At the job I retired from, making these and others like them, was my main responsibility. I have this small set of samples because they are test parts. The real things were fashioned from a high temperature alloy called inconel. A very expensive type of stuff that was only supplied in just enough quantity to fill an order. They are not finished because we couldn't risk getting these mixed with actual parts. I had to set up my machine, prove out the setup and dispose of the test parts before the actual material was put next to the machine.

This picture shows the scale.

HMM! Thanks to anyone that stops to view. fave or maybe write a comment.

TIG Welding an inconel plate.

www.flickr.com/explore/2020/11/07

Original taken by Aston Martin Lagonda Limited.

Editing by me.

Keonigsegg Regara (2016-22) Engine 5000cc Twin Turbo V8 plus two YASA 750 R electric motors and one Yasa P100 electric motor producing a combine output of either 1,119 kW (1,500 hp) or 1,310 kW (1757hp)

KOENIGSEGG ALBUM

www.flickr.com/photos/45676495@N05/sets/72157631970110985...

The company was founded in 1994 in Sweden by Christian von Koenigsegg, with the intention of producing a world-class supercar. Many years of development and prototyping led to the company's first street-legal production car delivery in 2002. In 2006 Koenigsegg began production of the CCX, which uses an engine created in-house especially for that vehicle. The CCX is street-legal in most countries.

Apart from developing, manufacturing and selling the Koenigsegg line of supercars, Koenigsegg is also involved in "green technology" development programmes beginning with the CCXR ("Flower Power") flexfuel supercar and continuing through the present with the Agera R. Koenigsegg is also active in development programs when it comes to plug-in electric cars' systems and next-generation reciprocating engine technologies.

The Koenigsegg Regera is a limited production, plug-in hybrid grand touring sports car designed by Christian von Koenigsegg and Joachim Nordwall, launched at the March 2015 Geneva Motor Show. The name Regera is a Swedish verb, meaning to rule or to reign. The Regera was developed and designed to be a more practical, luxurious, grand touring alternative to the rest of Koenigsegg's lightweight sports car lineup: initially the Agera and later the Jesko. Consequently it is focused on the smooth and instant power delivery rather than on track performance. The Regera is a two-door targa top with a detachable roof that can be stowed in the boot It is the first hybrid car to be produced by Koenigsegg, as well as the first vehicle to use their Direct-Drive System for power delivery. The Regera has aluminium wheels or carbon fibre wheels (optional) with centre locking nuts, running on Michelin Pilot Sport 4S' tyres, braking via ventilated carbon-ceramic discs, with six piston calipers at the front and four pistons at the rear. It is equipped with active aerodynamics for optimized downforce. At the rear is a foldable hydraulic wing, and at the front are active flaps that can modify the flow of air under the car. The vehicle features hydraulic pumps and accumulators to control the active front and rear wings, as well as active chassis control and lifting. Hydraulic lifters were added to the already existing pumps and accumulators to allow for all body panels on the vehicle to be remotely operated. The fishtail-style dual exhaust system is designed by Akrapovič and is constructed of titanium, Inconel, and stainless steel

Diolch am 92,692,667 o olygfeydd anhygoel, mae pob un yn cael ei werthfawrogi'n fawr.

Thanks for 92,692,667 amazing views, every one is greatly appreciated.

Shot 23.04.2022 at the Bicester Spring Scramble, Bicester, Oxfordshire 158-233

A fun shipment just arrived - the window retainer (high-temp Inconel-X superalloy) and glass from the record-setting 4,520 MPH X-15 rocket plane, #2 in the series of three X-15s that were built.

#3 was destroyed in a final crash, and #1 is at the Smithsonian (nozzle photo).

The X-15 was carried aloft by B-52 and released at 45,000 feet and 500 mph. The rocket engine then fired for the first 1-2 minutes of flight. The remainder of the 10-11 minute flight was powerless and ended with a 200 MPH glide landing on a dry lake bed.

As I work this evening on a rocket that will go Mach 3, I look in awe at this windscreen that protected the pilot at Mach 6.7

From spaceaholic: This front windshield was removed in 1967 from X-15A-2. This Oval window design was only found on X-15A-2 (air frame tail number 66671) and this was a modification following its landing accident in 1962. The rebuild included additional tanks and performance enhancements exclusive to the X-15A-2, which enabled it to fly higher and faster then its siblings. The oval window was incorporated to better handle higher thermal/shock loads.

The inconel also has signatures of two X-15 pilots and Chris Kraft (better known for his involvement with Apollo). Because the window was pulled off the air frame in ‘67 it was most likely flown during the fastest flight ever (Pete Knight: 4,520 MPH in Oct 1967). After that flight and the fatal X15A-3 crash, the X-15 program was terminated. This may be the largest intact flown X-15 artifact outside of the Smithsonian and National Museum of the Air Force.

Keonigsegg Regara (2016-22) Engine 5000cc Twin Turbo V8 plus two YASA 750 R electric motors and one Yasa P100 electric motor producing a combine output of either 1,119 kW (1,500 hp) or 1,310 kW (1757hp)

Registration Number 18 DMB

KOENIGSEGG ALBUM

www.flickr.com/photos/45676495@N05/sets/72157631970110985...

The company was founded in 1994 in Sweden by Christian von Koenigsegg, with the intention of producing a world-class supercar. Many years of development and prototyping led to the company's first street-legal production car delivery in 2002. In 2006 Koenigsegg began production of the CCX, which uses an engine created in-house especially for that vehicle. The CCX is street-legal in most countries.

Apart from developing, manufacturing and selling the Koenigsegg line of supercars, Koenigsegg is also involved in "green technology" development programmes beginning with the CCXR ("Flower Power") flexfuel supercar and continuing through the present with the Agera R. Koenigsegg is also active in development programs when it comes to plug-in electric cars' systems and next-generation reciprocating engine technologies.

The Koenigsegg Regera is a limited production, plug-in hybrid grand touring sports car designed by Christian von Koenigsegg and Joachim Nordwall, launched at the March 2015 Geneva Motor Show. The name Regera is a Swedish verb, meaning to rule or to reign. The Regera was developed and designed to be a more practical, luxurious, grand touring alternative to the rest of Koenigsegg's lightweight sports car lineup: initially the Agera and later the Jesko. Consequently it is focused on the smooth and instant power delivery rather than on track performance. The Regera is a two-door targa top with a detachable roof that can be stowed in the boot It is the first hybrid car to be produced by Koenigsegg, as well as the first vehicle to use their Direct-Drive System for power delivery. The Regera has aluminium wheels or carbon fibre wheels (optional) with centre locking nuts, running on Michelin Pilot Sport 4S' tyres, braking via ventilated carbon-ceramic discs, with six piston calipers at the front and four pistons at the rear. It is equipped with active aerodynamics for optimized downforce. At the rear is a foldable hydraulic wing, and at the front are active flaps that can modify the flow of air under the car. The vehicle features hydraulic pumps and accumulators to control the active front and rear wings, as well as active chassis control and lifting. Hydraulic lifters were added to the already existing pumps and accumulators to allow for all body panels on the vehicle to be remotely operated. The fishtail-style dual exhaust system is designed by Akrapovič and is constructed of titanium, Inconel, and stainless steel

Diolch am 92,692,667 o olygfeydd anhygoel, mae pob un yn cael ei werthfawrogi'n fawr.

Thanks for 92,692,667 amazing views, every one is greatly appreciated.

Shot 23.04.2022 at the Bicester Spring Scramble, Bicester, Oxfordshire 158-236

Ferrari F8 Tributo (2019-23) Engine 3902cc L F154 CG twin-turbo V8 720 PS (710hp)

Registration Number TR 18 UTO (Vehicle related number, on special issue)

FERRARI ALBUM

www.flickr.com/photos/45676495@N05/sets/72157623665054999...

Designed at the Ferrari Styling Centre under Flavio Manzoni and unveiled at the 2019 Geneva Motor Show as the successor to the Ferrari 488 and pays homage to the last 45 years of Ferrari’s mid-engine V8s. The F8 Tributo uses the same engine from the 488 Pista, a 3.9 L twin-turbocharged V8 engine with a power output of 720 PS (530 kW; 710 hp) making it the most powerful Ferrari road car to date. The exhaust layout and the Inconel manifolds have been completely modified and the Tributo utilizes turbo rev sensors, originally developed for the 488 Challenge and drives through a 7-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission with enhanced gear ratiosThe car is equipped with Ferrari's latest Side Slip Angle Control traction- and stability-control program. Additionally, the Ferrari Dynamic Enhancer, an electronic program for managing drifts, can now be used in the Race drive mode. Ferrari also stated that the Tributo's downforce has been increased by 15 percent as compared to the 488 GTB

At launch the F8 Tributo was available as a 2-door berlinetta or a 2 door retractable hard top convertible.

Diolch am 88,249,220 o olygfeydd anhygoel, mae pob un yn cael ei werthfawrogi'n fawr.

Thanks for 88,249,220 amazing views, every one is greatly appreciated.

Shot 10.10.2021 at Bicester Scramble, Bicester, Oxon. Ref. 122-136

This week in 2013, NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center successfully hot fire tested a large 3-D printed rocket injector on Test Stand 116. During the test, liquid oxygen and gaseous hydrogen flowed through the injector into a combustion chamber, producing 10 times more thrust than any injector ever fabricated using additive manufacturing, or 3-D printing. A commercial company manufactured the injector using selective laser melting, which produced a powder of nickel-chromium alloy, or Inconel, in layers to make the complex injector with 28 elements for channeling and mixing fuel and oxidizer in just two pieces. A similar injector tested earlier had 115 parts. The NASA History Program is responsible for generating, disseminating and preserving NASA’s remarkable history and providing a comprehensive understanding of the institutional, cultural, social, political, economic, technological and scientific aspects of NASA’s activities in aeronautics and space. For more pictures like this one and to connect to NASA’s history, visit the Marshall History Program’s webpage.

Image credit: NASA

Read more

Marshall History

For more NASA History photos

NASA Media Usage Guidelines

Valgetuhkur Inconel "Conel", our new team-member.

"The Pagani Zonda F was designed to reflect the shared philosophy between Horacio Pagani and world champion race driver Juan Manuel Fangio, which entails a commitment to a mission, a vision and a goal without neglecting essential concepts such as lightness, safety, performance and inventiveness. Their tight friendship, which was soon heading far beyond the simple desire for a Mercedes-Benz engine, reached its highest point in 2005 with the creation of the Zonda F supercar, with logo, design concept and name entirely dedicated to Fangio..."

~pagani.com

Zonda F is an extremely lightweight car, achieved by the utilization of parts made of titanium, aluminium and inconel.

