBRIER, POCAHONTAS

CASA of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit, Inc. $42,424.00

These funds will provide for a portion of the part-time salary of a Volunteer Coordinator and full-time Program Director to provide direct services to victims of child abuse in Greenbrier and Pocahontas Counties.

HANCOCK, BROOKE

CHANGE, Inc. $54,285.00

These funds will provide for the salary of a full-time Victim Advocate and part-time Victim Advocate to provide direct services to victims of domestic violence in Brooke and Hancock Counties.

HANCOCK, BROOKE, OHIO

Hancock County Commission $125,979.00

These funds will provide for the full-time salaries of a Hancock County Advocate, a Brooke County Advocate, and a portion of the salary of a full-time Ohio County Advocate to provide direct services to crime victims in Brooke, Hancock, and Ohio Counties.

HARRISON

Harrison County CASA Program, Inc. $42,907.00

These funds will provide for a portion of the salaries of a full-time Volunteer Coordinator and the Program Director to provide direct services to victims of child abuse and neglect in Harrison County.

HARRISON, DODDRIDGE

Harrison County Child Advocacy Center $40,991.00

These funds will provide for the salary of a full-time Family Advocate to provide direct services to child abuse victims and adult survivors of child sexual abuse in Harrison County.

JACKSON

Jackson County Commission $35,000.00

These funds will provide for the salary of a full-time Victim Advocate in the Jackson County Sheriff's Office to provide direct services to crime victims in Jackson County.

JACKSON, ROANE, CALHOUN

CASA of the Fifth Judicial Circuit, Inc. $46,101.00

These funds will provide for a portion of the salary of the Program Director and two Volunteer Coordinators to provide direct services to child abuse and neglect victims in Jackson, Roane, and Calhoun Counties.

JEFFERSON

Jefferson County Commission $67,104.00

These funds will provide for a portion of the salaries of two full-time Victim Advocates in the Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney's Office to provide direct services to crime victims in Jefferson County.

JEFFERSON, BERKELEY, MORGAN

Shenandoah Women's Center, Inc. $355,035.00

These funds will provide for the salaries of a full-time Jefferson County Outreach Advocate, and two Shelter

Advocates, and a portion of the salaries for a full-time Morgan County Outreach Advocate, a Jefferson County Outreach Advocate, two Berkeley County Outreach Advocates, Evening and Weekend Shelter Advocate positions, and two part-time Counselors to provide direct services to child victims, victims of domestic violence, and sexual assault in Berkeley, Jefferson, and Morgan Counties.

CASA of the Eastern Panhandle, Inc. $103,218.00

These funds will provide for the salary of a Senior Volunteer Coordinator, two Volunteer Coordinators, and a part-time Volunteer Coordinator to provide direct services to victims of child abuse and neglect in Berkeley, Jefferson, and Morgan Counties.

KANAWHA

City of Charleston $36,600.00

These funds will provide for a portion of the salary of a full-time Victim Services Coordinator in the Charleston Police Department to provide direct services to crime victims in the City of Charleston.

CAMC Health Education & Research Institute $105,966.00

These funds will provide for the salary of a full-time Family Advocate and a portion of the salary of a full-time Social Worker/Forensic Interviewer to provide direct services to child abuse victims and adult survivors of child sexual abuse in Kanawha County.

Kanawha County Commission $67,360.00

These funds will provide for the salary of two full-time Victim Advocates and portion of the salary of a full-time Victim Advocate in the Prosecuting Attorney's Office to provide direct services to crime victims in Kanawha County.

Kanawha County Commission $83,353.00

These funds will provide for the salaries of two full-time Victim Advocates in the Kanawha County Sheriff's Department to provide direct services to crime victims in Kanawha County.

KANAWHA, CLAY, BOONE

YWCA of Charleston, WV, Inc. $184,189.00

These funds will provide for the salaries of a full-time Racial Justice/Court Advocate, a Boone County

Coordinator, a part-time Clay County Coordinator and a portion of the salaries for three full-time Court Advocate positions, Youth Services Coordinator, and a Contracted Counselor to provide direct services to domestic violence victims in Kanawha, Clay, and Boone Counties.

KANAWHA, PUTNAM, JACKSON, BOONE

Family Counseling Connection $208,311.00

These funds will provide for a portion of the salaries of a full-time REACH Director, three REACH Sexual Violence Victim Specialist, a Victim Support Specialist, and seven Victim Therapist positions and a portion of two Sexual Violence Victim Specialists to provide direct services to victims of sexual violence, child abuse, and domestic violence in Kanawha, Boone, Jackson, and Putnam Counties.

LEWIS

Lewis County Commission $38,942.00

These funds will provide for a portion of the salary of a full-time Victim Advocate in the Lewis County Prosecutor's Office to provide direct services to crime victims in Lewis County.

LOGAN

Logan County Commission $48,498.00

These funds will provide for the salaries of a full-time and a part-time Victim Advocate in the Logan County Prosecuting Attorney's Office to provide direct services to crime victims in Logan County.

Logan County Commission $36,500.00

These funds will provide for the salary of a full-time Victim Services Coordinator in the Logan County Sheriff's Department to provide direct services to crime victims in Logan County.

LOGAN, MINGO

The Logan County Child Advocacy Center, Inc. $46,748.00

These funds will provide for a portion of the salary of a part-time Mingo County Advocate and Child & Youth Forensic Interviewer and for a portion of the salary for a full-time Logan County Family Advocate to provide direct services to child abuse victims and adult survivors of child sexual abuse in Logan and Mingo Counties.

MARION

CASA of Marion County $46,069.00

These funds will provide for a portion of the salary of the salaries for a Program Director and Volunteer Coordinator to provide direct services to victims of child abuse and neglect in Marion County.

Marion County Commission $45,278.00

These funds will provide for the salary of a full-time Victim Assistance Coordinator in the Marion County Prosecuting Attorney's Office to provide direct services to crime victims in Marion County.

MARION, DODDRIDGE, GILMER, HARRISON, LEWIS

Task Force on Domestic Violence, "HOPE, Inc." $338,084.00

These funds will provide for a portion of the salaries of a full-time Family Therapist, Marion County Case

Manager, Children's Case Manager, Lewis County Case Manager, Harrison County Case Manager, Harrison

County Case Manager/Outreach Coordinator, Gilmer County Case Manager, Marion County Victim Advocate, Harrison County Victim Advocate, Doddridge County Case Manager, and Family Therapist and a portion of the salary for a part-time Marion County Case Manager to provide direct services to victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, and child victims in Doddridge, Gilmer, Harrison, Lewis, and Marion Counties.

MARSHALL, WETZEL, TYLER, OHIO

CASA for Children Inc. $58,805.00

These funds will provide for a portion of the salary of the Program Director, a Ohio County Volunteer Coordinator, and a Volunteer Coordinator in the 2nd Circuit to provide direct services to child abuse and neglect victims in Ohio, Marshall, Tyler, and Wetzel Counties.

MASON

Mason County Commission $29,830.00

These funds will provide for the salary of a full-time Victim Advocate in the Mason County Prosecuting Attorney's Office to provide direct services to crime victims in Mason County.

MCDOWELL

Stop the Hurt, Inc., Children's Advocacy Center $34,436.00

These funds will provide for the salary of a full-time Family Advocate to provide direct services to child abuse victims and adult survivors of child sexual abuse in McDowell County.

MCDOWELL, MERCER, WYOMING

Stop Abusive Family Environments, Inc. $257,416.00

These funds will provide for a portion of the salaries of a full-time McDowell County Advocate, a part-time

Wyoming County Victim Advocate, Resident Program Coordinator, Advocate Coordinator, Night Shelter Advocate, Evening Shelter Advocate, Weekend Shelter Advocate, Case Worker, Administrator, and for the salaries of two full-time Mercer County Advocates and Wyoming County Advocate to provide direct services to victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, and child victims in McDowell, Mercer, and Wyoming Counties.

MERCER

Child Protect of Mercer County, Inc. $70,220.00

These funds will provide for the salary of a full-time Family Advocate, part-time Forensic Interviewer and a portion of a Contract Therapist to provide direct services to child abuse victims and adult survivors of child sexual abuse in Mercer County.

MERCER, MCDOWELL

ChildLaw Services, Inc. $16,000.00

These funds will provide for a portion of the salary of a part-time Victim Advocate/Counselor to provide direct services to child victims of abuse and neglect and children who witness domestic violence in Mercer and McDowell Counties.

MINERAL

Mineral County Court Appointed Special Advocates $49,686.00

These funds will provide for a portion of the salary of the Program Director and for the salary of a full-time Volunteer Coordinator to provide direct services to victims of child abuse and neglect in Mineral County.

MINERAL, GRANT, HAMPSHIRE

Family Crisis Center, Inc. $55,000.00

These funds will provide for a portion of the salaries of a full-time Grant County Victim Advocate, a Mineral County Advocate, and a part-time Hampshire County Victim Advocate to provide direct services to victims of domestic violence in Mineral, Grant, and Hampshire Counties.

MINERAL, HAMPSHIRE, PENDLETON

Burlington United Methodist Family Services, Inc. $20,982.00

These funds will provide for a portion of the salary of a full-time Forensic Interviewer to provide direct services to child abuse victims and adult survivors of child sexual abuse in Hampshire, Mineral, and Pendleton Counties.

MINGO

Mingo County Commission $22,100.00

These funds will provide for the salary of a full-time Victim Assistance Coordinator in the Mingo County Prosecuting Attorney's Office to provide direct services to crime victims in Mingo County.

MINGO, LOGAN

Tug Valley Recovery Shelter $89,434.00

These funds will provide for the salaries of a full-time Logan/Mingo County Victim Advocate, a part-time Court Advocate, a full-time Logan County Advocate and a part-time Mingo County Advocate to provide direct services to victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, and child victims in Mingo and Logan Counties.

MONONGALIA

Monongalia County Commission $78,544.00

These funds will provide for a portion of the salaries of a full-time and two part-time Victim Assistance Coordinators in the Monongalia County Prosecuting Attorney's Office to provide direct services to crime victims in Monongalia County.

Monongalia County Child Advocacy Center, Inc. $17,302.00

These funds will provide for a portion of the salary of a full-time Family Advocate to provide direct services to child abuse victims and adult survivors of child sexual abuse in Monongalia County.

MONONGALIA, PRESTON

Monongalia County Youth Services Center / CASA for Kids $42,649.00

These funds will provide for a portion of the salaries of a full-time Preston County Volunteer Coordinator, a full-time Monongalia County Volunteer Coordinator, and a portion of the salary for the Program Director to provide direct services to victims of child abuse and neglect in Preston and Monongalia Counties.

