Memorial on the north wall " in memory of Edward Lord Viscount Chichester and dame Anne his wife; and in humble acknowledgment of the good providence of God, in advancing their house,

Fam'd Arthur, Irelands dreade in armes and peace. Her tutular genius : Belfasts Honoure wonne. Edward and Anne, blest payre, begott increase of landes and heires : Viscount was grafted onn. Next Arthur, in Gods cause and kings stakt all, And Had to's Honour add'd Donnegall".

"Here rest in hope of the resurrection, The body of the right Hon. Edward Chichester Knt, Lord Chichester, Barron of Belfast, Viscount Chichester of Carrickfergus, Governor of the same and one of his Majesties most honorable Privy Counsell for the kingdome of Ireland, sonne of Sir John Chichester of Rawleigh knight. And the body of Dame Anne his (first) wife, sole daughter and heire of John Copleston of Eggesford Esqr who had issue Arthur his eldest sonne, now Lord Viscount Chichester, Earle of Donegall who first married Dorcas daughter of John Hill of Honnely in Warwickshire Esq and had issue by her 1 daughter. Afterwards the Lady Mary eldest daughter of John Earle of Bristoll and had issue by her, 6 sonnes & 2 daughters. John his second sonne who married Mary eldest daughter of Roger Viscount Rannelagh and Edward his youngest sonne who married Elizabeth daughter of Sir Edward Fisher knight. Elizabeth his eldest daughter who married Sir William Wrey knt & Barronett. Mary his youngest daughter who first married Thomas Wise of Syddenham, afterwards John Harris of Radforde esq. Hee departed this life on the 8 and was buried on ye 8 day of July Anno 1648. Shee departed this life on the 8 & was buried on the 11th of March Anno 1616. This monument was prepared by him selfe in his lifetime, but now erected and finished by the said Arthur Lord Viscount Chichester, Earle of Donegall. January the 11 AD 1648"

 

Edward was the second or third son of Sir John Chichester (d1569) Lord of the manor of Raleigh, Pilton near Barnstaple and Gertrude(1521-1566) daughter by his 2nd marriage of Sir William Courtenay (1477-1535) of Powderham

He was the brother of Mary wife of Richard Bluett 1614 at Holcombe Rogus www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/080AWS & Elizabeth wife of Hugh Fortescue 1600 at Wear Giffard flic.kr/p/iEdztS

Anne was the sole daughter and heiress of John Copleston of Eggesford www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/mmf43t9Sf6 and Dorothy daughter of Sr. George Biston of Biston Castel www.flickr.com/photos/52219527@N00/7724433042/

Children

1. Arthur Chichester 1st Earl of Donegall (1606-1674) www.flickr.com/photos/52219527@N00/7754011182/ m1 Dorcas daughter of John Hill of Honnely Warks m2 Lady Mary eldest daughter of John Digby. Earl of Bristol.

2. Col. John Chichester (d.1647), a Royalist during the Civil War m Mary eldest daughter of Roger Jones Viscount Rannelagh (parents of 2nd Earl of Donegall)

3. Lt-Col. Edward Chichester a Royalist during the Civil War m Elizabeth daughter of Sir Edward Fisher

1. Elizabeth m Sir William Wrey grandson of John Wrey 1597 of Tawstock www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/uwBn0f

2. Mary m1 Thomas Wise of Sydenham m2 John Harris of Radford

 

Edward m2 after 1616 -26 to Mary Denham.

  

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Chichester,_1st_Viscount_Chi...

- Church of All Saints, Eggesford Devon

Mike Searle CCL commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Interior_of_All_Saint...(detail)_-_geograph.org.uk_-_3513007.jpg

I wish I had a better shot than this. She looks so naturally, on her own and so at home that I can't resist sharing this image.

Potsdamer Platz (German: [ˈpɔtsdamɐ plats] (About this sound listen), literally Potsdam Square) is an important public square and traffic intersection in the centre of Berlin, Germany, lying about 1 km south of the Brandenburg Gate and the Reichstag (German Parliament Building), and close to the southeast corner of the Tiergarten park. It is named after the city of Potsdam, some 25 km to the south west, and marks the point where the old road from Potsdam passed through the city wall of Berlin at the Potsdam Gate. After developing within the space of little over a century from an intersection of rural thoroughfares into the most bustling traffic intersection in Europe, it was totally laid to waste during World War II and then left desolate during the Cold War era when the Berlin Wall bisected its former location. Since German reunification, Potsdamer Platz has been the site of major redevelopment projects.

 

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

Potsdamer Platz began as a trading post where several country roads converged just outside Berlin's old customs wall. The history of Potsdamer Platz can probably be traced back to 29 October 1685, when the Tolerance Edict of Potsdam was signed, whereby Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg-Prussia from 1640 to 1688, allowed large numbers of religious refugees, including Jews from Austria and Huguenots expelled from France, to settle on his territory. A key motivation behind the Edict was so the Elector could encourage the rapid repopulation, restabilising and economic recovery of his kingdom, following the ravages of the Thirty Years' War (1618–48). Altogether up to 15,000 Huguenots made new homes in the Brandenburg region, some 6,000 of these in its capital, Berlin (indeed, by 1700 and for a while afterwards as much as 20% of Berlin’s population was French-speaking). Two other things resulted from this huge influx. Firstly, Berlin’s medieval fortifications, recently rebuilt from 1658 to 1674 in the form of a Dutch-style star fort, on an enormous scale and at great expense (and similar to examples still in extant today in the Netherlands like Naarden and Bourtange), became virtually redundant overnight; and secondly, the already crowded city became even more congested.

 

Several new districts were founded around the city's perimeter, just outside the old fortifications. The largest of these was Friedrichstadt, just south west of the historic core of Berlin, begun in 1688 and named after new Elector Frederick William III, who later became King Frederick I of Prussia. Its street layout followed the Baroque-style grid pattern much favoured at the time, and was based on two main axes: Friedrichstraße running north-south, and Leipziger Straße running east-west. All the new suburbs were absorbed into Berlin around 1709-10. In 1721-3 a south-westwards expansion of Friedrichstadt was planned under the orders of King Frederick William I, and this was completed in 1732-4 by architect Philipp Gerlach (1679–1748). In this expansion, a new north-south axis emerged: Wilhelmstrasse.

 

In 1735-7, after Friedrichstadt’s expansion was complete, a customs or excise wall, 17 km long and 4.2 m high, was erected around Berlin’s new perimeter. Consisting of a wooden palisade at first, it was later replaced with a brick and stone wall, pierced by 14 gates (later increased to 18), where roads entered the city. Here taxes were levied on goods passing through, chiefly meat and flour. The most prestigious gate was the Brandenburg Gate, for the important road from Brandenburg, but 1 km to the south was the entry point of another road that gained even greater significance.

 

This road had started out in the Middle Ages as a lane running out from Berlin to the hamlet of Schöneberg, but it had developed into part of a trading route running right across Europe from Paris to St. Petersburg via Aachen, Berlin and Königsberg. In 1660 the Elector Frederick William made it his route of choice to Potsdam, the location of his palace, which had recently been renovated. Starting in 1754 a daily stagecoach ran between Berlin and Potsdam, although the road was in poor shape. But in 1740 Frederick II had become King. Not a great lover of Berlin, he later built a new palace, the Sanssouci, at Potsdam in 1744-7, followed by the New Palace in 1763-9, so the road now had to be made fit for a King, plus all his courtiers and staff. After numerous other improvements, in 1791-3 this section was made into Prussia's first all-weather road. It later became Potsdamer Straße; its point of entry into Berlin, where it passed through the customs wall, became the Potsdamer Tor (Potsdam Gate); once inside the gate Leipziger Straße was its eastwards continuation, and Wilhelmstraße was the first north-south thoroughfare that intersected with it. It was around this gate that Potsdamer Platz was to develop.

 

As a physical entity, Potsdamer Platz began as a few country roads and rough tracks fanning out from the Potsdam Gate. According to one old guide book, it was never a proper platz, but a five-cornered traffic knot on that old trading route across Europe. Just inside the gate was a large octagonal area, created at the time of Friedrichstadt's expansion in 1732-4 and bisected by Leipziger Straß; this was one of several parade grounds for the thousands of soldiers garrisoned in Berlin at the height of the Kingdom of Prussia. Initially known appropriately as the Achteck (Octagon), on 15 September 1814 it was renamed Leipziger Platz after the site of Prussia's final decisive defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte at the Battle of Leipzig, 16–19 October 1813, which

 

brought to an end the Wars of Liberation that had been going on since 1806. The Potsdam Gate itself was redesignated the Leipziger Tor (Leipzig Gate) around the same time, but reverted to its old name a few years later.

 

The history of Leipziger Platz has been inextricably linked with that of its neighbour almost since its creation. Yet their respective stories have in many ways been very different. The future Potsdamer Platz was most definitely outside Berlin, and therefore not subject to the planning guidelines and constraints that would normally be expected in a city keen to show itself off as the capital of an empire. It grew very rapidly in a piecemeal and haphazard way, and came to epitomise wildness and excess in a manner that contributed much to its legendary status. Leipziger Platz however, was inside the city (and had a name almost a century before its neighbour did), and always had an orderly, disciplined look about it. After all, it had been planned and built all in one go by Johann Philipp Gerlach. One late 18th-century artistic depiction shows a range of buildings relentless in their uniformity. Indeed, this, together with the grid pattern of the streets, is what one would expect in Prussia’s chief garrison city. One writer of the time said that a stroll round Friedrichstadt was like walking round military barracks. In this respect the Potsdam Gate was a dividing line between two different worlds. It was not until later on that many of these buildings began to be replaced by important historical palaces and aristocratic mansions.

 

By this time however, Leipziger Platz was no longer a parade ground, and there had been much speculation about a possible complete redesign for the whole area. Back in 1797 had come the first of two proposed schemes that would have afforded the future Potsdamer Platz the appearance of a proper square. Under both schemes the old rural intersection just outside the Potsdam Gate, and the Octagon (Leipziger Platz) just inside, were to be joined together to create a long rectangular space, with a gargantuan edifice standing in the middle of it. The 1797 scheme came from the renowned Prussian architect Friedrich David Gilly (1772–1800), who proposed a monument to the former Prussian King, Friedrich II. Though containing some Egyptian and French neo-Classicist features, the design was basically a huge Greek temple in the Doric style, loosely modelled on the Parthenon in Athens, though raised up on an enormous geometric plinth and flanked by numerous obelisks (the Egyptian element). A grand new Potsdam Gate formed part of the design. It was never built, but eighteen years later in 1815 Gilly's pupil, Karl Friedrich Schinkel (1781–1841), put forward plans for a National Memorial Cathedral to commemorate the recent victories in the Wars ofLiberation. To be known as the Residenzkirche, it was again, never built due to lack of funds, and in any case the national fervour of the period favoured the long-awaited completion of Cologne Cathedral over a new building, but Schinkel went on to become one of the most prolific and celebrated architects of his time.

 

So the layout stayed put, although in 1823-4 Schinkel did get to rebuild the Potsdam Gate. Formerly little more than a gap in the customs wall, it was replaced by a much grander affair consisting of two matching Doric-style stone gate-houses, like little temples (a nod to Friedrich Gilly perhaps), facing each other across Leipziger Straße. The one on the north side served as the customs house and excise collection point, while its southern counterpart was a military guardhouse, set up to prevent desertions of Prussian soldiers, which had become a major problem. The new gate was officially dedicated on 23 August 1824. The design also included a new look for Leipziger Platz. Attempts to create a market there to draw off some of the frenetic commercial activity in the centre of the city had not been successful. And so Schinkel proposed to turn it into a fine garden, although this part of the design was not implemented. It was a rival plan by gardener and landscape architect Peter Joseph Lenné (1789–1866), drawn up in 1826, that went ahead in 1828 but with modifications. In later years Lenné would completely redesign the Tiergarten, a large wooded park formerly the Royal Hunting Grounds, also give his name to Lennéstraße, a thoroughfare forming part of the southern boundary of the park, very close to Potsdamer Platz, and transform a muddy ditch to the south into one of Berlin's busiest waterways, the Landwehrkanal.

 

Meanwhile, country peasantry were generally not welcome in the city, and so the gates also served to restrict access. However, the country folk were permitted to set up trading posts of their own just outside the gates, and the Potsdam Gate especially. It was hoped that this would encourage development of all the country lanes into proper roads; in turn it was hoped that these would emulate Parisian boulevards - broad, straight and magnificent, but the main intention was to enable troops to be moved quickly. Thus Potsdamer Platz was off and running.

 

It was not called that until 8 July 1831, but the area outside the Potsdam Gate began to develop in the early 19th century as a district of quiet villas, for as Berlin became even more congested, many of its richer citizens moved outside the customs wall and built spacious new homes around the trading post, along the newly developing boulevards, and around the southern edge of the Tiergarten. Initially the development was fairly piecemeal, but in 1828 this area just to the west of Potsdamer Platz, sandwiched between the Tiergarten and the north bank of the future Landwehrkanal, received Royal approval for a more orderly and purposeful metamorphosis into a residential colony of the affluent, and gradually filled with houses and villas of a particularly palatial nature. These became the homes of civil servants, officers, bankers, artists and politicians among others, and earned the area the nickname "Millionaires' Quarter" although its official designation was Friedrichvorstadt (Friedrich's Suburb), or alternatively the Tiergartenviertel (Tiergarten Quarter).

 

Many of the properties in the neighbourhood were the work of architect Georg Friedrich Heinrich Hitzig (1811–81), a pupil of Schinkel who also built the original "English Embassy" in Leipziger Platz, where the vast Wertheim department store would later stand, although Friedrichvorstadt's focal point and most notable building was the work of another architect—and another pupil of Schinkel. The Matthiaskirche (St. Matthew's Church), built in 1844-6, was an Italian Romanesque-style building in alternating bands of red and yellow brick, and designed by Friedrich August Stüler (1800–65). This church, one of fewer than half a dozen surviving pre-World War II buildings in the entire area, forms the centrepiece of today's Kulturforum (Cultural Forum).

 

Meanwhile, many of the Huguenots fleeing religious persecution in France, and their descendants, had also been living around the trading post and cultivating local fields. Noticing that traffic queues often built up at the Potsdam Gate due to delays in making the customs checks, these people had begun to offer coffee, bread, cakes and confectionery from their homes or from roadside stalls to travellers passing through, thus beginning the tradition of providing food and drink around the future Potsdamer Platz. In later years larger and more purpose-built establishments had begun to take their place, which in turn were superseded by even bigger and grander ones. The former district of quiet villas was by now anything but quiet: Potsdamer Platz had taken on an existence all its own whose sheer pace of life rivalled anything within the city.

 

By the mid-1860s direct taxation had made the customs wall redundant, and so in 1866–7 most of it was demolished along with all the city gates except two – the Brandenburg Gate and the Potsdam Gate. The removal of the customs wall allowed its former route to be turned into yet another road running through Potsdamer Platz, thus increasing still further the amount of traffic passing through. This road, both north and south of the platz, was named Königgrätzer Straße after the Prussian victory over Austria at the Battle of Königgrätz on 3 July 1866, in the Austro-Prussian War.

 

THE RAILWAYS ARRIVE

The railway first came to Berlin in 1838, with the opening of the Potsdamer Bahnhof, terminus of a 26 km line linking the city with Potsdam, opened throughout by 29 October (in 1848 the line would be extended to Magdeburg and beyond). Since the city authorities would not allow the new line to breach the customs wall, still standing at the time, it had to stop just short, at Potsdamer Platz, but it was this that kick-started the real transformation of the area, into the bustling focal point that Potsdamer Platz would eventually become.

 

Just three years later a second railway terminus opened in the vicinity. Located 600 metres to the southeast, with a front facade facing Askanischer Platz, the Anhalter Bahnhof was the Berlin terminus of a line opened on 1 July 1841, as far as Jüterbog and later extended to Dessau, Kothen and beyond.

 

Both termini began life as fairly modest affairs, but in order to cope with increasing demands both went on to much bigger and better things in later years, a new Potsdamer Bahnhof, destined to be Berlin's busiest station, opening on 30 August 1872 and a new Anhalter Bahnhof, destined to be the city's biggest and finest, following on 15 June 1880. This latter station benefitted greatly from the closure of a short-lived third terminus in the area – the Dresdner Bahnhof, located south of the Landwehrkanal, which lasted from 17 June 1875 until 15 October 1882.

 

In addition, a railway line once ran through Potsdamer Platz itself. This was a connecting line opened in October 1851 and running around the city just inside the customs wall, crossing numerous streets and squares at street level, and whose purpose was to allow goods to be transported between the various Berlin stations, thus creating a hated traffic obstruction that lasted for twenty years. Half a dozen or more times a day, Potsdamer Platz ground to a halt while a train of 60 to 100 wagons trundled through at walking pace preceded by a railway official ringing a bell. The construction of the Ringbahn around the city's perimeter, linked to all the major stations, allowed the connecting line to be scrapped in 1871, although the Ringbahn itself was not complete and open for all traffic until 15 November 1877.

 

In later years Potsdamer Platz was served by both of Berlin's two local rail systems. The U-Bahn arrived first, from the south; begun on 10 September 1896, it opened on 18 February 1902, with a new and better sited station being provided on 29 September 1907, and the line itself being extended north and east on 1 October 1908. In 1939 the S-Bahn followed, its North-South Link between Unter den Linden and Yorckstraße opening in stages during the year, the Potsdamer Platz S-Bahn station itself opening on 15 April.

 

By the second half of the 19th century, Berlin had been growing at a tremendous rate for some time, but its growth accelerated even faster after the city became the capital of the new German Empire on 18 January 1871. Potsdamer Platz and neighbouring Leipziger Platz really started coming into their own from this time on. Now firmly in the centre of a metropolis whose population eventually reached 4.4 million, making it the third largest city in the world after London and New York,[2] the area was ready to take on its most celebrated role. Vast hotels and department stores, hundreds of smaller shops, theatres, dance-halls, cafés, restaurants, bars, beer palaces, wine-houses and clubs, all started to appear. Some of these places became internationally known.

 

Also, a very large government presence, with many German imperial departments, Prussian state authorities and their various sub-departments, came into the area, taking over 26 former palaces and aristocratic mansions in Leipziger Platz, Leipziger Straße and Wilhelmstraße. Even the Reichstag itself, the German Parliament, occupied the former home of the family of composer Felix Mendelssohn (1809–47) in Leipziger Straße before moving in 1894 to the vast new edifice near the Brandenburg Gate, erected by Paul Wallot (1841–1912). Next door, the Herrenhaus, or Prussian House of Lords (the Upper House of the Prussian State Parliament), occupied a former porcelain factory for a while, before moving to an impressive new building erected on the site of the former Mendelssohn family home in 1899–1904 by Friedrich Schulze Colditz (1843–1912). This building backed on to an equally grand edifice in the next street (Prinz-Albrecht-Straße), also by Colditz, that had been built for the Preußischer Landtag (the Prussian Lower House), in 1892-9.

 

Potsdamer Platz was also the location of Germany's first electric street lights, installed in 1882 by the electrical giant Siemens, founded and based in the city.

 

INNERWAR YEARS

The heyday of Potsdamer Platz was in the 1920s and 1930s. By this time it had developed into the busiest traffic center in all of Europe,[1] and the heart of Berlin's nightlife.[citation needed] It had acquired an iconic status, on a par with Piccadilly Circus in London or Times Square in New York. It was a key location that helped to symbolise Berlin; it was known worldwide, and a legend grew up around it. It represented the geographical centre of the city, the meeting place of five of its busiest streets in a star-shaped intersection deemed the transport hub of the entire continent. These were:

 

Königgrätzer Straße (northern portion), earlier names Brandenburgische Communication and then Schulgartenstraße, running along the former route of the customs wall and leading north to the Brandenburg Gate. After a brief spell as Budapester Straße in the late 1920s (although this name was not widely recognised), on 6 February 1930 it was renamed Ebertstraße after Friedrich Ebert (1871–1925), first President of Weimar Germany. In 1935 the Nazis renamed it Hermann-Göring-Straße after Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring, whose official residence was on the east side of the street near the Brandenburg Gate. On 31 July 1947, it reverted to Ebertstraße again.

Königgrätzer Straße (southern portion), earlier names Potsdamer Communication and then Hirschelstraße, also running along part of the customs wall's old route, actually leading mainly south east. On 6 February 1930, it was renamed Stresemannstraße after Gustav Stresemann (1878–1929), the first Chancellor to serve under President Ebert. In 1935 the Nazis renamed it Saarlandstraße after the region of south western Germany that had been under League of Nations rule since the end of World War I but which on 13 January 1935 elected by a huge (90.3%) majority to return to Germany. On 31 July 1947, it reverted to Stresemannstraße.

Leipziger Straße, leading east.

Potsdamer Straße, developed out of that old road to Schöneberg and Potsdam, part of the former trading route across Europe, and leading south west. Today this section is called Alte Potsdamer Straße, a pedestrianised cul-de-sac severed by post-World War II developments and subsequently by-passed by a new section – the Neue Potsdamer Straße, leading due west and then curving southwards to rejoin its old course at the Potsdam Bridge, over the Landwehrkanal.

Bellevuestraße, earlier name Charlottenburger Allee, leading north west through the Tiergarten to Schloss Bellevue, today the official residence of the Federal President of Germany.

 

As well as the stations and other facilities and attractions already mentioned, in the immediate area was one of the world’s biggest and most luxurious department stores: Wertheim. Founded by German merchant Georg Wertheim (1857–1939), designed by architect Alfred Messel (1853–1909), opened in 1897 and extended several times over the following 40 years, it ultimately possessed a floor area double that of the Reichstag, a 330-metre-long granite and plate glass facade along Leipziger Straße, 83 elevators, three escalators, 1,000 telephones, 10,000 lamps, five kilometres of pneumatic tubing for moving items from the various departments to the packing area, and a separate entrance directly from the nearby U-Bahn station. It also contained a summer garden, winter garden and roof garden, an enormous restaurant and several smaller eating areas, its own laundry, a theatre and concert booking office, its own bank, whose strongrooms were underground at the eastern end of the building (and generated their own history decades later), and a large fleet of private delivery vehicles. In the run-up to Christmas Wertheim was transformed into a fairytale kingdom, and was well known to children from all over Germany and far beyond. In Stresemannstraße, and paralleling the Potsdamer Bahnhof on its eastern side, was another great magnet for shoppers and tourists alike – a huge multi-national-themed eating establishment: the Haus Vaterland. Designed by architect Franz Heinrich Schwechten (1841–1924), who was also responsible for the Anhalter Bahnhof and the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, it was erected in 1911-12 as the Haus Potsdam. 93 m in length and with a dome rising 35 m above the pavement at the north (Stresemannstraße) end, it contained the world’s largest restaurant – the 2,500-seat Café Piccadilly, plus a 1,200-seat theatre and numerous offices. These included (from 1917 to 1927), the headquarters of Universum Film AG (aka UFA or Ufa), Germany's biggest film company.

 

On 16 August 1914, less than three weeks after the start of World War I, the Café Piccadilly was given a new name – the more patriotic-sounding Café Vaterland. However, in 1927–8 the architect and entrepreneur Carl Stahl-Urach (1879–1933) transformed the whole building into a gastronomic fantasy land, financed and further elaborated upon by new owners the Kempinski organisation. It reopened on 31 August 1928 as the Haus Vaterland, offering "The World in One House," and could now hold up to 8,000 guests at a time. The Café Vaterland had remained largely untouched, but the 1,200-seat theatre was now a 1,400-seat cinema. The rest of the building had been turned into a large number of theme restaurants, all served from a central kitchen containing the largest gas-fuelled cooking plant in Europe. These included: Rheinterrasse, Löwenbräu (Bavarian beer restaurant), Grinzing (Viennese café and wine bar), Bodega (Spanish winery), Csarda (Hungarian), Wild West Bar (aka the Arizona Bar) (American), Osteria (Italian), Kombüse (Bremen drinking den – literally "galley"), Rübchen (Teltow, named after the well-known turnip dish Teltower Rübchen, made with turnips grown locally in the small town of Teltow just outside Berlin), plus a Turkish cafe and Japanese tearoom; additionally there was a large ballroom. Up to eight orchestras and dance bands regularly performed in different parts of the building, plus a host of singers, dancers and other entertainers. It should be pointed out here though that not all of these attractions existed simultaneously, owing to changes in those countries that Germany was or was not allied to, in the volatile years leading up to and during World War II, a good example being the closure of the Wild West Bar following America's entry into the war as an enemy of Germany.

 

Among the major hotels at or near Potsdamer Platz were two designed by the same architect, Otto Rehnig (1864–1925), and opened in the same year, 1908. One was the 600-room Hotel Esplanade (sometimes known as the "Grand Hotel Esplanade"), in Bellevuestraße. Charlie Chaplin and Greta Garbo were guests there, and Kaiser Wilhelm II himself held regular "gentlemen's evenings" and other functions there in a room that came to be named after him – the Kaisersaal.

 

The other was the Hotel Excelsior, also 600 rooms but superior provision of other facilities made it the largest hotel in Continental Europe, located in Stresemannstraße opposite the Anhalter Bahnhof and connected to it by a 100-metre-long subterranean passageway complete with a parade of underground shops.

 

Two other hotels which shared the same architect, in this case Ludwig Heim (1844–1917), were the 68-room Hotel Bellevue (sometimes known as the "Grand Hotel Bellevue"), built 1887-8, and the 110-room Palast Hotel, built 1892-3 on the site of an earlier hotel. These stood on either side of the northern exit from Potsdamer Platz along Ebertstraße. The Bellevue was well known for its Winter Garden.

 

Meanwhile, facing the Palast Hotel across the entrance to Leipziger Platz (the Potsdam Gate), was the 400-room Hotel Fürstenhof, by Richard Bielenberg (1871–1929) and Josef Moser (1872–1963), erected in 1906/07, also on the site of an earlier building. With its 200-metre-long main facade along Stresemannstraße, the Fürstenhof was less opulent than some of the other hotels mentioned, despite its size, but was still popular with business people. The new U-Bahn station was being built at the same time as the hotel and actually ran through the hotel's basement, cutting it in half, thus making the construction of both into something of a technical challenge, but unlike the Wertheim department store (and contrary to several sources), the hotel did not enjoy a separate entrance directly from the station.

 

The Weinhaus Huth, with its distinctive corner cupola, was a wedge-shaped structure located in the angle between Potsdamer Straße and Linkstraße (literally "Left Street"), and with entrances in both streets. Wine merchant Friedrich Karl Christian Huth, whose great-grandfather had been kellermeister (cellar-master) to King Friedrich II back in 1769, had founded the firm in 1871 and taken over the former building in Potsdamer Straße on 23 March 1877. His son, the wine wholesale dealer William (“Willy”) Huth (1877–1967), took over the business in 1904 and, a few years later, commissioned the replacement of the building by a new one on the same site. Running right through the block into Linkstraße, this new Weinhaus Huth was designed by the architects Conrad Heidenreich (1873–1937) and Paul Michel (1877–1938), and opened on 2 October 1912, and contained a wine restaurant on the ground floor, and wine storage space above, so it had to take a lot of weight. It was thus given a strong steel skeleton, which would stand the building in very good stead some three decades after its completion. Famous for its fine claret, numerous members of European society were made welcome there as guests. A total of 15 chefs were employed there, and Alois Hitler, the stepbrother of the future Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler, was a waiter there in the 1920s, before he opened his own restaurant and hotel at Wittenbergplatz, in the western part of the city.

 

Café Josty was one of two rival cafés (the other being the Astoria, later Café Eins A), occupying the broad corner between Potsdamer Straße and Bellevuestraße. The Josty company had been founded in 1793 by two Swiss brothers, Johann and Daniel Josty, who had emigrated to Berlin from Sils in Switzerland and set up a bakery from which the café was a 1796 offshoot. It had occupied various locations including (from 1812 till 1880), a site in front of the Berlin City Palace, before moving to Potsdamer Platz in the latter year. A major player on the Berlin café scene, Josty attracted writers, artists, politicians and international society: it was one of the places to be seen. The writer Theodor Fontane, painter Adolf von Menzel, and Dadaist Kurt Schwitters were all guests; Karl Liebknecht, the Spartacus Communist movement leader read a lot here and even made some key political speeches from the pavement terrace, while author Erich Kästner wrote part of his 1929 bestseller for children, Emil und die Detektive (Emil and the Detectives), on the same terrace and made the café the setting for an important scene in the book.

 

Despite the prestige associated with its name, Café Josty closed in 1930. It then went through an odyssey of reopenings, closures and relaunches under a number of different names including Conditorei Friediger, Café Wiener, Engelhardt Brau and Kaffee Potsdamer Platz (sometimes appearing to have two or more names simultaneously), before its eventual destruction in World War II.

 

Among the many beer palaces around Potsdamer Platz were two in particular which contained an extensive range of rooms and halls covering a large area. The Alt-Bayern in Potsdamer Straße was erected by architect Wilhelm Walther (1857–1917) and opened in 1904. After closing in 1914, it underwent a revamp before reopening in 1926 under the new name Bayernhof.

 

Meanwhile, in Bellevuestraße, sandwiched between Café Josty and the Hotel Esplanade but extending right through the block with a separate entrance in Potsdamer Straße, was the Weinhaus Rheingold, built by Bruno Schmitz (1858–1916) and opened on 6 February 1907. Originally intended to be a concert venue until concerns were raised about increased traffic problems in the already congested streets, it was ruled that it should serve a gastronomic purpose only. Altogether it could accommodate 4,000 guests at a time, 1,100 of these in its main hall alone. Many of the total of 14 banquet and beer halls had a Wagnerian theme – indeed, the very name of the complex was taken from the Wagner opera Das Rheingold, the first of the four parts of the cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen, although this name did hark back to the building's planned former role as a concert venue. Another building by the same architect but which still stands – the "Rosengarten" in Mannheim, has a remarkably similar main facade.

 

Finally, on the corner between Potsdamer Straße and the Potsdamer Bahnhof, stood Bierhaus Siechen, built by Johann Emil Schaudt (1874–1957), opened in 1910 and later relaunched under the new name Pschorr-Haus.

 

At 8.00 p.m. on 8 October 1923, Germany's first radio broadcast was made, using the world's first medium-wave transmitter, from a building (Vox-Haus) close by in Potsdamer Straße. Standing alongside the Weinhaus Rheingold's Potsdamer Straße entrance, this five-storey steel-framed edifice had been erected as an office building in 1907-8 by architect and one-time Berlin inspector of buildings Otto Stahn (1859–1930), who was also responsible for the city's Oberbaumbrücke over the River Spree. In 1920 the Vox-group had taken over the building and the following year commissioned its remodelling by Swiss architect Rudolf Otto Salvisberg (1882–1940), and then erected two transmitting antennae. Despite several upgrades between December 1923 and July 1924, the nearby Hotel Esplanade's formidable bulk prevented the transmitter from functioning effectively and so in December 1924 it was superseded by a better sited new one, but Vox-Haus lived on as the home of Germany's first radio station, Radiostunde Berlin, founded in 1923, renamed Funkstunde in March 1924, but it moved to a new home in 1931 and closed in 1934.

 

In addition, the former Millionaires' Quarter just to the west of Potsdamer Platz had become a much favoured location for other countries to site their embassies. By the early 1930s there were so many diplomats living and working in the area that it came to be redesignated the "Diplomatic Quarter". By 1938, 37 out of 52 embassies and legations in Berlin, and 28 out of 29 consulates, were situated here.

 

Although a contraption at Stephansplatz in Hamburg is now thought to have predated them by two years, it has often been stated that the first traffic lights in Continental Europe were erected at Potsdamer Platz on 20 October 1924, in an attempt to control the sheer volume of traffic passing through. This traffic had grown to extraordinary levels. Even in 1900, more than 100,000 people, 20,000 cars, horse-drawn vehicles and handcarts, plus many thousands of bicycles, passed through the platz daily. By the 1920s the number of cars had soared to 60,000. The trams added greatly to this. The first four lines had appeared in 1880, rising to 13 by 1897, all horse-drawn, but after electrification between 1898 and 1902 the number of lines had soared to 35 by 1908 and ultimately reached 40, carrying between them 600 trams every hour, day and night. Services were run by a large number of companies, but in 1929 all these were unified into the Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe (Berlin Transport Services) company, which has operated Berlin’s trams ever since.

 

Up to 11 policemen at a time had tried to control all this traffic, many of them standing on small wooden platforms positioned in key locations around the platz, but with varying success. The traffic lights, again from Siemens, were mounted on a five-sided 8.5 m high tower designed by Jean Kramer, shipped over from the United States, and actually modelled on a similar one erected on Fifth Avenue in New York in 1922, although towers like this had been a feature of New York since 1918. A solitary policeman sat in a small cabin at the top of the tower and switched the lights around manually, until they were eventually automated in 1926. Yet some officers still remained on the ground in case people did not pay any attention to the lights. The tower remained until c.1936, when it was removed to allow for excavations for the new S-Bahn line (on 26 September 1997, a replica of the tower was erected, just for show, close to its original location by Siemens, to celebrate the company's 150th anniversary. The replica was moved again on 29 September 2000, to the place where it stands today).

 

The traffic problems that had blighted Potsdamer Platz for decades continued to be a big headache, despite the new lights, and these led to a strong desire to solve them once and for all. By now Berlin was a major centre of innovation in many different fields including architecture. In addition, the city’s colossal pace of change (compared by some to that of Chicago[4]), had caused its chief planner, Martin Wagner (1885–1957), to foresee the entire centre being made over totally as often as every 25 years.[4] These factors combined to produce some far more radical and futuristic plans for Potsdamer Platz in the late 1920s and early 1930s, especially around 1928-9, when the creative fervour was at its peak. On the cards was an almost total redevelopment of the area. One design submitted by Wagner himself comprised an array of gleaming new buildings arranged around a vast multi-level system of fly-overs and underpasses, with a huge glass-roofed circular car-park in the middle. Unfortunately the worldwide Great Depression of the time, triggered by the Wall Street Crash of 1929, meant that most of the plans remained on the drawing board. However, in Germany this depression was virtually a continuation of an economic morass that had blighted the country since the end of World War I, partly the result of the war reparations the country had been made to pay, and this morass had brought about the closure and demolition of the Grand Hotel Belle Vue, on the corner of Bellevuestraße and Königgrätzer Straße, thus enabling one revolutionary new building to struggle through to reality despite considerable financial odds.

 

Columbushaus was the result of a plan by the French retail company Les Galeries Lafayette, whose flagship store was the legendary Galeries Lafayette in Paris, to open a counterpart in Berlin, on the Grand Hotel Belle Vue's former site, but financial worries made them pull out. Undaunted, the architect, Erich Mendelsohn (1887–1953), erected vast advertising boards around the perimeter of the site, and the revenue generated by these enabled him to proceed with the development anyway. Columbushaus was a ten-storey ultra-modern office building, years ahead of its time, containing Germany's first artificial ventilation system, and whose elegance and clean lines won it much praise. However, despite a Woolworths store on its ground floor, a major travel company housed on the floor above, and a restaurant offering fine views over the city from the top floor, the economic situation of the time meant that it would not be followed by more buildings in that vein: no further redevelopment in the immediate vicinity of Potsdamer Platz occurred prior to World War II, and so Columbushaus would always seem out of place in that location. Nevertheless, its exact position showed that the platz was starting to be opened out: the former hotel had mostly stood on a large flagged area laid out in front of it, indicating that the new building curved away from the existing street line; this would have enabled future street widening to take place.

 

HITLER AND GERMANIA PLANS

Columbushaus was completed and opened in January 1933, the same month that the Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler (1889–1945) came to power. Hitler had big plans for Berlin, to transform it into the Welthauptstadt (World Capital) Germania, to be realised by his architect friend Albert Speer (1905–81). Under these plans the immediate vicinity of Potsdamer Platz would have got off fairly lightly, although the Potsdamer Bahnhof (and the Anhalter Bahnhof a short distance away) would have lost their function. The new North-South Axis, the linchpin of the scheme, would have severed their approach tracks, leaving both termini stranded on the wrong side of it. All trains arriving in Berlin would have run into either of two vast new stations located on the Ringbahn to the north and south of the centre respectively, to be known as Nordbahnhof (North Station) and Südbahnhof (South Station), located at Wedding and Südkreuz. In Speer's plan the former Anhalter Bahnhof was earmarked to become a public swimming pool; the intended fate of the Potsdamer Bahnhof has not been documented.

 

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my friends hit me up in need of new promos for their press kit send offs. so we met up and drove off to one of the most rural areas we could find right next to a haunted bridge if i may add, and we shot a natural light set and when i realized how much light was left i set up a strobe and shot the rest. then we ate taco bell and talked about the movie serbian tale and human centipede.

 

Strobist

-ab1600 into boomed bd socked left

 

5d mrk ii

35mm f1.4 usm L

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ALL IMAGES ©OPYWRITTEN BY Evan Dell Photography NONE ARE TO BE USED WITHOUT MY PERMISSION

Ahmedabad; also known as Amdavad Gujarati pronunciation: [ˈəmdɑːvɑːd]) is the largest city and former capital of Gujarat. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ahmedabad district and the seat of the Gujarat High Court. With a population of more than 6.3 million and an extended population of 7.2 million, it is the sixth largest city and seventh largest metropolitan area of India. Ahmedabad is located on the banks of the Sabarmati River, 30 km from the state capital Gandhinagar.

 

Ahmedabad has emerged as an important economic and industrial hub in India. It is the second largest producer of cotton in India, and its stock exchange is the country's second oldest. Cricket is a popular sport in Ahmedabad, which houses the 54,000-seat Sardar Patel Stadium. The effects of liberalisation of the Indian economy have energised the city's economy towards tertiary sector activities like commerce, communication and construction. Ahmedabad's increasing population has resulted in an increase in the construction and housing industries resulting in recent development of skyscrapers.

 

In 2010, it was ranked third in Forbes's list of fastest growing cities of the decade. In 2012, The Times of India chose Ahmedabad as the best city to live in in India. As of 2014, Ahmedabad's estimated gross domestic product was $119 billion.

 

HISTORY

The area around Ahmedabad has been inhabited since the 11th century, when it was known as Ashaval (or Ashapalli). At that time, Karandev I, the Solanki ruler of Anhilwara (modern Patan), waged a successful war against the Bhil king of Ashaval, and established a city called Karnavati on the banks of the Sabarmati. Solanki rule lasted until the 13th century, when Gujarat came under the control of the Vaghela dynasty of Dholka. Gujarat subsequently came under the control of the Delhi Sultanate in the 14th century. However, by the earlier 15th century, the local governor Zafar Khan Muzaffar established his independence from the Delhi Sultanate and crowned himself Sultan of Gujarat as Muzaffar Shah I, thereby founding the Muzaffarid dynasty. This area finally came under the control of his grandson Sultan Ahmed Shah in 1411 A.D. who while at the banks of Sabarmati liked the forested area for a new capital city and laid the foundation of a new walled city near Karnavati and named it Ahmedabad after the four saints in the area by the name Ahmed. According to other sources, he named it after himself. It is said that the birthday of Ahmedabad city is February 26, 1412.

 

In 1487, Mahmud Begada, the grandson of Ahmed Shah, fortified the city with an outer wall 10 km in circumference and consisting of twelve gates, 189 bastions and over 6,000 battlements. In 1535 Humayun briefly occupied Ahmedabad after capturing Champaner when the ruler of Gujarat, Bahadur Shah, fled to Diu. Ahmedabad was then reoccupied by the Muzaffarid dynasty until 1573 when Gujarat was conquered by the Mughal emperor Akbar. During the Mughal reign, Ahmedabad became one of the Empire's thriving centres of trade, mainly in textiles, which were exported as far as Europe. The Mughal ruler Shahjahan spent the prime of his life in the city, sponsoring the construction of the Moti Shahi Mahal in Shahibaug. The Deccan Famine of 1630–32 affected the city, as did famines in 1650 and 1686. Ahmedabad remained the provincial headquarters of the Mughals until 1758, when they surrendered the city to the Marathas.

 

During the period of Maratha Empire governance, the city became the centre of a conflict between two Maratha clans; the Peshwa of Poona and the Gaekwad of Baroda. In 1780, during the First Anglo-Maratha War, a British force under James Hartley stormed and captured Ahmedabad, but it was handed back to the Marathas at the end of the war. The British East India Company took over the city in 1818 during the Third Anglo-Maratha War. A military cantonment was established in 1824 and a municipal government in 1858.[16] Incorporated into the Bombay Presidency during British rule, Ahmedabad became one of the most important cities in the Gujarat region. In 1864, a railway link between Ahmedabad and Mumbai (then Bombay) was established by the Bombay, Baroda, and Central India Railway (BB&CI), enabling traffic and trade between northern and southern India via the city. Over time, the city established itself as the home of a developing textile industry, which earned it the nickname "Manchester of the East".

 

The Indian independence movement developed roots in the city when Mahatma Gandhi established two ashrams – the Kochrab Ashram near Paldi in 1915 and the Satyagraha Ashram (now Sabarmati Ashram) on the banks of the Sabarmati in 1917 – which would become centres of nationalist activities. During the mass protests against the Rowlatt Act in 1919, textile workers burned down 51 government buildings across the city in protest at a British attempt to extend wartime regulations after the First World War. In the 1920s, textile workers and teachers went on strike, demanding civil rights and better pay and working conditions. In 1930, Gandhi initiated the Salt Satyagraha from Ahmedabad by embarking from his ashram on the Dandi Salt March. The city's administration and economic institutions were rendered inoperative in the early 1930s by the large numbers of people who took to the streets in peaceful protests, and again in 1942 during the Quit India Movement. Following independence and the partition of India in 1947, the city was scarred by the intense communal violence that broke out between Hindus and Muslims in 1947, Ahmedabad was the focus for settlement by Hindu migrants from Pakistan, who expanded the city's population and transformed its demographics and economy.

 

By 1960, Ahmedabad had become a metropolis with a population of slightly under half a million people, with classical and colonial European-style buildings lining the city's thoroughfares. It was chosen as the capital of Gujarat state after the partition of the State of Bombay on 1 May 1960. During this period, a large number of educational and research institutions were founded in the city, making it a centre for higher education, science and technology. Ahmedabad's economic base became more diverse with the establishment of heavy and chemical industry during the same period. Many countries sought to emulate India's economic planning strategy and one of them, South Korea, copied the city's second "Five-Year Plan".

 

In the late 1970s, the capital shifted to the newly built, well planned city of Gandhinagar. This marked the start of a long period of decline in the city, marked by a lack of development. The 1974 Nav Nirman agitation – a protest against a 20% hike in the hostel food fees at the L.D. College of Engineering in Ahmedabad – snowballed into a movement to remove Chimanbhai Patel, then chief minister of Gujarat. In the 1980s, a reservation policy was introduced in the country, which led to anti-reservation protests in 1981 and 1985. The protests witnessed violent clashes between people belonging to various castes. The city suffered some of the impact of the 2001 Gujarat earthquake; up to 50 multi-storey buildings collapsed, killing 752 people and causing much damage. The following year, a three-day period of violence between Hindus and Muslims in the western Indian state of Gujarat, known as the 2002 Gujarat riots, spread to Ahmedabad; refugee camps were set up around the city.

 

The 2008 Ahmedabad bombings, a series of seventeen bomb blasts, killed and injured several people.[34] Militant group Harkat-ul-Jihad claimed responsibility for the attacks.

 

CITYSCAPE

Early in Ahmedabad's history, under Ahmed Shah, builders fused Hindu craftsmanship with Persian architecture, giving rise to the Indo-Saracenic style. Many mosques in the city were built in this fashion. Sidi Saiyyed Mosque was built in the last year of the Sultanate of Gujarat. It is entirely arched and has ten stone latticework windows or jali on the side and rear arches. Private mansions or haveli from this era have carvings. A Pol is a typical housing cluster of Old Ahmedabad.

 

After independence, modern buildings appeared in Ahmedabad. Architects given commissions in the city included Louis Kahn, who designed the IIM-A; Le Corbusier, who designed the Shodhan and Sarabhai Villas, the Sanskar Kendra and the Mill Owner's Association Building, and Frank Lloyd Wright, who designed the administrative building of Calico Mills and the Calico Dome. B. V. Doshi came to the city from Paris to supervise Le Corbusier's works and later set up the School of Architecture. His local works include Sangath, Amdavad ni Gufa and the School of Architecture. Charles Correa, who became a partner of Doshi's, designed the Gandhi Ashram and Achyut Kanvinde, and the Indian Textile Industries Research Association. Christopher Charles Benninger's first work, the Alliance Française, is located in the Ellis Bridge area. Anant Raje designed major additions to Louis Kahn's IIM-A campus, namely the Ravi Mathai Auditorium and KLMD.

 

Some of the most visited gardens in the city include Law Garden, Victoria Garden and Bal Vatika. Law Garden was named after the College of Law situated close to it. Victoria Garden is located at the southern edge of the Bhadra Fort and contains a statue of Queen Victoria. Bal Vatika is a children's park situated on the grounds of Kankaria Lake and also houses an amusement park. Other gardens in the city include Parimal Garden, Usmanpura Garden, Prahlad Nagar Garden and Lal Darwaja Garden. Ahmedabad's Kamla Nehru Zoological Park houses a number of endangered species including flamingoes, caracals, Asiatic wolves and chinkara.

 

The Kankaria Lake, built in 1451 AD, is one of the biggest lakes in Ahmedabad. In earlier days, it was known by the name Qutub Hoj or Hauj-e-Kutub. Vastrapur Lake is located in the western part of Ahmedabad. Lal Bahadur Shastri lake in Bapunagar is almost 136,000 square metres. In 2010, another 34 lakes were planned in and around Ahmedabad of which five lakes will be developed by AMC; the other 29 will be developed by the Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority (AUDA). Chandola Lake covers an area of 1200 hectares. It is home for cormorants, painted storks and spoonbills. During the evening time, many people visit this place and take a leisurely stroll. There is a recently developed Naroda lake and the world's largest collection of antique cars in KathWada at IB farm (Dastan Farm). AMC has also developed the Sabarmati Riverfront.

 

DEMOGRAPHICS

Ahmedabad is the fifth largest city and seventh largest metropolitan area in India. According to the 2014 census the population of Ahmedabad metropolitan was 7,250,000. Ahmedabad has a literacy rate of 89.62%; 93.96% of the men and 84.81% of the women are literate. Ahmedabad's sex ratio in 2011 was 897 women per 1000 men. According to the census for the Ninth Plan, there are 30,737 rural families living in Ahmedabad. Of those, 5.41% (1663 families) live below the poverty line. Approximately 440,000 people live in slums within the city. Ahmedabad is home to a large population of Vanias (i.e., traders), belonging to the Vaishnava sect of Hinduism and various sects of Jainism. Most of the residents of Ahmedabad are native Gujaratis. Over 18% of the population is Muslim, numbering over 300,000 in the 2001 census. In addition, the city is home to some 2000 Parsis and some 125 members of the Bene Israel Jewish community. There is also one synagogue in the city. In 2008, there were 2273 registered non-resident Indians living in Ahmedabad.In 2010, Forbes magazine rated Ahmedabad as the fastest-growing city in India, and listed it as third fastest-growing in the world after the Chinese cities of Chengdu and Chongqing. In 2011, it was rated India's best megacity to live in by leading market research firm IMRB. According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report of 2003, Ahmedabad has the lowest crime rate of the 35 Indian cities with a population of more than one million. In December 2011 market research firm IMRB declared Ahmedabad the best megacity to live in, when compared to India's other megacities. Slightly less than half of all real estate in Ahmedabad is owned by "community organisations" (i.e. cooperatives), and according to Prof. Vrajlal Sapovadia of the B.K. School of Business Management, "the spatial growth of the city is to [an] extent [a] contribution of these organisations". Ahmedabad Cantonment provides residential zones for Indian Army officials.

 

CULTURE

Ahmedabad observes a wide range of festivals. Popular celebrations and observances include Uttarayan, an annual kite-flying day on 14 and 15 January. Nine nights of Navratri are celebrated with people performing Garba, the most popular folk dance of Gujarat, at venues across the city. The festival of lights, Deepavali, is celebrated with the lighting of lamps in every house, decorating the floors with rangoli, and the lighting of firecrackers. The annual Rath Yatra procession on the Ashadh-sud-bij date of the Hindu calendar at the Jagannath Temple and the procession of Tajia during the Muslim holy month of Muharram are important events.

 

One of the most popular forms of meal in Ahmedabad is a typical Gujarati thali which was first served commercially by Chandvilas Hotel in 1900. It consists of roti (Chapati), dal, rice and shaak (cooked vegetables, sometimes with curry), with accompaniments of pickles and roasted papads. Beverages include buttermilk and tea; sweet dishes include laddoo, mango, and vedhmi. Dhoklas, theplas and dhebras are also very popular dishes in Ahmedabad.

 

There are many restaurants, which serve a wide array of Indian and international cuisines. Most of the food outlets serve only vegetarian food, as a strong tradition of vegetarianism is maintained by the city's Jain and Hindu communities. The first all-vegetarian Pizza Hut in the world opened in Ahmedabad. KFC has a separate staff uniform for serving vegetarian items and prepares vegetarian food in a separate kitchen, as does McDonald's. Ahmedabad has a quite a few restaurants serving typical Mughlai non-vegetarian food in older areas like Bhatiyar Gali, Kalupur and Jamalpur.

 

Manek Chowk is an open square near the centre of the city that functions as a vegetable market in the morning and a jewellery market in the afternoon. However, it is better known for its food stalls in the evening, which sell local street food. It is named after the Hindu saint Baba Maneknath. Parts of Ahmedabad are known for their folk art. The artisans of Rangeela pol make tie-dyed bandhinis, while the cobbler shops of Madhupura sell traditional mojdi (also known as mojri) footwear. Idols of Ganesha and other religious icons are made in huge numbers in the Gulbai Tekra area. The shops at the Law Garden sell mirror work handicraft.

 

Three main literary institutions were established in Ahmedabad for the promotion of Gujarati literature: Gujarat Vidhya Sabha, Gujarati Sahitya Parishad and Gujarat Sahitya Sabha. Saptak School of Music festival is held in the first week of the new year. This event was inaugurated by Ravi Shankar.

 

The Sanskar Kendra, one of the several buildings in Ahmedabad designed by Le Corbusier, is a city museum depicting its history, art, culture and architecture. The Gandhi Smarak Sangrahalaya and the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Memorial have permanent displays of photographs, documents and other articles relating to Mahatma Gandhi and Sardar Patel. The Calico Museum of Textiles has a large collection of Indian and international fabrics, garments and textiles. The Hazrat Pir Mohammad Shah Library has a collection of rare original manuscripts in Arabic, Persian, Urdu, Sindhi and Turkish. There is Vechaar Utensils Museum which has of stainless steel, glass, brass, copper, bronze, zinc and German silver tools.

 

Shreyas Foundation has four museums on the same campus. Shreyas Folk Museum (Lokayatan Museum) has art forms and artefacts from communities of Gujarat. Kalpana Mangaldas Children's Museum has a collection of toys, puppets, dance and drama costumes, coins and a repository of recorded music from traditional shows from all over the world. Kahani houses photographs of fairs and festivals of Gujarat. Sangeeta Vadyakhand is a gallery of musical instruments from India and other countries.

 

L D Institute of Indology houses about 76,000 hand-written Jain manuscripts with 500 illustrated versions and 45,000 printed books, making it the largest collection of Jain scripts, Indian sculptures, terracottas, miniature paintings, cloth paintings, painted scrolls, bronzes, woodwork, Indian coins, textiles and decorative art, paintings of Rabindranath Tagore and art of Nepal and Tibet. N C Mehta Gallery of Miniature Paintings has a collection of ornate miniature paintings and manuscripts from all over India.

 

TRANSPORT

Ahmedabad is one of six operating divisions in the Western Railway zone. Railway lines connect the city to towns in Gujarat and major Indian cities. Ahmedabad railway station, locally known as Kalupur station is the main terminus with 11 others. The Government of Gujarat and Ahmedabad Mahanagar Sevasadan had initiated a feasibility study into the possibility of a mass-transit metro system for the cities of Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar. The state government set up a ₹2 billion company for the execution of the project.

 

National Highway 8, linking Delhi to Mumbai, passes though Ahmedabad and connects it with Gandhinagar, Delhi and Mumbai. The National Highway 8C also links Ahmedabad to Gandhinagar. It is connected to Vadodara through National Expressway 1, a 94 km long expressway with two exits. This expressway is part of the Golden Quadrilateral project.

 

In 2001, Ahmedabad was ranked as the most polluted city in India, out of 85 cities, by the Central Pollution Control Board. The Gujarat Pollution Control Board gave auto rickshaw drivers an incentive of ₹10,000 to convert all 37,733 auto rickshaws in Ahmedabad to cleaner burning compressed natural gas to reduce pollution. As a result, in 2008, Ahmedabad was ranked as 50th most polluted city in India.

Ahmedabad has a Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS), maintained by the Ahmedabad Janmarg Limited (AJL). Ahmedabad BRTS was given the Sustainable Transport Award in 2010 by the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy for reducing carbon emissions and improving residents' access. The first phase connecting RTO to Pirana was inaugurated by Chief Minister Narendra Modi on 14 October 2009 and the second half of the first phase connecting Chandranagar to Pushpa Kunj gate at Kankaria

 

was inaugurated on 25 December 2009. It is extended from Shivranjani to Iskcon Temple on 15 September 2012. On 28 September 2012 it also include the sketch from Soni ni Chali to Odhav. Ahmedabad Municipal Transport Service (also known as AMTS), maintained by Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation, runs the public bus service in the city of Ahmedabad. At present, AMTS has 750 buses serving the city.

 

Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport, 15 km from the city centre, provides domestic and international flights. It is the busiest airport in Gujarat and the eighth busiest in India with an average of 250 aircraft movements a day. The Dholera International Airport is proposed near Fedara. It will be the largest airport in India with a total area of 7,500 hectares.

 

EDUCATION

Ahmedabad had a literacy rate of 79.89% in 2001 which rose to 89.62 percent in 2011. As of 2011, literacy rate among male and female were 93.96 and 84.81 percent respectively. Schools in Ahmedabad are run either by the municipal corporation, or privately by entities, trusts and corporations. The majority of schools are affiliated with the Gujarat Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board, although some are affiliated with the Central Board for Secondary Education, Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations, International Baccalaureate and National Institute of Open School. A large number of colleges in the city are affiliated with Gujarat University; Gujarat Technological University and other deemed universities in Ahmedabad include the Center for Environmental Planning and Technology University, Nirma University of Science & Technology, Centre for Heritage Management Ganpat university and the Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Open University. The Gujarat Vidyapith was established in 1920 by Mahatma Gandhi without a charter from the British Raj and became a deemed university in 1963.

 

Other educational institutions in Ahmedabad include the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, the Gujarat National Law University, the Adani Institute of Infrastructure Management, the National Institute of Design, the Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University, the Mudra Institute of Communications, the Ahmedabad University, the Center for environmental planning and technology, the Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India, the B.J. Medical College, the NHL Medical College, the Ahmedabad Management Association, the L.D. College of Engineering and the Vishwakarma Government Engineering College. Many national academic and scientific institutions, such as the Physical Research Laboratory and the Indian Space Research Organisation are also based in the city.

 

WIKIPEDIA

How exactly to Increase Skills for Sixth-Graders t.co/l5UcnVTBrZ #acn (via Twitter twitter.com/AgenciaCN/status/801928367905865730)

Police guarding the entrance to the Israeli embassy stand behind fortified crowd barriers.

 

"Protest for Palestine" at Israeli embassy as violence increases in East Jerusalem: London 17/10/2015

 

Following weeks of escalating violence in Israel since the provocative invasion by armed Israeli jews and soldiers into the Al Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem - a tactic used several times in the past by the right-wing Likud party around election time guaranteed to inflame tensions and spark violence - which has since resulted in many violent, tragic deaths and tit-for-tat revenge attacks, a large crowd of London-based pro-Palestinian campaigners protested outside the Israeli embassy calling for the Israeli government to stop their provocation

 

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Title: "The Corn Parade"

Artist: Orr C. Fisher

Year: 1941

It is an oil on canvas. I really love this one.

Designated by Arcturus Munitions in 2045, the AR440 ESCR is a powerful rifle commonly used by the SWAT engagement division of the New York High Police Section, as well as the United Democratic Republic of North America's own International Counter-Terrorism Service.

 

The ESCR fires a 6.15mm caseless high-explosive electrochemical rounds designed to impact targets with maximum accuracy and linear, precise shots. The AR440 uses the experimental Pearce barrel for battlefield/service operation. The ESCR uses a bolt-auto action system, in which the weapon can be fired on automatic, and subsequently have the bolt charged back multiple times after firing. It can also be converted to a single charge-after fire mode. The ESCR uses a 10-round magazine in a bullpup configuration, and utilizes a Titan R50 optional vision sight capable of 230x tri-magnification.

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Remember that carbine WIP? This was it. Please do view and comment!

"Bay Area homes: As mortgage rates increase, how much more will ... - The Mercury News" t.co/6wfs2L7JXg (via Twitter twitter.com/downpaymentaz/status/814687248377671681)

The Welsh Government and Government of Lesotho have set out to increase gender equality in Lesotho.

 

Pictured. Reportage. Lesotho scenic landscape view.