Photographed at Blenheim Palace during Salon Prive - a luxurious hospitality-only event appealing to discerning guests, collectors, buyers, owners and enthusiasts who prefer a more intimate and engaging experience rather than the crowds and queues normally associated with motoring events. It is a presentation of the very finest automotive and luxury brands as well as the rarest and most valuable classic cars and motorcycles, all of which will be beautifully displayed on the South Lawn of the spectacular Blenheim Palace.

pagani.com

salonpriveconcours.com/

________________________________________________

www.facebook.com/MarcinWojciechowskiPhotography/

Horacio Pagani's personal car at the Quail while Monterey Car Week 2014.

The Pagani Zonda is a supercar built by the Italian manufacturer Pagani. It debuted in 1999, and production ended in 2011, with three special edition cars, the Zonda 760RS, Zonda 760LH and the Zonda 764 Passione, being produced in 2012. By June 2009, 135 Zondas had been built, including test mules. Both 2-door coupe and roadster versions have been produced. Construction is mainly of carbon fiber.

The Zonda F (or Zonda Fangio) debuted at the 2005 Geneva Motor Show. It is the most extensive re-engineering of the Zonda yet, though it shares much with its predecessors including the 7.3 L AMG V12 engine which through enhanced intake manifolds, exhaust and a revised ECU now produces 602 PS (443 kW; 594 hp) at 6150 rpm and 560 lb·ft (759 N·m) at 4000 rpm.

Production of the Zonda F was limited to 25 cars. Named after Formula One driver Juan Manuel Fangio, it came equipped with an extra headlight and different fog lights at the sides, new bodywork (revised front end, new rear spoiler, more aerodynamic vents all around) that improved the car's aerodynamics, and different side mirrors. Further enhancements over the 'S' centered around optional carbon/ceramic brakes developed in conjunction with Brembo, magnesium wheels, inconel titanium exhaust system, hydroformed aluminum intake plenum and a redesigned 'Z preg' weave in the crash structure to improve rigidity and reduce weight.

With the production run of P1 GTRs having been built and sold, and prompted by their efforts in converting track-only spec P1 GTRs to road-legal spec variants, Lanzante Motorsport commissioned Mclaren Special Operations' Bespoke division to build a further 6 new P1 GTRs for them to develop into road-legal P1 LM variants.[33] Of this production run, five P1 LMs have been sold and the sixth, the prototype P1 LM, XP1 LM, is being used for development and testing. To make them into P1 LM spec, Lanzante Motorsport developed these P1 GTRs by, amongst other modifications, making changes to the drivetrain hardware (to increase power), by employing a modified rear wing and larger front splitter and dive planes (to improve downforce) and by removing the air-jack system and using Inconel catalytic converter pipes and exhaust headers, lightweight fabricated charge coolers, Lexan windows, lighter seats (from the F1 GTR) and titanium exhausts, bolts and fixings (to save weight).[34]

At the 2016 Goodwood Festival of Speed, the prototype P1 LM, XP1 LM, set the fastest ever time for a road car up the Goodwood hillclimb, with a time of 47.07 seconds, driven by Kenny Bräck.

On 27 April 2017, the prototype P1 LM, XP1 LM, continued its success on track, beating the road car lap record time at the Nürburgring Nordschleife, with a time of 6:43.22 using road legal Pirelli P Zero Trofeo R tyres but without front number plate required to be road legal. This time was once again set by Kenny Bräck, and announced on 26 May 2017.

Ferrari F8 Tributo (2019-23) Engine 3902cc L F154 CG twin-turbo V8 720 PS (710hp)

Registration Number ROO 17 (Cherished number, originally from Essex)

FERRARI ALBUM

www.flickr.com/photos/45676495@N05/sets/72157623665054999...

Designed at the Ferrari Styling Centre under Flavio Manzoni and unveiled at the 2019 Geneva Motor Show as the successor to the Ferrari 488 and pays homage to the last 45 years of Ferrari’s mid-engine V8s. The F8 Tributo uses the same engine from the 488 Pista, a 3.9 L twin-turbocharged V8 engine with a power output of 720 PS (530 kW; 710 hp) making it the most powerful Ferrari road car to date. The exhaust layout and the Inconel manifolds have been completely modified and the Tributo utilizes turbo rev sensors, originally developed for the 488 Challenge and drives through a 7-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission with enhanced gear ratiosThe car is equipped with Ferrari's latest Side Slip Angle Control traction- and stability-control program. Additionally, the Ferrari Dynamic Enhancer, an electronic program for managing drifts, can now be used in the Race drive mode. Ferrari also stated that the Tributo's downforce has been increased by 15 percent as compared to the 488 GTB

At launch the F8 Tributo was available as a 2-door berlinetta or a 2 door retractable hard top convertible.

Diolch am 92,524,596 o olygfeydd anhygoel, mae pob un yn cael ei werthfawrogi'n fawr.

Thanks for 92,524,596 amazing views, every one is greatly appreciated.

Shot 23.04.2022 at the Bicester Spring Scramble, Bicester, Oxfordshire 158-152

This is a version of the ESA logo like no other: seen through a microscope it measures just over 17 thousandths of a millimetre across, about half the diameter of the average human skin cell.

The logo was carved out of a piece of nickel-based space-grade alloy Inconel using Xenon atoms shot from a plasma ion beam.

While the logo measures 17.43 micrometres (thousandths of a millimetre) in length it is just 700 nanometres (millionths of a millimetre) deep. Click here for an angled view.

“The logo was blasted out of a polished Inconel surface,” explains ESA Young Graduate Trainee Felix Schmidt, serving in ESA’s Materials and Electrical Components Laboratory.

“We created it as practice, in preparation for a project on modelling micromechanical testing. Achieving accurate cuts on a given material is tricky, with many parameters needing to be optimised to get the correct size and depth of the geometry, but this logo shows the kind of accuracy we can reach.”

To get an idea of its actual size, see the logo beside a human hair in this microscopic view – created using stacks of visible light microscope images to achieve the depth of field to get both objects in focus at once.

Felix adds: “Next the plan is to cut out a pillar of metal, then crush it using a nano-indenter, having meanwhile created a high-fidelity ‘digital twin’ of the pillar to accurately model how it behaves as force is exerted on it.”

ESA is already active at creating ‘digital twins’ of space systems at higher scales, explains engineer Michael Mallon, working on digital spacecraft design and verification, “but our aim here is to demonstrate a predictive capability right down to the meso-scale, the next level up from atoms.”

Credits: ESA-F. Schmidt

Engineers at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, tested NASA's first 3-D printed rocket engine prototype part made of two different metal alloys through an innovative advanced manufacturing process. NASA has been making and evaluating durable 3-D printed rocket parts made of one metal, but the technique of 3-D printing, or additive manufacturing, with more than one metal is more difficult.

An image from a microscope reveals how the two metals, copper alloy and Inconel, mix and interlock to form a strong bond created by the innovative 3-D printing process during manufacturing of the igniter prototype.

Image Credit: NASA/UAH/Judy Schneider

Read more

“Rockwell Tradition in High Performance Aerospace Vehicles

Space Shuttle:

The world’s first reusable manned space transportation system. Vertical take-off, winged hypervelocity recovery with horizontal landing.

B-1B:

USAF strategic penetrator with supersonic capability. Features variable wing geometry and onboard systems health monitoring.

Apollo/Saturn:

Manned lunar landing program. Command and services module provided long endurance manned space habitat. Saturn booster is very large cryogenic hydrogen and oxygen integral tank. Rocketdyne J-2 and F-1 engines powered Apollo to the moon.

XB-70:

USAF Mach 3 high altitude strategic weapon system. Heaviest aircraft produced in its time. Smooth hot structure, large integral tanks, required new materials and processes. Pioneered brazed steel honeycomb, ultra-high strength steels and titanium, high temperature, high pressurized hydraulics and landing gear tires.

X-15:

First hypersonic research vehicle. Set speed (Mach 6.7) and altitude (306,900 feet) records for manned winged aircraft. Smooth hot structure pioneering Inconel materials and featuring integral tanks.

X-10/Navaho:

USAF intercontinental supersonic cruise missile utilizing vertical take-off rocket launch and ramjet propulsion for Mach 3 speed. Smooth hot structure with integral tanks.

National Aero-Space Plane:

The National Aero-Space Plane (NASP) is a joint DoD/NASA program to develop and demonstrate technology for a new generation of military, civil and commercial aerospace vehicles. This program will provide the technology development and validation by building and flying an X-30 aircraft, a single-stage-to-orbit vehicle, capable of hypersonic cruise and taking off and landing on conventional runways. The NASP program will make possible a space transportation system that is one tenth the cost of existing launch vehicles and civil transportation vehicles with five times the efficiency of today’s aircraft. First flight of the X-30 is planned for 1994.”

All of the above is the Rockwell International description of the lithograph equivalent. Being from circa 1988, the X-30 /NASP figured prominently, both in description & graphic depiction, as it was the contractually sought after aerospace prize of the time.

The striking artwork is by Rockwell International artist Manuel E. Alvarez.

And check this out, this enterprising SOB has gone apeshit with a bunch of photos I’ve posted and/or linked to in my postings:

www.redbubble.com/i/photographic-print/Nasa-s-Aerospace-V...

The F8 Spider is an open-top variant of the F8 Tributo with a folding hardtop as seen on its predecessors. The top takes 14 seconds for operation and can be operated with speeds up to 45 km/h (28 mph). The F8 Spider features large air intakes on its rear haunches, moved rearward compared to the ones in the 488 Spider for improved airflow to the engine.

The Spider's drivetrain is shared with the Tributo. The engine has a lighter crankshaft, flywheel, and connecting rods and weighs nearly 18 kg (40 lb) less than the engine in the 488 Spider. Performance figures include acceleration from 0–100 km/h (62 mph) in 2.9 seconds and from 0–200 km/h (124 mph) in 8.2 seconds. Top speed is unchanged from the coupé at 340 km/h (211 mph).

The F8 Spider uses the same engine from the 488 Pista, a 3.9 L twin-turbocharged V8 engine with a power output of 720 PS (530 kW; 710 hp) at 8000 rpm and 770 N⋅m (568 lb⋅ft) of torque at 3250 rpm, making it the most powerful V8-powered Ferrari produced to date. Specific intake plenums and manifolds with optimised fluid-dynamics improve the combustion efficiency of the engine, thanks to the reduction of the temperature of the air in the cylinder, which also helps boost power. The exhaust layout and the Inconel manifolds have been completely modified up to the terminals. The F8 Spider also uses turbo rev sensors, developed in the 488 Challenge, to maximise the efficiency of the turbochargers based on the demand for power from the pedal. The transmission is a 7-speed dual clutch automatic unit with improved gear ratios.

A colourful microscopic view of a single piece of space-quality Inconel super alloy processed using two different 3D printing techniques; this is a close-up of the boundary layer between them.

The left side was produced using ‘direct energy deposition’ based on laser melting of metal powder feedstock, while the right side was made through ‘powder bed fusion’, involving the deposition then melting of metal powder.

This micrograph of the resulting hybrid part is based on a technique called electron backscatter diffraction. An electron beam was reflected off the crystalline metallic surfaces to reveal subtle details of their composition. The patches reveal different grains and the various colours depict the differing orientations of these grains.