MONONGALIA, PRESTON, TAYLOR

The Rape & Domestic Violence Information Center, Inc. $177,082.00

These funds will provide for the salaries of a full-time Monongalia County Victim Advocate, Case Manager,

Taylor County Victim Advocate and for a portion of the salary for a full-time Outreach Advocate for Monongalia, Preston, and Taylor Counties to provide direct services to victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, and child abuse in Monongalia, Preston, and Taylor Counties.

OHIO

Ohio County Commission $35,242.00

These funds will provide for a portion of the salary of a full-time Victim Assistance Coordinator in the Ohio County Prosecuting Attorney's Office to provide direct services to crime victims in Ohio County.

OHIO, BROOKE, HANCOCK, MARSHALL, WETZEL

Upper Ohio Valley Sexual Assault Help Center $161,670.00

These funds will provide for the salaries of a full-time Adult Victim Advocate and a Child Victim Advocate, and the part-time salaries of three Victim Advocates and a licensed Counselor/Therapist to provide direct services to adult and child victims of sexual assault in Hancock, Brooke, Ohio, Marshall, and Wetzel Counties.

OHIO, MARSHALL

Harmony House, Inc. $46,323.00

These funds will provide for the salary of a full-time Child and Family Advocate and a portion of the salary of a Child and Family Therapist to provide direct services to child abuse victims and adult survivors of child sexual abuse in Ohio and Marshall Counties.

OHIO, MARSHALL, WETZEL

Young Womens Christian Associaton of Wheeling, WV $153,405.00

These funds will provide for the salaries of a full-time Child Advocate, Ohio County Advocate, Marshall County Advocate, and Wetzel County Advocate, a part-time Employment Advocate, and a portion of the salaries of a

full-time Shelter Advocate and Wetzel County Advocate to provide direct services to victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, and child victims in Ohio, Marshall, and Wetzel Counties.

PRESTON

Preston County Commission $35,125.00

These funds will provide for a portion of the salary of a full-time Victim Advocate in the Preston County Prosecuting Attorney's Office to provide direct services to crime victims in Preston County.

PUTNAM

Putnam County Commission $34,000.00

These funds will provide for the salary of a full-time Victim Advocate in the Putnam County Sheriff's Office to provide direct services to crime victims in Putnam County.

Putnam County Commission $48,784.00

These funds will provide for a portion of the salary for a full-time Victim Liaison and provide for the salary of a part-time Victim Liaison in the Putnam County Prosecuting Attorney's Office to provide direct services to crime victims in Putnam County.

RALEIGH, FAYETTE, NICHOLAS, SUMMERS

Comprehensive Women's Service Council, Inc. $432,866.00

These funds will provide for the salaries of a full-time Summers County Advocate, Nicholas County Advocate, Raleigh County Advocate in the Beckley Police Department, and Raleigh County Shelter Advocate and for a

portion of the salaries for a full-time Evening Shelter Advocate, Weekend Shelter Advocate, Night Shelter

Advocate, Day Shelter Advocate, and for a portion of the salaries of a part-time Underserved Populations

Advocate, Raleigh County Victim Services Advocate, Fayette County Advocate, Nicholas County Advocate, and

Weekend Shelter Advocate, and for a portion of two Contractual Adult and Child Therapist to provide direct services to victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, and child abuse in Raleigh, Fayette, Nicholas, and Summers Counties.

RALEIGH, FAYETTE, WYOMING

Just For Kids Child Advocacy Center $76,250.00

These funds will provide for a portion of the salary of a full-time Family Advocate, Forensic Interviewer, and Counselor to provide direct services to child abuse victims and adult survivors of child sexual abuse in Fayette, Raleigh, and Wyoming Counties.

RANDOLPH

Randolph County Commission $40,436.00

These funds will provide for a portion of the salary of a full-time Victim Services Coordinator in the Randolph County Prosecuting Attorney's Office to provide services to crime victims in Randolph County.

RANDOLPH, TUCKER

Randolph-Tucker Children's Advocacy Center $65,222.00

These funds will provide for a portion of the salaries of a full-time Family Advocate and part-time Forensic Interviewer and for the salary of a part-time Tucker County Child and Family Advocate to provide direct services to child abuse victims and adult survivors of child sexual abuse in Randolph and Tucker Counties.

RANDOLPH, UPSHUR, TUCKER, BRAXTON, WEBSTER, BARBOUR

Women's Aid in Crisis $396,775.00

These funds will provide for a portion of the salaries for a full-time Barbour County Outreach Coordinator,

Braxton County Outreach Coordinator, Tucker County Outreach Coordinator, Upshur County Outreach

Coordinator, Webster County Outreach Coordinator, Randolph County Legal Advocate, Randolph County Victim Advocate, and two Shelter Managers and a Contracted Counselor to provide direct services to victims of domestic violence, child victims, and sexual assault victims in Randolph, Barbour, Tucker, Upshur, Webster, and Braxton Counties.

ROANE

Roane County Commission $22,068.00

These funds will provide for the salary of a full-time Victim Advocate in the Roane County Prosecuting Attorney's office to provide direct services to crime victims in Roane County.

SUMMERS

REACHH-Family Resource Center $15,715.00

These funds will provide for the salary of a part-time Family Advocate and Forensic Interviewer to provide direct services to child abuse victims and adult survivors of child sexual abuse in Summers County.

TYLER

Tyler County Commission $37,920.00

These funds will provide for the salary of a full-time Victim Advocate in the Tyler County Prosecuting Attorney's Office to provide direct services to crime victims in Tyler County.

UPSHUR

Upshur County Commission $34,662.00

These funds will provide for a portion of the salary of a full-time Victim Advocate in the Upshur County Prosecuting Attorney's Office to provide direct services to crime victims in Upshur County.

UPSHUR, LEWIS

Mountain CAP of West Virginia, Inc., a CAC $32,574.00

These funds will provide for the salary of a full-time Family Advocate to provide direct services to child abuse victims and adult survivors of child sexual abuse in Upshur and Lewis Counties.

WETZEL

Wetzel County Commission $40,000.00

These funds will provide for the salary of a full-time Victim Advocate in the Wetzel County Prosecuting Attorney's Office to provide direct services to crime victims in Wetzel County.

WOOD

Wood County Commission $83,126.00

These funds will provide for the salaries of two full-time Victim Advocates in the Wood County Prosecuting Attorney's Office to provide direct services to crime victims in Wood County.

WOOD, CALHOUN, JACKSON, LOGAN, WIRT

Harmony Mental Health, Inc. $138,450.00

These funds will provide for the salaries of a full-time Social Worker and Counselor, and Contractual Counseling to provide services to victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, and child abuse in Calhoun, Jackson, Wirt, and Wood Counties.

WOOD, JACKSON, RITCHIE, PLEASANTS, WIRT

Family Crisis Intervention Center $224,087.00

These funds will provide for a portion of the salaries of three part-time Shelter Advocates, three full-tim Shelter

Advocates, Legal Advocate, Sexual Assault Advocate, Ritchie County Advocate, Wirt County Advocate, Pleasants County Advocate, and part-time Jackson County Advocate to provide direct services to victims of domestic violence in Jackson, Ritchie, Wirt, Pleasants, and Wood Counties.

WOOD, WIRT, PLEASANTS, RITCHIE

Voices for Children Foundation - CASA Program $51,939.00

These funds will provide for a portion of the Program Director’s salary to provide direct services to child abuse and neglect victims in Wood, Wirt, Pleasants, and Ritchie Counties.

WYOMING

Wyoming County Commission $30,114.00

These funds will provide for the salary of a full-time Victim Advocate in the Wyoming County Prosecuting Attorney's Office to provide direct services to crime victims in Wyoming County.

STATEWIDE

West Virginia Division of Corrections $81,158.00

These funds will provide for a portion of the salary of a Victim Services Specialist to provide direct services to the crime victims of inmates under the custody of the Division of Corrections.

Legal Aid of West Virginia, Inc. $216,890.00

These funds will provide for the salaries of three full-time Attorneys to provide emergency legal services to victims of crime in West Virginia.

Mothers Against Drunk Driving West Virginia $39,453.00

These funds will provide for a portion of the salary of a full-time statewide Victim Advocate to provide direct services and support to victims of Driving Under the Influence cases throughout the State of West Virginia.

Juvenile Justice & Delinquency Grants:

BARBOUR

Barbour County Commission $20,000.00

These funds will be utilized to support the position of a Prevention Resource Officer (PRO) in Philip Barbour High School.

CABELL

City of Barboursville $20,000.00

These funds will be utilized to support the position of a Prevention Resource Officer (PRO) in Barboursville Middle School.

DODDRIDGE

Doddridge County Commission $40,000.00

These funds will be utilized to support the Prevention Resource Officer (PRO) positions in Doddridge County High and Dordddridge County Middle Schools.

HARDY

Hardy County Commission $20,000.00

These funds will be utilized to support the position of a Prevention Resource Officer (PRO) in East Hardy High School.

HARRISON

Harrison County Commission $20,000.00

These funds will be utilized to support the position of a Prevention Resource Officer (PRO) in South Harrison High School.

KANAWHA

HOPE Community Development Corporation $60,000.00

These funds will be utilized to implement the Disproportionate Minority Reduction Cycle in Kanawha County.

Kanawha County Commission $25,000.00

These funds will be utilzed to support the Project INTER-CEPT Program (Interventions Needed To End Recidivism-Critical Entry Point Treatment) in Kanawha County.

Partnership of African American Churches $60,000.00

These funds will be utilized to decrease Disproportionate MinortyContact in Kanawha County by expanding current initiatives between law enforcement, clergy, youth and families, including public defenders and prosecuting attorneys.

LOGAN

Logan County Commission $20,000.00

These funds will be utilized to support the position of a Prevention Resource Officer (PRO) in Man High School.

MONONGALIA

Monongalia County Commission $20,000.00

These funds will be utilized to support the VOICES II, a deliquency prevention program that focuses on at-risk and delinquent female teens.

Monongalia County Child Advocacy Center $18,612.00

These funds will be utilized to provide Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to child vicitims of abuse in Monongalia County.

Monongalia County Commission $60,000.00

These funds will be utilized to support a countywide Disproportionate Minorty Contact Reduction Initiative by utlizing an evidence-based intervention model to prevent at-risk minority youth’s involvement in the criminal justice system.

Morgantown Police Department $20,000.00

These funds will be utilized to support the position of a Prevention Resource Officer (PRO) in Mountaineer Middle School.

Mountaineer Boys and Girls Club $45,000.00

These funds will be utilized to implement the Disproportionate Minorty Reduction Cycle in Monongalia County.

MORGAN

Morgan County Commission $20,000.00

These funds will be utilized to support a school and community based program that provides a school-based violence prevention curriculum and a developmental asset program to cultivate youth strengths and self-esteem.