 

In 2014, a link was made between Chwarae Teg and FIDA ( Federation of Women Lawyers ) and we’re now working together to help women achieve and prosper in Lesotho.

 

Research. Tackling the barriers to gender equality. Looking back at my recent journey to Lesotho.

 

Chwarae Teg News & Research:- www.cteg.org.uk/a-womans-place-in-lesotho/

 

Related:- Lesotho lawyers speak out:- www.cteg.org.uk/lesotho-lawyers-speak/

 

Photography by Christine O'Byrne. twitter.com/cobyrne703

 

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Queries, email:- post [at@] chwaraeteg.com.

Campaigners at the Protest for Palestine protest stand behind a hand-sewn textile banner which reads "Kingston peace council. CND"

 

"Protest for Palestine" at Israeli embassy as violence increases in East Jerusalem: London 17/10/2015

 

Following weeks of escalating violence in Israel since the provocative invasion by armed Israeli jews and soldiers into the Al Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem - a tactic used several times in the past by the right-wing Likud party around election time guaranteed to inflame tensions and spark violence - which has since resulted in many violent, tragic deaths and tit-for-tat revenge attacks, a large crowd of London-based pro-Palestinian campaigners protested outside the Israeli embassy calling for the Israeli government to stop their provocation

 

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WHITE BEACH, Okinawa, Japan (Sept. 20, 2017) - Chief Warrant Officer 3 Daryle Howard, left, combat cargo officer of the amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6), explains Marine embark procedures and processes to members of the Amphibious Rapid Deployment Brigade (ARDB) pre-commissioning unit, which will become the amphibious arm of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Forces' Western Army. The exchange was held as part of ongoing efforts between the U.S. and Japan to increase combined amphibious capability in support of the two nations' longstanding alliance. Bonhomme Richard, flagship of the Bonhomme Richard Expeditionary Strike Group, is operating in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region to enhance partnerships and be a ready-response force for any type of contingency. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Zachary DiPadova/Released) 170920-N-RD713-039

 

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This is an entry to Dpchallenge photochallenge in 2006. The theme was Electricity and the impact of it on daily life.

 

The shot is from year in Denmark just after I bought my Canon EOS 30D.

Some background:

The G.91Y was an increased-performance version of the Fiat G.91 funded by the Italian government. Based on the G.91T two-seat trainer variant, the single Bristol Orpheus turbojet engine of this aircraft was replaced by two afterburning General Electric J85 turbojets which increased thrust by 60% over the single-engined variant. Structural modifications to reduce airframe weight increased performance further and an additional fuel tank occupying the space of the G.91T's rear seat provided extra range. Combat manoeuvrability was improved with the addition of automatic leading edge slats.

 

The avionics equipment of the G.91Y was considerably upgraded with many of the American, British and Canadian systems being licence-manufactured in Italy.

 

Flight testing of three pre-production aircraft was successful, with one aircraft reaching a maximum speed of Mach 0.98. Airframe buffeting was noted and was rectified in production aircraft by raising the position of the tailplane slightly.

 

An initial order of 55 aircraft for the Italian Air Force was completed by Fiat in March 1971, by which time the company had changed its name to Aeritalia (from 1969, when Fiat aviazione joined the Aerfer). The order was increased to 75 aircraft with 67 eventually being delivered. In fact, the development of the new G.91Y was quite long, and the first order was for about 20 pre-series examples that followed the two prototypes. The first pre-series 'Yankee' (the nickname of the new aircraft) flew in July 1968.

 

AMI (Italian Air Force) placed orders for two batches, 35 fighters followed by another 20, later cut to ten. The last one was delivered around mid 1976, so the total was two prototypes, 20 pre-series and 45 series aircraft. No export success followed. These aircraft served with 101° Gruppo/8° Stormo (Cervia-S.Giorgio) from 1970, and later, from 1974, they served with the 13° Gruppo/32° Stormo (Brindisi).

 

Those 'Gruppi' (Italian equivalent of British 'squadrons', usually equipped with 18 aircraft) lasted until the early '90s, as the only ones equipped with the 'Yankee', using them as attack/recce machines, both over ground and sea, until the AMX replaced them. All in all, Italy operated 65 Fiat G.91Ys until 1994.

  

General characteristics:

Crew: one

Length: 11.67 m (38 ft 3.5 in)

Wingspan: 9.01 m (29 ft 6.5 in)

Height: 4.43 m (14 ft 6.3 in)

Wing area: 18.13 m² (195.149 ft²)

Empty weight: 3,900 kg (8,598 lb)

Loaded weight: 7,800 kg (17,196 lb)

Max. takeoff weight: 8,700 kg (19,180 lb)

Powerplant:

2 × General Electric J85-GE-13A turbojets, 18.15 kN (4,080 lbf) each

 

Performance:

Maximum speed: 1,110 km/h (600 kn, 690 mph. (Mach 0.95 at 10,000 m (33,000 ft)

Range: 3,400 km (ferry range with droptanks) (2,110 mls)

Service ceiling: 12,500 m (41,000 ft)

Rate of climb: 86.36 m/s (17,000 ft/min)

Wing loading: 480 kg/m² (98.3 lb/ft² (maximum)

Thrust/weight: 0.47 at maximum loading

 

Armament:

2× 30 mm (1.18 in) DEFA cannons

4× under-wing pylon stations with a capacity of 1,814 kg (4,000 lb)

  

The kit and its assembly:

A real world model, and IMHO one of the nicest special paint schemes I've come across because it's so simple. For its 70th anniversary in 1987, the Italian Air Force's 13° Gruppo turned one of its 32° Stormo G.91Y fighter bombers (as far as I could tell it's 32-13, confirmed by a small code number on the frontal landing gear cover) into a fill-fledged shark, taking the squadron's markings (a classic shark mouth on the aircraft's nose) literally to full scale.

 

But instead of adding lots of glitter and colors, the scheme remained very simple - a black shark on a white background, with minimal markings and stencils. I've already built this aircraft many years ago when I saw it in a print magazine in 1988 or so (remember - there was no internet at that time!), but I had the plan to re-create it on the basis of more and better photo footage.

 

Said and done, I dug a Matchbox G.91Y out of the pile and started. The kit is pretty simple, and in this case the fit of the fuselage halves was questionable, calling for massive PSR along the seams. In some areas the kit is really primitive, so I made some minor cosmetic mods:

 

The cockpit "tub" with an integrated seat is a clumsy joke and was replaced by a cockpit floor with side consoles from a Revell G.91. The seat comes from a Matchbox Gnat trainer and was pimped with ejection handles made from thin wire.

 

The kit's landing gear is rather simple, too, but I took it OOB since noone would later look into the wells.

 

The jet exhausts were drilled open (OOB these are just blank covers, only 0.5 mm deep!) and inside some afterburners were simulated.

 

The molded guns were cut away, to be later replaced with free-standing hollow steel needles. In order to add some more exterior detail I also scratched the thin protector frames around the nozzles with thin wire.

 

Finally, the drop tanks were replaced by F-86 alternatives with end plate fins, which were typically carried by Italian G.91s, including the anniversary G.91Y (as confirmed by photo footage).

  

Painting and markings:

I must admit that the paint scheme is, to a certain degree, the result of a guessing game, because any shots I found are profiles views, even in flight! Some details, like the black fins on the wings and the stabilizers could be deduced from the material at hand, but I have no idea how the wings' undersides look like. I think that they remained all-white, just like the aircraft's belly - at least that's what the information I have suggest.

 

And even though the two-tone paint scheme is rather simple it's still challenging - esp. because I do not use an airbrush. As a consequence, I had to improvise with the means at hand, which meant a basic coat of acrylic white (actually an off-white Volkswagen car color called "Grauweiss") from the rattle can with the shark added on top of that with matt black (in this case from Modelmaster). This is not the smartest way to create the scheme, but I wanted to avoid tedious multi-layers of uneven, brushed white. Horror... :-(

 

Anyway, the white basic layer ended up thicker than I expected (the paint turned out to be a bit pastous due to age), but the black shark would cover many problem zones, anyway. Painting was done free-handedly, the only masking was used on the canopy during the white base spraying.

 

The finish was not perfect, but I did not want a "uniform" aircraft, anyway, since most of the aircraft's pictures show it in a used state and not as a pristine museum piece. After a black ink wash (in order to emphasize surface details) the final blemisches were covered under some post-shading and dry-brushing with various shades of black, very dark grey and white that would add some more structure to the hull.

 

The few markings of this aircraft were taken from the OOB sheet. Since I was not able to find pictures that show it from above or below. I guesstimated the warning stencils on the wings.

 

The drop tanks became all-white and the "70 anni" slogan on the outer flanks was created with single, black 3mm letters from TL Modellbau.

 

Finally the kit was sealed with rather matt varnish, a mix of matt and semi-gloss Italeri acyrlic varnish in a 4:1 ratio. Apparently, 32-13 had been painted in a rather dull finish, despite carrying an anniversary scheme.

  

Well, I am not 100% happy with the result, I had hoped for a better, sharper finish. But it's an improvement when compared to my first attempt to build this machine 30 years ago, and I still find this simple anniversary to be very stylish and elegant, since it goes so well with the G.91Y's lines.

 

Singapore (Listeni/ˈsɪŋɡəpɔːr/), officially the Republic of Singapore, and often referred to as the Lion City, the Garden City, and the Red Dot, is a global city and sovereign state in Southeast Asia and the world's only island city-state. It lies one degree (137 km) north of the equator, at the southernmost tip of continental Asia and peninsular Malaysia, with Indonesia's Riau Islands to the south. Singapore's territory consists of the diamond-shaped main island and 62 islets. Since independence, extensive land reclamation has increased its total size by 23% (130 km2), and its greening policy has covered the densely populated island with tropical flora, parks and gardens.

 

The islands were settled from the second century AD by a series of local empires. In 1819, Sir Stamford Raffles founded modern Singapore as a trading post of the East India Company; after the company collapsed, the islands were ceded to Britain and became part of its Straits Settlements in 1826. During World War II, Singapore was occupied by Japan. It gained independence from Britain in 1963, by uniting with other former British territories to form Malaysia, but was expelled two years later over ideological differences. After early years of turbulence, and despite lacking natural resources and a hinterland, the nation developed rapidly as an Asian Tiger economy, based on external trade and its human capital.

 

Singapore is a global commerce, finance and transport hub. Its standings include: "easiest place to do business" (World Bank) for ten consecutive years, most "technology-ready" nation (WEF), top International-meetings city (UIA), city with "best investment potential" (BERI), 2nd-most competitive country (WEF), 3rd-largest foreign exchange centre, 3rd-largest financial centre, 3rd-largest oil refining and trading centre and one of the top two busiest container ports since the 1990s. Singapore's best known global brands include Singapore Airlines and Changi Airport, both amongst the most-awarded in their industry; SIA is also rated by Fortune surveys as Asia's "most admired company". For the past decade, it has been the only Asian country with the top AAA sovereign rating from all major credit rating agencies, including S&P, Moody's and Fitch.

 

Singapore ranks high on its national social policies, leading Asia and 11th globally, on the Human Development Index (UN), notably on key measures of education, healthcare, life expectancy, quality of life, personal safety, housing. Although income inequality is high, 90% of citizens own their homes, and the country has one of the highest per capita incomes, with low taxes. The cosmopolitan nation is home to 5.5 million residents, 38% of whom are permanent residents and other foreign nationals. Singaporeans are mostly bilingual in a mother-tongue language and English as their common language. Its cultural diversity is reflected in its extensive ethnic "hawker" cuisine and major festivals - Chinese, Malay, Indian, Western - which are all national holidays. In 2015, Lonely Planet and The New York Times listed Singapore as their top and 6th best world destination to visit respectively.

 

The nation's core principles are meritocracy, multiculturalism and secularism. It is noted for its effective, pragmatic and incorrupt governance and civil service, which together with its rapid development policies, is widely cited as the "Singapore model". Gallup polls shows 84% of its residents expressed confidence in the national government, and 85% in its judicial systems - one of the highest ratings recorded. Singapore has significant influence on global affairs relative to its size, leading some analysts to classify it as a middle power. It is ranked as Asia's most influential city and 4th in the world by Forbes.

 

Singapore is a unitary, multiparty, parliamentary republic, with a Westminster system of unicameral parliamentary government. The People's Action Party has won every election since self-government in 1959. One of the five founding members of the ASEAN, Singapore is also the host of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Secretariat, and a member of the East Asia Summit, Non-Aligned Movement, and the Commonwealth of Nations.

 

ETYMOLOGY

The English name of Singapore is derived from the Malay word, Singapura, which was in turn derived from Sanskrit (Singa is "lion", Pura "city"; Sanskrit: सिंहपुर, IAST: Siṃhápura), hence the customary reference to the nation as the Lion City, and its inclusion in many of the nation's symbols (e.g., its coat of arms, Merlion emblem). However, it is unlikely that lions ever lived on the island; Sang Nila Utama, who founded and named the island Singapura, most likely saw a Malayan tiger. It is also known as Pulau Ujong, as far back as the 3rd century, literally 'island at the end' (of the Malay Peninsula) in Malay.

 

Since the 1970s, Singapore has also been widely known as the Garden City, owing to its extensive greening policy covering the whole island, a priority of its first prime minister Lee Kuan Yew, dubbed the nation's "Chief Gardener". The nation's conservation and greening efforts contributed to Singapore Botanic Gardens being the only tropical garden to be inscribed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. The nickname, Red Dot, is a reference to its size on the map, contrasting with its achievements. In 2015, Singapore's Golden Jubilee year, the celebratory "SG50" branding is depicted inside a red dot.

 

HISTORY

Temasek ('Sea Town' in the Malay language), an outpost of the Sumatran Srivijaya empire, is the earliest written record relating to the area now called Singapore. In the 13th century, the Kingdom of Singapura was established on the island and it became a trading port city. However, there were two major foreign invasions before it was destroyed by the Majapahit in 1398. In 1613, Portuguese raiders burned down the settlement, which by then was nominally part of the Johor Sultanate and the island sank into obscurity for the next two centuries, while the wider maritime region and much trade was under Dutch control.

 

BRITISH COLONISATION 1819-1942

In 1819, Thomas Stamford Raffles arrived and signed a treaty with Sultan Hussein Shah of Johor, on behalf of the British East India Company, to develop the southern part of Singapore as a British trading post. In 1824, the entire island, as well as the Temenggong, became a British possession after a further treaty with the Sultan. In 1826, Singapore became part of the Straits Settlements, under the jurisdiction of British India, becoming the regional capital in 1836.

 

Prior to Raffles' arrival, there were only about a thousand people living on the island, mostly indigenous Malays along with a handful of Chinese. By 1860, the population had swelled to more than 80,000 and more than half were Chinese. Many immigrants came to work at rubber plantations and, after the 1870s, the island became a global centre for rubber exports.

 

After the First World War, the British built the large Singapore Naval Base. Lieutenant General Sir William George Shedden Dobbie was appointed General Officer Commanding of the Malaya Command on 8 November 1935, holding the post until 1939;

 

WORLD WAR II AND JAPANESE OCCUPATION 1942-45

in May 1938, the General Officer Commanding of the Malaya Command warned how Singapore could be conquered by the Japanese via an attack from northern Malaya, but his warnings went unheeded. The Imperial Japanese Army invaded British Malaya, culminating in the Battle of Singapore. When the British surrendered on 15 February 1942, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill called the defeat "the worst disaster and largest capitulation in British history". Between 5,000 and 25,000 ethnic Chinese people were killed in the subsequent Sook Ching massacre.

 

From November 1944 to May 1945, the Allies conducted an intensive bombing of Singapore.

 

RETURN OF BRITISH 1945-59

After the surrender of Japan was announced in the Jewel Voice Broadcast by the Japanese Emperor on 15 August 1945 there was a breakdown of order and looting and revenge-killing were widespread. The formal Japanese Occupation of Singapore was only ended by Operation Tiderace and the formal surrender on 12 September 1945 at Singapore City Hall when Lord Louis Mountbatten, Supreme Allied Commander of Southeast Asia Command, accepted the capitulation of Japanese forces in Southeast Asia from General Itagaki Seishiro.

 

A British Military Administration was then formed to govern the island. On 1 April 1946, the Straits Settlements were dissolved and Singapore became a separate Crown Colony with a civil administration headed by a Governor. Much of the infrastructure had been destroyed during the war, including the harbour, electricity, telephone and water supply systems. There was also a shortage of food leading to malnutrition, disease, and rampant crime and violence. High food prices, unemployment, and workers' discontent culminated into a series of strikes in 1947 causing massive stoppages in public transport and other services. In July 1947, separate Executive and Legislative Councils were established and the election of six members of the Legislative Council was scheduled for the following year. By late 1947, the economy began to recover, facilitated by a growing demand for tin and rubber around the world, but it would take several more years before the economy returned to pre-war levels.

 

The failure of Britain to defend Singapore had destroyed its credibility as an infallible ruler in the eyes of Singaporeans. The decades after the war saw a political awakening amongst the local populace and the rise of anti-colonial and nationalist sentiments, epitomized by the slogan Merdeka, or "independence" in the Malay language.

 

During the 1950s, Chinese Communists with strong ties to the trade unions and Chinese schools carried out armed uprising against the government, leading to the Malayan Emergency and later, the Communist Insurgency War. The 1954 National Service Riots, Chinese middle schools riots, and Hock Lee bus riots in Singapore were all linked to these events.

 

David Marshall, pro-independence leader of the Labour Front, won Singapore's first general election in 1955. He led a delegation to London, but Britain rejected his demand for complete self-rule. He resigned and was replaced by Lim Yew Hock, whose policies convinced Britain to grant Singapore full internal self-government for all matters except defence and foreign affairs.

 

SELF-GOVERNMENT 1959-1963

During the May 1959 elections, the People's Action Party won a landslide victory. Singapore became an internally self-governing state within the Commonwealth, with Lee Kuan Yew as its first Prime Minister. Governor Sir William Allmond Codrington Goode served as the first Yang di-Pertuan Negara (Head of State), and was succeeded by Yusof bin Ishak, who became the first President of Singapore in 1965.

 

MERGER WITH MALAYSIA 1963-65

As a result of the 1962 Merger Referendum, on 31 August 1963 Singapore joined with the Federation of Malaya, the Crown Colony of Sarawak and the Crown Colony of North Borneo to form the new federation of Malaysia under the terms of the Malaysia Agreement. Singaporean leaders chose to join Malaysia primarily due to concerns over its limited land size, scarcity of water, markets and natural resources. Some Singaporean and Malaysian politicians were also concerned that the communists might form the government on the island, a possibility perceived as an external threat to the Federation of Malaya.However, shortly after the merger, the Singapore state government and the Malaysian central government disagreed on many political and economic issues, and communal strife culminated in the 1964 race riots in Singapore. After many heated ideological conflicts between the two governments, on 9 August 1965, the Malaysian Parliament voted 126 to 0 to expel Singapore from Malaysia with Singaporean delegates not present.

 

INDEPENDENCE 1965 TO PRESENT

Singapore gained independence as the Republic of Singapore (remaining within the Commonwealth of Nations) on 9 August 1965. Race riots broke out once more in 1969. In 1967, the country co-founded ASEAN, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, and in 1970 it joined the Non-Aligned Movement. Lee Kuan Yew became Prime Minister, leading its Third World economy to First World affluence in a single generation. His emphasis on rapid economic growth, support for business entrepreneurship, limitations on internal democracy, and close relationships with China set the new nation's policies for the next half-century.

 

In 1990, Goh Chok Tong succeeded Lee as Prime Minister, while the latter continued serving in the Cabinet as Senior Minister until 2004, and then Minister Mentor until May 2011. During Goh's tenure, the country faced the 1997 Asian financial crisis, the 2003 SARS outbreak and terrorist threats posed by Jemaah Islamiyah.

 

In 2004, Lee Hsien Loong, the eldest son of Lee Kuan Yew, became the country's third Prime Minister. Goh Chok Tong remained in Cabinet as the Senior Minister until May 2011, when he was named Emeritus Senior Minister despite his retirement. He steered the nation through the 2008 global financial crisis, resolved the disputed 79-year old Malayan railways land, and introduced integrated resorts. Despite the economy's exceptional growth, PAP suffered its worst election results in 2011, winning 60% of votes, amidst hot-button issues of high influx of foreign workers and cost of living. Lee initiated a major re-structuring of the economy to raise productivity, improved universal healthcare and grants, especially for the pioneer generation of citizens, amongst many new inclusive measures.

 

On 23 March 2015, its founding prime minister, Lee Kuan Yew, who had 'personified Singapore to the world' for nearly half a century died. In a week of national mourning, 1.7 million residents and guests paid tribute to him at his lying-in-state at Parliament House and at community sites around the island.

 

Singapore celebrated its Golden jubilee in 2015 – its 50th year of independence, with a year-long series of events branded SG50. The PAP maintained its dominance in Parliament at the September general elections, receiving 69.9% of the popular vote, its second-highest polling result behind the 2001 tally of 75.3%.

 

GEOGRAPHY

Singapore consists of 63 islands, including the main island, Pulau Ujong. There are two man-made connections to Johor, Malaysia: the Johor–Singapore Causeway in the north and the Tuas Second Link in the west. Jurong Island, Pulau Tekong, Pulau Ubin and Sentosa are the largest of Singapore's smaller islands. The highest natural point is Bukit Timah Hill at 163.63 m. April and May are the hottest months, with the wetter monsoon season from November to January.

 

From July to October, there is often haze caused by bush fires in neighbouring Indonesia, usually from the island of Sumatra. Although Singapore does not observe daylight saving time (DST), it follows the GMT+8 time zone, one hour ahead of the typical zone for its geographical location.

 

GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS

Singapore is a parliamentary republic with a Westminster system of unicameral parliamentary government representing constituencies. The country's constitution establishes a representative democracy as the political system. Executive power rests with the Cabinet of Singapore, led by the Prime Minister and, to a much lesser extent, the President. The President is elected through a popular vote, and has veto powers over a specific set of executive decisions, such as the use of the national reserves and the appointment of judges, but otherwise occupies a largely ceremonial post.

 

The Parliament serves as the legislative branch of the government. Members of Parliament (MPs) consist of elected, non-constituency and nominated members. Elected MPs are voted into the Parliament on a "first-past-the-post" (plurality) basis and represent either single-member or group representation constituencies. The People's Action Party has won control of Parliament with large majorities in every election since self-governance was secured in 1959.

 

Although the elections are clean, there is no independent electoral authority and the government has strong influence on the media. Freedom House ranks Singapore as "partly free" in its Freedom in the World report, and The Economist ranks Singapore as a "flawed democracy", the second best rank of four, in its "Democracy Index". Despite this, in the 2011 Parliamentary elections, the opposition, led by the Workers' Party, increased its representation to seven elected MPs. In the 2015 elections, PAP scored a landslide victory, winning 83 of 89 seats contested, with 70% of popular votes. Gallup polls reported 84% of residents in Singapore expressed confidence in the government, and 85% in its judicial systems and courts – one of the highest ratings in the world.

 

Singapore's governance model eschews populist politics, focusing on the nation's long-term interest, and is known to be clean, effective and pragmatic. As a small nation highly dependent on external trade, it is vulnerable to geo-politics and global economics. It places great emphasis on security and stability of the region in its foreign policies, and applies global best practices to ensure the nation's attractiveness as an investment destination and business hub.

 

The legal system of Singapore is based on English common law, but with substantial local differences. Trial by jury was abolished in 1970 so that judicial decisions would rest entirely in the hands of appointed judges. Singapore has penalties that include judicial corporal punishment in the form of caning, which may be imposed for such offences as rape, rioting, vandalism, and certain immigration offences.There is a mandatory death penalty for murder, as well as for certain aggravated drug-trafficking and firearms offences.

 

Amnesty International has said that some legal provisions of the Singapore system conflict with the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty, and that Singapore has "... possibly the highest execution rate in the world relative to its population". The government has disputed Amnesty's claims. In a 2008 survey of international business executives, Singapore received the top ranking with regard to judicial system quality in Asia. Singapore has been consistently rated among the least corrupt countries in the world by Transparency International.

 

In 2011, the World Justice Project's Rule of Law Index ranked Singapore among the top countries surveyed with regard to "order and security", "absence of corruption", and "effective criminal justice". However, the country received a much lower ranking for "freedom of speech" and "freedom of assembly". All public gatherings of five or more people require police permits, and protests may legally be held only at the Speakers' Corner.

 

EDUCATION

Education for primary, secondary, and tertiary levels is mostly supported by the state. All institutions, private and public, must be registered with the Ministry of Education. English is the language of instruction in all public schools, and all subjects are taught and examined in English except for the "mother tongue" language paper. While the term "mother tongue" in general refers to the first language internationally, in Singapore's education system, it is used to refer to the second language, as English is the first language. Students who have been abroad for a while, or who struggle with their "Mother Tongue" language, are allowed to take a simpler syllabus or drop the subject.

 

Education takes place in three stages: primary, secondary, and pre-university education. Only the primary level is compulsory. Students begin with six years of primary school, which is made up of a four-year foundation course and a two-year orientation stage. The curriculum is focused on the development of English, the mother tongue, mathematics, and science. Secondary school lasts from four to five years, and is divided between Special, Express, Normal (Academic), and Normal (Technical) streams in each school, depending on a student's ability level. The basic coursework breakdown is the same as in the primary level, although classes are much more specialised. Pre-university education takes place over two to three years at senior schools, mostly called Junior Colleges.

 

Some schools have a degree of freedom in their curriculum and are known as autonomous schools. These exist from the secondary education level and up.

 

National examinations are standardised across all schools, with a test taken after each stage. After the first six years of education, students take the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE), which determines their placement at secondary school. At the end of the secondary stage, GCE "O"-Level exams are taken; at the end of the following pre-university stage, the GCE "A"-Level exams are taken. Of all non-student Singaporeans aged 15 and above, 18% have no education qualifications at all while 45% have the PSLE as their highest qualification; 15% have the GCE 'O' Level as their highest qualification and 14% have a degree.

 

Singaporean students consistently rank at or near the top of international education assessments:

- In 2015, Singapore topped the OECD's global school performance rankings, based on 15-year-old students' average scores in mathematics and science across 76 countries.

- Singaporean students were ranked first in the 2011 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study conducted by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement, and have been ranked in the top three every year since 1995.

- Singapore fared best in the 2015 International Baccalaureate exams, taken in 107 countries, with more than half of the world's 81 perfect scorers and 98% passing rate.

 

The country's two main public universities - the National University of Singapore and Nanyang Technological University - are ranked among the top 13 in the world.

 

HEALTH

Singapore has a generally efficient healthcare system, even though their health expenditures are relatively low for developed countries. The World Health Organisation ranks Singapore's healthcare system as 6th overall in the world in its World Health Report. In general, Singapore has had the lowest infant mortality rate in the world for the past two decades.

 

Life expectancy in Singapore is 80 for males and 85 for females, placing the country 4th in the world for life expectancy. Almost the whole population has access to improved water and sanitation facilities. There are fewer than 10 annual deaths from HIV per 100,000 people. There is a high level of immunisation. Adult obesity is below 10%

 

The government's healthcare system is based upon the "3M" framework. This has three components: Medifund, which provides a safety net for those not able to otherwise afford healthcare, Medisave, a compulsory health savings scheme covering about 85% of the population, and Medishield, a government-funded health insurance program. Public hospitals in Singapore have autonomy in their management decisions, and compete for patients. A subsidy scheme exists for those on low income. In 2008, 32% of healthcare was funded by the government. It accounts for approximately 3.5% of Singapore's GDP.

 

RELIGION

Buddhism is the most widely practised religion in Singapore, with 33% of the resident population declaring themselves adherents at the most recent census. The next-most practised religion is Christianity, followed by Islam, Taoism, and Hinduism. 17% of the population did not have a religious affiliation. The proportion of Christians, Taoists, and non-religious people increased between 2000 and 2010 by about 3% each, whilst the proportion of Buddhists decreased. Other faiths remained largely stable in their share of the population. An analysis by the Pew Research Center found Singapore to be the world's most religiously diverse nation.

 

There are monasteries and Dharma centres from all three major traditions of Buddhism in Singapore: Theravada, Mahayana, and Vajrayana. Most Buddhists in Singapore are Chinese and are of the Mahayana tradition, with missionaries having come into the country from Taiwan and China for several decades. However, Thailand's Theravada Buddhism has seen growing popularity among the populace (not only the Chinese) during the past decade. Soka Gakkai International, a Japanese Buddhist organisation, is practised by many people in Singapore, but mostly by those of Chinese descent. Tibetan Buddhism has also made slow inroads into the country in recent years.

 

CULTURE

Singapore has one of the lowest rates of drug use in the world. Culturally, the use of illicit drugs is viewed as highly undesirable by Singaporeans, unlike many European societies. Singaporeans' disapproval towards drug use has resulted in laws that impose the mandatory death sentence for certain serious drug trafficking offences. Singapore also has a low rate of alcohol consumption per capita and low levels of violent crime, and one of the lowest intentional homicide rate globally. The average alcohol consumption rate is only 2 litres annually per adult, one of the lowest in the world.

 

Foreigners make up 42% of the population, and have a strong influence on Singaporean culture. The Economist Intelligence Unit, in its 2013 "Where-to-be-born Index", ranks Singapore as having the best quality of life in Asia and sixth overall in the world.

 

LANGUAGES; RELIGIONS AND CULTURES

Singapore is a very diverse and young country. It has many languages, religions, and cultures for a country its size.

 

When Singapore became independent from the United Kingdom in 1963, most of the newly minted Singaporean citizens were uneducated labourers from Malaysia, China and India. Many of them were transient labourers who were seeking to make some money in Singapore and they had no intention of staying permanently. A sizeable minority of middle-class, local-born people, known as the Peranakans, also existed. With the exception of the Peranakans (descendants of late 15th and 16th-century Chinese immigrants) who pledged their loyalties to Singapore, most of the labourers' loyalties lay with their respective homelands of Malaysia, China and India. After independence, the process of crafting a Singaporean identity and culture began.

 

Former Prime Ministers of Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew and Goh Chok Tong, have stated that Singapore does not fit the traditional description of a nation, calling it a society-in-transition, pointing out the fact that Singaporeans do not all speak the same language, share the same religion, or have the same customs. Even though English is the first language of the nation, according to the government's 2010 census 20% of Singaporeans, or one in five, are illiterate in English. This is a marked improvement from 1990 where 40% of Singaporeans were illiterate in English.

 

Languages, religions and cultures among Singaporeans are not delineated according to skin colour or ancestry, unlike many other countries. Among Chinese Singaporeans, one in five is Christian, another one in five is atheist, and the rest are mostly Buddhists or Taoists. One-third speak English as their home language, while half speak Mandarin Chinese. The rest speak other Chinese varieties at home. Most Malays in Singapore speak Malay as their home language with some speaking English. Singaporean Indians are much more religious. Only 1% of them are atheists. Six in ten are Hindu, two in ten Muslim, and the rest mostly Christian. Four in ten speak English as their home language, three in ten Tamil, one in ten Malay, and the rest other Indian languages as their home language.

 

Each Singaporean's behaviours and attitudes would therefore be influenced by, among many other things, his or her home language and his religion. Singaporeans who speak English as their native language tend to lean toward Western culture, while those who speak Chinese as their native language tend to lean toward Chinese culture and Confucianism. Malay speaking Singaporeans tend to lean toward the Malay culture, which itself is closely linked to the Islamic culture.

 

ATTITUDES AND BELIEFS

At the national level in Singapore, meritocracy, where one is judged based on one's ability, is heavily emphasised.

 

Racial and religious harmony is regarded by Singaporeans as a crucial part of Singapore's success, and played a part in building a Singaporean identity. Singapore has a reputation as a nanny state. The national flower of Singapore is the hybrid orchid, Vanda 'Miss Joaquim', named in memory of a Singapore-born Armenian woman, who crossbred the flower in her garden at Tanjong Pagar in 1893. Many national symbols such as the Coat of arms of Singapore and the Lion head symbol of Singapore make use of the lion, as Singapore is known as the Lion City. Other monikers by which Singapore is widely known is the Garden City and the Red Dot. Public holidays in Singapore cover major Chinese, Western, Malay and Indian festivals.

 

Singaporean employees work an average of around 45 hours weekly, relatively long compared to many other nations. Three in four Singaporean employees surveyed stated that they take pride in doing their work well, and that doing so helps their self-confidence.

 

CUISINE

Dining, along with shopping, is said to be the country's national pastime. The focus on food has led countries like Australia to attract Singaporean tourists with food-based itineraries. The diversity of food is touted as a reason to visit the country, and the variety of food representing different ethnicities is seen by the government as a symbol of its multiculturalism. The "national fruit" of Singapore is the durian.

 

In popular culture, food items belong to a particular ethnicity, with Chinese, Malay, and Indian food clearly defined. However, the diversity of cuisine has been increased further by the "hybridisation" of different styles (e.g., the Peranakan cuisine, a mix of Chinese and Malay cuisine).

 

WIKIPEDIA

As the summer heat starts to increase, it makes for a lazy dog day.

The increased incidence and intensity of heatwaves are expected to shift temperature-related mortality from winter to summer, with fewer colder-related deaths and more heat-related ones. In the long-term, the net total number of climate-related deaths is expected to increase for the period 2050–2100 (Ballester et al., 2011). Albania and FYR Macedonia are considered particularly exposed to heatwaves (UNEP/ENVSEC, 2012). In these countries, unprecedented heat extremes could occur in 60 per cent of summer months and droughts could increase by 20 per cent in a 4°C warmer world (World Bank, 2014).

 

For any form of publication, please include the link to this page:

www.grida.no/resources/7074

 

This photo has been graciously provided to be used in the GRID-Arendal resources library by: Cartografare il Presente/Nieves Izquierdo

Additional wool stores, Blocks D & E, built between St Vincent & Baker Streets, opposite the 1880 Elders building.

 

“Elder, Smith, & Co. . . The increase in the business of the company had necessitated the erection of wool stores at Port Adelaide in order that the requirements of small producers could be met.” [Advertiser 1 Feb 1907]

 

“During recent years, storing accommodation for wool at Port Adelaide has been at a premium. . . For the forthcoming season Elder, Smith, & Co. are making important extensions to cater for their patrons. A large single-story galvanized iron store on the north side of St. Vincent-street has been pulled down, and in its place is .being erected a three-story building of iron, with a frontage of 112 ft. by 120 ft. deep. It will be the same 'height as the company's adjoining stone stores. . . In Baker-street, almost directly opposite, a new two-floor galvanized store is also being built. The dimensions are approximately 200 ft. by 100 ft. . . The contractor for the new stores and alterations is Mr. H. Slade, Mr. C. H. Marryat is the architect, and Mr. R. G. Foreman clerk of works. . . The building operations' began at the end of April, and the contractor expects to have the work completed by the end of August.” [Advertiser 4 Jul 1907]

 

“Tenders are invited for the Erection of Buildings (wood and iron). Port Adelaide, for Messrs. Elder, Smith, & Co., Limited — 1. Two Stories — Wool -Store and Show Floor. 2. Three Stories — Wool Store and Show Floor. . . C. H. Marryat, Architect.” [Advertiser 8 Apr 1907 advert]

 

“Altogether Elder, Smith, & Co. have in their three huge warehouses in Santo-place (facing the wharf), St. Vincent-street, Baker-street, and Crozier-street, Port Adelaide, 2¾ acres of show floor, in addition to over 6 acres of storage accommodation. All the floors utilised for exhibition purposes are wonderfully well lighted by means of saw-tooth roofs, the glass facing the south. . . the central store, in St. Vincent-street, is one vast apartment, over an acre in extent, with nothing anywhere to obstruct the vision except the supports of the roof, and the comprehensive view of thousands of bales of wool, each cut open and pouring its wealth of fleece upon the floor. . . the remainder being displayed in the Baker street store.” [Advertiser 16 Nov 1908]

 

“During the busy season the firm of Elder, Smith, & Co. has 200 men working at their Port Adelaide wool warehouses. It has also some magnificent horses. There are at present in the stables at the Port 25 stalwart animals, valued at'£40 a head. . . They are employed for three months, in carting wool from the trucks to the warehouses, and from the stores to the wharves. Then they are sold, a fresh lot being bought next season.” [Advertiser 16 Nov 1908]

 

Amongst the many new buildings being erected at Port Adelaide is another large wool store, facing St. Vincent-street, for Messrs. Elder Smith & Co. The new building, which is expected to be ready for the forthcoming wool season, adjoins the existing structure owned by that firm, and will be situated on the western side of the old store. It will have a frontage to St. Vincent-street of 206 ft.; with a depth of 200 ft.” [Advertiser 5 May 1910]

 

“Excavations will be begun shortly at St. Vincent street east, Port Adelaide, for the foundations of a new wool store for Elder, Smith & Co. It is understood that plans for the structure have not been completed. The firm has three large wool stores at the chief seaport, but these have been found insufficient to hold the fleeces that come to hand in a good season. The location of the new structure will be south of Cowell Bros.' premises, and north of Goldsbrough, Mort &. Co.” [News 3 May 1926]

 

“A plan of a new wool store to be erected for Elder, Smith, & Co., Limited, at the corner of Crozier and Baker streets, Port Adelaide, in proximity to the existing store. The building will be 2,000 feet square, and will have four floors. Messrs. Woods, Bagot, Jory, & Laybourne-Smith are the architects, and Messrs. James King & Son, of Hindmarsh, the contractors.” [Register 1 Jan 1927]

 

“With a capacity of 18,000 bales the large new wool store of Elder, Smith and Co., Limited, near the Port Adelaide Dock, is described as the most up-to-date of its kind in the Commonwealth. Although it is still in the hands of the contractor and many workmen are putting the finishing touches on its fine show floor, wool has been received in the structure since Tuesday. Bales from far distant stations stand in orderly rows on its spacious floor, and are arriving daily by the hundred. . . electrically operated elevators serve to expedite the work of handling portion of South Australia's clip that is now pouring to the seaport in a ceaseless stream by train, steamer, and motor lorry.” [News 2 Sep 1927]

 

“during the currency of the war the entire Australian wool clip would be purchased by the British Government, and. . . in addition, all Australian surplus supplies of six important food commodities in butter, cheese, meat, eggs, and canned and dried fruits — had been bought by the United Kingdom. . . it was not anticipated that the British Government would be able to purchase the whole of Australia's export wheat surplus.” [Advertiser 6 Sep 1939]

 

“A figure between 13d and 15d. a pound is expected to be paid by the British Government for the Australian wool clip during the war. . . The average price paid during the last war was 15½d.” [Advertiser 8 Sep 1939]

 

“Australian growers are demanding an early definite statement regarding the duration of the wool purchase scheme by Britain. In September, 1939, Britain agreed to buy all our wool production not required for local manufacture, for the period of the war and one clip thereafter.” [West Australian 25 Oct 1944]

 

“Since the war, heavy rationing of clothing, &c has been imposed, enemy countries have been denied supplies, large quantities of all types of woollen goods have been destroyed, and- millions of service people, both men and women, will be in urgent need of clothes when they discard their uniforms and look for civilian attire. . . Preparations are in hand for the placing into suitable positions those of our permanent staff who will be demobilised and wish to rejoin the staff of the company.” [Advertiser 25 Aug 1945]

 

“sheep's wool is in every way much superior to any synthetics, most of which are derived from a vegetable base and are conductors of heat and cold; are clammy, uncomfortable, and inflammable, but most attractive looking, and at first cost relatively cheap, but in the long run not so economical as wool. . . Wool is warm, even when wet. . . Wool smoulders, but does not burn.” [Chronicle 6 Sep 1945]

 

“British Government will complete this month its war-time purchase of the Australian wool clip. It represents the world's largest commercial transaction for any primary product. Wool appraisals during the period — seven years — will approximate £460,000,000. Average Australian clip has been round 3,500,000 bales annually. Average yearly return has been nearly £67,000,000. . . Wool auction sales in Australia will be resumed in September. Fleece will go to the highest bidder.” [News 26 Jun 1946]

 

“Wanted . Men for Work in Wool stores, Port Adelaide. Apply Elder, Smith & Co., Limited, Port Adelaide.” [News 10 Sep 1947 advert]

 

“The Adelaide Woolbrokers wish to hereby intimate to their many clients that it has recently been decided to work annually a 44-hour five-day week, Monday to Friday inclusive, in their Wool Stores at Port Adelaide and in the Skin and Hide Stores in Adelaide.” [Chronicle 18 Sep 1947 advert]

 

“For over a century Elder, Smith & Co., Limited have been handling wool. . . From the shearing shed to the overseas liner, wool passes through many stages. . . Every bale received is carefully weighed on modern, accurate scales, immediately recorded and catalogued against advice received from the grower. From this simple beginning commences a thorough preparation of wool clips for auction . . .a preparation designed to secure full market value for your clip. . . be it one bag or a thousand bales.” [Chronicle 2 Sep 1948 advert]

 

“each of Elder's Receiving Clerks. . . records the brand, description, number and correct weight of every bale of wool received at Elder's Wool Store, Port Adelaide. The scales he uses are checked for accuracy every day, regularly serviced and Government tested. You can help Elder's Wool Clerks by correctly branding each bale on the front and cap and by numbering your bales consecutively for each season. Be it one bag or a thousand bales, consign your next clip to Elder's.” [Chronicle 13 Apr 1950 advert]

 

“Shipping and Weigh-in Clerks Wanted for Wool Stores. Apply — Elder, Smith & Co, Limited, Port Adelaide.” [Advertiser

13 Sep 1950 advert]

 

“Suitable Men and Boys Wanted for Work in Wool Stores. Good Conditions. Adults Rate. £8/14/-. Apply — Elder, Smith & Co, Limited, Port Adelaide.” [Advertiser 14 Sep 1950 advert]

 

“Wanted. Clerks for Wool Stores. Wages £11/16/6 per week. Apply Wool Manager, Elder, Smith & Co, Limited, Port Adelaide.” [Advertiser 6 Oct 1951 advert]

 

“Shortly after the sale the buyers issue shipping instructions to the brokers. The bales they have purchased now are dumped in a hydraulic press to about half the size they were when they left your farm. Steel wires or bands are fastened around them, so that each bale is of uniform size. This facilitates handling and saves shipping space. Finally, from the store your wool goes to the wharf and into the hold of a ship. Some of it probably goes to the famous British mills at Bradford, in Yorkshire, England, some of it perhaps to France where there also are famous mills, some of it maybe to Japan whose buyers last year re-entered the Australian wool market” [Chronicle 28 Aug 1952].

 

“Two ships loading wool at Port Adelaide for Britain and the Continent have been delayed by the overtime ban imposed in Port Adelaide wool stores by the Storemen and Packers' Union. The 9,503-ton motor ship Dardanus, which is loading between 16,000 and 17,000 sales of wool, was scheduled to sail on Tuesday. She is now expected to sail at the end of the week. Now loading 13,500 bales of wool, the 11,950 ton steamer Tasmania Star is expected to be delayed for three days.” [Advertiser 30 Oct 1952]

 

“Elders to Build Big Wool Store. Special facilities for hulk classing and reclassing wool are provided in the four- story wool store being built by Elder, Smith & Co. Limited at Port Adelaide. Glass walls on the first floor will give a maximum of natural light to the 20,000 square feet of floor space, where the classing will be carried out. After classing, the wool will be placed in one of 420 bins in the centre of the floor under better-than-daylight lighting. Elder's decision to devote so much space to bulk classing and recessing facilities is to meet the growing demand by clients for this type of service. The store should be completed within 18 months. It will have nearly four acres of jarrah floors, and a bridge 18 ft. above the roadway to the central store to facilitate the transfer and stowage of bales during peak periods. Architects are Woods, Bagot, Laybournc-Smith & Irwin. Contractors are Hansen & Yuncken Pty. Ltd.” [Victor Harbor Times 23 Nov 1956]

 

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

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

  

Some background:

The English Electric Skyspark was a British fighter aircraft that served as an interceptor during the 1960s, the 1970s and into the late 1980s. It remains the only UK-designed-and-built fighter capable of Mach 2. The Skyspark was designed, developed, and manufactured by English Electric, which was later merged into the newly-formed British Aircraft Corporation. Later the type was marketed as the BAC Skyspark.

 

The specification for the aircraft followed the cancellation of the Air Ministry's 1942 E.24/43 supersonic research aircraft specification which had resulted in the Miles M.52 program. W.E.W. "Teddy" Petter, formerly chief designer at Westland Aircraft, was a keen early proponent of Britain's need to develop a supersonic fighter aircraft. In 1947, Petter approached the Ministry of Supply (MoS) with his proposal, and in response Specification ER.103 was issued for a single research aircraft, which was to be capable of flight at Mach 1.5 (1,593 km/h) and 50,000 ft (15,000 m).

 

Petter initiated a design proposal with F W "Freddie" Page leading the design and Ray Creasey responsible for the aerodynamics. As it was designed for Mach 1.5, it had a 40° swept wing to keep the leading edge clear of the Mach cone. To mount enough power into the airframe, two engines were installed, in an unusual, stacked layout and with a high tailplane This proposal was submitted in November 1948, and in January 1949 the project was designated P.1 by English Electric. On 29 March 1949 MoS granted approval to start the detailed design, develop wind tunnel models and build a full-size mock-up.

 

The design that had developed during 1948 evolved further during 1949 to further improve performance. To achieve Mach 2 the wing sweep was increased to 60° with the ailerons moved to the wingtips. In late 1949, low-speed wind tunnel tests showed that a vortex was generated by the wing which caused a large downwash on the initial high tailplane; this issue was solved by lowering the tail below the wing. Following the resignation of Petter, Page took over as design team leader for the P.1. In 1949, the Ministry of Supply had issued Specification F23/49, which expanded upon the scope of ER103 to include fighter-level manoeuvring. On 1 April 1950, English Electric received a contract for two flying airframes, as well as one static airframe, designated P.1.

 

The Royal Aircraft Establishment disagreed with Petter's choice of sweep angle (60 degrees) and the stacked engine layout, as well as the low tailplane position, was considered to be dangerous, too. To assess the effects of wing sweep and tailplane position on the stability and control of Petter's design Short Brothers were issued a contract, by the Ministry of Supply, to produce the Short SB.5 in mid-1950. This was a low-speed research aircraft that could test sweep angles from 50 to 69 degrees and tailplane positions high or low. Testing with the wings and tail set to the P.1 configuration started in January 1954 and confirmed this combination as the correct one. The proposed 60-degree wing sweep was retained, but the stacked engines had to give way to a more conventional configuration with two engines placed side-by-side in the tail, but still breathing through a mutual nose air intake.

 

From 1953 onward, the first three prototype aircraft were hand-built at Samlesbury. These aircraft had been assigned the aircraft serials WG760, WG763, and WG765 (the structural test airframe). The prototypes were powered by un-reheated Armstrong Siddeley Sapphire turbojets, as the selected Rolls-Royce Avon engines had fallen behind schedule due to their own development problems. Since there was not much space in the fuselage for fuel, the thin wings became the primary fuel tanks and since they also provided space for the stowed main undercarriage the fuel capacity was relatively small, giving the prototypes an extremely limited endurance. The narrow tires housed in the thin wings rapidly wore out if there was any crosswind component during take-off or landing. Outwardly, the prototypes looked very much like the production series, but they were distinguished by the rounded-triangular air intake with no center-body at the nose, short fin, and lack of operational equipment.

 

On 9 June 1952, it was decided that there would be a second phase of prototypes built to develop the aircraft toward achieving Mach 2.0 (2,450 km/h); these were designated P.1B while the initial three prototypes were retroactively reclassified as P.1A. P.1B was a significant improvement on P.1A. While it was similar in aerodynamics, structure and control systems, it incorporated extensive alterations to the forward fuselage, reheated Rolls Royce Avon R24R engines, a conical center body inlet cone, variable nozzle reheat and provision for weapons systems integrated with the ADC and AI.23 radar. Three P.1B prototypes were built, assigned serials XA847, XA853 and XA856.

 

In May 1954, WG760 and its support equipment were moved to RAF Boscombe Down for pre-flight ground taxi trials; on the morning of 4 August 1954, WG760 flew for the first time from Boscombe Down. One week later, WG760 officially achieved supersonic flight for the first time, having exceeded the speed of sound during its third flight. While WG760 had proven the P.1 design to be viable, it was plagued by directional stability problems and a dismal performance: Transonic drag was much higher than expected, and the aircraft was limited to Mach 0.98 (i.e. subsonic), with a ceiling of just 48,000 ft (14,630 m), far below the requirements.

 

To solve the problem and save the P.1, Petter embarked on a major redesign, incorporating the recently discovered area rule, while at the same time simplifying production and maintenance. The redesign entailed a new, narrower canopy, a revised air intake, a pair of stabilizing fins under the rear fuselage, and a shallow ventral fairing at the wings’ trailing edge that not only reduced the drag coefficient along the wing/fuselage intersection, it also provided space for additional fuel.

On 4 April 1957 the modified P.1B (XA847) made the first flight, immediately exceeding Mach 1. During the early flight trials of the P.1B, speeds in excess of 1,000 mph were achieved daily.

In late October 1958, the plane was officially presented. The event was celebrated in traditional style in a hangar at Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE) Farnborough, with the prototype XA847 having the name ‘Skyspark’ freshly painted on the nose in front of the RAF Roundel, which almost covered it. A bottle of champagne was put beside the nose on a special rig which allowed the bottle to safely be smashed against the side of the aircraft.

On 25 November 1958 the P.1B XA847 reached Mach 2 for the first time. This made it the second Western European aircraft to reach Mach 2, the first one being the French Dassault Mirage III just over a month earlier on 24 October 1958

 

The first operational Skyspark, designated Skyspark F.1, was designed as a pure interceptor to defend the V Force airfields in conjunction with the "last ditch" Bristol Bloodhound missiles located either at the bomber airfield, e.g. at RAF Marham, or at dedicated missile sites near to the airfield, e.g. at RAF Woodhall Spa near the Vulcan station RAF Coningsby. The bomber airfields, along with the dispersal airfields, would be the highest priority targets in the UK for enemy nuclear weapons. To best perform this intercept mission, emphasis was placed on rate-of-climb, acceleration, and speed, rather than range – originally a radius of operation of only 150 miles (240 km) from the V bomber airfields was specified – and endurance. Armament consisted of a pair of 30 mm ADEN cannon in front of the cockpit, and two pylons for IR-guided de Havilland Firestreak air-to-air missiles were added to the lower fuselage flanks. These hardpoints could, alternatively, carry pods with unguided 55 mm air-to-air rockets. The Ferranti AI.23 onboard radar provided missile guidance and ranging, as well as search and track functions.

 

The next two Skyspark variants, the Skyspark F.1A and F.2, incorporated relatively minor design changes, but for the next variant, the Skyspark F.3, they were more extensive: The F.3 had higher thrust Rolls-Royce Avon 301R engines, a larger squared-off fin that improved directional stability at high speed further and a strengthened inlet cone allowing a service clearance to Mach 2.0 (2,450 km/h; the F.1, F.1A and F.2 were all limited to Mach 1.7 (2,083 km/h). An upgraded A.I.23B radar and new, radar-guided Red Top missiles offered a forward hemisphere attack capability, even though additional electronics meant that the ADEN guns had to be deleted – but they were not popular in their position in front of the windscreen, because the muzzle flash blinded the pilot upon firing. The new engines and fin made the F.3 the highest performance Skyspark yet, but this came at a steep price: higher fuel consumption, resulting in even shorter range. From this basis, a conversion trainer with a side-by-side cockpit, the T.4, was created.

 

The next interceptor variant was already in development, but there was a need for an interim solution to partially address the F.3's shortcomings, the F.3A. The F.3A introduced two major improvements: a larger, non-jettisonable, 610-imperial-gallon (2,800 L) ventral fuel tank, resulting in a much deeper and longer belly fairing, and a new, kinked, conically cambered wing leading edge. The conically cambered wing improved manoeuvrability, especially at higher altitudes, and it offered space for a slightly larger leading edge fuel tank, raising the total usable internal fuel by 716 imperial gallons (3,260 L). The enlarged ventral tank not only nearly doubled available fuel, it also provided space at its front end for a re-instated pair of 30 mm ADEN cannon with 120 RPG. Alternatively, a retractable pack with unguided 55 mm air-to-air rockets could be installed, or a set of cameras for reconnaissance missions. The F.3A also introduced an improved A.I.23B radar and the new IR-guided Red Top missile, which was much faster and had greater range and manoeuvrability than the Firestreak. Its improved infrared seeker enabled a wider range of engagement angles and offered a forward hemisphere attack capability that would allow the Skyspark to attack even faster bombers (like the new, supersonic Tupolev T-22 Blinder) through a collision-course approach.

Wings and the new belly tank were also immediately incorporated in a second trainer variant, the T.5.

 

The ultimate variant, the Skyspark F.6, was nearly identical to the F.3A, with the exception that it could carry two additional 260-imperial-gallon (1,200 L) ferry tanks on pylons over the wings. These tanks were jettisonable in an emergency and gave the F.6 a substantially improved deployment capability, even though their supersonic drag was so high that the extra fuel would only marginally raise the aircraft’s range when flying beyond the sound barrier for extended periods.

 

Finally, there was the Skyspark F.2A; it was an early production F.2 upgraded with the new cambered wing, the squared fin, and the 610 imperial gallons (2,800 L) ventral tank. However, the F.2A retained the old AI.23 radar, the IR-guided Firestreak missile and the earlier Avon 211R engines. Although the F.2A lacked the thrust of the later Skysparks, it had the longest tactical range of all variants, and was used for low-altitude interception over West Germany.

 

The first Skysparks to enter service with the RAF, three pre-production P.1Bs, arrived at RAF Coltishall in Norfolk on 23 December 1959, joining the Air Fighting Development Squadron (AFDS) of the Central Fighter Establishment, where they were used to clear the Skyspark for entry into service. The production Skyspark F.1 entered service with the AFDS in May 1960, allowing the unit to take part in the air defence exercise "Yeoman" later that month. The Skyspark F.1 entered frontline squadron service with 74 Squadron at Coltishall from 11 July 1960. This made the Skyspark the second Western European-built combat aircraft with true supersonic capability to enter service and the second fully supersonic aircraft to be deployed in Western Europe (the first one in both categories being the Swedish Saab 35 Draken on 8 March 1960 four months earlier).

 

The aircraft's radar and missiles proved to be effective, and pilots reported that the Skyspark was easy to fly. However, in the first few months of operation the aircraft's serviceability was extremely poor. This was due to the complexity of the aircraft systems and shortages of spares and ground support equipment. Even when the Skyspark was not grounded by technical faults, the RAF initially struggled to get more than 20 flying hours per aircraft per month compared with the 40 flying hours that English Electric believed could be achieved with proper support. In spite of these concerns, within six months of the Skyspark entering service, 74 Squadron was able to achieve 100 flying hours per aircraft.

 

Deliveries of the slightly improved Skyspark F.1A, with revised avionics and provision for an air-to-air refueling probe, allowed two more squadrons, 56 and 111 Squadron, both based at RAF Wattisham, to convert to the Skyspark in 1960–1961. The Skyspark F.1 was only ordered in limited numbers and served only for a short time; nonetheless, it was viewed as a significant step forward in Britain's air defence capabilities. Following their replacement from frontline duties by the introduction of successively improved Skyspark variants, the remaining F.1 aircraft were employed by the Skyspark Conversion Squadron.

The improved F.2 entered service with 19 Squadron at the end of 1962 and 92 Squadron in early 1963. Conversion of these two squadrons was aided by the of the two-seat T.4 and T.5 trainers (based on the F.3 and F.3A/F.6 fighters), which entered service with the Skyspark Conversion Squadron (later renamed 226 Operational Conversion Unit) in June 1962. While the OCU was the major user of the two-seater, small numbers were also allocated to the front-line fighter squadrons. More F.2s were produced than there were available squadron slots, so later production aircraft were stored for years before being used operationally; some of these Skyspark F.2s were converted to F.2As.

 

The F.3, with more powerful engines and the new Red Top missile was expected to be the definitive Skyspark, and at one time it was planned to equip ten squadrons, with the remaining two squadrons retaining the F.2. However, the F.3 also had only a short operational life and was withdrawn from service early due to defence cutbacks and the introduction of the even more capable and longer-range F.6, some of which were converted F.3s.

 

The introduction of the F.3 and F.6 allowed the RAF to progressively reequip squadrons operating aircraft such as the subsonic Gloster Javelin and retire these types during the mid-1960s. During the 1960s, as strategic awareness increased and a multitude of alternative fighter designs were developed by Warsaw Pact and NATO members, the Skyspark's range and firepower shortcomings became increasingly apparent. The transfer of McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom IIs from Royal Navy service enabled these much longer-ranged aircraft to be added to the RAF's interceptor force, alongside those withdrawn from Germany as they were replaced by SEPECAT Jaguars in the ground attack role.

The Skyspark's direct replacement was the Tornado F.3, an interceptor variant of the Panavia Tornado. The Tornado featured several advantages over the Skyspark, including far larger weapons load and considerably more advanced avionics. Skysparks were slowly phased out of service between 1974 and 1988, even though they lasted longer than expected because the definitive Tornado F.3 went through serious teething troubles and its service introduction was delayed several times. In their final years, the Skysparks’ airframes required considerable maintenance to keep them airworthy due to the sheer number of accumulated flight hours.