The part was produced as part of an ESA General Support Technology Programme project with the Balmar company and the Institute of Metals and Technology in Slovenia, an Associate Member State of ESA.

ESA is working with research institutes and companies across Europe on its Advanced Manufacturing initiative, harnessing 3D printing and other emerging manufacturing techniques to change the way space missions are made.

Credits: Balmar/Institute of Metals and Technology, Slovenia

Manufacturer: Cipher Automotive Industries

Nationality: American

First assembled: March 2213

Birthplace: Wrightwood, California

Price: N/A

Weight: 3,970 lbs

Engine: Naturally aspirated 7.2 L Multi-Fuel V8

HP: 700 hp

0-60: 3.5 sec

Top Speed: 205 mph

"Bear-like capabilities"

Origins of the Grazzly can be traced back to proposed military vehicle blueprints, where a design and platform were finalized but never built or submitted to the government for approval. What began as a potential military workhorse turned into a pet project for Cipher. Most of the body remains the same as the military concept, but the required artillery compatible components and armor plating were removed in favor of a streamlined and lightweight carbon fiber body.

Within the Grazzly's hollow carbon monocoque is a complex inconel roll cage designed to protect not only the cabin, but extends to protect nearly every compartment of the Grazzly from the engine to the cargo deck. The intakes on the roof of the Grazzly serve two functions; they feed air to both the HVAC system and a water condensing/filtration module that was added for long distance treks. In between the C-pillars/rear buttresses is a medium-sized truck bed giving the Grazzly the capability of carrying a myriad of supplies. Options range from two to four system integrate-able 50 gallon drums for additional fuel or water, an attachable large shipping crate, up to two replacement T70 HyperTerra wheel & tire units or any half combination of the of the three.

The theoretically robust engine is forged with aluminum and entirely coated in inconel to withstand the negative affects of heat, corrosion, and oxidation. With a modest configuration the Grazzly's engine is capable of producing 700 horsepower and 1,000 ft lbs of torque without the need for forced induction. The T70 HyperTerra tires supplied by TLG Systems are bonded to the knurled wheels with an industrial grade adhesive. Cipher protected water susceptible components with waterproof shielding and a snorkel in the hood cowl that allow the Grazzly to be submerged in water without damaging itself.

Only three Grazzlys have been built and each will remain at Cipher for future developments and used as company vehicles for transport, promotional, and competition purposes. Although the GR-X2 is built exclusively as a rally style vehicle, a production version based on the Grazzly has been in development at Cipher, but no definitive timeline or plans have been announced.

Keonigsegg Regara (2016-22) Engine 5000cc Twin Turbo V8 plus two YASA 750 R electric motors and one Yasa P100 electric motor producing a combine output of either 1,119 kW (1,500 hp) or 1,310 kW (1757hp)

Registration Number 18 DMB

KOENIGSEGG ALBUM

www.flickr.com/photos/45676495@N05/sets/72157631970110985...

The company was founded in 1994 in Sweden by Christian von Koenigsegg, with the intention of producing a world-class supercar. Many years of development and prototyping led to the company's first street-legal production car delivery in 2002. In 2006 Koenigsegg began production of the CCX, which uses an engine created in-house especially for that vehicle. The CCX is street-legal in most countries.

Apart from developing, manufacturing and selling the Koenigsegg line of supercars, Koenigsegg is also involved in "green technology" development programmes beginning with the CCXR ("Flower Power") flexfuel supercar and continuing through the present with the Agera R. Koenigsegg is also active in development programs when it comes to plug-in electric cars' systems and next-generation reciprocating engine technologies.

The Koenigsegg Regera is a limited production, plug-in hybrid grand touring sports car designed by Christian von Koenigsegg and Joachim Nordwall, launched at the March 2015 Geneva Motor Show. The name Regera is a Swedish verb, meaning to rule or to reign. The Regera was developed and designed to be a more practical, luxurious, grand touring alternative to the rest of Koenigsegg's lightweight sports car lineup: initially the Agera and later the Jesko. Consequently it is focused on the smooth and instant power delivery rather than on track performance. The Regera is a two-door targa top with a detachable roof that can be stowed in the boot It is the first hybrid car to be produced by Koenigsegg, as well as the first vehicle to use their Direct-Drive System for power delivery. The Regera has aluminium wheels or carbon fibre wheels (optional) with centre locking nuts, running on Michelin Pilot Sport 4S' tyres, braking via ventilated carbon-ceramic discs, with six piston calipers at the front and four pistons at the rear. It is equipped with active aerodynamics for optimized downforce. At the rear is a foldable hydraulic wing, and at the front are active flaps that can modify the flow of air under the car. The vehicle features hydraulic pumps and accumulators to control the active front and rear wings, as well as active chassis control and lifting. Hydraulic lifters were added to the already existing pumps and accumulators to allow for all body panels on the vehicle to be remotely operated. The fishtail-style dual exhaust system is designed by Akrapovič and is constructed of titanium, Inconel, and stainless steel

Diolch am 92,692,667 o olygfeydd anhygoel, mae pob un yn cael ei werthfawrogi'n fawr.

Thanks for 92,692,667 amazing views, every one is greatly appreciated.

Shot 23.04.2022 at the Bicester Spring Scramble, Bicester, Oxfordshire 158-234

This rather conventional looking DA/SA pistol based off the CZ platform is made to the highest standards with the finest materials available, the hard chromed steel slide, inconel barrel, and hard chromed steel controls are mated with a glass fiber reenforced polymer frame that encompasses a duralumin skeleton on which the hard chromed steel slide rails are attached. chambered for 10mm this pistol can also be chambered for 7.5 FK, .357 SIG, 9x25 Dillon, among other various calibers.

Capacity: 15 round magazine with options for 20, 25 and 30 round extended magazines.

Cost: 1696$ USD

" Without road-car regulations to hold it back, the McLaren P1™ GTR pushes everything to the limit. Available only to McLaren P1™ owners, production of the track-focused GTR began upon completion of the 375th and final road car.

The mid-mounted powerplant has an output of 1,000PS (986bhp) and includes an ERS-style push-to-pass system. The large fixed rear wing features a Formula 1™-derived Drag Reduction System and the wing mirrors have been repositioned to the A pillars to put them closer to the eye line of the driver and reduce aerodynamic drag. The car sits at a fixed ride height on race-prepared suspension over 19-inch motorsport alloy wheels. Below the rear wing is the exposed, centrally mounted inconel and titanium alloy exhaust. This all new straight cut twin pipe design has been developed exclusively for the GTR."

Source: McLaren Official

Photographed at Goodwood Festival of Speed - the event which offers enthusiasts an unrivalled opportunity to get close to the action, and to meet the great champions who gather at Goodwood each summer.

If you'd like to visit FOS, you can set "2018 Ticket Alert" by clicking here: Goodwood Festival of Speed

________________________________________________

Marcin Wojciechowski Photography

Manufacturer: Cipher Automotive Industries

Nationality: American

First assembled: N/A

Birthplace: Wrightwood, California

Price: $185,000 est.

Weight: 3,780 lbs

Engine: Naturally aspirated 5.2 L Multi-Fuel V10

HP: 770 hp

0-60: 3.3 sec

Top Speed: 215 mph

“The fastest workhorse“

The Grazzly GR-S is specifically priced to be out of the range of the proverbial 'bro' in order to reduce the amount of Grazzlys being un-tastefully modified as possible. The GR-S is actually a street focused truck with the ability to do light off-road work. Currently the Grazzly is being evaluated for production at Cipher, and primarily being used as transport for track days. Handheld manual versions of tools that are used to assemble the Grazzly are included in a kit that is stored behind the seats, and in theory with enough time most of the GR-S can be repaired or disassembled with the provided toolkit.

The body panels are made from carbon fiber and are three layers thicker than the ones found on its stablemates, and like all Cipher products are protected with WonderGuard. The anti-fog glass is protected by CrystalGuard and is thicker than regulations require to provide extra protection. An upgraded version of the water generation module found on the GR-X2 makes its way onto the GR-S. The smaller unit is more efficient and fits within the hollowed C pillars. The module is fed by air channels formed in the door sills carried over from the Ayūvir.

The Grazzly GR-S is engineered to withstand nearly every geographical feature on earth and with proper equipment can even traverse them. The electrical components are protected in hermetically sealed cases and wires are protected with a hydrophobic coating. The wheel linkages and entire bottom of the truck are protected with Kevlar skid plates. All of the exposed metal components on the GR-S are milled from Inconel alloy to withstand corrosion and oxidation.

The engine is loosely based on the one used by the V10 version of Fuego's Tourenesol. Altered molds allow for thicker parts to be made, and in turn provide longevity. Natural aspiration is preferred and maintains simplicity should repairs away from civilization ever arise. The Grazzly GR-S is the production ready street focused version of the GR-X2 concept, having the ability to keep up with most sports cars, whether or not an off-road version closer in spirit to the GR-X2 will ever be made remains unknown.

“A nuclear-propelled spacecraft, shown being assembled in an orbit around the earth, prepares for take-off to Mars. An orbital assembly team is depicted swinging a second stage assembly into position, using space tugs. This second stage will brake the craft into its orbit around Mars. A cluster of four cylinders (upper right), will house the astronauts during the long Martian voyage. At right angles to the astronauts’ quarters are temporary living quarters of the assembly team, which will spend nearly four months in earth orbit assembling the spacecraft for the Mars mission. This “typical” Mars mission was conceived by scientists at the Westinghouse Electric Corporation’s Astronuclear Laboratory and was described by Dr. William M. Jacobi of Westinghouse, at the American Institute of Astronautics and Aeronautics meeting. Heart of the system is a nuclear reactor (housed in the engine at lower left) which Westinghouse is developing in connection with the Rover Program, the nation’s effort to develop nuclear rocket propulsion systems for advanced space missions. The reactor will be incorporated into the NERVA (Nuclear Engine for Rocket Vehicle Application) engine under development by Aerojet-General Corporation for the AEC-NASA Space Nuclear Propulsion Office, based on a concept originated by the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory.”

Additionally. It’s very long but incredibly informative, enlightening & pertinent, with LOTS of content I wasn’t aware of. Not to mention, who knows how long it’ll continue to be available online:

“Before his death, renowned science fiction writer, inventor, and futurist Arthur C. Clarke (1917–2008) confidently declared the space age had not yet begun, and would only commence when reliable nuclear-powered space vehicles become available to drastically reduce the cost of moving humans and heavy payloads from the surface of the earth to the farthest reaches of the solar system. It is a little appreciated fact that Pittsburgh’s Westinghouse Electric Company played a central role in bringing that vision much closer to reality through its participation in the Nuclear Energy for Rocket Vehicle Applications (NERVA) program between 1959 and 1973. With recently renewed interest in the human exploration of Mars and destinations in the outer solar system, attention is once again focusing on the remarkable accomplishments that Westinghouse made in the development of the largely untapped potential of the nuclear thermal rocket.