Morgan County Commission $20,000.00

These funds will be utilized to support the position of a Prevention Resource Officer (PRO) in Berkeley Springs High School.

STATEWIDE

West Virginia Child Advocacy Network $23,592.00

These funds will be utilized to assess and improve the data tracking and evaluation on both a statewide and local program level, and assist local Child Advocacy centers with data-informed strategic planning, interrupting the cycle of abuse and preventing adverse lifetime outcomes.

West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals $31,018.00

These funds will be utilized to provide current juvenile justice probation data to the State of West Virginia, the Federal Government, West Virginia Division of Justice and Community Services, the State Advisory Group and the citizens of West Virginia through the maintenance and daily management of the Juvenile Section of the Offender Case Management System. Funding will also provide analysis and a statewide report on the Juvenile Justice system as well as the collection of juvenile data and analysis to provide the numbers to create the DMC ratio.

Justice Assistance Grants:

BRAXTON

Braxton County Commission $20,000.00

Funds will provide one Prevention Resource Officer (PRO) at Braxton County High School.

CABELL

Cabell County Commission $69,000.00

Funds will provide for officer salaries to continue a multi-jurisdictional drug and violent crime task force.

GREENBRIER

Greenbrier County Commission $23,000.00

Funds will provide for officer salaries to continue a multi-jurisdictional drug and violent crime task force.

HAMPSHIRE

Hampshire County Commission $20,000.00

Funds will provide one Prevention Resource Officer (PRO) at Hampshire County High School.

HANCOCK

Hancock County Commission $40,000.00

Funds will provide for two Prevention Resource Officers (PRO) at Oak Glen High School and Weir High School.

Hancock County Commission $46,000.00

Funds will provide for officer salaries to continue a multi-jurisdictional drug and violent crime task force.

HARRISON

City of Bridgeport $20,000.00

Funds will provide one Prevention Resource Officer (PRO) at Bridgeport High School.

City of Bridgeport $46,000.00

Funds will provide for officer salaries to continue a multi-jurisdictional drug and violent crime task force.

City of Clarksburg $20,000.00

Funds will provide for one Prevention Resource Officer (PRO) at Robert C. Byrd High School.

JACKSON

City of Ripley $20,000.00

Funds will provide one Prevention Resource Officer (PRO) at Ripley High School.

City of Ravenswood $20,000.00

Funds will provide one Prevention Resource Officer (PRO) at Ravenswood High School.

KANAWHA

City of South Charleston $20,000.00

Funds will provide one Prevention Resource Officer (PRO) at South Charleston High School.

City of Charleston $69,000.00

Funds will provide for officer salaries to continue a multi-jurisdictional drug and violent crime task force.

City of Dunbar $20,000.00

Funds will provide one Prevention Resource Officer (PRO) at Dunbar Middle School.

City of Charleston $40,000.00

Funds will provide for two Prevention Resource Officers (PRO) at Capitol High School and Stonewall Jackson Middle School.

LEWIS

Lewis County Commission $20,000.00

Funds will provide one Prevention Resource Officer (PRO) at Lewis County High School.

LOGAN

Logan County Commission $46,000.00

Funds will provide for officer salaries to continue a multi-jurisdictional drug and violent crime task force and salary for one Prosecutor to work closely with the Drug Task Force.

MARSHALL

Marshall County Commission $23,000.00

Funds will provide for officer salaries to continue a multi-jurisdictional drug and violent crime task force.

MERCER

City of Bluefield $46,000.00

Funds will provide for officer salaries to continue a multi-jurisdictional drug and violent crime task force.

MINERAL

Mineral County Commission $20,000.00

Funds will provide one Prevention Resource Officer (PRO) at Frankfort High School.

MONROE

Monroe County Commission $20,000.00

Funds will provide one Prevention Resource Officer (PRO) at James Monroe High School.

OHIO

Ohio County Commission $46,000.00

Funds will provide for officer salaries to continue a multi-jurisdictional drug and violent crime task force.

City of Wheeling $40,000.00

Funds will provide for two Prevention Resource Officers (PRO) at Bridge Street Middle School and Triadelphia Middle School.

PUTNAM

Putnam County Commission $20,000.00

Funds will provide one Prevention Resource Officer (PRO) at Poca High School.

City of Winfield $20,000.00

Funds will provide one Prevention Resource Officer (PRO) at Winfield High School.

City of Nitro $20,000.00

These funds will be utilized to support a Prevention Resource Officer (PRO) at Nitro High School.

RALEIGH

City of Beckley Police Department $20,000.00

Funds will provide one Prevention Resource Officer (PRO) at Woodrow Wilson High School.

ROANE

Roane County Commission $20,000.00

Funds will provide one Prevention Resource Officer (PRO) at Roane County High School.

TAYLOR

City of Grafton $20,000.00

Funds will provide one Prevention Resource Officer (PRO) at Grafton High School.

UPSHUR

Upshur County Commission $20,000.00

Funds will provide one Prevention Resource Officer (PRO) at Buckhannon-Upshur Middle School.

WETZEL

Wetzel County Commission $20,000.00

Funds will provide one Prevention Resource Officer (PRO) at Valley High School.

WOOD

City of Vienna $46,000.00

Funds will provide for officer salaries for a multi-jurisdictional drug and violent crime task force.

City of Williamstown $20,000.00

Funds will provide one Prevention Resource Officer (PRO) at Williamstown High School.

STATEWIDE

West Virginia State Police $223,175.00

Funds will provide for officer overtime to continue a multi-jurisdictional drug and violent crime task force.

Justice Reinvestment Treatment Supervision Grants:

BERKELEY, JEFFERSON, MORGAN

Jefferson Day Report Center, Inc. $140,998.00

These funds will be utilized to support the ongoing work through the Justice Reinvestment Treatment Supervision Program.

CABELL

Prestera Center for Mental HealthServices, Inc. $134,514.00

These funds will be utilized to support the ongoing work through the Justice Reinvestment Treatment Supervision Program.

HARRISON

Harrison County Commission $125,000.00

These funds will be utilized to support the ongoing work through the Justice Reinvestment Treatment Supervision Program.

United Summit Center, Inc. $118,753.00

These funds will be utilized to support the ongoing work through the JusticGOVERNOR TOMBLIN PRESENTS $9.3 MILLION IN GRANTS

TO LOCAL GROUPS, COMMUNITY JUSTICE PROGRAMS

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (September 9, 2016) – Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin today presented more than $9.3 million in grant funding to community support groups and justice programs across the state. This funding will be used to develop new programming and enhance existing initiatives to support West Virginia’s communities and state justice system.

“With this needed funding, community programs from all corners of our state will be better equipped to serve children and families and further strengthen West Virginia’s justice system.” Gov. Tomblin said. “We are expanding direct services to victims of crime, putting programs in place to help at-risk youth get back on track and preparing parents with the life skills they need to foster a healthy, nurturing environment to raise their families.”

The total grant funding was allocated as follows:

$7,023,255 in Victims of Crime Act/Victim Assistance Grants - 75 grantees;

$529, 254 in Justice Reinvestment Treatment Supervision Grants - 4 grantees;

$1,203,175 in Justice Assistance Grants - 34 grantees;

$543,222 in Juvenile Justice & Delinquency Grants - 18 grantees.

Photos available for media use. All photos should be attributed “Photo courtesy of Office of the Governor.”

It is a matter of huge pride that the ‪#‎SAD‬ led Government of Punjab has played a pivotal role in setting up of Indian School of Business (ISB) campus in Mohali. With Punjabi youth aiming for the world, we will surely bring more such world-class education institutions in Punjab in times to come.

#ShiromaniAkaliDal #ProudtobeAkali #SADDelivered #SADCommittted #SADforPunjab #SukhbirSinghBadal #ISBMohali

The Boeing B-29 was developed in 1942 at the height of World War 2...while the Boeing 787 made its first flight in 2009...in this one photo we have two aircraft from the same maker separated by 67 years....

The 787 is back taxiing for departure on runway 36, while Fifi is headed back to Conoco-Phillips Square for display.

Copyright

All my photographic images are copyrighted. All rights are reserved. Please do not use, copy or edit any of my photographs without my written permission. If you want to use my photo for commercial or private use, please contact me.

Exif data auto added by theGOOD Uploadr

File Size : 0.6 mb

Camera Make : Canon

Camera Model : Canon EOS 50D

Software : Adobe Photoshop CS2 Windows

Developed in Ilford lc29 for 6 1/2 min

developed

Classic cell structure

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based historical facts. BEWARE!

In July 1967, the first Swedish Air Force student pilots started training on the Saab 105, a Swedish high-wing, twin-engine trainer aircraft developed in the early sixties as a private venture by Saab AB. The Swedish Air Force procured the type for various roles and issued the aircraft with the designation Sk 60.

Scotland additionally showed interest in a small fleet of 1st generation Saab 39 interceptors that would replace the RAF fighters based on Scottish ground.

General characteristics:

Crew: two pilots in tandem

Length incl. pitot: 13.0 m (42 ft 8 in) for the A trainer, 13.68 m (44 ft 10 in) for the S variant

Wingspan: 9.94 m (32 ft 7 in)

Height: 4.6 m (15 ft 1 in)

Empty weight: 3,790 kg (8,360 lb)

Max. takeoff weight: 7,500 kg (16,530 lb)

Powerplant:

2× Williams International FJ44-4M turbofans without reheat, rated at 16.89 kN (3,790 lbst) each

Performance:

Maximum speed: 1,038 km/h (645 mph)

Range: 1,670 km (900 nm)

Armament:

No internal gun; five hardpoints for 2,500 kg (5,500 lb) of payload and a variety of ordnance

The kit and its assembly:

A simple kit travesty! This is basically the 1:72 Kawasaki T-4 from Hasegawa, with little modifications.

Originally, I wondered what an overdue Saab 105 replacement could or would look like? The interesting Saab 38 never saw the light, as mentioned above, there was also an A-10-style light attack aircraft (maybe to be built as a kitbashing some day...) and I assume that neutral Sweden would rather develop its own aircraft than procure a foreign product.

Consideration of the BAe Hawk, Alpha Jet and the L-39 Albatros as inspirations for this project, I eventually came across the modern but rather overlooked Japanese Kawasaki T-4 trainer – and found that it had a certain Swedish look about it? Hmm... And coupled with a very characteristic paint scheme, like “Fields & Meadows”, maybe…?

I wanted to keep things simple, though, so the T-4 was mostly built OOB. A pleasant experience. The kit is relatively simple and fit is very good, with only minimal PSR necessary.