  

General characteristics:

Crew: 1

Length: 51 ft 2 in (15,62 m) fuselage only

57 ft 3½ in (17,50 m) including pitot

Wingspan: 34 ft 10 in (10.62 m)

Height: 17 ft 6¾ in (5.36 m)

Wing area: 474.5 sq ft (44.08 m²)

Empty weight: 31,068 lb (14,092 kg) with armament and no fuel

Gross weight: 41,076 lb (18,632 kg) with two Red Tops, ammunition, and internal fuel

Max. takeoff weight: 45,750 lb (20,752 kg)

 

Powerplant:

2× Rolls-Royce Avon 301R afterburning turbojet engines,

12,690 lbf (56.4 kN) thrust each dry, 16,360 lbf (72.8 kN) with afterburner

 

Performance:

Maximum speed: Mach 2.27 (1,500 mph+ at 40,000 ft)

Range: 738 nmi (849 mi, 1,367 km)

Combat range: 135 nmi (155 mi, 250 km) supersonic intercept radius

Range: 800 nmi (920 mi, 1,500 km) with internal fuel

1,100 nmi (1,300 mi; 2,000 km) with external overwing tanks

Service ceiling: 60,000 ft (18,000 m)

Zoom ceiling: 70,000 ft (21,000 m)

Rate of climb: 20,000 ft/min (100 m/s) sustained to 30,000 ft (9,100 m)

Zoom climb: 50,000 ft/min

Time to altitude: 2.8 min to 36,000 ft (11,000 m)

Wing loading: 76 lb/sq ft (370 kg/m²) with two AIM-9 and 1/2 fuel

Thrust/weight: 0.78 (1.03 empty)

 

Armament:

2× 30 mm (1.181 in) ADEN cannon with 120 RPG in the lower fuselage

2× forward fuselage hardpoints for a single Firestreak or Red Top AAM each

2× overwing pylon stations for 2.000 lb (907 kg each)

for 260 imp gal (310 US gal; 1,200 l) ferry tanks

  

The kit and its assembly:

This build was a submission to the “Hunter, Lightning, Canberra” group build at whatifmodellers.com, and one of my personal ultimate challenges – a project that you think about very often, but the you put the thought back into its box when you realize that turning this idea into hardware will be a VERY tedious, complex and work-intensive task. But the thematic group build was the perfect occasion to eventually tackle the idea of a model of a “side-by-side engine BAC Lightning”, a.k.a. “Flatning”, as a rather conservative alternative to the real aircraft’s unique and unusual design with stacked engines in the fuselage, which brought a multitude of other design consequences that led to a really unique aircraft.

 

And it sound so simple: take a Lightning, just change the tail section. But it’s not that simple, because the whole fuselage shape would be different, resulting in less depth, the wings have to be attached somewhere and somehow, the landing gear might have to be adjusted/shortened, and how the fuselage diameter shape changes along the hull, so that you get a more or less smooth shape, was also totally uncertain!

 

Initially I considered a MiG Ye-152 as a body donor, but that was rejected due to the sheer price of the only available kit (ModelSvit). A Chinese Shenyang J-8I would also have been ideal – but there’s not 1:72 kit of this aircraft around, just of its successor with side intakes, a 1:72 J-8II from trumpeter.

I eventually decided to keep costs low, and I settled for the shaggy PM Model Su-15 (marketed as Su-21) “Flagon” as main body donor: it’s cheap, the engines have a good size for Avons and the pen nib fairing has a certain retro touch that goes well with the Lightning’s Fifties design.

The rest of this "Flatning" came from a Hasegawa 1:72 BAC Lightning F.6 (Revell re-boxing).

 

Massive modifications were necessary and lots of PSR. In an initial step the Flagon lost its lower wing halves, which are an integral part of the lower fuselage half. The cockpit section was cut away where the intake ducts begin. The Lightning had its belly tank removed (set aside for a potential later re-installation), and dry-fitting and crude measures suggested that only the cockpit section from the Lightning, its spine and the separate fin would make it onto the new fuselage.

 

Integrating the parts was tough, though! The problem that caused the biggest headaches: how to create a "smooth" fuselage from the Lightning's rounded front end with a single nose intake that originally develops into a narrow, vertical hull, combined with the boxy and rather wide Flagon fuselage with large Phantom-esque intakes? My solution: taking out deep wedges from all (rather massive) hull parts along the intake ducts, bend the leftover side walls inwards and glue them into place, so that the width becomes equal with the Lightning's cockpit section. VERY crude and massive body work!

 

However, the Lightning's cockpit section for the following hull with stacked engines is much deeper than the Flagon's side-by-side layout. My initial idea was to place the cockpit section higher, but I would have had to transplant a part of the Lightning's upper fuselage (with the spine on top, too!) onto the "flat" Flagon’s back. But this would have looked VERY weird, and I'd have had to bridge the round ventral shape of the Lightning into the boxy Flagon underside, too. This was no viable option, so that the cockpit section had to be further modified; I cut away the whole ventral cockpit section, at the height of the lower intake lip. Similar to my former Austrian Hasegawa Lightning, I also cut away the vertical bulkhead directly behind the intake opening - even though I did not improve the cockpit with a better tub with side consoles. At the back end, the Flagon's jet exhausts were opened and received afterburner dummies inside as a cosmetic upgrade.

 

Massive PSR work followed all around the hull. The now-open area under the cockpit was filled with lead beads to keep the front wheel down, and I implanted a landing gear well (IIRC, it's from an Xtrakit Swift). With the fuselage literally taking shape, the wings were glued together and the locator holes for the overwing tanks filled, because they would not be mounted.

 

To mount the wings to the new hull, crude measurements suggested that wedges had to be cut away from the Lightning's wing roots to match the weird fuselage shape. They were then glued to the shoulders, right behind the cockpit due to the reduced fuselage depth. At this stage, the Lightning’s stabilizer attachment points were transplanted, so that they end up in a similar low position on the rounded Su-15 tail. Again, lots of PSR…

 

At this stage I contemplated the next essential step: belly tank or not? The “Flatning” would have worked without it, but its profile would look rather un-Lightning-ish and rather “flat”. On the other side, a conformal tank would probably look quite strange on the new wide and flat ventral fuselage...? Only experiments could yield an answer, so I glued together the leftover belly bulge parts from the Hasegawa kit and played around with it. I considered a new, wider belly tank, but I guess that this would have looked too ugly. I eventually settled upon the narrow F.6 tank and also used the section behind it with the arrestor hook. I just reduced its depth by ~2 mm, with a slight slope towards the rear because I felt (righteously) that the higher wing position would lower the model’s stance. More massive PSR followed….

 

Due to the expected poor ground clearance, the Lightning’s stabilizing ventral fins were mounted directly under the fuselage edges rather than on the belly tank. Missile pylons for Red Tops were mounted to the lower front fuselage, similar to the real arrangement, and cable fairings, scratched from styrene profiles, were added to the lower flanks, stretching the hull optically and giving more structure to the hull.

 

To my surprise, I did not have to shorten the landing gear’s main legs! The wings ended up a little higher on the fuselage than on the original Lightning, and the front wheel sits a bit further back and deeper inside of its donor well, too, so that the fuselage comes probably 2 mm closer to the ground than an OOB Lightning model. Just like on the real aircraft, ground clearance is marginal, but when the main wheels were finally in place, the model turned out to have a low but proper stance, a little F8U-ish.

  

Painting and markings:

I was uncertain about the livery for a long time – I just had already settled upon an RAF aircraft. But the model would not receive a late low-viz scheme (the Levin, my mono-engine Lightning build already had one), and no NMF, either. I was torn between an RAF Germany all-green over NMF undersides livery, but eventually went for a pretty standard RAF livery in Dark Sea Grey/Dark Green over NMF undersides, with toned-down post-war roundels.

A factor that spoke in favor of this route was a complete set of markings for an RAF 11 Squadron Lightning F.6 in such a guise on an Xtradecal set, which also featured dayglo orange makings on fin, wings and stabilizers – quite unusual, and a nice contrast detail on the otherwise very conservative livery. All stencils were taken from the OOB Revell sheet for the Lightning. Just the tactical code “F” on the tail was procured elsewhere, it comes from a Matchbox BAC Lightning’s sheet.

 

After basic painting the model received the usual black ink washing, some post-panel-shading and also a light treatment with graphite to create soot strains around the jet exhausts and the gun ports, and to emphasize the raised panel lines on the Hasegawa parts.

 

Finally, the model was sealed with matt acrylic varnish and final bits and pieces like the landing gear and the Red Tops (taken OOB) were mounted.

  

A major effort, and I have seriously depleted my putty stocks for this build! However, the result looks less spectacular than it actually is: changing a Lightning from its literally original stacked engine layout into a more conservative side-by-side arrangement turned out to be possible, even though the outcome is not really pretty. But it works and is feasible!

Fangruida/Enc:Special multi-purpose anti-radiation suit 50 million dollars

 

Aerospace Medical Emergency cabin 1.5 billion dollars

 

Multi-purpose intelligent life support system 10 billion dollars

 

Mars truck 300 million dollars

 

Aerospace / Water Planet synthesis 1.2 billion dollars

 

Cutting-edge aerospace technology transfer 50 million dollars of new rocket radiation material 10 billion dollars against drugs microgravity $ 2 billion contact: Fangda337svb125@gmail.com,banxin123 @ gmail.com, mdin.jshmith @ gmail.com technology entry fee / technical margin of 1 million dollars , signed on demand

 

Table of Contents

Fangruida: human landing on Mars 10 cutting-edge technology

[Fangruida- human landing on Mars 10 innovative and sophisticated technologies]

Aerospace Science and space science and technology major innovation of the most critical of sophisticated technology R & D project

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

Aerospace Science Space Science and Technology on behalf of the world's most cutting-edge leader in high technology, materials, mechatronics, information and communication, energy, biomedical, marine, aviation aerospace, microelectronics, computer, automation, intelligent biochips, use of nuclear energy, light mechanical and electrical integration, astrophysics, celestial chemistry, astrophysics and so a series of geological science and technology. Especially after the moon landing, the further development of mankind to Mars and other planets into the powerful offensive, the world's major powers eager to Daxian hand of God, increase investment, vigorously develop new sophisticated technology projects for space to space. Satellite, space station, the new spacecraft, the new space suits, the new radiation protection materials, intelligent materials, new manufacturing technology, communications technology, computer technology, detector technology, rover, rover technology, biomedical technology, and so one after another, is expected to greater breakthroughs and leaps. For example, rocket technology, spacecraft design, large power spacecraft, spacesuits design improvements, radiation multifunctional composite materials, life health care technology and space medicine, prevention against microgravity microgravity applicable drugs, tracking control technology, landing and return technology. Mars lander and returned safely to Earth as a top priority. Secondly, Mars, the Moon base and the use of transforming Mars, the Moon and other development will follow. Whether the former or the latter, are the modern aerospace science, space science basic research, applied basic research and applied research in the major cutting-edge technology. These major cutting-edge technology research and innovation, not only for human landing on Mars and the safe return of great significance, but for the entire space science, impact immeasurable universe sciences, earth sciences and human life. Here the most critical of the most important research projects of several sophisticated technology research and development as well as its core technology brief. Limit non-scientific techniques include non-technical limits of technology, the key lies in technology research and development of technology maturity, advanced technology, innovative, practical, reliable, practical application, business value and investment costs, and not simply like the idea mature technology achievements, difficult to put into things. This is the high-tech research and development, testing, prototype, test application testing, until the outcome of industrialization. Especially in aerospace technology, advanced, novelty, practicality, reliability, economy, maturity, commercial value and so on. For technical and research purely science fiction and the like may be irrelevant depth, but not as aerospace engineering and technology practice. Otherwise, Mars will become a dream fantasy, and even into settling crashed out of danger.

Regardless of the moon or Mars, many technical difficulties, especially a human landing on Mars and return safely to Earth, technical difficulties mainly in the following aspects. (Transformation of Mars and the Moon and other planets and detect other livable technology more complex and difficult, at this stage it is difficult to achieve and therefore not discussed in detail in this study). In fact, Mars will be the safe return of a full set of technology, space science, aerospace crucial scientific research development, its significance is not confined to Mars simply a return to scientific value, great commercial value, can not be measure.

1. Powered rocket, the spacecraft overall structural design not be too complex large, otherwise, the safety factor to reduce the risk of failure accidents. Fusion rocket engine main problem to be solved is the high-temperature materials and fuel ignition chamber (reaction chamber temperatures of up to tens of millions of supreme billion degrees), fissile class rocket engine whose essence is the miniaturization of nuclear reactors, and placed on the rocket. Nuclear rocket engine fuel as an energy source, with liquid hydrogen, liquid helium, liquid ammonia working fluid. Nuclear rocket engine mounted in the thrust chamber of the reactor, cooling nozzle, the working fluid delivery and control systems and other components. This engine due to nuclear radiation protection, exhaust pollution, reactor control and efficient heat exchanger design and other issues unresolved. Electrothermal rocket engine utilizing heat energy (resistance heating or electric arc heating) working medium (hydrogen, amines, hydrazine ), vaporized; nozzle expansion accelerated after discharged from the spout to generate thrust. Static rocket engine working fluid (mercury, cesium, hydrogen, etc.) from the tank enter the ionization chamber is formed thrust ionized into a plasma jet. Electric rocket engines with a high specific impulse (700-2500 sec), extremely long life (can be repeated thousands of times a starter, a total of up to thousands of hours of work). But the thrust of less than 100N. This engine is only available for spacecraft attitude control, station-keeping and the like. One nuclear - power rocket design is as follows: Firstly, the reactor heats water to make it into steam, and then the high-speed steam ejected, push the rocket. Nuclear rocket using hydrogen as working substance may be a better solution, it is one of the most commonly used liquid hydrogen rocket fuel rocket carrying liquid hydrogen virtually no technical difficulties. Heating hydrogen nuclear reactor, as long as it eventually reaches or exceeds current jet velocity hydrogen rocket engine jet speed, the same weight of the rocket will be able to work longer, it can accelerate the Rockets faster. Here there are only two problems: First, the final weight includes the weight of the rocket in nuclear reactors, so it must be as light as possible. Ultra-small nuclear reactor has been able to achieve. Furthermore, if used in outer space, we can not consider the problem of radioactive residues, simply to just one proton hydrogen nuclei are less likely to produce induced radioactivity, thus shielding layer can be made thinner, injected hydrogen gas can flow directly through the reactor core, it is not easy to solve, and that is how to get back at high speed heated gas is ejected.

Rocket engine with a nuclear fission reactor, based on the heating liquid hydrogen propellant, rather than igniting flammable propellant

High-speed heavy rocket is a major cutting-edge technology. After all, space flight and aircraft carriers, submarines, nuclear reactors differ greatly from the one hand, the use of traditional fuels, on the one hand can be nuclear reactor technology. From the control, for security reasons, the use of nuclear power rocket technology, safe and reliable overriding indicators. Nuclear atomic energy in line with the norms and rules of outer space. For the immature fetal abdominal hatchery technology, and resolutely reject use. This is the most significant development of nuclear-powered rocket principle.

Nuclear-powered spaceship for Use of nuclear power are three kinds:

The first method: no water or air space such media can not be used propeller must use jet approach. Reactor nuclear fission or fusion to produce a lot of heat, we will propellant (such as liquid hydrogen) injection, the rapid expansion of the propellant will be heated and then discharged from the engine speed tail thrust. This method is most readily available.

The second method: nuclear reactor will have a lot of fast-moving ions, these energetic particles moving very fast, so you can use a magnetic field to control their ejection direction. This principle ion rocket similar to the tail of the rocket ejected from the high-speed mobile ions, so that the recoil movement of a rocket. The advantage of this approach is to promote the unusually large ratio, without carrying any medium, continued strong. Ion engine, which is commonly referred to as "electric rocket", the principle is not complicated, the propellant is ionized particles,

Plasma Engine

Electromagnetic acceleration, high-speed spray. From the development trend, the US research scope covers almost all types of electric thrusters, but mainly to the development of ion engines, NASA in which to play the most active intake technology and preparedness plans. "

The third method: the use of nuclear explosions. It is a bold and crazy way, no longer is the use of a controlled nuclear reaction, but to use nuclear explosions to drive the ship, this is not an engine, and it is called a nuclear pulse rocket. This spacecraft will carry a lot of low-yield atomic bombs out one behind, and then detonated, followed by a spacecraft propulsion installation disk, absorbing the blast pushing the spacecraft forward. This was in 1955 to Orion (Project Orion) name of the project, originally planned to bring two thousand atomic bombs, Orion later fetal nuclear thermal rocket. Its principle is mounted on a small rocket reactor, the reactor utilizing thermal energy generated by the propellant is heated to a high temperature, high pressure and high temperature of the propellant from the high-speed spray nozzle, a tremendous impetus.

Common nuclear fission technologies, including nuclear pulse rocket engines, nuclear rockets, nuclear thermal rocket and nuclear stamping rockets to nuclear thermal rocket, for example, the size of its land-based nuclear power plant reactor structure than the much smaller, more uranium-235 purity requirements high, reaching more than 90%, at the request of the high specific impulse engine core temperature will reach about 3000K, require excellent high temperature properties of materials.

Research and test new IT technologies and new products and new technology and new materials, new equipment, things are difficult, design is the most important part, especially in the overall design, technical solutions, technical route, technical process, technical and economic particularly significant. The overall design is defective, technology there are loopholes in the program, will be a major technical route deviation, but also directly related to the success of research trials. so, any time, under any circumstances, a good grasp of the overall control of design, technical design, is essential. otherwise, a done deal, it is difficult save. aerospace technology research and product development is true.

3, high-performance nuclear rocket

Nuclear rocket nuclear fission and fusion energy can rocket rocket two categories. Nuclear fission and fusion produce heat, radiation and shock waves and other large amounts of energy, but here they are contemplated for use as a thermal energy rocket.

Uranium and other heavy elements, under certain conditions, will split their nuclei, called nuclear fission reaction. The atomic bomb is the result of nuclear fission reactions. Nuclear fission reaction to release energy, is a million times more chemical rocket propellant combustion energy. Therefore, nuclear fission energy is a high-performance rocket rockets. Since it requires much less propellant than chemical rockets can, so to its own weight is much lighter than chemical rockets energy. For the same quality of the rocket, the rocket payload of nuclear fission energy is much greater than the chemical energy of the rocket. Just nuclear fission energy rocket is still in the works. 

Use of nuclear fission energy as the energy of the rocket, called the atomic rockets. It is to make hydrogen or other inert gas working fluid through the reactor, the hydrogen after the heating temperature quickly rose to 2000 ℃, and then into the nozzle, high-speed spray to produce thrust. 

A vision plan is to use liquid hydrogen working fluid, in operation, the liquid hydrogen tank in the liquid hydrogen pump is withdrawn through the catheter and the engine cooling jacket and liquid hydrogen into hydrogen gas, hydrogen gas turbine-driven, locally expansion. Then by nuclear fission reactors, nuclear fission reactions absorb heat released, a sharp rise in temperature, and finally into the nozzle, the rapid expansion of high-speed spray. Calculations show that the amount of atomic payload rockets, rocket high chemical energy than 5-8 times.

Hydrogen and other light elements, under certain conditions, their nuclei convergent synthesis of new heavy nuclei, and release a lot of energy, called nuclear fusion reaction, also called thermonuclear reaction. 

Using energy generated by the fusion reaction for energy rocket, called fusion energy rocket or nuclear thermal rockets. But it is also not only take advantage of controlled nuclear fusion reaction to manufacture hydrogen bombs, rockets and controlled nuclear fusion reaction needs still studying it.

Of course there are various research and development of rocket technology and technical solutions to try.

It is envisaged that the rocket deuterium, an isotope of hydrogen with deuterium nuclear fusion reaction of helium nuclei, protons and neutrons, and release huge amounts of energy, just polymerized ionized helium to temperatures up to 100 million degrees the plasma, and then nozzle expansion, high-speed ejection, the exhaust speed of up to 15,000 km / sec, atomic energy is 1800 times the rocket, the rocket is the chemical energy of 3700 times.

Nuclear rocket engine fuel as an energy source, with liquid hydrogen, liquid helium, liquid ammonia working fluid. Nuclear rocket engine mounted in the thrust chamber of the reactor, cooling nozzle, the working fluid delivery and control systems and other components. In a nuclear reactor, nuclear energy into heat to heat the working fluid, the working fluid is heated after expansion nozzle to accelerate to the speed of 6500 ~ 11,000 m / sec from the discharge orifice to produce thrust. Nuclear rocket engine specific impulse (250 to 1000 seconds) long life, but the technology is complex, apply only to long-term spacecraft. This engine due to nuclear radiation protection, exhaust pollution, reactor control and efficient heat exchanger design and other issues not resolved, is still in the midst of trials. Nuclear rocket technology is cutting-edge aerospace science technology, centralized many professional and technical sciences and aerospace, nuclear physics, nuclear chemistry, materials science, the long term future ___-- wide width. The United States, Russia and Europe, China, India, Japan, Britain, Brazil and other countries in this regard have studies, in particular the United States and Russia led the way, impressive. Of course, at this stage of nuclear rocket technology, technology development there are still many difficulties. Fully formed, still to be. But humanity marching to the universe, nuclear reactor applications is essential.

Outer Space Treaty (International Convention on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space) ****

Use of Nuclear Power Sources in Outer Space Principle 15

General Assembly,

Having considered the report of its thirty-fifth session of the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space and the Commission of 16 nuclear

It can be attached in principle on the use of nuclear power sources in outer space of the text of its report, 17

Recognize that nuclear power sources due to small size, long life and other characteristics, especially suitable for use even necessary

For some missions in outer space,

Recognizing also that the use of nuclear power sources in outer space should focus on the possible use of nuclear power sources

Those uses,

Recognizing also that the use of nuclear power sources should include or probabilistic risk analysis is complete security in outer space

Full evaluation is based, in particular, the public should focus on reducing accidental exposure to harmful radiation or radioactive material risk

risk,

Recognizing the need to a set of principles containing goals and guidelines in this regard to ensure the safety of outer space makes

With nuclear power sources,

Affirming that this set principles apply exclusively on space objects for non-power generation, which is generally characteristic

Mission systems and implementation of nuclear power sources in outer space on similar principles and used by,

Recognizing this need to refer to a new set of principles for future nuclear power applications and internationally for radiological protection

The new proposal will be revised

By the following principles on the use of nuclear power sources in outer space.

Principle 1. Applicability of international law

Involving the use of nuclear power sources in outer space activities should be carried out in accordance with international law, especially the "UN

Principles of the Charter "and" States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies Activities

Treaty "3

.

2. The principle terms

1. For the purpose of these principles, "launching State" and "launching State ......" two words mean, in related

Principles related to a time of nuclear power sources in space objects exercises jurisdiction and control of the country.

2. For the purpose of principle 9, wherein the definition of the term "launching State" as contained in that principle.

3. For the purposes of principle 3, the terms "foreseeable" and "all possible" two words are used to describe the actual hair

The overall likelihood of students that it is considered for safety analysis is credible possibilities for a class of things

Member or circumstances. "General concept of defense in depth" when the term applies to nuclear power sources in outer space refers to various settings

Count form and space operations replace or supplement the operation of the system in order to prevent system failures or mitigate thereafter

"Official Records of the General Assembly, Forty-seventh Session, Supplement No. 20" 16 (A / 47/20).

17 Ibid., Annex.

38

fruit. To achieve this purpose is not necessarily required for each individual member has redundant safety systems. Given space

Use and special requirements of various space missions, impossible to any particular set of systems or features can be specified as

Necessary to achieve this purpose. For the purpose of Principle 3 (d) of paragraph 2, "made critical" does not include

Including such as zero-power testing which are fundamental to ensuring system safety required.

Principle 3. Guidelines and criteria for safe use

To minimize the risk of radioactive material in space and the number involved, nuclear power sources in outer space

Use should be limited to non-nuclear power sources in space missions can not reasonably be performed

1. General goals for radiation protection and nuclear safety

(A) States launching space objects with nuclear power sources on board shall endeavor to protect individuals, populations and the biosphere

From radiation hazards. The design and use of space objects with nuclear power sources on board shall ensure that risk with confidence

Harm in the foreseeable operational or accidental circumstances, paragraph 1 (b) and (c) to define acceptable water

level.

Such design and use shall also ensure that radioactive material does not reliably significant contamination of outer space.

(B) the normal operation of nuclear power sources in space objects, including from paragraph 2 (b) as defined in foot

High enough to return to the track, shall be subject to appropriate anti-radiation recommended by the International Commission on Radiological Protection of the public

Protection goals. During such normal operation there shall be no significant radiation exposure;

(C) To limit exposure in accidents, the design and construction of nuclear power source systems shall take into account the international

Relevant and generally accepted radiological protection guidelines.

In addition to the probability of accidents with potentially serious radiological consequences is extremely low, the nuclear power source

Design systems shall be safely irradiated limited limited geographical area, for the individual radiation dose should be

Limited to no more than a year 1mSv primary dose limits. Allows the use of irradiation year for some years 5mSv deputy agent

Quantity limit, but the average over a lifetime effective dose equivalent annual dose not exceed the principal limit 1mSv

degree.

Should make these conditions occur with potentially serious radiological consequences of the probability of the system design is very

small.

Criteria mentioned in this paragraph Future modifications should be applied as soon as possible;

(D) general concept of defense in depth should be based on the design, construction and operation of systems important for safety. root

According to this concept, foreseeable safety-related failures or malfunctions must be capable of automatic action may be

Or procedures to correct or offset.

It should ensure that essential safety system reliability, inter alia, to make way for these systems

Component redundancy, physical separation, functional isolation and adequate independence.

It should also take other measures to increase the level of safety.

2. The nuclear reactor

(A) nuclear reactor can be used to:

39

(I) On interplanetary missions;

(Ii) the second high enough orbit paragraph (b) as defined;

(Iii) low-Earth orbit, with the proviso that after their mission is complete enough to be kept in a nuclear reactor

High on the track;

(B) sufficiently high orbit the orbital lifetime is long enough to make the decay of fission products to approximately actinides

Element active track. The sufficiently high orbit must be such that existing and future outer space missions of crisis

Risk and danger of collision with other space objects to a minimum. In determining the height of the sufficiently high orbit when

It should also take into account the destroyed reactor components before re-entering the Earth's atmosphere have to go through the required decay time

between.

(C) only 235 nuclear reactors with highly enriched uranium fuel. The design shall take into account the fission and

Activation of radioactive decay products.

(D) nuclear reactors have reached their operating orbit or interplanetary trajectory can not be made critical state

state.

(E) nuclear reactor design and construction shall ensure that, before reaching the operating orbit during all possible events

Can not become critical state, including rocket explosion, re-entry, impact on ground or water, submersion

In water or water intruding into the core.

(F) a significant reduction in satellites with nuclear reactors to operate on a lifetime less than in the sufficiently high orbit orbit

For the period (including during operation into the sufficiently high orbit) the possibility of failure, there should be a very

Reliable operating system, in order to ensure an effective and controlled disposal of the reactor.

3. Radioisotope generators

(A) interplanetary missions and other spacecraft out of Earth's gravitational field tasks using radioactive isotopes

Su generator. As they are stored after completion of their mission in high orbit, the Earth can also be used

track. We are required to make the final treatment under any circumstances.

(B) Radioisotope generators shall be protected closed systems, design and construction of the system should

Ensure that in the foreseeable conditions of the track to withstand the heat and aerodynamic forces of re-entry in the upper atmosphere, orbit

Conditions including highly elliptical or hyperbolic orbits when relevant. Upon impact, the containment system and the occurrence of parity

Physical morpheme shall ensure that no radioactive material is scattered into the environment so you can complete a recovery operation

Clear all radioactive impact area.

Principle 4. Safety Assessment

1. When launching State emission consistent with the principles defined in paragraphs 1, prior to the launch in applicable under the

Designed, constructed or manufactured the nuclear power sources, or will operate the space object person, or from whose territory or facility

Transmits the object will be to ensure a thorough and comprehensive safety assessment. This assessment shall cover

All relevant stages of space mission and shall deal with all systems involved, including the means of launching, the space level

Taiwan, nuclear power source and its equipment and the means of control and communication between ground and space.

2. This assessment shall respect the principle of 3 contained in the guidelines and criteria for safe use.

40

3. The principle of States in the Exploration and Use, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies Outer Space Activities Article

Results of about 11, this safety assessment should be published prior to each transmit simultaneously to the extent feasible

Note by the approximate intended time of launch, and shall notify the Secretary-General of the United Nations, how to be issued

This safety assessment before the shot to get the results as soon as possible.

Principle 5. Notification of re-entry

1. Any State launching a space object with nuclear power sources in space objects that failed to produce discharge

When radioactive substances dangerous to return to the earth, it shall promptly notify the country concerned. Notice shall be in the following format:

(A) System parameters:

(I) Name of launching State, including which may be contacted in the event of an accident to Request

Information or assistance to obtain the relevant authorities address;

(Ii) International title;

(Iii) Date and territory or location of launch;

(Iv) the information needed to make the best prediction of orbit lifetime, trajectory and impact region;

(V) General function of spacecraft;

(B) information on the radiological risk of nuclear power source:

(I) the type of power source: radioisotopes / reactor;

(Ii) the fuel could fall into the ground and may be affected by the physical state of contaminated and / or activated components, the number of

The amount and general radiological characteristics. The term "fuel" refers to as a source of heat or power of nuclear material.

This information shall also be sent to the Secretary-General of the United Nations.

2. Once you know the failure, the launching State shall provide information on the compliance with the above format. Information should as far as possible

To be updated frequently, and in the dense layers of the Earth's atmosphere is expected to return to a time when close to the best increase

Frequency of new data, so that the international community understand the situation and will have sufficient time to plan for any deemed necessary

National contingency measures.

3. It should also be at the same frequency of the latest information available to the Secretary-General of the United Nations.

Principle 6. consultation

5 According to the national principles provide information shall, as far as reasonably practicable, other countries

Requirements to obtain further information or consultations promptly reply.

Principle 7. Assistance to States

1. Upon receipt of expected with nuclear power sources on space objects and their components will return through the Earth's atmosphere

After know that all countries possessing space monitoring and tracking facilities, in the spirit of international cooperation, as soon as possible to

The Secretary-General of the United Nations and the countries they may have made space objects carrying nuclear power sources

A fault related information, so that the States may be affected to assess the situation and take any

It is considered to be the necessary precautions.

41

2. In carrying space objects with nuclear power sources back to the Earth's atmosphere after its components:

(A) launching State shall be requested by the affected countries to quickly provide the necessary assistance to eliminate actual

And possible effects, including nuclear power sources to assist in identifying locations hit the Earth's surface, to detect the re substance

Quality and recovery or cleanup activities.

(B) All countries with relevant technical capabilities other than the launching State, and with such technical capabilities

International organizations shall, where possible, in accordance with the requirements of the affected countries to provide the necessary co

help.

When according to the above (a) and subparagraph (b) to provide assistance, should take into account the special needs of developing countries.

Principle 8. Responsibility

In accordance with the States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies activities, including the principles of Article

About Article, States shall bear international responsibility for their use of nuclear power sources in outer space relates to the activities

Whether such activities are carried on by governmental agencies or non-governmental entities, and shall bear international responsibility to ensure that this

Such activities undertaken by the country in line with the principles of the Treaty and the recommendations contained therein. If it involves the use of nuclear power sources

Activities in outer space by an international organization, should be done by the international organizations and States to participate in the organization

Undertakes to comply with the principles of the Treaty and the recommendations contained in these responsibilities.

Principle 9. Liability and Compensation

1. In accordance with the principle of States in the Exploration and Use, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies Outer Space Activities Article

And the Convention on International Liability for Damage Caused by Space Objects covenant of Article 7

Provisions, which launches or on behalf of the State

Each State launching a space object and each State from which territory or facility a space object is launched

Kinds of space object or damage caused by components shall bear international liability. This fully applies to this

Kind of space object carrying a nuclear power source case. Two or more States jointly launch a space object,

Each launching State shall in accordance with the above Article of the Convention for any damages jointly and severally liable.

2. Such countries under the aforesaid Convention shall bear the damages shall be in accordance with international law and fair and reasonable

The principles set out in order to provide for damages to make a claim on behalf of its natural or juridical persons, national or

International organizations to restore to the state before the occurrence of the damage.

3. For the purposes of this principle, compensation should be made to include reimbursement of the duly substantiated expenses for search, recovery and clean

Cost management work, including the cost of providing assistance to third parties.

10. The principle of dispute settlement

Since the implementation of these principles will lead to any dispute in accordance with the provisions of the UN Charter, by negotiation or

Other established procedures to resolve the peaceful settlement of disputes.

Here quoted the important provisions of the United Nations concerning the use of outer space for peaceful nuclear research and international conventions, the main emphasis on the Peaceful Uses of provisions related constraints .2 the use of nuclear rockets in outer space nuclear studies, etc., can cause greater attention in nuclear power nuclear rocket ship nuclear research, manufacture, use and other aspects of the mandatory hard indicators. this scientists, engineering and technical experts are also important constraints and requirements. as IAEA supervision and management as very important.

2. radiation. Space radiation is one of the greatest threats to the safety of the astronauts, including X-rays, γ-rays, cosmic rays and high-speed solar particles. Better than aluminum protective effect of high polymer composite materials.

3. Air. Perhaps the oxygen needed to rely on oxidation-reduction reaction of hydrogen and ilmenite production of water, followed by water electrolysis to generate oxygen. Mars oxygen necessary for survival but also from the decomposition of water, electrolytically separating water molecules of oxygen and hydrogen, this oxygen equipment has been successfully used in the International Space Station. Oxygen is released into the air to sustain life, the hydrogen system into the water system.

4. The issue of food waste recycling. At present, the International Space Station on the use of dehumidifiers, sucked moisture in the air to be purified, and then changed back to drinkable water. The astronauts' urine and sweat recycling. 5. water. The spacecraft and the space station on purification system also makes urine and other liquids can be purified utilization. 6. microgravity. In microgravity or weightlessness long-term space travel, if protective measures shall not be treated, the astronauts will be muscle atrophy, bone softening health. 7. contact. 8. Insulation, 9 energy. Any space exploration are inseparable from the energy battery is a new super hybrid energy storage device, the asymmetric lead-acid batteries and supercapacitors in the same compound within the system - and the so-called inside, no additional separate electronic control unit, this is an optimal combination. The traditional lead-acid battery PbO2 monomer is a positive electrode plate and a negative electrode plate spongy Pb composition, not a super cell. : Silicon solar cells, multi-compound thin film solar cells, multi-layer polymer-modified electrode solar cells, nano-crystalline solar cells, batteries and super class. For example, the solar aircraft .10. To protect the health and life safety and security systems. Lysophosphatidic acid LPA is a growth factor-like lipid mediators, the researchers found that this substance can on apoptosis after radiation injury and animal cells was inhibited. Stable lysophosphatidic acid analogs having the hematopoietic system and gastrointestinal tract caused by acute radiation sickness protection, knockout experiments show that lysophosphatidic acid receptors is an important foundation for the protection of radiation injury. In addition to work under high pressure, the astronauts face a number of health threats, including motion sickness, bacterial infections, blindness space, as well as psychological problems, including toxic dust. In the weightless environment of space, the astronaut's body will be like in preadolescents, as the emergence of various changes.

Plantar molt

After the environment to adapt to zero gravity, the astronaut's body will be some strange changes. Weightlessness cause fluid flow around the main flow torso and head, causing the astronauts facial swelling and inflammation, such as nasal congestion. During long-term stay in space

Bone and muscle loss

Most people weightlessness caused by the impact may be known bone and muscle degeneration. In addition, the calcium bones become very fragile and prone to fracture, which is why some of the astronauts after landing need on a stretcher.

Space Blindness

Space Blindness refers astronaut decreased vision.

Solar storms and radiation is one of the biggest challenges facing the long-term space flight. Since losing the protection of Earth's magnetic field, astronauts suffer far more than normal levels of radiation. The cumulative amount of radiation exposure in low earth orbit them exceeded by workers close to nuclear reactors, thereby increasing the risk of cancer.

Prolonged space flight can cause a series of psychological problems, including depression or mood swings, vulnerability, anxiety and fear, as well as other sequelae. We are familiar with the biology of the Earth, the Earth biochemistry, biophysics, after all, the Earth is very different astrophysics, celestial chemistry, biophysics and astrophysics, biochemistry and other celestial bodies. Therefore, you must be familiar with and adapt to these differences and changes.

Osteoporosis and its complications ranked first in the space of disease risk.

Long-term health risks associated with flying Topics

The degree of influence long-term biological effects of radiation in human flight can withstand the radiation and the maximum limit of accumulated radiation on physiology, pathology and genetics.

Physiological effects of weightlessness including: long-term bone loss and a return flight after the maximum extent and severity of the continued deterioration of other pathological problems induced by the; maximum flexibility and severity of possible long-term Flight Center in vascular function.

Long-term risk of disease due to the high risk of flight stress, microbial variation, decreased immune function, leading to infections

Radiation hazards and protection

1) radiation medicine, biology and pathway effects Features

Radiation protection for interplanetary flight, since the lack of protective effect of Earth's magnetic field, and by the irradiation time is longer, the possibility of increased radiation hazard.

Analysis of space flight medical problems that may occur, loss of appetite topped the list, sleep disorders, fatigue and insomnia, in addition, space sickness, musculoskeletal system problems, eye problems, infections problems, skin problems and cardiovascular problems

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

Development of diagnostic techniques in orbit, the development of the volume of power consumption, features a wide range of diagnostic techniques, such as applied research of ultrasound diagnostic techniques in the abdominal thoracic trauma, bone, ligament damage, dental / sinus infections and other complications and integrated;

Actively explore in orbit disposal of medical technology, weightlessness surgical methods, development of special surgical instruments, the role of narcotic drugs and the like.

——————————————————————————————-

However, space technology itself is integrated with the use of the most advanced technology, its challenging technical reserves and periodic demanding

With the continuous development of science and technology, space agencies plan a manned landing on the moon and Mars, space exploration emergency medicine current concern.

Space sickness

In the weightless environment of space, in the weightless environment of space, surgery may be extremely difficult and risky.

Robot surgeons

Space disease in three days after entering the space started to ease, although individual astronauts might subsequently relapse. January 2015 NASA declared working on a fast, anti-nausea and nasal sprays. In addition, due to the zero-gravity environment, and anti-nausea drugs can only be administered by injection or transdermal patches manner.

Manned spaceflight in the 21st century is the era of interplanetary flight, aerospace medicine is closely watched era is the era of China's manned space flourish. Only the central issue, and grasp the opportunity to open up a new world of human survival and development.

Various emergency contingency measures in special circumstances. Invisible accident risk prevention. Enhancing drugs and other screening methods immunity aerospace medicine and tissue engineering a microgravity environment. Drug mixture of APS, ginseng polysaccharides, Ganoderma lucidum polysaccharides, polysaccharides and Lentinan, from other compounds. Drug development space syndrome drug, chemical structure modification will be an important part.

These issues are very sensitive, cutting-edge technology is a major difficulty landing on Mars. Countries in the world, especially the world's major space powers in the country strategies and technical research, the results of all kinds continue to emerge. United States, Russia, China, Europe, India, Japan and other countries is different. United States, Russia extraordinary strength. Many patented technology and health, and most belong to the top-secret technology. Especially in aerospace engineering and technological achievements is different from the general scientific literature, practical, commercial, industrial great, especially the performance of patents, know-how, technical drawings, engineering design and other aspects. Present Mars and return safely to Earth, the first manned, significance, everything is hard in the beginning, especially the first person to land on Mars This Mars for Human Sciences Research Mars, the moon, the earth, the solar system and the universe, life and other significant. Its far greater than the value of direct investments and business interests.

In addition, it is the development of new materials, suitable for deep space operations universe, life, and other detection, wider field.

Many aerospace materials, continuous research and development of materials are key areas of aerospace development, including material rocket, the spacecraft materials, the suit materials, radiation materials, materials and equipment, instruments, materials and so on biochemistry.

Temperature metal-based compound with a metal matrix composite body with a more primordial higher temperature strength, creep resistance, impact resistance, thermal fatigue and other excellent high temperature performance.

In B, C, SiC fiber reinforced Ti3Al, TiAl, Ni3Al intermetallic matrix composites, etc.

W Fiber Reinforced with nickel-based, iron-based alloys as well as SiC, TiB2, Si3N4 and BN particle reinforced metal matrix composites

High temperature service conditions require the development of ceramic and carbon-based composite materials, etc., not in this eleven Cheung said.

Fuel storage

In order to survive in space, people need many things: food, oxygen, shelter, and, perhaps most importantly, fuel. The initial quality Mars mission somewhere around 80 percent of the space launch humans will be propellant. The fuel amount of storage space is very difficult.

This difference in low Earth orbit cause liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen - rocket fuel - vaporization.

Hydrogen is particularly likely to leak out, resulting in a loss of about 4% per month.

When you want to get people to Mars speed to minimize exposure to weightlessness and space radiation hazards

Mars

Landings on the Martian surface, they realized that they reached the limit. The rapid expansion of the thin Martian atmosphere can not be very large parachute, such as those that will need to be large enough to slow down, carry human spacecraft.

Therefore, the parachute strong mass ratio, high temperature resistance, Bing shot performance and other aspects of textile materials used have special requirements, in order to make a parachute can be used in rockets, missiles, Yu arrows spacecraft and other spacecraft recovery, it is necessary to improve the canopy heat resistance, a high melting point polymeric fiber fabric used, the metal fabric, ceramic fiber fabrics, and other devices.

Super rigid parachute to help slow the landing vehicle.

Spacecraft entered the Martian atmosphere at 24,000 km / h. Even after slowing parachute or inflatable, it will be very

Once we have the protection of the Earth magnetic field, the solar radiation will accumulate in the body, a huge explosion threw the spacecraft may potentially lethal doses of radiation astronauts.

In addition to radiation, the biggest challenge is manned trip to Mars microgravity, as previously described.

The moon is sterile. Mars is another case entirely.

With dust treatment measures.

Arid Martian environment to create a super-tiny dust particles flying around the Earth for billions of years.

Apollo moon dust encountered. Ultra-sharp and abrasive lunar dust was named something that can clog the basic functions of mechanical damage. High chloride salt, which can cause thyroid problems in people.

Mars geological structure and geological structure of the moon, water on Mars geology, geology of the Moon is very important, because he, like the Earth's geology is related to many important issues. Water, the first element of life, air, temperature, and complex geological formations are geological structure. Cosmic geology research methods, mainly through a variety of detection equipment equipped with a space probe, celestial observations of atmospheric composition, composition and distribution of temperature, pressure, wind speed, vertical structure, composition of the solar wind, the water, the surface topography and Zoning, topsoil the composition and characteristics of the component surface of the rock, type and distribution, stratigraphic sequence, structural system and the internal shell structure.

Mars internal situation only rely on its surface condition of large amounts of data and related information inferred. It is generally believed that the core radius of 1700 km of high-density material composition; outsourcing a layer of lava, it is denser than the Earth's mantle some; outermost layer is a thin crust. Compared to other terrestrial planets, the lower the density of Mars, which indicates that the Martian core of iron (magnesium and iron sulfide) with may contain more sulfur. Like Mercury and the Moon, Mars and lack active plate movement; there is no indication that the crust of Mars occurred can cause translational events like the Earth like so many of folded mountains. Since there is no lateral movement in the earth's crust under the giant hot zone relative to the ground in a stationary state. Slight stress coupled with the ground, resulting in Tharis bumps and huge volcano. For the geological structure of Mars is very important, which is why repeated explorations and studies of Martian geological reasons.

Earth's surface

Each detector component landing site soil analysis:

Element weight percent

Viking 1

Oxygen 40-45

Si 18-25

Iron 12-15

K 8

Calcium 3-5

Magnesium 3-6

S 2-5

Aluminum 2-5

Cesium 0.1-0.5

Core

Mars is about half the radius of the core radius, in addition to the primary iron further comprises 15 to 17% of the sulfur content of lighter elements is also twice the Earth, so the low melting point, so that the core portion of a liquid, such as outside the Earth nuclear.

Mantle

Nuclear outer coating silicate mantle.

Crust

The outermost layer of the crust.

Crustal thickness obtained, the original thickness of the low north 40 km south plateau 70 kilometers thick, an average of 50 kilometers, at least 80 km Tharsis plateau and the Antarctic Plateau, and in the impact basin is thin, as only about 10 kilometers Greece plains.

Canyon of Mars there are two categories: outflow channels (outflow channel) and tree valley (valley network). The former is very large, it can be 100 km wide, over 2000 km long, streamlined, mainly in the younger Northern Hemisphere, such as the plain around Tyre Chris Canyon and Canyon jam.

In addition, the volcanic activity sometimes lava formation lava channels (lava channel); crustal stress generated by fissures, faults, forming numerous parallel extending grooves (fossa), such as around the huge Tharsis volcanic plateau radially distributed numerous grooves, which can again lead to volcanic activity.

Presumably, Mars has an iron as the main component of the nucleus, and contains sulfur, magnesium and other light elements, the nuclear share of Mars, the Earth should be relatively small. The outer core is covered with a thick layer of magnesium-rich silicate mantle, the surface of rocky crust. The density of Earth-like planets Mars is the lowest, only 3.93g / cc.

Hierarchy

The crust

Lunar core

The average density of the Moon is 3.3464 g / cc, the solar system satellites second highest (after Aiou). However, there are few clues mean lunar core is small, only about 350 km radius or less [2]. The core of the moon is only about 20% the size of the moon, the moon's interior has a solid, iron-rich core diameter of about 240 kilometers (150 miles); in addition there is a liquid core, mainly composed of iron outer core, about 330 km in diameter (205 miles), and for the first time compared with the core of the Earth, considered as the earth's outer core, like sulfur and oxygen may have lighter elements [4].

Chemical elements on the lunar surface constituted in accordance with its abundance as follows: oxygen (O), silicon (Si), iron (Fe), magnesium (Mg), calcium (Ca), aluminum (Al), manganese (Mn), titanium ( Ti). The most abundant is oxygen, silicon and iron. The oxygen content is estimated to be 42% (by weight). Carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) only traces seem to exist only in trace amounts deposited in the solar wind brings.

Lunar Prospector from the measured neutron spectra, the hydrogen (H) mainly in the lunar poles [2].

Element content (%)

Oxygen 42%

Silicon 21%

Iron 13%

Calcium 8%

Aluminum 7%

Magnesium 6%

Other 3%

Lunar surface relative content of each element (% by weight)

Moon geological history is an important event in recent global magma ocean crystallization. The specific depth is not clear, but some studies have shown that at least a depth of about 500 kilometers or more.

Lunar landscape

Lunar landscape can be described as impact craters and ejecta, some volcanoes, hills, lava-filled depressions.

Regolith

TABLE bear the asteroid and comets billions of years of bombardment. Over time, the impact of these processes have already broken into fine-grained surface rock debris, called regolith. Young mare area, regolith thickness of about 2 meters, while the oldest dated land, regolith thickness of up to 20 meters. Through the analysis of lunar soil components, in particular the isotopic composition changes can determine the period of solar activity. Solar wind gases possible future lunar base is useful because oxygen, hydrogen (water), carbon and nitrogen is not only essential to life, but also may be useful for fuel production. Lunar soil constituents may also be as a future source of energy.

Here, repeatedly stressed that the geological structure and geological structure of celestial bodies, the Earth, Moon, Mars, or that this human existence and development of biological life forms is very important, especially in a series of data Martian geological structure geological structure is directly related to human landing Mars and the successful transformation of Mars or not. for example, water, liquid water, water, oxygen, synthesis, must not be taken lightly.

____________________________________________________________----

Mars landing 10 Technology

Aerospace Science and space science and technology major innovation of the most critical of sophisticated technology R & D project

[

"1" rocket propulsion technology ion fusion nuclear pulse propulsion rocket powered high-speed heavy rocket technology, space nuclear reactors spacecraft] brought big problems reflected in the nuclear reaction, nuclear radiation on spacecraft launch, control, brakes and other impact.

In particular, for the future of nuclear power spacecraft, the need to solve the nuclear reactor design, manufacture, control, cooling, radiation shielding, exhaust pollution, high thermoelectric conversion efficiency and a series of technical problems.

In particular, nuclear reactors produce radiation on astronauts' health will pose a great threat, which requires the spacecraft to be nuclear radiation shielding to ensure astronaut and ship the goods from radiation and heat from the reactor influence, but this will greatly increase the weight of the detector.

Space nuclear process applications, nuclear reaction decay is not a problem, but in a vacuum, ultra-low temperature environment, the nuclear reaction materials, energy transport materials have very high demands.

Space facing the reality of a nuclear reactor cooling cooling problems. To prevent problems with the reactor, "Washington" aircraft carrier to take four heavy protective measures for the radiation enclosed in the warship. These four measures are: the fuel itself, fuel storage pressure vessel, reactor shell and the hull. US Navy fuel all metal fuel, designed to take the impact resistance of the war, does not release fission product can withstand more than 50 times the gravity of the impact load; product of nuclear fission reactor fuel will never enter loop cooling water. The third layer of protection is specially designed and manufactured the reactor shell. The fourth layer is a very strong anti-impact combat ship, the reactor is arranged in the center of the ship, very safe. Engage in a reactor can only be loaded up to the aircraft, so as to drive the motor, and then drive the propeller. That is the core advantage of the heat generated by the heated gas flow, high temperature high pressure gas discharge backward, thereby generating thrust.

.

After installation AMPS1000 type nuclear power plant, a nuclear fuel assembly: He is a core member of the nuclear fuel chain reaction. Usually made into uranium dioxide, of which only a few percent uranium-235, and most of it is not directly involved in the nuclear fission of uranium 238. The uranium dioxide sintered into cylindrical pieces, into a stainless steel or a zirconium alloy do metal tubes called fuel rods or the original, then the number of fuel rods loaded metal cylinder in an orderly composition of the fuel assembly, and finally put a lot of vertical distribution of fuel assemblies in the reactor.

Nuclear reactor pressure vessel is a housing for containing nuclear fuel and reactor internals, for producing high-quality high-strength steel is made to withstand the pressure of dozens MPa. Import and export of the coolant in the pressure vessel.

The top of the pressure vessel closure, and can be used to accommodate the fixed control rod drive mechanism, pressure vessel head has a semi-circular, flat-topped.

Roof bolt: used to connect the locking pressure vessel head, so that the cylinder to form a completely sealed container.

Neutron Source: Plug in nuclear reactors can provide sufficient neutron, nuclear fuel ignition, to start to enhance the role of nuclear reactors and nuclear power. Neutron source generally composed of radium, polonium, beryllium, antimony production. Neutron source and neutron fission reactors are fast neutron, can not cause fission of uranium 235, in order to slow down, we need to moderator ---- full of pure water in a nuclear reactor. Aircraft carriers, submarines use nuclear reactor control has proven more successful.

Rod: has a strong ability to absorb neutrons, driven by the control rod drive mechanism, can move up and down in a nuclear reactor control rods within the nuclear fuel used to start, shut down the nuclear reactor, and maintain, regulate reactor power. Hafnium control rods in general, silver, indium, cadmium and other metals production.

Control rod drive mechanism: He is the executive body of nuclear reactors operating system and security protection systems, in strict accordance with requirements of the system or its operator control rod drives do move up and down in a nuclear reactor, nuclear reactor for power control. In a crisis situation, you also can quickly control rods fully inserted into the reactor in order to achieve the purpose of the emergency shutdown

Upper and lower support plate: used to secure the fuel assembly. High temperature and pressure inside the reactor is filled with pure water (so called pressurized water reactors), on the one hand he was passing through a nuclear reactor core, cooling the nuclear fuel, to act as a coolant, on the other hand it accumulates in the pressure vessel in play moderated neutrons role, acting as moderator.

Water quality monitoring sampling system:

Adding chemical system: under normal circumstances, for adding hydrazine, hydrogen, pH control agents to the primary coolant system, the main purpose is to remove and reduce coolant oxygen, high oxygen water suppression equipment wall corrosion (usually at a high temperature oxygen with hydrogen, especially at low temperatures during startup of a nuclear reactor with added hydrazine oxygen); when the nuclear reactor control rods stuck for some reason can not shutdown time by the the system can inject the nuclear reactor neutron absorber (such as boric acid solution), emergency shutdown, in order to ensure the safety of nuclear submarines.

Water system: a loop inside the water will be reduced at work, such as water sampling and analysis, equipment leaks, because the shutdown process cooling water and reduction of thermal expansion and contraction.

Equipment cooling water system:

Pressure safety systems: pressure reactor primary coolant system may change rapidly for some reason, the need for effective control. And in severe burn nuclear fuel rods, resulting in a core melt accident, it is necessary to promptly increase the pressure. Turn the regulator measures the electric, heating and cooling water. If necessary, also temporary startup booster pump.

Residual Heat Removal System: reactor scram may be due to an accident, such as when the primary coolant system of the steam generator heat exchanger tube is damaged, it must be urgently closed reactors.

Safety Injection System: The main components of this system is the high-pressure injection pump.

Radioactive waste treatment systems:

Decontamination Systems: for the removal of radioactive deposits equipment, valves, pipes and accessories, and other surfaces.

Europe, the United States and Russia and other countries related to aircraft carriers, submarines, icebreakers, nuclear-powered research aircraft, there are lots of achievements use of nuclear energy, it is worth analysis. However, nuclear reactor technology, rocket ships and the former are very different, therefore, requires special attention and innovative research. Must adopt a new new design techniques, otherwise, fall into the stereotype, it will avail, nothing even cause harm Aerospace.

[ "2" spacecraft structure]

[ "3"] radiation technology is the use of deep-sea sedimentation fabric fabrics deepwater technology development precipitated silver metal fibers or fiber lint and other materials and micronaire value between 4.1 to 4.3 fibers made from blends. For radiation protection field, it greatly enhances the effects of radiation and service life of clothing. Radiation resistant fiber) radiation resistant fiber - fiber polyimide polyimide fibers

60 years the United States has successfully developed polyimide fibers, it has highlighted the high temperature, radiation-resistant, fire-retardant properties.

[ "4" cosmic radiation resistant clothing design multifunctional anti-aging, wear underwear] ① comfort layer: astronauts can not wash clothes in a long flight, a lot of sebum, perspiration, etc. will contaminate underwear, so use soft, absorbent and breathable cotton knitwear making.

② warm layer: at ambient temperature range is not the case, warm layer to maintain a comfortable temperature environment. Choose warm and good thermal resistance large, soft, lightweight material, such as synthetic fibers, flakes, wool and silk and so on.

③ ventilation and cooling clothes clothes

Spacesuit

In astronaut body heat is too high, water-cooled ventilation clothing and clothing to a different way of heat. If the body heat production more than 350 kcal / h (ventilated clothes can not meet the cooling requirements, then that is cooled by a water-cooled suit. Ventilating clothing and water-cooled multi-use compression clothing, durable, flexible plastic tubing, such as polyvinyl chloride pipe or nylon film.

④ airtight limiting layer:

⑤ insulation: astronaut during extravehicular activities, from hot or cold insulation protection. It multilayer aluminized polyester film or a polyimide film and sandwiched between layers of nonwoven fabric to be made.

⑥ protective cover layer: the outermost layer of the suit is to require fire, heat and anti-space radiation on various factors (micrometeorites, cosmic rays, etc.) on the human body. Most of this layer with aluminized fabric.

New space suits using a special radiation shielding material, double design.

And also supporting spacesuit helmet, gloves, boots and so on.

[ "5" space - Aerospace biomedical technology, space, special use of rescue medication Space mental health care systems in space without damage restful sleep positions - drugs, simple space emergency medical system

]

[ "6" landing control technology, alternate control technology, high-performance multi-purpose landing deceleration device (parachute)]

[ "7" Mars truck, unitary Mars spacecraft solar energy battery super multi-legged (rounds) intelligent robot] multifunction remote sensing instruments on Mars, Mars and more intelligent giant telescope

[8 <> Mars warehouse activities, automatic Mars lander - Automatic start off cabin

]

[ "9" Mars - spacecraft docking control system, return to the system design]

Space flight secondary emergency life - support system

Spacecraft automatic, manual, semi-automatic operation control, remote control switch system

Automatic return spacecraft systems, backup design, the spacecraft automatic control operating system modular blocks of]

[10 lunar tracking control system

Martian dust storms, pollution prevention, anti-corrosion and other special conditions thereof

Electric light aircraft, Mars lander, Mars, living spaces, living spaces Mars, Mars entry capsule, compatible utilization technology, plant cultivation techniques, nutrition space - space soil]

Aerospace technology, space technology a lot, a lot of cutting-edge technology. Human landing on Mars technology bear the brunt. The main merge the human landing on Mars 10 cutting-edge technology, in fact, these 10 cutting-edge technology, covering a wide range, focused, and is the key to key technologies. They actually shows overall trends and technology Aerospace Science and Technology space technology. Human triumph Mars and safe return of 10 cutting-edge technology is bound to innovation. Moreover, in order to explore the human Venus, Jupiter satellites and the solar system, the Milky Way and other future development of science and laid the foundation guarantee. But also for the transformation of human to Mars, the Moon and other planets livable provides strong technical support. Aerospace Science and Technology which is a major support system.