As early as 1949, the Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico, conducted research to develop a solid core nuclear thermal rocket engine to power intercontinental ballistic missiles. The idea of a nuclear-powered rocket had already captured the imagination of many serious science fiction writers, evidenced by Robert A. Heinlein’s 1948 novel Space Cadet that featured a sleek nuclear-powered rocket ship that inspired the 1950 CBS television series Tom Corbett, Space Cadet, starring Frankie Thomas (1921–2006). With encouragement from science advisor Willy Ley, in 1951 Joseph Lawrence Greene, writing under the pseudonym Carey Rockwell at the publishing house of Grosset and Dunlap, launched Tom Corbett, Space Cadet, a juvenile novel series that fired the imagination of an entire generation of America’s youth with images of a streamlined manned single-stage-to-deep space atomic-powered rocket called the Polaris.

Similar to the nuclear rocket engine eventually developed under the NERVA program, the Polaris employed turbo-pumps to supply propellant to a uranium-fueled reactor core. Virtually all of the single-stage rockets of the golden age of science fiction were described at the time as using some form of atomic energy for propulsion. In a classic example of scientific theory inspiring art and, in turn, inspiring practical engineering concepts, by 1957 Los Alamos Laboratory had acquired a test facility at Jackass Flats, Nevada, to test the first KIWI series of nuclear rocket engines as part of Project Rover. Because these were ground tests rather than actual flight tests, the early engines were named after the flightless Kiwi bird endemic to New Zealand. The trials were conducted with the engines mounted upside down on their test stands with the rocket plume firing upward into the atmosphere.

In 1959, the Westinghouse Electric Company of Pittsburgh and its Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory in nearby West Mifflin, also in Allegheny County, were busy building nuclear reactors for the U.S. Navy and had also designed the nation’s first commercial nuclear power plant at Shippingport, Beaver County, that went online in December 1957. In anticipation of landing more lucrative government contracts, John Wistar Simpson, Frank Cotter, and Sidney Krasik convinced Westinghouse CEO Mark W. Cresap Jr. in 1959 to approve the creation of the Westinghouse Astronuclear Laboratory (WANL) to investigate the feasibility of building nuclear rocket engines.

Authorized in May 1959, WANL officially became a Westinghouse division on July 26, 1959, and consisted of just six employees with Simpson at the helm. Krasik, a Cornell University physicist, served as technical director and Cotter worked as Simpson’s executive assistant and marketing director. Born in 1914, Simpson graduated from the United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland, joined Westinghouse in 1937, and earned an MS from the University of Pittsburgh in 1941. Working in the switchgear division of Westinghouse’s East Pittsburgh plant, Simpson helped develop electric switchboards that could survive the extreme impacts experienced by naval vessels under bombardment in the Pacific Theater during World War II. In 1946, he took a leave of absence from Westinghouse to work at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, to familiarize himself with atomic power. Upon his return three years later, he became an assistant manager in the engineering department of Westinghouse’s Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory. He subsequently managed the construction of the Shippingport Atomic Power Station in 1954 and the following year was promoted to general manager of the Bettis Laboratory. He was elected a Westinghouse vice president in 1958. By 1959 Simpson and his team had become enthusiastic about taking on the new challenge of building nuclear-powered rockets to explore the solar system.

WANL was first headquartered in a shopping mall in the Pittsburgh suburb of Whitehall. By 1960 its staff and the leaders of Aerojet General had pooled resources to compete for the lucrative NERVA program contract from NASA’s Space Nuclear Propulsion Office (SNPO). Aerojet and Westinghouse won the contract to develop six nuclear reactors, twenty-eight rocket engines, and six Rocket In Flight Test (RIFT) flights the following year. With a substantial contract in hand, WANL increased its staff to 150 and relocated to the former site of the Old Overholt Distillery. By 1963, Westinghouse and its collaborators employed eleven hundred individuals on the project, based near the small town of Large, thirteen miles south of Pittsburgh in Allegheny County. Large was named for a former distillery founded during the early nineteenth century by Joseph Large. Together, Aerojet and Westinghouse developed the NRX-A series of rocket test engines based on an 1120 megawatt Westinghouse reactor. Assembled at Large, the reactors were loaded on rail cars for delivery to the nuclear test facility at Jackass Flats for field testing.

The initial objective of the NERVA program was to build a rocket engine that could deliver at least eight hundred seconds of specific impulse, fifty-five thousand pounds of thrust, at least ten minutes of continuous operation at full thrust, and the ability to start-up on its own with no external energy source. Seventy pounds per second of liquid hydrogen pumped from the propellant tank into the reactor nozzle would provide regenerative cooling for the rocket nozzle. The cylindrical graphite core of the nuclear reactor was surrounded by twelve beryllium plates mounted on control drums to reflect neutrons. The drums, also containing boral plates on opposite sides to absorb neutrons, were rotated to control the chain reaction in the core. The core consisted of clusters of hexagonal graphite fuel elements, the majority of which consisted of six fueled element sectors and one unfueled sector. The fuel, pyrographite-coated beads of uranium dicarbide, was coated with niobium carbide to prevent corrosion caused by exposure to hydrogen passing through the core. Each fuel rod cluster was supported by an Inconel tie rod that passed through the empty center section of each fuel rod cluster, and a lateral support and seal was used to prevent any of the hydrogen from bypassing the reactor core. Inconel is a high-temperature alloy, one version of which was being used at the time as the skin on the famous X-15 rocket plane.

The solid core nuclear thermal rocket used highly enriched uranium embedded in a graphite matrix. As the highly fissionable uranium 235 atoms absorb a neutron they split to form lighter elements, more neutrons, and a large amount of thermal energy. The nuclear rocket uses the thermal energy generated by a nuclear chain reaction to heat hydrogen, forced through narrow channels in the reactor core. The hydrogen propellant is delivered under pressure to the reactor core using turbo-pumps. The nuclear chain reaction in the reactor core causes the hydrogen to become superheated and expelled through the rocket nozzle at extremely high velocity as an explosively expanding reaction mass resulting in a high specific impulse of 825 seconds. In a chemical rocket, where a fuel (such as liquid hydrogen) and an oxidizer (such as liquid oxygen) are brought together and burned in a combustion chamber, the maximum specific impulse achievable is only about 450 seconds. Specific impulse is a measure of efficiency of a rocket and is defined by Konstantin Tsiolkovsky’s rocket equation as the pounds of thrust produced for the pounds of fuel consumed per second and is expressed in seconds.

With a high specific impulse, the ability to conduct multiple shutdowns and restarts, and a highly favorable energy to weight ratio, the nuclear rocket was the kind of vehicle that the early rocket pioneers Robert Goddard, Herman Oberth, Wernher von Braun, and Tsiolkovsky had long envisioned. As early as 1903, Tsiolkovsky, a Russian mathematics teacher, had hoped that it might be possible to somehow extract atomic energy from radium in order to power a rocket, but it was not until 1938 that Otto Hahn in Germany first succeeded in causing uranium to fission. Hahn’s former colleague Lise Meitner, living in exile in Sweden, realized the significance of what he had done—and the door to the atomic age flung open!

The power density of traditional chemical rockets is puny compared to the extraordinarily high power density of a nuclear rocket engine. Chemical rockets consist of numerous throwaway stages and require an enormous volume of their mass devoted to carrying both a propellant and an oxidizer. A nuclear rocket can be built as a single-stage vehicle, and requires no oxidizer because it heats a propellant that serves as the reaction mass, and is also able to undergo numerous shutdowns and restarts, making lengthy missions to the ends of the solar system both possible and economical. While the inefficiencies inherent in chemical rockets result in nominal costs of $3,500 to $5,000 per pound to deliver payload to low earth orbit, the more favorable propellant to payload mass ratio of the nuclear rocket promises costs in the range of just $350 to $500 per pound.

After radiation safety concerns were raised by SNPO at NASA over launching nuclear-powered rockets directly from the earth’s surface, von Braun at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, developed a proposal to boost a nuclear-propelled second-stage NERVA rocket to the edge of space using his Saturn V first-stage before firing the nuclear rocket engine after it was well above the densest part of the atmosphere. There is some debate as to whether this precaution is necessary for a well-designed nuclear rocket, but the prevailing cautiousness regarding anything nuclear renders it unlikely that direct ascent from the earth’s surface will be found acceptable anytime soon. The early NERVA rocket engine tests were, in fact, open atmospheric tests.

Westinghouse Astrofuel’s fabrication plant at Cheswick, Allegheny County, supplied nuclear fuel for the NERVA project. Fuel element corrosion was tested by heating the fuel elements by their own resistance, first at the Large site, and later at a new facility at Waltz Mill, Westmoreland County. In order to ensure fuel corrosion resistance and the stability of dimensional tolerances to several thousandths of an inch, the materials in the core elements were extruded into a bar possessing a hexagonal cross section having nineteen longitudinal holes. The extrusion was then polymerized, baked at a low temperature, and graphitized at a higher temperature of about 2200 degrees Centigrade. The resulting unfinished fuel element was subjected to a high-temperature chemical vapor process to coat the surfaces of the longitudinal channels with a gas mixture of niobium pentachloride, hydrogen, and methane. This mixture reacted with the graphite to form a niobium carbide coating intended to prevent corrosion of the core when it was exposed to the hydrogen propellant. The great challenge was to achieve a good match between the thermal expansion coefficients of the graphite and the niobium carbide to prevent cracking.

On September 24, 1964, the NRX-A2 established proof of concept by providing six minutes of power. By April 23, 1965, Aerojet and Westinghouse tested the NRX-A3 nuclear rocket engine at full power for sixteen minutes and demonstrated a three-minute restart. Pulse cooling was also introduced at this time in which bursts of LH₂ were used to cool the reactor core. This was followed by a test of the NRX/Engine System Test (EST) engine equipped with Aerojet’s new nozzle and turbo-pump mounted next to the engine in place of the earlier Rocketdyne pump that had been housed separately behind a concrete wall. This permitted full operational testing of all of the equipment in a high radiation environment typical of an actual spaceflight. In 1966, Aerojet and Westinghouse commenced an additional series of tests to demonstrate ten startups on the NRX-A4/EST and full power operation of the NRX-A5 engine for two periods totaling thirty minutes of operation. On December 13, 1967, the NRX-A6 reached sixty minutes of operation at full power. According to data compiled by Aerojet and Westinghouse, on June 11, 1969, the XE engine was started twenty times for a total of three hours and forty-eight minutes, eleven of which were at full power. By 1970, the proposed NERVA I concept vehicle that evolved out of this work was projected to be capable of delivering 1500 MW of power and 75,000 pounds of thrust. It also had a projected lifetime runtime of ten hours and could be started and stopped 60 times while delivering 825 seconds of specific impulse for each hour of continuous operation. Especially encouraging was the fact that it was projected to have a total weight of less than fifteen thousand pounds.