The only changes are the underwings hardpoints, which come from a Heller SEPECAT Jaguar, the pair of drop tanks (from an Academy F-5E, IIRC), a scratched recce pod for the ventral hardpoint and a modified bow section. This camera nose is a transplant from a Marivox Saab 105, assuming that the new trainer would be employed in similar roles as the Sk 60. The respective Swedish kit comes with a lot of optional parts, including the extended Sk 60 C’s camera nose - and it fits very well onto the T-4's rounded nose.

Painting and markings:

Well, when building a kit is not a true challenge, maybe the paint job is? The T-4 in a "Fields & Meadows" livery was the initial inspiration for this build, so I tried to stick with the concept as far as possible, even though I'd assume that Swedish aircraft in the kit's time frame would rather be grey with subdued markings. But there's hardly anything as Swedish and spectacular as "Fields & Meadows", and this scheme would also be perfect for the tactical recce role of this build.

The pattern was loosely inspired by the Saab Viggens’ scheme (I found pictures of Sk 60 in Fields & Meadows, but could not puzzle together a complete view) as benchmark.

Painting was done with a fine brush (size 2), free-handedly. Even the waterline was created without masking tape - a clean, bigger brush (size 6) was enough to create the sharp edge. This sounds bizarre and maybe suggest a masochistic touch, but it actually worked better than expected - and I was in the lucky situation that I did not have to slavishly copy and recreate the splinter pattern on a real-world model. ;-)

Finding proper tones for the famous and very characteristic Swedish paint scheme was not easy, though. Pictures of real aircraft vary largely, light conditions and weathering make a proper identification difficult, to say the least. Since I wanted a simple solution (a lot of corrections during the painting process was expected), I settled upon the following enamel tones:

• Modelmaster 2060, RAF Dark Green

• Humbrol 150, Forest Green FS 34127

• Humbrol 72, Khaki Drill, for the earth tone

• A 1:1 mix of Humbrol 33 (Flat Black) + Modelmaster 2094 (RAL 7021) for a very dark grey

• Humbrol 247 (RLM 76) for the undersides

Painting was done from black (starting here because it was the only mixed tone), then the earth tone, light green and finally the dark green - a slow (2 full days) but rather uncomplicated process. But I think that the effort paid out, and helps selling the fictional Sk 90 idea.

The cockpit was painted in neutral grey, while the landing gear and the air intakes became white. A very Swedish touch are the bright green headrests - seen on Saab 37.

The markings were kept simple, puzzled together from various sources. Tactical codes come from a Heller Saab 37 Viggen sheet, while the roundels come from an RBD Models sheet (great stuff!) from Sweden - they actually belong to a Saab 32, but since the roundel sizes are normed the transplant onto the smaller aircraft here was easy and even plausible.

Some stencils were taken from the T-4 OOB sheet or gathered together from the scrap box, e .g. the "FARA" warnings.

The silver trim at the flaps and the fin rudder were made with generic 0.5mm decal stripes in silver. Similar strips in black were used to create the de-icers on the wings' leading edges.

Finally, the kit was sealed with matt acrylic varnish (Italeri).

Not tough to build, but still a challenge to paint. But the result is spectacular, and the T-4 under foreign flag looks disturbingly plausible. How could Sweden hide this aircraft from the public for so long...?

And it's certainly not the last T-4 I will build. A Scottish aircraft, as mentioned in the background, is a hot candidate - but the aircraft has a lot of OOB whiffing potential...

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based on historical facts. BEWARE!

Some background:

The Hawker Hunter was a transonic British jet-powered fighter aircraft that was developed by Hawker Aircraft for the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It was designed to take advantage of the newly developed Rolls-Royce Avon turbojet engine and the swept wing and was the first jet-powered aircraft produced by Hawker to be procured by the RAF. On 7 September 1953, the modified first prototype broke the world air speed record for aircraft, achieving a speed of 727.63 mph (1,171.01 km/h; 632.29 kn).

Overall, the Hunter’s service with the Swedish Air Force was not long, though. The J 34A day fighters were already retired from service in 1969 and partly sold, while the S 34Bs were kept active until 1974, when operations at F11’s home base were expanded: the Swedish Air Force Intelligence School (FV UndS) was relocated to Nyköping and Saab 35 Draken fully replaced the last S 29Cs and the recce Hunters (which both lacked trainer versions). But already a year later, when the Palme government presented its bill 1975:75, a dismantling of two flotilla administrations, Södermanland's air fleet (F 11) and Kalmar air fleet (F 12), was proposed. The background was that the Swedish Defense Forces' peace organization investigation (FFU) in January 1971, tasked with investigating how the air force's peace organization from the mid-1980s could be adapted to the development of the war organization. That the flotilla would be dismantled was a matter of course, as the FFU considered that the reconnaissance divisions should be redistributed to other flotillas, primarily for operational and readiness reasons. Furthermore, the aircraft that the flotilla was armed with, the S 32C Lansen and the S 35D Draken, were to be replaced in the 1980s with the new SH/SF 37 Viggen. This also meant that aerial reconnaissance could then be solved in three aviation divisions, instead of the five reconnaissance aviation divisions that then existed within the Air Force.

General characteristics:

Crew: 1

Length: 49 ft 0.5 in (14.98 m)

Wingspan: 33 ft 8 in (10.26 m)

Height: 13 ft 2 in (4.01 m)

Wing area: 349 sq ft (32.4 m²)

Airfoil: Hawker 8.5% symmetrical

Empty weight: 14,122 lb (6,406 kg)

Gross weight: 17,750 lb (8,051 kg)

Max takeoff weight: 24,600 lb (11,158 kg)

Powerplant:

1× Rolls-Royce RM5B1 (Avon 23) turbojet engine, 9,000 lbf (40.8 kN) thrust

Performance:

Maximum speed: 623 mph (1,003 km/h, 541 kn, Mach 0.94) at 36,000 ft (11,000 m)

715 mph (621 kn; 1,151 km/h) at sea level

Range: 385 mi (620 km, 335 nmi) with internal fuel only,

1,900 mi (3,100 km, 1,700 nmi) ferry range with maximum external fuel

Service ceiling: 50,000 ft (15,000 m)

Rate of climb: 17,200 ft/min (87 m/s)

Wing loading: 51.6 lb/sq ft (252 kg/m²)

Thrust/weight: 0.56

Armament:

No internal guns;

4× underwing hardpoints with a total capacity of 7,400 lb (3,400 kg)

The kit and its assembly:

This fictional converted Hawker Hunter is a submission to the 2022 “Lightning, Canberra & Hunter” group build at whatifmodellers.com. The idea for a recce Hunter came when I wondered why there had not been a more dedicated variant than the FR.10, and when the GB came up I decided to build one from a Revell 1:72 kit. Sweden appeared as a good potential and attractive operator, as the Hunter would fit well between the Tunnan and Draken era – and I also had some donor parts from Swedish aircraft that would find their way into the rhinoplasty.

The kit is Revell’s 1:72 Hawker Hunter F.6 – initially I wanted to use an FGA.9 variant of this kit, but upon close inspection I found out that the Swedish Hunters were of a much earlier standard that made the FGA.9 an unsuitable starting point. While the Mk.4/50’s dog-teeth-less wings would be realized with a conversion set from Wolfpack, the early variants’ non-afterburner jet exhaust would have had to be scratched. It was eventually easier to procure a suitable variant of the Revell kit that offered this nozzle OOB, #04350, the first boxing from 2007 which was subsequently re-issued several times with slightly modified parts/sprues that depict later Hunter variants.

When I started building the kit, however, I found out that the kit was missing two parts – very untypical for Revell?! Apparently, the missing parts had broken off of the sprues during the packaging process, since both box and bag inside were still sealed when I received the kit. One missing piece was one of the separate dog-tooth slat sections for the wings, which could be easily replaced with the parts from the very crisp Wolfpack Hunter F.1/2/4/5 resin conversion set (which also includes a longer metal pitot) that was actually designed for the Revell kit, the other was a main landing gear cover. The latter was replaced by Revell of Germany for free within a couple of days after I had placed a request for a spare part at their service touchpoint. Great service!

The Revell Hunter is nice and probably the best contemporary kit of this aircraft in 1:72, even though it needs some PSR, esp. around the wing attachment seams on the fuselage. Beyond the wing modifications to create a Swedish F.4/Mk. 50 export variant I decided to thoroughly change the nose section, more than the FR.10’s small camera nose tip (which is available as a clear resin piece from Quickboost). I used the Saab 29 as a design benchmark and decided to replace the Hunter’s gun bays with camera compartments, using a leftover optional tray from a Heller S 29C to re-shape the area under the cockpit sides. I wanted to retain the original front landing gear well, though, so that only the “edges” from the Tunnan’s camera ports were transplanted under the Hunter’s front fuselage, creating pronounced “cheeks” and a more or less flat bottom.

To take the photo recce conversion even further I replaced the Hunter’s stub nose with a pointed alternative, a spare SF 37 nose with a forward-facing camera window from a Heller kit that I had received from a good friend a while ago. The Viggen nose was trimmed down to the same diameter as the Hunter’s, and its pitot was removed since the Hunter would retain the original wing-mounted sensor.

This recontoured nose section was blended into the Hunter’s fuselage with several layers/turns of PSR. My initial hope to retain the clear parts’ transparency for the finished S 34B soon evaporated, though, because the body work became so thorough that everything disappeared under layers of putty. At least the parts’ shape was retained, and they thoroughly changed the Hunter’s profile! At times I thought that the modified aircraft had a Soviet touch, and when I installed the landing gear it struck me that the pointed nose gave the Hunter a very F-105-ish look, like a missing link between the Thunderchief and the earlier RF-84G Thunderflash? Well, an idea for a potential future what-if project…

Anything else was taken OOB from the Revell kit, including the cockpit and the short drop tanks on the inner wing pylons.

Painting and markings:

This was a challenge. I did not want to give the fictional recce Hunter the J 34’s simple camouflage with dark green upper surfaces (Olive Green 328M) and grey undersides. The contemporary dark blue/olive green paint scheme was an alternative, but I found it to be quite boring and I also already had some Swedish whiffs with this scheme in my collection.

A suitable alternative eventually came from literature, where I found pictures of privately operated J 32E Lansen target tugs (SE-DCM and -DCN) which carried in the early Nineties a three-tone camouflage on their upper sides, consisting of mörk olivgrön (328M), mörkgrön (326M) and mörkblå (438M). I was not able to find pictures that provided detail information about the aircrafts’ concrete camouflage pattern, though, esp. from above, so that I adapted a pattern from an USN aggressor A-4E Skyhawk with adjusted colors to the Hunter airframe. The blue/green pattern on the contemporary J 32 and J 35 could not simply be expanded to a third shade, since the dark blue forms a kind of net pattern over the green background. The lighter green would always have looked like an enforced foreign matter, so that I rather went for an SEA-ish application in which all three colors appear pari passu. The aggressor pattern yet ensured that the dark blue would still form a kind of “river delta” within a murky green landscape.