Preparation of oxygen, water, synthesis, temperature, radiation, critical force confrontation. Regardless of the moon or Mars, survive three elements bear the brunt.

Chemical formula: H₂O

Formula: H-O-H (OH bond between two angle 104.5 °).

Molecular Weight: 18.016

Chemical Experiment: water electrolysis. Formula: 2H₂O = energized = 2H₂ ↑ + O₂ ↑ (decomposition)

Molecules: a hydrogen atom, an oxygen atom.

Ionization of water: the presence of pure water ionization equilibrium following: H₂O == == H⁺ + OH⁻ reversible or irreversible H₂O + H₂O = = H₃O⁺ + OH⁻.

NOTE: "H₃O⁺" hydronium ions, for simplicity, often abbreviated as H⁺, more accurate to say the H9O4⁺, the amount of hydrogen ion concentration in pure water material is 10⁻⁷mol / L.

Electrolysis of water:

Water at DC, decomposition to produce hydrogen and oxygen, this method is industrially prepared pure hydrogen and oxygen 2H₂O = 2H₂ ↑ + O₂ ↑.

. Hydration Reaction:

Water with an alkaline active metal oxides, as well as some of the most acidic oxide hydration reaction of unsaturated hydrocarbons.

Na₂O + H₂O = 2NaOH

CaO + H₂O = Ca (OH) ₂

SO₃ + H₂O = H₂SO₄

P₂O₅ + 3H₂O = 2H₃PO₄ molecular structure

CH₂ = CH₂ + H₂O ← → C₂H₅OH

6. The diameter of the order of magnitude of 10 water molecules negative power of ten, the water is generally believed that a diameter of 2 to 3 this organization. water

7. Water ionization:

In the water, almost no water molecules ionized to generate ions.

H₂O ← → H⁺ + OH⁻

Heating potassium chlorate or potassium permanganate preparation of oxygen

Pressurized at low temperatures, the air into a liquid, and then evaporated, since the boiling point of liquid nitrogen is -196 deg.] C, lower than the boiling point of liquid oxygen (-183 ℃), so the liquid nitrogen evaporated from the first air, remaining the main liquid oxygen.

Of course, the development of research in space there is a great difference, even more special preparation harsh environments on Earth and sy

A side street is also filled with pro-Palestine protesters.

 

"Protest for Palestine" at Israeli embassy as violence increases in East Jerusalem: London 17/10/2015

 

Following weeks of escalating violence in Israel since the provocative invasion by armed Israeli jews and soldiers into the Al Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem - a tactic used several times in the past by the right-wing Likud party around election time guaranteed to inflame tensions and spark violence - which has since resulted in many violent, tragic deaths and tit-for-tat revenge attacks, a large crowd of London-based pro-Palestinian campaigners protested outside the Israeli embassy calling for the Israeli government to stop their provocation

 

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

  

Some background:

The Westland Whirlwind was a British heavy fighter developed by Westland Aircraft. It was the Royal Air Force's first single-seat, twin-engine, cannon-armed fighter, and a contemporary of the Supermarine Spitfire and Hawker Hurricane.

 

A problem for designers in the 1930s was that most agile combat aircraft were generally small. These aircraft had limited fuel storage and only enough flying range for defensive operations, and their armament was relatively light, too. A multi-engine fighter appeared to be the best solution to the problem of range, but a fighter large enough to carry an increased fuel load might be too unwieldy to engage successfully in close combat. Germany and the United States pressed ahead with their design programs, resulting in the Messerschmitt Bf 110 and the Lockheed P-38 Lightning.

 

The Westland Whirlwind was one of the British answers to more range and firepower, and the first Whirlwind prototype (L6844) flew on 11 October 1938. Construction had been delayed chiefly due to some new features and also to the late delivery of the original Peregrine engines. The Whirlwind was of all-metal construction, with flush riveting, and featuring magnesium skinning on the rear fuselage. The control surface arrangement was conventional, with large one-piece Fowler flaps inboard and an aileron outboard on each wing, with the rear end of the engine nacelles hinging with the flaps; elevators; and a two-piece rudder, split to permit movement above and below the tail plane. Slats had been fitted on the outer wings at the outset as a stall protection measure, but they were soon locked down, having been implicated in an accident.

 

Service trials were carried out at Martlesham Heath, where the new type exhibited excellent handling and was very easy to fly at all speeds. It was one of the fastest aircraft in service when it flew in the late 1930s, and was much more heavily armed than any other fighter, toting four 20mm cannons.

 

However, protracted development problems with its Rolls-Royce Peregrine engines delayed the entire project. The combat radius also turned out to be rather short (only 300 miles), and the landing speed was relatively high, which hampered the type's utility. The major role for the Whirlwinds, however, became low-level attack, flying cross-channel "Rhubarb" sweeps against ground targets and "Roadstead" attacks against shipping.

 

Time went by and worked against the Whirlwind, though: By 1940, the Supermarine Spitfire was mounting 20 mm cannons as well, so the "cannon-armed" requirement was already met by lighter and simpler aircraft. Furthermore, the role of an escort fighter was becoming less important by this time, as RAF Bomber Command turned to night bomber missions.

 

The main qualities the RAF was looking for now in a twin-engine fighter were range and carrying capacity, e .g. to allow the large radar apparatus of the time to be carried as a night fighter. Concerning these requirements, the bigger Bristol Beaufighter and the fast De Havilland Mosquito could perform just as well as or even better than the Whirlwind.

 

Anyway, the Whirlwind's potential had not been fully exploited yet, and it was decided to adapt it to new roles and specialized duties, which would exploit its good low altitude handling. Such an opportunity arose when Allied Forces prepared for Operation Torch (initially called Operation Gymnast) in 1942, the British-United States invasion of French North Africa: the somewhat outdated aircraft was retrofitted for a new task as a dedicated tank hunter.

 

Background was the experience with the Hawker Hurricane Mk. IID, which had become operational at that time. The Mk IIDs were dedicated to ground support, where it was quickly learned that destroying German tanks was difficult; the Hurricanes’ standard 20mm cannons (the same the Whirlwind fighter originally carried) did not have the performance to punch through Gerrnan tanks’ armor, and bombing small tank target successfully was almost impossible.

 

The solution was to equip aircraft with 2 pounder (40 mm) cannon in a pod under each wing, reducing the other armament to a single Browning in each wing loaded with tracers for aiming purposes.

This equipment was originally tested on a converted Mk IIB in late 1941, and proved to be successful. A new-build Hurricane version of what was known as the Mk IID started in 1942, which, beyond the modified armament, also included additional armor for the pilot, radiator and engine. The aircraft were initially supplied with a pair of Rolls-Royce 'BF' ('Belt-Fed') guns and carried 12 rounds, but this was soon changed to the 40 mm (1.57 in) Vickers S gun with 15 rounds. The weight of the guns and armor protection had a detrimental effect on the aircraft's performance, though, and for the African environment it was feared that the liquid-cooled Merlin engine was too complicated and would hardly cope with the higher ambient temperatures.

 

A fallback option was needed, and the Whirlwind appeared to be a sound basis – even though the troublesome Peregrine engines were rejected. In a hurry, a Whirlwind Mk. I (P7102) was modified to carry a pair of 40 mm guns, but this time in the lower nose. Compared with the Hurricane’s wing-mounted pods the Whirlwind could carry a slightly bigger load of ammunition (20 RPG). For aiming purposes and against soft targets, a pair of 0.303" (7.7 mm) Browning machine guns with tracer ammunition was mounted above them.

 

In order to make the aircraft more resilient to the North-African temperatures and against damage, the Whirlwind's touchy Peregrines were replaced by a pair of Bristol Taurus radial engines under relatively narrow cowlings. The engine nacelles had to be widened accordingly, and the Peregrines’ former radiator intakes and installations in the wing roots were removed and simply faired over. Similar to the Hurricane Mk. IID, additional armor plating was added around the cockpit and the engines, raising overall weight.

 

Flight and weapon tests were conducted in early 1942. While the radial-powered Whirlwind was not as nimble and fast as the original, Peregrine-powered fighter anymore, the aircraft proved to be a stable weapon platform and fully suitable for the ground attack role. Due to its characteristic new nose with the two protruding gun barrels and their separate fairings, the machine was quickly nicknamed “Walrus” and “Buck teeth Whirlwind”.

 

For operation Torch and as a field test, a total of eleven Whirlwind Mk. Is were converted to Mk. Ic standard. The machines received new serials and were allocated to RAF No. 73 Squadron, which was preparing for deployment to Northern Africa and the Middle East after having been engaged in the Battle of Britain.

 

The squadron's Whirlwinds and Hurricanes (including some cannon-armed Mk. IIDs, too) were shipped to Takoradi on the Gold Coast onboard HMS Furious, and were then flown in stages across Africa to Egypt.

No. 73 Squadron took part in the series of campaigns in the Western Desert and Tunisia, helping cover the supply routes to Tobruk and taking part in various ground-attack operations.

Both types undertook an anti-tank role in limited numbers during the North African campaign where, provided enemy flak and fighters were absent, they proved accurate and highly effective, not only against armored vehicles but all kinds of motorized transport.

 

The converted Whirlwinds proved, thanks to their robust engines, to be very reliable and had a better operational status than the Hurricanes. The second engine boosted the pilots' confidence. In direct comparison, the cannon-armed Whirlwind proved to be a better weapon platform than the Hurricane – mainly because the heavy guns were mounted closer to the aircraft’s longitudinal axis. Both aiming and accuracy were better than the Hurricanes’ wing-mounted weapons.

 

Nevertheless, there were several drawbacks: the Whirlwind’s two engines meant that more service hours had to be spent on them for maintenance, binding ground crew capacities. This was very inconvenient during the highly mobile Northern Africa campaign. Additionally, the Whirlwind's higher fuel consumption and the limited fuel provisions in the Northern African theatre of operations with dispersed and improvised airfields eventually meant that, despite positive results, no further machines were converted. The high landing speed also persisted, so that operations were hazardous.

 

Eventually the Hurricane Mk IID was adopted for the tank hunter role, with ensuing series production, since it was regarded as the more versatile and also more common type.

 

The radial-powered Whirlwind Mk. Ic remained operational with No. 73 Squadron until June 1943, when the squadron converted to the Spitfire and moved from Northern Africa to Italy in October. Until then, only six Whirlwinds had remained airworthy.

  

General characteristics:

Crew: One pilot

Length: 31 ft 7 1/4 in (9,65 m)

Wingspan: 45 ft 0 in (13.72 m)

Height: 11 ft 0 in (3.35 m)

Wing area: 250 ft² (23.2 m²)

Airfoil: NACA 23017-08

Empty weight: 9,400 lb (4,267 kg)

Loaded weight: 12,158 lb (5,520 kg)

Max. take-off weight: 13,120 lb (5,946 kg)

 

Powerplant:

2× Bristol Taurus II 14-Cylinder sleeve valve radial engines, 1,015 hp (760 kW) each

 

Performance:

Maximum speed: 400 mph (644 km/h) at 15.000 ft (4.570 m)

Stall speed: 95 mph (83 knots, 153 km/h) with flaps down

Range: 800 mi (696 nmi, 1.288 km)

Service ceiling: 33.500 ft (10.970 m)

 

Armament:

2x belt-fed two pounder (1.57 in/40 mm) Vickers S cannon, 20 RPG each

2x 0.303 in (7.7 mm) Browning machine guns, 500 RPG (typically armed with tracer rounds)

Option for 2x 250 lbs (115 kg) or 500 lbs (230 kg) bombs under the outer wings

  

The kit and its assembly

My third whiffed Westland Whirlwind - I must say that this rather obscure aircraft type has some serious potential for mods and fictional uses. The inspiration for this radial-powered variant originally came from a profile drawing of fellow modeler and illustrator FrancLab at flickr.com, who had drawn more than twenty(!) fictional Whirlwinds (check this: www.flickr.com/photos/franclab/16724098644/in/faves-14802...), including one with radial engines and in RAF Tropical Scheme colors.

 

The kit is, again, the vintage Airfix offering. Modifications center around the engines and the nose section, the rest remained basically OOB.

 

I already had to learn with my first Whirlwind conversion that mounting bigger engines on this compact aircraft is not easy, and radials, with their bigger diameter and consequentially more voluminous nacelles, would be a challenge from the design perspective.

 

Figuring out a solution that would be feasible and not make the sleek Whirlwind look like Popeye was not easy. I considered the transplantation of complete engine nacelles from a Matchbox Bristol Beaufighter, but eventually refrained from this idea because everything would be at least one size too big... a mistake I had done before, with very mixed results.

After several trials, I settled on a compromise, because I could not find a satisfactory 'British' solution, at least in my spares vault: the implantation of "foreign" material in the form of cowlings and nacelles from an Airfix Mitsubishi Ki-46.

 

The transplantation started with the removal of the original Peregrine engine nacelles from the lower wing section and gluing these to the upper half, which remained intact. Then the Ki-46’s lower nacelle half, cut away from the model’s wing in a similar fashion, was grafted onto the Whirlwind’s lower wing, ensuring that the landing gear attachment points would match with the new openings. This stunt worked very well!

As a final step, the upper Ki-46 engine nacelle half was placed on top of the Whirlwind wings’ upper side, and the radial engines were used as a ruler for the overall fit. In the end, the modified nacelles sit perfectly in place, and the original distance between the propellers as well as the landing gear’s track width could be maintained, so that the change is rather subtle.

 

Propellers and spinners were taken from the Airfix Whirlwind, and in order to mount them into the deep and "hollow" Ki-46 cowlings I inserted a styrene tube as a simple adapter, which would also hold the added metal axis' behind the propellers. The parts fit snuggly together.

 

Details like the exhaust pipes and the carburetor intakes were scratched from sprue material. The landing gear is OOB, but I had to re-create the covers from sheet material since I could only find a single pair of doors from the Ki-46 kit. On the other side, this had the benefit that the material is much thinner.

 

The original radiator intake slits were closed with putty and blended into the wing’s leading edge.The respective outlets on the trailing edge were sanded away.

 

For the guns in the nose I added two long, shallow fairings (actually drop tank halves from an Airfix G.91) and re-located the original oils cooler and gun camera fairings under the wing roots.

The original gun mounts were covered with putty, and new openings for the modified armament drilled into the re-sculpted nose section. The 2-pounders' and machine gun barrels are hollow steel needles of different diameters.

  

Painting and markings:

Staying somewhat true to FrancLab's profile and the North Africa theatre of operations, the paint scheme was more or less pre-defined. The Tropical scheme is a rather unusual look on this sleek aircraft, but works very well!

 

The standard RAF camouflage pattern for the Whirlwind was retained, but the European colors replaced with Dark Earth (Humbrol 29) and Middle Stone (ModelMaster 2052, the best representation of the tone I could find so far). The undersides were painted with ModelMaster 2055 (US Navy Blue Grey) as an alternative to RAF Azure and Mediterranean Blue.

Interior surfaces were painted with Cockpit Green (Humbrol 78) and slightly dry-brushed with light grey.

 

The red spinners are typical Desert Force markings, and I added yellow ID markings to the outer wings’ leading edges (created from generic decal sheet). Not certain how authentic this is for Northern Africa, since the Hurricanes did not carry these markings – but the Spitfires did, as well as the few leftover Whirlwinds over Continental Europe? At least, it’s a colorful detail.

Even though many Hurricanes of 73 Squadron in Northern Africa carried the squadron’s colorful pre-war marking on the flanks instead of a two-letter code, I eventually rejected this option. IMHO it might have been simply too much for this whiffy aircraft?

 

Roundels and markings were puzzled together from the scrap box, the code letters are single digits from Xtradecal aftermarket sheets. I mixed medium sea grey and dull red letters – a practice frequently seen on Northern Africa aircraft (which also frequently did not carry squadron codes at all) in order to improve readability. The serial was puzzled together, too, using a free serial slot according to ukserials.com.

 

As another individual touch I added a small nose art motif under the cockpit: a Bugs Bunny cartoon toting a shotgun (actually from a P-51 from the late war Pacific TO), as an interpretation of the “Buck teeth” nickname for the aircraft.

 

Finally, the model was weathered, esp. on the upper surfaces in order to mimic sun bleaching, and some soot stains were added around the guns and the exhaust outlets. The cooling flaps were emphasized through a treatment with Tamiya “Smoke”, which is perfect for oil stains. Finally, the kit was sealed with matt acrylic varnish and finishing touches like the wire antenna and position lights applied.

  

Another subtle whif, the desert paint scheme is probably distracting enough that, at a casual glance, the radials and the modified nose are not obvious at all. Actually, the Japanese engines look pretty British after some cosmetics, and they are small enough to keep overall proportions in reasonable limits – the sleek Whirlwind quickly turns head-heavy and unbalanced with bigger engines grafted to the airframe! Actually, the converted aircraft looks now, when looked at it head-on, almost like a baby Beaufighter!

A pro-Palestinian protester wearing a Guy Fawkes mask peers over the top of a green flag on which is printed arabic text.

 

"Protest for Palestine" at Israeli embassy as violence increases in East Jerusalem: London 17/10/2015

 

Following weeks of escalating violence in Israel since the provocative invasion by armed Israeli jews and soldiers into the Al Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem - a tactic used several times in the past by the right-wing Likud party around election time guaranteed to inflame tensions and spark violence - which has since resulted in many violent, tragic deaths and tit-for-tat revenge attacks, a large crowd of London-based pro-Palestinian campaigners protested outside the Israeli embassy calling for the Israeli government to stop their provocation

 

All photos © Pete Riches

Do not reproduce, alter, re-transmit or blog my images without my written permission. I remain at all times the copyright owner of this image.

 

Media buyers and publications can access this story on Demotix. Standard industry rates apply.

 

Hi-Res, un-watermarked versions of these files are available on application solely at my discretion

If you want to use any image found in my Flickr Photostream, please Email me directly.

 

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Mars tech.

  

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-----------------------------------------Fangruida: human landing on Mars 10 cutting-edge technology

 

[Fangruida- human landing on Mars 10 innovative and sophisticated technologies]

 

Aerospace Science and space science and technology major innovation of the most critical of sophisticated technology R & D project

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

Aerospace Science Space Science and Technology on behalf of the world's most cutting-edge leader in high technology, materials, mechatronics, information and communication, energy, biomedical, marine, aviation aerospace, microelectronics, computer, automation, intelligent biochips, use of nuclear energy, light mechanical and electrical integration, astrophysics, celestial chemistry, astrophysics and so a series of geological science and technology. Especially after the moon landing, the further development of mankind to Mars and other planets into the powerful offensive, the world's major powers eager to Daxian hand of God, increase investment, vigorously develop new sophisticated technology projects for space to space. Satellite, space station, the new spacecraft, the new space suits, the new radiation protection materials, intelligent materials, new manufacturing technology, communications technology, computer technology, detector technology, rover, rover technology, biomedical technology, and so one after another, is expected to greater breakthroughs and leaps. For example, rocket technology, spacecraft design, large power spacecraft, spacesuits design improvements, radiation multifunctional composite materials, life health care technology and space medicine, prevention against microgravity microgravity applicable drugs, tracking control technology, landing and return technology. Mars lander and returned safely to Earth as a top priority. Secondly, Mars, the Moon base and the use of transforming Mars, the Moon and other development will follow. Whether the former or the latter, are the modern aerospace science, space science basic research, applied basic research and applied research in the major cutting-edge technology. These major cutting-edge technology research and innovation, not only for human landing on Mars and the safe return of great significance, but for the entire space science, impact immeasurable universe sciences, earth sciences and human life. Here the most critical of the most important research projects of several sophisticated technology research and development as well as its core technology brief. Limit non-scientific techniques include non-technical limits of technology, the key lies in technology research and development of technology maturity, advanced technology, innovative, practical, reliable, practical application, business value and investment costs, and not simply like the idea mature technology achievements, difficult to put into things. This is the high-tech research and development, testing, prototype, test application testing, until the outcome of industrialization. Especially in aerospace technology, advanced, novelty, practicality, reliability, economy, maturity, commercial value and so on. For technical and research purely science fiction and the like may be irrelevant depth, but not as aerospace engineering and technology practice. Otherwise, Mars will become a dream fantasy, and even into settling crashed out of danger.

 

Regardless of the moon or Mars, many technical difficulties, especially a human landing on Mars and return safely to Earth, technical difficulties mainly in the following aspects. (Transformation of Mars and the Moon and other planets and detect other livable technology more complex and difficult, at this stage it is difficult to achieve and therefore not discussed in detail in this study). In fact, Mars will be the safe return of a full set of technology, space science, aerospace crucial scientific research development, its significance is not confined to Mars simply a return to scientific value, great commercial value, can not be measure.

1. Powered rocket, the spacecraft overall structural design not be too complex large, otherwise, the safety factor to reduce the risk of failure accidents. Fusion rocket engine main problem to be solved is the high-temperature materials and fuel ignition chamber (reaction chamber temperatures of up to tens of millions of supreme billion degrees), fissile class rocket engine whose essence is the miniaturization of nuclear reactors, and placed on the rocket. Nuclear rocket engine fuel as an energy source, with liquid hydrogen, liquid helium, liquid ammonia working fluid. Nuclear rocket engine mounted in the thrust chamber of the reactor, cooling nozzle, the working fluid delivery and control systems and other components. This engine due to nuclear radiation protection, exhaust pollution, reactor control and efficient heat exchanger design and other issues unresolved. Electrothermal rocket engine utilizing heat energy (resistance heating or electric arc heating) working medium (hydrogen, amines, hydrazine ), vaporized; nozzle expansion accelerated after discharged from the spout to generate thrust. Static rocket engine working fluid (mercury, cesium, hydrogen, etc.) from the tank enter the ionization chamber is formed thrust ionized into a plasma jet. Electric rocket engines with a high specific impulse (700-2500 sec), extremely long life (can be repeated thousands of times a starter, a total of up to thousands of hours of work). But the thrust of less than 100N. This engine is only available for spacecraft attitude control, station-keeping and the like. One nuclear - power rocket design is as follows: Firstly, the reactor heats water to make it into steam, and then the high-speed steam ejected, push the rocket. Nuclear rocket using hydrogen as working substance may be a better solution, it is one of the most commonly used liquid hydrogen rocket fuel rocket carrying liquid hydrogen virtually no technical difficulties. Heating hydrogen nuclear reactor, as long as it eventually reaches or exceeds current jet velocity hydrogen rocket engine jet speed, the same weight of the rocket will be able to work longer, it can accelerate the Rockets faster. Here there are only two problems: First, the final weight includes the weight of the rocket in nuclear reactors, so it must be as light as possible. Ultra-small nuclear reactor has been able to achieve. Furthermore, if used in outer space, we can not consider the problem of radioactive residues, simply to just one proton hydrogen nuclei are less likely to produce induced radioactivity, thus shielding layer can be made thinner, injected hydrogen gas can flow directly through the reactor core, it is not easy to solve, and that is how to get back at high speed heated gas is ejected.

  

Rocket engine with a nuclear fission reactor, based on the heating liquid hydrogen propellant, rather than igniting flammable propellant

High-speed heavy rocket is a major cutting-edge technology. After all, space flight and aircraft carriers, submarines, nuclear reactors differ greatly from the one hand, the use of traditional fuels, on the one hand can be nuclear reactor technology. From the control, for security reasons, the use of nuclear power rocket technology, safe and reliable overriding indicators. Nuclear atomic energy in line with the norms and rules of outer space. For the immature fetal abdominal hatchery technology, and resolutely reject use. This is the most significant development of nuclear-powered rocket principle.

Nuclear-powered spaceship for Use of nuclear power are three kinds:

The first method: no water or air space such media can not be used propeller must use jet approach. Reactor nuclear fission or fusion to produce a lot of heat, we will propellant (such as liquid hydrogen) injection, the rapid expansion of the propellant will be heated and then discharged from the engine speed tail thrust. This method is most readily available.

The second method: nuclear reactor will have a lot of fast-moving ions, these energetic particles moving very fast, so you can use a magnetic field to control their ejection direction. This principle ion rocket similar to the tail of the rocket ejected from the high-speed mobile ions, so that the recoil movement of a rocket. The advantage of this approach is to promote the unusually large ratio, without carrying any medium, continued strong. Ion engine, which is commonly referred to as "electric rocket", the principle is not complicated, the propellant is ionized particles,

Plasma Engine

Electromagnetic acceleration, high-speed spray. From the development trend, the US research scope covers almost all types of electric thrusters, but mainly to the development of ion engines, NASA in which to play the most active intake technology and preparedness plans. "

The third method: the use of nuclear explosions. It is a bold and crazy way, no longer is the use of a controlled nuclear reaction, but to use nuclear explosions to drive the ship, this is not an engine, and it is called a nuclear pulse rocket. This spacecraft will carry a lot of low-yield atomic bombs out one behind, and then detonated, followed by a spacecraft propulsion installation disk, absorbing the blast pushing the spacecraft forward. This was in 1955 to Orion (Project Orion) name of the project, originally planned to bring two thousand atomic bombs, Orion later fetal nuclear thermal rocket. Its principle is mounted on a small rocket reactor, the reactor utilizing thermal energy generated by the propellant is heated to a high temperature, high pressure and high temperature of the propellant from the high-speed spray nozzle, a tremendous impetus.

  

Common nuclear fission technologies, including nuclear pulse rocket engines, nuclear rockets, nuclear thermal rocket and nuclear stamping rockets to nuclear thermal rocket, for example, the size of its land-based nuclear power plant reactor structure than the much smaller, more uranium-235 purity requirements high, reaching more than 90%, at the request of the high specific impulse engine core temperature will reach about 3000K, require excellent high temperature properties of materials.

  

Research and test new IT technologies and new products and new technology and new materials, new equipment, things are difficult, design is the most important part, especially in the overall design, technical solutions, technical route, technical process, technical and economic particularly significant. The overall design is defective, technology there are loopholes in the program, will be a major technical route deviation, but also directly related to the success of research trials. so, any time, under any circumstances, a good grasp of the overall control of design, technical design, is essential. otherwise, a done deal, it is difficult save. aerospace technology research and product development is true.

  

3, high-performance nuclear rocket

Nuclear rocket nuclear fission and fusion energy can rocket rocket two categories. Nuclear fission and fusion produce heat, radiation and shock waves and other large amounts of energy, but here they are contemplated for use as a thermal energy rocket.

Uranium and other heavy elements, under certain conditions, will split their nuclei, called nuclear fission reaction. The atomic bomb is the result of nuclear fission reactions. Nuclear fission reaction to release energy, is a million times more chemical rocket propellant combustion energy. Therefore, nuclear fission energy is a high-performance rocket rockets. Since it requires much less propellant than chemical rockets can, so to its own weight is much lighter than chemical rockets energy. For the same quality of the rocket, the rocket payload of nuclear fission energy is much greater than the chemical energy of the rocket. Just nuclear fission energy rocket is still in the works. 

Use of nuclear fission energy as the energy of the rocket, called the atomic rockets. It is to make hydrogen or other inert gas working fluid through the reactor, the hydrogen after the heating temperature quickly rose to 2000 ℃, and then into the nozzle, high-speed spray to produce thrust. 

A vision plan is to use liquid hydrogen working fluid, in operation, the liquid hydrogen tank in the liquid hydrogen pump is withdrawn through the catheter and the engine cooling jacket and liquid hydrogen into hydrogen gas, hydrogen gas turbine-driven, locally expansion. Then by nuclear fission reactors, nuclear fission reactions absorb heat released, a sharp rise in temperature, and finally into the nozzle, the rapid expansion of high-speed spray. Calculations show that the amount of atomic payload rockets, rocket high chemical energy than 5-8 times.

Hydrogen and other light elements, under certain conditions, their nuclei convergent synthesis of new heavy nuclei, and release a lot of energy, called nuclear fusion reaction, also called thermonuclear reaction. 

Using energy generated by the fusion reaction for energy rocket, called fusion energy rocket or nuclear thermal rockets. But it is also not only take advantage of controlled nuclear fusion reaction to manufacture hydrogen bombs, rockets and controlled nuclear fusion reaction needs still studying it.

Of course there are various research and development of rocket technology and technical solutions to try.

It is envisaged that the rocket deuterium, an isotope of hydrogen with deuterium nuclear fusion reaction of helium nuclei, protons and neutrons, and release huge amounts of energy, just polymerized ionized helium to temperatures up to 100 million degrees the plasma, and then nozzle expansion, high-speed ejection, the exhaust speed of up to 15,000 km / sec, atomic energy is 1800 times the rocket, the rocket is the chemical energy of 3700 times.

 

Nuclear rocket engine fuel as an energy source, with liquid hydrogen, liquid helium, liquid ammonia working fluid. Nuclear rocket engine mounted in the thrust chamber of the reactor, cooling nozzle, the working fluid delivery and control systems and other components. In a nuclear reactor, nuclear energy into heat to heat the working fluid, the working fluid is heated after expansion nozzle to accelerate to the speed of 6500 ~ 11,000 m / sec from the discharge orifice to produce thrust. Nuclear rocket engine specific impulse (250 to 1000 seconds) long life, but the technology is complex, apply only to long-term spacecraft. This engine due to nuclear radiation protection, exhaust pollution, reactor control and efficient heat exchanger design and other issues not resolved, is still in the midst of trials. Nuclear rocket technology is cutting-edge aerospace science technology, centralized many professional and technical sciences and aerospace, nuclear physics, nuclear chemistry, materials science, the long term future ___-- wide width. The United States, Russia and Europe, China, India, Japan, Britain, Brazil and other countries in this regard have studies, in particular the United States and Russia led the way, impressive. Of course, at this stage of nuclear rocket technology, technology development there are still many difficulties. Fully formed, still to be. But humanity marching to the universe, nuclear reactor applications is essential.

  

Outer Space Treaty (International Convention on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space) ****

Use of Nuclear Power Sources in Outer Space Principle 15

General Assembly,

Having considered the report of its thirty-fifth session of the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space and the Commission of 16 nuclear

It can be attached in principle on the use of nuclear power sources in outer space of the text of its report, 17

Recognize that nuclear power sources due to small size, long life and other characteristics, especially suitable for use even necessary

For some missions in outer space,

Recognizing also that the use of nuclear power sources in outer space should focus on the possible use of nuclear power sources

Those uses,

Recognizing also that the use of nuclear power sources should include or probabilistic risk analysis is complete security in outer space

Full evaluation is based, in particular, the public should focus on reducing accidental exposure to harmful radiation or radioactive material risk

risk,

Recognizing the need to a set of principles containing goals and guidelines in this regard to ensure the safety of outer space makes

With nuclear power sources,

Affirming that this set principles apply exclusively on space objects for non-power generation, which is generally characteristic

Mission systems and implementation of nuclear power sources in outer space on similar principles and used by,

Recognizing this need to refer to a new set of principles for future nuclear power applications and internationally for radiological protection

The new proposal will be revised

By the following principles on the use of nuclear power sources in outer space.

Principle 1. Applicability of international law

Involving the use of nuclear power sources in outer space activities should be carried out in accordance with international law, especially the "UN

Principles of the Charter "and" States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies Activities

Treaty "3

.

2. The principle terms

1. For the purpose of these principles, "launching State" and "launching State ......" two words mean, in related

Principles related to a time of nuclear power sources in space objects exercises jurisdiction and control of the country.

2. For the purpose of principle 9, wherein the definition of the term "launching State" as contained in that principle.

3. For the purposes of principle 3, the terms "foreseeable" and "all possible" two words are used to describe the actual hair

The overall likelihood of students that it is considered for safety analysis is credible possibilities for a class of things

Member or circumstances. "General concept of defense in depth" when the term applies to nuclear power sources in outer space refers to various settings

Count form and space operations replace or supplement the operation of the system in order to prevent system failures or mitigate thereafter

"Official Records of the General Assembly, Forty-seventh Session, Supplement No. 20" 16 (A / 47/20).

17 Ibid., Annex.

38

fruit. To achieve this purpose is not necessarily required for each individual member has redundant safety systems. Given space

Use and special requirements of various space missions, impossible to any particular set of systems or features can be specified as

Necessary to achieve this purpose. For the purpose of Principle 3 (d) of paragraph 2, "made critical" does not include

Including such as zero-power testing which are fundamental to ensuring system safety required.

Principle 3. Guidelines and criteria for safe use

To minimize the risk of radioactive material in space and the number involved, nuclear power sources in outer space

Use should be limited to non-nuclear power sources in space missions can not reasonably be performed

1. General goals for radiation protection and nuclear safety

(A) States launching space objects with nuclear power sources on board shall endeavor to protect individuals, populations and the biosphere

From radiation hazards. The design and use of space objects with nuclear power sources on board shall ensure that risk with confidence

Harm in the foreseeable operational or accidental circumstances, paragraph 1 (b) and (c) to define acceptable water

level.

Such design and use shall also ensure that radioactive material does not reliably significant contamination of outer space.

(B) the normal operation of nuclear power sources in space objects, including from paragraph 2 (b) as defined in foot

High enough to return to the track, shall be subject to appropriate anti-radiation recommended by the International Commission on Radiological Protection of the public

Protection goals. During such normal operation there shall be no significant radiation exposure;

(C) To limit exposure in accidents, the design and construction of nuclear power source systems shall take into account the international

Relevant and generally accepted radiological protection guidelines.

In addition to the probability of accidents with potentially serious radiological consequences is extremely low, the nuclear power source

Design systems shall be safely irradiated limited limited geographical area, for the individual radiation dose should be

Limited to no more than a year 1mSv primary dose limits. Allows the use of irradiation year for some years 5mSv deputy agent

Quantity limit, but the average over a lifetime effective dose equivalent annual dose not exceed the principal limit 1mSv

degree.

Should make these conditions occur with potentially serious radiological consequences of the probability of the system design is very

small.

Criteria mentioned in this paragraph Future modifications should be applied as soon as possible;

(D) general concept of defense in depth should be based on the design, construction and operation of systems important for safety. root

According to this concept, foreseeable safety-related failures or malfunctions must be capable of automatic action may be

Or procedures to correct or offset.

It should ensure that essential safety system reliability, inter alia, to make way for these systems

Component redundancy, physical separation, functional isolation and adequate independence.

It should also take other measures to increase the level of safety.

2. The nuclear reactor

(A) nuclear reactor can be used to:

39

(I) On interplanetary missions;

(Ii) the second high enough orbit paragraph (b) as defined;

(Iii) low-Earth orbit, with the proviso that after their mission is complete enough to be kept in a nuclear reactor

High on the track;

(B) sufficiently high orbit the orbital lifetime is long enough to make the decay of fission products to approximately actinides

Element active track. The sufficiently high orbit must be such that existing and future outer space missions of crisis

Risk and danger of collision with other space objects to a minimum. In determining the height of the sufficiently high orbit when

It should also take into account the destroyed reactor components before re-entering the Earth's atmosphere have to go through the required decay time

between.

(C) only 235 nuclear reactors with highly enriched uranium fuel. The design shall take into account the fission and

Activation of radioactive decay products.

(D) nuclear reactors have reached their operating orbit or interplanetary trajectory can not be made critical state

state.

(E) nuclear reactor design and construction shall ensure that, before reaching the operating orbit during all possible events

Can not become critical state, including rocket explosion, re-entry, impact on ground or water, submersion

In water or water intruding into the core.

(F) a significant reduction in satellites with nuclear reactors to operate on a lifetime less than in the sufficiently high orbit orbit

For the period (including during operation into the sufficiently high orbit) the possibility of failure, there should be a very

Reliable operating system, in order to ensure an effective and controlled disposal of the reactor.

3. Radioisotope generators

(A) interplanetary missions and other spacecraft out of Earth's gravitational field tasks using radioactive isotopes

Su generator. As they are stored after completion of their mission in high orbit, the Earth can also be used

track. We are required to make the final treatment under any circumstances.

(B) Radioisotope generators shall be protected closed systems, design and construction of the system should

Ensure that in the foreseeable conditions of the track to withstand the heat and aerodynamic forces of re-entry in the upper atmosphere, orbit

Conditions including highly elliptical or hyperbolic orbits when relevant. Upon impact, the containment system and the occurrence of parity

Physical morpheme shall ensure that no radioactive material is scattered into the environment so you can complete a recovery operation

Clear all radioactive impact area.

Principle 4. Safety Assessment

1. When launching State emission consistent with the principles defined in paragraphs 1, prior to the launch in applicable under the

Designed, constructed or manufactured the nuclear power sources, or will operate the space object person, or from whose territory or facility

Transmits the object will be to ensure a thorough and comprehensive safety assessment. This assessment shall cover

All relevant stages of space mission and shall deal with all systems involved, including the means of launching, the space level

Taiwan, nuclear power source and its equipment and the means of control and communication between ground and space.

2. This assessment shall respect the principle of 3 contained in the guidelines and criteria for safe use.

40

3. The principle of States in the Exploration and Use, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies Outer Space Activities Article

Results of about 11, this safety assessment should be published prior to each transmit simultaneously to the extent feasible

Note by the approximate intended time of launch, and shall notify the Secretary-General of the United Nations, how to be issued

This safety assessment before the shot to get the results as soon as possible.

Principle 5. Notification of re-entry

1. Any State launching a space object with nuclear power sources in space objects that failed to produce discharge

When radioactive substances dangerous to return to the earth, it shall promptly notify the country concerned. Notice shall be in the following format:

(A) System parameters:

(I) Name of launching State, including which may be contacted in the event of an accident to Request

Information or assistance to obtain the relevant authorities address;

(Ii) International title;

(Iii) Date and territory or location of launch;

(Iv) the information needed to make the best prediction of orbit lifetime, trajectory and impact region;

(V) General function of spacecraft;

(B) information on the radiological risk of nuclear power source:

(I) the type of power source: radioisotopes / reactor;

(Ii) the fuel could fall into the ground and may be affected by the physical state of contaminated and / or activated components, the number of

The amount and general radiological characteristics. The term "fuel" refers to as a source of heat or power of nuclear material.

This information shall also be sent to the Secretary-General of the United Nations.

2. Once you know the failure, the launching State shall provide information on the compliance with the above format. Information should as far as possible

To be updated frequently, and in the dense layers of the Earth's atmosphere is expected to return to a time when close to the best increase

Frequency of new data, so that the international community understand the situation and will have sufficient time to plan for any deemed necessary

National contingency measures.

3. It should also be at the same frequency of the latest information available to the Secretary-General of the United Nations.

Principle 6. consultation

5 According to the national principles provide information shall, as far as reasonably practicable, other countries

Requirements to obtain further information or consultations promptly reply.

Principle 7. Assistance to States

1. Upon receipt of expected with nuclear power sources on space objects and their components will return through the Earth's atmosphere

After know that all countries possessing space monitoring and tracking facilities, in the spirit of international cooperation, as soon as possible to

The Secretary-General of the United Nations and the countries they may have made space objects carrying nuclear power sources

A fault related information, so that the States may be affected to assess the situation and take any

It is considered to be the necessary precautions.

41

2. In carrying space objects with nuclear power sources back to the Earth's atmosphere after its components:

(A) launching State shall be requested by the affected countries to quickly provide the necessary assistance to eliminate actual

And possible effects, including nuclear power sources to assist in identifying locations hit the Earth's surface, to detect the re substance

Quality and recovery or cleanup activities.

(B) All countries with relevant technical capabilities other than the launching State, and with such technical capabilities

International organizations shall, where possible, in accordance with the requirements of the affected countries to provide the necessary co

help.

When according to the above (a) and subparagraph (b) to provide assistance, should take into account the special needs of developing countries.

Principle 8. Responsibility

In accordance with the States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies activities, including the principles of Article

About Article, States shall bear international responsibility for their use of nuclear power sources in outer space relates to the activities

Whether such activities are carried on by governmental agencies or non-governmental entities, and shall bear international responsibility to ensure that this

Such activities undertaken by the country in line with the principles of the Treaty and the recommendations contained therein. If it involves the use of nuclear power sources

Activities in outer space by an international organization, should be done by the international organizations and States to participate in the organization

Undertakes to comply with the principles of the Treaty and the recommendations contained in these responsibilities.

Principle 9. Liability and Compensation

1. In accordance with the principle of States in the Exploration and Use, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies Outer Space Activities Article

And the Convention on International Liability for Damage Caused by Space Objects covenant of Article 7

Provisions, which launches or on behalf of the State

Each State launching a space object and each State from which territory or facility a space object is launched

Kinds of space object or damage caused by components shall bear international liability. This fully applies to this

Kind of space object carrying a nuclear power source case. Two or more States jointly launch a space object,

Each launching State shall in accordance with the above Article of the Convention for any damages jointly and severally liable.

2. Such countries under the aforesaid Convention shall bear the damages shall be in accordance with international law and fair and reasonable

The principles set out in order to provide for damages to make a claim on behalf of its natural or juridical persons, national or

International organizations to restore to the state before the occurrence of the damage.

3. For the purposes of this principle, compensation should be made to include reimbursement of the duly substantiated expenses for search, recovery and clean

Cost management work, including the cost of providing assistance to third parties.

10. The principle of dispute settlement

Since the implementation of these principles will lead to any dispute in accordance with the provisions of the UN Charter, by negotiation or

Other established procedures to resolve the peaceful settlement of disputes.

 

Here quoted the important provisions of the United Nations concerning the use of outer space for peaceful nuclear research and international conventions, the main emphasis on the Peaceful Uses of provisions related constraints .2 the use of nuclear rockets in outer space nuclear studies, etc., can cause greater attention in nuclear power nuclear rocket ship nuclear research, manufacture, use and other aspects of the mandatory hard indicators. this scientists, engineering and technical experts are also important constraints and requirements. as IAEA supervision and management as very important.

 

2. radiation. Space radiation is one of the greatest threats to the safety of the astronauts, including X-rays, γ-rays, cosmic rays and high-speed solar particles. Better than aluminum protective effect of high polymer composite materials.

3. Air. Perhaps the oxygen needed to rely on oxidation-reduction reaction of hydrogen and ilmenite production of water, followed by water electrolysis to generate oxygen. Mars oxygen necessary for survival but also from the decomposition of water, electrolytically separating water molecules of oxygen and hydrogen, this oxygen equipment has been successfully used in the International Space Station. Oxygen is released into the air to sustain life, the hydrogen system into the water system.

4. The issue of food waste recycling. At present, the International Space Station on the use of dehumidifiers, sucked moisture in the air to be purified, and then changed back to drinkable water. The astronauts' urine and sweat recycling. 5. water. The spacecraft and the space station on purification system also makes urine and other liquids can be purified utilization. 6. microgravity. In microgravity or weightlessness long-term space travel, if protective measures shall not be treated, the astronauts will be muscle atrophy, bone softening health. 7. contact. 8. Insulation, 9 energy. Any space exploration are inseparable from the energy battery is a new super hybrid energy storage device, the asymmetric lead-acid batteries and supercapacitors in the same compound within the system - and the so-called inside, no additional separate electronic control unit, this is an optimal combination. The traditional lead-acid battery PbO2 monomer is a positive electrode plate and a negative electrode plate spongy Pb composition, not a super cell. : Silicon solar cells, multi-compound thin film solar cells, multi-layer polymer-modified electrode solar cells, nano-crystalline solar cells, batteries and super class. For example, the solar aircraft .10. To protect the health and life safety and security systems. Lysophosphatidic acid LPA is a growth factor-like lipid mediators, the researchers found that this substance can on apoptosis after radiation injury and animal cells was inhibited. Stable lysophosphatidic acid analogs having the hematopoietic system and gastrointestinal tract caused by acute radiation sickness protection, knockout experiments show that lysophosphatidic acid receptors is an important foundation for the protection of radiation injury. In addition to work under high pressure, the astronauts face a number of health threats, including motion sickness, bacterial infections, blindness space, as well as psychological problems, including toxic dust. In the weightless environment of space, the astronaut's body will be like in preadolescents, as the emergence of various changes.

Plantar molt

After the environment to adapt to zero gravity, the astronaut's body will be some strange changes. Weightlessness cause fluid flow around the main flow torso and head, causing the astronauts facial swelling and inflammation, such as nasal congestion. During long-term stay in space

 

Bone and muscle loss

Most people weightlessness caused by the impact may be known bone and muscle degeneration. In addition, the calcium bones become very fragile and prone to fracture, which is why some of the astronauts after landing need on a stretcher.

Space Blindness

Space Blindness refers astronaut decreased vision.

Solar storms and radiation is one of the biggest challenges facing the long-term space flight. Since losing the protection of Earth's magnetic field, astronauts suffer far more than normal levels of radiation. The cumulative amount of radiation exposure in low earth orbit them exceeded by workers close to nuclear reactors, thereby increasing the risk of cancer.

Prolonged space flight can cause a series of psychological problems, including depression or mood swings, vulnerability, anxiety and fear, as well as other sequelae. We are familiar with the biology of the Earth, the Earth biochemistry, biophysics, after all, the Earth is very different astrophysics, celestial chemistry, biophysics and astrophysics, biochemistry and other celestial bodies. Therefore, you must be familiar with and adapt to these differences and changes.

 

Osteoporosis and its complications ranked first in the space of disease risk.

  

Long-term health risks associated with flying Topics

  

The degree of influence long-term biological effects of radiation in human flight can withstand the radiation and the maximum limit of accumulated radiation on physiology, pathology and genetics.

 

Physiological effects of weightlessness including: long-term bone loss and a return flight after the maximum extent and severity of the continued deterioration of other pathological problems induced by the; maximum flexibility and severity of possible long-term Flight Center in vascular function.

 

Long-term risk of disease due to the high risk of flight stress, microbial variation, decreased immune function, leading to infections

 

Radiation hazards and protection

    

1) radiation medicine, biology and pathway effects Features

  

Radiation protection for interplanetary flight, since the lack of protective effect of Earth's magnetic field, and by the irradiation time is longer, the possibility of increased radiation hazard.

       

Analysis of space flight medical problems that may occur, loss of appetite topped the list, sleep disorders, fatigue and insomnia, in addition, space sickness, musculoskeletal system problems, eye problems, infections problems, skin problems and cardiovascular problems

  

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Development of diagnostic techniques in orbit, the development of the volume of power consumption, features a wide range of diagnostic techniques, such as applied research of ultrasound diagnostic techniques in the abdominal thoracic trauma, bone, ligament damage, dental / sinus infections and other complications and integrated;

 

Actively explore in orbit disposal of medical technology, weightlessness surgical methods, development of special surgical instruments, the role of narcotic drugs and the like.

  

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However, space technology itself is integrated with the use of the most advanced technology, its challenging technical reserves and periodic demanding

 

With the continuous development of science and technology, space agencies plan a manned landing on the moon and Mars, space exploration emergency medicine current concern.

 

Space sickness

  

In the weightless environment of space, in the weightless environment of space, surgery may be extremely difficult and risky.

  

Robot surgeons

 

Space disease in three days after entering the space started to ease, although individual astronauts might subsequently relapse. January 2015 NASA declared working on a fast, anti-nausea and nasal sprays. In addition, due to the zero-gravity environment, and anti-nausea drugs can only be administered by injection or transdermal patches manner.

        

Manned spaceflight in the 21st century is the era of interplanetary flight, aerospace medicine is closely watched era is the era of China's manned space flourish. Only the central issue, and grasp the opportunity to open up a new world of human survival and development.

 

Various emergency contingency measures in special circumstances. Invisible accident risk prevention. Enhancing drugs and other screening methods immunity aerospace medicine and tissue engineering a microgravity environment. Drug mixture of APS, ginseng polysaccharides, Ganoderma lucidum polysaccharides, polysaccharides and Lentinan, from other compounds. Drug development space syndrome drug, chemical structure modification will be an important part.

These issues are very sensitive, cutting-edge technology is a major difficulty landing on Mars. Countries in the world, especially the world's major space powers in the country strategies and technical research, the results of all kinds continue to emerge. United States, Russia, China, Europe, India, Japan and other countries is different. United States, Russia extraordinary strength. Many patented technology and health, and most belong to the top-secret technology. Especially in aerospace engineering and technological achievements is different from the general scientific literature, practical, commercial, industrial great, especially the performance of patents, know-how, technical drawings, engineering design and other aspects. Present Mars and return safely to Earth, the first manned, significance, everything is hard in the beginning, especially the first person to land on Mars This Mars for Human Sciences Research Mars, the moon, the earth, the solar system and the universe, life and other significant. Its far greater than the value of direct investments and business interests.

 

In addition, it is the development of new materials, suitable for deep space operations universe, life, and other detection, wider field.

Many aerospace materials, continuous research and development of materials are key areas of aerospace development, including material rocket, the spacecraft materials, the suit materials, radiation materials, materials and equipment, instruments, materials and so on biochemistry.

Temperature metal-based compound with a metal matrix composite body with a more primordial higher temperature strength, creep resistance, impact resistance, thermal fatigue and other excellent high temperature performance.

In B, C, SiC fiber reinforced Ti3Al, TiAl, Ni3Al intermetallic matrix composites, etc.

W Fiber Reinforced with nickel-based, iron-based alloys as well as SiC, TiB2, Si3N4 and BN particle reinforced metal matrix composites

High temperature service conditions require the development of ceramic and carbon-based composite materials, etc., not in this eleven Cheung said.

  

Fuel storage

  

In order to survive in space, people need many things: food, oxygen, shelter, and, perhaps most importantly, fuel. The initial quality Mars mission somewhere around 80 percent of the space launch humans will be propellant. The fuel amount of storage space is very difficult.

  

This difference in low Earth orbit cause liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen - rocket fuel - vaporization.

Hydrogen is particularly likely to leak out, resulting in a loss of about 4% per month.

  

When you want to get people to Mars speed to minimize exposure to weightlessness and space radiation hazards

 

Mars

 

Landings on the Martian surface, they realized that they reached the limit. The rapid expansion of the thin Martian atmosphere can not be very large parachute, such as those that will need to be large enough to slow down, carry human spacecraft.

Therefore, the parachute strong mass ratio, high temperature resistance, Bing shot performance and other aspects of textile materials used have special requirements, in order to make a parachute can be used in rockets, missiles, Yu arrows spacecraft and other spacecraft recovery, it is necessary to improve the canopy heat resistance, a high melting point polymeric fiber fabric used, the metal fabric, ceramic fiber fabrics, and other devices.

  

Super rigid parachute to help slow the landing vehicle.

Spacecraft entered the Martian atmosphere at 24,000 km / h. Even after slowing parachute or inflatable, it will be very

  

Once we have the protection of the Earth magnetic field, the solar radiation will accumulate in the body, a huge explosion threw the spacecraft may potentially lethal doses of radiation astronauts.

  

In addition to radiation, the biggest challenge is manned trip to Mars microgravity, as previously described.

  

The moon is sterile. Mars is another case entirely.

 

With dust treatment measures.

  

Arid Martian environment to create a super-tiny dust particles flying around the Earth for billions of years.

 

Apollo moon dust encountered. Ultra-sharp and abrasive lunar dust was named something that can clog the basic functions of mechanical damage. High chloride salt, which can cause thyroid problems in people.

 

*** Mars geological structure and geological structure of the moon, water on Mars geology, geology of the Moon is very important, because he, like the Earth's geology is related to many important issues. Water, the first element of life, air, temperature, and complex geological formations are geological structure. Cosmic geology research methods, mainly through a variety of detection equipment equipped with a space probe, celestial observations of atmospheric composition, composition and distribution of temperature, pressure, wind speed, vertical structure, composition of the solar wind, the water, the surface topography and Zoning, topsoil the composition and characteristics of the component surface of the rock, type and distribution, stratigraphic sequence, structural system and the internal shell structure.

 

Mars internal situation only rely on its surface condition of large amounts of data and related information inferred. It is generally believed that the core radius of 1700 km of high-density material composition; outsourcing a layer of lava, it is denser than the Earth's mantle some; outermost layer is a thin crust. Compared to other terrestrial planets, the lower the density of Mars, which indicates that the Martian core of iron (magnesium and iron sulfide) with may contain more sulfur. Like Mercury and the Moon, Mars and lack active plate movement; there is no indication that the crust of Mars occurred can cause translational events like the Earth like so many of folded mountains. Since there is no lateral movement in the earth's crust under the giant hot zone relative to the ground in a stationary state. Slight stress coupled with the ground, resulting in Tharis bumps and huge volcano. For the geological structure of Mars is very important, which is why repeated explorations and studies of Martian geological reasons.

  

Earth's surface

 

Each detector component landing site soil analysis:

 

Element weight percent

Viking 1

Oxygen 40-45

Si 18-25

Iron 12-15

K 8

Calcium 3-5

Magnesium 3-6

S 2-5

Aluminum 2-5

Cesium 0.1-0.5

Core

Mars is about half the radius of the core radius, in addition to the primary iron further comprises 15 to 17% of the sulfur content of lighter elements is also twice the Earth, so the low melting point, so that the core portion of a liquid, such as outside the Earth nuclear.

 

Mantle

Nuclear outer coating silicate mantle.

 

Crust

The outermost layer of the crust.

Crustal thickness obtained, the original thickness of the low north 40 km south plateau 70 kilometers thick, an average of 50 kilometers, at least 80 km Tharsis plateau and the Antarctic Plateau, and in the impact basin is thin, as only about 10 kilometers Greece plains.

  

Canyon of Mars there are two categories: outflow channels (outflow channel) and tree valley (valley network). The former is very large, it can be 100 km wide, over 2000 km long, streamlined, mainly in the younger Northern Hemisphere, such as the plain around Tyre Chris Canyon and Canyon jam.

 

In addition, the volcanic activity sometimes lava formation lava channels (lava channel); crustal stress generated by fissures, faults, forming numerous parallel extending grooves (fossa), such as around the huge Tharsis volcanic plateau radially distributed numerous grooves, which can again lead to volcanic activity.

  

Presumably, Mars has an iron as the main component of the nucleus, and contains sulfur, magnesium and other light elements, the nuclear share of Mars, the Earth should be relatively small. The outer core is covered with a thick layer of magnesium-rich silicate mantle, the surface of rocky crust. The density of Earth-like planets Mars is the lowest, only 3.93g / cc.

Hierarchy

  

The crust

  

Lunar core

The average density of the Moon is 3.3464 g / cc, the solar system satellites second highest (after Aiou). However, there are few clues mean lunar core is small, only about 350 km radius or less [2]. The core of the moon is only about 20% the size of the moon, the moon's interior has a solid, iron-rich core diameter of about 240 kilometers (150 miles); in addition there is a liquid core, mainly composed of iron outer core, about 330 km in diameter (205 miles), and for the first time compared with the core of the Earth, considered as the earth's outer core, like sulfur and oxygen may have lighter elements [4].

 

Chemical elements on the lunar surface constituted in accordance with its abundance as follows: oxygen (O), silicon (Si), iron (Fe), magnesium (Mg), calcium (Ca), aluminum (Al), manganese (Mn), titanium ( Ti). The most abundant is oxygen, silicon and iron. The oxygen content is estimated to be 42% (by weight). Carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) only traces seem to exist only in trace amounts deposited in the solar wind brings.

 

Lunar Prospector from the measured neutron spectra, the hydrogen (H) mainly in the lunar poles [2].

 

Element content (%)

Oxygen 42%

Silicon 21%

Iron 13%

Calcium 8%

Aluminum 7%

Magnesium 6%

Other 3%

 

Lunar surface relative content of each element (% by weight)

  

Moon geological history is an important event in recent global magma ocean crystallization. The specific depth is not clear, but some studies have shown that at least a depth of about 500 kilometers or more.

 

Lunar landscape

Lunar landscape can be described as impact craters and ejecta, some volcanoes, hills, lava-filled depressions.

  

Regolith

TABLE bear the asteroid and comets billions of years of bombardment. Over time, the impact of these processes have already broken into fine-grained surface rock debris, called regolith. Young mare area, regolith thickness of about 2 meters, while the oldest dated land, regolith thickness of up to 20 meters. Through the analysis of lunar soil components, in particular the isotopic composition changes can determine the period of solar activity. Solar wind gases possible future lunar base is useful because oxygen, hydrogen (water), carbon and nitrogen is not only essential to life, but also may be useful for fuel production. Lunar soil constituents may also be as a future source of energy.

Here, repeatedly stressed that the geological structure and geological structure of celestial bodies, the Earth, Moon, Mars, or that this human existence and development of biological life forms is very important, especially in a series of data Martian geological structure geological structure is directly related to human landing Mars and the successful transformation of Mars or not. for example, water, liquid water, water, oxygen, synthesis, must not be taken lightly.

  

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Mars landing 10 Technology

 

Aerospace Science and space science and technology major innovation of the most critical of sophisticated technology R & D project

  

[

"1" rocket propulsion technology ion fusion nuclear pulse propulsion rocket powered high-speed heavy rocket technology, space nuclear reactors spacecraft] brought big problems reflected in the nuclear reaction, nuclear radiation on spacecraft launch, control, brakes and other impact.

In particular, for the future of nuclear power spacecraft, the need to solve the nuclear reactor design, manufacture, control, cooling, radiation shielding, exhaust pollution, high thermoelectric conversion efficiency and a series of technical problems.

In particular, nuclear reactors produce radiation on astronauts' health will pose a great threat, which requires the spacecraft to be nuclear radiation shielding to ensure astronaut and ship the goods from radiation and heat from the reactor influence, but this will greatly increase the weight of the detector.

Space nuclear process applications, nuclear reaction decay is not a problem, but in a vacuum, ultra-low temperature environment, the nuclear reaction materials, energy transport materials have very high demands.