Capable of starting up on its own in space and reaching full power in less than one minute, the design operating temperature of the reactor was 2071 degrees Centigrade and its reliability was projected to be at least 0.997. The .003 projected failure rate covered all forms of operational deficiencies, not just a catastrophe such as a crash or explosion. In one test conducted at Jackass Flats on January 12, 1965, a KIWI-TNT nuclear rocket engine reactor was intentionally exploded to more accurately assess the consequences and cleanup implications of a truly catastrophic launch pad accident. Off-site radiation from the test was judged to be statistically insignificant, adding just 15 percent to an individual’s average annual exposure at a distance of 15 miles from ground zero, and technicians were able to thoroughly clean up the site at ground zero within a matter of weeks.

Aerojet and Westinghouse prepared to begin construction of five reactors and five NERVA I rocket test engines for actual flight testing from the Kennedy Space Center on Merritt Island in Florida beginning in 1973, the year the federal government terminated the NERVA program. Total government expenditure by that time on the combined Rover/ NERVA program from 1955 to 1973 had reached more than $1.45 billion (equivalent to roughly $4.5 billion today). As a result of the cancellation of this program, a NASA plan to use a NERVA-type vehicle to place humans on Mars by 1981 was quietly shelved.

Based on the rapid improvements made to the design of the NRX engines in little more than a dozen years, it has been argued that with subsequent improvements in materials science, coupled with a better understanding of physics, the solid core nuclear thermal rocket would have been improved to the point where it could have delivered at least 1000 seconds of specific impulse, 3000 MW of power, and been capable of perhaps 180 recycles. Such a rocket would have been capable of continuously cycling back and forth to Mars about fifteen times with each transit taking as little as 45 to 180 days depending upon the transfer orbit configuration chosen, instead of the six to nine months required for a chemical powered rocket to make the same trip. The faster transit would actually lower astronauts’ exposure to radiation from cosmic rays, the van Allen radiation belts, and solar flares; it would also make it possible to launch heavier vehicles with larger crews and better shielding against cosmic radiation.

After the NERVA program ended, the Westinghouse Astronuclear Laboratory in Pittsburgh continued to work on several other projects, including the development of a nuclear-powered artificial heart. Amidst a changing political climate concerned with finding “green” energy sources, the laboratory became the Westinghouse Advanced Energy Systems Division (AESD) in 1976. Engineers at AESD experimented with a heliostat and worked on the Solar Total Energy Project in Shenandoah, Georgia, that used five acres of solar collectors to power a knitting factory. AESD also worked on a prototype for a magnetohydrodynamic system which reuses exhaust gases to increase the electrical output of a coal-powered plant by 30 percent. Following Westinghouse’s shuttering of AESD, several former employees formed Pittsburgh Materials Technology Inc. in 1993 at the former Westinghouse Astronuclear Laboratory. Pittsburgh Materials Technology specializes in producing high temperature specialty metal alloys for government and industrial customers.

During the 1970s, Westinghouse Electric Corporation sold its home appliance division and oil refineries, and in 1988 closed its East Pittsburgh manufacturing plant. In 1995, the company purchased CBS and the following year acquired Infinity Broadcasting. Renaming itself CBS Corporation in 1997, it sold off the nuclear energy business to British Nuclear Fuels Ltd. which, in turn, sold it to Toshiba in 2006. Under the wing of Toshiba, the nuclear energy business continues to operate under the name Westinghouse Electric Company and, because of rapid expansion in overseas demand for nuclear power plants, moved its corporate headquarters in 2009 to a new larger campus in Cranberry Township, Butler County.

In 1963, when Cresap died, Simpson was responsible for eighteen major Westinghouse divisions. Six years later he became president of Westinghouse Power Systems. He earned the Westinghouse Order of Merit and was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 1966. In 1971, he won the prestigious Edison Medal. A member of the board of governors of the National Electric Manufacturers Association (NEMA) and chairman of NEMA’s Power Equipment Division, he was also a fellow of the American Nuclear Society where he served on the board of directors, on the executive committee, and as chairman of the finance committee. In 1995, the American Nuclear Society published his book Nuclear Power from Underseas to Outer Space, in which he recounted his experiences at Westinghouse. The book includes a detailed description of the company’s astronuclear program. Simpson died at the age of ninety-two on January 4, 2007, at Hilton Head, South Carolina.

The Westinghouse Astronuclear Laboratory was a product of an era of bold optimism in the promise of science and technology to solve problems and to bring to fruition a vision long shared by rocket pioneers Sergei Korolev, Stanislaw Ulam, Freeman Dyson, Tsiolkovsky, Goddard, Oberth, von Braun, and many others to eventually spread mankind across the vast solar system. Much of the science fiction of the era, such as the Tom Corbett television and juvenile novel series, was grounded in hard science as it was understood at the time. Overtaken by the social and political upheavals that accompanied the growing disillusionment with the Vietnam War and social dissension at home, the NERVA program nonetheless achieved remarkable successes that were ultimately cut short by shifting political events and a narrowing of national horizons. Despite a long hiatus, those successes are now inspiring a new generation of aerospace engineers to once again think boldly and embrace the difficult challenges articulated by President John F. Kennedy, a strong early supporter of the NERVA Program, at Rice University, Houston, Texas, in 1962: “We choose to go to the moon in this decade, and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard.”

The collaboration of Westinghouse Electric and Aerojet General in tackling the difficult work of developing a viable solid core nuclear thermal rocket engine is a down payment on the eventual human exploration and settlement of the solar system. The full utilization of such nuclear technology will make possible the fulfillment of the dream first enunciated by Tsiolkovsky who more than a century ago proclaimed, “The earth is the cradle of mankind, but a man cannot live in the cradle forever.” Nurtured by the dreamers in the cradle of western Pennsylvania’s Three Rivers Valley for a brief but shining period of fourteen years, the dream of one day boldly setting off into the new frontier moved a little closer to reality.”

At:

paheritage.wpengine.com/article/aiming-stars-forgotten-le...

Credit: “PENNSYLVANIA HERITAGE” website

Although no signature is visible, to me, there’s a Ludwik Źiemba influence visible, although not as exquisitely detailed or precise. Maybe by one of his protégés? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

The Ferrari 488 (Tipo F142M) is a mid-engine sports car produced by the Italian automobile manufacturer Ferrari. The car is an update to the 458 with notable exterior and performance changes.

The car is powered by a 3.9-litre twin-turbocharged V8 engine, smaller in displacement but generating a higher power output than the 458's naturally aspirated engine. The 488 GTB was named "The Supercar of the Year 2015" by car magazine Top Gear, as well as becoming Motor Trend's 2017 "Best Driver's Car".

488 Pista

On 6 March 2018, Ferrari unveiled the 488 Pista (track in Italian) at the Geneva Motor Show. The Pista takes inspiration from the successful 488 GTE and 488 Challenge race variants. The car has received many mechanical and exterior modifications in order to make it more capable than the 488 GTB. The 3.9-litre twin-turbocharged V8 engine now generates a power output of 720 PS (530 kW; 710 hp) at 8,000 rpm and 770 N⋅m (568 lb⋅ft) of torque at 3,000 rpm due to the use of new camshafts, a larger intercooler, strengthened pistons, titanium connecting rods and Inconel exhaust manifolds in the engine borrowed from the 488 Challenge. Revisions to the 7-speed dual-clutch transmission also allow for shifts in 30 milliseconds when drivers enter race mode. The most noticeable exterior changes for the Pista are at the front end. Air passes through the ducts in front bumper and which direct it through a large vent in the hood, which creates more downforce over the nose at high-speeds. Helping boost performance further, the[air intake tunnels have been moved from the flanks to the rear spoiler to optimize clean air flow. Other exterior changes include underbody diffusers and the rear diffuser shared with the 488 GTE. In total, the car generates 20% more downforce than the 488 GTB. On the interior, carbon fibre and Alcantara are used throughout in order to reduce weight. Overall, the car is 200 lb (91 kg) lighter than the 488 GTB due to the use of carbon fibre on the hood, bumpers, and rear spoiler. Optional 20-inch carbon fibre wheels available for the Pista save an additional 40% of weight. The car also incorporates an Side-slip Angle Control system having an E-Diff3, F-Trac and magneto rheological suspension in order to improve handling at high speeds. All of these modifications allow the car to accelerate from 0–100 km/h (0–62 mph) in 2.85 seconds, 0–200 km/h (0–124 mph) in 7.6 seconds and give the car a maximum speed of 340 km/h (211 mph), according to the manufacturer.

Amazing that this super-advanced aircraft was retired in 1968. The other survivor holds the World speed and altitude record and was retired even earlier. Pete Knight put the absolute Air Speed record up to Mach 6.72 in the X-15, and Joe Walker took the Absolute Altitude Record to 354,000 feet, which is pretty high. Both records still stand.

This is the current design for the Astra Rocket, built and tested in Silicon Valley. 3D-Printed in the Inconel superalloy, with integrated regenerative cooling channels running up the bell and combustion chamber. Liquid fuel runs in the purple cap, and around the tapered bottom ring with equal pressure up a multitude of channels running to the top before looping back to the fuel injectors at the top. This keeps the engine from melting from the heat of combustion with no insulating layers needed inside. This particular one, Serial Number 1, was tested horizontally at the Alameda test facility.

It is fueled by Kerosene and liquid oxygen (LOX). The first stage of Astra is powered by five Delphin engines of 28 kN thrust each driven by battery-powered pumps. It is designed to take a 100kg satellite into orbit.

Now in the Future Ventures’ 🚀 Space Collection.

Manufacturer: Cipher Automotive Industries

Nationality: American

First assembled: March 2212

Birthplace: Wrightwood, California

Price: $500,000

Weight: 2,833 lbs

Engine: Twin-Turbocharged 5.0L V8

HP: 800 hp

0-60: 2.9 sec

Top Speed: 245 mph

"Catalyst for the future"

Cipher's Typhureon is the realization of a dream had by the CEO of Rogue automotive that began while under the oppressive regime of its senior partners. At Rogue the Typhureon was known as the Sequencer. Prior to the ousting of Rogue's directors the Sequencer was meticulously engineered and designed to be one of the best performing vehicles of its time. The end result was ordered by the partners to be severely watered down with lesser components in order to allow its established stablemates to shine. A plummeting stock and internal hostility allowed Rogue's CEO to oust the executive partners and return Rogue to a smaller, albeit private company. During the ousting Rogue's CEO transferred the Sequencer to Cipher Automotive, and at its new home the Sequencer received the treatment it deserved.

Visually the Typhureon remains relatively unchanged from the Sequencer. Notable changes applied to the Typhureon are a new LED lighting system for the head and tail lamps, exhaust ports, spoiler mounts, and hood air-egress embellishments. The body remains relatively unchanged in shape, with every curve, scoop, kink, and line recreated in carbon fiber. A revised underbody is sculpted to increase aerodynamic performance. The failed HDCS of the Sequencer concept remains absent, even from the Typhureon despite numerous attempts by Rogue and Cipher to make the performance system work.