The paints I used were Humbrol 77, 163 and 224 – lighter than the original tones, but for better contrast, scale effect and some weathering it turned out O.K. The undersides were painted in standard Swedish grey (058M), and I used Humbrol 165 (RAF Medium Sea Grey) as a proxy. The drop tanks were painted in standard J 34 colors, as a small contrast, in Humbrol 116 (FS 34079) and 165.

The cockpit interior was painted in anthracite, the ejection seat received bright green cushions (seen on a Swedish Hunter on museum display); the landing gear and the respective wells’ interior became aluminum bronze (Humbrol 56), while the interior of the air intakes became shiny aluminum (Revell 99) except for the splitter plates, which received the external camouflage colors. Copying the real J 34s’ look, the area around the jet efflux was painted in Aluminum (Revell 99) and separated from the rest of the hull with a thin 0.5 mm black line (generic decal material). The camera windows were created with black decal material, which had some light reflexes manually added and received a coat with glossy varnish.

The kit received the usual light black ink washing and some post-panel-shading for dramatic effect, and with markedly lightened tones from above to simulate bleached paint.

The decals/marking came mostly from RBD Studio (today Moose Republic, very good stuff!) sheets for Saab 32 Lansen in Swedish service. The unusual tactical code in the form of a number in the squadron’s color (instead of a colored letter or a white or yellow two-digit numeral that came next) was taken over from a real-world F11 S 32C from around 1963 – an exotic option, but it falls into the S 34B’s time frame and was a suitable option for this whiffy model, too. To reflect the 1st squadron’s code color even more and add a small color highlight, I painted the front wheel well cover in red and placed a white “2” on it.

Finally, the model was sealed overall with matt acrylic varnish. The Swedish Hunters’ rather glossy finish was only carried during the aircrafts’ early career years, when the machines still carried the factory finish with British colors under a clear protective coat. When the machines were later re-painted with Swedish paints during overhauls, they received a matt finish.

This modified photo reconnaissance Hunter looks simple, but the nose modifications were more severe and demanding than expected. The result looks pretty strange, esp. the pointed nose takes away the Hunter’s Fifties look. The Swedish markings and the three-tone camouflage suit the Hunter well, though, the S 34B looks quite convincing.

Roscosmos plans to develop touristic programs to Russian spaceports including Baikonur and Vostochny.

According to Roscosmos representative there is a special program to be elaborated to improve this field. The Agency itself is not going to work with the tourists directly but will definitely make all infrastructural changes necessary. Read the full story here➡️ russianspacenews.com/roscosmos-to-develop-touristic-trips... (Our special project to announce our space news) #вежительтур #roscosmos #NASA #ESA #baikonur #rocket #liftoff #space #spacetours #ISS #Байконур #космодром #космос #МКС #авиакосмическийтуризм #Союз #СоюзТМА #soyuztma18m #spaceport #spacelove #spacetours #spaceshuttle #spaceship #spacecraft #followme #instadaily #picoftheday #вежитель

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Praktica L

Super-Multi-Coated Takumar 50mm f/1.4 + Yellow-Green

Ilford FP4+ ISO125

-------------

Developed with Agfa Rondinax 35U in Agfa Rodinal

1-40 10:15 mins at 22c

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based on historical facts. BEWARE!

Some Background:

During the 1950s, Hindustan Aircraft Limited (HAL) had developed and produced several types of trainer aircraft, such as the HAL HT-2. However, elements within the firm were eager to expand into the then-new realm of supersonic fighter aircraft. Around the same time, the Indian government was in the process of formulating a new Air Staff Requirement for a Mach 2-capable combat aircraft to equip the Indian Air Force (IAF). However, as HAL lacked the necessary experience in both developing and manufacturing frontline combat fighters, it was clear that external guidance would be invaluable; this assistance was embodied by Kurt Tank.

A radar upgrade, together with the introduction of better air-to-ai missiles with a higher range and look down/shoot down capability was considered but never carried out. Furthermore, the idea of a true HF-26 2nd generation variant, powered by a pair of Tumansky R-11F-300 afterburner jet engines (from the license-built MiG-21FLs), was dropped, too – even though this powerplant eventually promised to fulfill the Teer’s design promise of Mach 2 top speed. A total of only 82 HF-26s (including thirteen two-seat trainers with a lengthened fuselage and reduced fuel capacity, plus eight prototypes) were built. The last aircraft were retired from IAF service in 1988 and replaced with Mirage 2000 fighters procured from France that were armed with the Matra Super 530 AAM.

General characteristics:

Crew: 1

Length: 14.97 m (49 ft ½ in)

Wingspan: 9.43 m (30 ft 11 in)

Height: 4.03 m (13 ft 2½ in)

Wing area: 30.6 m² (285 sq ft)

Empty weight: 7,000 kg (15,432 lb)

Gross weight: 10,954 kg (24,149 lb) with full internal fuel

Max takeoff weight: 15,700 kg (34,613 lb) with external stores

Powerplant:

2× Tumansky RD-9 afterburning turbojet engines; 29 kN (6,600 lbf) dry thrust each

and 36.78 kN (8,270 lbf) with afterburner

Performance:

Maximum speed: 1,700 km/h (1,056 mph; 917 kn; Mach 1.6) at 11,000 m (36,000 ft)

1,350 km/h (840 mph, 730 kn; Mach 1.1) at sea level

Combat range: 725 km (450 mi, 391 nmi) with internal fuel only

Ferry range: 1,700 km (1,100 mi, 920 nmi) with four drop tanks

Service ceiling: 18,100 m (59,400 ft)

g limits: +6.5

Time to altitude: 9,145 m (30,003 ft) in 1 minute 30 seconds

Wing loading: 555 kg/m² (114 lb/sq ft)

Armament

6× hardpoints (four underwing and two under the fuselage) for a total of 2.500 kg (5.500 lb);

Typical interceptor payload:

- two IR-guided R-3 or R-60 air-to-air-missiles or

two PTB-490 drop tanks on the outer underwing stations

- two semi-active radar-guided ‚Saanp’ air-to-air missiles or two more R-3 or R-60 AAMs

on inner underwing stations

- two 500 l drop tanks or two gun pods with a 23 mm GSh-23L autocannon and 200 RPG

each under the fuselage

The kit and its assembly:

This whiffy delta-wing fighter was inspired when I recently sliced up a PM Model Su-15 kit for my side-by-side-engine BAC Lightning build. At an early stage of the conversion, I held the Su-15 fuselage with its molded delta wings in my hand and wondered if a shortened tail section (as well as a shorter overall fuselage to keep proportions balanced) could make a delta-wing jet fighter from the Flagon base? Only a hardware experiment could yield an answer, and since the Su-15’s overall outlines look a bit retro I settled at an early stage on India as potential designer and operator, as “the thing the HF-24 Marut never was”.

True to the initial idea, work started on the tail, and I chopped off the fuselage behind the wings’ trailing edge. Some PSR was necessary to blend the separate exhaust section into the fuselage, which had to be reduced in depth through wedges that I cut out under the wings trailing edge, plus some good amount of glue and sheer force the bend the section a bit upwards. The PM Model's jet exhausts were drilled open, and I added afterburner dummies inside - anything would look better than the bleak vertical walls inside after only 2-3 mm! The original fin was omitted, because it was a bit too large for the new, smaller aircraft and its shape reminded a lot of the Suchoj heavy fighter family. It was replaced with a Mirage III/V fin, left over from a (crappy!) Pioneer 2 IAI Nesher kit.

Once the rear section was complete, I had to adjust the front end - and here the kitbashing started. First, I chopped off the cockpit section in front of the molded air intake - the Su-15’s long radome and the cockpit on top of the fuselage did not work anymore. As a remedy I remembered another Su-15 conversion I did a (long) while ago: I created a model of a planned ground attack derivative, the T-58Sh, and, as a part of the extensive body work, I transplanted the slanted nose from an academy MiG-27 between the air intakes – a stunt that was relatively easy and which appreciably lowered the cockpit position. For the HF-26M I did something similar, I just transplanted a cockpit from a Hasegawa/Academy MiG-23 with its ogival radome that size-wise better matched with the rest of the leftover Su-15 airframe.

The MiG-23 cockpit matched perfectly with the Su-15's front end, just the spinal area behind the cockpit had to be raised/re-sculpted to blend the parts smoothly together. For a different look from the Su-15 ancestry I also transplanted the front sections of the MiG-23 air intakes with their shorter ramps. Some mods had to be made to the Su-15 intake stubs, but the MiG-23 intakes were an almost perfect fit in size and shape and easy to integrate into the modified front hill. The result looks very natural!

However, when the fuselage was complete, I found that the nose appeared to be a bit too long, leaving the whole new hull with the wings somewhat off balance. As a remedy I decided at a rather late stage to shorten the nose and took out a 6 mm section in front of the cockpit - a stunt I had not planned, but sometimes you can judge things only after certain work stages. Some serious PSR was necessary to re-adjust the conical nose shape, which now looked more Mirage III-ish than planned!

The cockpit was taken mostly OOB, I just replaced the ejection seat and gave it a trigger handle made from thin wire. With the basic airframe complete it was time for details. The PM Model Su-15s massive and rather crude main landing gear was replaced with something more delicate from the scrap box, even though I retained the main wheels. The front landing gear was taken wholesale from the MiG-23, but had to be shortened for a proper stance.

A display holder adapter was integrated into the belly for the flight scenes, hidden well between the ventral ordnance.

The hardpoints, including missile launch rails, came from the MiG-23; the pylons had to be adjusted to match the Su-15's wing profile shape, the Anab missiles lost their tail sections to create the fictional Indian 'Saanp' AAMs. The R-3s on the outer stations were left over from a MP MiG-21. The ventral pylons belong to Academy MiG-23/27s, one came from the donor kit, the other was found in the spares box. The PTB-490 drop tanks also came from a KP MiG-21 (or one of its many reincarnations, not certain).

Painting and markings:

The paint scheme for this fictional aircraft was largely inspired by a picture of a whiffy and very attractive Saab 37 Viggen (an 1:72 Airfix kit) in IAF colors, apparently a model from a contest. BTW, India actually considered buying the Viggen for its Air Force!

IAF aircraft were and are known for their exotic and sometimes gawdy paint schemes, and with IAF MiG-21 “C 992” there’s even a very popular (yet obscure) aircraft that sported literal tiger stripes. The IAF Viggen model was surely inspired by this real aircraft, and I adopted something similar for my HF-26M.