Space facing the reality of a nuclear reactor cooling cooling problems. To prevent problems with the reactor, "Washington" aircraft carrier to take four heavy protective measures for the radiation enclosed in the warship. These four measures are: the fuel itself, fuel storage pressure vessel, reactor shell and the hull. US Navy fuel all metal fuel, designed to take the impact resistance of the war, does not release fission product can withstand more than 50 times the gravity of the impact load; product of nuclear fission reactor fuel will never enter loop cooling water. The third layer of protection is specially designed and manufactured the reactor shell. The fourth layer is a very strong anti-impact combat ship, the reactor is arranged in the center of the ship, very safe. Engage in a reactor can only be loaded up to the aircraft, so as to drive the motor, and then drive the propeller. That is the core advantage of the heat generated by the heated gas flow, high temperature high pressure gas discharge backward, thereby generating thrust.

  

.

  

After installation AMPS1000 type nuclear power plant, a nuclear fuel assembly: He is a core member of the nuclear fuel chain reaction. Usually made into uranium dioxide, of which only a few percent uranium-235, and most of it is not directly involved in the nuclear fission of uranium 238. The uranium dioxide sintered into cylindrical pieces, into a stainless steel or a zirconium alloy do metal tubes called fuel rods or the original, then the number of fuel rods loaded metal cylinder in an orderly composition of the fuel assembly, and finally put a lot of vertical distribution of fuel assemblies in the reactor.

 

Nuclear reactor pressure vessel is a housing for containing nuclear fuel and reactor internals, for producing high-quality high-strength steel is made to withstand the pressure of dozens MPa. Import and export of the coolant in the pressure vessel.

 

The top of the pressure vessel closure, and can be used to accommodate the fixed control rod drive mechanism, pressure vessel head has a semi-circular, flat-topped.

 

Roof bolt: used to connect the locking pressure vessel head, so that the cylinder to form a completely sealed container.

  

Neutron Source: Plug in nuclear reactors can provide sufficient neutron, nuclear fuel ignition, to start to enhance the role of nuclear reactors and nuclear power. Neutron source generally composed of radium, polonium, beryllium, antimony production. Neutron source and neutron fission reactors are fast neutron, can not cause fission of uranium 235, in order to slow down, we need to moderator ---- full of pure water in a nuclear reactor. Aircraft carriers, submarines use nuclear reactor control has proven more successful.

 

Rod: has a strong ability to absorb neutrons, driven by the control rod drive mechanism, can move up and down in a nuclear reactor control rods within the nuclear fuel used to start, shut down the nuclear reactor, and maintain, regulate reactor power. Hafnium control rods in general, silver, indium, cadmium and other metals production.

 

Control rod drive mechanism: He is the executive body of nuclear reactors operating system and security protection systems, in strict accordance with requirements of the system or its operator control rod drives do move up and down in a nuclear reactor, nuclear reactor for power control. In a crisis situation, you also can quickly control rods fully inserted into the reactor in order to achieve the purpose of the emergency shutdown

 

Upper and lower support plate: used to secure the fuel assembly. High temperature and pressure inside the reactor is filled with pure water (so called pressurized water reactors), on the one hand he was passing through a nuclear reactor core, cooling the nuclear fuel, to act as a coolant, on the other hand it accumulates in the pressure vessel in play moderated neutrons role, acting as moderator.

  

Water quality monitoring sampling system:

Adding chemical system: under normal circumstances, for adding hydrazine, hydrogen, pH control agents to the primary coolant system, the main purpose is to remove and reduce coolant oxygen, high oxygen water suppression equipment wall corrosion (usually at a high temperature oxygen with hydrogen, especially at low temperatures during startup of a nuclear reactor with added hydrazine oxygen); when the nuclear reactor control rods stuck for some reason can not shutdown time by the the system can inject the nuclear reactor neutron absorber (such as boric acid solution), emergency shutdown, in order to ensure the safety of nuclear submarines.

 

Water system: a loop inside the water will be reduced at work, such as water sampling and analysis, equipment leaks, because the shutdown process cooling water and reduction of thermal expansion and contraction.

 

Equipment cooling water system:

Pressure safety systems: pressure reactor primary coolant system may change rapidly for some reason, the need for effective control. And in severe burn nuclear fuel rods, resulting in a core melt accident, it is necessary to promptly increase the pressure. Turn the regulator measures the electric, heating and cooling water. If necessary, also temporary startup booster pump.

 

Residual Heat Removal System: reactor scram may be due to an accident, such as when the primary coolant system of the steam generator heat exchanger tube is damaged, it must be urgently closed reactors.

 

Safety Injection System: The main components of this system is the high-pressure injection pump.

 

Radioactive waste treatment systems:

 

Decontamination Systems: for the removal of radioactive deposits equipment, valves, pipes and accessories, and other surfaces.

 

Europe, the United States and Russia and other countries related to aircraft carriers, submarines, icebreakers, nuclear-powered research aircraft, there are lots of achievements use of nuclear energy, it is worth analysis. However, nuclear reactor technology, rocket ships and the former are very different, therefore, requires special attention and innovative research. Must adopt a new new design techniques, otherwise, fall into the stereotype, it will avail, nothing even cause harm Aerospace.

 

[ "2" spacecraft structure]

 

[ "3"] radiation technology is the use of deep-sea sedimentation fabric fabrics deepwater technology development precipitated silver metal fibers or fiber lint and other materials and micronaire value between 4.1 to 4.3 fibers made from blends. For radiation protection field, it greatly enhances the effects of radiation and service life of clothing. Radiation resistant fiber) radiation resistant fiber - fiber polyimide polyimide fibers

60 years the United States has successfully developed polyimide fibers, it has highlighted the high temperature, radiation-resistant, fire-retardant properties.

 

[ "4" cosmic radiation resistant clothing design multifunctional anti-aging, wear underwear] ① comfort layer: astronauts can not wash clothes in a long flight, a lot of sebum, perspiration, etc. will contaminate underwear, so use soft, absorbent and breathable cotton knitwear making.

 

② warm layer: at ambient temperature range is not the case, warm layer to maintain a comfortable temperature environment. Choose warm and good thermal resistance large, soft, lightweight material, such as synthetic fibers, flakes, wool and silk and so on.

 

③ ventilation and cooling clothes clothes

Spacesuit

In astronaut body heat is too high, water-cooled ventilation clothing and clothing to a different way of heat. If the body heat production more than 350 kcal / h (ventilated clothes can not meet the cooling requirements, then that is cooled by a water-cooled suit. Ventilating clothing and water-cooled multi-use compression clothing, durable, flexible plastic tubing, such as polyvinyl chloride pipe or nylon film.

 

④ airtight limiting layer:

 

⑤ insulation: astronaut during extravehicular activities, from hot or cold insulation protection. It multilayer aluminized polyester film or a polyimide film and sandwiched between layers of nonwoven fabric to be made.

 

⑥ protective cover layer: the outermost layer of the suit is to require fire, heat and anti-space radiation on various factors (micrometeorites, cosmic rays, etc.) on the human body. Most of this layer with aluminized fabric.

New space suits using a special radiation shielding material, double design.

And also supporting spacesuit helmet, gloves, boots and so on.

  

[ "5" space - Aerospace biomedical technology, space, special use of rescue medication Space mental health care systems in space without damage restful sleep positions - drugs, simple space emergency medical system

]

[ "6" landing control technology, alternate control technology, high-performance multi-purpose landing deceleration device (parachute)]

 

[ "7" Mars truck, unitary Mars spacecraft solar energy battery super multi-legged (rounds) intelligent robot] multifunction remote sensing instruments on Mars, Mars and more intelligent giant telescope

 

[8 <> Mars warehouse activities, automatic Mars lander - Automatic start off cabin

]

[ "9" Mars - spacecraft docking control system, return to the system design]

 

Space flight secondary emergency life - support system

  

Spacecraft automatic, manual, semi-automatic operation control, remote control switch system

 

Automatic return spacecraft systems, backup design, the spacecraft automatic control operating system modular blocks of]

 

[10 lunar tracking control system

 

Martian dust storms, pollution prevention, anti-corrosion and other special conditions thereof

 

Electric light aircraft, Mars lander, Mars, living spaces, living spaces Mars, Mars entry capsule, compatible utilization technology, plant cultivation techniques, nutrition space - space soil]

 

Aerospace technology, space technology a lot, a lot of cutting-edge technology. Human landing on Mars technology bear the brunt. The main merge the human landing on Mars 10 cutting-edge technology, in fact, these 10 cutting-edge technology, covering a wide range, focused, and is the key to key technologies. They actually shows overall trends and technology Aerospace Science and Technology space technology. Human triumph Mars and safe return of 10 cutting-edge technology is bound to innovation. Moreover, in order to explore the human Venus, Jupiter satellites and the solar system, the Milky Way and other future development of science and laid the foundation guarantee. But also for the transformation of human to Mars, the Moon and other planets livable provides strong technical support. Aerospace Science and Technology which is a major support system.

 

Preparation of oxygen, water, synthesis, temperature, radiation, critical force confrontation. Regardless of the moon or Mars, survive three elements bear the brunt.

 

Chemical formula: H₂O

 

Formula: H-O-H (OH bond between two angle 104.5 °).

 

Molecular Weight: 18.016

 

Chemical Experiment: water electrolysis. Formula: 2H₂O = energized = 2H₂ ↑ + O₂ ↑ (decomposition)

 

Molecules: a hydrogen atom, an oxygen atom.

  

Ionization of water: the presence of pure water ionization equilibrium following: H₂O == == H⁺ + OH⁻ reversible or irreversible H₂O + H₂O = = H₃O⁺ + OH⁻.

 

NOTE: "H₃O⁺" hydronium ions, for simplicity, often abbreviated as H⁺, more accurate to say the H9O4⁺, the amount of hydrogen ion concentration in pure water material is 10⁻⁷mol / L.

 

Electrolysis of water:

 

Water at DC, decomposition to produce hydrogen and oxygen, this method is industrially prepared pure hydrogen and oxygen 2H₂O = 2H₂ ↑ + O₂ ↑.

 

. Hydration Reaction:

 

Water with an alkaline active metal oxides, as well as some of the most acidic oxide hydration reaction of unsaturated hydrocarbons.

 

Na₂O + H₂O = 2NaOH

 

CaO + H₂O = Ca (OH) ₂

 

SO₃ + H₂O = H₂SO₄

 

P₂O₅ + 3H₂O = 2H₃PO₄ molecular structure

 

CH₂ = CH₂ + H₂O ← → C₂H₅OH

  

6. The diameter of the order of magnitude of 10 water molecules negative power of ten, the water is generally believed that a diameter of 2 to 3 this organization. water

 

7. Water ionization:

 

In the water, almost no water molecules ionized to generate ions.

 

H₂O ← → H⁺ + OH⁻

 

Heating potassium chlorate or potassium per

The tragedy in Tuscon this past week has increased our National conversation over what words mean and how they matter.

 

Jared Laughner first asked, "What's government if words don't have meaning?"

 

Sarah Palin responded to the concern over how words are used by saying "No one should be deterred from speaking up and speaking out in peaceful dissent, and we certainly must not be deterred by those who embrace evil and call it good."

 

President Obama spoke at the memorial service and reminded us that "it's important for us to pause for a moment and make sure that we are talking with each other in a way that heals, not a way that wounds."

 

This word cloud graphic (please click the graphic to view larger in lightbox) was created using the top 20 words from transcripts of statements presented by Jared Loughner in his Youtube videos; in a video released by Sarah Palin; and in the memorial speech offered by President Obama.

 

I find it very interesting to see the most used, and therefore seemingly most important, words compared in this way.

 

As a child, my parents taught us first to "love one another" and "to do unto others as you would have done unto you". They were very strict in how they allowed my brother and I to speak. We were not allowed to say "hate" or to call someone a "liar" or "cheater". Those words were the foulest bad language or dirty words in our household. You can imagine that if the words were considered that horrendous then it would surely follow that the action of actually doing one of the words was incomprehensible in our minds.

 

Thank you Mom and Dad for teaching us that what we say and how we say it matters.

Crew Locker & Drying Room (Building 30) (A/M Drg No: 15657/41).

 

RAF Snetterton Heath airfield was constructed by Taylor Woodrow Ltd, in 1942 at a cost of £950,000 to Class-A specifications. The main runway was 6,000ft long with two secondaries of 4,200ft each. Originally thirty-six hardstands of the ''frying pan'' type were constructed as when work started, the base was intended for RAF use. When rescheduled for the USAAF, the number was increased to fifty, all of them being on the south and eastern side of the airfield as a railway line and the A11 road restricted dispersed locations. Total area of concrete laid in its construction was 530,000 square yards with storage provided for 144,000 gallons of fuel.

 

The airfield was allocated for USAAF use in 1943, designation was Station 138, Station ID 'SN'. At one stage, it was planned to add an air depot, known as Eccles on the northern side of the airfield, access being across the A11. Four additional T-2 Hangars were constructed on this site. Apparently a reduction in the number of Heavy Bombers being sent to the U.K led to this depot becoming surplus to Eighth Air Force requirements and construction was stopped before all facilities were completed. From 13th September 1943 though 18th June 1945, RAF Snetterton Heath served as Hheadquarters for the 45th Combat Bombardment Wing of the 3rd Bomb Division.

 

The airfield was used by the USAAF Eighth Air Force 386th Bombardment Group (Medium) which arrived at RAF Snetterton Heath from Lake Charles AAB, Louisiana on 3rd June 1943. The 386th Bomb Group was assigned to the 3rd Bombardment Wing and flew Martin B-26B/C Marauder twin-engine Medium Bombers. Its Operational Squadrons were:

 

▪︎552d Bombardment Squadron (RG) /▪︎553d Bombardment Squadron (AN)

▪︎554th Bombardment Squadron (RU) /▪︎555th Bombardment Squadron (YA)

 

The group remained at RAF Snetterton Heath only a few days, being transferred to RAF Boxted on 10th June 1943 in north Essex where B-26 groups were to be established for operations.

 

The 96th Bombardment Group (Heavy) arrived on 12th June 1943 from RAF Andrews Field.They were assigned to the 45th Combat Bombardment Wing (later, 45th Air Division) and the Group tail code was a Square 'C'. Its Operational Squadrons were:

 

▪︎337th Bombardment Squadron (AW) /▪︎338th Bombardment Squadron (BX)

▪︎339th Bombardment Squadron (QJ) /▪︎413th Bombardment Squadron (MZ)

 

The Group flew Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresse's as part of the Eighth Air Force's Strategic Bombing Campaign. Transitioning to operational status at RAF Snetterton Heath after being used as a training unit. They entered combat in May 1943 and functioned primarily as a Strategic Bombardment Organization throughout the war. RAF Snetterton Heath was the most conveniently reached station from 3rd Division Headquarters at Elveden Hall, thus units of the 96th often led major operations carrying Commanding Generals. General Curtis LeMay led the 'Regensburg Shuttle' mission to North Africa flying out of this base, and received a Distinguished Unit Citation for withstanding severe assaults by enemy fighters. The 96th also led the 3rd Division on the famous 'Schweinfurt' mission of 14th October 1943. The 96th also attacked shipyards, harbours, railway yards, aerodromes, oil refineries, aircraft factories, and other industrial targets in Germany, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Norway, Poland, Hungary and Czechoslovakia.

 

The 96th received another DUC for leading the 45th Bomb Wing a great distance through heavy clouds and intense anti-aircraft fire to raid important aircraft component factories in Poland on 9th April 1944. Other significant targets included airfields at Bordeaux and Augsburg, marshalling yards at Kiel, Hamm, Brunswick, and Gdynia, aircraft factories at Chemnitz, Hanover, and Diósgyőr, oil refineries at Merseburg and Brux, and chemical works in Wiesbaden, Ludwigshafen, and Neunkirchen.

 

In addition to Strategic Operations, missions of the 96th BG included bombing Coastal Defences, railway bridges, Gun Emplacements, and Field Batteries in the battle area prior to and during the invasion of Normandy in June 1944, attacking enemy positions in support of the breakthrough at Saint-Lô in July 1944, aiding the campaign in France in August by striking roads and road junctions, and by dropping supplies to the Maquis, and attacking, during the early months of 1945, the communications supplying German armies on the Western Front. After V-E Day, the Group was scheduled for occupation duties in Germany however plans were revised and the 96th BG flew food to the Netherlands and hauled redeployed personnel to French Morocco, Ireland, France, and Germany. In November 1945 its aircraft were flown back to the United States, and its Squadrons were inactivated. The ground personnel left RAF Snetterton Heath in early December, arriving at Camp Kilmer, New Jersey. The 96th Bomb Group was inactivated on 21st December 1945.

 

After the war, the airfield was used by No.262 Maintenance Unit RAF between December 1945 and November 1948. At the end of 1948 the airfield was closed and fell into disuse. With the end of Military control, RAF Snetterton Heath was privately purchased in 1952 with a view to using the runways and perimeter tracks as a motor racing circuit. The first motor cycle meeting was held in 1953 and the first motor races the following year.

  

Sourced from:

 

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Snetterton_Heath

 

www.ukairfields.org.uk/snetterton-heath.html

The Manhattan Municipal Building, at 1 Centre Street in New York City, is a 40-story building built to accommodate increased governmental space demands after the 1898 consolidation of the city's five boroughs.

 

Construction began in 1907 and ended in 1914, marking the end of the City Beautiful movement in New York. William M. Kendall of the noted architectural firm McKim, Mead and White designed the building, which was the first to incorporate a New York City Subway station into its base. Enormously influential in the civic construction of other American cities, its application of Beaux-Arts architecture served as the prototype for the Terminal Tower in Cleveland, and the Wrigley Building in Chicago, in addition to the Seven Sisters of Stalin-era Soviet architecture.

 

Located at the intersection of Chambers Street and Centre Street, the Municipal Building, which stands 580 feet (177 m) tall, is one of the largest governmental buildings in the world. It houses thirteen municipal agencies of New York City, and until 2009, when the Manhattan Marriage Bureau moved to another city building at 80 Centre Street, 18,000 people were married in its second floor chapel each year. There are 25 floors of work space served by 33 elevators, with an additional 15 stories in the tower.

 

The building was designated a New York City landmark in 1966,[3] and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1972.

 

Various types of sculpture and relief were used in the building, but it most closely resembles classic Roman architecture, with the Arch of Constantine being the inspiration for the design of the central arch, which is large enough that automobile traffic once went through it, although in modern times the shortened Chambers Street no longer continues through to the eastern side. A screen of Corinthian columns flanks the arch.

 

The terra-cotta vault was modeled on the entrance of the Palazzo Farnese in Rome, and the south arcade has a ceiling of white Guastavino tiles.

 

The facade of the building was restored in 1990 by Wank Adams Slavin.

 

Pinnacle

 

The statue of Civic Fame on top of the Municipal Building, installed in March 1913, is a gilded figure designed by Adolph A. Weinman. At 25 feet (8 m) tall, it is the second largest statue in all of Manhattan. Constructed from Weinman's plaster model of sheets of copper with a hollow core, it is similar in this respect to the nearby Statue of Liberty. Standing barefoot on a sphere, the figure wears a flowing dress and a crown of laurels to signify glory. In her left hand is a five-sectioned mural crown, to represent the five boroughs of New York City: Manhattan, Brooklyn, The Bronx, Queens, and Staten Island; the building's five cupolas also represent the five boroughs. In her right hand is a shield and a laurel branch to represent victory and triumph.

 

Audrey Munson (1891–1996), who posed for the figure, was also Daniel Chester French's model for America, which stands in front of the Alexander Hamilton Custom House; she was probably also Weinman's model for Day and Night from the former Pennsylvania Station, and more than a dozen other public sculptures in New York. Weinman also sculpted the allegorical bas-relief panels at the base of the building.

  

From www.deadprogrammer.com/civic-fame/:

 

The Municipal Building in Manhattan is said to be the one that directly influenced Soviet architecture because Stalin really liked its look. What was called “City Beautiful” style in America in 1880s, with some alterations became known as Stalin’s Empire, Stalinist Baroque, Socialist Classicism and simply as Mustachioed One’s Wedding Cakes. In fact there are 7 buildings in Moscow that look very much like it.

 

These 7 sisters, as the buildings are known are shrouded in legend. I’ve heard that because of the lack of metal girders their walls are tremendously thick at the bottom. I’ve heard that they go down into the ground as far as they go into the sky, that there are old explosive self-destruct charges left over in some of them, that there is a huge monument to Stalin stored in one of the huge cellars. I’ve heard that the super secret “Metro 2″, the secret subway running underneath them.

 

The Municipal Building also has a giant statue on its top. While not as huge as the Lenin one, still, in New York it’s only second to the Statue of Liberty in size. The statue by Adolf A. Weinman is called “Civic Fame”. She battled wind, rain, snow and smog for almost a hundred years now. Her hand dropped through a skylight in a cafeteria on 26th floor in ’36 and had to be repaired, and in ’91 she took a helicopter ride up and down for cleaning and further restorations.

 

The model for “Civic Fame”, Audrey Munson, had an even harder and more intense life. At the turn of the century she was a supermodel for sculptors and painters. In some sense that yielded a much more permanent record of her than most of today’s supermodels will enjoy as there are literally dozens of important sculptures of her in New York City and around the world bearing her likeness. When the movies came about, she became an actress and entered history books as the first known woman to star in a movie naked. Well, tastefully, as an artist’s model.

 

There’s a book about her life, the Wikipedia article, this woman had the most unusual and tragic life. From the height of fame, through the court case involving a doctor who killed his wife to be with her, to financial destitution and into the mental asylum at 39 where she died at the age of 104 (!).

This picture was shot handheld with three exposures (-2..0..+2EV). I used Photomatix to create the HDR with tonemapping and detail enhanced. Shadow/Highlights at 50%. Decreased the overall saturation with Hue/Saturation in Photoshop. Increased the Vibrance value. Curve adjustments to increase the overall contrast. Unsharp Mask to increase the detail. Topaz Adjust using the Spicify preset.

 

An office building downtown was evacuated and the Portland Fire and Rescue called. Just a false alarm. They left as quickly as they arrived.

 

Click here to view my cars and motorcycles photos

 

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Fugro Synergy represents a new generation high technology drillship built in response to an increasing demand for cost effective drilling solutions.

 

The Fugro Synergy is a new build vessel

that has been specifically designed to

deliver Drilling and Sub Sea well services to

the Global Oil and Gas industry. With an

impressive technical specification, the

Synergy is capable of removing many

MODU based activities off the critical path.

Fugro is focused on developing niche

subsurface markets in the shallow section

from mudline down to approximately

3,000m, dependent on water depth.

 

CAPABILITIES

Utilizing our core drilling knowledge and

experience, we can install and construct the

shallow section of subsea wells and

seafloor infrastructure. The main

development areas that will add maximum

value to a Client project include:

■ Subsea and Well Activity

■ Conductor / Casing Installation

■ Well De-risking

■ Pre-Drill Activities

■ Well Abandonment

 

General

Vessel Name Fugro Synergy

Builder / Year Bergen Group Halsnoy AS / 2009

Owner / Operator Fugro Synergy, Inc. / Fugro Drilling & Well Services

Flag Bahamian

Speed Transit 12 knots (Economic Cruise)

Call Sign C6XR3 (Charlie Six X-ray Romeo Three)

 

Classification

+1A1 R ICE-C Ship-shaped Drilling Unit SF,

COMF-V(3) HELDK-SH E0 DYNPOS-AUTR CLEAN,

DRILL DK (+)

Port of registry Nassau

Endurance 45 days cruising

Operational water depth 25 m to 3000 m

  

Dimensions

Length over all (L.O.A.) 103.7 m

Beam (mid) 19.7 m

Free board 8.7 m

Draft 6.3 m (6.5 m Summer)

Displacement 9287 tons (deadweight 3775 tons)

NRT 1963 tons

GRT 6543 tons

Helideck D= 21 m; suitable for Sikorsky S92 helicopter

Moonpool 7.2 m x 7.2 m

 

Accommodations / Rooms

Cabins 24 x single, 28 x double, 1 x 4 man cabins

Day room 1 Non-Smoking – 1 Smoking

Fitness room Yes

Conference room Yes

Client office 1

Hospital 1 x 1 bed

 

Machinery

Main engine (5) Caterpillar type 3516C - 2,188 kW @1,800 rpm

Main engine generators (5) Siemens - 2,188 kW @1,800 rpm

Electrical system 690/450/230V-60 Hz

Propulsion (2) Ulstein-Aquamaster Azimuth Thruster type

AZP100/M-280 - 2,200 kW @1,200 rm

Side thruster (2) Kamewa Ulstein TT2200 SS DPN CP Tunnel

Thruster - 1,050 kW @1,190 rpm

Azimuth thruster (1) Ulstein-Aquamaster Azimuth Thruster type UL 1201 - 883 kW @1,800 rpm

Emergency generator (1) 219 kVA 690 V 60 Hz @ 1,800 rpm

Emergency generator engine (1) Volvo Penta 339 kW @ 1,800 rpm

 

Capacity

Fuel capacity 1,357 m3

Fuel consumption DP 12 m3

/day; Transit 28 m3 /day

 

Water capacity Potable 805 m3

; Ballast 2,873 m3

; Drill 1737 m3

Water making 1 x 40 m3 /day

 

Communications

V-sat Voice + Data access (multiple bands)

 

Safety

Lifeboats (TEMPSC) 2 x Schat-Harding KISS 1000 - 90 person

Fast rescue boat 1 x Mare Safety GRP700 230 hp

Liferafts 2 x Viking & 4 x DSB (35 men each)

Survival Suits 113

Life jackets 114 + 8 Children Sized

 

Deck Machinery

Deck Cranes 5–ton Knuckle-boom Provisions crane

Aft Deck Crane 25–ton AHC Knuckle-boom Offshore Crane

 

Positioning / Navigation

Echosounder 1 x Furuno FE-700

S-band radar (ARPA) 1 x Furuno FAR-2837-S

X-band radar 1 x Furuno FAR-2827, 1 x Furuno FAR-2117

Gyro compass (3) Simrad GC-80

Automatic pilot Simrad AP 50

Doppler log Furuno DS-80

Anemometer Gill OMC-139

GPS (2) DGPS Furuno GP-150

ECDIS 2 x TRANSAS 4000 (Main & Backup)

Transporter (SART) 2 x Tron SART-20 plus 2 in lifeboats

 

Drilling System / Seabed Frame System

Drilling Derrick Fugro SeaCore R-190

Drilling Rig SeaCore R-190

Max Load 150 tonnes, SWL Below Top Drive

Heave Compensation BoschRexroth stroke 7m, Passive

Top Drive National Oilwell Varco TDS 250

Drill Pipe Length Drill Pipe API Range 2 (trips Doubles)

Pipe Handling Aker PDPH Pipe Handler

Rotary Slips Hydraulic Power Slips

Mud Pumps (3) Wirth TPK800; each 949 l/min @340 bar to

2,762 l/min @ 115 bar

Mud Mixing Pumps (2) Baker SPF MUD HOG 2.5,

each 227 m3/h @ 4 bar

Mud Tanks (2) 85.9 m3

+ (1) 65.9 m3

+ (1) 44.9 m3

+ (1) 23.8m3

 

Bulk Cement Tanks 2 x 75 m3

Barite/Gel Dry 4 x 75 m3

Heavy Load Winch 2 x 32 tonne, 60 m/min (3,000 m WD)

Seabed Frame 15 tonnes Air weight, 4.5 m wire separation

Geotechnical Systems / Laboratory

Downhole WISON®

Seabed SEADEVIL, SEACALF®

Onboard Laboratory Permanent, 259 m2

Sample Storage 2.4 m x 3 m refrigerated container

Control and Navigation

DP System DP2 - Kongsberg K-POS

Reference systems 2 x DGPS, 2 x Starpack, 1 x Taut Wire, 2 x HPR

Wind indicators 3 Indicator (OMC-139D)

Vertical reference system 2 x Seatex MRU

blogged

District of Columbia, Maryland

Listed 2/3/2015

Reference Number: 14001236

The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historic Park Historic District is significant for its important associations with the history of transportation and engineering in the United States. In addition, the district reflects significant trends in local and statewide architectural, commercial, military, agricultural, industrial, community development, conservation, ethnic heritage, and recreational history. The district also contains several individually listed archeological sites of statewide and local significance that demonstrate important research potential for prehistoric and historic periods. As an extensive linear park, the district is uniquely situated geographically and culturally to provide archeological information on Paleolndian and Early Archaic occupations, Early and Middle Woodland deposits, Late Woodland studies, frontier settlers and squatters, canal period resources, and Civil War sites. The following statements of significance address the historic significance of above-ground resources followed by the archeological significance of the below-ground resources. This section ends with a note regarding Criterion Consideration E for Reconstructed Properties.

National Register of Historic Places Homepage

Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park Historic District (Boundary Increase) Summary Page

National Register of Historic Places on Facebook

BLOGGED: 19 Nov. 2008: www.counterspinyc.blogspot.com/

 

New Yorkers Protest the US$850 BILLION (US$3 TRILLION) Wall Street BAILOUT: Wall Street, NYC - September 25, 2008.

 

This is actually a GOOD guy. See: billionairesforbush.com/index.php for more information.

 

VOTE YOUR CONSCIENCE on 04 NOVEMBER 2008!

 

Photographer: a. golden, eyewash design - c. 2008.

 

Friends,

 

The richest 400 Americans -- that's right, just four-hundred people -- own MORE than the bottom 150 million Americans COMBINED! 400 of the wealthiest Americans have got more stashed away than half the entire country! Their combined net worth is $1.6 trillion. During the eight years of the Bush Administration, their wealth has increased by nearly $700 billion -- the same amount that they were demanding We give to them for the "bailout." Why don't they just spend the money they made under Bush to bail themselves out? They'd still have nearly a trillion dollars left over to spread amongst themselves!

 

Of course, they are not going to do that -- at least not voluntarily. George W. Bush was handed a $127 billion surplus when Bill Clinton left office. Because that money was OUR money and not HIS, he did what the rich prefer to do -- spend it and never look back. Now we have a $9.5 trillion debt that will take seven generations from which to recover. Why -- on --earth – did -- our -- "representatives" -- give -- these -- robber -- barons -- $US850 BILLION -- of – OUR -- money?

 

Last week, proposed my own bailout plan. My suggestions, listed below, were predicated on the singular and simple belief that the rich must pull themselves up by their own platinum bootstraps. Sorry, fellows, but you drilled it into our heads one too many times: THERE...IS...NO…FREE... LUNCH ~ PERIOD! And thank you for encouraging us to hate people on welfare! So, there should have been NO HANDOUTS FROM US TO YOU! Last Friday, after voting AGAINST this BAILOUT, in an unprecedented turn of events, the House FLIP-FLOPPED their "No" Vote & said "Yes", in a rush version of a "bailout" bill vote. IN SPITE OF THE PEOPLE'S OVERWHELMING DISAPPROVAL OF THIS BAILOUT BILL... IN SPITE OF MILLIONS OF CALLS FROM THE PEOPLE CRASHING WASHINGTON "representatives'" PHONE LINES...IN SPITE OF CRASHING OUR POLITICIAN'S WEBSITES...IN SPITE OF HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE PROTESTING AROUND THE COUNTRY... THEY VOTED FOR THIS BAILOUT! The People first succeeded on Monday with the House, but failed do it with the Senate and then THE HOUSE TURNED ON US TOO!

 

It is clear, though, we cannot simply continue protesting without proposing exactly what it is we think THESE IDIOTS should/'ve do/one. So, after consulting with a number of people smarter than Phil Gramm, here’s the proposal, now known as "Mike's Rescue Plan." (From Michael Moore's Bailout Plan) It has 10 simple, straightforward points. They are that you DIDN'T, BUT SHOULD'VE:

 

1. APPOINTED A SPECIAL PROSECUTOR TO CRIMINALLY INDICT ANYONE ON WALL STREET WHO KNOWINGLY CONTRIBUTED TO THIS COLLAPSE. Before any new money was expended, Congress should have committed, by resolution, to CRIMINALLY PROSECUTE ANYONE who had ANYTHING to do with the attempted SACKING OF OUR ECONOMY. This means that anyone who committed insider trading, securities fraud or any action that helped bring about this collapse should have and MUST GO TO JAIL! This Congress SHOULD HAVE called for a Special Prosecutor who would vigorously go after everyone who created the mess, and anyone else who attempts to scam the public in future. (I like Elliot Spitzer ~ so, he played a little hanky-panky...Wall Street hates him & this is a GOOD thing.)

 

2. THE RICH SHOULD HAVE PAID FOR THEIR OWN BAILOUT! They may have to live in 5 houses instead of 7. They may have to drive 9 cars instead of 13. The chef for their mini-terriers may have to be reassigned. But there is no way in hell, after forcing family incomes to go down more than $2,000 dollars during the Bush years, that working people and the middle class should have to fork over one dime to underwrite the next yacht purchase.

 

If they truly needed the $850 billion they say they needed, well, here is an easy way they could have raised it:

 

a) Every couple makeing over a million dollars a year and every single taxpayer who makes over $500,000 a year should pay a 10% surcharge tax for five years. (It's the Senator Sanders plan. He's like Colonel Sanders, only he's out to fry the right chickens.) That means the rich would have still been paying less income tax than when Carter was president. That would have raise a total of $300 billion.

 

b) Like nearly every other democracy, they should have charged a 0.25% tax on every stock transaction. This would have raised more than $200 billion in a year.

 

c) Because every stockholder is a patriotic American, stockholders should have forgone receiving a dividend check for ONE quarter and instead this money would have gone the treasury to help pay for the bullsh*t bailout.

 

d) 25% of major U.S. corporations currently pay NO federal income tax. Federal corporate tax revenues currently amount to 1.7% of the GDP compared to 5% in the 1950s. If we raised the corporate income tax BACK to the levels of the 1950s, this would give us an extra $500 billion.

 

All of this combined should have been enough to end the calamity. The rich would have gotten to keep their mansions and their servants and our United States government ("COUNTRY FIRST!") would've have a little leftover to repair some roads, bridges and schools...

 

3. YOU SHOULD HAVE BAIL OUT THE PEOPLE LOSING THEIR HOMES, NOT THE PEOPLE WHO WILL BUILD AN EIGHTH HOME! There are 1.3 million homes in foreclosure right now. That is what is at the heart of this problem. So, instead of giving the money to the banks as a gift, they should have paid down each of these mortgages by $100,000. They should have forced the banks to renegotiate the mortgage so the homeowner could pay on its current value. To insure that this help wouldn't go to speculators and those who tried to making money by flipping houses, the bailout should have only been for people's primary residences. And, in return for the $100K pay-down on the existing mortgage, the government would have gotten to share in the holding of the mortgage so it could get some of its money back. Thus, the total initial cost of fixing the mortgage crisis at its roots (instead of with the greedy lenders) is $150 billion, not $850 BILLION.

 

And let's set the record straight. People who have defaulted on their mortgages are not "bad risks." They are our fellow Americans, and all they wanted was what we all want: a home to call their own. But, during the Bush years, millions of the People lost the decent paying jobs they had. SIX MILLION fell into poverty! SEVEN MILLION lost their health insurance! And, every one of them saw their real wages go DOWN by $2,000! Those who DARE look down on these Americans who got hit with one bad break after another should be ASHAMED.! We are a better, stronger, safer and happier society when all of our citizens can afford to live in a home they own.

 

4. THERE SHOULD HAVE BEEN A STIPULATION THAT IF YOUR BANK OR COMPANY GOT ANY OF OUR MONEY IN A "BAILOUT," THEN WE OWN YOU. Sorry, that's how it's done. If the bank gives me money so I can buy a house, the bank "owns" that house until I pay it all back -- with interest. Same deal for Wall Street. Whatever money you need to stay afloat, if our government considers you a safe risk -- and necessary for the good of the country -- then you can get a loan, but WE SHOULD OWN YOU. If you default, we will sell you. This is how the Swedish government did it and it worked.

 

5. ALL REGULATIONS SHOULD HAVE BEEN BE RESTORED. THE REAGAN REVOLUTION IS DEAD! This catastrophe happened because we let the fox have the keys to the hen-house. In 1999, Phil Gramm authored a bill to remove all the regulations that governed Wall Street and our banking system. The bill passed and Clinton signed it. Here's what Sen.Phil Gramm, McCain's chief economic advisor, said at the bill signing:

 

"In the 1930s ... it was believed that government was the answer. It was believed that stability and growth came from government overriding the functioning of free markets.

 

"We are here today to repeal [that] because we have learned that government is not the answer. We have learned that freedom and competition are the answers. We have learned that we promote economic growth and we promote stability by having competition and freedom.

 

"I am proud to be here because this is an important bill; it is a deregulatory bill. I believe that that is the wave of the future, and I am awfully proud to have been a part of making it a reality."

 

FOR THIS NOT TO REOCCUR, This BILL SHOULD HAVE BEEN REPEALED! Bill Clinton could have helped by leading the effort for the repeal of the Gramm bill and the reinstating of even tougher regulations regarding our financial institutions. And when they were done with that, they should have restored the regulations for the airlines, the inspection of our food, the oil industry, OSHA, and every other entity that affects our daily lives. All oversight provisions for any "bailout" should have had enforcement monies attached to them and criminal penalties for all offenders.

 

6. IF IT'S TOO BIG TO FAIL, THEN THAT MEANS IT'S TOO BIG TO EXIST! Allowing the creation of these mega-mergers and not enforcing the monopoly and anti-trust laws has allowed a number of financial institutions and corporations to become so large, the very thought of their collapse means an even bigger collapse across the entire economy. No ONE or TWO companies should EVER have this kind of power! The so-called "economic Pearl Harbor" can't happen when you have hundreds -- thousands -- of institutions where people have their money. When we have a dozen auto companies, if one goes belly-up, we DON'T FACE A NATIONAL DISASTER! If we have three separately-owned daily newspapers in your town, then one media company can't call all the shots (I know... What am I thinking?! Who reads a paper anymore? Sure glad all those mergers and buyouts left us with a STRONG and "FREE" press!). Laws Should have been enacted to prevent companies from being so large and dominant that with one slingshot to the eye, the GIANT FALLS and DIES. And no institution should be allowed to set up money schemes that NO ONE understands. If you can't explain it in two sentences, you shouldn't be taking anyone's money!

 

7. NO EXECUTIVE SHOULD EVER BE PAID MORE THAN 40 TIMES THEIR AVERAGE EMPLOYEE, AND NO EXECUTIVE SHOULD RECEIVE ANY KIND OF "PARACHUTE" OTHER THAN THE VERY GENEROUS SALARY HE OR SHE MADE WHILE WORKING FOR THE COMPANY. In 1980, the average American CEO made 45 times what their employees made. By 2003, they were making 254 times what their workers made. After 8 years of Bush, they now make over 400 times what their average employee makes. How We have allowed this to happen at publicly held companies is beyond reason. In Britain, the average CEO makes 28 times what their average employee makes. In Japan, it's only 17 times! The last I heard, the CEO of Toyota was living the high life in Tokyo. How does he do it on so little money? Seriously, this is an OUTRAGE! We have created the mess we're in by letting the people at the top become bloated beyond belief with millions of dollars. THIS HAS TO STOP! Not only should no executive who receives help out of this mess profit from it, but any executive who was in charge of running his company into the ground should be FIRED before the company receives ANY help.

 

8. CONGRESS SHOULD HAVE STRENGTHENED THE FDIC AND MADE IT A MODEL FOR PROTECTING NOT ONLY PEOPLE'S SAVINGS, BUT ALSO THEIR PENSIONS AND THEIR HOMES. Obama was correct to propose expanding FDIC protection of people's savings in their banks to $250,000. But, this same sort of government insurance must be given to our NEVER have to worry about whether or not the money they've put away for their old age will be there. This should have meant strict government oversight of companies who manage their employees' funds -- or perhaps it means the companies should have been forced to turn over those funds and their management to the government? People's private retirement funds must also be protected, but perhaps it's time to consider not having one's retirement invested in the casino known as the stock market??? Our government should have a solemn duty to guarantee that no one who grows old in this country has to worry about becoming destitute.

 

9. EVERYBODY NEEDS TO TAKE A DEEP BREATH, CALM DOWN, AND NOT LET FEAR RULE THE DAY. Turn off your TVs! We are NOT in the Second Great Depression. The sky is NOT falling, Chicken Little! Pundits and politicians have lied to us so FAST and FURIOUS it's hard not to be affected by all the fear mongering. Even I wrote to and repeated what I heard on the news last week, that the Dow had the biggest one day drop in its history. Well, that was true in terms of points, but its 7% drop came nowhere close to Black Monday in 1987 when the stock market in one day lost 23% of its value. In the '80s, 3,000 banks closed, but America didn't go out of business. These institutions have always had their ups and downs and eventually it works out. It has to, because the rich do not like their wealth being disrupted! They have a vested interest in calming things down and getting back into their Jacuzzis before they slip into their million thread-count sheets to drift off to a peaceful, Vodka tonic and Ambien-induced slumber.

 

As crazy as things are right now, tens of thousands of people got a car loan last week. Thousands went to the bank and got a mortgage to buy a home. Students just back to college found banks more than happy to put them into hock for the next 15 years with a student loan. I was even pre-approved for a US$5K personal loan. Yes, life has gone on with little-or-no-change (other than the whopping 6.1% umeployment rate, but that happened last month). Not a single person lost any of his/her monies in bank, or a treasury note, or in a CD. And, the perhaps the most amazing thing is that the American public FINALLY didn't buy the scare campaign. The citizens didn't blink, instead telling Congress to take that bailout and shove it. THAT was impressive. Why didn't the population succumb to the fright-filled warnings from their president and his cronies? Well, you can only say 'Saddam has the bomb' so many times before the people realize you're a lying sack of shit. After eight long years, the nation is worn out and simply can't take it any longer. The WORLD is fed up & I don't blame them.

 

10. THEY SHOULD HAVE CREATED A NATIONAL BANK, A "PEOPLE'S BANK." Since they're really itching to print up a trillion dollars, instead of giving it to a few rich people, why don't We give it to ourselves? Now that We own Freddie and Fannie, why not set up a People's bank? One that can provide low-interest loans for all sorts of people who want to own a home, start a small business, go to school, come up with the cure for cancer or create the next great invention. And, now that we own AIG - the country's largest insurance company - let's take the next step and PROVIDE HEALTH INSURANCE FOR EVERYONE. MEDICARE FOR ALL! It will SAVE us SO MUCH MONEY in the LONG RUN (not to mention bring peace of mind to all). And, America won't be 12th on the life expectancy list! We'll be able to have a longer lifespan, enjoying our government-protected pension and will live to see the day when the corporate criminals who caused this much misery are let out of prison so that We can help re-acclimate them to plain old ordinary, civilian life -- a life with ONE nice home and ONE gas-free car invented with help from the People's Bank.

 

P.S. Call your Senators NOW !!! ---> www.visi.com/juan/congress/

 

Since they voted against passing the extension of unemployment benefits and skipped out to "campaign" to us to be re-elected...call them and tell them you will vote for the other "guy" if they don't get their act together!

 

UPDATE:

  

The Bailout Is A Truly Evil Disaster And Enabler Pelosi Must Go

 

We are hearing more and more reports of how badly the ill-advised banker's bailout is being handled, multi-million dollar bonuses for Paulson's old cronies at Goldman Sachs, billions going to finance the takeover of rival banks, making the "too big to fail" even bigger, and the taxpayer getting an otherwise rotten deal for their investment. We even heard a Republic senator asking how fast they could blow the money.

 

NONE of this could have happened without the fawning complicity of Nancy Pelosi, who infamously said it was Bush's proposal, INSTEAD of coming forward with a robust alternative plan. Just like Bush, she believes she is immune, she believes she is unaccountable, and shame on us if we don't do everything we can to defeat her this Tuesday, and replace her with Cindy Sheehan.

 

Here is Cindy's last TV spot. Please make whatever donation you can to put this ad on the air in these critical final days.

 

Last Cindy TV Spot Action Page:

www.usalone.com/cindy/donations_tv2.php

 

There is still time for you to make a real difference. We thank all of our participants who have already donated so generously to make this campaign what it is. For those who cannot make a contribution, please consider helping with the phone banking, and there is a link for that also on the page above.

 

The one thing we know is that we must continue to speak out. We must continue to challenge. Surrendering is what our current so-called representatives in Congress are so prone to, NOT what we do. Ultimate victory is not only possible, it is assured if we work as hard as we can for real change, not just the rebranding of the same old boys'

network.

 

And we promise you, immediately after the election we will go right back to work on pure issue advocacy full time, to continue to build the base of action for the future.

 

Paid for by Cindy Sheehan for Congress

 

Donations to Cindy Sheehan for Congress are not tax-deductible

 

Please take action NOW, so we can win all victories that are supposed to be ours, and forward this alert as widely as possible.

 

If you would like to get alerts like these, you can do so at www.usalone.net/in.htm

 

Or if you want to cease receiving our messages, just use the function at www.usalone.net/out.htm

A rough, rocky landscape

 

Tamino, a handsome prince who is lost in a distant land, is pursued by a serpent and asks the gods to save him (quartet: "Zu Hilfe! Zu Hilfe!"). He faints, and three ladies, attendants of the Queen of the Night, appear and kill the serpent. They find the unconscious prince very attractive, and each of them tries to convince the other two to leave. After arguing, they reluctantly decide to leave together.

 

Tamino wakes. Papageno enters, arrayed entirely in the plumage of birds. He describes his happy life as a bird-catcher, but also complains of his longing for a wife, or at least a girlfriend (aria: "Der Vogelfänger bin ich ja"). Tamino emerges and introduces himself to Papageno, who he initially thinks may have killed the serpent. Papageno is only too happy to take the credit – he claims that he strangled the monster with his bare hands. The three ladies suddenly reappear and place a padlock over his mouth as a warning not to lie. They give Tamino a portrait of the Queen of the Night's daughter Pamina, with whom Tamino falls instantly in love (aria: "Dies Bildnis ist bezaubernd schön" / "This image is enchantingly lovely").

  

The arrival of the Queen of the Night. Stage set by Karl Friedrich Schinkel (1781–1841) for an 1815 production

The ladies return and tell Tamino that Pamina has been captured by an evil sorcerer, Sarastro. Tamino swears that he will rescue Pamina. The Queen of the Night herself appears and tells Tamino that Pamina will be his wife if he can rescue her from Sarastro (Recitative and aria: "O zittre nicht, mein lieber Sohn" / "Oh, tremble not, my dear son!"). After the Queen leaves, the ladies remove the padlock from Papageno's mouth, warning him not to tell any more lies. They give Tamino a magic flute, which will protect him on his journey and has the power to change sorrow into joy. They tell Papageno to accompany Tamino on his rescue-mission and present him with some magic bells for protection – the bells will bring great happiness to anyone who hears them. The ladies introduce three child-spirits, who will guide Tamino and Papageno to Sarastro's temple. Together Tamino and Papageno set forth (Quintet: "Hm! Hm! Hm! Hm!").

Increased the size, add a area for visitors to the reception Manager and a parts warehouse. In the first box did dynamo meter, added the maximum amount of detail, I plan to put a four post lift, but haven't decided what design to use. Still need to increase the size to make the toilet and changing facilities and Parking for clients/projects and ideally Parking under "donors".

Bond Equipe GT4S (1964-70) Engine *1296 cc S4 OHV of 63 bhp increased to 67 bhp Production 2505

Registration Number XUN 461 J

BOND SET

www.flickr.com/photos/45676495@N05/sets/72157623759866604...

The GT4 Bonds first four wheeled car with fibre glass body with Triumph windscreen and doors, and Triumph Herald engine. Joined in 1964 by the GT4S a true four seater, with the original GT4 now retitled GT 2+2, The new Equipe was the work of the company's in-house design team and was to use the same basic Triumph components as the previous model, in order to allow production to commence as soon as possible. The main changes were to the body shell which was completely redesigned at the rear to include a conventional opening boot-lid and at the same time raise the headroom over the rear seats to just 3 inches less than that

over the front seats. The result retained the Equipe's distinctive fast-back styling, by incorporating a neat rear spoiler making the practical opening boot-lid less intrusive. The most obvious change was however the new bonnet whic now included twin head lights of the Triumph 2000. a neat fresh-air intake scoop and was designed to allow the possibility of accommodating the in-line 6-cylinder engine from Triumph's Vitesse at a later date.

The engine was upgraded in April 1967 shortly after the Triumph Herald to the new 1296cc unit. The car now being called GT4S 1300. At the same time disc brakes were enlarged and rear suspension revised

 

* This car has a non standard Triumph 1500 engine

 

A big thanks for 21.1 million views

 

Shot 20:04:2014 at Weston Park Ref 99a-143

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

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

  

Some background:

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

 

The result was Avro’s project 675, also known as the "Swallow". The aircraft was a very modern and lightweight all-metal construction, its profile resembled the Hawker Hurricane but its overall dimensions were smaller, the Swallow appeared more squatted and streamlined, almost like a race version. The wings were much thinner, too, and their shape reminded of the Supermarine Spitfire’s famous oval wings. Unlike the Spitfire, though, the Swallow’s main landing gear had a wide track and retracted inwards. The tail wheel was semi-retractable on the prototype, but it was replaced by a simpler, fixed tail wheel on production models.

 

The Swallow made its first flight on 30th December 1937 and the Royal Air Force was so impressed by its performance against the Hurricane that they ordered production to start immediately, after a few minor tweaks to certain parts of the aircraft had been made.

 

On 25 July 1939, the RAF accepted their first delivery of Avro Swallow Mk. Is. The first machines were allocated to No.1 Squadron, at the time based in France, where they were used in parallel to the Hurricanes for evaluation. These early machines were powered by a 1.030 hp (770 kW) Rolls-Royce Merlin Mk II liquid-cooled V-12, driving a wooden two-bladed, fixed-pitch propeller. The light aircraft achieved an impressive top speed of 347 mph (301 kn, 558 km/h) in level flight – the bigger and heavier Hurricane achieved only 314 mph (506 km/h) with a similar engine. Like the Hurricane, the Swallow was armed with eight unsynchronized 0.303 in (7.7 mm) Browning machine guns in the outer wings, outside of the propeller disc.

 

In spring 1940, Avro upgraded the serial production Swallow Mk.I's to Mk.IA standard: the original wooden propeller was replaced by a de Havilland or Rotol constant speed metal propeller with three blades, which considerably improved performance. Many aircraft were retrofitted with this update in the field workshops in the summer of 1940.

 

In parallel, production switched to the Swallow Mk. II: This new version, which reached the frontline units in July 1940, received an uprated engine, the improved Rolls-Royce Merlin III, which could deliver up to 1,310 hp (977 kW) with 100 octane fuel and +12 psi boost. With the standard 87 Octane fuel, engine performance did not improve much beyond the Merlin II's figures, though. A redesigned, more streamlined radiator bath was mounted, too, and altogether these measures boosted the Swallow’s top speed to 371 mph (597 km/h) at 20,000 ft (6,096 m). This was a considerable improvement; as a benchmark, the contemporary Hurricane II achieved only 340 mph (547 km/h).

 

However, several fundamental weak points of the Swallow remained unsolved: its limited range could not be boosted beyond 300 miles (500 km) and the light machine gun armament remained unchanged, because the Swallow’s thin wings hardly offered more space for heavier weapons or useful external stores like drop tanks. Despite these shortcomings, the pilots loved their agile fighter, who described the Swallow as an updated Hawker Fury biplane fighter and less as a direct competitor to the Hurricane.

 

Being a very agile aircraft, the Swallow Mk. II became the basis for a photo reconnaissance version, too, the PR Mk. II. This was not a true production variant of the Swallow, though, but rather the result of field modifications in the MTO where fast recce aircraft were direly needed. The RAF Service Depot at Heliopolis in Egypt had already converted several Hurricanes Is for photo reconnaissance duties in January 1941, and a similar equipment update was developed for the nimble Swallow, too, despite its limited range.

The first five Swallow Mk. IIs were modified in March 1941 and the machines were outfitted with a pair of F24 cameras with 8-inch focal length lenses in the lower rear fuselage, outwardly recognizable through a shallow ventral fairing behind the cooler. Some PR Mk. IIs (but not all of them) were also outfitted with dust filters, esp. those machines that were slated to operate in Palestine and Northern Africa. For night operations some PR Mk. IIs also received flame dampers (which markedly reduced the engine’s performance and were quickly removed again) or simpler glare shields above the exhaust stacks.

 

The machines quickly proved their worth in both day and night reconnaissance missions in the Eastern Mediterranean theatre of operations, and more field conversions followed. Alternative camera arrangements were developed, too, including one vertical and two oblique F24s with 14-inch focal length lenses. More Swallow Mk. IIs were converted in this manner in Malta during April (six) and in Egypt in October 1941 (four). A final batch, thought to be of 12 aircraft, was converted in late 1941.

 

Even though the Swallow PR Mk. IIs were initially left armed with the wing-mounted light machine guns, many aircraft lost their guns partly or even fully to lighten them further. Most had their wing tips clipped for better maneuverability at low altitudes, a feature of the Swallow Mk. III fighter that had been introduced in August 1941. Some machines furthermore received light makeshift underwing shackles for photoflash bombs, enabling night photography. These were not standardized, though, a typical field workshop donor were the light bomb shackles from the Westland Lysander army co-operation and liaison aircraft, which the Swallow PR Mk. IIs partly replaced. These allowed a total of four 20 lb (9.1 kg) bombs or flash bombs for night photography to be carried and released individually through retrofitted manual cable pulls. The mechanisms were simply mounted into the former machine gun bays and the pilot could release the flash bombs sequentially through the former gun trigger.

 

For duties closer to the front lines a small number of Swallow PR Mk. IIs were further converted to Tactical Reconnaissance (Tac R) aircraft. An additional radio was fitted for liaison with ground forces who were better placed to direct the aircraft, and the number of cameras was reduced to compensate for the gain of weight.

 

However, by 1942, the Swallow had already reached its limited development potential and became quickly outdated in almost any aspect. Since the Supermarine Spitfire had in the meantime been successfully introduced and promised a much bigger development potential, production of the Avro Swallow already ceased in late 1942 after 435 aircraft had been built. Around the same time, the Swallows were quickly phased out from front-line service, too. Several machines were retained as trainers, messenger aircraft or instructional airframes. 20 late production Mk. IIs were sold to the Irish Air Corps, and a further 50 aircraft were sent to Canada as advanced fighter trainers, where they served until the end of the hostilities in 1945.

 

General characteristics:

Crew: 1

Length: 28 ft 1 in (8.57 m)

Wingspan: 33 ft 7 in (10.25 m)

Height: 8 ft 6 in (2.60 m)

Wing area: 153 ft² (16.40 m²)

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

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

 

Powerplant:

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

 

Performance:

Maximum speed: 381 mph (614 km/h) at 20,000 ft (6,096 m)

Range: 360 miles (580 km)

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

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

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

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

 

Armament:

No internal guns

2x underwing hardpoints for a pair of 19-pound (8.6 kg) photoflash bombs each

  

The kit and its assembly:

This is the third incarnation of a whif that I have built some time ago for a Battle of Britain Group Build at whatifmodellers.com. This fictional machine – or better: its model – is based on a profile drawing conceived by fellow forum member nighthunter: an Avia B.135, outfitted with a Merlin engine, a ventral radiator in the style of a Hawker Hurricane, and with RAF markings. It was IIRC a nameless design, so that I created my own for it: the Avro 675 Swallow, inspired by the bird's slender wing and body that somehow resonates in the clean B.35 lines (at least for me).

 

I’ve already built two of these fictional aircraft as early WWII RAF fighters, but there was still potential in the basic concept – primarily as a canvas for the unusual livery (see below). The basis became, once again, the vintage KP Models B.35 fighter with a fixed landing gear. It’s a sleek and pretty aircraft, but the kit’s quality is rather so-so (the molds date back to 1974). Details are quite good, though, especially on the exterior, you get a mix of engraved and raised surface details. But the kit’s fit is mediocre at best, there is lots of flash and the interior is quite bleak. But, with some effort, things can be mended.

 

Many donation parts for the Swallow, beyond the Merlin engine, propeller and (underwing) radiator, and pitot, were taken in this case from a Revell 1:72 Spitfire Mk. V. Inside of the cockpit I used more Spitfire donor material, namely the floor, dashboard, seat and rear bulkhead/headrest with a radio set. The blurry, single-piece canopy was cut into three pieces for optional open display on the ground, but this was not a smart move since the material turned out to be very thin and, even worse, brittle – cracks were the unfortunate result. 

 

New landing gear wells had to be carved out of the massive lower wing halves. Since the original drawn Swallow profile did not indicate the intended landing gear design, I went for an inward-retracting solution, using parts from the Spitfire and just mounted them these “the other way around”. Due to the oil cooler in one of the wing roots, though, the stance ended up a little wide, but it’s acceptable and I stuck to this solution as I already used it on former Swallow builds, too. But now I know why the real-world B.135 prototype had its landing gear retract outwards – it makes more sense from an engineering point of view.

 

The Merlin fitted very well onto the B.35 fuselage, diameter and shape are a very good match, even though there’s a small gap to bridge – but that’s nothing that could not be mended with a bit of 2C putty and PSR. A styrene tube inside of the donor engine holds a styrene pipe for a long metal axis with the propeller, so that it can spin freely. The large chin fairing for a dust filter is a transplant from an AZ Models Spitfire, it helps hide the ventral engine/fuselage intersection and adds another small twist to this fictional aircraft. From the same source came the exhaust stacks, Revell’s OOB parts are less detailed and featured sinkholes, even though the latter would later hardly be recognizable.