At Cipher the Typhureon was produced in limited quantities, and built to the Sequencer's originally intended specifications. A carbon fiber monocoque with aluminum substructures replaced the steel chromoly chassis resulting in a significant reduction in weight. Aluminum is used in place of steel for the engine, magnesium is used for the wheels, and Inconel is used for the exhaust. The Sequencer's body was made from aluminum, but the Typhureon's is constructed out of carbon fiber. The important changes are below the carbon skin; a retuned engine, larger turbochargers, revised suspension components, and lightweight exhaust system are used in place of the lesser components found on the Sequencer. The twin turbocharged 5.0 liter V8 generates 800 hp —200 more than the Sequencer— comfortably positioning itself amongst the supercar elite. Four wheel steering absent in the Sequencer is equipped to supplement the nimble handling characteristics of the Typhureon.

Building the Typhureon to its original specifications and upgrading key components, was not sufficient to compete against its newly updated rivals. The turbocharged engine, although potent, lacked the refinement needed to make the Typhureon a considerable option over its contemporaries. Although the Typhureon was a well performing vehicle, it was a tough sell during its time. Not many will purchase a supercar from a recently established marque with no history or pedigree. An unsuccessful run ended Cipher's first offering after one year with only 64 units built. Instead of quitting the automotive business, Cipher decided to double down its entry into the future hypercar battle royale by establishing a subsidiary in Ojai and starting development of a mid-rear engined hybrid platform. The subsidiary would form into Fuego Motorworks, and the hybrid would become the formidable Cipher C1.

He also used to say that 'One peep is worth a thousand sweeps'.

I got an unexpected day off in London, due to the Volcanic Ash crisis of 2010 and used it to visit Tangmere. It was all caused by the eruption of Eyjafjallajokull and worries about those tiny volcanic ash particles getting inside the hollow turbine blades and blocking the cooling passages from the inside. I must learn Icelandic some day...... Those blades routinely operate at temperatures above the melting point of the Nickel Steel from which they are made. Only the mass flow of cool air, ducted through them from inside to out, stops them melting. Block the holes: they will get a bit too hot.

The NA X-15 rocket plane is made out of the same materiel as turbine blades- Inconel-X. Holder of the World Aviation Speed Record at Mach 6.73, she's a steel dart.

The North American X-15 rocket-powered research aircraft bridged the gap between manned flight within the atmosphere and manned flight beyond the atmosphere into space. After completing its initial test flights in 1959, the X-15 became the first winged aircraft to attain velocities of Mach 4, 5, and 6. Highlighted in this image is the undercarriage and the flow direction sensor of the North American x-15.

For more photography highlights, check out the Air and Space Photo project: airandspace.si.edu/airspacephoto

This photo is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use: si.edu/termsofuse

The Ferrari F8 Tributo is a mid-engine sports car produced by the Italian automobile manufacturer Ferrari. The car is an update to the 488 with notable exterior and performance changes. It was unveiled at the 2019 Geneva Motor Show.

The F8 Tributo uses the similar engine from the 488 Pista (F154 CG), a 3.9 L twin-turbocharged V8 engine which has a power output of 720 PS (530 kW; 710 hp) and 770 N⋅m (568 lb⋅ft) of torque, making it the most powerful conventional V8 powered Ferrari produced to date. Specific intake plenums and manifolds with optimised fluid-dynamics improve the combustion efficiency of the engine, thanks to the reduction of the temperature of the air in the cylinder, which also helps boost power. The increase in performance is provided in a more reactive way thanks to lightening solutions on the rotating masses, such as the F1 derived titanium connecting rods. The exhaust layout and the Inconel manifolds have been completely modified up to the terminals. The F8 Tributo also uses turbo rev sensors, developed in the 488 Challenge, to maximise the efficiency of the turbochargers based on the demand for power from the pedal. The transmission is a 7-speed dual clutch unit with improved gear ratios.

The front of the car is characterised by the S-Duct (originally featured on the 488 Pista) around which the entire front end of the car has been redesigned, with additional air intakes above the headlights. The front is completed by side aerodynamic intakes which are integrated into the shape of the bumper and feature two aerodynamic side splitters in black. The radiator packs are tilted towards the rear, using the flat undertray to channel the hot air and minimise the thermal interaction with the flows inside the wheel arch. The car also features quad taillamps, a feature that was last seen in the V8 lineage on F430. At the rear, it sports a louvered clear engine cover made from lightweight Lexan which pays homage to the F40 and a wrap-around rear spoiler inspired by the 308 GTB, with additional air intakes on either side.

On 6 March 2018, Ferrari unveiled the 488 Pista (track in Italian) at the Geneva Motor Show. The Pista's design was influenced by the 488 GTE and 488 Challenge race variants. The car has received many mechanical and exterior modifications to make it more capable than the 488 GTB. The 3.9-litre twin-turbocharged V8 engine now generates a power output of 720 PS (530 kW; 710 hp) at 8,000 rpm and 770 N⋅m (568 lb⋅ft) of torque at 3,000 rpm due to the use of new camshafts, a larger intercooler, strengthened pistons, titanium connecting rods and Inconel exhaust manifolds in the engine borrowed from the 488 Challenge. Revisions to the 7-speed dual-clutch transmission also allow for shifts in 30 milliseconds when drivers enter race mode. The most noticeable exterior changes for the Pista are at the front end. Air passes through the ducts in front bumper and which direct it through a large vent in the hood, which creates more downforce over the nose at high-speeds. Helping boost performance further, the air intake tunnels have been moved from the flanks to the rear spoiler to optimize clean air flow. Other exterior changes include underbody diffusers and the rear diffuser shared with the 488 GTE. In total, the car generates 20% more downforce than the 488 GTB. On the interior, carbon fibre and Alcantara are used throughout in order to reduce weight. Overall, the car is 200 lb (91 kg) lighter than the 488 GTB due to the use of carbon fibre on the hood, bumpers, and rear spoiler. Optional 20-inch carbon fibre wheels available for the Pista save an additional 40% of weight. The car also incorporates a Side-slip Angle Control system having an E-Diff3, F-Trac and magneto rheological suspension to improve handling at high speeds. These modifications enable the 488 Pista to accelerate from 0–100 km/h (0–62 mph) in 2.85 seconds, 0–200 km/h (0–124 mph) in 7.6 seconds and give the car a maximum speed of 340 km/h (211 mph), according to the manufacturer

2019, Vancouver International Auto Show, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

For my video; youtu.be/03qK92_Kb4c

An unusually shaped flown insulation assembly used in the wings of the Space Shuttle to protect the aluminum structure from the radiant heat of the Reinforced Carbon-Carbon leading edge of the wing during reentry.

Measuring approximately 7.5 x 5 x 5, the part consists of an Inconel sheet encasing insulation material, with part number “VO70-190278-002 Serial Number 002,” stenciled on the brace. The low serial number suggests it is from an early flight in the program.

From the Charles Bell Estate, now in the Future Ventures’ 🚀 Space Collection.. Export restricted.

354,000 feet. 6670 here is displayed in the National Air & Space Museum in Washington DC- the other is at Wright-Paterson AFB.

Inside a massive steel and concrete-lined test chamber about to be put to use about now.

They gave me a post-testing rocket engine (see below). It is entirely 3D-printed in Inconel. I am going to add a pyrex bowl to the top and light a pool of ethanol... for an awesome indoor candle. Thanks stealthy rocket peeps!!!

Update: it's Astra! :) Movie coming soon.

The Ferrari F8 Tributo is a mid-engine sports car produced by the Italian automobile manufacturer Ferrari. The car is an update to the 488 with notable exterior and performance changes. It was unveiled at the 2019 Geneva Motor Show.

The F8 Tributo uses the similar engine from the 488 Pista (F154 CG), a 3.9 L twin-turbocharged V8 engine which has a power output of 720 PS (530 kW; 710 hp) and 770 N⋅m (568 lb⋅ft) of torque, making it the most powerful conventional V8 powered Ferrari produced to date. Specific intake plenums and manifolds with optimised fluid-dynamics improve the combustion efficiency of the engine, thanks to the reduction of the temperature of the air in the cylinder, which also helps boost power. The increase in performance is provided in a more reactive way thanks to lightening solutions on the rotating masses, such as the F1 derived titanium connecting rods. The exhaust layout and the Inconel manifolds have been completely modified up to the terminals. The F8 Tributo also uses turbo rev sensors, developed in the 488 Challenge, to maximise the efficiency of the turbochargers based on the demand for power from the pedal. The transmission is a 7-speed dual clutch unit with improved gear ratios.

The front of the car is characterised by the S-Duct (originally featured on the 488 Pista) around which the entire front end of the car has been redesigned, with additional air intakes above the headlights. The front is completed by side aerodynamic intakes which are integrated into the shape of the bumper and feature two aerodynamic side splitters in black. The radiator packs are tilted towards the rear, using the flat undertray to channel the hot air and minimise the thermal interaction with the flows inside the wheel arch. The car also features quad taillamps, a feature that was last seen in the V8 lineage on F430. At the rear, it sports a louvered clear engine cover made from lightweight Lexan which pays homage to the F40 and a wrap-around rear spoiler inspired by the 308 GTB, with additional air intakes on either side.

The North American X-15 rocket-powered research aircraft bridged the gap between manned flight within the atmosphere and manned flight beyond the atmosphere into space. After completing its initial test flights in 1959, the X-15 became the first winged aircraft to attain velocities of Mach 4, 5, and 6. Highlighted in this image is the North American X-15 displayed at the National Mall Building.

For more photography highlights, check out the Air and Space Photo project: airandspace.si.edu/airspacephoto

This photo is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use: si.edu/termsofuse

The Ferrari 488 (Tipo F142M) is a mid-engine sports car produced by the Italian automobile manufacturer Ferrari. The car is an update to the 458 with notable exterior and performance changes.

The car is powered by a 3.9-litre twin-turbocharged V8 engine, smaller in displacement but generating a higher power output than the 458's naturally aspirated engine. The 488 GTB was named "The Supercar of the Year 2015" by car magazine Top Gear, as well as becoming Motor Trend's 2017 "Best Driver's Car".