IAF 1 Squadron was therefore settled, and for the paint scheme I opted for a "stripish" scheme, but not as "tigeresque" as "C 992". I found a suitable benchmark in a recent Libyian MiG-21, which carried a very disruptive two-tone grey scheme. I adapted this pattern to the HA-26M airframe and replaced its colors, similar to the IAF Viggen model, which became a greenish sand tone (a mix of Humbrol 121 with some 159; I later found out that I could have used Humbrol 83 from the beginning, though...) and a very dark olive drab (Humbrol 66, which looks like a dull dark brown in contrast with the sand tone), with bluish grey (Humbrol 247) undersides. With the large delta wings, this turned out to look very good and even effective!

For that special "Indian touch" I gave the aircraft a high-contrast fin in a design that I had seen on a real camouflaged IAF MiG-21bis: an overall dark green base with a broad, red vertical stripe which was also the shield for the fin flash and the aircraft's tactical code (on the original bare metal). The fin was first painted in green (Humbrol 2), the red stripe was created with orange-red decal sheet material. Similar material was also used to create the bare metal field for the tactical code, the yellow bars on the splitter plates and for the thin white canopy sealing.

After basic painting was done the model received an overall black ink washing, post-panel shading and extensive dry-brushing with aluminum and iron for a rather worn look.

The missiles became classic white, while the drop tanks, as a contrast to the camouflaged belly, were left in bare metal.

Decals/markings came primarily from a Begemot MiG-25 kit, the tactical codes on the fin and under the wings originally belong to an RAF post-WWII Spitfire, just the first serial letter was omitted. Stencils are few and they came from various sources. A compromise is the unit badge on the fin: I needed a tiger motif, and the only suitable option I found was the tiger head emblem on a white disc from RAF No. 74 Squadron, from the Matchbox BAC Lightning F.6&F.2A kit. It fits stylistically well, though. ;-)

Finally, the model was sealed with matt acrylic varnish (except for the black radome, which became a bit glossy) and finally assembled.

A spontaneous build, and the last one that I completed in 2022. However, despite a vague design plan the model evolved as it grew. Bashing the primitive PM Model Su-15 with the Academy MiG-23 parts was easier than expected, though, and the resulting fictional aircraft looks sturdy but quite believable - even though it appears to me like the unexpected child of a Mirage III/F-4 Phantom II intercourse, or like a juvenile CF-105 Arrow, just with mid-wings? Nevertheless, the disruptive paint scheme suits the delta wing fighter well, and the green/red fin is a striking contrast - it's a colorful model, but not garish.

Canon A1 with Canon FD f1.2/55mm, Kodak Ektar 100, self developed in Tetenal Colortec C41 kit.

I'll be away for a few weeks, we are going to Buenos Aires to spend the holidays with the family.

I want to thank everybody for share with me their work and for all your kind comments about mine. As I'm kind of new to film photography this has been a fantastic learning year.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to everyone.

See you soon!

Clarence Saunders (August 9, 1881 - October 14, 1953) was a grocer who first developed the modern retail sales model of self service. His ideas have had a massive influence on the development of the modern supermarket. Clarence Saunders worked for most of his life trying to develop a truly automated store, developing Piggly Wiggly, Keedoozle, and Foodelectric store concepts.

After leaving Clarksville, Tennessee, on September 6, 1916, Saunders launched the self-service revolution in America by opening the first self-service Piggly Wiggly store, at 79 Jefferson Street in Memphis, Tennessee, with its characteristic turnstile at the entrance. Customers paid cash and selected their own goods from the shelves.

The store incorporated shopping baskets, self-service branded products, and checkouts at the front. Removing unnecessary clerks, creating elaborate aisle displays, and rearranging the store to force customers to view all of the merchandise were just some of the characteristics of the early Piggly Wiggly stores. The concept of the "Self-Serving Store" was patented by Saunders in 1917.

Though this format of grocery market was drastically different from its competitors, the style became the standard for the modern supermarket, and in 1922 Piggly Wiggly had grown into 1,200 stores in 29 states. By 1932, the chain had grown to 2,660 stores doing over $180 million annually.

In the early 1920s Saunders began construction of a pink marble mansion in Memphis. Then, in early 1923, Merrill Lynch and other ‘bear’ interests on Wall Street tried to hammer down the price of Piggly Wiggly stock. It is alleged, Saunders took a train to New York City with one million dollars in cash in a small bag and bought Piggly Wiggly stock until he had orders for 196,000 of the 200,000 outstanding shares. Pressured by the ‘bears’, the New York Stock Exchange declared a ‘corner’ existed (see cornering the market), and gave the ‘bears’ five days rather than 24 hours to deliver the stock Saunders had bought. Saunders’ bank and his friends were pressured and the price was driven back down; Saunders was forced into bankruptcy and had to sell his stock at a loss. Afterwards, Saunders had no further association with the company.

Because of this financial reversal, Saunders was forced to sell his partly-completed Memphis mansion to the city. The mansion, nicknamed the Pink Palace eventually became the city's historical and natural history museum. Today, the Pink Palace includes a walk-through model of the first Piggly-Wiggly store, complete with 2¢ packets of Kellogg's Cornflakes and 8¢ cans of Campbell's Soup. Some of the grounds of the mansion were sold off to developers who built an upscale residential development, Chickasaw Gardens.

In a move reminiscent of that of J. Walter Scott’s in 1889, he went on to create the "Clarence Saunders Sole Owner of My Name Stores" chain, which went into bankruptcy during the Great Depression.

The Prytania Theatre is one of the last remaining neighborhood theatres in the city of New Orleans, La. camera Nikon F5, lens Zeiss Distagon 25mm, film Fomapan 100, developed in Rodinal 1:100 19 mins 20'C and adjusted in Adobe Lightroom

Decided the other day to work on other things, but I have this one hanging around....

Crease pattern available.

Amazingly, they cut out a section of the egg wall and replace it seamlessly with a clear window. Visitors can then watch the embryonic sharks developing and moving around inside until they hatch normally.

Jeron Classic Motors began to develop a series of miniature ¼-scale cars and engines in the mid 1990’s. Only a few of the cars were sold before the company closed its doors forever and all remaining inventory was sold at auction. Twelve engines were built from the inventory parts by Bennie Vreeman in the Netherlands. One engine was a running model that burned methanol on glow ignition, while the remaining eleven were built for display only. This engine was completed as a running model in 2009 for the Miniature Engineering Museum. It burns methanol, on glow ignition and it is equipped with two oil pumps for dry sump lubrication. All six carburetors function and are linked together for smooth operation.

See Our Model Engine Collection at: www.flickr.com/photos/15794235@N06/sets/72157602933346098/

Visit Our Photo Sets at: www.flickr.com/photos/15794235@N06/sets

Courtesy of Paul and Paula Knapp

Miniature Engineering Museum

www.engine-museum.com

Because the box rests on the table with three tips touching, your food stays hot longer.

"The secret of happiness, you see, is not found in seeking more, but in developing the capacity to enjoy less." ~ Socrates

chiotsrun.com/2010/03/13/sunny-spring-days/

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based on historical facts. BEWARE!

Some background:

Due to increasing tensions in Europe which led to World War 2, AVRO Aircraft started developing combat aircraft, and as a subsidiary of Hawker, they had access to the Hurricane plans. At the time that the Hurricane was developed, RAF Fighter Command consisted of just 13 squadrons, each equipped with either the Hawker Fury, Hawker Demon, or the Bristol Bulldog – all of them biplanes with fixed-pitch wooden propellers and non-retractable undercarriages. After the Hurricane's first flight, Avro started working on a more refined and lighter aircraft, resulting in a similar if not higher top speed and improved maneuverability.

Several machines were retained as trainers, messenger aircraft or instructional airframes. 20 late production Mk. IIs were sold to the Irish Air Corps, and a further 50 aircraft were sent to Canada as advanced fighter trainers, where they served until the end of the hostilities in 1945.

General characteristics:

Crew: 1

Length: 28 ft 1 in (8.57 m)

Wingspan: 33 ft 7 in (10.25 m)

Height: 8 ft 6 in (2.60 m)

Wing area: 153 ft² (16.40 m²)

Empty weight: 3,722 lb (1,720 kg)

Gross weight: 5,100 lb (2,315 kg)

Powerplant:

1× Rolls-Royce Merlin III liquid-cooled V-12, rated at 1,310 hp (977 kW) at 9,000 ft (2,700 m)

Performance:

Maximum speed: 366 mph (590 km/h) at 20,000 ft (6,096 m)

Range: 320 miles (515 km)

Service ceiling: 36,000 ft (10,970 m)

Rate of climb: 2,780 ft/min (14.1 m/s)

Wing loading: 29.8 lb/ft² (121.9 kg/m²)

Power/mass: 0.15 hp/lb (0.25 kW/kg)

Armament:

2× 0.787” (20mm) Hispano Mk II cannon with 60 RPG

4× 0.303” (7,7mm) Browning Mk. II machine guns with 350 RPG

The kit and its assembly:

This is actually a remake of a whif that I have built some time ago for the Battle of Britain Group Build at whatifmodelers.com. This fictional machine – or better: the model – is based on a profile drawing conceived by fellow forum member nighthunter: an Avia B.135, outfitted with a Merlin engine, a ventral radiator in the style of a Hawker Hurricane, and carrying RAF markings.

I had another B.35 kit at hand, as well as other ingredients, so I decided to re-create the same aircraft, just in a later variant that differs in some minor details from the first one. The basis is, once again, a vintage KP Models kit of the early B.35 fighter with a fixed landing gear. It’s a sleek and pretty aircraft, but the kit’s quality is rather so-so (the molds date back to 1974). Details are quite good, esp. on the exterior. You get a mix of engraved and raised surface details, but fit is mediocre, there is lots of flash and the interior is quite bleak. But, with some effort, things can be mended.

Many donation parts for the Swallow, including the Merlin engine, propeller, landing gear and radiator, were taken from an AZ Models Spitfire Mk. I/II/V, from a Joy Pack, which comes with three of these kits without decals.

New landing gear wells had to be carved out of the massive lower wing halves. Since the original Swallow profile did not indicate the landing gear design, I went for an inward-retracting solution, using parts from an early Spitfire. Due to the oil cooler in one of the wing roots, though, the stance ended up a little wide, but it’s still acceptable and I stuck to the same solution as on my first build of the Swallow. But now I know why the real world B.135 prototype had its landing gear retract outwards – it makes more sense.

The Merlin fitted very well onto the B.35 fuselage, diameter and shape match very well, even though the Spitfire Merlin and its respective fuselage intersection is a little too deep for the B.35. As a consequence, some light sculpting with putty was necessary under the fuselage – nothing dramatic, though.

Inside of the cockpit, this time I used more Spitfire material than during my first Swallow build, namely the floor, seat and rear bulkhead/headrest. Like before, I added a tank behind the seat in order to fill the OOB void there, and used the B.35’s OOB headrest struts, as well as the dashboard.