With the dust filter the Swallow now looks really ugly in a side view, it has something P-40E-ish about it, and the additional bulge behind the radiator for the cameras (certainly not the best place, but the PR Hurricanes had a similar arrangement) does not make the profile any better!

 

Further small mods include anti-glare panels above and behind the exhaust stacks (simple 0.5 mm styrene sheet), and the small underwing flash bombs were scratched from styrene profile material.

  

Painting and markings:

The livery was the true motivation to build this model, as a canvas to try it out: Long ago I came across a very interesting Hawker Hurricane camouflage in a dedicated book about this type, a simple all-over scheme in black blue, also known as “Bosun Blue”, together with very limited and toned-down markings. As far as I could find out this livery was used in the Middle East and later in India, too, for nighttime photo reconnaissance missions.

 

However, defining this color turned out to be very difficult, as I could not find any color picture of such an aircraft. I guess that it was not a defined color, but rather an individual field mix with whatever was at hand – probably roundel blue and black? Therefore, I mixed the obscure Bosun Blue myself, even though this took some sorting out and experiments. I initially considered pure Humbrol 104 (Oxford Blue) but found it to have a rather reddish hue. FS 35042 (USN Sea Blue) was rejected, too, because it was too greenish, even with some black added. I eventually settled on a mix of Humbrol 15 (Midnight Blue) and 33 (Flat Black), which appeared as a good compromise and also as a very dark variant of a cyan-heavy blue tone.

The cockpit interior and the inside of the landing gear wells were painted with RAF cockpit green (Humbrol 78), while the landing gear struts became aluminum (Humbrol 56) – pretty standard.

 

The decals/markings were puzzled together from various sources. Using a real-world RAF 208 Squadron MTO night photography Hurricane as benchmark I gave the aircraft a light blue individual code letter (decals taken from the Revell Spitfire Mk. V's OOB sheet, which has the letters’ Sky tone totally misprinted!). The spinner was painted in the same tone, mixed individually to match the letter.

Markings were apparently generally very limited on these machines, e. g. they did not carry any unit letter code) and the Type B roundels only on fuselage and upper wings. The latter were improvised, with wacky Type B-esque roundels from a Falkland era Sea Harrier placed on top of RAF roundels with yellow edges. The sources I consulted were uncertain whether these rings were yellow, white, or maybe even some other light color, but I went for yellow as it was the RAF's markings standard. Looks odd, but also pretty cool, esp. with the Type B roundels’ slightly off proportions.

The subdued two-color fin flash on the dark aircraft was/is unusual, too, and following real world practice on some PR Hurricanes I added a thin white edge for better contrast. The small black serial on a white background, as if it was left over from an overpainted former fuselage band, came from a Latvian Sopwith Camel (PrintScale sheet); in RAF service N8187 would have been used during the pre-WWII period and therefore a plausible match for the Swallow, even though it belongs to a batch of RN aircraft (It would probably have been a Fairey Fulmar)..

 

No black ink washing was applied to the model due to its dark overall color, just the cockpit and the landing gear were treated this way. Some light weathering and panel shading was done all over, and soot stains as well as light grey “heat-bleached” areas due to lean combustion around the exhausts were painted onto the fuselage. Finally, everything was sealed under a coat of matt acrylic varnish (Italeri) and wire antennae (stretched sprue material) were added.

  

A simple project, realized in a couple of days – thanks to the experience gathered during former builds of this fictional aircraft. However, the Avro Swallow looked already promising in nighthunter's original profile, almost like a missing link between the sturdy Hurricane and the more glorious Spitfire. The result looks very convincing, and the all-blue livery suits the aircraft well! . At first glance, the Swallow looks like an early Spitfire, but then you notice the different wings, the low canopy and the shorter but deeper tail. You might also think that it was a travestied Yak-3 or LaGG aircraft, but again the details don’t match, it’s a quite subtle creation.

I am amazed how good this thing looks overall, with its elegant, slender wings and the sleek fuselage lines – even though the dust filter and the camera fairing strongly ruin the side profile. Maybe another one will join my RAF Swallow collection someday, this time in Irish Air Corps colors.

 

Bangkok (English pronunciation: /ˈbæŋkɒk/) is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. It is known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon (กรุงเทพมหานคร, pronounced [krūŋ tʰêːp mahǎː nákʰɔ̄ːn] or simply Krung Thep. The city occupies 1,568.7 square kilometres (605.7 sq mi) in the Chao Phraya River delta in Central Thailand, and has a population of over 8 million, or 12.6 percent of the country's population. Over 14 million people (22.2 percent) live within the surrounding Bangkok Metropolitan Region, making Bangkok an extreme primate city, significantly dwarfing Thailand's other urban centres in terms of importance.

 

Bangkok traces its roots to a small trading post during the Ayutthaya Kingdom in the 15th century, which eventually grew and became the site of two capital cities: Thonburi in 1768 and Rattanakosin in 1782. Bangkok was at the heart of the modernization of Siam - later renamed Thailand - during the late 19th century, as the country faced pressures from the West. The city was at the centre of Thailand's political struggles throughout the 20th century, as the country abolished absolute monarchy, adopted constitutional rule and underwent numerous coups and several uprisings. The city grew rapidly during the 1960s through the 1980s and now exerts a significant impact on Thailand's politics, economy, education, media and modern society.

 

The Asian investment boom in the 1980s and 1990s led many multinational corporations to locate their regional headquarters in Bangkok. The city is now a major regional force in finance and business. It is an international hub for transport and health care, and has emerged as a regional centre for the arts, fashion and entertainment. The city is well known for its vibrant street life and cultural landmarks, as well as its notorious red-light districts. The historic Grand Palace and Buddhist temples including Wat Arun and Wat Pho stand in contrast with other tourist attractions such as the nightlife scenes of Khaosan Road and Patpong. Bangkok is among the world's top tourist destinations. It is named the most visited city in MasterCard's Global Destination Cities Index, and was named "World's Best City" for four consecutive years by Travel + Leisure magazine.

 

Bangkok's rapid growth amidst little urban planning and regulation has resulted in a haphazard cityscape and inadequate infrastructure systems. Limited roads, despite an extensive expressway network, together with substantial private car usage, have led to chronic and crippling traffic congestion, which caused severe air pollution in the 1990s. The city has since turned to public transport in an attempt to solve this major problem. Five rapid transit lines are now in operation, with more systems under construction or planned by the national government and the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration.

 

HISTORY

The history of Bangkok dates at least back to the early 15th century, when it was a village on the west bank of the Chao Phraya River, under the rule of Ayutthaya. Because of its strategic location near the mouth of the river, the town gradually increased in importance. Bangkok initially served as a customs outpost with forts on both sides of the river, and became the site of a siege in 1688 in which the French were expelled from Siam. After the fall of Ayutthaya to the Burmese Empire in 1767, the newly declared King Taksin established his capital at the town, which became the base of the Thonburi Kingdom. In 1782, King Phutthayotfa Chulalok (Rama I) succeeded Taksin, moved the capital to the eastern bank's Rattanakosin Island, thus founding the Rattanakosin Kingdom. The City Pillar was erected on 21 April, which is regarded as the date of foundation of the present city.

 

Bangkok's economy gradually expanded through busy international trade, first with China, then with Western merchants returning in the early-to-mid 19th century. As the capital, Bangkok was the centre of Siam's modernization as it faced pressure from Western powers in the late 19th century. The reigns of Kings Mongkut (Rama IV, 1851–68) and Chulalongkorn (Rama V, 1868–1910) saw the introduction of the steam engine, printing press, rail transport and utilities infrastructure in the city, as well as formal education and healthcare. Bangkok became the centre stage for power struggles between the military and political elite as the country abolished absolute monarchy in 1932. It was subject to Japanese occupation and Allied bombing during World War II, but rapidly grew in the post-war period as a result of United States developmental aid and government-sponsored investment. Bangkok's role as an American military R&R destination boosted its tourism industry as well as firmly establishing it as a sex tourism destination. Disproportionate urban development led to increasing income inequalities and unprecedented migration from rural areas into Bangkok; its population surged from 1.8 to 3 million in the 1960s. Following the United States' withdrawal from Vietnam in 1973, Japanese businesses took over as leaders in investment, and the expansion of export-oriented manufacturing led to growth of the financial market in Bangkok. Rapid growth of the city continued through the 1980s and early 1990s, until it was stalled by the 1997 Asian financial crisis. By then, many public and social issues had emerged, among them the strain on infrastructure reflected in the city's notorious traffic jams. Bangkok's role as the nation's political stage continues to be seen in strings of popular protests, from the student uprisings in 1973 and 1976, anti-military demonstrations in 1992, and successive anti-government demonstrations by the "Yellow Shirt", "Red Shirt" and "Light blue Shirt" movements from 2008 onwards.

 

Administration of the city was first formalized by King Chulalongkorn in 1906, with the establishment of Monthon Krung Thep Phra Maha Nakhon (มณฑลกรุงเทพพระมหานคร) as a national subdivision. In 1915 the monthon was split into several provinces, the administrative boundaries of which have since further changed. The city in its current form was created in 1972 with the formation of the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA), following the merger of Phra Nakhon Province on the eastern bank of the Chao Phraya and Thonburi Province on the west during the previous year.

 

NAME

The etymology of the name Bangkok (บางกอก, pronounced in Thai as [bāːŋ kɔ̀ːk] is not absolutely clear. Bang is a Thai word meaning "a village situated on a stream", and the name might have been derived from Bang Ko (บางเกาะ), ko meaning "island", a reference to the area's landscape which was carved by rivers and canals. Another theory suggests that it is shortened from Bang Makok (บางมะกอก), makok being the name of Elaeocarpus hygrophilus, a plant bearing olive-like fruit.[a] This is supported by the fact that Wat Arun, a historic temple in the area, used to be named Wat Makok. Officially, however, the town was known as Thonburi Si Mahasamut (ธนบุรีศรีมหาสมุทร, from Pali and Sanskrit, literally "city of treasures gracing the ocean") or Thonburi, according to Ayutthaya chronicles. Bangkok was likely a colloquial name, albeit one widely adopted by foreign visitors, whose continued use of the name finally resulted in it being officially adopted with the creation of the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration.

 

When King Rama I established his new capital on the river's eastern bank, the city inherited Ayutthaya's ceremonial name, of which there were many variants, including Krung Thep Thawarawadi Si Ayutthaya (กรุงเทพทวารวดีศรีอยุธยา) and Krung Thep Maha Nakhon Si Ayutthaya (กรุงเทพมหานครศรีอยุธยา). Edmund Roberts, visiting the city as envoy of the United States in 1833, noted that the city, since becoming capital, was known as Sia-Yut'hia, and this is the name used in international treaties of the period. Today, the city is known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon (กรุงเทพมหานคร) or simply as Krung Thep (กรุงเทพฯ). Its full ceremonial name, which came into use during the reign of King Mongkut, reads as follows:

 

Krungthepmahanakhon Amonrattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilokphop Noppharatratchathaniburirom Udomratchaniwetmahasathan Amonphimanawatansathit Sakkathattiyawitsanukamprasit

กรุงเทพมหานคร อมรรัตนโกสินทร์ มหินทรายุธยา มหาดิลกภพ นพรัตนราชธานีบูรีรมย์ อุดมราชนิเวศน์มหาสถาน อมรพิมานอวตารสถิต สักกะทัตติยวิษณุกรรมประสิทธิ์

 

The name, composed of Pali and Sanskrit root words, translates as:

 

City of angels, great city of immortals, magnificent city of the nine gems, seat of the king, city of royal palaces, home of gods incarnate, erected by Vishvakarman at Indra's behest.

 

The name is listed in Guinness World Records as the world's longest place name, at 168 letters. Thai school children are taught the full name, although few can explain its meaning as many of the words are archaic, and known to few. Most Thais who recall the full name do so because of its use in a popular song, "Krung Thep Maha Nakhon" (1989) by Asanee–Wasan and will often recount it by singing it, much as an English speaker might sing the alphabet song to recite the alphabet. The entirety of the lyrics is just the name of the city repeated over and over.

 

GOVERNMENT

The city of Bangkok is locally governed by the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA). Although its boundaries are at the provincial (changwat) level, unlike the other 76 provinces Bangkok is a special administrative area whose governor is directly elected to serve a four-year term. The governor, together with four appointed deputies, form the executive body, who implement policies through the BMA civil service headed by the Permanent Secretary for the BMA. In separate elections, each district elects one or more city councillors, who form the Bangkok Metropolitan Council. The council is the BMA's legislative body, and has power over municipal ordinances and the city's budget. However, after the coup of 2014 all local elections have been cancelled and the council has been appointed by government on September 15 2014. The current Bangkok Governor is Police General Aswin Kwanmuang, who was appointed by the military government on October 26 following the suspension of the last elected governor M.R. Sukhumbhand Paribatra.

 

Bangkok is subdivided into fifty districts (khet, equivalent to amphoe in the other provinces), which are further subdivided into 169 subdistricts (khwaeng, equivalent to tambon). Each district is managed by a district director appointed by the governor. District councils, elected to four-year terms, serve as advisory bodies to their respective district directors.

 

The BMA is divided into sixteen departments, each overseeing different aspects of the administration's responsibilities. Most of these responsibilities concern the city's infrastructure, and include city planning, building control, transportation, drainage, waste management and city beautification, as well as education, medical and rescue services. Many of these services are provided jointly with other agencies. The BMA has the authority to implement local ordinances, although civil law enforcement falls under the jurisdiction of the Metropolitan Police Bureau.

 

The seal of the city shows Hindu god Indra riding in the clouds on Airavata, a divine white elephant known in Thai as Erawan. In his hand Indra holds his weapon, the vajra.[19] The seal is based on a painting done by Prince Naris. The tree symbol of Bangkok is Ficus benjamina. The official city slogan, adopted in 2012, reads:

 

As built by deities, the administrative center, dazzling palaces and temples, the capital of Thailand

กรุงเทพฯ ดุจเทพสร้าง เมืองศูนย์กลางการปกครอง วัดวังงามเรืองรอง เมืองหลวงของประเทศไทย

 

As the capital of Thailand, Bangkok is the seat of all branches of the national government. The Government House, Parliament House and Supreme, Administrative and Constitutional Courts are all located within the city. Bangkok is the site of the Grand Palace and Chitralada Villa, respectively the official and de facto residence of the king. Most government ministries also have headquarters and offices in the capital.

 

GEOGRAPHY

The Bangkok city proper covers an area of 1,568.737 square kilometres, ranking 69th among the other 76 provinces of Thailand. Of this, about 700 square kilometres form the built-up urban area. It is ranked 73rd in the world in terms of land area by City Mayors. The city's urban sprawl reaches into parts of the six other provinces it borders, namely, in clockwise order from northwest: Nonthaburi, Pathum Thani, Chachoengsao, Samut Prakan, Samut Sakhon and Nakhon Pathom. With the exception of Chachoengsao, these provinces, together with Bangkok, form the greater Bangkok Metropolitan Region.

 

PARKS AND GREEN ZONES

Bangkok has several parks, although these amount to a per-capita total park area of only 1.82 square metres in the city proper. Total green space for the entire city is moderate, at 11.8 square metres per person; however, in the more densely built-up areas of the city these numbers are as low as 1.73 and 0.72 square metres per person. More recent numbers claim that there is only 3.3 m2 of green space per person, compared to an average of 39 m2 in other cities across Asia. Bangkokians thus have 10 times less green space than is standard in the region's urban areas. Green belt areas include about 700 square kilometres of rice paddies and orchards in the eastern and western edges of the city proper, although their primary purpose is to serve as flood detention basins rather than to limit urban expansion. Bang Kachao, a 20-square-kilometre conservation area in an oxbow of the Chao Phraya, lies just across the southern riverbank districts, in Samut Prakan Province. A master development plan has been proposed to increase total park area to 4 square metres per person.

 

Bangkok's largest parks include the centrally located Lumphini Park near the Si Lom – Sathon business district with an area of 57.6 hectares, the 80-hectare Suanluang Rama IX in the east of the city, and the Chatuchak–Queen Sirikit–Wachirabenchathat park complex in northern Bangkok, which has a combined area of 92 hectares.

 

DEMOGRAPHY

The city of Bangkok has a population of 8,280,925 according to the 2010 census, or 12.6 percent of the national population. However, there are only 5,692,284 registered residents, belonging to 2,672,423 households. A large number of Bangkok's daytime population commutes from surrounding provinces in the Bangkok Metropolitan Region, the total population of which is 14,565,547. Bangkok is a cosmopolitan city; the census showed that it is home to 81,570 Japanese and 55,893 Chinese nationals, as well as 117,071 expatriates from other Asian countries, 48,341 from Europe, 23,418 from the Americas, 5,289 from Australia and 3,022 from Africa. Immigrants from neighbouring countries include 303,595 Burmese, 63,438 Cambodians and 18,126 Lao.

 

Although it has been Thailand's largest population centre since its establishment as capital city in 1782, Bangkok grew only slightly throughout the 18th and early 19th centuries. British diplomat John Crawfurd, visiting in 1822, estimated its population at no more than 50,000. As a result of Western medicine brought by missionaries as well as increased immigration from both within Siam and overseas, Bangkok's population gradually increased as the city modernized in the late 19th century. This growth became even more pronounced in the 1930s, following the discovery of antibiotics. Although family planning and birth control was introduced in the 1960s, the lowered birth rate was more than offset by increased migration from the provinces as economic expansion accelerated. Only in the 1990s have Bangkok's population growth rates decreased, following the national rate. Thailand had long since become highly centralized around the capital. In 1980, Bangkok's population was fifty-one times that of Hat Yai and Songkhla, the second-largest urban centre, making it the world's most prominent primate city.

 

The majority of Bangkok's population are of Thai ethnicity,[d] although details on the city's ethnic make-up are unavailable, as the national census does not document race.[e] Bangkok's cultural pluralism dates back to the early days of its foundation; several ethnic communities were formed by immigrants and forced settlers including the Khmer, Northern Thai, Lao, Vietnamese, Tavoyan, Mon and Malay. Most prominent were the Chinese, who played major roles in the city's trade and became the majority of Bangkok's population - estimates include up to three-fourths in 1828 and almost half in the 1950s. However, Chinese immigration was restricted from the 1930s and effectively ceased after the Chinese Revolution in 1949. Their prominence subsequently declined as most of younger generations of Thai Chinese have integrated and adopted a Thai identity. Bangkok is still nevertheless home to a large Chinese community, with the greatest concentration in Yaowarat, Bangkok's Chinatown. The majority (91 percent) of the city's population is Buddhist. Other religions include Islam (4.7%), Christianity (2.0%), Hinduism (0.5%), Sikhism (0.1%) and Confucianism (0.1%).

 

Apart from Yaowarat, Bangkok also has several other distinct ethnic neighbourhoods. The Indian community is centred in Phahurat, where the Gurdwara Siri Guru Singh Sabha, founded in 1933, is located. Ban Khrua on Saen Saep Canal is home to descendants of the Cham who settled in the late 18th century. Although the Portuguese who settled during the Thonburi period have ceased to exist as a distinct community, their past is reflected in Santa Kruz Church, on the west bank of the river. Likewise, the Assumption Cathedral on Charoen Krung Road is among many European-style buildings in the Old Farang Quarter, where European diplomats and merchants lived during the late 19th to early 20th centuries. Nearby, the Haroon Mosque is the centre of a Muslim community. Newer expatriate communities exist along Sukhumvit Road, including the Japanese community near Soi Phrom Phong and Soi Thong Lo, and the Arab and North African neighbourhood along Soi Nana. Sukhumvit Plaza, a mall on Soi Sukhumvit 12, is popularly known as Korea Town.

 

ECONOMY

Bangkok is the economic centre of Thailand, and the heart of the country's investment and development. In 2010, the city had an economic output of 3.142 trillion baht (98.34 billion US dollars), contributing 29.1 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP). This amounted to a per-capita GDP value of ฿456,911 ($14,301), almost three times the national average of ฿160,556 ($5,025). The Bangkok Metropolitan Region had a combined output of ฿4.773tn ($149.39bn), or 44.2 percent of GDP. Bangkok's economy ranks as the sixth among Asian cities in terms of per-capita GDP, after Singapore, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Osaka–Kobe and Seoul.

 

Wholesale and retail trade is the largest sector in the city's economy, contributing 24.0 percent of Bangkok's gross provincial product. It is followed by manufacturing (14.3%); real estate, renting and business activities (12.4%); transport and communications (11.6%); and financial intermediation (11.1%). Bangkok alone accounts for 48.4 percent of Thailand's service sector, which in turn constitutes 49.0 percent of GDP. When the Bangkok Metropolitan Region is considered, manufacturing is the most significant contributor at 28.2 percent of the gross regional product, reflecting the density of industry in the Bangkok's neighbouring provinces. The automotive industry based around Greater Bangkok is the largest production hub in Southeast Asia. Tourism is also a significant contributor to Bangkok's economy, generating ฿427.5bn ($13.38bn) in revenue in 2010.

 

The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) is located on Ratchadaphisek Road in inner Bangkok. The SET, together with the Market for Alternative Investment (mai) has 648 listed companies as of the end of 2011, with a combined market capitalization of 8.485 trillion baht ($267.64bn). Due to the large amount of foreign representation, Thailand has for several years been a mainstay of the Southeast Asian economy and a centre of Asian business. The Globalization and World Cities Research Network ranks Bangkok as an "Alpha−" world city, and it is ranked 59th in Z/Yen's Global Financial Centres Index 11.

 

Bangkok is home to the headquarters of all of Thailand's major commercial banks and financial institutions, as well as the country's largest companies. A large number of multinational corporations base their regional headquarters in Bangkok due to the lower cost of the workforce and firm operations relative to other major Asian business centres. Seventeen Thai companies are listed on the Forbes 2000, all of which are based in the capital, including PTT, the only Fortune Global 500 company in Thailand.

 

Income inequality is a major issue in Bangkok, especially between relatively unskilled lower-income immigrants from rural provinces and neighbouring countries, and middle-class professionals and business elites. Although absolute poverty rates are low - only 0.64 percent of Bangkok's registered residents were living under the poverty line in 2010, compared to a national average of 7.75 - economic disparity is still substantial. The city has a Gini coefficient of 0.48, indicating a high level of inequality.

 

CULTURE

The culture of Bangkok reflects its position as Thailand's centre of wealth and modernisation. The city has long been the portal of entry of Western concepts and material goods, which have been adopted and blended with Thai values to various degrees by its residents. This is most evident in the lifestyles of the expanding middle class. Conspicuous consumption serves as a display of economic and social status, and shopping centres are popular weekend hangouts. Ownership of electronics and consumer products such as mobile phones is ubiquitous. This has been accompanied by a degree of secularism, as religion's role in everyday life has rather diminished. Although such trends have spread to other urban centres, and, to a degree, the countryside, Bangkok remains at the forefront of social change.

 

A distinct feature of Bangkok is the ubiquity of street vendors selling goods ranging from food items to clothing and accessories. It has been estimated that the city may have over 100,000 hawkers. While the BMA has authorised the practice in 287 sites, the majority of activity in another 407 sites takes place illegally. Although they take up pavement space and block pedestrian traffic, many of the city's residents depend on these vendors for their meals, and the BMA's efforts to curb their numbers have largely been unsuccessful.

 

In 2015, however, the BMA, with support from the National Council for Peace and Order (Thailand's ruling military junta), began cracking down on street vendors in a bid to reclaim public space. Many famous market neighbourhoods were affected, including Khlong Thom, Saphan Lek, and the flower market at Pak Khlong Talat. Nearly 15,000 vendors were evicted from 39 public areas in 2016. While some applauded the efforts to focus on pedestrian rights, others have expressed concern that gentrification would lead to the loss of the city's character and adverse changes to people's way of life.

 

FESTIVALS AND EVENTS

The residents of Bangkok celebrate many of Thailand's annual festivals. During Songkran on 13–15 April, traditional rituals as well as water fights take place throughout the city. Loi Krathong, usually in November, is accompanied by the Golden Mount Fair. New Year celebrations take place at many venues, the most prominent being the plaza in front of CentralWorld. Observances related to the royal family are held primarily in Bangkok. Wreaths are laid at King Chulalongkorn's equestrian statue in the Royal Plaza on 23 October, which is King Chulalongkorn Memorial Day. The present king's and queen's birthdays, respectively on 5 December and 12 August, are marked as Thailand's national Father's Day and national Mother's Day. These national holidays are celebrated by royal audiences on the day's eve, in which the king or queen gives a speech, and public gatherings on the day of the observance. The king's birthday is also marked by the Royal Guards' parade.

 

Sanam Luang is the site of the Thai Kite, Sport and Music Festival, usually held in March, and the Royal Ploughing Ceremony which takes place in May. The Red Cross Fair at the beginning of April is held at Suan Amporn and the Royal Plaza, and features numerous booths offering goods, games and exhibits. The Chinese New Year (January–February) and Vegetarian Festival (September–October) are celebrated widely by the Chinese community, especially in Yaowarat.

 

TRANSPORT

Although Bangkok's canals historically served as a major mode of transport, they have long since been surpassed in importance by land traffic. Charoen Krung Road, the first to be built by Western techniques, was completed in 1864. Since then, the road network has vastly expanded to accommodate the sprawling city. A complex elevated expressway network helps bring traffic into and out of the city centre, but Bangkok's rapid growth has put a large strain on infrastructure, and traffic jams have plagued the city since the 1990s. Although rail transport was introduced in 1893 and electric trams served the city from 1894 to 1968, it was only in 1999 that Bangkok's first rapid transit system began operation. Older public transport systems include an extensive bus network and boat services which still operate on the Chao Phraya and two canals. Taxis appear in the form of cars, motorcycles, and "tuk-tuk" auto rickshaws.

 

Bangkok is connected to the rest of the country through the national highway and rail networks, as well as by domestic flights to and from the city's two international airports. Its centuries-old maritime transport of goods is still conducted through Khlong Toei Port.

 

The BMA is largely responsible for overseeing the construction and maintenance of the road network and transport systems through its Public Works Department and Traffic and Transportation Department. However, many separate government agencies are also in charge of the individual systems, and much of transport-related policy planning and funding is contributed to by the national government.

 

ROADS

Road-based transport is the primary mode of travel in Bangkok. Due to the city's organic development, its streets do not follow an organized grid structure. Forty-eight major roads link the different areas of the city, branching into smaller streets and lanes (soi) which serve local neighbourhoods. Eleven bridges over the Chao Phraya link the two sides of the city, while several expressway and motorway routes bring traffic into and out of the city centre and link with nearby provinces.

 

Bangkok's rapid growth in the 1980s resulted in sharp increases in vehicle ownership and traffic demand, which have since continued - in 2006 there were 3,943,211 in-use vehicles in Bangkok, of which 37.6 percent were private cars and 32.9 percent were motorcycles. These increases, in the face of limited carrying capacity, caused severe traffic congestion evident by the early 1990s. The extent of the problem is such that the Thai Traffic Police has a unit of officers trained in basic midwifery in order to assist deliveries which do not reach hospital in time. While Bangkok's limited road surface area (8 percent, compared to 20–30 percent in most Western cities) is often cited as a major cause of its traffic jams, other factors, including high vehicle ownership rate relative to income level, inadequate public transport systems, and lack of transportation demand management, also play a role. Efforts to alleviate the problem have included the construction of intersection bypasses and an extensive system of elevated highways, as well as the creation of several new rapid transit systems. The city's overall traffic conditions, however, remain bad.

 

Traffic has been the main source of air pollution in Bangkok, which reached serious levels in the 1990s. However, efforts to improve air quality by improving fuel quality and enforcing emission standards, among others, have been largely successful. Atmospheric particulate matter levels dropped from 81 micrograms per cubic metre in 1997 to 43 in 2007.

 

Although the BMA has created thirty signed bicycle routes along several roads totalling 230 kilometres, cycling is still largely impractical, especially in the city centre. Most of these bicycle lanes share the pavement with pedestrians. Poor surface maintenance, encroachment by hawkers and street vendors, and a hostile environment for cyclists and pedestrians, make cycling and walking unpopular methods of getting around in Bangkok.

 

BUSES AND TAXIS

Bangkok has an extensive bus network providing local transit services within the Greater Bangkok area. The Bangkok Mass Transit Authority (BMTA) operates a monopoly on bus services, with substantial concessions granted to private operators. Buses, minibus vans, and song thaeo operate on a total of 470 routes throughout the region. A separate bus rapid transit system owned by the BMA has been in operation since 2010. Known simply as the BRT, the system currently consists of a single line running from the business district at Sathon to Ratchaphruek on the western side of the city. The Transport Co., Ltd. is the BMTA's long-distance counterpart, with services to all provinces operating out of Bangkok.

 

Taxis are ubiquitous in Bangkok, and are a popular form of transport. As of August 2012, there are 106,050 cars, 58,276 motorcycles and 8,996 tuk-tuk motorized tricycles cumulatively registered for use as taxis. Meters have been required for car taxis since 1992, while tuk-tuk fares are usually negotiated. Motorcycle taxis operate from regulated ranks, with either fixed or negotiable fares, and are usually employed for relatively short journeys.

 

Despite their popularity, taxis have gained a bad reputation for often refusing passengers when the requested route is not to the driver's convenience. Motorcycle taxis were previously unregulated, and subject to extortion by organized crime gangs. Since 2003, registration has been required for motorcycle taxi ranks, and drivers now wear distinctive numbered vests designating their district of registration and where they are allowed to accept passengers.

 

RAIL SYSTEMS

Bangkok is the location of Hua Lamphong Railway Station, the main terminus of the national rail network operated by the State Railway of Thailand (SRT). In addition to long-distance services, the SRT also operates a few daily commuter trains running from and to the outskirts of the city during the rush hour.

 

Bangkok is currently served by three rapid transit systems: the BTS Skytrain, the underground MRT and the elevated Airport Rail Link. Although proposals for the development of rapid transit in Bangkok had been made since 1975, it was only in 1999 that the BTS finally began operation.

 

The BTS consists of two lines, Sukhumvit and Silom, with thirty stations along 30.95 kilometres. The MRT opened for use in July 2004, and currently consists of two line, the Blue Line and Purple Line. The Airport Rail Link, opened in August 2010, connects the city centre to Suvarnabhumi Airport to the east. Its eight stations span a distance of 28 kilometres.

 

Although initial passenger numbers were low and their service area remains limited to the inner city, these systems have become indispensable to many commuters. The BTS reported an average of 600,000 daily trips in 2012, while the MRT had 240,000 passenger trips per day.

 

As of 2016, construction work is ongoing to extend BTS and MRT, as well as several additional transit lines, including the Light Red grade-separated commuter rail line. The entire Mass Rapid Transit Master Plan in Bangkok Metropolitan Region consists of eight main lines and four feeder lines totalling 508 kilometres to be completed by 2029. In addition to rapid transit and heavy rail lines, there have been proposals for several monorail systems.

 

WATER TRANSPORT

Although much diminished from its past prominence, water-based transport still plays an important role in Bangkok and the immediate upstream and downstream provinces. Several water buses serve commuters daily. The Chao Phraya Express Boat serves thirty-four stops along the river, carrying an average of 35,586 passengers per day in 2010, while the smaller Khlong Saen Saep boat service serves twenty-seven stops on Saen Saep Canal with 57,557 daily passengers. Long-tail boats operate on fifteen regular routes on the Chao Phraya, and passenger ferries at thirty-two river crossings served an average of 136,927 daily passengers in 2010.

 

Bangkok Port, popularly known by its location as Khlong Toei Port, was Thailand's main international port from its opening in 1947 until it was superseded by the deep-sea Laem Chabang Port in 1991. It is primarily a cargo port, though its inland location limits access to ships of 12,000 deadweight tonnes or less. The port handled 11,936,855 tonnes of cargo in the first eight months of the 2010 fiscal year, about 22 percent the total of the country's international ports.

 

AIRPORTS

Bangkok is one of Asia's busiest air transport hubs. Two commercial airports serve the city, the older Don Mueang International Airport and the new Bangkok International Airport, commonly known as Suvarnabhumi. Suvarnabhumi, which replaced Don Mueang as Bangkok's main airport at its opening in 2006, served 52,808,013 passengers in 2015, making it the world's 20th busiest airport by passenger volume. This amount of traffic is already over its designed capacity of 45 million passengers. Don Mueang reopened for domestic flights in 2007, and resumed international services focusing on low-cost carriers in October 2012. Suvarnabhumi is undergoing expansion to increase its capacity to 60 million, which is expected to be completed by 2016.

 

HEALTH AND EDUCATION

EDUCATION

Bangkok has long been the centre of modern education in Thailand. The first schools in the country were established here in the later 19th century, and there are now 1,351 schools in the city. The city is home to the country's five oldest universities, Chulalongkorn, Thammasat, Kasetsart, Mahidol and Silpakorn, founded between 1917 and 1943. The city has since continued its dominance, especially in higher education; the majority of the country's universities, both public and private, are located in Bangkok or the Metropolitan Region. Chulalongkorn and Mahidol are the only Thai universities to appear in the top 500 of the QS World University Rankings. King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi, also located in Bangkok, is the only Thai university in the top 400 of the 2012–13 Times Higher Education World University Rankings.

 

Over the past few decades the general trend of pursuing a university degree has prompted the founding of new universities to meet the needs of Thai students. Bangkok became not only a place where immigrants and provincial Thais go for job opportunities, but also for a chance to receive a university degree. Ramkhamhaeng University emerged in 1971 as Thailand's first open university; it now has the highest enrolment in the country. The demand for higher education has led to the founding of many other universities and colleges, both public and private. While many universities have been established in major provinces, the Greater Bangkok region remains home to the greater majority of institutions, and the city's tertiary education scene remains over-populated with non-Bangkokians. The situation is not limited to higher education, either. In the 1960s, 60 to 70 percent of 10- to 19-year-olds who were in school had migrated to Bangkok for secondary education. This was due to both a lack of secondary schools in the provinces and perceived higher standards of education in the capital. Although this discrepancy has since largely abated, tens of thousands of students still compete for places in Bangkok's leading schools. Education has long been a prime factor in the centralization of Bangkok and will play a vital role in the government's efforts to decentralize the country.

 

HEALTHCARE

Much of Thailand's medical resources are disproportionately concentrated in the capital. In 2000, Bangkok had 39.6 percent of the country's doctors and a physician-to-population ratio of 1:794, compared to a median of 1:5,667 among all provinces. The city is home to 42 public hospitals, five of which are university hospitals, as well as 98 private hospitals and 4,063 registered clinics. The BMA operates nine public hospitals through its Medical Service Department, and its Health Department provides primary care through sixty-eight community health centres. Thailand's universal healthcare system is implemented through public hospitals and health centres as well as participating private providers.

 

Research-oriented medical school affiliates such as Siriraj, King Chulalongkorn Memorial and Ramathibodi Hospitals are among the largest in the country, and act as tertiary care centres, receiving referrals from distant parts of the country. Lately, especially in the private sector, there has been much growth in medical tourism, with hospitals such as Bumrungrad and Bangkok Hospital, among others, providing services specifically catering to foreigners. An estimated 200,000 medical tourists visited Thailand in 2011, making Bangkok the most popular global destination for medical tourism.

 

CRIME AND SAFETY

Bangkok has a relatively moderate crime rate when compared to urban counterparts around the world.[119] Traffic accidents are a major hazard, while natural disasters are rare. Intermittent episodes of political unrest and occasional terrorist attacks have resulted in losses of life.

 

Although the crime threat in Bangkok is relatively low, non-confrontational crimes of opportunity such as pick-pocketing, purse-snatching, and credit card fraud occur with frequency. Bangkok's growth since the 1960s has been followed by increasing crime rates partly driven by urbanisation, migration, unemployment and poverty. By the late 1980s, Bangkok's crime rates were about four times that of the rest of the country. The police have long been preoccupied with street crimes ranging from housebreaking to assault and murder. The 1990s saw the emergence of vehicle theft and organized crime, particularly by foreign gangs. Drug trafficking, especially that of ya ba methamphetamine pills, is also chronic.

 

According to police statistics, the most common complaint received by the Metropolitan Police Bureau in 2010 was housebreaking, with 12,347 cases. This was followed by 5,504 cases of motorcycle thefts, 3,694 cases of assault and 2,836 cases of embezzlement. Serious offences included 183 murders, 81 gang robberies, 265 robberies, 1 kidnapping and 9 arson cases. Offences against the state were by far more common, and included 54,068 drug-related cases, 17,239 cases involving prostitution and 8,634 related to gambling. The Thailand Crime Victim Survey conducted by the Office of Justice Affairs of the Ministry of Justice found that 2.7 percent of surveyed households reported a member being victim of a crime in 2007. Of these, 96.1 percent were crimes against property, 2.6 percent were crimes against life and body, and 1.4 percent were information-related crimes.

 

Political demonstrations and protests are common in Bangkok. While most events since 1992 had been peaceful, the series of protests alternately staged by the Yellow Shirts and Red Shirts since 2006 have often turned violent. Red Shirt demonstrations during March–May 2010 ended in a crackdown in which 92 were killed, including armed and unarmed protesters, security forces, civilians and journalists. Terrorist incidents have also occurred in Bangkok, most notably the 2015 Bangkok bombing at the Erawan shrine, and also a series of bombings on the 2006–07 New Year's Eve.

 

WIKIPEDIA

Lusscroft Farm hosts several festivals, art shows, craft fairs, horse shows, etc during the year and it appears at one of those events some people had painted encouraging sayings on roll paper and hung them up in various places around the farm. The "peace" sign immediately caught my attention.

 

Lusscroft is a 578 acre farm in Wantage Township New Jersey that was built by businessman James Turner between 1914 and 1930. The farm was setup to be a model dairy farm and scientific agriculture research done here included the very first artificial insemination of livestock. Decades later the farm ended up being used by the local 4-H club as a Summer camp. Since then the farm has fell into disrepair and it is now administered by the New Jersey State Park Service. The farm grounds and some of its buildings are used for annual festivals, equestrian events and some fundraisers that aim to raise enough money to preserve and maintain the aging and decaying farm structures and maintain its grounds.

 

Technical details:

1947 Pacemaker Speed Graphic 4x5 large format film camera.

Fujinon-W 210mm F5.6 lens in Copal B shutter.

Arista EDU Ultra 200 B&W film, shot at ISO 160.

1/8th second at F22.

Developed in Adox Rodinal 1:50 dilution for 6 minutes @ 20 degrees Celsius in Jobo Multitank 5 with 2509N sheet film reels with drum placed on Unicolor Uniroller 352 auto-reversing rotary base.

4x5" negative scanned with Epson V600.

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

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

  

Some background:

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

 

The result was Avro’s project 675, also known as the "Swallow". The aircraft’s profile resembled the Hawker Hurricane, but appeared more squatted and streamlined, almost like a race version. Compared with the Hurricane, overall dimensions were reduced and the structure lightened wherever possible. The wings were much thinner, too, and their shape reminded of the Supermarine Spitfire’s famous oval wings. The main landing gear was retractable and had a wide track. The tail wheel was semi-retractable on the prototype, but it was replaced by a simpler, fixed tail wheel on production models.

 

The Swallow made its first flight on 30th December 1937 and the Royal Air Force was so impressed by its performance against the Hurricane that they ordered production to start immediately, after a few minor tweaks to certain parts of the aircraft had been made.

 

On 25 July 1939, the RAF accepted their first delivery of Avro Swallow Mk. Is. The first machines were allocated to No.1 Squadron, at the time based in France, where they were used in parallel to the Hurricanes for evaluation. These early machines were powered by a 1.030 hp (770 kW) Rolls-Royce Merlin Mk II liquid-cooled V-12, driving a wooden two-bladed, fixed-pitch propeller. The light aircraft achieved an impressive top speed of 347 mph (301 kn, 558 km/h) in level flight – the bigger and heavier Hurricane achieved only 314 mph (506 km/h) with a similar engine. Like the Hurricane, the Swallow was armed with eight unsynchronized 0.303 in (7.7 mm) Browning machine guns in the outer wings, outside of the propeller disc.

 

In spring 1940, Avro upgraded the serial production Swallow Mk.I's to Mk.IA standard: the original wooden propeller was replaced by a de Havilland or Rotol constant speed metal propeller with three blades, which considerably improved field performance. Many aircraft were retrofitted with this update in the field workshops in the summer of 1940.

 

In parallel, production switched to the Swallow Mk. II: This new version, which reached the front line units in July 1940, received an uprated engine, the improved Rolls-Royce Merlin III, which could deliver up to 1,310 hp (977 kW) with 100 octane fuel and +12 psi boost. With the standard 87 Octane fuel, engine performance did not improve much beyond the Merlin II's figures, though.

A redesigned, more streamlined radiator bath was mounted, too, and altogether these measures boosted the Swallow’s top speed to 371 mph (597 km/h) at 20,000 ft (6,096 m). This was a considerable improvement, and the contemporary Hurricane II achieved only 340 mph (547 km/h).

 

However, several fundamental weak points of the Swallow remained unsolved: its limited range could not be boosted beyond 300 miles (500 km) and the light machine gun armament remained unchanged, because the Swallow’s thin wings hardly offered more space for heavier weapons or useful external stores like drop tanks. Despite these shortcomings, the pilots loved their agile fighter, who described the Swallow as an updated Hawker Fury biplane fighter and less as a direct competitor to the Hurricane.

 

Nevertheless, Avro kept on working to improve the Swallow, but with limited success. For instance, in early 1941, a Swallow Mk. II was modified to carry a pair of 20mm Hispano cannons instead of the inner pair of machine guns. Due to the aircraft’s thin wings, this update necessitated bulged fairings and a modified internal structure for the cannons' ammunition drums. The prototype was operationally tested at the home defense front and the additional firepower was warmly welcomed by the pilots who flew it, since the cannons allowed them to stay out of the German bombers’ machine gun range of and added more punch against German escort fighters in dogfights.

 

This innovation directly led to the Swallow Mk. III, introduced in August 1941, the fighter’s final production variant. Beyond the armament changes and the respective structural changes to the wings, the Mk. III was still powered by the Rolls-Royce Merlin III from the swallow Mk. II, but the variant introduced clipped wing tips in order to compensate for the slightly higher weight of the airframe and to improve roll characteristics at low and medium altitude. Otherwise, the Mk. III was virtually identical to the earlier Mk. II.

 

Another Mk. II was experimentally converted with a lowered spine and a framed bubble canopy for a better all-around field of view (reminiscent of the Hawker Typhoon's design), but this experiment did not reach production status. The Swallow had already reached its limited development potential and was, by mid-1942, outdated.

 

Since the Supermarine Spitfire had in the meantime proven its worth and promised a much bigger development potential, production of the Avro Swallow already ceased in late 1942 after 435 aircraft had been built. Around the same time, the Swallows were quickly phased out from front-line service, too.

 

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

  

General characteristics:

Crew: 1

Length: 28 ft 1 in (8.57 m)

Wingspan: 33 ft 7 in (10.25 m)

Height: 8 ft 6 in (2.60 m)

Wing area: 153 ft² (16.40 m²)

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

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

 

Powerplant:

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

 

Performance:

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

Range: 320 miles (515 km)

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

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

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

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

 

Armament:

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

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

  

The kit and its assembly:

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

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

 

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

  

Painting and markings:

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

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

 

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

 

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

  

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

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

Kathakali (Malayalam: കഥകളി, kathakaḷi; Sanskrit: कथाकळिः, kathākaḷiḥ) is a stylized classical Indian dance-drama noted for the attractive make-up of characters, elaborate costumes, detailed gestures and well-defined body movements presented in tune with the anchor playback music and complementary percussion. It originated in the country's present day state of Kerala during the 17th century and has developed over the years with improved looks, refined gestures and added themes besides more ornate singing and precise drumming.

 

HISTORY

Popular belief is that kathakali is emerged from "Krishnanattam", the dance drama on the life and activities of Lord Krishna created by Sri Manavedan Raja, the Zamorin of Calicut (1585-1658 AD). Once Kottarakkara Thampuran, the Raja of Kottarakkara who was attracted by Krishnanattam requested the Zamorin for the loan of a troupe of performers. Due to the political rivalry between the two, Zamorin did not allow this. So Kottarakkara Thampuran created another art form called Ramanattam which was later transformed into Aattakatha. Krishnanaattam was written in Sanskrit, and Ramanattam was in Malayalam. By the end of 17th century, Attakatha was presented to the world with the title 'Kathakali'.

 

Kathakali also shares a lot of similarities with Krishnanattam, Koodiyattam (a classical Sanskrit drama existing in Kerala) and Ashtapadiyattam (an adaptation of 12th-century musical called Gitagovindam). It also incorporates several other elements from traditional and ritualistic art forms like Mudiyettu, Thiyyattu, Theyyam and Padayani besides a minor share of folk arts like Porattunatakam. All along, the martial art of Kalarippayattu has influenced the body language of Kathakali. The use of Malayalam, the local language (albeit as a mix of Sanskrit and Malayalam, called 'Manipravaalam'), has also helped the literature of Kathakali sound more transparent for the average audience.

 

As a part of modernising, propagating, promoting and popularizing Kathakali, the International Centre for Kathakali at New Delhi has taken up a continuing project since 1980 of producing new plays based on not only traditional and mythological stories, but also historical stories, European classics and Shakespeare's plays. Recently they produced Kathakali plays based on Shakespeare's Othello and Greek-Roman mythology of Psyche and Cupid.

 

Even though the lyrics/literature would qualify as another independent element called Sahithyam, it is considered as a component of Geetha or music, as it plays only a supplementary role to Nritham, Nrithyam and Natyam.

 

KATHAKALI PLAYS

Traditionally there are 101 classical Kathakali stories, though the commonly staged among them these days total less than one-third that number. Almost all of them were initially composed to last a whole night. Nowadays, there is increasing popularity for concise, or oftener select, versions of stories so as the performance lasts not more than three to four hours from evening. Thus, many stories find stage presentation in parts rather than totality. And the selection is based on criteria like choreographical beauty, thematic relevance/popularity or their melodramatic elements. Kathakali is a classical art form, but it can be appreciated also by novices—all contributed by the elegant looks of its character, their abstract movement and its synchronisation with the musical notes and rhythmic beats. And, in any case, the folk elements too continue to exist. For better appreciation, perhaps, it is still good to have an idea of the story being enacted.

 

The most popular stories enacted are Nalacharitham (a story from the Mahabharata), Duryodhana Vadham (focusing on the Mahabharata war after profiling the build-up to it), Kalyanasougandhikam, (the story of Bhima going to get flowers for his wife Panchali), Keechakavadham (another story of Bhima and Panchali, but this time during their stint in disguise), Kiratham (Arjuna and Lord Shiva's fight, from the Mahabharata), Karnashapatham (another story from the Mahabharata), Nizhalkuthu and Bhadrakalivijayam authored by Pannisseri Nanu Pillai. Also staged frequently include stories like Kuchelavrittam, Santanagopalam, Balivijayam, Dakshayagam, Rugminiswayamvaram, Kalakeyavadham, Kirmeeravadham, Bakavadham, Poothanamoksham, Subhadraharanam, Balivadham, Rugmangadacharitam, Ravanolbhavam, Narakasuravadham, Uttaraswayamvaram, Harishchandracharitam, Kacha-Devayani and Kamsavadham.

 

Recently, as part of attempts to further popularise the art, stories from other cultures and mythologies, such as those of Mary Magdalene from the Bible, Homer's Iliad, and William Shakespeare's King Lear and Julius Caesar besides Goethe's Faust too have been adapted into Kathakali scripts and on to its stage. Synopsis of 37 kathakali stories are available in kathakalinews.com.

 

MUSIC

The language of the songs used for Kathakali is Manipravalam. Though most of the songs are set in ragas based on the microtone-heavy Carnatic music, there is a distinct style of plain-note rendition, which is known as the Sopanam style. This typically Kerala style of rendition takes its roots from the temple songs which used to be sung (continues even now at several temples) at the time when Kathakali was born.

 

As with the acting style, Kathakali music also has singers from the northern and southern schools. The northern style has largely been groomed by Kerala Kalamandalam in the 20th century. Kalamandalam Neelakantan Nambisan, an overarching Kathakali musician of those times, was a product of the institute. His prominent disciples include Kalamandalam Unnikrishna Kurup, Kalamandalam Gangadharan, Kalamandalam P.G. Radhakrishnan, Rama Varrier, Madambi Subramanian Namboodiri, Tirur Nambissan, Kalamandalam Sankaran Embranthiri, Kalamandalam Hyderali, Kalamandalam Haridas, Subramanian, Kalanilayam Unnikrishnan and Kalamandalam Bhavadasan. The other prominent musicians of the north feature Kottakkal Vasu Nedungadi, Kottakkal Parameswaran Namboodiri, Kottakkal P.D. Narayanan Namboodiri, Kottakkal Narayanan, Kalamandalam Anantha NarayananKalamandalam Sreekumar Palanad Divakaran, Kalanilayam Rajendran, Kolathappilli Narayanan Namboodiri, Kalamandalam Narayanan Embranthiri, Kottakkal Madhu, Kalamandalam Babu Namboodiri, Kalamandalam Harish and Kalamandalam Vinod. In the south, some of whom are equally popular in the north these days, include Pathiyur Sankarankutty. Southerner musicians of the older generation include Cherthala Thankappa Panikker, Thakazhi Kuttan Pillai, Cherthala Kuttappa Kurup, Thanneermukkam Viswambharan and Mudakkal Gopinathan.

 

PERFORMANCE

Traditionally, a Kathakali performance is usually conducted at night and ends in early morning. Nowadays it isn't difficult to see performances as short as three hours or fewer. Kathakali is usually performed in front of the huge Kalivilakku (kali meaning dance; vilakku meaning lamp) with its thick wick sunk till the neck in coconut oil. Traditionally, this lamp used to provide sole light when the plays used to be performed inside temples, palaces or abodes houses of nobles and aristocrats. Enactment of a play by actors takes place to the accompaniment of music (geetha) and instruments (vadya). The percussion instruments used are chenda, maddalam (both of which underwent revolutionary changes in their aesthetics with the contributions of Kalamandalam Krishnankutty Poduval and Kalamandalam Appukutty Poduval) and, at times, edakka. In addition, the singers (the lead singer is called “ponnani” and his follower is called “singidi”) use chengila (gong made of bell metal, which can be struck with a wooden stick) and ilathalam (a pair of cymbals). The lead singer in some sense uses the Chengala to conduct the Vadyam and Geetha components, just as a conductor uses his wand in western classical music. A distinguishing characteristic of this art form is that the actors never speak but use hand gestures, expressions and rhythmic dancing instead of dialogue (but for a couple of rare characters).

 

ACTING

A Kathakali actor uses immense concentration, skill and physical stamina, gained from regimented training based on Kalaripayattu, the ancient martial art of Kerala, to prepare for his demanding role. The training can often last for 8–10 years, and is intensive. In Kathakali, the story is enacted purely by the movements of the hands (called mudras or hand gestures) and by facial expressions (rasas) and bodily movements. The expressions are derived from Natyashastra (the tome that deals with the science of expressions) and are classified into nine as in most Indian classical art forms. Dancers also undergo special practice sessions to learn control of their eye movements.

 

There are 24 basic mudras—the permutation and combination of which would add up a chunk of the hand gestures in vogue today. Each can again can be classified into 'Samaana-mudras'(one mudra symbolising two entities) or misra-mudras (both the hands are used to show these mudras). The mudras are a form of sign language used to tell the story.

 

The main facial expressions of a Kathakali artist are the 'navarasams' (Navarasas in anglicised form) (literal translation: Nine Tastes, but more loosely translated as nine feelings or expressions) which are Sringaram (amour), Hasyam (ridicule, humour), Bhayanakam (fear), Karunam (pathos), Roudram (anger, wrath), Veeram (valour), Beebhatsam (disgust), Adbhutam (wonder, amazement), Shantam (tranquility, peace). The link at the end of the page gives more details on Navarasas.

 

One of the most interesting aspects of Kathakali is its elaborate make-up code. Most often, the make-up can be classified into five basic sets namely Pachcha, Kathi, Kari, Thaadi, and Minukku. The differences between these sets lie in the predominant colours that are applied on the face. Pachcha (meaning green) has green as the dominant colour and is used to portray noble male characters who are said to have a mixture of "Satvik" (pious) and "Rajasik" (dark; Rajas = darkness) nature. Rajasik characters having an evil streak ("tamasic"= evil) -- all the same they are anti-heroes in the play (such as the demon king Ravana) -- and portrayed with streaks of red in a green-painted face. Excessively evil characters such as demons (totally tamasic) have a predominantly red make-up and a red beard. They are called Red Beard (Red Beard). Tamasic characters such as uncivilised hunters and woodsmen are represented with a predominantly black make-up base and a black beard and are called black beard (meaning black beard). Women and ascetics have lustrous, yellowish faces and this semi-realistic category forms the fifth class. In addition, there are modifications of the five basic sets described above such as Vella Thadi (white beard) used to depict Hanuman (the Monkey-God) and Pazhuppu, which is majorly used for Lord Shiva and Balabhadra.

 

NOTABLE TRAINING CENTRES & MASTERS

Kathakali artistes need assiduous grooming for almost a decade's time, and most masters are products of accomplished institutions that give a minimum training course of half-a-dozen years. The leading Kathakali schools (some of them started during the pre-Independent era India) are Kerala Kalamandalam (located in Cheruthuruthy near Shoranur), PSV Natya Sangham (located in Kottakal near Kozhikode), Sadanam Kathakali and Classical Arts Academy (or Gandhi Seva Sadan located in Perur near Ottappalam in Palakkad), Unnayi Varier Smaraka Kalanilayam (located in Irinjalakuda south of Thrissur), Margi in Thiruvananthapuram, Muthappan Kaliyogam at Parassinikkadavu in Kannur district and RLV School at Tripunithura off Kochi and Kalabharathi at Pakalkkuri near Kottarakkara in Kollam district, Sandarshan Kathakali Kendram in Ambalapuzha and Vellinazhi Nanu Nair Smaraka Kalakendra in Kuruvattor. Outside Kerala, Kathakali is being taught at the International Centre for Kathakali in New Delhi, Santiniketan at Visva-Bharati University in West Bengal, Kalakshetra in Chennai and Darpana Academy in Ahmedabad among others. PadmaSree Guru Chengannur Raman Pillai mostly known as 'Guru Chengannur'was running a traditional Gurukula Style approach to propagate Kathakali.

 

‘Guru Chengannur” is ever renowned as the Sovereign Guru of Kathakali. His precision in using symbols, gestures and steps were highest in the field of Kathakali. Guru Chegannur's kaththi vesham, especially the portrayal of Duryodhana enthralled the audience every time he performed. A master of the art, he found immense happiness and satisfaction in the success and recognition of his disciples.

 

Senior Kathakali exponents of today include Padma Bhushan Kalamandalam Ramankutty Nair, Padma Shri Kalamandalam Gopi, Madavoor Vasudevan Nair, Chemancheri Kunhiraman Nair, Kottakkal Krishnankutty Nair, Mankompu Sivasankara Pillai, Sadanam Krishnankutty, Nelliyode Vasudevan Namboodiri, Kalamandalam Vasu Pisharody, FACT Padmanabhan, Kottakkal Chandrasekharan, Margi Vijayakumar, Kottakkal Nandakumaran Nair, Vazhenkada Vijayan, Inchakkattu Ramachandran Pillai, Kalamandalam Kuttan, Mayyanad Kesavan Namboodiri, Mathur Govindan Kutty, Narippatta Narayanan Namboodiri, Chavara Parukutty, Thonnakkal Peethambaran, Sadanam Balakrishnan, Kalanilayam Gopalakrishnan, Chirakkara Madhavankutty, Sadanam K. Harikumaran, Thalavadi Aravindan, Kalanilayam Balakrishnan, Pariyanampatta Divakaran, Kottakkal Kesavan, Kalanilayam Gopi and Kudamaloor Muralikrishnan. The late titan actor-dancers of Kathakali's modern age (say, since the 1930s) include Pattikkamthodi Ravunni Menon, Chenganoor Raman Pillai, Chandu Panicker, Thakazhi Guru Kunchu Kurup, Padma Shri Kalamandalam Krishnan Nair, Padma Shri Vazhenkada Kunchu Nair, Kavalappara Narayanan Nair, Kurichi Kunhan Panikkar, Thekkinkattil Ramunni Nair, Padma Shri Keezhpadam Kumaran Nair, Kalamandalam Padmanabhan Nair, Mankulam Vishnu Namboodiri, Oyur Kochu Govinda Pillai, Vellinezhi Nanu Nair, Padma Shri Kavungal Chathunni Panikkar, Kudamaloor Karunakaran Nair, Kottakkal Sivaraman, Kannan Pattali, Pallippuram Gopalan Nair, Haripad Ramakrishna Pillai, Champakkulam Pachu Pillai, Chennithala Chellappan Pillai, Guru Mampuzha Madhava Panicker, and Vaikkom Karunakaran.