488 Pista

On 6 March 2018, Ferrari unveiled the 488 Pista (track in Italian) at the Geneva Motor Show. The Pista takes inspiration from the successful 488 GTE and 488 Challenge race variants. The car has received many mechanical and exterior modifications in order to make it more capable than the 488 GTB. The 3.9-litre twin-turbocharged V8 engine now generates a power output of 720 PS (530 kW; 710 hp) at 8,000 rpm and 770 N⋅m (568 lb⋅ft) of torque at 3,000 rpm due to the use of new camshafts, a larger intercooler, strengthened pistons, titanium connecting rods and Inconel exhaust manifolds in the engine borrowed from the 488 Challenge. Revisions to the 7-speed dual-clutch transmission also allow for shifts in 30 milliseconds when drivers enter race mode. The most noticeable exterior changes for the Pista are at the front end. Air passes through the ducts in front bumper and which direct it through a large vent in the hood, which creates more downforce over the nose at high-speeds. Helping boost performance further, the[air intake tunnels have been moved from the flanks to the rear spoiler to optimize clean air flow. Other exterior changes include underbody diffusers and the rear diffuser shared with the 488 GTE. In total, the car generates 20% more downforce than the 488 GTB. On the interior, carbon fibre and Alcantara are used throughout in order to reduce weight. Overall, the car is 200 lb (91 kg) lighter than the 488 GTB due to the use of carbon fibre on the hood, bumpers, and rear spoiler. Optional 20-inch carbon fibre wheels available for the Pista save an additional 40% of weight. The car also incorporates an Side-slip Angle Control system having an E-Diff3, F-Trac and magneto rheological suspension in order to improve handling at high speeds. All of these modifications allow the car to accelerate from 0–100 km/h (0–62 mph) in 2.85 seconds, 0–200 km/h (0–124 mph) in 7.6 seconds and give the car a maximum speed of 340 km/h (211 mph), according to the manufacturer.

These smallsat launch vehicle engines make for great indoor lighting. It is 3D-printed from the Inconel superalloy and has integral regenerative cooling (left unattached here, but with an external ethanol pump, could take this all up a notch)

“North American Aviation’s X-15 research vehicle, to carry man as far as 100 miles above the earth at 3,600 miles per hour, was built to specifications of the U.S. Air Force, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the U.S. Navy. Following its Oct. 15 roll-out at the Los Angeles plant, the pace-setting craft was readied for its first flight expected in early 1959.”

Also:

"This photo shows the X-15 number 1 (56-6670) rocket powered research aircraft as it was rolled out in 1958. At this time, the XLR-99 rocket engine was not ready, so to make the low-speed flights (below Mach 3), the X-15 team fitted a pair of XLR-11 engines into the modified rear fuselage. These were basically the same engines used in the X-1 aircraft."

Available at:

www.nasa.gov/centers/dryden/multimedia/imagegallery/X-15/...

and

www.dfrc.nasa.gov/Gallery/Photo/X-15/HTML/E-4358.html

Specifically:

www.dfrc.nasa.gov/Gallery/Photo/X-15/Large/E-4358.jpg

And, last, but NOT least...

"X-15 rollout photo was taken at or slightly before the rollout ceremony for the number one X-15, on October 15, 1958 at North American Aviation's Inglewood/El Segundo plant. This probably was an NAA photo originally, is widely reproduced and is registered as NASA photo E-4358."

At (an excellent/informative site BTW):

www.sierrafoot.org/x-15/pirep_credits.html

Possibly the most thorough & exhaustive reading pertaining to the X-15...wow:

ethw.org/First-Hand:The_X-15_Project_-_Flight_Testing_-_C...

Obviously, the list goes on:

archive.org/details/30974NASATheX151960To1980Vwr

Credit: Periscope Film LLC/Internet Archive website

Chassis n° ZFF70RDB000178278

Aguttes

Autoworld - Auction & Motion

Estimated : € 800.000 - 1.000.000

Not sold

Autoworld

www.autoworld.be

Brussels - Belgium

October 2025

The history of Ferrari has aroused the greatest automotive passions, punctuated by a handful of models that have become more than legendary. In this dream list, the 250 GT California rubs shoulders with the F40 or the 312P racing prototypes, but one suffix comes up three times: GTO (meaning Gran Turismo Omologato), initially derived from the nec plus ultra of the Cavallino firm, the 250 GTO, no less! Then came the first iteration of the now legendary Ferrari supercar/hypercar line, the 288 GTO, initially designed for Group B homologation. At the dawn of the 2010s, Ferrari had at the top of its production range the V12 front berlinetta known as the 599 GTB. This is certainly the model that brought Ferrari’s philosophy into the modern era, after the - more discreet - 550 Maranello and 575.

From then on, the style was more exotic, and sportier! A few years before the 599, Ferrari had announced the creation of a new programme called XX, dedicated to the development of new technologies through the production of racing car handles for the most important customers... The idea was revolutionary: to develop non-homologated track cars, more radical than production models, and to offer them with a complete service including technical support and track sessions. The first iteration of this programme was developed on the basis of the Enzo, then called the FXX. A few years later, in 2009, Ferrari announced a new model, based on the 599 GTB: it was the golden age of this programme! Inspired by this car and by the brand’s past, the engineers at Maranello recovered a 599 XX and began designing a road-going version. It was the return of the GTO philosophy!

At the 2010 Beijing Motor Show, the public flocked to see the new BMW and Mercedes-Benz models, passing their eyes at high speed as the attraction was not there. On the Ferrari stand, there was a general rush to see the latest model: the 599 GTB had been transformed into a ferocious beast, and renamed the 599 GTO. It lost 100 kg and gained 67 bhp over the 599 GTB, thanks to far-reaching modifications: new high-compression pistons, an optimised intake system with redesigned ducts, a sports exhaust system with Inconel headers, completely reprogrammed electronic management, extensive use of carbon (bonnet, boot, dashboard, seats), and finally a change of chassis parts to aluminium! Even before the presentation, the 599 cars produced had already been sold...

Our example was delivered new by Foitek in this interesting colour combination of Rosso Formula 1 2007 (Tailor Made triplecoat tint) on a black alcantara interior. It’s the options that make this car so interesting: carbon headlamp tray, carbon hubcap, carbon door lining, carbon door sills, carbon Cavallino, gloss black painted wheels, Bose sound system, telemetry kit... Today, the car has only had three owners and has just over 15,000 km on the clock. Its service book is still there, of course, and has been stamped from the outset, until December 2024, when the car was serviced by Modena Sport. Informed collectors, we’re not teaching you anything by reading this text, as this car is a legend that has taken up dozens of pages in our favourite newspapers. Adding a GTO to your collection is a rare act, propelling your collection into a new dimension. Their rarity, their mysticity, and the sheer pleasure of driving will enable these cars to surpass – in the near future – their current estimates. Don’t miss this opportunity – it may never come again!

The Ferrari F8 Tributo is a mid-engine sports car produced by the Italian automobile manufacturer Ferrari. The car is an update to the 488 with notable exterior and performance changes. It was unveiled at the 2019 Geneva Motor Show.

The F8 Tributo uses the similar engine from the 488 Pista (F154 CG), a 3.9 L twin-turbocharged V8 engine which has a power output of 720 PS (530 kW; 710 hp) and 770 N⋅m (568 lb⋅ft) of torque, making it the most powerful conventional V8 powered Ferrari produced to date. Specific intake plenums and manifolds with optimised fluid-dynamics improve the combustion efficiency of the engine, thanks to the reduction of the temperature of the air in the cylinder, which also helps boost power. The increase in performance is provided in a more reactive way thanks to lightening solutions on the rotating masses, such as the F1 derived titanium connecting rods. The exhaust layout and the Inconel manifolds have been completely modified up to the terminals. The F8 Tributo also uses turbo rev sensors, developed in the 488 Challenge, to maximise the efficiency of the turbochargers based on the demand for power from the pedal. The transmission is a 7-speed dual clutch unit with improved gear ratios.

The front of the car is characterised by the S-Duct (originally featured on the 488 Pista) around which the entire front end of the car has been redesigned, with additional air intakes above the headlights. The front is completed by side aerodynamic intakes which are integrated into the shape of the bumper and feature two aerodynamic side splitters in black. The radiator packs are tilted towards the rear, using the flat undertray to channel the hot air and minimise the thermal interaction with the flows inside the wheel arch. The car also features quad taillamps, a feature that was last seen in the V8 lineage on F430. At the rear, it sports a louvered clear engine cover made from lightweight Lexan which pays homage to the F40 and a wrap-around rear spoiler inspired by the 308 GTB, with additional air intakes on either side.

The F8 Spider is an open-top variant of the F8 Tributo with a folding hardtop as seen on its predecessors. The top takes 14 seconds for operation and can be operated with speeds up to 45 km/h (28 mph). The F8 Spider features large air intakes on its rear haunches, moved rearward compared to the ones in the 488 Spider for improved airflow to the engine.

The Spider's drivetrain is shared with the Tributo. The engine has a lighter crankshaft, flywheel, and connecting rods and weighs nearly 18 kg (40 lb) less than the engine in the 488 Spider. Performance figures include acceleration from 0–100 km/h (62 mph) in 2.9 seconds and from 0–200 km/h (124 mph) in 8.2 seconds. Top speed is unchanged from the coupé at 340 km/h (211 mph).

The F8 Spider uses the same engine from the 488 Pista, a 3.9 L twin-turbocharged V8 engine with a power output of 720 PS (530 kW; 710 hp) at 8000 rpm and 770 N⋅m (568 lb⋅ft) of torque at 3250 rpm, making it the most powerful V8-powered Ferrari produced to date. Specific intake plenums and manifolds with optimised fluid-dynamics improve the combustion efficiency of the engine, thanks to the reduction of the temperature of the air in the cylinder, which also helps boost power. The exhaust layout and the Inconel manifolds have been completely modified up to the terminals. The F8 Spider also uses turbo rev sensors, developed in the 488 Challenge, to maximise the efficiency of the turbochargers based on the demand for power from the pedal. The transmission is a 7-speed dual clutch automatic unit with improved gear ratios.

The North American X-15 rocket-powered research aircraft bridged the gap between manned flight within the atmosphere and manned flight beyond the atmosphere into space. After completing its initial test flights in 1959, the X-15 became the first winged aircraft to attain velocities of Mach 4, 5, and 6. Highlighted in this image is the flow direction sensor of the North American x-15.

For more photography highlights, check out the Air and Space Photo project: airandspace.si.edu/airspacephoto

This photo is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use: si.edu/termsofuse

The dazzling coat and name of this elephant is inspired by Inconel – a superalloy of nickle, chromium and iron that Pressure Technologies specialise in machining. Inconel can survive the harshest of environments, so this nelly will have no problems battling the fierce Sheffield winds!

Commissioned by: Pressure Technologies

Sponsored by: Pressure Technologies

Auction Price: £8200

Summer 2016, a herd of elephant sculptures descended on Sheffield for the biggest public art event the city has ever seen!

58 elephant sculptures, each uniquely decorated by artists, descended on Sheffield’s parks and open spaces, creating one of the biggest mass participation arts events the city has ever seen. Did you find them all?

The trail of elephants celebrates Sheffield’s creativity with over 75% of artists from the city. Some well-known names include Pete McKee, James Green, Jonathan Wilkinson and Lydia Monks – each of which has put their own creative mark on a 1.6m tall fibreglass elephant sculpture. They are all very difference, take a selfie with your favourite as they will be on display until the end of September.