The blurry, single-piece canopy was cut into three pieces for optional open display on the ground, but this was not a smart move since the material turned out to be very thin and, even worse, brittle – cracks were the unfortunate result. L

Since one of the B.35’s wing tips was missing (there’s a deep edge at the tips, and one tip had been broken off and got lost), I reduced the span of both wings, resulting in a square shape that resembles a narrow Hawker Tempest wing.

Another change concerns the armament: trying to beef it up, I added a pair of Hispano cannon to the wings, with the barrels protruding from the wings’ leading edges, reminiscent of the Spitfire’s “B” wing – even though I kept the outer machine guns at the Swallow’s original position.

Finally, I installed my trademark propeller adapter: a styrene tube inside of the fuselage that holds a long metal axis with the propeller, so that it can spin freely.

Painting and markings:

Once again I went for a conservative route, this time I chose the new standard “Day Fighter” camouflage that the RAF introduced in summer 1941: Dark Green/Ocean Grey (using Humbrol 116 and 106, respectively) with Medium Sea Grey (Humbrol 64) undersides.

The typical fuselage ID band and the spinner became Sky (Revell 59) and yellow ID bands were added to the outer wings’ leading edges, created with yellow decal sheet material.

The roundels were chosen to match the 1941 era, with A.1 roundels on the fuselage, B roundels on top of the wings and Type A underneath, they actually belong to P-40s in RAF service and come, including the fin flash, from a Sky Models sheet. The code letters in Sky come from an Xtradecal sheet, the serial number actually belongs to a contemporary RAF P-40C – I was too lazy to create an individual serial number that actually fills a gap in the RAF’s inventory list.

Some light weathering and panel shading was done, as well as some light soot stains around the exhausts and the gun ports on the wings (grinded graphite). Finally, everything sealed under a coat of matt acrylic varnish (Italeri) and wire antennae (stretched sprue material) added.

A simple project, realized in a couple of days – thanks to the experience gathered during the first build of this fictional aircraft. However, the Avro Swallow looked already promising in nighthunter's original profile, almost like a missing link between the sturdy Hurricane and the more glorious Spitfire. The result looks very convincing, and with the clipped wingtips, born as a makeshift solution, it looks even faster than the original build!

I am amazed how good this thing looks overall, with its elegant, slender wings and the sleek fuselage lines. At first glance, it looks like an early Spitfire, but then you notice the different wings, the low canopy and the shorter but deeper tail. Then you can think it was a travestied Yak-3 or LaGG aircraft, but again the details don’t match. It’s a quite subtle creation. Maybe, someday, a third one will join my RAF Swallow duo, but this time in Irish Air Corps colors.

BSG training for Countries (SG1) for SG Effectiveness. 19-01-2016

©ITU/A.Mhadhbi

Developed and scanned at Aperture in London, UK.

Developed using darktable 4.0.0

developed in Xtol (stock)

Unusually rapid vertical convection in the lower atmosphere.

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based historical facts. BEWARE!

Some background:

The "Entwicklung" tank series (= "development"), more commonly known as the E-Series, was a late-World War II attempt by Germany to produce a standardized series of tank designs. There were to be six standard designs in different weight classes, from which several specialized variants were to be developed. This intended to reverse the trend of extremely complex tank designs that had resulted in poor production rates and mechanical unreliability.

At the time of the Sd.Kfz. 192/3’s introduction, anti-aircraft aiming was already augmented by mobile radar systems like the “Würzburg” device or special command vehicles like the Sd.Kfz. 282 “Basilisk” which combined an autonomous radar system with a powerful visual rangefinder and an integrated analogue range calculator, the Kommandogerät 40. However, fire control development had continued, and at least one Sd.Kfz. 192/3 was used in late 1946 during trials to fully automatize gun aiming and firing remotely through electric drives through “slaving” a turret to an external director. This was a modified Sd.Kfz. 282/1 that successfully controlled the Sd.Kfz. 192/3 via cable from an elevated location 50 m away from the SPAAG’s firing position. The objective of these trials was to connect several anti-aircraft weapons to a single command unit with improved sensors and high accuracy under any weather condition for concentrated and more effective fire and an improved first shot hit probability.

Specifications:

Crew: Sixe (commander, gunner, two loaders, radio operator, driver)

Weight: 64 tonnes (71 short tons)

Length: 7.27 m (23 ft 10 ¾ in) (hull only)

9.57 m (31 ft 4 ½ in) with gun forward

Width: 3.88 m (12 ft 9 in)

Height 3.46 m (11 ft 4 in)

3.81 m (12 ft 6 in) with commander cupola

Ground clearance: 495 to 510 mm (1 ft 7.5 in to 1 ft 8.1 in)

Suspension: Conical spring

Fuel capacity: 720 liters (160 imp gal; 190 US gal)

Armor:

30 – 60 mm (1.2 – 2.4 in)

Performance:

Speed

- Maximum, road: 44 km/h (27.3 mph)

- Sustained, road: 38 km/h (24 mph)

- Cross country: 15 to 20 km/h (9.3 to 12.4 mph)

Operational range: 160 km (99 miles)

Power/weight: 14 PS/tonne (12.5 hp/ton)

Engine:

V-12 Maybach HL 234 gasoline engine with 900 PS (885 hp/650 kW)

Transmission:

ZF AK 7-200 with 7 forward 1 reverse gears

Armament:

1× 8,8 cm Flak 41 L/72 anti-aircraft cannon with 57 rounds in turret and hull

1× 7.92 mm Maschinengewehr 42 with 2.400 rounds, remote-controlled on the commander cupola

The kit and its assembly:

This fictional German SPAAG never existed, not even on the drawing boards. But I wondered, after ModelCollect had released an E-100 SPAAG with a twin 88mm gun some years ago, why there was no lighter vehicle with the powerful 88 mm Flak in a closed turret? There were plans to mount this weapon onto a tracked chassis in real life, but it would have been only lightly armored. Then I recently came across a whiffy aftermarket resin turret with a single 88 mm Flak, based on the Tiger II’s Porsche turret, and I liked the idea – even though the rather MBT-esque aftermarket turret looked rather dubious and too small for my taste – esp. the potential angle of the AA weapon appeared insufficient. From this basis the idea was born to create a personal interpretation of a Flak 41 in a fully enclosed turret on a tank chassis.

The basis became the Trumpeter 1:72 E-75 kit of the twin 55 mm Flak with its boxy turret. While I initially considered a totally different turret shape, I eventually settled on a generic design that would have been used for a variety of weapons. This appeared more realistic to me and so I stuck to the Rheinmetall AA turret. However, due to the heavy weapon its certainly massive mount and bulky recoil system as well as the long rounds and a crew of four, I decided to enlarge the Rheinmetall turret. The turret was cut into a front and rear half and an 8 mm wide plug, made from 1.5 mm styrene sheet, was implanted and PSRed. To keep the turret rotatable, the rear extension had to be raised, so that the “oriel” could move over the air intake fairings on the engine cover.

Due to the longer roof, some details were modified there. The most obvious addition is a commander cupola on the left, taken from an early Panzer IV, together with a MG 42 and a small shield on a swing arm, inspired by the remote-controlled installation on some Jagdpanzer 38(t) Hetzer. A stereoscopic rangefinder was added to the turret flanks and a periscope added to one of the loader’s hatches. A cover for a ventilator was added on the right side of the roof, together with a cover for a vertical grenade launcher underneath.

Using the original turret as base, the model’s movable mount for the twin 55 mm guns was retained and the rear extension would also become a good visual balance for the new main weapon. The armor at barrels’ base was cut off and a 1:72 Flak 41, taken from a Zvezda field gun kit, was glued to it, together with parts of the field gun’s recoil system and styrene bits to blend the new gun into the rest of the turret.

The E-75 chassis was taken OOB, since it would be a standardized vehicle basis. Outwardly the hull did not bear recognizable differences to the lighter E-50, which it is supposed to represent, just with more wheels to better cope with the bulky and heavy new turret.

Thankfully, this Trumpeter kit’s vinyl tracks were molded in black – sometimes they come in a sandy beige, and it’s a PITA to paint them! As another bonus, Trumpeter’s running gear on the 1:72 E-50/75 model is of a more sturdy and simpler construction than the one on the alternative ModelCollect kit(s), making the assembly and esp. the mounting of the tracks much easier. The Trumpeter kit is simpler than the comparable ModelCollect models with the E-50/75 basis, but the result is visually quite similar.

Painting and markings:

The paint scheme uses once more typical German late WWII "Hinterhalt" camouflage colors, namely Dark Yellow, Olive Green and Red Brown. This time, however, to adapt the livery to the boxy hull and the huge turret, the pattern ended up as a kind of a splinter scheme – inspired by a real Panzer V Panther from the Eastern Front in 1943.

The basic colors became Humbrol 57 (Buff) for the RAL 7028 Dunkelgelb, in this case as a rather pale (stretched?) shade, plus large areas of brown (RAL 8017, I used this time Humbrol 98 for a darker and less reddish shade) and Humbrol 86 for the green (RAL 6003), which appears quite pale in contrast to the dark brown. The camouflage was applied over an overall coat of sand brown as a primer coat, with the intention of letting this uniform basis shine through here and there. The distribution of the darker colors is quite unique, concentrating the brown on the vehicle’s edges and the green only to the flanks of hull and turret. However, the pattern works well on the huge E-50/75, and I can imagine that it might have worked well in an urban environment, breaking up the tank’s outlines.

As a match for the upper hull the wheels were painted uniformly in the same standard colors –without any pattern, because this would be very eye-catching while on the move. The many delicate tools on the tank’s hull are molded, and instead of trying to paint them I tried something else: I rubbed over them with graphite, and this worked very well, leaving them with a dark metallic shine. Just some wooden handles were then painted with a reddish brown.

Decals/marking came next, everything was procured from the scrap box. The Balkenkreuze came from a Hasegawa Sd.Kfz. 234/2 “Puma”, the tactical code from a TL-Modellbau sheet and the small unit badges on front and back from an UM Models Bergehetzer. A dry brushing treatment with light grey followed, highlighting surface details and edges, and after painting some details and adding some rust marks with watercolors followed a coat of matt varnish.

The tracks were painted with a cloudy mix of dark grey, red brown and iron acrylic paints, and mounted after hull and running gear had been assembled. The antennae, made from heated spure material, were mounted to the turret and, finally, the tank’s lower areas were dusted with a greyish-brown mineral pigment mix, simulating dust and mud residue.

This project was realized in just two days, made easy through the Trumpeter kit’s simple construction. Most work went into the extended turret and the different main weapon, but all parts mostly fell into place – and the result looks IMHO quite believable. In fact, the E-50/75 with a Flak 41 reminds a bit of the Italian Otomatic 76 mm SPAAG from the late Eighties?