 

Kathakali is still hugely a male domain but, since the 1970s, females too have made entry into the art form on a recognisable scale. The central Kerala temple town of Tripunithura has, in fact, a ladies troupe (with members belonging to several part of the state) that performs Kathakali, by and large in Travancore.

 

KATHAKALI STYLES

Known as Sampradäyaṃ(Malayalam: സമ്പ്രദായം); these are leading Kathakali styles that differ from each other in subtleties like choreographic profile, position of hand gestures and stress on dance than drama and vice versa. Some of the major original kathakali styles included:

 

Vettathu Sampradayam

Kalladikkodan Sampradyam

Kaplingadu Sampradayam

 

Of late, these have narrowed down to the northern (Kalluvazhi) and southern (Thekkan) styles. It was largely developed by the legendary Pattikkamthodi Ravunni Menon (1881-1949) that is implemented in Kerala Kalamandalam (though it has also a department that teaches the southern style), Sadanam, RLV and Kottakkal. Margi has its training largely based on the Thekkan style, known for its stress on drama and part-realistic techniques. Kalanilayam, effectively, churns out students with a mix of both styles.

 

OTHER FORMS OD DANCE & OFFSHOOTS

Kerala Natanam is a kind of dance form, partly based on Kathakali techniques and aesthetics, developed and stylised by the late dancer Guru Gopinath in the mid-20th century. Kathakali also finds portrayal in Malayalam feature films like Vanaprastham, Parinayam, Marattam, and Rangam. Besides documentary films have also been shot on Kathakali artistes like Chenganoor Raman Pillai, Kalamandalam Krishnan Nair, Keezhpadam Kumaran Nair, Kalamandalam Ramankutty Nair, Kalamandalam Gopi and Kottakkal Sivaraman.

 

As for fictional literature, Kathakali finds mention in several Malayalam short stories like Karmen (by N.S. Madhavan) and novels like Keshabharam (by P.V. Sreevalsan). Even the Indo-Anglian work like Arundhati Roy's Booker prize-winning The God of Small Things has a chapter on Kathakali, while, of late, Anita Nair's novel, Mistress, is entirely wrapped in the ethos of Kathakali.

 

Similar musical theater is popular in Kasaragod and the coastal and Malenadu regions of Karnataka, viz. Yakshagana. Though Yakshagana resembles Kathakali in terms of its costume and makeup to an extent, Yakshagana is markedly different from Kathakali as it involves dialogues and method acting also the narration is in Kannada, wherein philosophical debates are also possible within framework of the character. As per records the art form of Yakshagana was already rooted and well established at the time of Sri Manavedan Raja. There is possibilities of its significant influence in formation of Kathakkali as the troupe of performers of "Krishnanattam" designed the basic costume of the art form already established in other parts of south India including Males playing the female roles (until more recently).

 

Kottayam thamburan's way of presenting kathakali was later known as Kalladikkoden sambradayam. Chathu Paniker,the introducer of Kallikkoden Sambrathayam, stayed in Kottayam for five years with Kottayam Thamburan's residence and practiced Kalladikkoden Sambrathayam. Then he returned to his home place. After a short period Chathu Paniker reached Pulapatta as instructed by Kuthiravattath nair. That was around the year ME 865. Many deciples from Kadathanadu, Kurumbra nadu, Vettathu nadu, Palakkadu and Perumpadappu studied kathakali(Kalladikkoden Sambrathayam ) By that time Chathu Paniker was an old man. Some years later he died from Pulapatta.

 

NOTED KATHAKALI VILLAGES & BELTS

There are certain pockets in Kerala that have given birth to many Kathakali artistes over the years. If they can be called Kathakali villages (or some of them, these days, towns), here are some of them: Vellinezhi, Kuruvattoor, Karalmanna, Cherpulassery, Kothachira, peringode, sreekrishnapuram Kongad and Ottapalam in Palakkad district, Vazhenkada in Malappuram district, Thichur or Tichoor, Guruvayur, Thiruvilwamala and Irinjalakuda in Thrissur district, Tripunithura, Edappally, Thekkan Chittoor in Ernakulam district and Kuttanad, Harippad belt in Alappuzha district besides places in and around Thiruvanathapuram in south Travancore and Payyannur in north Malabar.

 

AWARDS FOR KATHAKALI ARTISTS

Sangeet Natak Akademi Awardees - Kathakali (1956–2005)

Nambeesan Smaraka Awards—For artistic performances related kathakali{1992-2008}

 

KATHAKALI ATTAMS (ELAKI ATTAMS)

Attams or more specifically "elaki attams" are sequences of acting within a story acted out with the help of mudras without support from vocal music. The actor has the freedom to change the script to suit his own individual preferences. The actor will be supported ably by Chenda, Maddalam, and Elathalam (compulsory), Chengila (not very compulsory).

 

The following are only some examples. 'Kailasa Udharanam' and 'Tapas Attam' are very important attams and these are described at the end. Two of the many references are Kathakali Prakaram, pages 95 to 142 by Pannisheri Nanu Pillai and Kathakaliyile Manodharmangal by Chavara Appukuttan Pillai.

 

VANA VARNANA: BHIMA IN KALYANA SAUGANDHIKA

Modern man looks at the forest, indeed the birthplace of primates, with a certain wonder and a certain respect. Kathakali characters are no exception.

 

When Pandavas were living in the forest, one day, a flower, not seen before, wafted by the wind, comes and falls at the feet of Panchali. Exhilarated by its beauty and smell, Panchali asks Bhima to bring her more such flowers. To her pleasure Bhima is ready to go at once. But Panchali asks him what he shall do for food and drink on the way. Bhima thinks and says "Food and Drink! Oh, this side glance (look) of yours. This look of longing. This look of anticipation. The very thought fills me up. I don't need any food and drink at all. Let me go." He takes his mace and off he goes. Ulsaham (enthusiasm) is his Sdhayi Bhavam (permanent feature).

 

"Let me go at once in search of this flower," says Bhima. "The scented wind is blowing from the southern side. Let me go that way." After walking some distance he sees a huge mountain called Gandhamadana and three ways. He decides to take the middle one which goes over the mountain. After going further "The forest is getting thicker. Big trees, big branches in all directions. The forest looks like a huge dark vessel into which even light can not penetrate. This is my (Bhima's) way. Nothing can hinder me." So saying he pulls down many trees. Sometimes he shatters the trees with his mace. Suddenly he sees an elephant. "Oh! Elephant." He describes it. Its trunk. Sharp ears.

 

The itching sensation in the body. It takes some mud and throws on the body. Oh good. Then it sucks water and throws on the body. Somewhat better. Slowly it starts dosing even though alert at times. A very huge python is approaching steadily. Suddenly it catches hold of the elephant's hind leg. The elephant wakes up and tries to disengage the python. The python pulls to one side. The elephant kicks and drags to the other side. This goes on for some time. Bhima looks to the other side where a hungry lion is looking for food. It comes running and strikes the elephants head and eats part of the brain and goes off. The python completes the rest. "Oh my god, how ruthless!" says Bhima and proceeds on his way.

 

UDYANA VARNANA: NALA IN NALACHARITHAM SECOND DAY

Descriptions of gardens are found in most dance forms of India and abroad. These are also common in Kathakali.

 

Newly married Nala and Damayanthi are walking in the garden. When Nala was lovingly looking at Damayanthi a flower falls on her. Nala is overjoyed and thinks that this is a kindness nature has shown on his wife. Nala says "On seeing the arrival of their queen, the trees and climbers are showing happiness by dropping flowers on you." He tells her, "See that tree. When I used to be alone the tree used to hug the climber and seemingly laugh at my condition." Then he looks at the tree and says, "Dear Tree, look at me now. See how fortunate I am with my beautiful wife."

 

Both wander about. A bumblebee flies towards Damayanthi. Immediately Nala protects her face with a kerchief. He looks at the bee and then at Damayanthi. He says, "On seeing your face the bee thought it was a flower and came to drink the nectar." Nala and Damayanthi listen to the sounds coming out of the garden. Damayanti says, "It appears that the whole garden is thrilled. The flowers are blooming and smiling. Cuckoos are singing and the bees are dancing. Gentle winds are blowing and rubbing against our bodies. How beautiful the whole garden looks." Then Nala says that the sun is going down and it is time for them to go back and takes her away.

 

SHABDA VARNANA: HANUMAN IN KALYANA SAUGANDHIKAM

While Bhima goes in search of the flower, here Hanuman is sitting doing Tapas with mind concentrated on Sri Rama.

 

When he hears the terrible noises made by Bhima in the forest he feels disturbed in doing his Tapas. He thinks "What is the reason for this?" Then the sounds become bigger. "What is this?" He thinks, "The sounds are getting bigger. Such a terrible noise. Is the sea coming up thinking that the time is ripe for the great deluge (Pralaya). Birds are flying helter-skelter. Trees look shocked. Even Kali Yuga is not here. Then what is it? Are mountains quarreling with each other? No, That can't be it. Indra had cut off the wings of mountains so that they don't quarrel. Is the sea changing its position? No it can't be. The sea has promised it will not change its position again. It can't break the promise." Hanuman starts looking for clues. "I see elephants and lions running in fear of somebody. Oh a huge man is coming this way. Oh, a hero is coming. He is pulling out trees and throwing it here and there. Okay. Let him come near, We will see."

 

THANDEDATTAM: RAVANA IN BALI VADHAM

After his theranottam Ravana is seen sitting on a stool. He says to himself "I am enjoying a lot of happiness. What is the reason for this?" Thinks. "Yes I know it. I did Tapas to Brahma and received all necessary boons. Afterwards I won all ten directions. I also defeated my elder brother Vaishravana. Then I lifted Kailas mountain when Siva and Parvathi were having a misunderstanding. Parvathi got frightened and embraced Siva in fear. Siva was so happy he gave a divine sword called Chandrahasa. Now the whole world is afraid of me. That is why I am enjoying so much happiness." He goes and sits on the stool. He looks far away. "Who is coming from a distance. he is coming fast. Oh, it is Akamba. Okay. Let me find out what news he has for me."

 

ASHRAMA VARNANA: ARJUNA IN KIRATHAM

Arjuna wants to do Tapas to Lord Siva and he is looking a suitable place in the Himalayan slopes. He comes to place where there is an ashram. Arjuna looks closely at the place. "Oh. What a beautiful place this is. A small river in which a very pure water is flowing. Some hermits are taking baths in the river. Some hermits are standing in the water and doing Tapsas. Some are facing the Sun. Some are standing in between five fires." Arjuna salutes the hermits from far. He says to himself "Look at this young one of a deer. It is looking for its mother. It seems to be hungry and thirsty. Nearby a female tiger is feeding its young ones. The little deer goes towards the tigress and pushes the young tiger cubs aside and starts drinking milk from the tigress. The tigress looks lovingly at the young deer and even licks its body as if it were its own child. How beautiful. How fulfilling."

 

Again he looks "Here on this side a mongoose and a serpent forgetting their enmity are hugging each other. This place is really strange and made divine by saints and hermits. Let me start my Tapas somewhere nearby."

 

A sloka called "Shikhini Shalabha" can be selected instead of the above if time permits.

 

AN ATTAM BASED ON A SLOKA

Sansrit slokas are sometimes shown in mudras and it has a pleasing and exhilarating effect. Different actors use slokas as per his own taste and liking. However, the slokas are taught to students during their training period. An example is given below.

 

Kusumo Kusumolpatti Shrooyathena Chathushyathe

Bale thava Mukhambuje Pashya Neelolpaladwayam

 

Meaning a flower blooming inside another flower is not known to history. But, my dear, in your lotus like face are seen two blue Neelolpala flowers (eyes).

 

A CONVERSATION BASED ON A SLOKA

Sanskrit slokas can also be used to express an intent. One such example is a sloka used by Arjuna addressed to Mathali the charioteer in Kalakeya Vadham. Sloka:

Pitha: Kushalee Mama hritha Bhujaam

Naatha Sachee Vallabha:

Maatha: kim nu Pralomacha Kushalinee

Soonurjayanthasthayo

Preethim va Kushchate Thadikshnavidhow

Cheta Samutkanuthe

Sutha: tvam Radhamashu Chodaya vayam

Dharmadivam Mathala

 

Meaning: The husband of Indrani and the lord of gods my father - Is he in good health? His son Jayantha - Is he strictly following the commands of his father? Oh, I am impatient to see all of them.

 

SWARGA VARNANA: ARJUNA IN KELAKEYA VADHAM

Arjuna goes to heaven on the invitation of his father, Indra. After taking permission from Indrani he goes out to see all the places in Swarga. First he sees a building, his father's palace. It is so huge with four entrances. It is made of materials superior to gold and jewels of the world. Then he goes ahead and sees Iravatha. Here he describes it as a huge elephant with four horns. He is afraid to touch it. Then he thinks that animals in Swarga can't be cruel like in the world and so thinking he goes and touches and salutes Iravatha. He describes the churning of the white sea by gods and demons with many details and how Iravatha also came out of the white sea due to this churning.

 

He walks on and sees his father's (Indra's) horse. It is described as being white and its mane is sizzling like the waves of the white sea from which it came. He touches and salutes the horse also. Then he goes to see the river of the sky (or milky way). He sees many birds by this river and how the birds fly and play is shown.

 

Then he sees the heavenly ladies. Some are collecting flowers, and one of them comes late and asks for some flowers for making garland. The others refuse. She goes to the Kalpa Vriksha and says "please give me some flowers." Immediately a shower of flowers occurs which she collects in her clothes and goes to make garlands chiding the others. "See... I also got flowers." After this he sees the music and dance of the heavenly ladies. First it starts with the adjustments of instruments Thamburu, Mridangam, Veena. Then the actual music starts along with the striking of cymbals. Then two or three types of dances are shown. Then comes juggling of balls. It is described by a sloka thus:

 

Ekopi Thraya Iva Bhathi Kandukoyam

 

Kanthayaa: Karathala Raktharaktha:

Abhrastho Nayanamareechi Neelaneelo

Popular belief is that kathakali is emerged from "Krishnanattam", the dance drama on the life and activities of Lord Krishna created by Sri Manavedan Raja, the Zamorin of Calicut (1585-1658 AD). Once Kottarakkara Thampuran, the Raja of Kottarakkara who was attracted by Krishnanattam requested the Zamorin for the loan of a troupe of performers. Due to the political rivalry between the two, Zamorin did not allow this. So Kottarakkara Thampuran created another art form called Ramanattam which was later transformed into Aattakatha. Krishnanaattam was written in Sanskrit, and Ramanattam was in Malayalam. By the end of 17th century, Attakatha was presented to the world with the title 'Kathakali'. Kathakali also shares a lot of similarities with Krishnanattam, Koodiyattam (a classical Sanskrit drama existing in Kerala) and Ashtapadiyattam (an adaptation of 12th-century musical called Gitagovindam). It also incorporates several other elements from traditional and ritualistic art forms like Mudiyettu, Thiyyattu, Theyyam and Padayani besides a minor share of folk arts like Porattunatakam. All along, the martial art of Kalarippayattu has influenced the body language of Kathakali. The use of Malayalam, the local language (albeit as a mix of Sanskrit and Malayalam, called ), has also helped the literature of Kathakali sound more transparent for the average audience. As a part of modernising, propagating, promoting and popularizing Kathakali, the International Centre for Kathakali at New Delhi has taken up a continuing project since 1980 of producing new plays based on not only traditional and mythological stories, but also historical stories, European classics and Shakespeare's plays. Recently they produced Kathakali plays based on Shakespeare's Othello and Greek-Roman mythology of Psyche and Cupid.

 

Even though the lyrics/literature would qualify as another independent element called Sahithyam, it is considered as a component of Geetha or music, as it plays only a supplementary role to

Bhumau Talcharana Naghamshu Gaurgaura:

 

Meaning One ball looks like three balls. When it is in the hands of the juggler, it takes the redness of the hands, when it goes up it takes the blueness of the eyes, when it strikes the ground it becomes white from the whiteness of the leg nails. Once a juggled ball falls down. Then she, the juggler, somehow manages to proceed and remarks "See.. how I can do it".

 

At one time a garment slips from a lady's body and she adjusts the cloth showing shameful shyness (Lajja). Then the ladies go in for a Kummi dance. As Arjuna was enjoying this dance, suddenly somebody calls him. Arjuna feels scared. "Oh God, where am I?" he says and beats a hasty retreat.

 

TAPAS ATTAM: RAVANA IN RAVANA ULBHAVAM

[Background: Mali, Sumali and Malyavan were three brothers ruling Sri Lanka. During a war between them and Indra, Indra requested help from Lord Vishnu and as a consequence Lord Vishnu killed Mali. Sumali and Malyavan escaped to Patala. Kaikasi was the daughter of Sumali. She wandered in the forest. She belong three boys through a great sage called Vishravassu. (Vishravassu had an earlier son called Vaishravana who became the richest among all people.) The eldest boy of Kaikasi was Ravana followed by Kumbhakarna and Vibhishana.]

 

SCENE 1

When Ravana was a young boy (Kutti Ravana vesham), one day he was sleeping on his mothers lap in a place called madhuvanam. At that time Kaikasi sees Vaishravana flying overhead in his vimana (mythical aeroplane). She thinks “Oh, that is Vaishravana, technically a brother of my son who is sleeping on my lap. He is rich and strong. My son is so poor and weak. While thinking thus a drop of tear from her eyes drops on Ravana’s face. Ravana suddenly wakes up and sees his mother crying. When he knew the reason he could not bear it. He says he is going to do tapas to Brahma to get boons so that he will be strong and rich.

 

SCENE 2

(The tapas itself is shown as a part of autobiographical narration of adult ravana)

 

Ravana (adult Ravana, not kutti Ravana) is sitting on a stool. He thinks “Why am I so happy? How did I become so rich and strong? Oh yes. It is because of the tapas I did. What made me do the tapas? When I was a young boy, one day I was sleeping on my mother’s lap in a place called Madhuvanam. A drop of tear from her eyes falls on my face. I asked her why she was crying. She said she saw Vaishravana flying overhead in his vimana (plane). She told me Vaishravan was a brother of mine now flying in a plane. He is rich and strong. I am so poor and weak. When I heard this comparison between me and my brother, I could not bear it. I am going to do tapas to Brahma to get boons so that I will be strong and rich.

 

I made five different types of fires (while doing tapas gods are approached through Agni the god of fire). Then I started my tapas. I asked my brothers to stand guard and also keep the fires burning. Then I fully concentrated on tapas. Time passed but Brahma did not appear. I looked. Why is Brahma not appearing? I doubled my concentration. Time passed. Brahma is not appearing. Still not appearing? I cut one of my heads and put it in the fire. Waited, Brahma did not come. One more head rolls. Still no Brahma comes. Heads roll and roll. No Brahma. Only one head is left. First I thought of stopping my tapas. But no! Never! That will be an insult to me and my family. It is better to die than stop. Also when I die Brahma will be judged as being partial. With great determination I swung the sword at my last neck, when, lo and behold, suddenly Brahma appeared and caught my hand. I looked at him with still un-subsided, but gradually subsiding anger. Brahma asked me what boons I wanted. I asked for a boon that I should win all the worlds and have all the wealth and fame and that I should not be killed except by man. I also asked him to give boons for my brothers.

 

In the next scene Ravana asks Kumbhakarna and Vibhishana what boons they got. Unfortunately Kumbhakarna’s tongue got twisted while asking for boon and he got ‘sleep’ instead of becoming the ‘king of gods’. Ravana laughed it off. As for Vibhishana, he being a bhaktha of Vishnu, asked for Vishnu’s blessings and got it. Ravana laughs it off and also decides to conquer all the worlds and starts preparing his grand army for the big conquest of the worlds.

 

[This method of presentation with a peculiar sequence has a tremendous dramatic affect. The main actor redoes a small part of what happened to kutti Ravana vesham, and this gives a view of the high contrast between the boy and the man Ravana. Similarly the presence of Kumbhakarna and Vibhishana in the subsequent scene offers a good smile on the face of the viewer at the end of the play.]

 

KAILASA UDDHARANAM: RAVANA IN BALI VIJAYAM

[Background and Previous scene: After receiving the boons, and widening his kingdom in all directions, Ravana lives in Sri Lanka with great pomp and splendor. One day he sees Saint Narada approaching his palace singing songs in praise of him ‘Jaya jaya Ravana, Lanka Pathe’. Happily he receives Narada and seats him next to him. After telling Narada about the victory of his son Indrajith on Indra, Ravana tells Narada “Now there is nobody on earth or other worlds who can fight with me”. To this Narada replies “ Very true indeed, but there is one huge monkey called Bali who says he can defeat you. He even said that you are just like a blade of grass to him. Well let him say what he wants. You are unbeatable.” Then Narada says ‘let us go there and see him’. Both decide to go. But Ravana takes his famous sword called “Chandrahasam”. Then Narada asks the history of this sword. Ravana’s Attam Starts.]

 

Ravana says “I received this sword from Lord Siva. It happened thus. Once when I was conquering new places and expanding my empire I happened to be going across the Kailasa mountain. The plane got stuck on the mountain unable to move forward. I got down from the plane and looked at the mountain. (Looks from one end to the other first horizontally and then vertically.) So huge it was. Then I decided to lift it with my bare hand and keep it aside and move forward. I started sticking my hands under it one by one. Then I tried to lift it. It doesn’t move. I put more force and more force. It moved just a bit. I pushed harder and harder, slowly it started moving then again and again and it moved easily. Then I lifted it up with my hands and started juggling it (exaggeration evident).

 

“At that particular time Lord Siva was quarreling with his wife Parvathi. Why did they fight? The story is as follows. Parvathi had gone for enjoying swimming and bathing in some beautiful pond. At that time Siva opened his jata (disheveled long hair) and called Ganga for some entertainment after asking Ganapathi and Subramania to go for some errands. Somehow becoming suspicious, right at that time, Parvathi came back in a hurry with wet clothes and saw Siva with Ganga. Siva was wondering what to do and it was at that time that Ravana started lifting the Kailasa. When Kailasa started shaking Parvathi got scared and ran to Siva and hugged him. So the quarrel ended and Siva was happy. “As a reward Siva called me and gave me this famous Chandrahasa sword.”

 

Then Narada and Ravana leave to meet Bali. Ravana wanted to take the sword along with him, but Narada suggested that the sword is not required for teaching a lesson to Bali who is after all an unarmed monkey.

 

WIKIPEDIA

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

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

  

Some background:

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

 

The result was Avro’s project 675, also known as the "Swallow". The aircraft was a very modern and lightweight all-metal construction, its profile resembled the Hawker Hurricane but its overall dimensions were smaller, the Swallow appeared more squatted and streamlined, almost like a race version. The wings were much thinner, too, and their shape reminded of the Supermarine Spitfire’s famous oval wings. Unlike the Spitfire, though, the Swallow’s main landing gear had a wide track and retracted inwards. The tail wheel was semi-retractable on the prototype, but it was replaced by a simpler, fixed tail wheel on production models.

 

The Swallow made its first flight on 30th December 1937 and the Royal Air Force was so impressed by its performance against the Hurricane that they ordered production to start immediately, after a few minor tweaks to certain parts of the aircraft had been made.

 

On 25 July 1939, the RAF accepted their first delivery of Avro Swallow Mk. Is. The first machines were allocated to No.1 Squadron, at the time based in France, where they were used in parallel to the Hurricanes for evaluation. These early machines were powered by a 1.030 hp (770 kW) Rolls-Royce Merlin Mk II liquid-cooled V-12, driving a wooden two-bladed, fixed-pitch propeller. The light aircraft achieved an impressive top speed of 347 mph (301 kn, 558 km/h) in level flight – the bigger and heavier Hurricane achieved only 314 mph (506 km/h) with a similar engine. Like the Hurricane, the Swallow was armed with eight unsynchronized 0.303 in (7.7 mm) Browning machine guns in the outer wings, outside of the propeller disc.

 

In spring 1940, Avro upgraded the serial production Swallow Mk.I's to Mk.IA standard: the original wooden propeller was replaced by a de Havilland or Rotol constant speed metal propeller with three blades, which considerably improved performance. Many aircraft were retrofitted with this update in the field workshops in the summer of 1940.

 

In parallel, production switched to the Swallow Mk. II: This new version, which reached the frontline units in July 1940, received an uprated engine, the improved Rolls-Royce Merlin III, which could deliver up to 1,310 hp (977 kW) with 100 octane fuel and +12 psi boost. With the standard 87 Octane fuel, engine performance did not improve much beyond the Merlin II's figures, though. A redesigned, more streamlined radiator bath was mounted, too, and altogether these measures boosted the Swallow’s top speed to 371 mph (597 km/h) at 20,000 ft (6,096 m). This was a considerable improvement; as a benchmark, the contemporary Hurricane II achieved only 340 mph (547 km/h).

 

However, several fundamental weak points of the Swallow remained unsolved: its limited range could not be boosted beyond 300 miles (500 km) and the light machine gun armament remained unchanged, because the Swallow’s thin wings hardly offered more space for heavier weapons or useful external stores like drop tanks. Despite these shortcomings, the pilots loved their agile fighter, who described the Swallow as an updated Hawker Fury biplane fighter and less as a direct competitor to the Hurricane.

 

Being a very agile aircraft, the Swallow Mk. II became the basis for a photo reconnaissance version, too, the PR Mk. II. This was not a true production variant of the Swallow, though, but rather the result of field modifications in the MTO where fast recce aircraft were direly needed. The RAF Service Depot at Heliopolis in Egypt had already converted several Hurricanes Is for photo reconnaissance duties in January 1941, and a similar equipment update was developed for the nimble Swallow, too, despite its limited range.

The first five Swallow Mk. IIs were modified in March 1941 and the machines were outfitted with a pair of F24 cameras with 8-inch focal length lenses in the lower rear fuselage, outwardly recognizable through a shallow ventral fairing behind the cooler. Some PR Mk. IIs (but not all of them) were also outfitted with dust filters, esp. those machines that were slated to operate in Palestine and Northern Africa. For night operations some PR Mk. IIs also received flame dampers (which markedly reduced the engine’s performance and were quickly removed again) or simpler glare shields above the exhaust stacks.

 

The machines quickly proved their worth in both day and night reconnaissance missions in the Eastern Mediterranean theatre of operations, and more field conversions followed. Alternative camera arrangements were developed, too, including one vertical and two oblique F24s with 14-inch focal length lenses. More Swallow Mk. IIs were converted in this manner in Malta during April (six) and in Egypt in October 1941 (four). A final batch, thought to be of 12 aircraft, was converted in late 1941.

 

Even though the Swallow PR Mk. IIs were initially left armed with the wing-mounted light machine guns, many aircraft lost their guns partly or even fully to lighten them further. Most had their wing tips clipped for better maneuverability at low altitudes, a feature of the Swallow Mk. III fighter that had been introduced in August 1941. Some machines furthermore received light makeshift underwing shackles for photoflash bombs, enabling night photography. These were not standardized, though, a typical field workshop donor were the light bomb shackles from the Westland Lysander army co-operation and liaison aircraft, which the Swallow PR Mk. IIs partly replaced. These allowed a total of four 20 lb (9.1 kg) bombs or flash bombs for night photography to be carried and released individually through retrofitted manual cable pulls. The mechanisms were simply mounted into the former machine gun bays and the pilot could release the flash bombs sequentially through the former gun trigger.

 

For duties closer to the front lines a small number of Swallow PR Mk. IIs were further converted to Tactical Reconnaissance (Tac R) aircraft. An additional radio was fitted for liaison with ground forces who were better placed to direct the aircraft, and the number of cameras was reduced to compensate for the gain of weight.

 

However, by 1942, the Swallow had already reached its limited development potential and became quickly outdated in almost any aspect. Since the Supermarine Spitfire had in the meantime been successfully introduced and promised a much bigger development potential, production of the Avro Swallow already ceased in late 1942 after 435 aircraft had been built. Around the same time, the Swallows were quickly phased out from front-line service, too. Several machines were retained as trainers, messenger aircraft or instructional airframes. 20 late production Mk. IIs were sold to the Irish Air Corps, and a further 50 aircraft were sent to Canada as advanced fighter trainers, where they served until the end of the hostilities in 1945.

 

General characteristics:

Crew: 1

Length: 28 ft 1 in (8.57 m)

Wingspan: 33 ft 7 in (10.25 m)

Height: 8 ft 6 in (2.60 m)

Wing area: 153 ft² (16.40 m²)

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

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

 

Powerplant:

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

 

Performance:

Maximum speed: 381 mph (614 km/h) at 20,000 ft (6,096 m)

Range: 360 miles (580 km)

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

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

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

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

 

Armament:

No internal guns

2x underwing hardpoints for a pair of 19-pound (8.6 kg) photoflash bombs each

  

The kit and its assembly:

This is the third incarnation of a whif that I have built some time ago for a Battle of Britain Group Build at whatifmodellers.com. This fictional machine – or better: its model – is based on a profile drawing conceived by fellow forum member nighthunter: an Avia B.135, outfitted with a Merlin engine, a ventral radiator in the style of a Hawker Hurricane, and with RAF markings. It was IIRC a nameless design, so that I created my own for it: the Avro 675 Swallow, inspired by the bird's slender wing and body that somehow resonates in the clean B.35 lines (at least for me).

 

I’ve already built two of these fictional aircraft as early WWII RAF fighters, but there was still potential in the basic concept – primarily as a canvas for the unusual livery (see below). The basis became, once again, the vintage KP Models B.35 fighter with a fixed landing gear. It’s a sleek and pretty aircraft, but the kit’s quality is rather so-so (the molds date back to 1974). Details are quite good, though, especially on the exterior, you get a mix of engraved and raised surface details. But the kit’s fit is mediocre at best, there is lots of flash and the interior is quite bleak. But, with some effort, things can be mended.

 

Many donation parts for the Swallow, beyond the Merlin engine, propeller and (underwing) radiator, and pitot, were taken in this case from a Revell 1:72 Spitfire Mk. V. Inside of the cockpit I used more Spitfire donor material, namely the floor, dashboard, seat and rear bulkhead/headrest with a radio set. The blurry, single-piece canopy was cut into three pieces for optional open display on the ground, but this was not a smart move since the material turned out to be very thin and, even worse, brittle – cracks were the unfortunate result. 

 

New landing gear wells had to be carved out of the massive lower wing halves. Since the original drawn Swallow profile did not indicate the intended landing gear design, I went for an inward-retracting solution, using parts from the Spitfire and just mounted them these “the other way around”. Due to the oil cooler in one of the wing roots, though, the stance ended up a little wide, but it’s acceptable and I stuck to this solution as I already used it on former Swallow builds, too. But now I know why the real-world B.135 prototype had its landing gear retract outwards – it makes more sense from an engineering point of view.

 

The Merlin fitted very well onto the B.35 fuselage, diameter and shape are a very good match, even though there’s a small gap to bridge – but that’s nothing that could not be mended with a bit of 2C putty and PSR. A styrene tube inside of the donor engine holds a styrene pipe for a long metal axis with the propeller, so that it can spin freely. The large chin fairing for a dust filter is a transplant from an AZ Models Spitfire, it helps hide the ventral engine/fuselage intersection and adds another small twist to this fictional aircraft. From the same source came the exhaust stacks, Revell’s OOB parts are less detailed and featured sinkholes, even though the latter would later hardly be recognizable.

With the dust filter the Swallow now looks really ugly in a side view, it has something P-40E-ish about it, and the additional bulge behind the radiator for the cameras (certainly not the best place, but the PR Hurricanes had a similar arrangement) does not make the profile any better!

 

Further small mods include anti-glare panels above and behind the exhaust stacks (simple 0.5 mm styrene sheet), and the small underwing flash bombs were scratched from styrene profile material.

  

Painting and markings:

The livery was the true motivation to build this model, as a canvas to try it out: Long ago I came across a very interesting Hawker Hurricane camouflage in a dedicated book about this type, a simple all-over scheme in black blue, also known as “Bosun Blue”, together with very limited and toned-down markings. As far as I could find out this livery was used in the Middle East and later in India, too, for nighttime photo reconnaissance missions.

 

However, defining this color turned out to be very difficult, as I could not find any color picture of such an aircraft. I guess that it was not a defined color, but rather an individual field mix with whatever was at hand – probably roundel blue and black? Therefore, I mixed the obscure Bosun Blue myself, even though this took some sorting out and experiments. I initially considered pure Humbrol 104 (Oxford Blue) but found it to have a rather reddish hue. FS 35042 (USN Sea Blue) was rejected, too, because it was too greenish, even with some black added. I eventually settled on a mix of Humbrol 15 (Midnight Blue) and 33 (Flat Black), which appeared as a good compromise and also as a very dark variant of a cyan-heavy blue tone.

The cockpit interior and the inside of the landing gear wells were painted with RAF cockpit green (Humbrol 78), while the landing gear struts became aluminum (Humbrol 56) – pretty standard.

 

The decals/markings were puzzled together from various sources. Using a real-world RAF 208 Squadron MTO night photography Hurricane as benchmark I gave the aircraft a light blue individual code letter (decals taken from the Revell Spitfire Mk. V's OOB sheet, which has the letters’ Sky tone totally misprinted!). The spinner was painted in the same tone, mixed individually to match the letter.

Markings were apparently generally very limited on these machines, e. g. they did not carry any unit letter code) and the Type B roundels only on fuselage and upper wings. The latter were improvised, with wacky Type B-esque roundels from a Falkland era Sea Harrier placed on top of RAF roundels with yellow edges. The sources I consulted were uncertain whether these rings were yellow, white, or maybe even some other light color, but I went for yellow as it was the RAF's markings standard. Looks odd, but also pretty cool, esp. with the Type B roundels’ slightly off proportions.

The subdued two-color fin flash on the dark aircraft was/is unusual, too, and following real world practice on some PR Hurricanes I added a thin white edge for better contrast. The small black serial on a white background, as if it was left over from an overpainted former fuselage band, came from a Latvian Sopwith Camel (PrintScale sheet); in RAF service N8187 would have been used during the pre-WWII period and therefore a plausible match for the Swallow, even though it belongs to a batch of RN aircraft (It would probably have been a Fairey Fulmar)..

 

No black ink washing was applied to the model due to its dark overall color, just the cockpit and the landing gear were treated this way. Some light weathering and panel shading was done all over, and soot stains as well as light grey “heat-bleached” areas due to lean combustion around the exhausts were painted onto the fuselage. Finally, everything was sealed under a coat of matt acrylic varnish (Italeri) and wire antennae (stretched sprue material) were added.

  

A simple project, realized in a couple of days – thanks to the experience gathered during former builds of this fictional aircraft. However, the Avro Swallow looked already promising in nighthunter's original profile, almost like a missing link between the sturdy Hurricane and the more glorious Spitfire. The result looks very convincing, and the all-blue livery suits the aircraft well! . At first glance, the Swallow looks like an early Spitfire, but then you notice the different wings, the low canopy and the shorter but deeper tail. You might also think that it was a travestied Yak-3 or LaGG aircraft, but again the details don’t match, it’s a quite subtle creation.

I am amazed how good this thing looks overall, with its elegant, slender wings and the sleek fuselage lines – even though the dust filter and the camera fairing strongly ruin the side profile. Maybe another one will join my RAF Swallow collection someday, this time in Irish Air Corps colors.

 

PENTAX K-1 Mark II

RICOH HD PENTAX-DA 1:4.5-6.3 55-300mm ED PLM WR RE

WWII, British Communist Party. People's History Museum, Left Bank, Spinningfields, Manchester, UK.

 

[group] Gulls and terns | [order] Charadriiformes | [family] Laridae | [latin] Larus cachinnans | [UK] Yellow-legged Gull | [FR] | [DE] Gelbfussmove | [ES] | [NL] Geelpootmeeuw

 

spanwidth min.: 120 cm

spanwidth max.: 140 cm

size min.: 52 cm

size max.: 58 cm

Breeding

incubation min.: 27 days

incubation max.: 31 days

fledging min.: 35 days

fledging max.: 31 days

broods 1

eggs min.: 2

eggs max.: 3

  

Physical characteristics

 

These gulls have a medium grey coloured back and the adults have yellow legs and a red orbital ring. The bill is also yellow with a small red mark at the end. Juveniles have streaked grey-brown bodies with dark bills and pink legs.

 

Habitat

 

The Yellow-legged Gull is found in a great variety of habitats, preferring quieter locations such as small islands and coastal cliffs where it spends the night and nests. During the day, these birds are commonly seen in large numbers in areas of human settlement.

 

Other details

 

Larus cachinnans is a widespread breeder in coastal areas of southern and eastern Europe, which constitutes >50% of its global breeding range. Its European breeding population is large (>310,000 pairs), and increased between 1970-1990. Although there were declines in Croatia and Georgia during 1990-2000, populations across the rest of its European range increased or were stable, and the species showed a marked increase overall.

Four races of the Yellow-legged Gull inhabit the Mediterranean and Black Sea regions, the Atlantic coasts of the Iberian Peninsula and south-western France, the Azores and Madeira. Inside the continent it is breeding in Switzerland and Austria. Most of the populations are sedentary, but many birds from the Mediterranean move outside the breeding season northwards to Central Europe and the coasts of the Channel and southern North Sea. The population of those races in the European Union is estimated at 140000 breeding pairs. They have strongly increased in recent decades

 

Feeding

 

Yellow-legged Gull: Usually found near ocean or shorelines, feeding on almost anything it can eat. May parasites on food from other seabirds.

 

Conservation

 

This species has an extremely large range, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the range size criterion (Extent of Occurrence 30% decline over ten years or three generations). The population size has not been quantified, but it is not believed to approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population size criterion (10% in ten years or three generations, or with a specified population structure). For these reasons the species is evaluated as Least Concern. [conservation status from birdlife.org]

 

Breeding

 

Monogamous and colonial. Nest built by both sexes on ground or on cliff ledges- lined with debris, grasses, and feathers. Three eggs, buff or olive and marked with brown, black, or darker olive, incubated 28-30 days by both adults. Young stay in nest 35-45 days- one brood per year.

 

Migration

 

Fairly well documented by ringing recoveries- migratory, partially migratory, and sedentary. Nominate cachinnans adults mostly sedentary or locally dispersive around Black and Caspian Seas- others, and especially immatures, disperse to south of breeding range and south-east Mediterranean, some to northern Red Sea and Persian Gulf, and also wander with michahellis along river valleys (especially Danube) to western and central Europe, a few regularly as far as north-east Germany and Poland, where some possibly remain to breed. Race michahellis probably originally sedentary, but following expansion to north and west in 1970s considerable post-breeding dispersal, particularly of young birds, takes place in these directions, from Mediterranean along rivers such as Rhone and Rhine to large lakes in Austria, Switzerland, and southern Germany, with some continuing on to southern North Sea coast and south-east England (where marked increase in numbers in last 20 years), a few (principally from Italy) reaching southern Baltic, and also to north-west along Aude and Garonne to French Atlantic coast, where many immatures from Spain also gather. Large numbers remain in Mediterranean however- population on Moroccan Atlantic coast apparently sedentary. Races atlantis and lusitanius mainly resident, though some disperse down African coast as far as Nigeria. Nominate cachinnans immatures arrive in Poland June-August, recorded in north-east Germany around mid-August, with maximum numbers in September, most departing from there in late autumn though some stay until May. Returns to colonies on Black Sea and south-west Caspian between February and May. Race michahellis disperses to north mainly June and July (many Mediterranean birds already on French Atlantic coast in April, where may oversummer until October)- many leave Lake Geneva (though some overwinter) for Dutch and Belgian coast mostly around October, and increasing numbers, mainly immatures, recorded in Belgium September-October, perhaps joining birds already there since July. Present in north-east Germany June-December (maximum in August), and in south-east England mainly July-October. Returns to Mediterranean mostly December-January- birds noted in colonies in Camargue already in November and all breeders present by February.

 

Silver Geometry Project print #22

 

Printed on paper salted with potassium chloride. The yellows are potassium dichromate, and the blue-greens are cyanotype chemistry.

 

This image was taken after several hours of further exposure, attempting to increase contrast.

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

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

  

Some background:

The Panther tank, officially Panzerkampfwagen V Panther (abbreviated PzKpfw V) with ordnance inventory designation Sd.Kfz. 171, was a German medium tank of World War II. It was used on the Eastern and Western Fronts from mid-1943 to the end of the war. The Panther was intended to counter the Soviet T-34 medium tank and to replace the Panzer III and Panzer IV. Nevertheless, it served alongside the Panzer IV and the heavier Tiger I until the end of the war. It is considered one of the best tanks of World War II for its excellent firepower, protection, and mobility although its reliability in early times were less impressive.

The Panther was a compromise. While having essentially the same Maybach V12 petrol (700 hp) engine as the Tiger I, it had better gun penetration, was lighter and faster, and could traverse rough terrain better than the Tiger I. The trade-off was weaker side armor, which made it vulnerable to flanking fire. The Panther proved to be effective in open country and long-range engagements.

 

The Panther was far cheaper to produce than the heavy Tiger I. Key elements of the Panther design, such as its armor, transmission, and final drive, were simplifications made to improve production rates and address raw material shortages. Despite this the overall design remain described by some as "overengineered". The Panther was rushed into combat at the Battle of Kursk in the summer of 1943 despite numerous unresolved technical problems, leading to high losses due to mechanical failure. Most design flaws were rectified by late 1943 and early 1944, though the bombing of production plants, increasing shortages of high-quality alloys for critical components, shortage of fuel and training space, and the declining quality of crews all impacted the tank's effectiveness.

 

Though officially classified as a medium tank, at 44.8 metric tons the Panther was closer to a heavy tank weight and the same category as the American M26 Pershing (41.7 tons), British Churchill (40.7 tons) and the Soviet IS-2 (46 tons) heavy tanks. The Panther's weight caused logistical problems, such as an inability to cross certain bridges, otherwise the tank had a very high power-to-weight ratio which made it highly mobile.

 

The Panther was only used marginally outside of Germany, mostly captured or recovered vehicles, some even after the war. Japan already received in 1943 a specimen for evaluation. During March–April 1945, Bulgaria received 15 Panthers of various makes (D, A, and G variants) from captured and overhauled Soviet stocks; they only saw limited (training) service use. In May 1946, Romania received 13 Panther tanks from the USSR, too.

After the war, France was able to recover enough operable vehicles and components to equip its army and offer vehicles for sale. The French Army's 503e Régiment de Chars de Combat was equipped with a force of 50 Panthers from 1944 to 1947, in the 501st and 503rd Tank Regiments. These remained in service until they were replaced by French-built ARL 44 heavy tanks.

In 1946, Sweden sent a delegation to France to examine surviving specimens of German military vehicles. During their visit, the delegates found a few surviving Panthers and had one shipped to Sweden for further testing and evaluation, which continued until 1961.

 

However, this was not the Panther’s end of service. The last appearance by WWII German tanks on the world’s battlefields came in 1967, when Syria’s panzer force faced off against modern Israeli armor. Quite improbably, Syria had assembled a surprisingly wide collection of ex-Wehrmacht vehicles from a half-dozen sources over a decade and a half timeframe. This fleet consisted primarily of late production Panzer V, StuGIII and Jagdpanzer IVs, plus some Hummel SPAAGs and a handful Panthers. The tanks were procured from France, Spain, and Czechoslovakia, partly revamped before delivery.

 

All of the Panthers Syria came from Czechoslovakia. Immediately after Germany’s collapse in May 1945, the Soviet army established a staging area for surrendered German tanks at a former Wehrmacht barracks at Milovice, about 24 miles north of Prague, Czechoslovakia. By January 1946, a total of roughly 200 operational Panzer IVs and Panthers of varying versions were at this facility. Joining them was a huge cache of spare parts found at a former German tank repair depot in Teplice, along with ammunition collected from all over Czechoslovakia and the southern extremity of the Soviet occupation zone in Germany. Throughout 1946, the Czechoslovak government’s clean-up of WWII battlefields recovered more than one hundred further tank wrecks, of which 80 were pieced back together to operational status and handed over to the Czechoslovakian Army,

 

In early 1948, the now-nationalized CKD Works began a limited upkeep of the tanks, many of which had not had depot-level overhauls since the war. A few were rebuilt with a Czechoslovak-designed steering system, but this effort was halted due to cost. These tanks remained operational in the Czechoslovak army until the end of 1954, when sufficient T-34s were available to phase them out.

 

A Syrian military delegation visited Prague from 8 April – 22 April 1955. An agreement was struck for the sale, amongst other items, of 45 Panzer IVs and 15 Panthers. Despite their obsolescence the Czechoslovaks were not about to just give the tanks away and demanded payment in a ‘hard’ western currency, namely British pounds. The cost was £4,500 each (£86,000 or $112,850 in 2016 money), far above what they were probably worth militarily, especially considering the limited amount of foreign currency reserves available to the Damascus government. The deal included refurbishment, a full ammunition loadout for each, and a limited number of spare parts. Nonetheless, the deal was closed, and the tanks’ delivery started in early November 1955.

 

The Syrians were by that time already having dire problems keeping their French-sourced panzers operational, and in 1958, a second contract was signed with CKD Works for 15 additional Panzer IVs and 10 more Panthers, these being in lesser condition or non-operational, for use as spare parts hulks. An additional 16 refurbished Maybach engines for both types were also included in this contract, as well as more ammunition.

 

The refurbished Panthers for Syria had their original 7.5 cm KwK 42 L70 replaced with the less powerful Rheinmetall 7.5 cm KwK 40 L48 gun – dictated by the fact that this gun was already installed in almost all other Syrian tanks of German origin and rounds for the KwK 42 L70 were not available anymore. and the Panther’s full ammo load was 87 rounds. The KwK 40 L48 fired a standard APCBC shell at 750 m/s and could penetrate 109 mm (4.3 in) hardened steel at 1.000 m range. This was enough to take out an M4 Sherman at this range from any angle under ideal circumstances. With an APCR shell the gun was even able to penetrate 130 mm (5.1 in) of hardened steel at the same distance.

 

Outwardly, the gun switch was only recognizable through the shorter barrel with a muzzle brake, the German WWII-era TZF.5f gunsight was retained by the Syrians. Additionally, there were two secondary machine guns, either MG-34s or MG-42s, one coaxial with the main gun and a flexible one in a ball mount in the tank’s front glacis plate.

A few incomplete Panther hulls without turret were also outfitted with surplus Panzer IV turrets that carried the same weapon, but the exact share of them among the Syrian tanks is unknown – most probably less than five, and they were among the batch delivered in the course of the second contract from 1958.

 

As they had been lumped all together in Czechoslovak army service, the Syrians received a mixed bag of Panzer IV and Panther versions, many of them “half-breeds” or “Frankensteins”. Many had the bow machine gun removed, either already upon delivery or as a later field modification, and in some cases the machine gun in the turret was omitted as well.

An obvious modification of the refurbished Czech export Panthers for Syria was the installation of new, lighter road wheels. These were in fact adapted T-54 wheels from Czechoslovakian license production that had just started in 1957 - instead of revamping the Panthers’ original solid steel wheels, especially their rubberized tread surfaces, it was easier to replace them altogether, what also made spare parts logistics easier. The new wheels had almost the same diameter as the original German road wheels from WWII, and they were simply adapted to the Panther’s attachment points of the torsion bar suspension’s swing arms. Together with the lighter main gun and some other simplifications, the Syrian Panthers’ empty weight was reduced by more than 3 tonnes.

 

The Czechoslovaks furthermore delivered an adapter kit to mount a Soviet-made AA DShK 12.7mm machine gun to the commander cupola. This AA mount had originally been developed after WWII for the T-34 tank, and these kits were fitted to all initial tanks of the 1955 order. Enough were delivered that some could be installed on a few of the Spanish- / French-sourced tanks, too.

 

It doesn’t appear that the Czechoslovaks updated the radio fit on any of the ex-German tanks, and it’s unclear if the Syrians installed modern Soviet radios. The WWII German Fu 5 radio required a dedicated operator (who also manned the bow machine gun); if a more modern system was installed not requiring a dedicated operator, this crew position could be eliminated altogether, what favored the deletion of the bow machine gun on many ex-German Syrian tanks. However, due to their more spacious hull and turret, many Panthers were apparently outfitted with a second radio set and used as command tanks – visible through a second whip antenna on the hull.

 

A frequent domestic Panther upgrade were side skirts to suppress dust clouds while moving and to prevent dust ingestion into the engines and clogged dust filters. There was no standardized solution, though, and solutions ranged from simple makeshift rubber skirts bolted to the tanks’ flanks to wholesale transplants from other vehicles, primarily Soviet tanks. Some Panthers also had external auxiliary fuel tanks added to their rear, in the form of two 200 l barrels on metal racks of Soviet origin. These barrels were not directly connected with the Panther’s fuel system, though, but a pump-and-hose kit was available to re-fuel the internal tanks from this on-board source in the field. When empty or in an emergency - the barrels were placed on top of the engine bay and leaking fuel quite hazardous - the barrels/tanks could be jettisoned by the crew from the inside.

 

Inclusive of the cannibalization hulks, Syria received a total of roughly 80 former German tanks from Czechoslovakia. However, at no time were all simultaneously operational and by 1960, usually only two or three dozen were combat-ready.

Before the Six Day War, the Syrian army was surprisingly unorganized, considering the amount of money being pumped into it. There was no unit larger than a brigade, and the whole Syrian army had a sort of “hub & spokes” system originating in Damascus, with every individual formation answering directly to the GHQ rather than a chain of command. The Panthers, Panzer IVs and StuG IIIs were in three independent tank battalions, grossly understrength, supporting the normal tank battalions of three infantry brigades (the 8th, 11th, and 19th) in the Golan Heights. The Jagdpanzer IVs were in a separate independent platoon attached to a tank battalion operating T-34s and SU-100s. How the Hummel SPGs were assigned is unknown.

 

The first active participation of ex-German tanks in Syrian service was the so-called “Water War”. This was not really a war but rather a series of skirmishes between Israel and Syria during the mid-1960s. With increasing frequency starting in 1964, Syria emplaced tanks on the western slope of the Golan Heights, almost directly on the border, to fire down on Israeli irrigation workers and farmers in the Galilee region. Surprisingly (considering the small number available) Syria chose the Panzer IV for this task. It had no feature making it better or worse than any other tank; most likely the Syrians felt they were the most expendable tanks in their inventory as Israeli counterfire was expected. The panzers were in defilade (dug in) and not easy to shoot back at; due to their altitude advantage.

 

In 1964, Syria announced plans to divert 35% of the Jordan River’s flow away from Israel, to deprive the country of drinking water. The Israelis responded that they would consider this an act of war and, true to their word, engaged the project’s workers with artillery and sniper fire. Things escalated quickly; in 1965, Israeli M4 Shermans on Israeli soil exchanged fire with the Syrian Panzer IVs above inconclusively. A United Nations peacekeeping team ordered both sides to disengage from the border for a set period of time to “cool off”, but the UN “Blue Berets” were detested and considered useless by both the Israelis and Syrians, and both sides used the lull to prepare their next move. When the cooling-off period ended, the Syrians moved Panzer IVs and now some Panthers, too, back into position. However, the IDF had now Centurion tanks waiting for them, with their fire arcs pre-planned out. The Cold War-era Centurion had heavy armor, a high-velocity 105mm gun, and modern British-made optics. It outclassed the WWII panzers in any imaginable way and almost immediately, two Syrian Panzer IVs and a Panther were destroyed. Others were abandoned by their crews and that was the end of the situation.

 

Syria’s participation in the Six Say War that soon followed in 1967 war was sloppy and ultimately disastrous. Israel initially intended the conflict to be limited to a preemptive strike against Egypt to forestall an imminent attack by that country, with the possibility of having to fight Syria and Jordan defensively if they responded to the operations against Egypt. The war against Egypt started on 5 June 1967. Because of the poor organization of the Syrian army, news passed down from Damascus on the fighting in the Sinai was scarce and usually outdated by the time it reached the brigade level. Many Syrian units (including the GHQ) were using civilian shortwave radios to monitor Radio Cairo which was spouting off outlandish claims of imaginary Egyptian victories, even as Israeli divisions were steamrolling towards the Suez Canal.

 

Syrian vehicles of German origin during the Six Day War were either painted overall in beige or in a dark olive drab green. Almost all had, instead of tactical number codes, the name of a Syrian soldier killed in a previous war painted on the turret in white. During the Six Day War, no national roundel was typically carried, even though the Syrian flag was sometimes painted to the turret flanks. However just as the conflict was starting, white circles were often painted onto the top sides of tanks as quick ID markings for aircraft, and some tanks had red recognition triangles added to the side areas: Syrian soldiers were notoriously trigger-happy, and the decreased camouflage effect was likely cancelled out by the reduced odds of being blasted by a comrade!

 

During the evening of 5 June, Syrian generals in Damascus urged the government to take advantage of the situation and mount an immediate invasion of Israel. Planning and preparation were literally limited to a few hours after midnight, and shortly after daybreak on 6 June, Syrian commanders woke up with orders to invade Israel. The three infantry brigades in the Golan, backed up by several independent battalions, were to spearhead the attack as the rest of the Syrian army mobilized.

There was no cohesion at all: Separate battalions began their advance whenever they happened to be ready to go, and brigades went forward, missing subunits that lagged behind. A platoon attempting a southern outflank maneuver tried to ford the Jordan River in the wrong spot and was washed away. According to a KGB report, at least one Syrian unit “exhibited cowardice” and ignored its orders altogether.

 

On 7 June, 24 hours into their attack, Syrian forces had only advanced 2 miles into Israel. On 8 June, the IDF pushed the Syrians back to the prewar border and that afternoon, Israeli units eliminated the last Egyptian forces in the Sinai and began a fast redeployment of units back into Israel. Now the Syrians were facing serious problems.

On 9 June, Israeli forces crossed into the Golan Heights. They came by the route the Syrians least expected, an arc hugging the Lebanese border. Now for the first time, Syria’s panzers (considered too slow and fragile for the attack) were encountered. The next day, 10 June 1967, was an absolute rout as the Syrians were being attacked from behind by IDF units arcing southwards from the initial advance, plus Israel’s second wave coming from the west. It was later estimated that Syria lost between 20-25% of its total military vehicle inventory in a 15-hour span on 10 June, including eight Panthers. A ceasefire was announced at midnight, ending Syria’s misadventure. Syria permanently lost the Golan Heights to Israel.

 

By best estimate, Syria had just five Panthers and twenty-five Panzer IVs fully operational on 6 June 1967, with maybe another ten or so tanks partially operational or at least functional enough to take into combat. Most – if not all – of the ex-French tanks were probably already out of service by 1967, conversely the entire ex-Spanish lot was in use, along with some of the ex-Czechoslovak vehicles. The conflict’s last kill was on 10 June 1967 when a Panzer IV was destroyed by an Israeli M50 Super Sherman (an M4 Sherman hull fitted with a new American engine, and a modified turret housing Israeli electronics and a high-velocity French-made 75mm gun firing HEAT rounds). Like the Centurion, the Super Sherman outclassed the Panzer IV, and the Panther only fared marginally better.

 

Between 1964-1973 the USSR rebuilt the entire Syrian military from the ground up, reorganizing it along Warsaw Pact lines and equipping it with gear strictly of Soviet origin. There was no place for ex-Wehrmacht tanks and in any case, Czechoslovakia had ended spares & ammo support for the Panzer IV and the Panthers, so the types had no future. The surviving tanks were scrapped in Syria, except for a single Panzer IV survivor sold to a collector in Jordan.

  

Specifications:

Crew: Five (commander, gunner, loader, driver, radio operator)

Weight: 50 tonnes (55.1 long tons; 45.5 short tons)

Length: 6.87 m (22 ft 6 in) hull only

7.52 m (24 ft 7¾ in) overall with gun facing forward

Width: 3.42 m (11 ft 3 in) hull only

3,70 m (12 ft 1¾ in) with retrofitted side skirts

Height: 2.99 m (9 ft 10 in)’

Ground clearance: 56 cm (22 in)

Suspension: Double torsion bar, interleaved road wheels

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

some Syrian Panthers carried two additional external 200 l fuel drums

 

Armor:

15–80 mm (0.6 – 3.93 in)

 

Performance:

Maximum road speed: 56 km/h (35 mph)

Operational range: 250 km (160 mi) on roads; 450 km (280 mi)with auxiliary fuel tanks

100 km (62 mi) cross-country

Power/weight: 14 PS (10.1 kW)/tonne (12.7 hp/ton)

 

Engine & transmission:

Maybach HL230 V-12 gasoline engine with 700 PS (690 hp, 515 kW)

ZF AK 7-200 gearbox with 7 forward 1 reverse gear

 

Armament:

1× 7,5 cm KwK 40 (L/48) with 87 rounds

2× 7.92 mm MG 34 or 42, or similar machine guns;

one co-axial with the main gun, another in the front glacis plate

with a total of 5.100 rounds (not always mounted)

Provision for a 12.7 mm DShK or Breda anti-aircraft machine gun on the commander cupola

  

The kit and its assembly:

A rather exotic what-if model, even though it’s almost built OOB. Inspiration came when I stumbled upon the weird Syrian Panzer IVs that were operated against Israel during the Six Day War – vehicles you would not expect there, and after more than 20 years after WWII. But when I did some more research, I was surprised about the numbers and the variety of former German tanks that Syria had gathered from various European countries, and it made me wonder if the Panther could not have been among this shaggy fleet, too?