International artist Mark Alexander, who is currently working with Rembrandt for an exhibition in Berlin, flew to Sheffield especially to paint his elephant and international players from the World Snooker Championship signed SnookHerd, an elephant celebrating the heritage of snooker in Sheffield.

The Arctic Monkeys, famous for their love of their home city, added their signatures to their own personalised sculpture which pays homage to the striking sound wave cover of the band’s 2013 album “AM”.

By supporting the Herd of Sheffield you are investing in the future of Sheffield Children’s Hospital. Every penny raised will go towards our Artfelt programme, which transforms the hospital’s walls and spaces with bright art, helping children recover in an environment tailored to them. The programme also puts on workshops for youngsters to provide distraction during anxious moments – such as before an operation, and to breakup long stays on the wards.

This exciting Wild in Art event brought to you by The Children’s Hospital Charity will:

Unite our city – bringing businesses, communities, artists, individuals and schools together to create a FREE sculpture trail which is accessible to all.

Attract more visitors – both nationally and regionally as well as encouraging thousands of people to become a tourist in their own city.

Invest in the future – with a city wide education programme that can be used for years to come and by funding a life-saving piece of medical equipment at Sheffield Children’s Hospital from the Herd auction at the end of the trail.

Showcase our city – celebrating Sheffield’s heritage and cementing our status as a vibrant and culturally exciting city through this world-class initiative.

The Herd of Sheffield Farewell Weekend was held on 14-16 October and was your chance to say a last goodbye to all 58 large elephant sculptures as they gather in one place for a final send-off at Meadowhall.

This special event gave visitors a chance to see the entire herd in all its glory – from the signed Arctic Monkeys’ ‘AM’ elephant, right through to ‘SnookHerd’, autographed by a host of international snooker players including current world champion Mark Selby.

Please note that the Little Herd elephants will not be on display as they will be returned to their school for pupils to enjoy.

Meadowhall, along with its joint owners, British Land are very proud to be supporting The Children’s Hospital Charity as host sponsors for the Herd of Sheffield Farewell Weekend.

Auction: Hundreds of elephant enthusiasts gathered at the Crucible on 20 October for the Herd of Sheffield Auction, which raised a total of £410,600 for The Children’s Hospital Charity.

The Ferrari 488 (Tipo F142M) is a mid-engine sports car produced by the Italian automobile manufacturer Ferrari. The car is an update to the 458 with notable exterior and performance changes.

The car is powered by a 3.9-litre twin-turbocharged V8 engine, smaller in displacement but generating a higher power output than the 458's naturally aspirated engine. The 488 GTB was named "The Supercar of the Year 2015" by car magazine Top Gear, as well as becoming Motor Trend's 2017 "Best Driver's Car".

488 Pista

On 6 March 2018, Ferrari unveiled the 488 Pista (track in Italian) at the Geneva Motor Show. The Pista takes inspiration from the successful 488 GTE and 488 Challenge race variants. The car has received many mechanical and exterior modifications in order to make it more capable than the 488 GTB. The 3.9-litre twin-turbocharged V8 engine now generates a power output of 720 PS (530 kW; 710 hp) at 8,000 rpm and 770 N⋅m (568 lb⋅ft) of torque at 3,000 rpm due to the use of new camshafts, a larger intercooler, strengthened pistons, titanium connecting rods and Inconel exhaust manifolds in the engine borrowed from the 488 Challenge. Revisions to the 7-speed dual-clutch transmission also allow for shifts in 30 milliseconds when drivers enter race mode. The most noticeable exterior changes for the Pista are at the front end. Air passes through the ducts in front bumper and which direct it through a large vent in the hood, which creates more downforce over the nose at high-speeds. Helping boost performance further, the[air intake tunnels have been moved from the flanks to the rear spoiler to optimize clean air flow. Other exterior changes include underbody diffusers and the rear diffuser shared with the 488 GTE. In total, the car generates 20% more downforce than the 488 GTB. On the interior, carbon fibre and Alcantara are used throughout in order to reduce weight. Overall, the car is 200 lb (91 kg) lighter than the 488 GTB due to the use of carbon fibre on the hood, bumpers, and rear spoiler. Optional 20-inch carbon fibre wheels available for the Pista save an additional 40% of weight. The car also incorporates an Side-slip Angle Control system having an E-Diff3, F-Trac and magneto rheological suspension in order to improve handling at high speeds. All of these modifications allow the car to accelerate from 0–100 km/h (0–62 mph) in 2.85 seconds, 0–200 km/h (0–124 mph) in 7.6 seconds and give the car a maximum speed of 340 km/h (211 mph), according to the manufacturer.

Salon Privé 2014, Syon House, London.

Debuted in 1999, the Pagani Zonda stormed the super car world. The updated car, the "Zonda F", was debuted at the 2005 Geneva Motor Show. Production of the Zonda F was limited to just 25 cars. The "F" in the name Zonda F, was to honour Argentina's (the birth place of the company founder) greatest Formula One driver, Juan Manuel Fangio and it was the most extensive re-engineering of the Zonda yet.

The car shares the 7.3 L AMG V12 engine which through enhanced intake manifolds, exhaust and a revised ECU produces just under 650 BHP at 6150 rpm and 560 lbft of torque at 4000 rpm. The F came with an extra head light and different fog lights at the sides. The new bodywork (revised front end, new rear spoiler, more aerodynamic vents all around) improved the cars aerodynamics as well as different side mirrors. Further enhancements over the 'S' centre around optional carbon/ceramic brakes developed in conjunction with Brembo, magnesium wheels, inconel titanium exhaust system, hydroformed aluminum intake plenum and a redesigned 'Z preg' weave in the crash structure to improve rigidity and reduce weight. [DK Engineering]

www.dkeng.co.uk/ferrari-sales/274/Blue_Chip_and_Competiti...

189kg 1160Hp ; 1280 Nm

Variable turbo geometry. 1.3 bar. Dry sump lubrication. Carbon fiber intake

manifold. Tig-welded ceramic coated 0.8 mm wall

thickness inconel exhaust system manifold.

The dazzling coat and name of this elephant is inspired by Inconel – a superalloy of nickle, chromium and iron that Pressure Technologies specialise in machining. Inconel can survive the harshest of environments, so this nelly will have no problems battling the fierce Sheffield winds!

Commissioned by: Pressure Technologies

Sponsored by: Pressure Technologies

Auction Price: £8200

Summer 2016, a herd of elephant sculptures descended on Sheffield for the biggest public art event the city has ever seen!

58 elephant sculptures, each uniquely decorated by artists, descended on Sheffield’s parks and open spaces, creating one of the biggest mass participation arts events the city has ever seen. Did you find them all?

The trail of elephants celebrates Sheffield’s creativity with over 75% of artists from the city. Some well-known names include Pete McKee, James Green, Jonathan Wilkinson and Lydia Monks – each of which has put their own creative mark on a 1.6m tall fibreglass elephant sculpture. They are all very difference, take a selfie with your favourite as they will be on display until the end of September.

International artist Mark Alexander, who is currently working with Rembrandt for an exhibition in Berlin, flew to Sheffield especially to paint his elephant and international players from the World Snooker Championship signed SnookHerd, an elephant celebrating the heritage of snooker in Sheffield.

The Arctic Monkeys, famous for their love of their home city, added their signatures to their own personalised sculpture which pays homage to the striking sound wave cover of the band’s 2013 album “AM”.

By supporting the Herd of Sheffield you are investing in the future of Sheffield Children’s Hospital. Every penny raised will go towards our Artfelt programme, which transforms the hospital’s walls and spaces with bright art, helping children recover in an environment tailored to them. The programme also puts on workshops for youngsters to provide distraction during anxious moments – such as before an operation, and to breakup long stays on the wards.

This exciting Wild in Art event brought to you by The Children’s Hospital Charity will:

Unite our city – bringing businesses, communities, artists, individuals and schools together to create a FREE sculpture trail which is accessible to all.

Attract more visitors – both nationally and regionally as well as encouraging thousands of people to become a tourist in their own city.

Invest in the future – with a city wide education programme that can be used for years to come and by funding a life-saving piece of medical equipment at Sheffield Children’s Hospital from the Herd auction at the end of the trail.

Showcase our city – celebrating Sheffield’s heritage and cementing our status as a vibrant and culturally exciting city through this world-class initiative.

The Herd of Sheffield Farewell Weekend was held on 14-16 October and was your chance to say a last goodbye to all 58 large elephant sculptures as they gather in one place for a final send-off at Meadowhall.

This special event gave visitors a chance to see the entire herd in all its glory – from the signed Arctic Monkeys’ ‘AM’ elephant, right through to ‘SnookHerd’, autographed by a host of international snooker players including current world champion Mark Selby.

Please note that the Little Herd elephants will not be on display as they will be returned to their school for pupils to enjoy.

Meadowhall, along with its joint owners, British Land are very proud to be supporting The Children’s Hospital Charity as host sponsors for the Herd of Sheffield Farewell Weekend.

Auction: Hundreds of elephant enthusiasts gathered at the Crucible on 20 October for the Herd of Sheffield Auction, which raised a total of £410,600 for The Children’s Hospital Charity.

The Ferrari F8 Tributo is a mid-engine sports car produced by the Italian automobile manufacturer Ferrari. The car is an update to the 488 with notable exterior and performance changes. It was unveiled at the 2019 Geneva Motor Show.

The F8 Tributo uses the similar engine from the 488 Pista (F154 CG), a 3.9 L twin-turbocharged V8 engine which has a power output of 720 PS (530 kW; 710 hp) and 770 N⋅m (568 lb⋅ft) of torque, making it the most powerful conventional V8 powered Ferrari produced to date. Specific intake plenums and manifolds with optimised fluid-dynamics improve the combustion efficiency of the engine, thanks to the reduction of the temperature of the air in the cylinder, which also helps boost power. The increase in performance is provided in a more reactive way thanks to lightening solutions on the rotating masses, such as the F1 derived titanium connecting rods. The exhaust layout and the Inconel manifolds have been completely modified up to the terminals. The F8 Tributo also uses turbo rev sensors, developed in the 488 Challenge, to maximise the efficiency of the turbochargers based on the demand for power from the pedal. The transmission is a 7-speed dual clutch unit with improved gear ratios.

The front of the car is characterised by the S-Duct (originally featured on the 488 Pista) around which the entire front end of the car has been redesigned, with additional air intakes above the headlights. The front is completed by side aerodynamic intakes which are integrated into the shape of the bumper and feature two aerodynamic side splitters in black. The radiator packs are tilted towards the rear, using the flat undertray to channel the hot air and minimise the thermal interaction with the flows inside the wheel arch. The car also features quad taillamps, a feature that was last seen in the V8 lineage on F430. At the rear, it sports a louvered clear engine cover made from lightweight Lexan which pays homage to the F40 and a wrap-around rear spoiler inspired by the 308 GTB, with additional air intakes on either side.