Developed & scanned by zone5.

Developed Sept. 8th. Kodak Portra 160

Lipca Rollop Automatic 2.8

Arista EDU Ultra 100 developed in Rodinal (1:50)

view large

Metcheck said 67 % cloud cover for sunrise , it also said rain would stop 30 minutes before sunrise BANG ON ME WEATHER MAN

View On Black

Developed this found film from the 60's a couple of years ago in black and white chems, as the proper process for this old slide film disappeared many years ago. I posted a scan at the time, but I always meant to go back and have another go at pulling out more detail.

Developing Models for Cooperative Security

General Tea Banh, Deputy Prime Minister; Minister of National Defense, Cambodia

Richard Marles, Deputy Prime Minister; Minister for Defence, Australia

Dr Ng Eng Hen, Minister for Defence, Singapore

On a walk around the city to catch up on what's been happening while I was on Holiday in Australia August 18, 2015 Christchurch New Zealand.

There were lot more buildings going up and seems to be more people about. The day wasn't good weather wise for shots as it was very dull and gloomy.

A developing Supercell across far Northeast Wisconsin on July 1 2017. Only isolated storms were expected, but this beast began to develop along an old outflow boundary from a storm early in the afternoon. Aiding in the development was a lake breeze boundary. The updraft was so explosive.

Develop: Process Orwo 9165 ( by myself )

Rollfilm: Orwochrom UT-18

Home Developed taken with Canon Eos

HP5+ Ilfotech DDX 15 mins at 20 c, Scanned with Pentax DSLR

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based on historical facts. BEWARE!

Some background:

The BAC Jet Provost was a British jet trainer aircraft that was in use with the Royal Air Force (RAF) from 1955 to 1993. It was originally developed by Hunting Percival from the earlier piston engine-powered Percival Provost basic trainer, and later produced by the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC). In addition to the multiple RAF orders, the Jet Provost, sometimes with light armament, was exported to many air forces worldwide. The design was also further developed into a more heavily armed ground attack variant under the name BAC Strikemaster, which was not operated by the Royal Air Force but became a worldwide export success.

After their return to Great Britain the worn machines were quickly phased out and all T(R).5Bs were retired when 79(R) Squadron was disbanded in August 1992. The last Jet Provosts in RAF service were retired in 1993.

General characteristics:

Crew: 2

Length: 34 ft 0 in (10.36 m)

Wingspan: 35 ft 4 in (10.77 m) with wingtip tanks

Height: 10 ft 2 in (3.10 m)

Wing area: 213.7 sq ft (19.85 m²)

Airfoil: root: NACA 23015 mod; tip: NACA 4412 mod

Empty weight: 4,888 lb (2,217 kg)

Gross weight: 6,989 lb (3,170 kg)

Max takeoff weight: 9,200 lb (4,173 kg)

Powerplant:

1× Armstrong Siddeley Viper Mk.202 turbojet engine, 2,500 lbf (11,1 kN)

Performance:

Maximum speed: 382 kn (440 mph, 707 km/h) at 25,000 ft (7,620 m)

Range: 780 nmi (900 mi, 1,440 km) with tip tanks

Service ceiling: 36,750 ft (11,200 m)

Rate of climb: 4,000 ft/min (20 m/s)

Wing loading: 32.7 lb/sq ft (160 kg/m²)

Armament:

No internal guns;

4× underwing hardpoints, each capable of carrying 540 lb (245 kg), for a wide range of loads,

including bombs, pods and launch rails with unguided missiles, gun pods;

the inner pair of pylons were plumbed for auxiliary tanks.

The T( R).5B was outfitted with an AN/AVQ-23E Pave Spike laser designator pod and an AN/ALQ-101

ECM pod on the outer stations, plus a pair of 75 Imp gallon (341 liter) drop tanks or pods with 28

unguided SNEB missiles on the inner pylons

The kit and its assembly:

This fictional Gulf War participant was a spontaneous decision to build – actually as a group build submission, but it turned out to be ineligible. After fellow user SPINNERS posted one of his CG skins, a grey RAF low-viz Jet Provost at whatifmodellers.com, I suggested in the respective thread a machine in Desert Pink – and it was promptly realized, including equipment from the Gulf War Buccaneers and LGBs as ordnance. Inspiration enough to dig out an Airfix kit out of The Stash™ for which I had no concrete plan yet and turn the CG rendition into hardware.

The kit is a simple affair and shows its age through (light) flash and shaggy fit around the seams almost everywhere. Nothing dramatic, but you have to invest time and PSR effort. And it features the most complicated landing light arrangement I have ever come across: five(!) single parts if you include the front cover. Why the mold designer did not just provide a single clear piece with three lens-shaped dents at the back - and instead went for a bulkhead, three(!) separate and tiny clear lenses PLUS a clear cover that is supposed to fit in a rather dysmorphic nose opening is beyond me?

The kit was basically built OOB, using the Jet Provost T.5 air intakes and fuselage details but the Strikemaster wing tip tanks and wing pylons. The Pave Spike pod came from a Hasegawa 1:72 aircraft weapon set, the ECM pod from a Revell 1:72 F-16A (the vintage kit of the prototype with the extra engine) – it is shorter than a typical AN/ALQ-101, rather looks like an AN/ALQ-119, but these pods were all modular and could have different lengths/sizes. And I think that the shorter variant suits the Jet provost well, the Pave Spike pod is already quite long for the small aircraft.

Unlike SPINNERS I settled just for drop tanks on the inner wing stations to extend range and loiter time. I also doubt that the Jet Provost had enough carrying capacity and speed for LGBs, and on their target designation missions the RAF Buccaneers did AFAIK not carry much offensive ordnance, either. There’s also not much clearance under a Jet Provost on the ground – I doubt that anything with big fins could safely go under it? However, for a modernized look I replaced the Jet Provost’s OOB teardrop-shaped tanks with cigar-shaped alternatives.

Further mods were only of cosmetic nature: the seats received ejection handles made from thin wire, the characteristic chines under the nose were omitted (the kit’s parts are rather robust, and they were left away on some T.5s in real life, anyway), and I scratched small conformal chaff/flare dispensers from styrene profile and put them under the lower rear fuselage. Fairings for a radar-warning system were scratched from 1.5 mm styrene rods, too, some blade antennae were added around the hull, and sprue material was used to create the GPS antenna “bubble” behind the cockpit. The shallow camera bulge on the nose was created in a similar fashion.

Another problem: the model is seriously tail-heavy. I filled the chamber between the odd landing lights compartment and the cockpit with lead beads, but once the landing gear had been attached the model still sat on its tail. I was lucky that I had not glued the seats into place yet, so I was able to add more ballast in front of the main wheels, therewith creating a bulkhead (which is missing OOB) behind the seats, what was eventually enough to shift the model’s center of gravity forward.

Painting and markings:

Desert Pink was the driving theme for this build (to be correct, it’s FS 30279 “Desert Sand”). While real RAF aircraft from Operation Granby were painted all-over with this tone (and SPINNERS did the same with the CG rendition), I wanted a bit more variety and just painted the upper surfaces and the underside of the leading edges, the inside of the air intakes and the tip tanks in the sand tone, while the undersides were painted in RAF Barley Grey (Humbrol 167), as if an late all-grey low-viz trainer had been painted over just on the upper surfaces.

For the Desert Pink I was able to use the authentic tone, I had a virgin tin of Humbrol 250 in my enamels hoard that now found a good use. After basic painting the kit received an overall black in washing, dry-brushing with Revell 35 (Skin – it’s a perfect match for panel post-shading!) to retain the pinkish hue and, after the decals had been applied, a bit of grinded graphite to simulate wear and dirt and emphasize the raised surface details.

The cockpit interior was painted in Anthracite (Revell 06), the dashboard became medium grey with dark instruments (not painted, thanks to the raised details I simple rubbed some graphite over it, and the effect is nice!). The ejection seats became tar black with grey-green cushions. The landing gear was painted in Medium Sea Grey (Humbrol 165).

The drop tanks became Medium Sea Grey (Humbrol 165) and Barley Grey, as if they had been procured from a different aircraft, while the Pave Spike pod and the ECM pod were both in RAF Dark Green (Humbrol 163), for good contrast to the rest of the model.

Decals/markings come from Xtradecal sheets. The low-viz roundels were taken from a dedicated RAF roundel sheet because I wanted a uniform roundel size (in six positions) and slightly darker print colors. Unit markings and tactical codes came from a Jet Provost/Strikemaster sheet, also from Xtradecal; RAF 79 Squadron actually operated the Jet provost, but AFAIK only the T.4 version, but not the pressurized T.5 or even the T.5A navigator trainers. The nose art at bow side came from a USN EA-6B Prowler.

After some final details (position lights), the model was sealed with matt acrylic varnish.

A quick project, and the Operation Granby Jet Provost looks better than expected. However, I am not sold on the vintage Airfix kit. It clearly shows its age, nothing really went together smoothly, gaps and sinkholes, PSR on every seam. It also required tons of nose weight to keep it on its spindly legs. The alternative Matchbox kit is not much better, though, with even more simple surface and cockpit details, but at least the parts fit together. I might try to hunt down a Sword kit if I should want to build one again, AFAIK the only other IP option? The result looks interesting, though, quite purposeful with its low-viz markings, and the simple livery turns out to be very effective over the desert terrain where it would have been supposed to operate. Furthermore, the model fits well into the Jet Provost’s historic final years of duty with the RAF – even though in an unlikely role!

Developed from the earlier Yakovlev fighters that included the successful Yak-3 and Yak-7, the Yak-9, when it first entered combat in 1942, was simply a lighter version of the former. The Yak-9 eventually was built in many different versions. Most were optimized for ground attack.

The Museum's Yak-9 is a rare, rebuilt original aircraft. Doug Champlin first learned of it during a trip to Russia in 1992. Shortly afterwards, Art Williams was hired to find and acquire it. Williams traveled to Novosibirsk, Siberia, and after consummating the acquisition, arranged for the Yak-9 to be transferred to Moscow via the Siberian railroad. The trip took four days under constant guard.

Once the Yak-9 was safely stored in Moscow, Sergei Kotov arranged for a restoration team to rebuild it. This work took two years to complete. In 1996, the Yak-9 was shipped to The Champlin Museum in Mesa, Arizona.

The Museum's Yak-9 is one of four original aircraft known. It is the only original Yak-9 on display in the West. It is equipped with an original engine and propeller, and all instrumentation and other miscellaneous parts are of original Russian manufacture. The aircraft is painted in the markings of the Russian World War II ace, Gen Maesky.

(C)The Museum of Flight