 

I had a surplus Dragon Panther Spähpanzer in The Stash™, to be correct a “PzBeobWg V Ausf. G”, an observation and artillery fire guidance conversion that actually existed in small numbers, and I decided to use it as basis for this odd project. The Dragon kit has some peculiarities, though: its hull is made from primed white metal and consists of an upper and lower half that are held together by small screws! An ambiguous design, because the parts do not fit as good as IP parts, so that the model has a slightly die-cast-ish aura. PSR is necessary at the seams, but due to the metal it’s not easy to do. Furthermore, you have to use superglue everywhere, just as on a resin kit. On the other side, surface details are finely molded and crisp, even though many bits have to be added manually. However, the molded metal pins that hold the wheels are very robust and relatively thin – a feature I exploited for a modified running gear (see below).

 

For the modified Panther in my mind I had to retrograde the turret back to a late standard turret with mantlet parts left over from a Hasegawa kit – they fitted perfectly! The PzBeobWg V only comes with a stubby gun barrel dummy. But I changed the armament, anyway, and implanted an aftermarket white metal and brass KwK 40 L48, the weapon carried by all Syrian Panzer IVs, the Jagdpanzer IVs as well as the StuG IIIs. This standardization would IMHO make sense, even if it meant a performance downgrade from the original, longer KwK 42 L70.

 

For a Syrian touch, inspired by installations on the Panzer IVs, I added a mount for a heavy DShK machine gun on the commander’s cupola, which is a resin aftermarket kit from Armory Models Group (a kit that consists of no less than five fiddly parts for just a tiny machine gun!).

To change and modernize the Panther’s look further, I gave it side skirts, leftover from a ModelCollect T-72 kit, which had to be modified only slightly to fit onto the molded side skirt consoles on the Panther’s metal hull. A further late addition were the fuel barrels from a Trumpeter T-54 kit that I stumbled upon when I looked for the skirts among my pile of tank donor parts. Even though they look like foreign matter on the Panther’s tail, their high position is plausible and similar to the original arrangement on many Soviet post-WWII tanks. The whip antennae on turret and hull were created with heated black sprue material.

 

As a modern feature and to change the Panther’s overall look even more, I replaced its original solid “dish” road wheels with T-54/55 “starfish” wheels, which were frequently retrofitted to T-34-85s during the Fifties. These very fine aftermarket resin parts (all real-world openings are actually open, and there’s only little flash!) came from OKB Grigorovich from Bulgaria. The selling point behind this idea is/was that the Panther and T-54/55 wheels have almost the same diameter: in real life it’s 860 vs. 830 mm, so that the difference in 1:72 is negligible. Beneficially, the aftermarket wheels came in two halves, and these were thin enough to replace the Panther’s interleaved wheels without major depth problems.

Adapting the parts to the totally different wheel arrangement was tricky, though, especially due to the Dragon kit’s one-piece white metal chassis that makes any mods difficult. My solution: I retained the inner solid wheels from the Panther (since they are hardly visible in the “3rd row”), plus four pairs of T-54/55 wheels for the outer, more rows of interleaved wheels. The “inner” T-54/55 wheel halves were turned around, received holes to fit onto the metal suspension pins and scratched hub covers. The “outside” halves were taken as is but received 2 mm spacer sleeves on their back sides (styrene tube) for proper depth and simply to improve their hold on the small and rounded metal pin tips. This stunt worked better than expected and looks really good, too!

  

Painting and markings:

Basically very simple, and I used pictures of real Syrian Panzer IVs as benchmark. I settled for the common green livery variant, and though simple and uniform, I tried to add some “excitement” to it and attempted to make old paint shine through. The hull’s lower surface areas were first primed with RAL 7008 (Khakigrau, a rather brownish tone), then the upper surfaces were sprayed with a lighter sand brown tone, both applied from rattle cans.

 

On top of that, a streaky mix of Revell 45 and 46 – a guesstimate for the typical Syrian greyish, rather pale olive drab tone - was thinly applied with a soft, flat brush, so that the brownish tones underneath would shine through occasionally. Once dry, the layered/weathered effect was further emphasized through careful vertical wet-sanding and rubbing on all surfaces with a soft cotton cloth.

The rubber side skirts were painted with an anthracite base and the dry-brushed with light grey and beige.

 

The model then received an overall washing with a highly thinned mix of grey and dark brown acrylic artist paint. The vinyl tracks (as well as the IP spare track links on the hull) were painted, too, with a mix of grey, red brown and iron, all acrylic paints, too, that do not interact chemically with the soft vinyl.

 

The decals/markings are minimal; the Arabian scribble on the turret (must be a name?), using the picture of a Syrian Panzer IV as benchmark, was painted in white by hand, as well as the white circle on the turret roof. The orange ID triangles are a nice contrast, even though I was not able to come up with real-life visual evidence for them. I just found a color picture of a burned T-34-85 wreck with them, suggesting that the color was a dull orange red and not florescent orange, as claimed in some sources. I also found illustrations of the triangles as part of 1:35 decal sets for contemporary Syrian T-34-85s from FC Model Trend and Star Models, where they appear light red. For the model, they were eventually cut out from decal sheet material (TL-Modellbau, in a shade called “Rotorange”, what appears to be a good compromise).

 

Dry-brushing with light grey and beige to further emphasize edges and details followed. Finally, the model was sealed with matt acrylic vanish overall, and some additional very light extra dry-brushing with silver was done to simulate flaked paint. Dirt and rust residues were added here and there with watercolors. After final assembly, the lower areas of the model were furthermore powdered with mineral pigments to simulate dust.

  

The idea of a modernized WWII Panther: a simple idea that turned into a major conversion. With the resin DShK machine gun and T-54/55 wheel set the costs of this project escalated a little, but in hindsight I find that the different look and the mix of vintage German and modern Soviet elements provide this Panther with that odd touch that sets it apart from a simple paint/marking variation? I really like the outcome, and I think that the effort was worthwhile - this fictional Panther shoehorns well into its intended historical framework. :-D

 

Housesteads Roman Fort is the remains of an auxiliary fort on Hadrian's Wall, at Housesteads, Northumberland, England, south of Broomlee Lough. The fort was built in stone around AD 124, soon after the construction of the wall began in AD 122 when the area was part of the Roman province of Britannia. Its name has been variously given as Vercovicium, Borcovicus, Borcovicium, and Velurtion. The 18th-century farmhouse Housesteads gives the modern name. The site is owned by the National Trust and is in the care of English Heritage. Finds can be seen at the site, in the museum at Chesters, and in the Great North Museum: Hancock in Newcastle upon Tyne.

 

Hadrian's Wall was begun in AD 122. A fort was built in stone at the Housesteads Roman Fort site around AD 124 overlying the original Broad Wall foundation and Turret 36B, about two miles north east of an existing fort at Vindolanda. The fort was repaired and rebuilt several times, its northern defences being particularly prone to collapse. A substantial civil settlement (vicus) existed to the south, outside the fort, and some of the stone foundations can still be seen, including the so-called "Murder House", where two skeletons were found beneath an apparently newly-laid floor when excavated.

 

In the 2nd century AD, the garrison consisted of an unknown double-sized auxiliary infantry cohort and a detachment of legionaries from Legio II Augusta. In the 3rd century, it comprised Cohors I Tungrorum, augmented by the numerus Hnaudifridi and the Cuneus Frisiorum, a Frisian cavalry unit, cuneus referring to a wedge formation. The Tungrians were still there in the 4th century, according to the Notitia Dignitatum. By 409 AD the Romans had withdrawn.

  

The northern granary at Vercovicium, looking east. The pillars supported a raised floor to keep food dry and free from vermin. They are not part of a hypocaust.

 

The latrines at Housesteads on Hadrian's Wall, hygienically placed at the lowest corner of the fort. The water tank at left still has original lead sealing between its slabs.

Most other early forts straddle the Wall and therefore protrude into barbarian territory. It is also unusual for Britain in that it has no running water supply and is dependent upon rainwater collection (for which purpose there is a series of large stone-lined tanks around the periphery of the defences). It also has one of the best-preserved stone latrines in Roman Britain.

 

The name of the fort has been given as Borcovicus, Borcovicium, and Velurtion. An inscription found at Housesteads with the letters VER, is believed to be short for Ver(covicianorum) – the letters ver being interchangeable with bor in later Latin. The name of the 18th-century farmhouse of Housesteads provides the modern name.

 

The site is now owned by the National Trust and is currently in the care of English Heritage. Finds from Vercovicium can be seen in the site museum, in the museum at Chesters, and in the Great North Museum: Hancock in Newcastle upon Tyne.

 

Housesteads is a former farm whose lands include the ruins of the fort. In 1604 Hugh Nixon, "Stealer of cattle and receiver of stolen goods", became the tenant of Housesteads farm. From 1663, Housesteads was the home of the Armstrongs, a notorious family of Border Reivers. Nicholas Armstrong bought the farm in 1692, only to have to sell it again in 1694 to Thomas Gibson of Hexham for the sum of £485. They remained as tenants. They were a well-known band of horse thieves and cattle rustlers who used the old fort as a place to hold the stolen horses and cattle. They traded as far afield as Aberdeen and the south of England. At one time every male member of the family was said to have been a 'broken man', formally outlawed by English or Scottish authorities. Nicholas was hanged in 1704, and his brothers fled to America. The Armstrongs lived in a typical 16th-century defensive bastle house of two storeys: the ground floor for livestock and the upper level for living quarters. Its ruins remain built up against the south gate of the Roman fort, with external stone steps and narrow loop windows. A corn-drying kiln was inserted into the gate's guard chamber in the 17th century.

 

In 1698, the farm had been sold to Thomas Gibson who turned the land around the fort to agriculture and thus ploughed up numerous Roman artefacts. The 17th-century bastle house was replaced by a farmhouse located over the Roman hospital, which was sketched by William Stukeley in 1725. Throughout the 18th century Housesteads was farmed by a single tenant farming family. Since Hodgson recorded the presence of William Magnay as the tenant during that period this fixes the tenure. In particular, the well (thought to be Roman) was documented as having actually been built by William, and used by the family as a bath. Interest in the fort increased in the 19th century, particularly after the farm was purchased by the amateur historian John Clayton in 1838, to add to his collection of Roman Wall farms. The Roman site was cleared of later buildings by Clayton, and the present farmhouse built about 1860. John Maurice Clayton attempted to auction the fort in 1929. It did not reach its reserve and was donated to the National Trust in 1930. The farm was later owned by the Trevelyans who gave the land for the site museum.

 

Roman Britain was the territory that became the Roman province of Britannia after the Roman conquest of Britain, consisting of a large part of the island of Great Britain. The occupation lasted from AD 43 to AD 410.

 

Julius Caesar invaded Britain in 55 and 54 BC as part of his Gallic Wars. According to Caesar, the Britons had been overrun or culturally assimilated by the Belgae during the British Iron Age and had been aiding Caesar's enemies. The Belgae were the only Celtic tribe to cross the sea into Britain, for to all other Celtic tribes this land was unknown. He received tribute, installed the friendly king Mandubracius over the Trinovantes, and returned to Gaul. Planned invasions under Augustus were called off in 34, 27, and 25 BC. In 40 AD, Caligula assembled 200,000 men at the Channel on the continent, only to have them gather seashells (musculi) according to Suetonius, perhaps as a symbolic gesture to proclaim Caligula's victory over the sea. Three years later, Claudius directed four legions to invade Britain and restore the exiled king Verica over the Atrebates. The Romans defeated the Catuvellauni, and then organized their conquests as the province of Britain. By 47 AD, the Romans held the lands southeast of the Fosse Way. Control over Wales was delayed by reverses and the effects of Boudica's uprising, but the Romans expanded steadily northward.

 

The conquest of Britain continued under command of Gnaeus Julius Agricola (77–84), who expanded the Roman Empire as far as Caledonia. In mid-84 AD, Agricola faced the armies of the Caledonians, led by Calgacus, at the Battle of Mons Graupius. Battle casualties were estimated by Tacitus to be upwards of 10,000 on the Caledonian side and about 360 on the Roman side. The bloodbath at Mons Graupius concluded the forty-year conquest of Britain, a period that possibly saw between 100,000 and 250,000 Britons killed. In the context of pre-industrial warfare and of a total population of Britain of c. 2 million, these are very high figures.

 

Under the 2nd-century emperors Hadrian and Antoninus Pius, two walls were built to defend the Roman province from the Caledonians, whose realms in the Scottish Highlands were never controlled. Around 197 AD, the Severan Reforms divided Britain into two provinces: Britannia Superior and Britannia Inferior. During the Diocletian Reforms, at the end of the 3rd century, Britannia was divided into four provinces under the direction of a vicarius, who administered the Diocese of the Britains. A fifth province, Valentia, is attested in the later 4th century. For much of the later period of the Roman occupation, Britannia was subject to barbarian invasions and often came under the control of imperial usurpers and imperial pretenders. The final Roman withdrawal from Britain occurred around 410; the native kingdoms are considered to have formed Sub-Roman Britain after that.

 

Following the conquest of the Britons, a distinctive Romano-British culture emerged as the Romans introduced improved agriculture, urban planning, industrial production, and architecture. The Roman goddess Britannia became the female personification of Britain. After the initial invasions, Roman historians generally only mention Britain in passing. Thus, most present knowledge derives from archaeological investigations and occasional epigraphic evidence lauding the Britannic achievements of an emperor. Roman citizens settled in Britain from many parts of the Empire.

 

History

Britain was known to the Classical world. The Greeks, the Phoenicians and the Carthaginians traded for Cornish tin in the 4th century BC. The Greeks referred to the Cassiterides, or "tin islands", and placed them near the west coast of Europe. The Carthaginian sailor Himilco is said to have visited the island in the 6th or 5th century BC and the Greek explorer Pytheas in the 4th. It was regarded as a place of mystery, with some writers refusing to believe it existed.

 

The first direct Roman contact was when Julius Caesar undertook two expeditions in 55 and 54 BC, as part of his conquest of Gaul, believing the Britons were helping the Gallic resistance. The first expedition was more a reconnaissance than a full invasion and gained a foothold on the coast of Kent but was unable to advance further because of storm damage to the ships and a lack of cavalry. Despite the military failure, it was a political success, with the Roman Senate declaring a 20-day public holiday in Rome to honour the unprecedented achievement of obtaining hostages from Britain and defeating Belgic tribes on returning to the continent.

 

The second invasion involved a substantially larger force and Caesar coerced or invited many of the native Celtic tribes to pay tribute and give hostages in return for peace. A friendly local king, Mandubracius, was installed, and his rival, Cassivellaunus, was brought to terms. Hostages were taken, but historians disagree over whether any tribute was paid after Caesar returned to Gaul.

 

Caesar conquered no territory and left no troops behind, but he established clients and brought Britain into Rome's sphere of influence. Augustus planned invasions in 34, 27 and 25 BC, but circumstances were never favourable, and the relationship between Britain and Rome settled into one of diplomacy and trade. Strabo, writing late in Augustus's reign, claimed that taxes on trade brought in more annual revenue than any conquest could. Archaeology shows that there was an increase in imported luxury goods in southeastern Britain. Strabo also mentions British kings who sent embassies to Augustus, and Augustus's own Res Gestae refers to two British kings he received as refugees. When some of Tiberius's ships were carried to Britain in a storm during his campaigns in Germany in 16 AD, they came back with tales of monsters.

 

Rome appears to have encouraged a balance of power in southern Britain, supporting two powerful kingdoms: the Catuvellauni, ruled by the descendants of Tasciovanus, and the Atrebates, ruled by the descendants of Commius. This policy was followed until 39 or 40 AD, when Caligula received an exiled member of the Catuvellaunian dynasty and planned an invasion of Britain that collapsed in farcical circumstances before it left Gaul. When Claudius successfully invaded in 43 AD, it was in aid of another fugitive British ruler, Verica of the Atrebates.

 

Roman invasion

The invasion force in 43 AD was led by Aulus Plautius,[26] but it is unclear how many legions were sent. The Legio II Augusta, commanded by future emperor Vespasian, was the only one directly attested to have taken part. The Legio IX Hispana, the XIV Gemina (later styled Martia Victrix) and the XX (later styled Valeria Victrix) are known to have served during the Boudican Revolt of 60/61, and were probably there since the initial invasion. This is not certain because the Roman army was flexible, with units being moved around whenever necessary. The IX Hispana may have been permanently stationed, with records showing it at Eboracum (York) in 71 and on a building inscription there dated 108, before being destroyed in the east of the Empire, possibly during the Bar Kokhba revolt.

 

The invasion was delayed by a troop mutiny until an imperial freedman persuaded them to overcome their fear of crossing the Ocean and campaigning beyond the limits of the known world. They sailed in three divisions, and probably landed at Richborough in Kent; at least part of the force may have landed near Fishbourne, West Sussex.

 

The Catuvellauni and their allies were defeated in two battles: the first, assuming a Richborough landing, on the river Medway, the second on the river Thames. One of their leaders, Togodumnus, was killed, but his brother Caratacus survived to continue resistance elsewhere. Plautius halted at the Thames and sent for Claudius, who arrived with reinforcements, including artillery and elephants, for the final march to the Catuvellaunian capital, Camulodunum (Colchester). Vespasian subdued the southwest, Cogidubnus was set up as a friendly king of several territories, and treaties were made with tribes outside direct Roman control.

 

Establishment of Roman rule

After capturing the south of the island, the Romans turned their attention to what is now Wales. The Silures, Ordovices and Deceangli remained implacably opposed to the invaders and for the first few decades were the focus of Roman military attention, despite occasional minor revolts among Roman allies like the Brigantes and the Iceni. The Silures were led by Caratacus, and he carried out an effective guerrilla campaign against Governor Publius Ostorius Scapula. Finally, in 51, Ostorius lured Caratacus into a set-piece battle and defeated him. The British leader sought refuge among the Brigantes, but their queen, Cartimandua, proved her loyalty by surrendering him to the Romans. He was brought as a captive to Rome, where a dignified speech he made during Claudius's triumph persuaded the emperor to spare his life. The Silures were still not pacified, and Cartimandua's ex-husband Venutius replaced Caratacus as the most prominent leader of British resistance.

 

On Nero's accession, Roman Britain extended as far north as Lindum. Gaius Suetonius Paulinus, the conqueror of Mauretania (modern day Algeria and Morocco), then became governor of Britain, and in 60 and 61 he moved against Mona (Anglesey) to settle accounts with Druidism once and for all. Paulinus led his army across the Menai Strait and massacred the Druids and burnt their sacred groves.

 

While Paulinus was campaigning in Mona, the southeast of Britain rose in revolt under the leadership of Boudica. She was the widow of the recently deceased king of the Iceni, Prasutagus. The Roman historian Tacitus reports that Prasutagus had left a will leaving half his kingdom to Nero in the hope that the remainder would be left untouched. He was wrong. When his will was enforced, Rome[clarification needed] responded by violently seizing the tribe's lands in full. Boudica protested. In consequence, Rome[clarification needed] punished her and her daughters by flogging and rape. In response, the Iceni, joined by the Trinovantes, destroyed the Roman colony at Camulodunum (Colchester) and routed the part of the IXth Legion that was sent to relieve it. Paulinus rode to London (then called Londinium), the rebels' next target, but concluded it could not be defended. Abandoned, it was destroyed, as was Verulamium (St. Albans). Between seventy and eighty thousand people are said to have been killed in the three cities. But Paulinus regrouped with two of the three legions still available to him, chose a battlefield, and, despite being outnumbered by more than twenty to one, defeated the rebels in the Battle of Watling Street. Boudica died not long afterwards, by self-administered poison or by illness. During this time, the Emperor Nero considered withdrawing Roman forces from Britain altogether.

 

There was further turmoil in 69, the "Year of the Four Emperors". As civil war raged in Rome, weak governors were unable to control the legions in Britain, and Venutius of the Brigantes seized his chance. The Romans had previously defended Cartimandua against him, but this time were unable to do so. Cartimandua was evacuated, and Venutius was left in control of the north of the country. After Vespasian secured the empire, his first two appointments as governor, Quintus Petillius Cerialis and Sextus Julius Frontinus, took on the task of subduing the Brigantes and Silures respectively.[38] Frontinus extended Roman rule to all of South Wales, and initiated exploitation of the mineral resources, such as the gold mines at Dolaucothi.

 

In the following years, the Romans conquered more of the island, increasing the size of Roman Britain. Governor Gnaeus Julius Agricola, father-in-law to the historian Tacitus, conquered the Ordovices in 78. With the XX Valeria Victrix legion, Agricola defeated the Caledonians in 84 at the Battle of Mons Graupius, in north-east Scotland. This was the high-water mark of Roman territory in Britain: shortly after his victory, Agricola was recalled from Britain back to Rome, and the Romans initially retired to a more defensible line along the Forth–Clyde isthmus, freeing soldiers badly needed along other frontiers.

 

For much of the history of Roman Britain, a large number of soldiers were garrisoned on the island. This required that the emperor station a trusted senior man as governor of the province. As a result, many future emperors served as governors or legates in this province, including Vespasian, Pertinax, and Gordian I.

 

Roman military organisation in the north

In 84 AD

In 84 AD

 

In 155 AD

In 155 AD

 

Hadrian's Wall, and Antonine Wall

There is no historical source describing the decades that followed Agricola's recall. Even the name of his replacement is unknown. Archaeology has shown that some Roman forts south of the Forth–Clyde isthmus were rebuilt and enlarged; others appear to have been abandoned. By 87 the frontier had been consolidated on the Stanegate. Roman coins and pottery have been found circulating at native settlement sites in the Scottish Lowlands in the years before 100, indicating growing Romanisation. Some of the most important sources for this era are the writing tablets from the fort at Vindolanda in Northumberland, mostly dating to 90–110. These tablets provide evidence for the operation of a Roman fort at the edge of the Roman Empire, where officers' wives maintained polite society while merchants, hauliers and military personnel kept the fort operational and supplied.

 

Around 105 there appears to have been a serious setback at the hands of the tribes of the Picts: several Roman forts were destroyed by fire, with human remains and damaged armour at Trimontium (at modern Newstead, in SE Scotland) indicating hostilities at least at that site.[citation needed] There is also circumstantial evidence that auxiliary reinforcements were sent from Germany, and an unnamed British war of the period is mentioned on the gravestone of a tribune of Cyrene. Trajan's Dacian Wars may have led to troop reductions in the area or even total withdrawal followed by slighting of the forts by the Picts rather than an unrecorded military defeat. The Romans were also in the habit of destroying their own forts during an orderly withdrawal, in order to deny resources to an enemy. In either case, the frontier probably moved south to the line of the Stanegate at the Solway–Tyne isthmus around this time.

 

A new crisis occurred at the beginning of Hadrian's reign): a rising in the north which was suppressed by Quintus Pompeius Falco. When Hadrian reached Britannia on his famous tour of the Roman provinces around 120, he directed an extensive defensive wall, known to posterity as Hadrian's Wall, to be built close to the line of the Stanegate frontier. Hadrian appointed Aulus Platorius Nepos as governor to undertake this work who brought the Legio VI Victrix legion with him from Germania Inferior. This replaced the famous Legio IX Hispana, whose disappearance has been much discussed. Archaeology indicates considerable political instability in Scotland during the first half of the 2nd century, and the shifting frontier at this time should be seen in this context.

 

In the reign of Antoninus Pius (138–161) the Hadrianic border was briefly extended north to the Forth–Clyde isthmus, where the Antonine Wall was built around 142 following the military reoccupation of the Scottish lowlands by a new governor, Quintus Lollius Urbicus.

 

The first Antonine occupation of Scotland ended as a result of a further crisis in 155–157, when the Brigantes revolted. With limited options to despatch reinforcements, the Romans moved their troops south, and this rising was suppressed by Governor Gnaeus Julius Verus. Within a year the Antonine Wall was recaptured, but by 163 or 164 it was abandoned. The second occupation was probably connected with Antoninus's undertakings to protect the Votadini or his pride in enlarging the empire, since the retreat to the Hadrianic frontier occurred not long after his death when a more objective strategic assessment of the benefits of the Antonine Wall could be made. The Romans did not entirely withdraw from Scotland at this time: the large fort at Newstead was maintained along with seven smaller outposts until at least 180.

 

During the twenty-year period following the reversion of the frontier to Hadrian's Wall in 163/4, Rome was concerned with continental issues, primarily problems in the Danubian provinces. Increasing numbers of hoards of buried coins in Britain at this time indicate that peace was not entirely achieved. Sufficient Roman silver has been found in Scotland to suggest more than ordinary trade, and it is likely that the Romans were reinforcing treaty agreements by paying tribute to their implacable enemies, the Picts.

 

In 175, a large force of Sarmatian cavalry, consisting of 5,500 men, arrived in Britannia, probably to reinforce troops fighting unrecorded uprisings. In 180, Hadrian's Wall was breached by the Picts and the commanding officer or governor was killed there in what Cassius Dio described as the most serious war of the reign of Commodus. Ulpius Marcellus was sent as replacement governor and by 184 he had won a new peace, only to be faced with a mutiny from his own troops. Unhappy with Marcellus's strictness, they tried to elect a legate named Priscus as usurper governor; he refused, but Marcellus was lucky to leave the province alive. The Roman army in Britannia continued its insubordination: they sent a delegation of 1,500 to Rome to demand the execution of Tigidius Perennis, a Praetorian prefect who they felt had earlier wronged them by posting lowly equites to legate ranks in Britannia. Commodus met the party outside Rome and agreed to have Perennis killed, but this only made them feel more secure in their mutiny.

 

The future emperor Pertinax (lived 126–193) was sent to Britannia to quell the mutiny and was initially successful in regaining control, but a riot broke out among the troops. Pertinax was attacked and left for dead, and asked to be recalled to Rome, where he briefly succeeded Commodus as emperor in 192.

 

3rd century

The death of Commodus put into motion a series of events which eventually led to civil war. Following the short reign of Pertinax, several rivals for the emperorship emerged, including Septimius Severus and Clodius Albinus. The latter was the new governor of Britannia, and had seemingly won the natives over after their earlier rebellions; he also controlled three legions, making him a potentially significant claimant. His sometime rival Severus promised him the title of Caesar in return for Albinus's support against Pescennius Niger in the east. Once Niger was neutralised, Severus turned on his ally in Britannia; it is likely that Albinus saw he would be the next target and was already preparing for war.

 

Albinus crossed to Gaul in 195, where the provinces were also sympathetic to him, and set up at Lugdunum. Severus arrived in February 196, and the ensuing battle was decisive. Albinus came close to victory, but Severus's reinforcements won the day, and the British governor committed suicide. Severus soon purged Albinus's sympathisers and perhaps confiscated large tracts of land in Britain as punishment. Albinus had demonstrated the major problem posed by Roman Britain. In order to maintain security, the province required the presence of three legions, but command of these forces provided an ideal power base for ambitious rivals. Deploying those legions elsewhere would strip the island of its garrison, leaving the province defenceless against uprisings by the native Celtic tribes and against invasion by the Picts and Scots.

 

The traditional view is that northern Britain descended into anarchy during Albinus's absence. Cassius Dio records that the new Governor, Virius Lupus, was obliged to buy peace from a fractious northern tribe known as the Maeatae. The succession of militarily distinguished governors who were subsequently appointed suggests that enemies of Rome were posing a difficult challenge, and Lucius Alfenus Senecio's report to Rome in 207 describes barbarians "rebelling, over-running the land, taking loot and creating destruction". In order to rebel, of course, one must be a subject – the Maeatae clearly did not consider themselves such. Senecio requested either reinforcements or an Imperial expedition, and Severus chose the latter, despite being 62 years old. Archaeological evidence shows that Senecio had been rebuilding the defences of Hadrian's Wall and the forts beyond it, and Severus's arrival in Britain prompted the enemy tribes to sue for peace immediately. The emperor had not come all that way to leave without a victory, and it is likely that he wished to provide his teenage sons Caracalla and Geta with first-hand experience of controlling a hostile barbarian land.

 

Northern campaigns, 208–211

An invasion of Caledonia led by Severus and probably numbering around 20,000 troops moved north in 208 or 209, crossing the Wall and passing through eastern Scotland on a route similar to that used by Agricola. Harried by punishing guerrilla raids by the northern tribes and slowed by an unforgiving terrain, Severus was unable to meet the Caledonians on a battlefield. The emperor's forces pushed north as far as the River Tay, but little appears to have been achieved by the invasion, as peace treaties were signed with the Caledonians. By 210 Severus had returned to York, and the frontier had once again become Hadrian's Wall. He assumed the title Britannicus but the title meant little with regard to the unconquered north, which clearly remained outside the authority of the Empire. Almost immediately, another northern tribe, the Maeatae, went to war. Caracalla left with a punitive expedition, but by the following year his ailing father had died and he and his brother left the province to press their claim to the throne.

 

As one of his last acts, Severus tried to solve the problem of powerful and rebellious governors in Britain by dividing the province into Britannia Superior and Britannia Inferior. This kept the potential for rebellion in check for almost a century. Historical sources provide little information on the following decades, a period known as the Long Peace. Even so, the number of buried hoards found from this period rises, suggesting continuing unrest. A string of forts were built along the coast of southern Britain to control piracy; and over the following hundred years they increased in number, becoming the Saxon Shore Forts.

 

During the middle of the 3rd century, the Roman Empire was convulsed by barbarian invasions, rebellions and new imperial pretenders. Britannia apparently avoided these troubles, but increasing inflation had its economic effect. In 259 a so-called Gallic Empire was established when Postumus rebelled against Gallienus. Britannia was part of this until 274 when Aurelian reunited the empire.

 

Around the year 280, a half-British officer named Bonosus was in command of the Roman's Rhenish fleet when the Germans managed to burn it at anchor. To avoid punishment, he proclaimed himself emperor at Colonia Agrippina (Cologne) but was crushed by Marcus Aurelius Probus. Soon afterwards, an unnamed governor of one of the British provinces also attempted an uprising. Probus put it down by sending irregular troops of Vandals and Burgundians across the Channel.

 

The Carausian Revolt led to a short-lived Britannic Empire from 286 to 296. Carausius was a Menapian naval commander of the Britannic fleet; he revolted upon learning of a death sentence ordered by the emperor Maximian on charges of having abetted Frankish and Saxon pirates and having embezzled recovered treasure. He consolidated control over all the provinces of Britain and some of northern Gaul while Maximian dealt with other uprisings. An invasion in 288 failed to unseat him and an uneasy peace ensued, with Carausius issuing coins and inviting official recognition. In 293, the junior emperor Constantius Chlorus launched a second offensive, besieging the rebel port of Gesoriacum (Boulogne-sur-Mer) by land and sea. After it fell, Constantius attacked Carausius's other Gallic holdings and Frankish allies and Carausius was usurped by his treasurer, Allectus. Julius Asclepiodotus landed an invasion fleet near Southampton and defeated Allectus in a land battle.

 

Diocletian's reforms

As part of Diocletian's reforms, the provinces of Roman Britain were organized as a diocese governed by a vicarius under a praetorian prefect who, from 318 to 331, was Junius Bassus who was based at Augusta Treverorum (Trier).

 

The vicarius was based at Londinium as the principal city of the diocese. Londinium and Eboracum continued as provincial capitals and the territory was divided up into smaller provinces for administrative efficiency.

 

Civilian and military authority of a province was no longer exercised by one official and the governor was stripped of military command which was handed over to the Dux Britanniarum by 314. The governor of a province assumed more financial duties (the procurators of the Treasury ministry were slowly phased out in the first three decades of the 4th century). The Dux was commander of the troops of the Northern Region, primarily along Hadrian's Wall and his responsibilities included protection of the frontier. He had significant autonomy due in part to the distance from his superiors.

 

The tasks of the vicarius were to control and coordinate the activities of governors; monitor but not interfere with the daily functioning of the Treasury and Crown Estates, which had their own administrative infrastructure; and act as the regional quartermaster-general of the armed forces. In short, as the sole civilian official with superior authority, he had general oversight of the administration, as well as direct control, while not absolute, over governors who were part of the prefecture; the other two fiscal departments were not.

 

The early-4th-century Verona List, the late-4th-century work of Sextus Rufus, and the early-5th-century List of Offices and work of Polemius Silvius all list four provinces by some variation of the names Britannia I, Britannia II, Maxima Caesariensis, and Flavia Caesariensis; all of these seem to have initially been directed by a governor (praeses) of equestrian rank. The 5th-century sources list a fifth province named Valentia and give its governor and Maxima's a consular rank. Ammianus mentions Valentia as well, describing its creation by Count Theodosius in 369 after the quelling of the Great Conspiracy. Ammianus considered it a re-creation of a formerly lost province, leading some to think there had been an earlier fifth province under another name (may be the enigmatic "Vespasiana"), and leading others to place Valentia beyond Hadrian's Wall, in the territory abandoned south of the Antonine Wall.

 

Reconstructions of the provinces and provincial capitals during this period partially rely on ecclesiastical records. On the assumption that the early bishoprics mimicked the imperial hierarchy, scholars use the list of bishops for the 314 Council of Arles. The list is patently corrupt: the British delegation is given as including a Bishop "Eborius" of Eboracum and two bishops "from Londinium" (one de civitate Londinensi and the other de civitate colonia Londinensium). The error is variously emended: Bishop Ussher proposed Colonia, Selden Col. or Colon. Camalodun., and Spelman Colonia Cameloduni (all various names of Colchester); Gale and Bingham offered colonia Lindi and Henry Colonia Lindum (both Lincoln); and Bishop Stillingfleet and Francis Thackeray read it as a scribal error of Civ. Col. Londin. for an original Civ. Col. Leg. II (Caerleon). On the basis of the Verona List, the priest and deacon who accompanied the bishops in some manuscripts are ascribed to the fourth province.

 

In the 12th century, Gerald of Wales described the supposedly metropolitan sees of the early British church established by the legendary SS Fagan and "Duvian". He placed Britannia Prima in Wales and western England with its capital at "Urbs Legionum" (Caerleon); Britannia Secunda in Kent and southern England with its capital at "Dorobernia" (Canterbury); Flavia in Mercia and central England with its capital at "Lundonia" (London); "Maximia" in northern England with its capital at Eboracum (York); and Valentia in "Albania which is now Scotland" with its capital at St Andrews. Modern scholars generally dispute the last: some place Valentia at or beyond Hadrian's Wall but St Andrews is beyond even the Antonine Wall and Gerald seems to have simply been supporting the antiquity of its church for political reasons.

 

A common modern reconstruction places the consular province of Maxima at Londinium, on the basis of its status as the seat of the diocesan vicarius; places Prima in the west according to Gerald's traditional account but moves its capital to Corinium of the Dobunni (Cirencester) on the basis of an artifact recovered there referring to Lucius Septimius, a provincial rector; places Flavia north of Maxima, with its capital placed at Lindum Colonia (Lincoln) to match one emendation of the bishops list from Arles;[d] and places Secunda in the north with its capital at Eboracum (York). Valentia is placed variously in northern Wales around Deva (Chester); beside Hadrian's Wall around Luguvalium (Carlisle); and between the walls along Dere Street.

 

4th century

Emperor Constantius returned to Britain in 306, despite his poor health, with an army aiming to invade northern Britain, the provincial defences having been rebuilt in the preceding years. Little is known of his campaigns with scant archaeological evidence, but fragmentary historical sources suggest he reached the far north of Britain and won a major battle in early summer before returning south. His son Constantine (later Constantine the Great) spent a year in northern Britain at his father's side, campaigning against the Picts beyond Hadrian's Wall in the summer and autumn. Constantius died in York in July 306 with his son at his side. Constantine then successfully used Britain as the starting point of his march to the imperial throne, unlike the earlier usurper, Albinus.

 

In the middle of the century, the province was loyal for a few years to the usurper Magnentius, who succeeded Constans following the latter's death. After the defeat and death of Magnentius in the Battle of Mons Seleucus in 353, Constantius II dispatched his chief imperial notary Paulus Catena to Britain to hunt down Magnentius's supporters. The investigation deteriorated into a witch-hunt, which forced the vicarius Flavius Martinus to intervene. When Paulus retaliated by accusing Martinus of treason, the vicarius attacked Paulus with a sword, with the aim of assassinating him, but in the end he committed suicide.

 

As the 4th century progressed, there were increasing attacks from the Saxons in the east and the Scoti (Irish) in the west. A series of forts had been built, starting around 280, to defend the coasts, but these preparations were not enough when, in 367, a general assault of Saxons, Picts, Scoti and Attacotti, combined with apparent dissension in the garrison on Hadrian's Wall, left Roman Britain prostrate. The invaders overwhelmed the entire western and northern regions of Britannia and the cities were sacked. This crisis, sometimes called the Barbarian Conspiracy or the Great Conspiracy, was settled by Count Theodosius from 368 with a string of military and civil reforms. Theodosius crossed from Bononia (Boulogne-sur-Mer) and marched on Londinium where he began to deal with the invaders and made his base.[ An amnesty was promised to deserters which enabled Theodosius to regarrison abandoned forts. By the end of the year Hadrian's Wall was retaken and order returned. Considerable reorganization was undertaken in Britain, including the creation of a new province named Valentia, probably to better address the state of the far north. A new Dux Britanniarum was appointed, Dulcitius, with Civilis to head a new civilian administration.

 

Another imperial usurper, Magnus Maximus, raised the standard of revolt at Segontium (Caernarfon) in north Wales in 383, and crossed the English Channel. Maximus held much of the western empire, and fought a successful campaign against the Picts and Scots around 384. His continental exploits required troops from Britain, and it appears that forts at Chester and elsewhere were abandoned in this period, triggering raids and settlement in north Wales by the Irish. His rule was ended in 388, but not all the British troops may have returned: the Empire's military resources were stretched to the limit along the Rhine and Danube. Around 396 there were more barbarian incursions into Britain. Stilicho led a punitive expedition. It seems peace was restored by 399, and it is likely that no further garrisoning was ordered; by 401 more troops were withdrawn, to assist in the war against Alaric I.

 

End of Roman rule

The traditional view of historians, informed by the work of Michael Rostovtzeff, was of a widespread economic decline at the beginning of the 5th century. Consistent archaeological evidence has told another story, and the accepted view is undergoing re-evaluation. Some features are agreed: more opulent but fewer urban houses, an end to new public building and some abandonment of existing ones, with the exception of defensive structures, and the widespread formation of "dark earth" deposits indicating increased horticulture within urban precincts. Turning over the basilica at Silchester to industrial uses in the late 3rd century, doubtless officially condoned, marks an early stage in the de-urbanisation of Roman Britain.

 

The abandonment of some sites is now believed to be later than had been thought. Many buildings changed use but were not destroyed. There was a growing number of barbarian attacks, but these targeted vulnerable rural settlements rather than towns. Some villas such as Chedworth, Great Casterton in Rutland and Hucclecote in Gloucestershire had new mosaic floors laid around this time, suggesting that economic problems may have been limited and patchy. Many suffered some decay before being abandoned in the 5th century; the story of Saint Patrick indicates that villas were still occupied until at least 430. Exceptionally, new buildings were still going up in this period in Verulamium and Cirencester. Some urban centres, for example Canterbury, Cirencester, Wroxeter, Winchester and Gloucester, remained active during the 5th and 6th centuries, surrounded by large farming estates.

 

Urban life had generally grown less intense by the fourth quarter of the 4th century, and coins minted between 378 and 388 are very rare, indicating a likely combination of economic decline, diminishing numbers of troops, problems with the payment of soldiers and officials or with unstable conditions during the usurpation of Magnus Maximus 383–87. Coinage circulation increased during the 390s, but never attained the levels of earlier decades. Copper coins are very rare after 402, though minted silver and gold coins from hoards indicate they were still present in the province even if they were not being spent. By 407 there were very few new Roman coins going into circulation, and by 430 it is likely that coinage as a medium of exchange had been abandoned. Mass-produced wheel thrown pottery ended at approximately the same time; the rich continued to use metal and glass vessels, while the poor made do with humble "grey ware" or resorted to leather or wooden containers.

 

Sub-Roman Britain

Towards the end of the 4th century Roman rule in Britain came under increasing pressure from barbarian attacks. Apparently, there were not enough troops to mount an effective defence. After elevating two disappointing usurpers, the army chose a soldier, Constantine III, to become emperor in 407. He crossed to Gaul but was defeated by Honorius; it is unclear how many troops remained or ever returned, or whether a commander-in-chief in Britain was ever reappointed. A Saxon incursion in 408 was apparently repelled by the Britons, and in 409 Zosimus records that the natives expelled the Roman civilian administration. Zosimus may be referring to the Bacaudic rebellion of the Breton inhabitants of Armorica since he describes how, in the aftermath of the revolt, all of Armorica and the rest of Gaul followed the example of the Brettaniai. A letter from Emperor Honorius in 410 has traditionally been seen as rejecting a British appeal for help, but it may have been addressed to Bruttium or Bologna. With the imperial layers of the military and civil government gone, administration and justice fell to municipal authorities, and local warlords gradually emerged all over Britain, still utilizing Romano-British ideals and conventions. Historian Stuart Laycock has investigated this process and emphasised elements of continuity from the British tribes in the pre-Roman and Roman periods, through to the native post-Roman kingdoms.

 

In British tradition, pagan Saxons were invited by Vortigern to assist in fighting the Picts, Scoti, and Déisi. (Germanic migration into Roman Britannia may have begun much earlier. There is recorded evidence, for example, of Germanic auxiliaries supporting the legions in Britain in the 1st and 2nd centuries.) The new arrivals rebelled, plunging the country into a series of wars that eventually led to the Saxon occupation of Lowland Britain by 600. Around this time, many Britons fled to Brittany (hence its name), Galicia and probably Ireland. A significant date in sub-Roman Britain is the Groans of the Britons, an unanswered appeal to Aetius, leading general of the western Empire, for assistance against Saxon invasion in 446. Another is the Battle of Deorham in 577, after which the significant cities of Bath, Cirencester and Gloucester fell and the Saxons reached the western sea.

 

Historians generally reject the historicity of King Arthur, who is supposed to have resisted the Anglo-Saxon conquest according to later medieval legends.

 

Trade

During the Roman period Britain's continental trade was principally directed across the Southern North Sea and Eastern Channel, focusing on the narrow Strait of Dover, with more limited links via the Atlantic seaways. The most important British ports were London and Richborough, whilst the continental ports most heavily engaged in trade with Britain were Boulogne and the sites of Domburg and Colijnsplaat at the mouth of the river Scheldt. During the Late Roman period it is likely that the shore forts played some role in continental trade alongside their defensive functions.

 

Exports to Britain included: coin; pottery, particularly red-gloss terra sigillata (samian ware) from southern, central and eastern Gaul, as well as various other wares from Gaul and the Rhine provinces; olive oil from southern Spain in amphorae; wine from Gaul in amphorae and barrels; salted fish products from the western Mediterranean and Brittany in barrels and amphorae; preserved olives from southern Spain in amphorae; lava quern-stones from Mayen on the middle Rhine; glass; and some agricultural products. Britain's exports are harder to detect archaeologically, but will have included metals, such as silver and gold and some lead, iron and copper. Other exports probably included agricultural products, oysters and salt, whilst large quantities of coin would have been re-exported back to the continent as well.

 

These products moved as a result of private trade and also through payments and contracts established by the Roman state to support its military forces and officials on the island, as well as through state taxation and extraction of resources. Up until the mid-3rd century, the Roman state's payments appear to have been unbalanced, with far more products sent to Britain, to support its large military force (which had reached c. 53,000 by the mid-2nd century), than were extracted from the island.

 

It has been argued that Roman Britain's continental trade peaked in the late 1st century AD and thereafter declined as a result of an increasing reliance on local products by the population of Britain, caused by economic development on the island and by the Roman state's desire to save money by shifting away from expensive long-distance imports. Evidence has been outlined that suggests that the principal decline in Roman Britain's continental trade may have occurred in the late 2nd century AD, from c. 165 AD onwards. This has been linked to the economic impact of contemporary Empire-wide crises: the Antonine Plague and the Marcomannic Wars.

 

From the mid-3rd century onwards, Britain no longer received such a wide range and extensive quantity of foreign imports as it did during the earlier part of the Roman period; vast quantities of coin from continental mints reached the island, whilst there is historical evidence for the export of large amounts of British grain to the continent during the mid-4th century. During the latter part of the Roman period British agricultural products, paid for by both the Roman state and by private consumers, clearly played an important role in supporting the military garrisons and urban centres of the northwestern continental Empire. This came about as a result of the rapid decline in the size of the British garrison from the mid-3rd century onwards (thus freeing up more goods for export), and because of 'Germanic' incursions across the Rhine, which appear to have reduced rural settlement and agricultural output in northern Gaul.

 

Economy

Mineral extraction sites such as the Dolaucothi gold mine were probably first worked by the Roman army from c. 75, and at some later stage passed to civilian operators. The mine developed as a series of opencast workings, mainly by the use of hydraulic mining methods. They are described by Pliny the Elder in his Natural History in great detail. Essentially, water supplied by aqueducts was used to prospect for ore veins by stripping away soil to reveal the bedrock. If veins were present, they were attacked using fire-setting and the ore removed for comminution. The dust was washed in a small stream of water and the heavy gold dust and gold nuggets collected in riffles. The diagram at right shows how Dolaucothi developed from c. 75 through to the 1st century. When opencast work was no longer feasible, tunnels were driven to follow the veins. The evidence from the site shows advanced technology probably under the control of army engineers.

 

The Wealden ironworking zone, the lead and silver mines of the Mendip Hills and the tin mines of Cornwall seem to have been private enterprises leased from the government for a fee. Mining had long been practised in Britain (see Grimes Graves), but the Romans introduced new technical knowledge and large-scale industrial production to revolutionise the industry. It included hydraulic mining to prospect for ore by removing overburden as well as work alluvial deposits. The water needed for such large-scale operations was supplied by one or more aqueducts, those surviving at Dolaucothi being especially impressive. Many prospecting areas were in dangerous, upland country, and, although mineral exploitation was presumably one of the main reasons for the Roman invasion, it had to wait until these areas were subdued.

 

By the 3rd and 4th centuries, small towns could often be found near villas. In these towns, villa owners and small-scale farmers could obtain specialist tools. Lowland Britain in the 4th century was agriculturally prosperous enough to export grain to the continent. This prosperity lay behind the blossoming of villa building and decoration that occurred between AD 300 and 350.

 

Britain's cities also consumed Roman-style pottery and other goods, and were centres through which goods could be distributed elsewhere. At Wroxeter in Shropshire, stock smashed into a gutter during a 2nd-century fire reveals that Gaulish samian ware was being sold alongside mixing bowls from the Mancetter-Hartshill industry of the West Midlands. Roman designs were most popular, but rural craftsmen still produced items derived from the Iron Age La Tène artistic traditions. Britain was home to much gold, which attracted Roman invaders. By the 3rd century, Britain's economy was diverse and well established, with commerce extending into the non-Romanised north.

 

Government

Further information: Governors of Roman Britain, Roman client kingdoms in Britain, and Roman auxiliaries in Britain

Under the Roman Empire, administration of peaceful provinces was ultimately the remit of the Senate, but those, like Britain, that required permanent garrisons, were placed under the Emperor's control. In practice imperial provinces were run by resident governors who were members of the Senate and had held the consulship. These men were carefully selected, often having strong records of military success and administrative ability. In Britain, a governor's role was primarily military, but numerous other tasks were also his responsibility, such as maintaining diplomatic relations with local client kings, building roads, ensuring the public courier system functioned, supervising the civitates and acting as a judge in important legal cases. When not campaigning, he would travel the province hearing complaints and recruiting new troops.

 

To assist him in legal matters he had an adviser, the legatus juridicus, and those in Britain appear to have been distinguished lawyers perhaps because of the challenge of incorporating tribes into the imperial system and devising a workable method of taxing them. Financial administration was dealt with by a procurator with junior posts for each tax-raising power. Each legion in Britain had a commander who answered to the governor and, in time of war, probably directly ruled troublesome districts. Each of these commands carried a tour of duty of two to three years in different provinces. Below these posts was a network of administrative managers covering intelligence gathering, sending reports to Rome, organising military supplies and dealing with prisoners. A staff of seconded soldiers provided clerical services.

 

Colchester was probably the earliest capital of Roman Britain, but it was soon eclipsed by London with its strong mercantile connections. The different forms of municipal organisation in Britannia were known as civitas (which were subdivided, amongst other forms, into colonies such as York, Colchester, Gloucester and Lincoln and municipalities such as Verulamium), and were each governed by a senate of local landowners, whether Brythonic or Roman, who elected magistrates concerning judicial and civic affairs. The various civitates sent representatives to a yearly provincial council in order to profess loyalty to the Roman state, to send direct petitions to the Emperor in times of extraordinary need, and to worship the imperial cult.

 

Demographics

Roman Britain had an estimated population between 2.8 million and 3 million people at the end of the second century. At the end of the fourth century, it had an estimated population of 3.6 million people, of whom 125,000 consisted of the Roman army and their families and dependents.[80] The urban population of Roman Britain was about 240,000 people at the end of the fourth century. The capital city of Londinium is estimated to have had a population of about 60,000 people. Londinium was an ethnically diverse city with inhabitants from the Roman Empire, including natives of Britannia, continental Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa. There was also cultural diversity in other Roman-British towns, which were sustained by considerable migration, from Britannia and other Roman territories, including continental Europe, Roman Syria, the Eastern Mediterranean and North Africa. In a study conducted in 2012, around 45 percent of sites investigated dating from the Roman period had at least one individual of North African origin.

 

Town and country

During their occupation of Britain the Romans founded a number of important settlements, many of which survive. The towns suffered attrition in the later 4th century, when public building ceased and some were abandoned to private uses. Place names survived the deurbanised Sub-Roman and early Anglo-Saxon periods, and historiography has been at pains to signal the expected survivals, but archaeology shows that a bare handful of Roman towns were continuously occupied. According to S.T. Loseby, the very idea of a town as a centre of power and administration was reintroduced to England by the Roman Christianising mission to Canterbury, and its urban revival was delayed to the 10th century.

 

Roman towns can be broadly grouped in two categories. Civitates, "public towns" were formally laid out on a grid plan, and their role in imperial administration occasioned the construction of public buildings. The much more numerous category of vici, "small towns" grew on informal plans, often round a camp or at a ford or crossroads; some were not small, others were scarcely urban, some not even defended by a wall, the characteristic feature of a place of any importance.

 

Cities and towns which have Roman origins, or were extensively developed by them are listed with their Latin names in brackets; civitates are marked C

 

Alcester (Alauna)

Alchester

Aldborough, North Yorkshire (Isurium Brigantum) C

Bath (Aquae Sulis) C

Brough (Petuaria) C

Buxton (Aquae Arnemetiae)

Caerleon (Isca Augusta) C

Caernarfon (Segontium) C

Caerwent (Venta Silurum) C

Caister-on-Sea C

Canterbury (Durovernum Cantiacorum) C

Carlisle (Luguvalium) C

Carmarthen (Moridunum) C

Chelmsford (Caesaromagus)

Chester (Deva Victrix) C

Chester-le-Street (Concangis)

Chichester (Noviomagus Reginorum) C

Cirencester (Corinium) C

Colchester (Camulodunum) C

Corbridge (Coria) C

Dorchester (Durnovaria) C

Dover (Portus Dubris)

Exeter (Isca Dumnoniorum) C

Gloucester (Glevum) C

Great Chesterford (the name of this vicus is unknown)

Ilchester (Lindinis) C

Leicester (Ratae Corieltauvorum) C

Lincoln (Lindum Colonia) C

London (Londinium) C

Manchester (Mamucium) C

Newcastle upon Tyne (Pons Aelius)

Northwich (Condate)

St Albans (Verulamium) C

Silchester (Calleva Atrebatum) C

Towcester (Lactodurum)

Whitchurch (Mediolanum) C

Winchester (Venta Belgarum) C

Wroxeter (Viroconium Cornoviorum) C

York (Eboracum) C

 

Religion

The druids, the Celtic priestly caste who were believed to originate in Britain, were outlawed by Claudius, and in 61 they vainly defended their sacred groves from destruction by the Romans on the island of Mona (Anglesey). Under Roman rule the Britons continued to worship native Celtic deities, such as Ancasta, but often conflated with their Roman equivalents, like Mars Rigonemetos at Nettleham.

 

The degree to which earlier native beliefs survived is difficult to gauge precisely. Certain European ritual traits such as the significance of the number 3, the importance of the head and of water sources such as springs remain in the archaeological record, but the differences in the votive offerings made at the baths at Bath, Somerset, before and after the Roman conquest suggest that continuity was only partial. Worship of the Roman emperor is widely recorded, especially at military sites. The founding of a Roman temple to Claudius at Camulodunum was one of the impositions that led to the revolt of Boudica. By the 3rd century, Pagans Hill Roman Temple in Somerset was able to exist peaceably and it did so into the 5th century.

 

Pagan religious practices were supported by priests, represented in Britain by votive deposits of priestly regalia such as chain crowns from West Stow and Willingham Fen.

 

Eastern cults such as Mithraism also grew in popularity towards the end of the occupation. The London Mithraeum is one example of the popularity of mystery religions among the soldiery. Temples to Mithras also exist in military contexts at Vindobala on Hadrian's Wall (the Rudchester Mithraeum) and at Segontium in Roman Wales (the Caernarfon Mithraeum).

 

Christianity

It is not clear when or how Christianity came to Britain. A 2nd-century "word square" has been discovered in Mamucium, the Roman settlement of Manchester. It consists of an anagram of PATER NOSTER carved on a piece of amphora. There has been discussion by academics whether the "word square" is a Christian artefact, but if it is, it is one of the earliest examples of early Christianity in Britain. The earliest confirmed written evidence for Christianity in Britain is a statement by Tertullian, c. 200 AD, in which he described "all the limits of the Spains, and the diverse nations of the Gauls, and the haunts of the Britons, inaccessible to the Romans, but subjugated to Christ". Archaeological evidence for Christian communities begins to appear in the 3rd and 4th centuries. Small timber churches are suggested at Lincoln and Silchester and baptismal fonts have been found at Icklingham and the Saxon Shore Fort at Richborough. The Icklingham font is made of lead, and visible in the British Museum. A Roman Christian graveyard exists at the same site in Icklingham. A possible Roman 4th-century church and associated burial ground was also discovered at Butt Road on the south-west outskirts of Colchester during the construction of the new police station there, overlying an earlier pagan cemetery. The Water Newton Treasure is a hoard of Christian silver church plate from the early 4th century and the Roman villas at Lullingstone and Hinton St Mary contained Christian wall paintings and mosaics respectively. A large 4th-century cemetery at Poundbury with its east–west oriented burials and lack of grave goods has been interpreted as an early Christian burial ground, although such burial rites were also becoming increasingly common in pagan contexts during the period.

 

The Church in Britain seems to have developed the customary diocesan system, as evidenced from the records of the Council of Arles in Gaul in 314: represented at the council were bishops from thirty-five sees from Europe and North Africa, including three bishops from Britain, Eborius of York, Restitutus of London, and Adelphius, possibly a bishop of Lincoln. No other early sees are documented, and the material remains of early church structures are far to seek. The existence of a church in the forum courtyard of Lincoln and the martyrium of Saint Alban on the outskirts of Roman Verulamium are exceptional. Alban, the first British Christian martyr and by far the most prominent, is believed to have died in the early 4th century (some date him in the middle 3rd century), followed by Saints Julius and Aaron of Isca Augusta. Christianity was legalised in the Roman Empire by Constantine I in 313. Theodosius I made Christianity the state religion of the empire in 391, and by the 5th century it was well established. One belief labelled a heresy by the church authorities — Pelagianism — was originated by a British monk teaching in Rome: Pelagius lived c. 354 to c. 420/440.

 

A letter found on a lead tablet in Bath, Somerset, datable to c. 363, had been widely publicised as documentary evidence regarding the state of Christianity in Britain during Roman times. According to its first translator, it was written in Wroxeter by a Christian man called Vinisius to a Christian woman called Nigra, and was claimed as the first epigraphic record of Christianity in Britain. This translation of the letter was apparently based on grave paleographical errors, and the text has nothing to do with Christianity, and in fact relates to pagan rituals.

 

Environmental changes

The Romans introduced a number of species to Britain, including possibly the now-rare Roman nettle (Urtica pilulifera), said to have been used by soldiers to warm their arms and legs, and the edible snail Helix pomatia. There is also some evidence they may have introduced rabbits, but of the smaller southern mediterranean type. The European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) prevalent in modern Britain is assumed to have been introduced from the continent after the Norman invasion of 1066. Box (Buxus sempervirens) is rarely recorded before the Roman period, but becomes a common find in towns and villas

 

Legacy

During their occupation of Britain the Romans built an extensive network of roads which continued to be used in later centuries and many are still followed today. The Romans also built water supply, sanitation and wastewater systems. Many of Britain's major cities, such as London (Londinium), Manchester (Mamucium) and York (Eboracum), were founded by the Romans, but the original Roman settlements were abandoned not long after the Romans left.

 

Unlike many other areas of the Western Roman Empire, the current majority language is not a Romance language, or a language descended from the pre-Roman inhabitants. The British language at the time of the invasion was Common Brittonic, and remained so after the Romans withdrew. It later split into regional languages, notably Cumbric, Cornish, Breton and Welsh. Examination of these languages suggests some 800 Latin words were incorporated into Common Brittonic (see Brittonic languages). The current majority language, English, is based on the languages of the Germanic tribes who migrated to the island from continental Europe